Lola !

Things are changing

2012-01-30T09:10:00.003-05:00

Things have been busy around here; Quinn arrived and that well, it changes everything. I think that we will keep just this one blog (no need to confuse the multitude of followers) and change the name. Something snappy, something catchy, probably something like Lola and Quinn. But, that will come later when there is more sleep, less stitches, and time. Until then we would like to introduce "the Mighty Quinn" and his very proud big sister.

While we wait....

2012-01-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

We bake!

Lola and I have been busy. The mercury has dropped to a more seasonal level as of late, so we have been forced back inside. Which isn't a bad thing because it gives us lots of time to work on a number baking projects.

First up, cheese cake in a jar.
Seriously delicious and in perfect portable snack sizes. Thanks for the idea Jenn!
And then there were the Whoppie Pies. Lola is a great helper in the kitchen, but you do have to watch when your back is turned, especially when the project involves chocolate batter.
Lola was in charge of the icing, decorating and assembling of the whoopie pies.
They turned out really cute and super sweet, as in make your teeth hurt sweet, but we loved every bite. While we continue to wait, we will continue to bake up new treats. Hopefully he will arrive soon; my waist line and my blood sugar levels are both rising to epic proportions!

Ballet Class

2012-01-16T10:14:00.002-05:00

Lola had her first ballet class this weekend. As you can see she was really excited about it. She did really good listening to her teacher and didn't stop smiling the whole time.
If only we could figure out how to get this sort of excitement for swimming lessons.
I'm really hoping for a recital!

Forty One Months Old

2012-01-13T07:54:00.005-05:00

This was Lola's Christmas dress. I never managed to get a proper picture of her in it around all the chaos that is Christmas, so we put it on again on January 8th for her 41 month photo shoot.
She will only agree to sit nicely for photos if first you do an eyes wide shut one.
After that there is no telling what you get. As the photographer you just have to work with what she gives you. 'Did you get that Mom?'
She is my muse.
But, I'm not sure when she turned into such a big girl.
It wasn't all that long ago that she was this...
Our other little guy is still on the inside; waiting for the appropriate time to make his appearance. I thought that the snow storm today may be the nudge that he needs, but then again maybe not. He will be here when he is ready and the not knowing the is fun part, right? Don't worry we will let you know when he does decide to arrive!

Merry Ukrainian Christmas

2012-01-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

This year Baba went to Timmins to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas with big Baba. Which meant that we were on our own to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas. Thankfully the only other Ukrainian people that we know invited us over for a quasi traditional Ukie Christmas feast. It was also the perfect opportunity to check out the new digs that the Stoski family had moved into.
Sarah did a really great job at preparing the Ukie Christmas feast. We had Borsch, really good borsch.And cabbage rolls, kapusta, and perogies; all made by hand (maybe not Sarah's hands, but by someones).
Dylan and I both loved the Ukrainian bacon and brocolli.
Though the best part was that we were also celebrating Neven's birthday and because there was a birthday to be celebrated there was chocolate cake to be eaten for dessert.
Dylan and I helped blow out the candles.
And there was a lot of silliness. We posed for this picture just after playing hair salon.
Merry Ukrainian Christmas everyone!

Marchuary

2012-01-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

It is January, but it feels like March around here. There is the promise of spring in the air, the sun is warm on your face. I don't get it. It feels so wrong, but still so right! We will enjoy it while we can; I'm sure that it will be -40 again soon enough.

Finger Painting

2012-01-10T10:03:00.000-05:00

The Winnipeg crew got me some great art supplies for Christmas. One of the things that they gave me was this finger painting set. I have been cranking out the master pieces, keep an eye on your mailbox! Thanks so much Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Sally, Joseph, Isabella, and Madeline!

New Years Eve

2012-01-09T09:59:00.002-05:00

On New Years Mom and Dad celebrated a British New Years. Meaning that they rang in the new year at 7pm, so that Mom could still get to bed on time. It was a blast, more so for the drunk people then the really sober pregnant woman, but it really was fun.
These pictures really sum up the night well!
For a better re-cap see Beej's blog

Three Christmases

2012-01-09T09:28:00.005-05:00

Up first, Christmas in Collingwood. Mom and Dad forgot to bring the camera, so just know that there was light dusting of snow, a fondu feast, too much wine, and lots of caroling. This also where I got my princess dress which will feature heavily in all the photos over the next few months. It was great fun. Thanks Grandpa and Oma for a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Our second Christmas celebration was at home. Grandma came and joined us for a sleep over and present opening. On Christmas morning I was the last one up, all the adults were hanging about waiting for me to wake up. When I walked down stairs I could see that Santa had left me exactly what I had asked for; Cinderella. So, rather then open any presents we all hunkered down on the pull out couch and watched the whole movie.
After the movie we were hungry so Mom and Dad got to work on the Christmas breakfast feast. This year it featured creme brule french toast and a whole lot of breakfast meats.
After breakfast we sat down to do some present opening.
There were a lot of gifts and lots of playing and hugging.
After presents we called our families and told them that we loved them and sang Happy Birthday to Isabella. And that was Christmas at home.

The third Christmas on our 2011 tour was Christmas in Mississauga. This year was a little bit quieter and a little bit lonelier. We missed the Winnipeg Dunton's very much. But, hey there was more Mrs. Gilespies' salad for Mom, so it wasn't a total loss.
With so many amazing presents over the past two days it was hard to believe that there could be anymore, but there were. A new Rapunzel doll from Uncle Josh.
Uncle Jon got a kiss for this amazing princess art kit. Look Mom it has 1500 little pieces! Are you excited!
And Grandpa and Baba bought me a cash register for my store. My store has a lot of rules; like don't touch things unless you are told or you can't come back and the girl at the cash sometimes doesn't wear pants, but that is okay. And as a warning, don't buy the cake mix, it is $30, a total rip off.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing Christmas. We love you all.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T21:31:00.002-05:00

