Very Happy with his New Train.

Spider Dan

No prizes for guessing his costume this year. Thanks Dzianna :)

Trip to the Firehall

Our local fire station had an open day recently so Dan & I decided to visit.

Proudly driving a firetruck.

He likes a lady in uniform.

Guess who just saw the man dressed in the firedog costume :)

Halloween Crafts

Dan and I actually managed to do some crafts for Halloween.

He told me what each pumpkin should look like, and practiced his joining the dots too.

Birthday Lego 1 Completed

Jacqui was ambitious and started the fire engine from Liz & Paul. I went for the simpler Emerald Express and we just completed our early morning lego project.

Proper lego is still a bit fiddly for him, but he helped where he could (he's an excellent part finder). Thanks for all the presents, much fun will be had building, reading and exploring them.

His Father's Son

Dan did this with Jacqui yesterday, it's almost as legible as mine.

Dan Watching Babe

Dan can has Swing Set

Happy boy with newly obtained swing set. Of course he did manage to smack his head fairly soon afterwards, but he is three.

First Day of PreSchool

The boy starting year 2 of preschool. He really enjoys it and the teachers are great.

Now he needs to take lots of pictures in France to show his friends when he comes back.

Elevating Grain

Trip to the elevators today. They had a little treasure hunt, a train came by and we had a healthy walk, so all in all a good trip

They fly off tomorrow to France while I stay behind to watch the fort. Unreserved greetings to all the Bradbury's and ex-Bradbury's they will see.

New House Shenanigans

As some of you you know we have just finished moving a whole 8km to our new house in St. Albert.

We have been here for just over a week and we've unpacked many, many boxes with many more to go. Most importantly I got the home cinema setup over the weekend. (Thanks to Brian for the all important, lifting the bloody heavy tv assistance today.).

We have pretty much decided where all the things are going, now we just need to finalize where the stuff will end up.

Dan loves his play room, my computer desk will be travelling up from the basement to the bonus room along with a couple of bookcases. Apart from that everything is at least on the right floor.

Of course we have all the pictures etc to hang up but some of the little fixes, plug that fits the bath, shower heads that work properly, new ikea stuff put together, have been completed.

Over the next few weeks we should empty most of the remaining boxes and get the place tidy and then Jacqui heads to France with Dan and I can sleep for a couple of weeks.............. Or do more jobs, likely more jobs.

Trip to the lake

A weekend at the lake with Canadian grandma Jenny.

It's a boat

It's a bath!

Now it's asleep

Montage time.

To save you from many x lots of updates here are a selection of pictures from the recent past.

At the fair

At the Dinosaur Park

In the corn maze

Not impressed.

Trip to Calgary in May

Jacqui took young Dan down to see Thomas the Train in May and here are a couple of pics from their trip. Yes that is snow in May !

Fun at Telus Spark

And yet none of that Thomas kid, probably for the best :)

First Trip to the Edmonton Air Museum

We had a good morning browsing the collection and teaching Dan how to fly with MS flight sim 2004.

Meh, they're almost facing the camera

Ice Cream & Train Hats

My Milkshake....

Luckily they did a takeaway option. They also sold homemade pie.......,,

Canadian?

Shit just got real. 

Citizenship test date came through today. Now I'm downloading the Discover Canadia mp3 to study. 

I don't like exams, especially ones that Jacqui will pass easily and I may or may not. Anyway, wish us luck, actually wish us determination and sticktoitness....see I'm mostly Canadian already :)

Mo' School, Less Mo'ney

Well that's next year's preschool sorted out for Dan. He had to pass an evaluation but now we only have to pay $200 for the entire year for an excellent program.

Bonus prize, he knows at least one other child in the program. Let's hope she's in his class.

They do go to a lot of classes, one every week day in fact, but it should really help keep him stimulated. The curriculum is play based learning, not academic, but the way he's going he'll pick up reading etc at home.

