If Michaela looks a little nervous in the above picture, it's because that snake she's holding bit her a few minutes before I took this picture. I'm quite proud of her for being brave enough to still hold it afterwards. 
Same snake, different day. As far as I could tell, this was the same snake that bit her a few days before, but it was much calmer and Michaela expertly caught it, gently holding it behind the head so that it couldn't bite her. As I watched her catch it, she kept whispering to it, "You're alright, you're alright." If any of you have watched the Crocodile Hunter, that what Steve Irwin used to always say while handling wild animals. I don't know if she was even aware she was mimicking her hero. I thought it was adorable. 
Michaela caught this beautiful moth, not once but twice, two different days in two completely different locations. I took pictures of it both times and the markings were identical, so I'm fairly sure it was the same one. Michaela was very careful not to touch or damage it's wings, and after the moth had rested for a while, it eventually flew away.
Michaela caught another snake and played with it for a while before letting it go in the garden where we found it. Nate's wearing the hat that some elderly neighbours whom the kids have befriended gave him.
Michaela biking without training wheels. She's sooooooo proud of herself. :)
I was lucky; I happened to remember exactly what I was doing on that day. I was driving home from La Beauce after a weekend with relatives at their cabane à sucre. I remember it well because it was the first time I’d spent April Fools around my husband’s Francophone relatives.April Fool’s is called poisson d’avril (April fish). The tradition is for kids to colour fish on paper, cut them out and tape them to people’s backs. I think the more fish you tape to a person’s back without them knowing, the more of a fool they become. I of course, not being accustomed to this tradition, had lots of fish taped to my back.
As a child, the idea of ‘tricking’ someone was equated to the idea of surprising them. Every April first, I would round up my younger siblings, wake up early doing our best to be quiet, and we would make breakfast for my parents. I can’t remember what we were able to make them at that age, but I remember how happy it would make me to surprise them.
So, four years ago we were driving home from this weekend away and back in Montreal Nathanael was being born. I must admit, for the birth of my son, it was quite painless on my part, but I do wish I could have been there on that special day… I don’t have any pictures, any memories of him on his birth day. After adopting him, I asked the family he was living with since birth if they had any pictures I could have. They had five – five pictures is all that was captured of his first eight months of life, but I treasure each one. But he’s with us now, and he’s ours and we love him… and I take faaaaaaaaaaar too many pictures of my little guy, if that’s at all possible. ;)
Nate and Michaela LOVE the swing set we bought them as a joint gift for both their Birthdays. Some of you might remember that we wanted to buy them a swing set for Michaela’s Birthday last fall, but couldn’t find any, it being too late in the season. So we waited and bought it in time for Nate’s B-day. Thank you to everyone who contributed! We were able to get a very good quality swing, and hopefully it will give them years and years of fun. Thank you all!
We also gave Nate a tricycle, because we thought it was about time!
And Dad asked for more pictures of Lulu. She's doing so well, and we love her to bits!
Poor Michaela tried to hard to get this chicken to eat out of her hand. It kept coming close, but never quite got there. 
Storybook Gardens anyone??? 
Well, who could resist, when faced with a giant statue of an animal with an large gaping mouth, grabbing their kid, sticking 'em in and taking a picture? Personally, I think it's humanly impossible. Nate however wasn't impressed, and while he couldn't quite vocalize it, made it clear that using kids as props for funny pictures is grossly irresponsible. Two seconds after the picture, he hopped out.
No they didn't fall in, but if they had, I would have taken video... Am I a great mom or what!? ;)
This wasn't taken that long ago, but the snow's all gone now. I can't wait for drier weather though; coming inside now after a walk is a pain since both kids and dog are, more often than not, muddy.
This awesome castle and all the neat-o accessories were thanks to the generosity of family back home. Thanks!!!
I just love the look on Nate's face here. 
My little Christmas elfs! Aren't they beautiful!
Consistent with Missie's usual precociousness, she barely paid attention to the music teacher, preferring instead to make cutesy faces for my camera and waving at Mommy and Daddy. It was pretty darn cute!
I think it would be very, very hard to find a cuter outfit than what Nate's wearing! Heehee.
(LuLu for short) Today we drove over to the Humaine Society where this sweet girl was waiting patiently for a family to take her home. Tallulah is a two year old St. Bernard/Collie mix. She is calm, quiet and completely unfazed by the excited bouncing and over-enthusiastic petting from both Michaela and Nathanael. She is now officially ours! She has looked at the cats with curiosity, but has made no move to enter their personal space. Lulu seems to be the perfect fit for our family and we already love her very much. After twelve years of waiting, it still seems a little surreal to have a dog, but we're very, very happy!