2012 Photo card and Christmas Letter!

(the first photo shoot of my family done my moi (thank you self timer)!  many more to come!)

We’ve had a happy, busy 2012 here in the Cameron household!

Blake turned 5 on May 5^th and started Kindergarten this fall at Ecole Bishop Savaryn elementary school.  He is in a French Immersion program and so far we are happy with our choice!  He is learning so much, it is amazing how his French vocabulary expands each week.  He is really enjoying Kindergarten and making many new friends (there seems to be a birthday party to attend nearly every weekend!).  As for extracurricular activities, Blake has been busy with hockey and swimming lessons.  He moved up to Initiation 2 in hockey this year, which means a practice on Saturday and a game on Sunday.  He loves it and has the biggest grin on his face, each time he is on the ice.  It is so sweet after each game he will say, “I touched the puck __ times today!”  Blake continues to love swimming lessons and is very excited about learning how to swim underwater!  He is still quite tall for his age, tallest in his class, which has us replacing his pants every few months!!  I can’t believe how fast he grows and I wonder if he’ll slow down soon or will he tower over Cal and I before we know it?!  Blake is even more LEGO crazed this year, his LEGO collection has increased and he spends hours building LEGO, and reading LEGO instructions and his LEGO magazines.  He is still our serious, thoughtful boy who thinks things over thoroughly!  I see a lot of Cal in him!

     

Emerson turned 3 on February 16^th and started preschool in September.  Last year she went to preschool at the YMCA with Blake for the last few months of the school year but this year she is at a new preschool and attends Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  She has such a great time; she absolutely adores her teachers and class.  We really enjoy seeing the excitement on her face as she runs out of class to greet us!  Emerson’s extracurricular activities are a dance class (combined ballet/jazz/tap) and swimming lessons.  She is sooo excited for each class and tells us many, many stories of her time in dance, swimming and preschool (not all are to be believed!!)!  Seeing her so excited and happy, warms our hearts.  Emerson is still very girly, we cannot get her to wear a pair of pants (unless we’re public skating but even then, she will often wear a tutu over her pants!!)!  She twirls around the house, dancing everywhere and saying, “Look at this!  Look at me!  Can you do this?”  She has the dance bug, that is for sure!  We’re excited for her dance recital at the end of the season (not until June).  Emerson can be a bit moody but is really very sweet and so kind.  She has this soft side that has really emerged since Reese was born.  She’s very nurturing and motherly :)

Our youngest peanut, Reese, turned 2 on November 19^th.  I truly felt as though it should have been her 1^st birthday, not her 2^nd!  Unbelievable how fast her first 2 years have gone by.  Reese enjoys the music/play/craft program we go to at the YMCA.  She loves singing and dancing and making crafts (the glue sticks are a big draw!)!  Reese loooooves her swimming lessons and has no problem being under water!!  She is certainly the baby of the family … she has us all, including Blake and Emerson, wrapped around her little finger!  When she speaks, you hear her!!  But just like Emerson, she has a very nurturing/soft side that is evident when either of her siblings is sad and she spends hours each day taking care of her babies (feeding, bathing, and cuddling), it is adorable :)

Cal is busy at work and at home.  He is in his 14^th year of employment with TELUS and has recently been designated as a mobile employee, which means he is at the downtown office once every few weeks and works out of home or at the wire centre closest to our house the remainder of the time.  He is loving this transition!  He gets so much more work done, away from the distractions of the typical office!!  He is quite busy right now, covering a few different positions but we are not complaining … the overtime makes it easier!!  Cal completed his 3^rd half marathon this summer, with a personal best finish.  It was a great weekend, with Blake participating in the kid’s event and good friends also running in the 10K and ½ marathon.  He is looking forward to running in his 2^nd Hypo-half marathon at the end of February.  Cal is an assistant coach for Blake’s hockey team and is really enjoying the jump up to Initiation 2.  He is often the on-ice coach during the games and has a great time with his team!      

I am enjoying our new fall routine.  Busy with driving kids to school and activities but very blessed that Cal can come home and run Blake or Em to school if need be.  I am glad Blake is in ½ day kindergarten and I still have quite a bit of time with him at home.  They grow up so fast, I want to savour every minute!  When kindergarten first started, the girls and I felt a bit lost without Blake but we have adjusted!  We still give him big hugs every afternoon when he gets off the bus (he takes the bus home from school) J  I took the plunge in January and joined a friend in a Russian kettlebell fitness class.  It has been the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long, long time!!  I feel great and really enjoy not only the exercise but the friendships that have formed.  I also attend a yoga class every now and then and have fallen in love with yoga!   I’ve tried other yoga classes and have not enjoyed them near as much!  I think it’s all in the instructor!  I wish I had more time for yoga but maybe one day!  I am still very busy with Cameron’s Closet, my online consignment business.  I now have two helpers, which has been a huge success!  I’m always on the lookout for other part time opportunities that still allow me to stay home with the kids but so far nothing has popped up! 

