I’ve been collecting pictures from some of the more significant events over the last couple of months, so there follows a quick summary of our family activities this fall. Coming soon: holiday pictures! possibly videos! You’ll have to come back (soon!) for a more recent update.

October 21st was Elijah and William’s 5th birthday. It was a super crazy month, so we didn’t have a birthday party and I didn’t even make homemade cupcakes to send to daycare… instead, they each picked their favourite supermarket theme cake, and we had those combined into one super-amazing hideously bright Spiderman and Ironman sheet cake, seen here:

Eli got to keep the Spiderman figure, which said the (distorted) words “Happy birthday from your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman!” Will got Ironman, which said… nothing, but projected a faint glow out of its hand. Both boys were delighted with the cake and their toys, which was the main idea.

The boys’ birthday came at the end of a difficult time for the family, since my wonderful 91-year-old grandmother passed away quite suddenly, and I went over to London, England for her funeral. It was a very sad but bittersweet trip, and I was able to spend time with my bereft grandfather and the rest of my all-too-distant family in England, who gathered for the occasion. Here’s one of my favourite pictures of my grandma, taken during a visit to our old house in Prospect, Nova Scotia. She’s petting Elsie, our sweet old dog, in this picture. We miss you, Grandma!

After the boys’ birthday came Hallowe’en, and I once again caved to time pressure and let them wear (gasp!) store-bought costumes. Here’s William as Batman, Elijah as Spiderman, and Charlotte as Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame:

Charlie sorting her loot after a successful evening of trick-or-treating:

Lots of other stuff happened this fall… the kids read through dozens of books (well, the boys looked through them, and Charlie actually read them). I’m working my way through Roald Dahl’s oeuvre for the boys’ bedtime stories: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, The Twits, The BFG…they’re all good fun. Here are Eli and Will looking particularly angelic and identical in their matching pyjamas:

Here are Elijah and Charlotte rolling up their sleeves and helping to prepare some delicious pizza with Daddy:

In November, we took the kids down to Old Montreal (for the very first time), where Eric took this lovely family portrait of me with the kids:

We took them down to the Montreal Science Centre to see an exhibit with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs; very impressive, a little scary, but not very interactive. However, the kids had a wonderful time exploring the permanent exhibit on “A to Z Science”, which involved various kid-friendly activities to help them learn about different scientific principles. Here are Charlotte and William, playing with an exhibit that demonstrated different types of dams and waterwheels and their effects on hydroelectric power… although they were mainly interested in playing with the water:

Elijah creating a bubble big enough to contain his entire body:

Wishing you all a relaxing holiday and all the best for the new year!

We walked the path around the mountain, stopping for a picnic (turkey sandwiches, naturally) and to admire the views of the city. The boys and Charlotte ran most of the way along the shallow stone ditch beside the main path, which at least prevented them from being knocked down by some of the more negligent bikers. They also found a perfect climbing tree, so we stopped while they tried it out:

After we’d circumnavigated the mountaintop, we made our way to Beaver Lake, where the kids threw bits of leftover sandwich bread to some of the thousands of minnows and goldfish swimming in the little lake:

Here’s my lovely daughter, relaxing briefly in the sun:

Once we’d tired out the kids, we came home and rewarded ourselves with the leftovers of my homemade pumpkin pie and some ice cream. The pie was delicious, and I only wish I’d taken a picture BEFORE Elijah sampled it with his finger:

Overall, it was a lovely weekend, although as is often the case, I had to spend a few hours planning and marking for school. September was an absolute blur as we all readapted to our school-year routines. One major exception to the norm was Eric running the Montreal half-marathon a couple of weeks ago, with an impressive time of 2 hours, 18 minutes. Here’s a shot of him just after he’d completed the race:

The kids are all doing well, with Charlotte continuing her obsession with Harry Potter (she’s now read all 7 books, but she hasn’t yet seen the last 3 movies). Elijah and William are turning FIVE in less than two weeks, and they’re making major tactical decisions as to the birthday cake they’ll bring to daycare on Oct. 21st. We’re also into full-on Hallowe’en costume planning – I’ve accepted that making 3 creative costumes from scratch is not happening this year, but Charlie’s “Hermione Granger” costume still needs some finishing touches, and Eli (aka Spiderman) and Will (aka Batman) need to be kept away from their outfits so they don’t lose or tear any parts of the costumes before Hallowe’en even arrives.