December 12th to 23rd

2012-01-01T16:31:00.008-05:00

This is where things sort of fell off the tracks in regards to the 25 Days of Christmas. I can't remember when we did what, but here is some of the things that we did up until we started off on our great Christmas adventure.
We had our Christmas colouring night. We colour in the same book each year, date it and then put it away. It will be fun in a few years to look back. Cake Pops! Sarah and I tried to keep it simple this year when it came to the cake pops. We were only going to make three different kinds for a total of 48 cake pops. Thinking that was about as simple as the project got.
They turned out amazing and were a hit everyplace that they were delivered.
There was a night where we played Gingerbread Man bingo.
The game was fun, but the real attraction for everyone was the bingo dabbers.Cookie decoration night was also a very popular activity. Complete and total free access to all the icing and decorations a little girl could imagine. The cookies were not only beautiful, but they were a very very sugary and delicious desert.
Listening and dancing to Christmas carols.The pink dress is last years Christmas dress, it is hard to believe that she grew that much in a year!
We went to a Christmas party at daycare and Santa made a surprise guest appearance. Lola had seen him earlier that day at the mall, so there were no tears, just a nice smile for her old friend.
Then there were the Christmas cookies. These took a few days.

Our cookie army ready to be distributed through out the neighbourhood.
The little elf who went door to door dropping off cookies to all of our neighbours.
Watching a Christmas movie on the pull out couch. I believe that this is Dad's favourite activity of the entire holiday season. This year we watched Frosty the Snowman. Lola loved it and at only 22 minutes it was also a hit with Mom and Dad.
Yes, Lola is wearing stockings on her legs! That is what they are for, non?
The 2011 Family Christmas photo. The lead up to Christmas was so much fun and there are more photos from our Christmas adventures to come.

WInter Dress Up Day

2011-12-30T08:16:00.001-05:00

A full Christmas recap is coming.

Forty! Months Old

2011-12-17T15:55:00.004-05:00

December 8th through to the 11th

2011-12-13T20:49:00.004-05:00

The 25 days of Christmas continue; please forgive the lack of witty phrasing in this post it is mostly composed of photos and brief descriptions.
On December 8th we made Christmas bracelets.

Froggy looked particularly dashing in his red Christmas bracelet.
December 9th was Christmas nail night.
Lola just wanted jewels on her nails, but she instantly regretted that when Mom busted out her amazing candy cane stripped nails.
On December 10th we made a paper chain garland for the tree.
And then on December 11th we went to a Christmas concert. Well, techinally Mom and Dad went to a Christmas concert while Lola stayed home with Grandma, but still a Christmas concert was enjoyed. After the show we had a big dinner back at our house with Grandma, Grandpa Steve, Baba and Grandpa Bill. Mom failed to take any photos at that gathering too.

More to come...

December 6th and 7th

2011-12-11T21:41:00.003-05:00

On December 6th we all pulled out our special boxes of ornaments and put them on the tree.
Lola's are mostly concentrated around one section of the tree, towards the bottom.
December 7th was Christmas craft night and we made snowpeople.

Glue and cotton balls go a long way to making her a very happy little girl.

December 5th

2011-12-11T09:09:00.003-05:00

December 5th was the night that we decorated the tree for Lola's room. She loves having her own room that she is allowed to take the ornaments on and off as much as she pleases. It also looks super cute in her big girl room.

December 3rd and 4th

2011-12-10T23:30:00.004-05:00

December 3rd we had an Christmas inspired breakfast. The Christmas tree pancakes were a huge hit!
December 4th we headed out to the woods to hunt down our tree. Normally when we get our tree there is snow on the ground and a chill in the air. This year there was just rain and lots of it. But, we pretended that it was snow and persevered through the rain and mud and found the most perfect tree.

I give you the Montgomery family Christmas tree!

December 2nd

2011-12-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

December 2 - Decorate the house for Christmas

Decorating can sometimes be really hard work and a t-shirt and leggings can be too restrictive. In these situations it only makes sense to get on your bikini and winter boots to finish the job.

The Twenty-five Days of Christmas

2011-12-08T12:39:00.003-05:00

From December 1st till December 24th we have a number of exciting events planned. We are doing something every day to help get us into the Christmas spirit.

December 1st - A Christmas Craft

The Santa Claus Parade

2011-11-23T19:29:00.000-05:00

The official kick off to the Christmas holiday season in our house is the Santa Claus Parade. This year the parade was amazing; Lola loved all the clowns, the floats, and the marching bands.
It had to be the best year yet and of course we went and the fact that we watched the parade with Beej and Dylan only made Lola love it more.Break out the egg nog and the holy; it is official people Christmas is upon us!

Goofing Around

2011-11-21T19:21:00.003-05:00

We have been busy; fall arrived and at our house that brings a whole bunch of raking. You would be surprised by the number of leaves that can fall on our tiny front yard.
Because summer is over we can finally turn on the oven and we have been enjoying lots of home cooking and baking. Lola continues to enjoy helping in the kitchen. We are looking forward to the day when we just sign over all the cooking and baking responsibility to her.We have also been doing a lot of crafts, a sort of warm up to the Christmas craft season. We have some pretty amazing crafts planned to keep us busy for the next month.

We are also slowly getting ready to welcome the new baby into our family. Because of this there has been lots of one on one Lola time filled with hugs, kisses and lots of silliness.
I'll try to keep you posted more regularly, but no promises.

Thirty Nine Months Old

2011-11-14T08:11:00.001-05:00

Fun with hats

2011-11-13T08:02:00.003-05:00

Lola has had a long standing affinity to the cowboy hat. It began way before she was born when Oma bought her first cowboy hat.

Nowadays, her favourite hat is the one that looks like Jessie's
And there aren't nearly as many tears.
But, there are a lot of "Yee Haws".

Alligator Pie

2011-11-12T07:59:00.002-05:00

Our latest adventure in paper arts and craft projects, Alligator Pie.
Looks delicious, non?

