SUDDSY SINGS

Twice a year, my old friend of 47 years Suddsy comes to visit and entertain us with his vast repertoire of songs. Our livingroom is quite small but still we managed to get 11 of us singing along to the songs of the 60's and 70's. Earlier, the kids were eager to hop on their saucers and slide down the hills with the first arrival of snow.

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My First Cake

How many of us can remember the 'first' time they baked their own cake. Today, Lexy came over to use her oven at our house because, we still happened to have a 100Watt light bulb to make her oven work. Quinten brought his new dance Wii game - kinda like karaoke but you have to dance along with the dancers on the screen. Man did he have the moves. It was the typical day - after Xmas - kids want to play with the new toys and the adults just want to relax.

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Our Christmas 2011

For several years now we have been invited to share the Christmas Eve tradition with Carmella and Luigi Cupelli. It is a lovely time when the two families come together to enjoy each other's company over the delicacies that are Carmella's home cooking. The kids get to open their presents from the Cupellis and then off to bed before Santa arrives. We arrive at Tracy and Franks house about 8 am just before the kids come down the stairs to see all the presents under the tree. I was so tired that I felt like Lilly in the picture here and went to bed about 7 pm. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year.

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Christmas Kids Photo

This was just a quick grab photo of the kids before they went out to perform at the school concert. Lexy and Quinten sang in a choir about angels and they each had a little silver halo on their heads. Aiden surprised us by showing up on stage playing a Christmas tune on a recorder. We had no idea he could play an instrument.
Well tis the season. Merry Christmas to you and yours as that blessed day approaches.

A&W

Going to the Ballet

My father in law took this picture of Lexy on the evening of the Ballet. Wenda and Lexy stayed over in Lindsay to attend the Nut Cracker put on at the local theatre by a travelling ballet company. Lexy got all dressed up and sat on Wenda's knee through most of the performance. She just loved it.

Quinten's Hockey Game

It was a great couple days for Aiden as the team broke their stretch of bad luck and has won 2 consecutive games against Oshawa which is rated 2 places above them in the table. Quinten had a fine game today playing in Orono Arena where his mom was learning figure skating when she was his age. We see improvement in Quinten's game. He is a quick skater and eager to participate in the chase for the puck.
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Lilly at Swiss Chalet

At 3 months old Lilly is a real little lady when we go out to dinner.
Allan

Quinten Playing Hockey

This is Quinten in one of his first games of the season. He plays recreational hockey in the 5 and 6 year old category. He is 5 but a number of the team members are 6. He is holding his own quite well when you consider that there are some very well advanced 6 year olds skating like the blazes out there. He plays centre and is quite good on the faceoffs. Catching those speedy 6 year olds is another thing. He is enjoying hockey and comes back to the dressing room soaked - you just know he is giving it 100%.
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Operation Christmas Child

I am off to Kitchener to help prepare shoe boxes filled with toys for children in 3rd world countries. It is a huge operation with hundreds of volunteers working for a few weeks each year on an assembly line  in a unused factory in Kitchener. The boxes are flown all over the world.

Allan

Rochester NY Tournament

We survived the 4 days in Rochester NY hockey tournament. With the whole team on the same floor, not only do the kids socialize in the halls, but the parents do as well. It was nice to go with the extended family on a trip. Lexi , Quinten and Aiden loved having both sets of grandparents in the rooms next door - shopping was not as great as we thought it would be. A thousand people lined up at Best Buy to get in on the sales - not me.

Golden Hawks

We are in Trenton today to play the Golden Hawks hockey team named after the famous aerobatic team of 50 years ago.

Allan

The Scientists

Aiden brought his micrscope kit to share with his great grandfather. On the way to Lindsay I had to lower Aiden by his heels over the bank of a pond so he could get a sample of pond water. The days are full of surprises for sure.

Allan

Clean Up In Aisle 3

Aiden had one of his best games last night as he was back playing left wing. He scored a beautiful goal after he shook off a few defenders to make his breakaway. In the above picture you can see defenders 6 and 34 converging on him, no it appears they are converging on each other as Aiden put on a bit of speed to get ahead of them on his way to the target. We  are of course extremely proud of his accomplishments and sportsmanlike play.

Halloween Night

All 4 kids went out for Halloween this year. Quinten is just getting over a bug so he ran out of gas before the night was out. Lexy was a butterfly with a lovely set of wings on her back and Aiden was a vampire that could not find his teeth. No matter how scary or wildly decorated all daddy had to say was, "There is lots of candy at that house," and Lexy would lead the way, "Come on boys !" and the boys would follow her lead.
Last week we took Doreen out for her 85th birthday to Hobarts in Lindsay. Her sister Eileen and husband Ken joined with Allan and Wenda for a lovely meal. Click here to see the other photos.

Bearly Cute

I coulf not resist.