Eric has worked out a new incentive for the boys to keep their room clean; as long as the floor is clear, they get to camp out on their bedroom floor in their Ikea play tent every weekend. As you can imagine, this is highly sought after:

Eric and I took each of the kids out in the canoe, dodging the wakes of various powerboats. Here we are just off the dock with William trying out his paddle:

My parents-in-law provided some fancy inflatable toys for the kids, and they took full advantage! Here, Charlotte relaxes on a blow-up recliner while the boys pilot their inflatable seadoo:

After the cottage, we spent an afternoon at my in-laws’ house in Unionville, where Charlie was traumatized by watching an episode of Scoobie Doo involving vampires; it’s been a month and we are STILL hearing about these scary vampires and listening to her wails: “Why did you let me watch that? Why?”

We spent some time with Eric’s sister Tasha, seen here cuddling with Elijah after he was finished with the deluxe Slip-n-Slide set up in the backyard:

It was a short visit, but we all had a great time. Here are the kids with Grandmaman and Grampa:

Next, we headed down the 401 to Guelph for a few days. The weather was consistently gorgeous, so we spent lots of time at parks and in backyards, visiting with family and old friends. Here’s my brother Dan hanging out with William and Charlie at a splash park:

We attempted to take a family portrait of some of Eric’s cousins and all our kids in his uncle Kevin’s backyard, but William didn’t have the patience to hold still until the timer went off on the camera:

All too soon, we had to rush back to Montreal to attend the wedding of some good friends and for Eric to start teaching a summer course at McGill. My parents came to visit us a couple of weeks later so they could watch the boys play soccer… a great plan, except that the record-breaking heat on the day of the game meant only 3 other players showed up! Here’s Grandma ready to cheer on the boys anyway, with a thirsty Will:

Elijah is consistently MUCH more excited about soccer, and this game was no exception. Here he is, completely focused on that ball and getting it down the field:

Here’s lovely Charlotte, hanging out beside the soccer field:

My dad missed out on the proper soccer game, but he still enjoyed lots of quality time with the kids. Here he’s reading to Eli and Charlie:

In less than a fortnight, we’ll be heading down to a rental cottage in Ogunquit, Maine for a full week of beach, relaxing and (hopefully) sunshine. We can’t wait!

Here’s Charlie, hanging out with a python:

William was even braver, and allowed this tarantula to stand on his shirt for a minute (you can’t see me freaking out in the background, but it was a pretty unnerving encounter):

Here, Elijah tries out his farming skills on a mini-tractor:

We all had a great time at the fair, although it would have been better if the drive home hadn’t been agonizingly long as we inched our way over the Mercier Bridge into Montreal; they’re doing major construction work, and we all ran out of patience before we’d even crossed the bridge. Once the CD player and the “I spy” game stopped entertaining the kids, we had to endure the boys’ hysterical laughter and Charlotte’s equally hysterical tears. Good times.

The boys have been playing soccer for a couple of weeks now. Here’s how they look in their new uniforms:

Elijah on the left, Will on the right

Their team is called the “Dolphins”, and our boys are super excited about the soccer practices and games they’ve attended so far. Elijah’s shown some real speed and skill, and he scored a goal during their very first game; we were so proud! Will, on the other hand, managed to score on both his own net AND the net in the next field, which was less impressive. In the middle of their last game, William also sat down and tried to build a sandcastle out of the dirt in centre field, although he did chase after the ball some of the time. At least they’re both having fun.