Big Girl Room

2011-11-02T20:42:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Mom and Dad sent me to visit Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. While I was away they staged their very own episode of While You Were Out. They had designs to take me from the original Lola head quarters into my newly decorated big girl room all in one very busy weekend.This was what the started with; the office also known as the junk storage room.
Dad was in charge of painting.
Meaghan took care of the beautiful butterflies.
Mom was in charge of everything Sweedish (and there was a lot of it). She had some helpers too; Uncle Josh, Baba and Grandpa also joined in on the fun weekend of projects.
I knew as soon as the granny wagon pulled up to our house what Mom and Dad had been up to. I raced upstairs and found this.
A new super cool loft big girl bed.
With a special hiding area underneath for all my friends.
Bunny and I have moved right in and we love my new room. I can't wait for people to come over so that I can show it to them. Thanks to everyone who helped, Mom and Dad really appreciate all their hard work.

Saturday Night Shenanigans

2011-11-02T09:19:00.003-04:00

Saturday night was the night for Halloween parties. Mom is normally all over this evening, but this year she decided to stay at home and go to bed early. Dad soldiered on and dressed up and headed out for the evening. With no Mom he decided to take Uncle Josh with him. Dad was the tooth fairy and Uncle Josh was Maverick.
Lookin' good boys!

Happy Birthday Daddy - the final celebration of 2011

2011-11-01T09:18:00.000-04:00

Dad's birthday is celebrate through out the entire month of October. The final celebration of his epic birthday festivities is always a (honorary) Dunton birthday celebration. Grandpa and Baba made a delicious dinner and as always there was the traditional birthday cake. Baba and I were in charge of the Smartie application and candle placement.
Happy birthday Daddy, I can't wait to celebrate you again next year!

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T21:09:00.002-04:00

We always go out trick or treating with Beej and this year was no exception. Their neighbourhood is perfect for us and it is full of little trick or treaters.
But, before we were able to run from house to house collecting free candy the adults made us have a nutritious dinner of pizza and cake. Beej and Ate M made this spooktacular ghost cake for us to fill up on before hitting the streets and gathering our loot.
This was the first year that I really got what Halloween was all about.
By the end of the night I didn't need Dad to hold my hand anymore and was running with Beej from house to house.
I wasn't even scared of this house. Thanks for a fun night of trick or treating Beej. Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

Thirty Eight Months Old

2011-10-26T21:11:00.002-04:00

Better late then never right?

Halloween Preparations

2011-10-24T21:10:00.004-04:00

So, Sarah introduced me to pinterest where I have found and pinned all sorts of cool things. The amount of amazing holiday craft ideas on there is mind blowing, I only wish that I had more time. I have picked out a few of my very favourite and Lola and I are working on them for Halloween.
The project we were working on tonight involved a pumpkin, a whole lot of buttons, and a hot glue gun.
I was pretty happy with how it turned out and it was all done and cleaned up in 20 minutes. Which is just about the arts and craft attention span on a three year old.
Just wait till you see what we have planned for Christmas.

Working Girl

2011-10-19T21:03:00.000-04:00

I have been asking and asking Mom to take me to work with her one day. She finally relented.
The staff and students at York University couldn't handle how cute I am!

The Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-17T20:32:00.005-04:00

Last year we started a new tradition with Grandpa and Oma, an annual trip to visit the pumpkin patch by their house.
There is a lot of great stuff to do there.
They have a hunted pirate ship made of hay bales. I was the captain and Dad was my first mate for this spooky adventure on the high seas.
They also have a pumpkin mini putt course. Oma was the champion of the pumpkin patch mini putt this year.
Though Dad and I did manage to get a hole in one.
They also have a hay bale tractor that I enjoyed driving, it has a really loud working horn that I truly enjoyed honking.
This was one of the funny pumpkin people that are spread throughout the farm. I really liked shaking his hand.
The whole farm is covered with fun photograph opportunities.
They also have tractor rides and the farmer took us on a grand tour of the whole 140 acre farm. We saw where they grow their corn, blue berries, strawberries, squash, apples and lots of other neat things.
But, our favourite part of the visit to the pumpkin patch is this game. Last year this was where Mom won her major award. Clearly this year Grandpa and Oma had been practicing because they both managed to get their ball into the hole on the first shot.
Mom and Dad didn't perform as well this year and are now thinking about constructing a similar unit at home in order to improve over the off season.

A ball in the hole means a free pumpkin. We picked out the two most beautiful pumpkins in the entire pumpkin farm.Thanks for a great visit Grandpa and Oma.

Eyes Wide Shut

2011-10-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Recently I like to only have my photo taken with my eyes shut. That way I can see what I look like with my eyes shut. Otherwise I would have no clue what I looked like with my eyes shut. I think that I look pretty cute this way.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-10-11T21:36:00.000-04:00

The weather on Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally nice and this year was no exception. It was the most beautiful three days that we have had in awhile, and recently we have had some pretty nice days.
I hope that you had a wonderful time with your families, I know that I did!
Love,
Lola

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-10-10T21:04:00.004-04:00

This weekend we started to celebrate Dad's birthday. Dad's birthday celebrations take the entire month of October to complete. Dad likes it when we continually celebrate how wonderful he is. So, for our first celebration of Daddy, Mom and I hosted a birthday dinner and made this amazing cake.
As usual I was Mom's helper and was in charge of decorating.
Mom made a whack of ribs so that the adults could have Darcy's Birthday Rib Celebration.
And I invited a few of my friends over for an kids dinner and a movie.
Dad was really excited about eating his cake. He had been driven wild by the smell of it baking all day.We sang a rousing version of Happy Birthday and were finally able to dig into the cake. Dinner was good, but the cake was better.
Happy Birthday Daddy, I hope that you have an extra special day!

School Photos

2011-10-01T15:53:00.002-04:00

These are the cutest yet! I love the impish little smile!

Can you tell....

2011-09-29T10:42:00.000-04:00

that football season has taken over our entire household? Even Lola's artwork is football themed!

