palterblog

Everybody helps LA blow out all 38 of her candles.

This year marks Ben and Ella’s fifth year - a seemingly landmark year.

The babies are gone. Well, they still come out once in a while, but they are rapidly moving into the next phase.

I met Maddy when she was six. I remember how sweet she was during those years before the great change - the great transformation into a young adult.

These truly are the good old days.

Happy birthday my son and daughter.

Canada is a great place to live. Home of the beaver and the maple leaf. So, we celebrated Canada Day this year with some homemade maple leaf cakes.

Here is the recipe for the coolest Canada Day cakes in the country:

1. Make two batches of pancakes. Add red dye to one and green dye to the other.

2. Draw and cut out a maple leaf.

3. Stick the maple leaf on a large pancake and cut. When that doesn’t work, just cut the darn maple leafs by hand.

4. Use the remaining pieces to form a small pyramid in the middle. Waste not, want not.

5. Drizzle pure maple syrup over the maple leaf cake in a circular pattern.

Be thankful you live in one of the best countries in the world and enjoy your breakfast.

Ben is a handsome and charming little fellow. Fond of his “Chicks Dig Me” t-shirt, he loves anything motorized - “diggers” (construction equipment), “michael-cycles” (motorcycles), “kakikucks” (firetrucks).

His favourite word at three is “why”. And he has become accustomed to asking what time it is, though he clearly has no idea what the answer means.

When he wants a really special dessert, he likes to whisper it in my ear for maximum effect.

I am thankful for every minute I get to spend with him.

Ella has developed into a precocious little three year old. She is smart as can be and is rapidly learning how to manage her brother. She loves playing make-believe games with older girls (pronounced “gerls”). She is quite capable of going very high on the swings in the back yard.

Despite an excellent command of the language, sometimes she has trouble expressing her desire for more of something with the word “please” as one sentence.

She is a loving, sweet angel who blesses us every day.

Ben and Ella turned two on July 3. Hard to believe it was two years ago - 730 days ago - that they arrived.

Everyone says time passes quickly, but it is painful to experience just how quickly. In the place of the once tiny, helpless babies, we have miraculously been blessed with two PEOPLE - complete with their own unique preferences, desires and wishes.

They have brought so much joy and love to our family. They are my precious angels.

Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun; as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday.

HLP (Grampa Hal) begat AJP (Daddy Jay) begat BJP (Benny). All photos are taken at approx. 2 years of age. Remarkable.

At 5:12 pm today, Ben was one year old. What can I say. I just lived through the best year of my life. Nothing is better than watching your boy grow from a tiny almost 7 pound morsel into a sweetheart of a little fella. Nothing. We all love you, Ben. More than you’ll ever know.

At 5:14 today, Ella turned one year old. Look at those eyes. I could look at those blue marble eyes forever and never stop seeing her potential to be anything she wants. Ella, with you I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. We couldn’t love you more.

The many faces of Jay. There are many more here. 40 years is a long time. Have a look at party pictures here.