One of the best parenting moments for me yet has been watching Nate begin to read.

One of the best parenting moments for me yet has been watching Nate begin to read. It seems like only a few months ago he was beginning to pick up words in all sorts of unlikely places. "Dad, why does it say, 'free', on that package? Did we get it for free?" "No, it's just gluten free. It means it doesn't have any gluten in it." "That bag says 'Lower prices every day'. That means if you go to the store tomorrow, it'll be even cheaper." "No, that just means their prices are lower than other store prices every day."

Friday of last week we had "student led" conferences at school. Afterwards, as a treat we offered to buy him a book from the book fair. He picked one of the Geronimo Stilton chapter books, and looking at the book noted it was meant for a Grade 4 reading level. I guess he likes challenges, because over the weekend he read through the entire book on his own, and then declared he liked the book so much he'd read it again and is now working his way through it again. I guess we now officially have another book worm in the family.

Realized, I haven't posted in a while.

Realized, I haven't posted in a while.

Nate's missing some teeth. Elle is adorable. The boys go sledding. Elle and Liam wear cool hats. Elle eats a neon pink hat that would have matched Stephen Epp and my matching neon hats, that Sara for undiscernible reasons wouldn't let me buy. The boys build a robotic Lego T-Rex that you can drive.

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: