First Lost Tooth

 

Aiden lost his first tooth last evening. Oddly enough, he did not even notice until after it had fallen out. Well that is the first of many to come. The kids came over for a visit today, and Aiden tried out the toboggan slide. With the cold temperatures and the fresh snow, he was able to go all the way down to the bottom, but the speed did not impress him much. After they left, I got out the garden hose and soaked the slide really well. Boy will he be in for a surprise when he tries it next time. Click here to see a couple more pics of the kids today.

A Little Doll for Christmas

 

Once again we were at Tracy and Frank's for Christmas. To preserve the magic of Santa, we all got up at 6 am and drove to Tracy's so that we could be there to see the look in the kids eyes when they got out of bed. It takes until noon to open all the presents. The kids were great and each one had more than they expected. This year, Quinten has been using anything around the house to pretend he had a guitar to play with. Aiden too had asked for a guitar with strings. So both boys had their guitars to play with. Terry brought his girlfriend Natalie and her son Anton over for Christmas dinner. It was a long day, but a family day in which we all came together. Click here to see more pictures of our Christmas.

Christmas Eve at Cupelli's

 

We had a lovely traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner at Luigi and Carmella Cupelli's. After the meal, the kids open their gifts. This year, Carmella relied on the assistance of her daughter Lisa and others to help with the meal, and I must say that the kids pitched in and a great time was had by all. Now the kids are all tucked in their beds, not a creature is stirring as they wait for Santa to arrive at their house Christmas morning. We will arrive there at 7 am to see the look on the kids faces when they see their presents. Click here to see more of these pictures.

The Christmas Concert

 

This was Quinten's first concert and even though he had his star in his hand and he had been practicing the song twinkle twinkle for the previous week at school, something happened ... stage fright. Still he managed to look over to see his dad with the obligatory video cam and give a big smile. Quinten is really enjoying school this year. Click here to see more pics.

Aiden's Turn

 

The kids are staying another night with us, so it was an opportunity to get a picture of Aiden for our threesome set. I think we will do away with ordering the new wallpaper and just paper the walls with prints instead. Already our hallway does not have room for a single other picture.

Pretty Little Girl

 

I think the trick to getting a good picture of Lexy is getting her early enough in the morning and just 3 clicks before she has a loss of interest.

Sweet Nuthin

 

Lexy was the model today. Aiden had his hockey this morning then gone til tomorrow. A quick test of the equipment and Lexy stood in to let me take a few test shots. We are hoping she will be willing to do some more pics tomorrow - like all of the top models she can be finicky - mornings are better. She was shopping the rest of the day until late so I am hoping she will have lots of beauty sleep before the next pics. Of course if you click on her picture you see her really big size.

3 Dead Soldiers

 

This part of the main highway in Canada has been renamed the "Highway of Heroes" because each time a Canadian soldier dies in Afghanistan, their body is flown to the main military airbase in Trenton located about 45 minutes East of where we live. On every bridge between Trenton and Toronto, citizens line up on the bridges to give a final farewell. Often you can see the parents of the soldiers waving back to the people from the funeral car. Three Canadian soldiers, 98, 99 and the 100th that have died in Afghanistan, arrived yesterday.

Terry Natalie and Anton

 

We were invited over to Terry and Natalie's place for dinner. Along with Natalie's son Anton, they are living in a beautiful new townhouse in Ajax, not far from Lake Ontario. It was a delicious dinner, and a charming home. We wish them well as they set out on life's uncharted course together.

Santa I want a Weeeeee !

 

I was taking shots of Wenda in my studio tonight and decided to put her in the festive mood. So I found a Santa on the internet and put Wenda on his lap. OK Wenda here is your chance to ask for that Christmas present !

Santa Comes to Town

 

I had been asked by our local newspaper to shoot the Santa Claus parade this year. It was mild and near zero C so there were more families than usual this year. I estimate about 4000 watched this rather unique night time parade. Our grandkids had chairs and blankets with lots of hot chocolate to keep them cozy. It was a great year for the parade.

Photoshopping

 

I have discovered that a little bit of work in photoshop can really improve a picture. So here I have grabbed a picture that had been relegated to the dust bin and tried to work some magic. I find this hobby fascinating because there is so much to learn and so many ways to improve.