Friday night pizza party

2011-09-28T10:28:00.000-04:00

If you ask Lola she will tell you that 'Friday nights are for parties'. We have had popcorn parties, movie parties, fashion parties, picnic parties, beauty work parties, and then just regular complete raging parties. But, her favourite by far are the pizza parties.
Pizza parties combine a number of her most loved aspects of all the other parties rolled into one; a pizza party involves pizza, a party, a picnic, a movie, and helping Daddy make dinner.
Lola and Daddy make some pretty delicious pizza.
Lola is in charge of selecting the toppings, which explains why every pizza made includes olives and red peppers.
If you are even in the neighbourhood make sure you stop by for a Friday night party!

Thirty Seven Months Old

2011-09-27T10:25:00.002-04:00

Tasty Arts and Crafts

2011-09-27T10:16:00.002-04:00

Arts and crafts time around our house has recently graduated from crayons and paper to things much more complicated. This weeks project was tissue paper lollipops.
Not only were they fun and fairly easy to make, they turned out really neat.

Stay tuned for more awesome arts and crafts to come; we have a whole kit of amazing projects to work through.

Celebrating Tamara's 3rd Birthday

2011-09-22T12:48:00.000-04:00

Miss Tamara is now 3. We celebrated her 3rd birthday before she headed back out West after their Ontario adventure. It was her first experience being the one feted at a traditional Dunton birthday celebration.There was cake decorating.
Tamara requested a white cake with white icing for her special day.
Baba was more then happy to oblige.

We may have eaten some of the icing and the Smarties while we decorated.
I wore my best ballerina outfit. The femininity and softness of my skirt juxtaposed perfectly against the ruggedness of my bruised and bandaged legs.
And nothing is better then a birthday party where all the kids get a gift. I love my Princess book!
Mom picked out this t-shirt for Tamara. They didn't have a Tanta one, but she felt that this would be sufficient. Happy Birthday Tamara! We hope you had a great one!

For Mikey

2011-09-12T21:24:00.001-04:00

So the internet is a weird place; I have these friends who I have never met, will never meet. I know way too much about their personal lives, and they have absolutely no idea that I exist. It is a strange friendship to say the least.

I have no idea how I found them almost all of them, but at some point I did and bookmarked their page and every now and then I check in and see how they are doing. In Jennie's Kitchen is one of those spots, checking in for a new recipe or an update on how her girls. A few weeks ago I was sitting at my desk with a coffee and pulled up her blog and was instantly saddened to read about the death of her husband. I sat at my desk crying for a woman that I have never met wishing that I could do something for her, anything to help her through the terrible heart ache of losing her husband way too soon. So, Lola and I (like many other bakers all over the world) set out to make her husband Mikey's favourite desert and share it with the ones that we love.
The Creamy Peanut Butter Pie was delicious and I still start crying just thinking about why we made it.

I wish that there was more that I could do for Jennie!

Happy 5th Birthday Beej

2011-09-11T21:13:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe, but my good friend Beej turned 5. He had Dylan over to celebrate his big day and to also unveil his new awesome play room. We spent most of our time playing down the basement away from the prying eyes of our parents.
It was a great party and when the parents made us come upstairs they gave us pizza and ice cream cake!
And then there were presents.And then we played Twister.It was pretty much the best party ever. And the adults really enjoyed themselves a lot too. Happy Birthday Beej!

Another Baseball Season Comes to an End

2011-09-11T21:07:00.003-04:00

Dad plays baseball in the Beaches Church Division E League. It is pretty intense. Most of their games happen after bed time, but the rare night that the Jokes draw the early game card Mom and I go and cheer them on.
We like to show up nice and early so that Dad and I can get a good stretch and warm up in.
This particular game we got to watch the Jokes completely dominate their opponents and guarantee themselves a place in the playoffs. Dad has three games this week, it is pretty intense.

Go Jokes!

Family Cottage Vacation

2011-09-05T12:22:00.003-04:00

This year for our family vacation we decided to get away from it all and head up to a cottage in Minden. Not exactly the deep north, but far enough to get us out of the city.Lola had been looking forward to our cottage vacation for months.
We all adapted to cottage life pretty quickly. There was lots of relaxing,
many arts and crafts sessions,
and breakfasts on the deck.
We also did lots of playing in the lake
and tickles on the dock.
We had lots of visitors too; Shaymus and Tamara came to visit (there are no photos of this visit). Beej also came for a visit and we spent an entire day playing in the lake and building sand castles. While I don't look like it in the photo, but I was so happy to have him over for a sleepover.
Part of our vacation took place on a golf course. Where Dad managed to finally win his first Johnny jacket. Mom, Beej and I hung out at the cottage while the rest of the adults participated in the 15th annual Johnny invitational; but we made it to the golf course in time to see all the teams coming into the 18th green.

Beej even got to drive his Dad's golf cart!

It was a great vacation and we will be back next year!

Baby Boy Montgomery

2011-08-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Lookin' Good!

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

2011-08-24T20:09:00.004-04:00

For Lola's 3rd birthday she requested a ride on a camel, a pony, and an elephant. We knew that the Toronto zoo would be able to accommodate 2 out of 3 of those requests.
So, on Lola's official birthday we all played hooky and headed to the zoo for a day of animals, fun, and sunshine.

The camel ride was our first stop.
Lola wasn't completely sold on the camel at first.
But, by the end she loved riding Titan.
He even paused right in front of Dad for a photo. Clearly this is his good side and he knows it.
The next stop was the elephants. While there was no opportunity to ride the elephants Lola was ecstatic to see them.
They were beautiful and giant.
After that we headed to the pony. Unfortunately after much discussion and anticipation Lola had no interest in actually riding Max. We just gave him a pat and headed on our way.
The final stop on our tour was Sting Ray Bay. Which is pretty cool. We saw lots of other animals while on our zoo visit and hope to come back and visit more soon.

Lola's Camera

2011-08-20T20:00:00.007-04:00

We have been busy being here, there and everywhere. Lola and I have taken our cameras with us most of the time. Though, I am pretty sure that Lola has taken 100 times more photos then I have. Here is a sampling of the world through the lens of Lola's camera.
More to come and better updates once we get everything unpacked and life gets back to normal.