Our time away from home this year began with our annual May long weekend camping trip to Cross Lake.  We had a great time but realized our trailer was definitely too small for our family of 5!!  This lead to posting the trailer on Kijiji and eventually selling it.  We were sad to see it drive away, there are so many great memories that revolve around that trailer!  But we are excited to spend the upcoming camping season in our new trailer, making new memories!!  In July we rented a cabin on Lac la Biche.  We had a great time, spending most of our days on the beach and at the playground and our evenings around the fire pit!  Our other travels this year, included trips to Fort McMurray (one by myself in February to meet my new nephew and one for a girls weekend with my Mom, sister and kids while Cal and the guys went on a quadding/fishing trip), two trips to Grande Prairie (love visiting friends and family up north!), a trip to Calgary with one of my best friends for a girls weekend (sooo much fun!), a family trip to Calgary (we met Cal’s sister Carmen and family for a fun day at the Zoo) and Cal and I took a trip to Denver at the end of October (great time away, enjoyed the R&R and most especially finally saw Peyton Manning live at a Bronco’s game!!).

We are wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!  Hopefully our paths will cross in 2013 :)

xoxo Tracy, Cal, Blake, Emerson and Reese

Fun weekend!

Ready for our sleigh ride :)

Friday evening after swimming lessons, we rushed over the Candy Cane Lane for our 4th annual sleigh ride!!  It was a gorgeous night outside, not too cold and the perfect evening for a sleigh ride.  We had so much fun, singing carols and enjoying the lights.  Blake and Em love the sleigh ride but we weren't sure how Reese would react.  Well, turns out Reese LOVED the sleigh ride too!!!  She was pointing to lights and singing Jingle Bells over and over.  It was really cute and so heart warming :) 

Saturday afternoon was Blake and Cal's hockey Christmas party, which the whole family was invited to!  We had fun, the kids ran around and played mini sticks while we visited with other parents and got to know each other a bit more!  Although it is Blake's 'team', the entire family is enjoying meeting new people and making new friends :)  Reese and Em now spend games and practices playing dolls and Barbies with their friends while I chat with the ladies!  

Sunday morning, Blake and Em were in the Christmas pageant at Church, both dressed as Shepard's.  It was very cute and a great production, with the older kids playing 'acting' roles, primarily Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth.  They did a fabulous job, putting in a lot of rehearsal time and practice!  The Church school kids (ages 3, 4 and 5) sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain" complete with actions and the congregation joined in with them the 2nd time around, it was awesome!!!  Sunday afternoon Cal's Dad, a.k.a. Grandpa Bruce, came over and we went to Blake's hockey game.  It was fun to have Bruce there and hear stories of Cal's younger days in minor hockey!  Bruce thought all the boys were really good skaters for their age and enjoyed watching Blake!  Blake came so close to scoring his first goal, it was an intense moment!!!  We had Bruce over for supper after the game and the kids kept him busy ;)  It was great to see him!

We are all done our Christmas shopping, thanks to Cal and I spending the majority of a day at Dollarama, Superstore, Walmart and Kingsway Mall!!!  Thank you to Grandma D for holding the fort down and allowing us to do some power shopping :)  I am awaiting the arrival of a few gifts that I ordered from the States.  They were ordered in November and are still not here :(  I'm REALLY hoping they arrive soon!!!  Tonight, we hope to get the majority of our wrapping done!

The kids have all been under the weather this week.  Reese woke up from her nap on Tuesday afternoon and puked all over her crib :(  But other then that 1 incident she has been fine, so hopefully that was an extremely short-lived bug!!!  Blake has a terrible cough, very phlegmy and if he was a baby I think he'd have croup!  No fever or any other symptoms, so that is good.  I kept him home from school yesterday but today he went because it is 'Winter Fun Day' and they were going on a horse drawn sleigh ride and had many other fun events planned!  I emailed Mme. Emilie to let her know he has a bad cough but no fever, etc. so hopefully no one is upset I sent him?!  Poor Emerson was really sick yesterday evening/night/early this morning :(  As we arrived at dance class yesterday evening, she puked all over herself and the car seat.  She was so sad and so upset that she was missing her dance class :(  I ran Miss Jessica's present in to her and headed home with Em.  She was sick to her stomach all night but so far she has been good today!  Again, hoping this is a short-lived bug!!  And hoping no one else catches it.  We have not been sick for so long, it has been awesome but I guess every now and then everyone has a turn!  Here's hoping everyone is feeling 100% by Christmas Eve :)

Good luck with your last minute Christmas preparations.  I still have a lot of baking I want to get done and of course, wrapping!!!  

xo Tracy

   

Christmas Concert's!!

Blake, ready to go rock his Christmas concert!!

Blake performing, "Quand le pere Noel vient me visiter"

Blake decorating his tree!

Thursday, December 13th we attended both Emerson's and Blake's Christmas functions at their schools!  We had a great time at both!!  Emerson's preschool class wore Santa hats and beards while singing Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, all with actions!!  So cute :)  Emerson did a fantastic job, we were so proud of her :)  After the concert, Santa visited the classroom and we had a pot luck snack.  It was nice that Blake didn't have school on Thursday and we were able to attend all together :)  

Blake's Christmas concert was Thursday evening.  Blake was extremely excited!!!  The French immersion KG class, the English KG class and the two 100 Voices preschool classes all performed on Friday night, finishing with a grande finale "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", all performed together (close to 100 students!)!  They did such a great job, very entertaining with their fun actions and singing their hearts out :)  Blake's class sang a song about Santa in French, which was very impressive and the English KG class sang a beautiful song about baby Jesus.  After all the music, there was snacks and a all the kids got to decorate a Christmas tree (waffle cone with green icing and candies!)!  It was a nice evening and we were so proud of Blake's performance :)  

Emerson's preschool class, ready to perform!  (Em is the last child on the far right)

Our family at Emerson's Christmas party!