no more surprises

It's hard to keep secrets with Joe around. So even though today is David's birthday, he knew a long time ago what all his presents were and where they were hidden, thank you to Joe. Still, we gave the already-revealed gifts as a formality and celebrated a kind, loving, funny, hard-working, awesome daddy and husband. That's what the day is all about anyway. No secrets here.

please come for David's birthday supper

That's what I told David's mom and dad. Ha ha. What they didn't know that it was really a surprise party for them, celebrating their 70th birthdays. And it worked - it was a genuine surprise and a very fun evening with lots of loud laughter, good stories, and gratitude for 70 beautiful years (140 if you add them all up). Happy Birthdays, Mom and Dad!

baby?

Tonight we went out for David's Birthday Date Night. And now my belly is feeling pretty big... growing baby or and abundance of delicious crab cakes... I couldn't say for sure.

payback

For this, I suppose.

In truth, it was nothing. I was really just trying to take a picture of the boys with ashes on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday, and Joe was trying to get Henry to look at the camera. Something innocent turned so violent. And funny.

every day is family day

But today was a day off from work. Thank you, Government of Ontario, for Family Day (capitalized). So our family got in the car and went to the Meet the Strings Concert put on by the Oakville Symphony Orchestra. Highlights included Henry: (1) volunteering to go up on stage to dance... but they needed someone older; and (2) stealing the stuffed swan/duck that was a prop on the edge of the stage. Joe, meanwhile, was comfortable in Daddy's lap.

Happy Family Day!

science is still cool

Last Father's Day, we gave David/Daddy a science kit for him to geek out with the boys. Every once in a while, Joe requests they do a "consperiment" and so out the kit comes. Tonight, they reached the last card - graduation, I suppose. And those science kit people - they saved the best for last.

Volcanoes.

We had to do it twice. That amazing.

Henry was interested, but not terribly impressed.

heart

For Valentine's Day... here is a teeny-weeny beating heart. So teeny-tiny.

p.s. okay, so I don't know exactly where the heart is in the picture. I just know that I saw it when the sonographer pointed it out. Happy Valentine's Day!

butterflying

1. one of many butterflies at the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory

2. how you confidently approach the butterflies

3. how you stand if you do not want a butterfly to land on you

4. where you take refuge

5. direction you run if a butterfly is chasing you (see above Henry's head)

6. how excited you get if a butterfly actually lands on you

7. please don't squash the butterflies

an afternoon with papa

Weehoo! What a treat! We don't get these very often so, on a day like today when Papa is at the airport for two hours, flying from Quebec to Regina, we need to make the best of it. So we joined him for a chip party.

Combine the excitement of seeing Papa + cousins all together + chocolate milk + french fries and it = lots of loudness and everyone in the vicinity learning the names of our children (well, mine, at least).

Thanks for the visit, Papa! We love you!

yo kantors - where are you?

Hmm... indeed. I'm afraid we were terribly boring this past January (with the exception of one Big Announcement) and February hasn't exactly exploded with excitement. So, let me fill you in on a few things:

- we actually might just be very boring people

OR

- we've been busy. David is hard at work handy-manning around the house. He's turned a closet into a pantry, installed bathroom fans, and is figuring out how to blow insulation into our attic and put in two new toilets. He's watching a lot of YouTube videos to help him along. And I'm doing some contract work with Salt + Light Television, researching and writing their documentary on Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. This means as soon as kids are sleeping, mommy is in the office glued to the computer until her tired eyes say no more. And when I need a break from Bl. Kateri, I sew. Quilts are addicting.

And the boys are busy, too. There are daily tornadoes of trains, legos, books, paints, markers, and dinky cars. They're awesome. And exhausting. See?

(Joe likes playing with the camera; I took the one on the left; he took the one on the right - it's of me.)

ta da

Last week I told you we are having a baby and today - ta da - there's a baby in our house. That's efficiency, ladies and gentlemen. Unfortunately, if we keep her, that would also be kidnapping (which, with this particular baby, we have said we would do because she is so sweet and cuddly).

Today, while her parents were moving to their new apartment, we got to look after Miss Emilie. Ooooh we loved it. Joe was so careful and gentle and Henry pointed and laughed. Babies, after all, are both soft and hilarious.

Thanks, Tante Cheese and Phil, for lending us your baby for the day. We'll do it again, anytime.