Speaking of fun, the boys are finally old and calm enough to enjoy playing board games, which is a great development for rainy days. Here, Charlotte is teaching William to play tic-tac-toe, using a cute wooden bunny set:

All three kids playing “Candyland”:

Charlotte’s been working her way through the Harry Potter books, and she’s just started number 4 (“The Goblet of Fire”). She was a little taken aback when she saw that it was 600 pages long (twice as long as the last book), but as soon as she flipped through it and recognized the characters, she dove right in:

Charlie had to create a family tree for school, and she was very proud of the finished product:

Finally, here’s a picture of my dad (“Poppa”) reading to his grandsons, and valiantly ignoring all the stuffed animals they’ve draped around his head:

School is finally winding down for me, and soon the summer will officially be here. I am looking forward to the break!

Elijah as Spiderman and William as “Venom”:

Charlie wearing a hat that says “I baked my own matzah at the Matzah Factory” and holding up a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which she’s reading on her own:

Will and Eli gorging on Easter chocolate after a successful hunt for eggs:

Charlie drawing a picture (and explaining her art) while Elijah looks on in fascination:

More later!

Everyone here is doing fine. We spent the morning at Ikea, buying a new bed for the boys, so they no longer need to sleep on top of each other like this:

They are some quirky boys! Everyday, when it’s time to leave for daycare, they insist on carrying an assortment of toys downstairs to the front door, which they then arrange in elaborate dioramas on the steps. Sometimes they hang their stuffed animals from the banister, as they are proudly demonstrating here:

Charlie recently bought herself a guitar, using some birthday money, and she’s been happily strumming along to her made-up songs ever since. Charlotte is hoping to be the next Taylor Swift (whose CD is in constant play in Charlie’s room), so she’s got to practice, right?  The guitar is a scaled-down but functional instrument, and I think we’ll all enjoy her “music” a lot more once Eric finally gets around to tuning it for her… Here she is, serenading us in the living room:

Recently, Charlie’s been studying space in Science class (and I was surprisingly nostalgic when she told me there are only 8 planets in our solar system – goodbye, Pluto). In order to better understand the Earth, she was asked to construct a miniature model of our planet, suspended in a black box to represent the galaxy (yeah, I don’t see what this teaches her, but it certainly reminded me that papier mache should never be undertaken lightly)… Anyway, the end result turned out well, and she was very proud of her work:

In other family news, Eric has started taking a French course to help him prepare for the exams he’ll have to take in order to practice Psychology here in Quebec… he’s very stressed out about it, although it will probably help that he’s married to a French teacher (and the son of a francophone mother). He’s attending the class every Thursday night, and is already counting down the weeks until the course finishes in May. Hopefully his confidence will increase along with his skills in speaking and writing in French!

School is going fine for me this term; I’m learning not to assign major writing projects to all of my English classes simultaneously, and I’m quite enjoying the “Literature Circles” that my grade 8 and 9 classes are doing. I’ve started transitioning out of classroom work (the school has hired a new teacher to take my grade 10 class), and I’ll be working one-on-one with some students in desperate need of reading, writing and organizational strategies, which is exactly what I enjoy teaching most.

This week, my mum invited me on a springtime trip to Paris, and we’ve booked our tickets for 4 days at the end of April; I could not be more excited! It will be strange to be away from the kids, but Eric will hold down the fort while I am wandering around the city of lights, doing some mother-daughter bonding… I can’t wait!

