First Nations

Matthew is back at school and his class is making a wall of things/people that helped to build our community. Each child is making a "brick" from a topic of their choosing. Matthew picked First Nations. He did some research to come up with information for his brick. He was playing around with fonts, colors and borders to finish it off nicely. This photo was taken before he started gluing so he could remember the layout as he was glueing each piece on.

Spring Break Time

The boys each had a two week Spring Break, overlapping only for the middle week. We were out biking enjoying the nice weather the first day of Matthew's break, and the next day we looked out of our door to this. I think we set a snowfall record that day. It has been a snowy slow starting spring this year.

It was a good time for some indoor activities. Andrew has been really into Lego building and has been enjoying some of the new sets from his birthday.

Matthew still loves Lego too and is most happy to help Andrew with some building, especially for this cool Star Wars set.

Bruce thought it would be a good day to make some bread. He doesn't fool around, here he is kneading for 8 loaves, the maximum our oven can hold.

Later on with the super sticky snow Matthew got to work doing some fort building.

He was disappointed it fell over before getting to the top brick, but looking from this angle it is amazing he got that high.

The boys loved a one day camp at the Science Center. Andrew learned more about bugs, and Matthew about Chemistry. Here he is doing some molecule building, in between nibbling the marshmallows.

We went to Lake Louise for a few days. It was full on winter conditions there. Matthew was kind to pull Andrew's sled around the ice.

The Lollipops at the candy shop in town were a huge treat.

The kids always like the displays at the interpretive centre.

Here are our two downhill skiiers. I managed to take Matthew cross country skiing one day. He liked it but was falling a lot and found it exhausing. He could hardly wait to get back to the ski jumps that he found much easier than cross country!

Staying at a hotel and having a pool is a treat.

Playing in the hotel room is tons of fun too. Emily liked taking the "square" pillows and "make a rectangle". She is quite into her shapes lately. Of course mathematical theory in and of itself is only so interesting for a 2 year old, she loved the practical application of having a rectangle cushion to jump on.

Emily let's you know when she is done being photographed, "No more photos mommy".

We went to the zoo a couple of times. We have photos of the boys coming through this tunnel when they were about Emily's age, so it is neat to have her in the same pose.

Matthew wanted his turn in the Kangaroo's pouch.

Andrew posing and looking out at some geese if I am remembering correctly.

We had the best view of a hippo I think I have ever had, much more than we saw in Africa.

At home the kids still love costumes. People ask if Emily is a real "princess". She is not a girly girl at all. That may be the influence of two older brothers, or that may just be her. She is very rough and tumble, very at home being a firefighter, and I can see hockey in her future!

Easter Weekend

We went to Edmonton for the Easter weekend, doing some visiting and having fun. Of course the kids were raring to go to our Edmonton tradition, Chuck E. Cheese. Andrew liked some of the new games, including the horse riding.

Emily still loves the carousel, saying "Let's ride it again" as soon as it comes to a halt.

Pizza and drinks are popular with all.

We were relieved the Easter Bunny found us in Edmonton. Here is Emily after finding a few eggs the boys left for her to find.

The boys were so excited, Matthew had trouble getting to sleep the night before. Andrew was delighted with his GelGem window decorations. He has an eye for beauty and loves making things look fancy.

Matthew was able to do some Easter Egg hunting of a different sort with his new Easter target game.

Andrew's Birthday Celebrations

Between birthday celebrations and Spring Breaks I am so far behind with everything, including blog updates. To start off the birthday celebrations for Andrew we had a St. Patrick's Day party one evening the weekend before St. Paddy's day. We had a few families over. Andrew wanted to look fancy for his party so wore a necklace he had made, and a crown he had from last year. The kids from age 3 to 8 1/2 all loved doing the Sticky Mosaics pictures, keeping them busy for a long time.

Of course being St. Patrick's there was a lot of beer flowing and I even tried making some Irish Soda Bread.

We had the traditional green icing chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Emily adorned hers with a blackberry from the fruit plate like the older girls.

Andrew is hamming it up after opening some presents.

The next day he had a Leprechaun treasure hunt birthday with a few 5 year old boys. We started with a story about rainbows, and the children each made a rainbow mobile to take home.

Then we read a story about catching Leprechaun's and the boys set to work with a weeks worth of recycling making their own Leprechaun traps. We set them by the window so the Leprechauns could see them while we had birthday snacks.

There were a number of allergies amongst the boys attending, so we made a popcorn cake with gummies in it that all could enjoy.

A happy 5 year old!
After eating the boys check by the traps and there they found baskets and a note explaining the Leprechaun couldn't part with his gold, but had left them some treats hidden in the yard for their good efforts. They followed the clues for an outdoor treasure hunt, to fill their goody baskets. It was quite magical for the children and the adults watching the reaction of the children.

Then on March 17th Andrew brought a birthday snack for his preschool and that night we had some cupcakes just with the 5 of us.

He is very into pet care and was most pleased with the veterinarian costume we got him for a present.

The following weekend we hosted a family party for everyone here with March birthdays. We are lucky to have 4 people with March birthdays, and had a lot of cupcakes for the crowd.

Here is Andrew modeling some of his gifts, all at the same time.

Emily was right into the birthday parties, helping to open presents and always asking to "Sing the Happy Birthday Song"
Andrew loves his new Cordz toy, one of his presents received.