2011-08-18T22:14:00.000-04:00

This year Lola asked for a Woody and Jessie birthday party. On top of everything being Woody and Jessie related she also wanted a bouncy castle and face painting. While they didn't really fit with the theme I did my best.
We set up an arts and crafts table where guest could decorate their very own Woody neck scarf.
And made Sherrif stars with a picture of the birthday girl for everyone to wear.
Face painting for all the kids showed off the artistic talents of Sarah. And the kids weren't making easy requests she had a Nemo, sword fish, vampire bat, etc.
Tamara all set for the party!
The cupcakes were pink on the inside (as requested by Lola) and were decorated to look like the pattern on Woody's shirt or the pattern on Jessie's shirt.
Carefully carrying the cupcakes to the birthday girl in the backyard.

She has been practicing her candle blowing since last years incident.
Happy cow folk and their cupcakes.
After lunch and cup cakes we played pin the tail on Bullseye.
The crowd was riveted with excitement while the kids were playing.
Some happy cowboys, with a deflated bouncy castle behind them. I don't have any shots of it in action, but trust me it was there and the kids were bouncing.
Yee haw. We had a root tootin' good time. Thanks for joining us and making it such a fantastic day!

Cousins

2011-08-15T22:07:00.001-04:00

Is it supposed to hurt this much?

3 Years Old

2011-08-14T21:56:00.000-04:00

Camping

2011-08-12T09:39:00.000-04:00

We went on our annual camping trip with the Etherington family and the Stoski family and again this year it was amazing. We went to the same trailer park again this year, because as far as trailer parks go this one is pretty good. Plus it is close, in case the hillbilly's get too much and we need to head for the comfort of civilization.
I was pretty excited when the tents were set up to go around and try everyone's bed.
This was mine. I brought along two bags of friends.
Camping is mostly about sitting around and chatting.
And some times tickling.
Ahhh camping.

Shaking our sillies out!
Saturday was a glorious day, so we packed up and headed to the beach. We made sand castles, swam, ate sandwiches, played, and pretty much had an amazing time.

Dylan and I spent a whole lot of time playing in a rubermaid container full of super cold water. We kept the adults entertained.
Dylan being forced to eat while I watched. Clearly I had already polished off my pizza wrap.
Camping this year was nothing but smiles! I can't wait till next year!

Neighbourhood Movie Night

2011-08-11T22:35:00.001-04:00

Five children five and under sitting quietly and watching a movie. I never thought that it could happen!

Happy 3rd Birthday Lola - Part 2

2011-08-11T11:58:00.004-04:00

Lola requested pink ice cream cone cupcakes with pink icing and star sprinkles for her birthday party at daycare. I did my best to accommodate. The kids and the teachers loved them and Lola was so happy to have a birthday celebration at school where everyone sang to her and she got to share her cupcakes with all her friends.

Happy 3rd Birthday Lola - Part 1

2011-08-02T20:48:00.005-04:00

Birthday celebrations in our family happen in many stages; the first stage of Lola's 3rd birthday was a party at Grandpa and Baba's house.
It began with the decorating of the traditional Dunton birthday cake.
Tamara and Lola took their time and were very precise with their Smartie placement.
Shaymus had his all on in seconds and spent a lot of time waiting for the girls to catch up.
There may have been some Smartie and icing eating.
While waiting for cake time, the kids decided to attack.
Finally it was cake time.
Lola has been really looking forward to her birthday this year, she has been working on candle blowing. And takes it very, very serious.
Hanging with Uncle Josh.
The best part about cake time is it is promptly followed by present time. Grandpa and Baba got Lola a camera for her birthday and she was so excited. She has been taking pictures of everything, I'll make sure to put some of her work up on the blog shortly.
Uncle Jon photo bombing.
Thanks for the great birthday celebration Grandpa and Baba!

Shaymus and Tamara Arrive

2011-08-02T20:37:00.004-04:00

It has been a busy few days around here and because of that fact the next few posts are going to be pretty picture heavy.

Shaymus, Tamara and Uncle Jeff arrived for a nice long visit this week. The weather here has been hot hot hot. So I brought down my pool so that the three of us could cool off in it. Mom also might have brought some water squirters along too. Shaymus loved those, Uncle Jeff did not.

Grandpa brought us some ice cream to also help cool us off.
When we weren't in the pool or eating ice cream we were running around the park.

There are lots more pictures of my adventures with Shaymus and Tamara to come, they are here for the rest of the summer! Stay tuned.

Looking Pretty

2011-08-02T20:36:00.003-04:00

The Bubble Queen

2011-07-25T14:17:00.001-04:00

Sports Teams

2011-07-17T21:03:00.003-04:00

We support a number of different sports teams in our house. When it comes to baseball we are behind the Toronto Blue Jays, for college football we support Michigan State, NFL we are New England Patriots fans, with the NHL we either support the Vancouver Canucks or the Montreal Canadiens. And now when it comes to CFL we bleed blue! Go Blue Bombers Go!

Cutest Kitty Ever!

2011-07-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

Fashion Boots

2011-07-13T21:44:00.001-04:00

Nothing demonstrates that you are serious about doing some swimming and splashing work like fashion boots!

Dylan's Big Race

2011-07-12T21:36:00.000-04:00

Dylan participated in his first triathlon this weekend and there was no chance that we weren't going to be there to cheer him on.
It was such a hot day, but thankfully Dylan's heat started at 8:36 am.
We set up so that we could watch the transition from pool to bike and also some of the run. Mom, Dad and I made a big sign for Dylan and cheered extra loud when he zipped by.
He did such a great job and was awarded this amazing medal for his swimming, biking and riding skills! Afterward we headed to the park, ate some snacks and then the splash pad and we managed to do all of this before 11am! Congratulations on completing your first triathlon Dylan!

And then they were four!

2011-07-11T21:31:00.001-04:00

Baby Montgomery is scheduled to arrive in mid January. We all can't wait!

Thirty Five Months Old

2011-07-11T21:22:00.001-04:00

Daycare Lola

2011-07-05T22:10:00.002-04:00

When Lola goes to daycare she is almost a completely different child. She is 100% potty trained at day care, she refuses her afternoon naps and she sits patiently while they do her hair.
I never know what she is going to look like when I get to her school to pick her up.
This is Lola's best buddy Thomson. They have been together at daycare for almost two years, they started in the baby room within a week of each other and they have been inseparable ever since.