Recent Shooting in Newcastle

 

It seems that the headline has all too often brought bad news in our newspapers but I am here to announce a good shooting. The youngest of grandkids were over for their fashion shoot in my new mini-studio downstairs. The princess here was all dolled up for the event but Quinten of course lives on a farm so he had just come in from doing chores. Kids do not normally do late afternoons well and you can imagine how they were after I zapped them a couple dozen times with the flash. They were about as happy as a Polish immigrant in the Vancouver Airport. By the time we were through we did coax a few smiles and the pics can be seen by clicking HERE !

Portrait Season

 

I have been setting up a small portrait studio in a spare room downstairs. Today, I got my flash back from Canon and it appears to be fully rebuilt. So here is my test. I cannot blame the photographer for the lousy picture - look at the model I had to work with.

Kids At One Year of Age

 

I was playing around with photoshop tonight. We often wonder how the kids looked at the same age so I combined pictures of the three kids at 13 months of age. Aiden, Quinten and Lexy seem to have their own look, but if you look closely you can see the similarities.

Mother and Child

 

I am starting to set up a photo studio in the downstairs area of our house. It is clear to me that I will need to take a great many photos using the flash equipment before I get comfortable with the equipment and the results. Click here to see more pics of the kids.

Aiden Is Reading

 

Aiden has been amazing us with his math skills this past month but this week he has shown great leaps in reading. We came over after dinner to see him read and he really has clicked with it. Here he is showing his colouring skills. Click here to see a few more new pics.

The Model Train Show

 

Quinten has been fascinated by trains all his life (yes his whole life). This is the second time that we have taken him to a model train show. He was physically shaking when he went into the room. We were surprised to see Lexy was just as fascinated. In the end we bought Quinten a railroad hat to match his overalls - now he really looks the part. Click here to see more pictures of the train show.

Taking a Stroll

 

Lexy is walking more and more. A little hesitant at first, she is finding that walking is a lot faster, and she is now trying to keep up with her brothers. After walking to the mailbox and back with Wenda, Lexy did a little stroll down the driveway.

Quinten - in reflection

 

We babysat Quinten and Lexy yesterday so what a great opportunity to try my hand at off camera flash technique. By using a photographer's umbrella mounted on a stand with the flash, I can get shadow detail in the pictures. The more difficult problem is to get the kids to sit still and look at the camera long enough to take the picture. About 2 minutes was all the time we could get before meltdown. Click here to see a few more pics from this photoshoot.

450 km Touring Muskoka

 

My wife Wenda, sister (in law) Janet, and I went touring Muskoka to see the fall colours. This was not the best year for colours because of the unusual summer we had this year. Our tour found a terrific wood carving shop, on our way to Huntsville. We then pushed on to Gravenhurst where we had tea along the harbour and witnessed the arrival of the steamship Seguin. Finally, we dropped in to visit my friend Olli at his cottage on the way home. Click here to see the Muskoka Tour pictures.

Read My Lips

 

I received some new equipment and wanted to test it out with my favourite model but you can see, Aiden was more interested in going to the rides located behind our back yard. The Fall Festival has arrived and since Aiden is away with his bio-dad tomorrow, we took the boys on the rides after supper. I am not sure it was a good idea to go on that Tilt-a-Whirl on a full stomach ! ! Click here to see more pictures of the day with the kids.

Wine and Beer Tour

 

Last Saturday we ventured into the countryside on a day that started out with lunch and a winery tour but we soon found a micro brewery followed by a chocolate factory and a casino. You could not really squeeze more more than that into a day. Click here to see more pictures.

Day With Grammy and Grampy

 

The last day of summer in Southern Ontario was just beautiful at 23 C with little wind - a perfect day in the sun. We took Quinten, Lexy and Tracy to see Grammy and Grampy and as you will see in the pictures that follow, a good time was had by all. Click here to see more of the day's pics.

Fishing with Olli

 

I went to Olli's cottage Saturday. It was nice to visit his lake after the summer holidays have ended as it was soooo quiet and peaceful. We went fishing but did not catch anything. The other pictures added to the album consist of Lexy's first birthday, her walking, and the kids playing around on our yard. Click here to see more pics/