Get Well Soon!

During the holiday break, on the night of an ice storm, Andrew fell down and unbeknownst to him, broke his ankle.  Stubbornly, he refused to believe he broke it but after two weeks, finally agreed to get an x-ray.  Clear as crystal, there was a fracture.  Thankfully, he was able to have surgery scheduled right away.  He is now recovering, getting around on crutches and a four wheeled knee scooter.  His parents, Dave and Valerie, came to visit during his recovery time for about a week from P.E.I. for moral support.  Luckily, there have been no complications and he can start walking on it in four weeks.  We all hope he gets well soon!

Happy 2017!

We opted to have an all ages party open to our friends' families to spend the early hours of New Year's Eve in our home in West Lafayette.  Really, the best New Year's Eve countdown we've had in years with unmatched excitement levels by the 18 to 22 (?, lost count) kids present.  Then some parents headed out for some late night dancing at a favorite local spot to ring in the actual New Year (EST).  Here are Aaron and Edward in our living room after we finally dealt with the unavoidable aftermath of large scale entertaining.  Thank you for your help boys!  

Happy New Year Everyone!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2016!

This year we are blessed to have my brother Stan's family visit us in West Lafayette from Toronto during the holidays.  Here we all are on Christmas day (Stan, Hendrix, Margaret, Audrey, and us on the right) in our family room.  The kids have been getting along wonderfully and we're thankful they don't have miserable weather to contend with during their travels.  

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year Everyone!

Aaron Earns His Green Belt In Taekwondo December 2016

Aaron passed his Green belt in Taekwondo this month. He managed to pass the flying kick test. Impressive for a boy who just turned seven!

USATF Junior Olympics Shelbyville, IN 2016

Edward ran towards a new PR of 11:12 this past Saturday at the USATF Junior Olympics here in Shelbyville, Indiana.  To say the least, we are very proud of him.

He ended up 25th out of a pool of 65 runners in the 11 to 12 year old age group.  He qualifies to advance to the Regional USATF Junior Olympics in De Kalb, Illinois which we are still dediding upon.

Here is Aaron happily posing with the neighbourhood Lowe's hardware store inflatable bear.  He was pretty excited with the arrangement they had on display.

Hallowe'en 2016

Edward decided to forgo a new costume and went with last year's Spooky mask while Aaron set his mind on being Steve from Minecraft.  Edward and his friend took Aaron up and down our street which is chock full of families and kids so Aaron was sure to get a full bag of treats.  Mom and Dad stayed home, guarding their pirate treasure, giving out Pirate Booty snack bags and chocolate wrapped in gold and silver foil in place of treasure from Spanish galleons.  

Aaron was super excited to give out the pirate treasure on our spookily lit up front porch, lit up pumpkins, blinking skull and all!  There were so many trick or treaters that we almost got cleaned out by 7:30 pm when our chest had first been overflowing.  Luckily we had set aside some non sugary treats for the teal pumpkin we displayed which included paint sets, sticker sheets, paper pads, etc., that were happily accepted in place of the Pirate Booty.  Great night for it with the weather cooperating this year.  Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

5th Annual Purdue Half Marathon/5K October 2016

We all participated together for the 1st time as a family in the Purdue Boilermaker 5K this past Saturday.  Edward went on ahead, eager to place in his age group.  Aaron insisted on being a speed demon at the beginning of the race and had me racing after him, in fear of losing him among the throng of 800+ runners.  Andrew caught up with him just as I was losing steam in my struggle to keep up with Aaron.  Somehow, after the 2 mile point, we all failed to notice each other and crossed paths with Mom thinking she was way behind yet in fact Andrew and Aaron had finally decided to walk the rest of the way.  Edward faired best in the end with a new PR of 21:47, placing 4th in his age group and 22nd overall, including adults.  Awesome run, Edward!  Inspiration to the rest of us to get our act together next year!