Canada Day Shenanigans

2011-07-03T20:58:00.002-04:00

Vacuuming - Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T21:28:00.002-04:00

Photography By Lola - Part 2

2011-06-23T21:01:00.002-04:00

Aunt Emily's Shoes

2011-06-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Baba

2011-06-22T21:36:00.005-04:00

For Baba's birthday she decided to have her birthday dinner at a restaurant that was close to our house! Which meant that we got to celebrate Baba's birthday with her on a school night! We had a fancy dinner at Edward Levesque and then headed back to our house for cake and some presents.I am super helpful when it comes to opening presents.
Baba really liked the soap and cream that we got her.
And she really liked the present from Uncle Jon, Uncle Josh and Emily.
Grandpa made the traditional Dunton birthday cake and brought it to my house to be decorated. I am very specific and precise with my Smartie deployment and I wanted to use every single candle in the box!
I kept a close eye on Grandpa while he lit the candles.
Bringing out the cake to the birthday girl while we all sing.
She loved cake, just look at her sheer happiness.
Aunt Emily helped Baba and I blow out the candles. Grandpa said that Baba had four boyfriends, which is apparently down from last year!
After the cake it was photo session time, Lola and the birthday girl!
Lola and Emily.
The boys.
The ladies!
Uncle Jon loves his kissing photos!

Happy Birthday Baba! Thanks for coming over to celebrate with us!

Silver Heels

2011-06-22T21:21:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was the Collingwood Yacht Club's Annual Sail Past and Grandpa and Oma invited us up to join them on Silver Heels. The sail past was going to be my first time actually out on the water. The weather didn't cooperate when we visited Silver Heels last time and we only had lunch on the boat.
But this time it was a perfect day for sailing; the sun was shining and the wind was blowing and I spent most of the trip asleep with Mom down below.
Nick and Shannon came with us; they along with Dad were the crew; Oma was in charge of in-sail services and Mom was in charge of me.
Skipper Grandpa at the helm.
I woke up for the end of the sail, just in time to see that we had actually left the dock and to help the Skipper get us back home safely.
Modeling the latest motionball hat!
After sailing we headed home to put on our party clothes and came back to the Club for dinner and dancing. It was a great night and while Mom did bring the camera, she neglected to take any photos from the rest of the night.
Team Silver Heels Ahoy! Mom got us all these jazzy Silver Heels matching t-shirts. We were the best dressed sailing team on the water. Thanks for the great visit Grandpa and Oma, I'll be back!

Big Girl Bike Riding - Part 2

2011-06-22T21:17:00.001-04:00

Uncles and Cool Hair

2011-06-22T21:07:00.002-04:00

The Perfect Alibi

2011-06-16T21:47:00.004-04:00

Alexandra invited me and a few other ladies over to her Grandpa's boat for a visit. There were six ladies under the age of 3 and Dustind (he spent most of his time hanging with the boys and driving the boat, yes the 6 year old drove the 78 foot boat for the majority of the cruise). Here is a shot of the chaos as the ladies started getting ready.
This is Alexandra's Dad and her Grandpa. I wish I had more shots of the boat, it is bigger then our house and has 5 bathrooms. Yup, we ladies like to travel in style.
Don't worry Dad, you totally aren't raising any expectations here!
Mom tried to organize a photo of all the girls, but the twins weren't all that interested.
This is a pretty good shot of Maddy, Alexandra, myself, and Bella. A pretty cute crew, any captain would be lucky to have us! Thanks for the invite Alexandra!

Thirty Four Months Old

2011-06-16T21:41:00.004-04:00

Thank gosh Uncle Jon has been out of town on business this week or he would have been totally bugging Mom about the late posting of these pictures.
Thank heaven for small miracles, like thirty four month old girls and business trips that take uncles out East.

More Cake Pops

2011-06-16T21:34:00.002-04:00

There was a bake sale at my daycare. And Mom was determined to win it. Now keep in mind that there was no actual official competition, but Mom was still determined.

So, she pulled out the Cake Pops book and spent an evening making these cute little cupcake ice cream cones.
They were by far the cutest thing at the bake sale, the first item to sell out and the only item to almost start a fight. Mom takes that as a sign of her complete domination of the Boulton Avenue bake sale!
Watch out if you ever ask her to bake anything for you!

Big Girl Bike Riding

2011-06-13T22:04:00.002-04:00

The Kitchen Aid

2011-06-06T22:18:00.004-04:00

In the new year Lola and I started baking. We love it and the more and more we do it, the more tools I decide that we need. I have a list and have been slowly purchasing the baking equipment necessities. By the time I manage to amass all of these items we are going to have to build a bigger kitchen. The one piece of baking equipment that I was determined would greatly and irrefutably transform our baking experience was the Kitchen Aid. And it arrived on my birthday!
Lola is very excited about it and has named it Madagascar.

It is unbelievable how great it is, I really can't explain it.
Lola and I cranked out a few treats this weekend and are looking forward to having the most popular cookies at the upcoming daycare bake sale.

Thanks Darcy, I (we) love it!

Gardening

2011-06-05T22:14:00.003-04:00

The sunshine has finally arrived and we were so excited to get back into our garden. The monsoon like weather that we have been experiencing was great for our gardens, everything is green and lush and completely over grown.
This weekend we managed to pull two yard waste bags of weeds.
Lola is by far the cutest gardener in the family!

Happy Birthday Mom - Part 2

2011-05-30T21:47:00.005-04:00

We first celebrated Mom's birthday at the May Babies birthday party. But, this year Mom said that she wasn't going to be happy with just one birthday celebration. So, Dad invited a few friends over for dinner to fete her a second time.

