First skate of the season...

Today was the first skate of the season.  The last week with lows of -29C were sufficient to freeze up a rink near Matt and Ali's.  Matt and I took the three boys and Lily over to the rink and suited them up.  They had a great time, and both Ro and Sam were looking pretty good out there :)  Max and Lily did great on actual skates.  Max is pretty independent - where Sam would listen to your advice and then try it, Max just says "I can do it!" and tried over and over until he figures out a way...

No photos of Lily - but the time Matt got her snow pants that he forgot the sun was getting low and I stopped taking pictures.  Turned out to be a nice day, until after dinner Katy and Max ran into each other and Katy went head first into the corner of a wall :(  She is at the hospital getting stitches on her forehead as I write this...

"I can do it!"

Opportunistic

It is amazing how, as parents, we take advantage of any opportunity with the kids.  Darcy and I found ourselves 'bribing' the kids to finish their dinner.  What was on offer if they finished up quickly?  Their flu shots!!!  Yes, apparently that will motivate the kids in our family :)

Katy: third in a growing line of goggle lovin' Calkins' kids...

School dance - Chinook Park Elementary

Who knew that they threw dances in kindergarten ?  We took Sam and Max tonight and danced the night away - until 8pm.  They played favorites like Footloose, We Will Rock You and the Chicken Dance :)  Here are the boys getting ready before the dance:

And here is a low light, blurry shot to protect the innocents:

Max at the science centre

I forgot that I took this on my phone the other day.  Pretty cute, but too bad he wasn't tall enough for the left side :)

Help, help, I'm trapped in my car...

C'mon - where did all this white stuff come from ?  Just when we were saying November finally made up for the missing summer in Calgary :)

Ali finishes nursing

It is official, and with distinction!  Congratulations Ali!

Dinner at the Karns

The kids at the Karns:

Happy Halloween! A few days late...

As I was out of town for the 31st, this post is a little late.  Here are the kids dressed up for the scary event - photo courtesy Ryan:

Yuck!

I go away for a few days, and our daughter is carrying rats around in her mouth!  Thankfully it is just a plastic rat...  Where did it come from?

Lights, camera, action...

Yes, it is already Christmas light time for us.  After spending yesterday doing an OK job, I pulled it down and screwed them up so they are all nice and regular.  In case you are wondering, we expect to have a baby on December 13th, so we don't want to be doing any last minute lights in -20C with a new baby :)

 Katy likes to help!  Nice weather we are having for November - kids were out with no jackets!

 Sam and Max took a turn with my camera, so I can finally be in some of the photos:

Telus member's night

Last night Ryan and I took the four older boys down to member's night at the Telus World of Science.  Pretty quiet, so the kids had a chance to run around.  As a bonus, I won the door prize.  Curious to see what it will be!  The current exhibit is on Darwin and Einstein.  The kids enjoyed the Australia movie and the revamped kids museum...

Hanging out in Vancouver

This last week I've been out of town with work, both in Virginia Beach and in Vancouver.  Sadly, I missed Hallowe'en with the kids and Darcy - so here is a shot from Vancouver in morning of the same day.  Hopefully I'll get some shots of the kids from Ryan to put up!