Found items on the Christmas tree

Found items on the Christmas tree

Got into the holiday spirit yesterday: decorated the tree, ate gingersnaps and drank eggnog, took a sleigh ride...

Got into the holiday spirit yesterday: decorated the tree, ate gingersnaps and drank eggnog, took a sleigh ride around the neighbourhood, singlehandedly took all four kids sledding, and set up the nativity.

James, "When I get bigger, I'll be able to do whatever I want.

James, "When I get bigger, I'll be able to do whatever I want. I can make my own decisions. I can go to bed whenever I want."
Nate, "Except, your wife will tell you what to do."

I find reporting on the refugee crisis to be largely depressing (with good reason), but this photo essay does a...

I find reporting on the refugee crisis to be largely depressing (with good reason), but this photo essay does a great job of showing the good side of humanity.
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/11/the-arms-outstretched/416916/

James has hit that wonderful stage of boyhood where he has begun to feel things very deeply.

James has hit that wonderful stage of boyhood where he has begun to feel things very deeply. He was just in full on tears because he thought his nursery school teacher wanted him to give all his money to poor children leaving him with nothing.

Sara's "scary" costume.

Sara's "scary" costume.

Nate, "Let's make our pumpkins super scary so kids are afraid to come to our house, and then we can have more candy."

Nate, "Let's make our pumpkins super scary so kids are afraid to come to our house, and then we can have more candy."

Epilogue: It didn't work. We tapped out at 160 kids by quarter after seven.

Nate is disappointed with the artistic license taken with his kid's pajamas.

Nate is disappointed with the artistic license taken with his kid's pajamas. There is a lizard depicted on them that clearly predates the age of the dinosaurs...

Elle's ready for fall, thanks to *​

Elle's ready for fall, thanks to *​

The boys have been kept out of the basement lately due to renos, so they've been forced to use Duplo as an alternate...

The boys have been kept out of the basement lately due to renos, so they've been forced to use Duplo as an alternate form of entertainment to their regular Lego fix.

I was impressed to see all the dinosaurs they created. These are the 1.0 versions, the ones I saw yesterday were already iterating and improving the design. Of note, and I only noticed this after Nate brought it up as an example to prove a point during a dinner conversation, is that the he had to carefully counter-balance the larger dinosaurs as he built them.

The other thing I noticed that I thought was neat was that the boys have developed a Duplo-based currency system. Nate saw a unique slope piece that James had that he wanted and asked how much it would cost. James said, "80 cents", and then Nate counted out 8 of his regular 2x2 bricks and handed them over in exchange for the piece.

Our sleeping beauty.

Our sleeping beauty.

Elle's first trip to the English Gardens.

Elle's first trip to the English Gardens.
https://goo.gl/photos/bGLvL6Chf5nFifd5A

More Elle updates.

More Elle updates.

There was a pancake recipe in the "Nate the Great" book we took out of the library, so we made pancakes and Nate...

There was a pancake recipe in the "Nate the Great" book we took out of the library, so we made pancakes and Nate cooked and flipped them for the first time.

Rainy day at the Epp house...

Rainy day at the Epp house...

Took the boys to work for the morning.

Took the boys to work for the morning.

The novelty of having another female in the family has yet to wear off. Snapping lots of photos.

The novelty of having another female in the family has yet to wear off. Snapping lots of photos.

For T. Kirstin:

For T. Kirstin:

For Oma:

For Oma:
Me, "OK, boys, look scared for the picture!"
James, "I'm praying, because that's what we do when we're scared."

Monday off post:

Monday off post:
The boys put a puzzle together in the morning, and we get the room ready for baby number four.

My boys #justbecause

My boys #justbecause

James has a good friend who lives just across the street.

James has a good friend who lives just across the street. Who I'll call, "Caleb" for the sake of this post. They are both four and they both have an independent streak.

A while back Sara was at home alone with our boys when she heard talking downstairs. Walking into the basement she was surprised to find Caleb happily playing Lego with James. When she was unable to determine if his parents knew his whereabouts or how long he'd been there, she marched him back across the street to discover they hadn't even realized he had left the house.

Just the other day I was at home relaxing in my favourite arm chair enjoying the cool breeze from the open window next to me when I heard the soft clack of wood hitting brick, which I have from experience learned to immediately recognize as the sound of our wood pile behind the house being dismantled for creative endeavours. I jumped out of my chair to look out the front door and discovered that Caleb had joined Nate and James in the backyard, and that they were all quite busy and a fair ways into the process of barricading our front gate shut from the inside with wood from our wood pile.

"Hi, boys, what are you doing?" (I'm unclear why I even bothered asking.)
Caleb, "We're blocking the gate so my Mom can't get in!"
"Ah, I see."
And then in a perfectly timed moment, I turned to discover Caleb's mom approaching from the opposite direction with a touch of speed and determination to her stride.
"Is Caleb in your backyard?", she asked.
"Well, as a matter of fact..."

Random summer photos

Random summer photos

The boys having fun on the playground.

The boys having fun on the playground.

First bike trip with James. Biked up Wellington to Seven Eleven for a Slurpee.

First bike trip with James. Biked up Wellington to Seven Eleven for a Slurpee.