Beej was, of course, one of the guests. We got to have our own table in the back so that we could watch a movie and eat dinner without being disturbed by all the adults talking.
Beej with the help of Katie and Mark was in charge of picking out the birthday cake. The final cake choice was kept a secret until the candles were lit and the singing began.
He decided on this amazing train ice cream cake. He thought that mom would love it because it involved trains and well, what else do you need?
Mom and Neven were very excited by the cake when it was finally revealed.
Beej and I doing a really good job at helping Mom blow out the candles.
After blowing out the candles, Beej and I helped Mom take them out and lick them off.
Beej and I were both very excited by the prospect of ice cream cake, it was too delicious for words.
I wanted to eat the face, which involved a lot of blue icing. I may have gotten some on my hands.
Happy Birthday Mom!

Cousins

2011-05-30T21:46:00.000-04:00

Our Rapture Party

2011-05-25T22:45:00.002-04:00

With the possible end of the world coming on the weekend we decided that the best thing to do would be to have a party. Sarah made a 'Rapture Cake' that was sinfully delicious.

We went to watch the Toronto Blue Jays in the afternoon and then headed back to our place for a bbq. Dylan had his awesome retro Jays shirt on, I can't wait till he out grows of it and I get it! The boys and I did a lot of playing.
I put on a small concert for the adults. I sang, played lead guitar and the key board. I am pretty much a musical prodigy.
The best part of the party was that the world didn't end, so we get to do this again next weekend. Thanks for coming over to celebrate the end of the world Stoski's and Etherington's!

Lola Pink

2011-05-24T22:42:00.001-04:00

This nail polish colour is called Lola. I think Lola and I will be sporting it on our toes all summer long!

Thirty Three Months Old

2011-05-24T22:38:00.004-04:00

These photos are long over due, I should be posting her thirty four pictures soon (but who am I kidding I will probably be late with those ones too). Enjoy Miss Lola at thirty three months.

Happy Birthday May Babies

2011-05-18T21:45:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of people in Mom's family who are born in May. So many in fact, that they just really refer to May as the Birthday month. This past weekend we got together to celebrate all those Dunton's who were born in May.One of the greatest things about a Dunton birthday is the cake. And since I am the only grandchild in Ontario now, I get to decorate the cake, lick the icing and eat smarties all by myself!
My Smartie cake placement is becoming more and more precise.
Grandpa and Baba kept a very close watch while I did my decorating work. Grandpa kept trying to get me to put my fingers in the icing so that he could lick it off. That way Baba can't get mad at him!
The May birthday party is considerably quieter now without the Winnipeg Dunton's, so we gave them a call. Here we are Skyping with the cousins. They couldn't be here in person, but they got to see everything that was going on.
Grandpa lighting the candles that I very carefully placed in the cake for Mom, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Josh.
The birthday gang, minus Uncle Jeff.
I started blowing out the candles before we even stopped singing. I like being first!

Happy birthday Uncle Jeff, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Josh!

Clippies

2011-05-17T21:41:00.001-04:00

See Oma I love clippies now!

Easter Brunch

2011-05-16T15:28:00.002-04:00

For Easter Brunch this year Dad and I packed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's. Mom had to go to work and missed out on a great lunch, games and another super exciting egg hunt.
Here is a nice picture of the gang. These pictures are always harder to take then you think.

Grandpa Steve made this new swing for Grandma's garden. The rooster and I love it!
Hunting for eggs!
Thanks for a wonderful Easter brunch Grandma and Grandpa!

Easter Morning

2011-05-15T22:19:00.002-04:00

Easter Morning I woke up to a trail of amazing treats from the Easter Bunny. I was incredibly willing to put on my bunny ears, grab my basket and go hunting for treats.
Here is a photo of Dad and I sporting our traditional bunny ears mid-hunt.

A very happy bunny on the hunt!
The Easter Bunny brought me some chocolate, but most importantly the Easter Bunny brought me a whole new set of Play-Doh. In this picture it looks like I am getting ready to drink the Play-Doh, but I have learned that it smells a whole lot better then it looks! Yeah Easter!

Dylla tha Thrylla

2011-05-13T18:00:00.001-04:00

Leah is on a medically-enforced blogging break, having burned out her Blogimus Maximus muscles after an intense keyboard guitar session*. Fear not! The blogging shall continue! UPDATE: I am slow at this; more of a year-in-review than a daily beat guy. Luckily, this means Dylan's birthday is being celebrated for even longer.

How could we not report on the birthday festivities of our good friend Dylan, for example? As part of our busy Easter weekend social circuit, we traveled out to Mississauga to celebrate Dylan's 4th birthday Agent Oso style.

Beej was on the scene too, looking fine and on-theme in his Agent Oso tee.

Sarah crafted a deluxe Agent Oso cake that had all the kids hopped up on complex sugars and good feelings within seconds of its arrival.

Moms and dads all reveled in the sun while the kids kept the party going inside. Winner: everyone. After the games, treats and impromptu hide-and-seek games were done, we all headed home.

Thanks for a great party, Sarah, Neven and Dylan!

Marathon of Sport 2011

2011-05-12T10:05:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad are participating in motionball's Marathon of Sport again this year. It is a great event that raises funds for the Canadian Special Olympics foundation. Mom and Dad will spend a full day participating in a variety of events; Ultimate Frisbee, Flag Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Kick Ball, Bench Ball, Tug-of-War and Bocce; all along side Special Olympics athletes.

If you have a chance please sponsor Mom and her fundraising efforts!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T10:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks for everything Mom!

Happy Birthday Katie

2011-05-03T10:25:00.000-04:00

Mark and Katie's house is under major renovations, so when Mark was looking for somewhere to host a birthday dinner for Katie we were more then happy to offer up our place.
Lola was so excited to have Beej and Dylan over to her house and to host them at the first sitting of dinner. The kids dinner was surrounded by lots of playing, movie watching, running about, and other bouts of silliness.
The adults sat and had dinner when the kids were finished. We managed to convince them that they couldn't come into the dinning room because the floor was filled with crocodiles and sharks. Weird, but it worked, at least for an hour or so.
We pulled out the birthday crown for Katie, who happily put it on in honour of the tenth anniversary of her 25th birthday.
Whenever we have these gatherings we never have proof that Neven was actually there, but look he was! I swear that is him under those hands.
Katie still wearing the crown, but now with wine. The wine probably makes the birthday crown make more sense.While I was excited to have everyone over and celebrate Katie. I was also really excited to finally have an excuse to make this cake; it is a yellow cake with chocolate ganache icing. The kids were just excited to have cake and had no interest in me talking about the hours of labour that gone into its creation.
"Just light the candles lady and get the cake on the table."
They waited patiently through a number of group photo ops (we are a picture happy group) before the cake was delivered, candles blown and it was finally time for the cake to be devoured.
It was a great get together and everything was so wonderful; good times, good food, great friends!
Happy Birthday Katie! (there were a number of cameras clicking away, but Sarah really nailed this one with all of our recent photo posing training).