Way back in December, my parents-in-law visited us for a weekend to celebrate Christmas a little early. Here they are, completing the traditional Costco gingerbread house with the kids, which stood for approximately 10 minutes before being devoured:

Here’s Grandmaman playing dress-up with William, who is loving the attention:

Since Charlie’s birthday is December 30th, we held her birthday party a couple of weeks beforehand. She invited about a dozen friends to the local bowling alley, which offers all-inclusive party packages (very appealing to parents!). Grampa helped to keep an eye on all the energetic 7-year-olds, and I provided the double-decker chocolate cake:

After an action-packed month of work and various holiday-themed social events (such as the boys’ holiday party at daycare, where they actually sang, danced and didn’t cry, for the first time ever – they’re growing up!), my parents and brother arrived in Montreal to celebrate Christmas. Here’s Uncle Dan, hanging out with his nephew Elijah:

We had a traditional Christmas: turkey, stollen (German fruitcake with marzipan), stockings, the Globe and Mail crossword (completed in a record 48 hours this year) – here I am with my Dad, hard at work deciphering clues and puns:

As usual, my mother spent a significant portion of her time online, playing Scrabble (sorry, “Lexulous”) with various friends and acquaintances:

Here are Elijah and William modelling some of their favourite gifts; new superhero capes! That’s William in Superman blue, Elijah in Spiderman red:

Here’s Poppa with his grandkids, modelling Eric’s (somewhat snarky) gift to me, a “Snuggie”, as they watch a Pixar movie:

We didn’t spend our entire time indoors, of course. We visited the Insectarium, where the kids were fascinated by spiders, scorpions, and stick insects:

My parents stayed until Charlotte’s 7th birthday, when we all ate yummy cupcakes (although it turns out that none of our kids are big jellybean fans – ah well, they looked cute as decorations):

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with a quiet night in: sushi, champagne and a movie, then bed long before midnight. I had worked until December 23rd, so I didn’t go back to school until January 11th. Happy 2011, everyone!

Charlie also managed to break a large proportion of candles as she inserted them into her cheapo menorah, which resulted in our using birthday-cake candles for the final day; we managed fine, though, and she was very proud to participate in the ritual.

Charlie also  signed up for a visit from a school pet for the weekend over Chanukah. From Dec. 2-5, we hosted Snowy the rabbit. Here he is, meeting our cats for the first time:

Snowy spent the weekend in Charlotte’s bedroom, being force-fed carrots and celery by the boys. He was extremely sweet, and happily hopped around Charlie’s room whenever we let him out of the cage, then equally happily hung out in his cage when his exercise was over. He wasn’t super interested in being cuddled, but whenever anyone stuck a finger into his cage, he hopped over and licked them. He was so adorable I was almost tempted to get our own bunny rabbit… until Eric brought me back to earth.

In the above picture, Charlie’s wearing her dance clothes, but she’s actually decided to finish with her dance classes for now. She enjoyed the less-structured elements of dance class, and she liked wearing tap shoes, but she wasn’t enjoying the rigorous dance practices after a long day at school.

All the kids are doing fine. Charlie just brought home a glowing report card (although apparently she’s still a chatty, active kid; her teacher summed it up by saying “C’est pas un porto, c’est un champagne”). The boys just passed their latest swimming level, and they’ve doing well at daycare. They’ll be having a speech-language evaluation on Wednesday, and we’re curious to hear how that goes – we know they’re somewhat delayed (especially in terms of articulating sounds), but it will be interesting to know exactly where they stand. If they need intervention, we should be able to have someone work with them at daycare, which would be very efficient use of everyone’s time.

I can’t believe we’re already almost half-way through December! Our social calendar is packed, with various holiday parties scheduled over the next couple of weeks. This weekend is also Charlie’s birthday party, and my parents-in-law will be visiting to help celebrate, so stay tuned for cute pictures to come!

Of course, Elijah and William love to copy their big sister, so she has two willing disciples whenever she wants to run an impromptu yoga class. Here are all three kids, valiantly ignoring the mess they’ve made of our living room:

Charlotte shows Eli a new pose:

Elijah and William sometimes practice yoga at daycare too, although not in these particular outfits (don’t they look beautiful, though?):

Both boys have embraced their feminine sides, apparently. Not that this stops them from being as rough-and-tumble and messy and active as always; they just want to look like “pretty, pretty princesses” (in William’s words) while they’re tearing through the house.