Allan

Beverley's Birthday Surprise

Our friend Beverley had her birthday surprise with the 6-pack friends

Allan

Lilly - a Month and a Half

Babies do seem to change a lot in appearances during the first few months. So I thought I would post a picture of Lilly as this age. She looks a lot like Lexy at the same age. Her sister and brothers like to hold her and talk to her. She is now able to look at you and focus on you a bit better now.

Taking on Goliath

Aiden goes up against the second highest goal scorer in his league in an effort to prevent this guy from scoring. Its quite a stretch to get around this guy who is clearly a lot bigger than him. On close examination of the picture, I think I now know why Aiden is getting these huge nicks in the outer edge of his skate blade as it appears that he is getting his skate edge jammed up against his opponents skate.

Hockey in Trenton

Trenton is one of those places you go to but you know it is going to be tough. Some kids on that team are head and shoulders above anyone on our team and they are good. We lost 8 to 0 the last time we played them so I guess only losing 4 to 0 is an improvement right? The boys gave it their all and enjoyed playing the game, and that is what it is all about. Better luck next time Aiden.

Lexy's Photo Shoot

Our granddaughter Lexy came over for a "photoshoot" visit today. She picked out her favourite dress and her Nana curled her hair - she looked cute as a button. They change so fast and this session with my photo studio lighting was done to prepare a photo for the set in our livingroom. She was the perfect model and I think the expression shows she was a treat to work with. Click here to see a few more photos from the session.

Gold Semifinalist

In this picture, Aiden is doing his best to get by an opponent as he takes off on a dash for the other end of the rink. It was a very hectic tournament consisting of 5 games in 4 days with this final game at 9am in Pickering. Each of the games was with high intensity and he managed to gain his first goal in REP hockey in one of the games.
He certainly played well, and even though he got 2 penalties in one game, he seems to be a bit more careful in the final game. It is a time of testing the limits I think and the coaches were quick to talk to him about what is not permitted. A few days off to catch our breath, sharpen the skates then ready for the next game.

Doreen's 85th

Certain birthdays in life are special, and having an 85th is certainly cause for celebration. Happy birthday
to my mother-in-law Doreen Aston.

Allan

Hardhat Award

After the last game in Port Perry, Aiden was given the blue hard hat to wear until their next game. It is given to the hardest worker of the game. We had taken his skates to a special shop that sharpens skates for the Oshawa Generals, the OHL team for the area. The sharpening shop does a flat "V" groove sharpening that is supposed to work better. It seemed to work for Aiden as he managed to stay on his feet and skate faster.
It is a very busy schedule with his hockey, but it seems to be of considerable benefit to him both mentally and physically.
Aiden has made the cut and is on the U9 soccer team for next year, and Allan is the new manager of the team. I guess I may as well help out as I seem to be at every practice and game.

Such a Cutie

I could not resist taking a picture when she looks so cute.
Allan

On a Cruise

Wenda and I were joined by our friends David and Sharon for a cruise on the renown Muskoka lakes where the rich and famous of Canada have their summer homes. We sailed on the royal mail ship Segwun on a day that threatened to rain, but waited. It waited for us to have our scenic time on the rear deck, our dinner in the dining lounge and just long enough to reach our car. We then dodged those drops of liquid sunshine on and off during our visit to the boat museum just across the harbour from our ship. Click here to see more pictures of the four of us on our cruise day.

Latest Lilly

Of course the features of a newborn change so fast in the first few weeks of life.  Here is Lilly taken today with the cell phone camera.  She likes to sleep by day and stay up and fuss all night. We stayed till after 3 am last night to rock her while mom got some sleep.  Been draggin our buts all day today but the little darlin is worth it.

Allan

Officially a Senior

We came over to help David celebrate his big one
.

Allan

Lady Luck Comes a Callin

She visited me last year about the same time. ... Waving a pair of $100 tickets in my face and saying, "Hey sailor! Want to have a good time? "  So here Aiden and I are sitting in the Air Canada Centre. Lady luck made the same proposition a year later.
Funny coincidence though. Aiden's teammate from his rep hockey team is in the row behind us.
Allan

Lexy Rides The Bus

Just had to get a picture of Lexy during her first week of riding the bus to school. They grow up sooooo fast.
Allan

Engagement Celebration

Today we celebrated Wenda's nephew Colin's engagement to his fianceé Jenn, with the happy day penned in on the calendar for July 21st. Hobarts in Lindsay is a lovely steak house and a great place for the happy couple to celebrate with grandmother Eileen, great aunt Doreen and great uncle Ken, without forgetting aunt Wenda and uncle Allan. We wish them all the happiness in life and may all their troubles be "little ones".
Click here to see another photo of the dinner table.

The Nutmeg Move

Aiden played his second REP game, in Trenton Ontario. Last time he faced a defenceman head on, the opponent poke-checked him and he did not want that to happen again so when he got close, he did "a Nutmeg" manouever by shooting the puck through the defenders legs and skating around him. The team lost the game but gained valuable playing experience. It is a bit of adjustment travelling the distances now that the REP teams go. Wenda and I love to go to the games and cheer.