Princess Wedding Breakfast

2011-05-01T20:39:00.004-04:00

Like a third of the world's population we were up bright and early to witness the festivities of William and Kate's nuptials. Lola was so excited to see a real princess wedding that she didn't fuss for a second when I went in to wake her up at 5:30am. I remember watching princess Diana's wedding all those years ago with my mom and my two older brothers. This event was something that I had to share with my little girl.

I pulled out my mom's tiara for the event and Lola and I took turns wearing it. I normally try not to put terrible pictures of myself up on the internet (there are already more then enough of those here and here), but I love this picture because Lola and I are completely mesmerized by the love and the pageantry.
Darcy was even in the princess spirit and wore a crown while making our delicious princess breakfast.
Congratulations Will and Kate! Good luck and thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Man vs Ikea

2011-05-01T20:13:00.003-04:00

Our house has looked a bit hoarder-ish lately, ever since Darcy took a trip to Ikea and came home with the eight boxes that would make up our new backyard furniture.
Almost our entire house has been made by the those sneaky Swedes and an allen key.
Lola loves when new boxes from Ikea arrive at our house because she knows that it means a special project for her and Daddy.
She is a really big helper and will pass you the 'knocker' or the 'squisher' when asked and very rarely misplaces one of the screws.
Lola and Darcy managed to get the table, six chairs, and the bench together. The project ended up spanning over two days and only involved one broken part and a dozen words we hope Lola doesn't repeat. The backyard look great, the only problem is that it has been raining ever since so I haven't had an opportunity to get outside and take some pictures of the finished product. Hopefully you will see lots of pictures of the new backyard set up over the summer!

Party Rockers

2011-04-29T22:31:00.004-04:00

We have a new favourite song around here, Party Rock Anthem, Lola requests it all the time. These photos don't do her shufflin' justice, but enjoy none the less.

And yes, this dance does need to be done topless and with props.

Easter Crafts

2011-04-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

Mom and Sarah like to make stuff. They spend weeks looking through craft books and magazines in order to completely plan out their holiday crafting and baking sessions. This year for Easter they decided that working on cream filled eggs and Chick cakepops would be the focus of their Easter craft day.

The cream filled eggs were a recipe suggested by Grandma and the ladies thought that they would tackle them first.
They were pretty easy mix sugar with more sugar and then some sweetened milk.
Form the sugar into egg like structures.
And then dip in chocolate.
Wrapped in purple foil to make them look official. Done!

Part of the excitement for Mom and Sarah is that while they are baking and crafting they get a chance to go and get fueled up on designer coffees from the Red Rocket. The Red Rocket is always full of delicious treats and on this visit the ladies felt that they needed something a little bit more substantial then a cookie or a muffin to get them through an afternoon of cake popping. They decided that they needed the macaroni and cheese empanada! It also contains cut up hot dogs and a sprinkling of potato chip. It is as delicious as it looks, unless you think it looks gross, then it is way better then it looks.
Then it was back to work in the kitchen. They are getting pretty good at decorating cakepops. Though when you are working with something this cute it is really hard to screw it up.
See, look how cute they are!

The cakepop chick army all ready for distribution across Southern Ontario over the Easter holidays. Mom and Sarah were pretty happy with how everything turned out.

More pictures from the rest of the busy Easter weekend to come!

Montreal

2011-04-26T22:54:00.005-04:00

Mom is attempting a blog-jack and wants to take over control of Lola and put up some pictures from their recent train trip to Montreal. She figures that you always get to see all the great things that I get to do and that you should see that they get to do cool things too. And some times they do those cool things without me.
Here is the view from their hotel window.
And this is a sleepy picture of Mom and Dad before they headed out for a late brunch.
Mom and Dad went out for some pretty delicious sounding designer burgers and they also had boozy milk shakes. Mom filled up on milk shakes!
They did some walking around while they were there, but based on their photos all they did was eat and drink.
They swear that they saw some historical buildings and got some culture, but I don't know if I believe them.
Regardless of what they did while away they had a great time and missed me every minute!

Peeps Show T.O. 2011 - Results

2011-04-22T23:13:00.007-04:00

It was another amazing year here at Peeps Show T.O. head quarters. We had a number of amazing entries, but can only recognize those that achieved the absolute highest level of Peeps dioraming. Thank you to everyone who entered, we really do appreciate all your hard work and I really can't wait to see what you manage to come up with for next year. And now for the winners...

Patricia Montgomery Rundle was awarded the prize for Best Musical Adaptation with her piece titled 'Peeps and Bess'.

The category of Best Short Non-fiction Adaptation was won by the production team of John, Gail, Mark, Katie, and Beej. This first time team of peepers put together the amazing entry, 'Florida Peeps'.

Best Television Series Adaptation - Comedy or Musical went to multi time peeper Sarah Stoski with her piece titled 'True Peeps'.

Best feature film that failed to live up to all of its Oscar hype adaption was awarded to Leah for her entry 'The Social Peepwork'.

Best Cartoon Peeps Adaption was won by two time Peeps T.O. champion Meaghan McCue and her piece titled 'Peepangled'.

And Best Feature Film Adaptation was presented to first time Peeps T.O. contestant Dustind Milroy for his amazing piece titled 'Peep Wars'.

Happy Easter

2011-04-21T10:06:00.001-04:00

Wishing everyone a fantastic Easter weekend!