Nom!

New food accepted. He's fussier than I am, this is a big thing for us :)

Fashionable Fool, only 10 years out of date now.

I tried some clothes on today that I bought many moons ago and have never fitted. And yes, they fitted, and yes I was very happy. 

This proves that my long (very long) term plan of buying stuff that I'm too fat for in the hope that if will fit some day, is finally paying off. Plus I won't have to buy more gym clothes now that the old ones look somewhat tentlike. 

In other news everyone is well here, Dan has his IQ test Thursday and we've booked our Calgary visit to see Thomas the Tank Engine in May. 

I took him to see Frozen at our local cinema last week and apart from the film being far too musical and princessy we had a pretty good time. Lego movie next. 

Put me in my place

I grabbed Dan and told him that I was going to hug him until his legs fell off.

I was told that his legs wouldn't fall off because he was a boy and his bones were joined together.

Of course I sent him to bed with no supper for being a dirty knowitall, no one like a clever clogs.

Well he managed two weeks in his own bed

And then we had to upgrade it. So now our toddler has a full double bed. Spoiled? Him? No, no, no, of course not.

But hopefully this will improve the general sleep experience all round. And because we hoard like frightened squirrels, it didn't cost us anything.

And tonight we will see if it meets his high standards.

Genius or Son of the Fool

Avoid this post if you're upset by proud parent stuff. Sometimes I just can't help sharing this stuff. I'm sure grandparents will appreciate it....

Jacqui and I were talking about the weekend and she suggested going to the zed o o. And then someone piped up and asked if we are going to zoo tomorrow?  Unfortunately it's one of the few words that he can spell and obviously it stuck in his brain. So now we're stuck going to zoo, hope the weather sorts itself out. 

Now to get our genius to learn what a toilet is and why it should be used :)

Fitness Update 2014

Just an update for those who are interested.

Since getting back from the UK Jacqui and I have been pretty motivated and we've both started to diet and started exercising more.

Officially I've started my Biggest Loser Graduates class. Unofficially I weakened my back moving all the luggage on our trip back, then hurt it trying to grab an enthusiastic toddler running past the following Monday. This means that I have not been to any of the classes at all, but I've been doing other stuff which doesn't involve twisting.

Jacqui has been exercising during her lunch breaks as well as using our brand new rowing machine. I've used it a couple of times now, the first time was too soon after the toddler incident and I went a few hundred metres. Now I'm up to 5k so that's good if a bit sweaty.

As I mentioned we've also started dieting again and pounds have vanished from our general vicinity. I think I'm down about 10-15 lbs so far or about a stone. My mission for the next 5 weeks is another 10 lbs.

Our motivation has spread to our house too, we've moved things round in the house more to our liking. I've put in a simple wired network and done some other minor DIY.

Dan's getting on well in preschool and swimming. We have also started him potty and sleep training. Both have started well but I think we will crack sleeping first.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I went to see a physio about my back on Thursday and she thinks I'm basically off centre if I understand things correctly. So after her pulling me about she gave me a bunch of exercises to try and sent me off. I hurt a bit the net day but I'm definitely feeling the benefits today. I've just done the exercises and some rowing and while I ache now, and no doubt tomorrow, I feel very happy to get some help. This has been bothering me for at least a year.

So all in all a positive start to the year. I hope yours is going just as well.

Never Rub Another Man's Rhubarb

I'm not sure if he's destined to join Anarchy or become a super villain. 

Of Dentists & Librarians

Me and the boy had a full morning full of teeth and books today. He was really good for the dentist, only getting upset when she got up in face with the polisher. He was having none of that.

Then off to the library where they have touchscreen computers which the monster loves.

Nutters

We had Natalie, Mary & Charlie round this morning and things got a bit excitable. Excellent morning from hide and seek to a chocolate coin treasure hunt.

Fear Me Anything Made of Chocolate

We get the joker smile most mornings now.