Quinten's Birthday

 

Quinten's Birthday started off with a skating party on the pond behind his new home. Eventhough this was the first time for him on skates, he showed himself to be amazingly nimble. The snow was falling steadily, and we all had to pitch in to keep the snow off the pond. Later we retired to his grandmother' Carmella's for her home made Italian pizza and some birthday cake. By the time all the gifts had been opened, all of the kids and most of the adults were very tired. All in all it was a happy day for a birthday party. Click here to see more pictures of the skating and party.

Lexy and Quinten Visit

 

Gramy and Grampy stayed over at our home last evening and the wee ones came over for a visit this morning. They grow up so fast and I could not resist taking a few pictures. Click here to see more of the picks from this morning.

Skating on the Pond

 

There is nothing like having a pond in the back yard to skate on. I took Aiden out to the pond at the new house across the street from where they presently live. He just loves skating on the pond and what kid wouldn't. He was later joined by Quinten, mom, dad, and his other grandfather Luigi. Click here to see more pictures of the pond.

Test Image for School Website

 

I take many of the photographs that go into the school yearbook. I also manage the school website. Click here to see the website. I setup and took the cover page for it in December. I did a test shot of a new image I want to do with the students, but with Wenda as my test model - that is the image you see here. It required taking several shots and using photoshop to put it all together.
My new super duper computer fried its hard disk, so I am back on the old machine plunking away at something less than warp speed.

Drifting Out to Sea

 

Each year on New Years Day, I take photos of the annual Polar Bear Swim that takes place in our town. So this year there was an ice buildup along the shore, much like you see in the photo above. I took a position on one of those ice ledges a half hour before the swim was about to start. I was the only one out there. As the time for the start approached, 60 people came out on the ice. A 10 year old boy positioned himself next to me and started chatting me up, when all of a sudden two large pieces that we were standing on broke free and started to drift into the lake. One hand on my camera and the other on the collar of the boy to keep him from falling in. We managed to get back onto the main ice formation before the little iceburg drifed out into the middle of Lake Ontario. The kid came back later and said, "Thanks for saving me." Nice kid. I got a boot full of icy water for the experience.

Click here to see the brave souls jumping into the 0 degree C lake.

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.