Christmas is coming (soon?)

Yep, our Christmas tree is up. Don't make fun... only 23 days before we are going back to Canada, so for us it is up right on time. Nothing else yet, but I am sure we will remedy that soon (little known fact that Laura used to date Santa Claus...) It will be nice going back, as it was never a tradition for me to mow the lawn to make the house look good for Christmas, but here it is a different story. Last weekend was nice... we went down to Praa (pronounced "prae") sands beach, and were lucky to hit a low tide. Went for a nice walk that Maggie really enjoyed as dogs are allowed off-leash on the beaches after October. Had lunch at a the restaurant (pub) on the beach... you definitely pay for the view and not the food! I was away a bit last week for work... a management "hug-in" where we slept in a barn and ate only things that were alive no less than 3 days earlier on said farm. Oh well, anything that includes free beer can't be all bad! It seems that we were lucky enough to get hit by a cold and stomach flu bug simultaneously. I am the only survivor! Must be the strong Ukranian genes :) I would say that the kids and family are good, but all of them are either coughing, puking, or, well, doing a number 2 a bit faster than the rest of us... but next week will be better! Laura is looking forward to her trip, and I am starting to prepare myself for a week alone with the kids... I can't complain myself... I managed to get attached to a Royal Navy "adventure training" trip to Bavaria, where we will go skiing/mountain climbing in the alps at the low, low price of zero for a week...

BTW, if you see the last few shots on the slideshow, wouldn't you agree that I am crazy lucky to be married to the most beautiful woman in the world!!! Other than that, number 3 is improving her walking abilities. I should feel pretty guilty because with Lochlan, I basically documented, by video, every day of the first year of his life... poor Olivia is lucky to act in a movie more than once a month. Anyways, the video at the bottom is of her yesterday. Hope all is well with you. M

Half Term and Halloween

Last week was half term for Lochlan (basically like March break). He has three a year. His school year also extends into July as well. Anyway, he had the week off so we did some Halloween activities, he went swimming with Dad and we went to see fire engines at the station on the base. He also got to go into a jet simulator as well. He thought it was all pretty cool. Miah wasn't as fussed and was happier to look on than participate. We met a couple at Trafalgar night and he works at the station, he was nice enough to tour us around and even gave the kids loot bags afterwards. Everyone was really friendly.

The kids went out for Halloween this year and had a great time, although I have to say the Brits have a lot to learn about halloween. It's relatively new here and not everyone participates. The kids here certainly have the hang of it though as there were lots of them out! Miah and Lochlan will probably pass out when they get back to Canada and count the stash they get there! All in all a good time though.

Here's some pics of kids from the past week.

11 Mos. Old

Our babe turned 11 mos. on the 28th Oct. She 's still our busy little babe, maybe even more so now that she's walking. I weighed her yesterday and she's 29 " long and 17 lbs 6oz. She's pretty small. She still wears 6-9mos. clothes even though she almost a year. It's kind of funny to see such a little one toddling around.

She's a happy girl except when teething, the happy teething days are over! She doesn't have any new ones but one is pushing it's way through now. She enjoys "playing" with her siblings alot more, much to their chagrin as she tends tear apart, push over and generally disrupt what ever their doing. She gives hugs and has become quite the snuggler. She's on whole milk for all except one feeding and has taken the cup really well. She loves to feed herself and eats everything in front of her (what a beautiful thing - as anyone with a picky eater knows). Rather than that she babbles a lot, tries to copy sounds, plays peek a boo and is a good sleeper (although we did go through a month of her getting up at 4:30 - 5am .....for the day, not cool!). Here's some pictures of our wee lass and her big sis too.