siblings

I'm excited to see the friendship develop between these two.  Jake is so darn sweet to her.  He sometimes lays beside her and reads out loud.  He gave her a hockey stick the other day and tried to play pass with her.  He put his cuski in her crib when she was crying.  He is always trying to help.  And Avery is always looking to see what he is doing.  She loves watching him run back-and-forth with his hockey stick or football.  She's always smiling at him.   

I figured I had better write a few of these things down, because there may come a day when they are pulling each-others hair out and I will have to take a deep breath and look back at this. 

bring out the bike

All our snow melted!  Hooray.  

For me, three days of snow was enough ;)  

I'm sure it will be back in no time so we figured might as well get a little more bike riding in, while we still can.  Buckle-up the helmet, hop on and mosey around the neighbourhood at a snails pace.  Jake likes to play things safe.  He still prefers to walk the bike instead of push and glide.  

It was the  s l o w e s t  bike ride, 

but we were just happy to bring out the bike.

boy meets snow

Well, technically you've met before but an inch hardly counts.  

And this time around you were excited.  So was Billy.  

It was time to get serious about this snow business.  This called for snow pants, neck warmer, gloves and snow boots.  All of which, we had to quickly go out and buy.  We did however have a coat and touque so we weren't total unprepared.  Just mostly unprepared.     

Some exploration was in order.  

A quick lesson on snow-angels and some snowball making too!

A snow success.  

Except...

I wasn't so thrilled.  Hailey wasn't either.  

Somewhere between my childhood (spent in cold, northern BC) and now, I've become a serious cold-weather-wimp.  

Yesterday while driving in the car I was complaining about how seriously cold it was and Billy kindly pointed out to me it was 1 degree outside.  As in above freezing.  Oh gosh!  I think I'm going to need some serious snow gear too :(

celebrating five months

Thinking of you

(and your brother, too)

makes me burst with joy.

Your dad and I celebrate you each and everyday.  

a little dose of sunshine

It was a beautiful sixteen degrees here today.  Hello blue sky and sunbeams, nice to see you again.  We are full of sunshine.  Just soaking it all up, every last drop.  No sense letting a day like this go to waste.  

We sat out on the patio of our favourite coffee shop, took Hailey for big (much needed) walk, golfed in the park and found some of the most vibrant yellow leaves to play in.  

We found that throwing leaves is so much fun

Throwing them on Hailey's head is even more fun 

(except if you are Hailey, that is)

And the joy of kicking leaves never diminishes

A much needed reprieve from the dreary, drizzly, grey weather that we've been seeing so much of the last few days.  

movember

Billy is participating in Movember at work and raising money for prostate cancer.  He officially started growing a moustache on November first.  And although having a moustache for a month is going to be kind of awful, it's all for a very good cause.

because...
1 in 7 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer
a man dies every 15 minutes from prostate cancer
if treated early, prostate cancer has a 95% success rate 

If this is a cause that is important to you and you'd like to help support Billy, you can donate by clicking here and hitting "donate to me".  Any contribution would be greatly appreciate.  And please encourage loved ones to speak to their doctor as 1 in 7 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.    

I will be sure to update a picture!  

If you too are growing a moustache (or just happen to be a fan of Parks and Recreation) here are a few important tips.

trick-or-treat

Jake's very first one ever.  And for a boy who is shy of strangers, who doesn't like to smile much in public and said he wanted to dress-up as "nothing", it was a big success.  As soon as he realized people were giving him things he was saying trick-or-treat at every door.  The only downside, now he knows what candy is and has been saying "I probably want a candy" ever since. 

 Getting ready.  Jake the construction worker

Avery the flower

Avery's costume never made it out the door.  Instead she bundled up in one of Jake's old snugly suits and strangers kept commenting on what a cute boy she was.  Oops, sorry Aves.  At this point, Jake isn't so sure about the whole dressing-up thing, but he soon forgot all about it when his little pumpkin pail began filling up.

Let the trick-or-treating begin!  Jake and his friend head to the 

neighbours house.

The goods.  A pumpkin pail brimming with candy.