In the garden

Emmett and his Mom harvest a bumper crop of carrots from the garden, just in time for school.

Camping

Once hard core backcountry campers, Emmett and Oscar's parents are now embracing car camping, as they introduce the next generation to the wonders of sleeping in a tent.

 

 

 

 

 

Out. And he slept almost all night, waking once at 4am for a feed, and then to start his day at 6:30am.

Oscar meets Spring - Take Two

As the emotional yo-yo of the changing seasons continues, Oscar and his mom enjoyed a day in the garden yesterday, with Oscar supervising the seasonal weeding, and Oscar's Mom introducing him to the plants and budding trees.

Taking a thumbsucking break.

 

Watching the birds

Checking out the buds on the crabapple tree

Atop Nana's Mountain

Snow angels and shots of Glayva atop Nana's Mountain (aka Tunnel Mountain) is how Emmett, Oscar, their parents and Auntie Clare remembered Nana yesterday. Oscar caught a ride on his Dad's back, while Emmett hiked the entire mountain almost by himself. They've been hiking up this mountain on March 30th for the past three years in honour of her, to remember her laughter and catch a glimpse of her spirit from high up on a cold winter's day. 

We sure do miss you, Nana. 

Selfie

In a week when Oxford Dictionaries crowns 'selfie' the 2013 Word Of The Year, Emmett's mom sees fit to provide a how2 tutorial on self-photography.

O. stranmccannii

On Wednesday, October 9 at 5:57 p.m., a mere 132 minutes after his parents decide they should maybe head for the hospital because maybe those aren't random cramps, out pops... BOY!

Heroic mom and baby are now home with dad and Emmett, and all are settling in to their new lives as a StranMcCann foursome.

Interesting footnote:  With humble apologies to half a million Rogers wireless customers across Canada, apparently high-speed baby deliveries like this generate sufficient electrostatic charge to do this:

Still pregnant

40 weeks exactly, and Folj'r has made no move to evacuate.

But he/she is quite clear on where the vote should go in the municipal election.

Buddy Burger ain't yo friend

Despite struggling through the effects of a hangover after a late-night A&W run, Emmett ekes out some fun at the second annual StranMcCann PaddleFest. The Wagon Wheel-induced spike in blood sugar helps considerably.

Doing our part

We couldn't get out to volunteer with the thousands of other folks who showed up at McMahon stadium today. Emmett doesn't meet the age requirement (18) and his Mom...well, carrying a 24 week old fetus is a pretty good reason for exemption. But we're doing our part by taking 2 minute showers, reusing our cups, avoiding the washing machine, walking instead of driving, staying off the phone, making cookies for police officers and working from home. Emmett's Dad went to work, even though it was closed, to be part of a skeletal crew to answer calls from frantic students. Emmett and his Mom stayed home...Emmett's downtown daycare was closed, and fortunately, his Mom's employer advised her to work from home.

The rain has stopped - for now- although there are thunderstorms in the forecast, and Auntie Clare reported another 12 cm in the mountains today. The rivers have crested and are starting to recede. The Elbow River (right next to where we used to live) has gone down significantly, and the Bow (1 km south of where we currently live) is going down gradually. There are power outages in several parts of the city, and about 65,000 Calgarians who were evacuated were allowed to go home today. Not to livable abodes, mind you. That will still take some time...

Bend it like Emmett

Despite a 9-week training camp replete with snow, rain, and mosquitos, Emmett reaches the pinnacle of his soccer season with the year-end U4 tournament.

After a few shifts playing wingman to a Christine Sinclair-like striker...

Emmett's mom takes him aside and talks psychological strategy which leads to...

 

Emmett taunting the opposing team from the sidelines by exposing his huge gut, a tactic...

which culminates in a red card and ejection from the remainder of the game.  Given that the sidelines happened to be where the ice cream bars were stored, Emmett still gets to chalk this one up as a 'Win'.

Special thanks to our friend, David Pugh, for the stunning photography!