Halloween 2013

We love a theme in our house; so when we discuss Halloween costume ideas we need to take into consideration the family as a whole.  We figured that this would probably be the last year that Quinn will go along with Lola's Halloween vision without requiring some sort of input so when she said that she felt very strongly about a Princess and the Frog theme we let her go with it.  Lola thought that Quinn would made the most adorable Frog Prince (she was right), Lola would be a very beautiful princess Tiana (again, she was right), and she thought that Mom and Dad could be the fireflies Ray and Evangeline. 

They were both very excited about their costumes and couldn't wait for the big day to show them off.

We picked up our pumpkins at the beginning of the month when we were up visiting Grandpa and Oma giving Lola ample time to decide on what she wanted them to look like.

She designed and drew on her pumpkin all by herself.

And got Shelley to help her with Quinn's pumpkin.

I was in charge of the carving (I was very well supervised and instructed) and Lola was quite pleased to see her creations come to life.

On Halloween night we packed up and headed to Beej's house for our traditional Halloween festivities.  After a themed dinner, many treats and lots of photos the kids were dying to hit the streets and collect candy. 

Just a few more photos Lola and Beej!

Quinn quickly figured out how the whole Trick or Treating thing worked and probably visited a dozen houses before the desire to sit and eat his treats was stronger then his desire to collect more treats. 

Lola and Beej were unfazed by the rain and were loving running from house to house.  They would have stayed out for longer, but they were eager to get back and hand out candy and maybe eat some of their own.  It was another terribly successful Halloween with the Etherington's!

Priceless Works of Art

Lola and Quinn love their arts and craft time and Shelley is always coming up with new and interesting things to keep their creative minds hopping.  This latest project was super cool, they were making three dimensional paintings and I had to share because I thought that the results were so neat.

It looked liked they were painting with marshmallow; Quinn quickly discovered that it did not taste like marshmallow, but more like shaving cream and glue. 

I don't think that they will do well in the post, so don't expect to see this in your mailbox anytime soon.  But, every visitor to our house and take one of these amazing works of art home with them!

40th Birthday Bash

In honour of 40 wonderful years of Darcy we decided to host a small open house at our place to celebrate how amazing he is.  It was a family friendly affair and Lola and Quinn were very excited to help plan.  The kids and I spent a long time discussing food, cupcakes and decorations.  Lola decided that for decorations we should use photos of Darcy; so we spent a few nights going through old photo albums and tried to select our favourites.  It was a tough job and there were way too many that we loved so we ended up making a large 40 collage and then just randomly posting photos around the house.

We also set up (the first of many) outdoor movie theaters, all it took was a few bed sheets (that Darcy the perfectionist steamed to ensure the highest quality viewing pleasure), a projector, and a tent.  Who knew that it could be that simple to keep eleven little people entertained?

Add a lot of popcorn and blankets and we basically only heard from the kids when a show ended and a new DVD needed to be cued up.

The food was amazing and everything turned out just like Lola, Quinn and I had envisioned.

 

The best part was all the family and friends that came out to celebrate with us; we are a very lucky family to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.  It was a lovely celebration of a wonderful man. Happy Birthday Darcy!

Jamaican Me Forty - A photo essay

There was a lot of fun and a lot of sun (and maybe a tich bit of rum).  These are the few photos that I have, but I think that they speak volumes about the Jokes 40th birthday trip.

Quinn Twenty One Months Old

Lola's Photgraphic Eye

Lola often disappears with the camera for long periods and when the camera finally reappears I enjoy looking through the dozens of photos to see what the world looks like through her eyes.  She takes a large number of pictures of things that she clearly enjoys; her chalkboard, puzzles, toys, etc. 

But, my favourite is when she sets up her photo booth.  There were 86 photos from the latest photo booth session; I have included a selection of my personal favourites.