a happy retirement

Last weekend we officially celebrated an end of an era for Paul and Janice at Paul's retirement party. It was a fun filled night complete with live music and a comedian from the island.  And as with most retirements it was bitter sweet remembering the old in order to ring in the new. Unlike most retirments I'm a little skeptical that this one is going to stick for long. But for now we toast you both and wish you some awesome trips and hope you find some new hobbies.

The guests of honour - Janice and Paul.

 A proud Mama.

 A bird's eye view of the rowdy table.

The setting.

Our comedian - Patrick Ledwell.

In other news, my sister arrived last night. She has generously agreed to take care of our babies for the first week of Cody and my trip to Ireland/Scotland. My Mom has generously agreed to fly in for week two and then Grammie Donna will be with them for the last couple of days. Feuwf. Kids are a lot of work. We thank you three ladies and hope you will ease any pains the kids may have for us. We love you all so much. Talk to you in a couple weeks upon our return.

Aimee

a sweet Easter at home

A belated happy Easter to all. We nearly rang in Easter five hours early after Kate came in to ask if it was morning. In his delirious state Cody said she could go play. When I came to, hearing the kids with explore their Easter baskets, I asked Cody what time it was, "Oh, 1:45," was his response. What a cruel world. And a cruel Mother. It fell on me to go break the news to two very excited children that they had to put down the baskets, the eggs, the clues and crawl back into bed for a few more hours. They weren't overly receptive. Skeptical though I was, they did listen and were able to get back to sleep until just shy of seven.

As always, it is so sweet to watch them hunt together, their level of compassion and cooperation is almost unbelievable. They are genuinely supportive and excited for one and other when they discover and share each others' treasures. 

 

Our 2015 collection of eggs. It's not just the photo, these eggs are beautiful.

 A pre-Easter paint.

Elliott though a little less dedicated to the craft, genuinely loves picking up a brush. Instead of painting he mainly focused on mixing paint - creating new colours.

The fruits of Kate's Easter weekend.

And the downside to our Easter. Snow, snow, snow. The temperature remained low enough that very little melted and in actuality we had quite a bit more come down.

Lots of "Spring" love. CAKE

oh they really do grow up so fast

Sunday morning Kate asked to borrow my phone as she needed the camera for a photo shoot she had dreamt up and styled. A half hour or so later she reappeared proud as a peacock to show us her work.

"You know Mommy Aubrey has grown up so fast."

"This is Aubrey when she was one - just a baby."

"Here is Aubrey at two years old. "

"This is Aubrey when she was three."

 "And this is Aubrey now - she's four."

In my past career I was a part of a team working to set up time lapse sequences and Kate I think you have done very well given your seemingly non existent budget and limited resources. My favourite aspect is the diaper you fashioned out of painter's tape and kleenex.  Please also note she took each of the above as single shots. This shows great reserve on her part. Typically when she borrows the camera she takes literally hundreds of photos of an object - which in most cases is her face.

Baby girl, the world is your oyster, what's on your horizon: stylist, art director, photographer or just plain great mom?

A couple more Kate shots from the morning...

In other news, we've got a Spring luncheon at the kids' school this afternoon. I'm looking forward to sitting down with them in their spaces and watching them in their worlds for a bit. 

Much love - Aimee