Potty star!!

Reese decided she was a big girl, over the Christmas holidays!!  It's like a switch went off and all of a sudden she wanted to use the potty.  It was a very smooth transition, considering she wanted to be potty trained!!  She still has a few accidents, mostly if we're out and about and she forgets.  At home she hasn't had any accidents for awhile.  She even spent a morning in the YMCA Childminding with no accidents.  And the best part, she wants to do everything all by herself ;)  Sometimes she closes the bathroom door and says, "I want some privacy!"  lol!  It's nice having no poopy diapers to change!!  Way to go Reesey :)

Thank you 2013!

Another year has passed us by.  It's been a good year ... from what I can remember ;)  Those who know me well, know I have a terrible memory!!  I swear I look back on the past and all I can remember, without really thinking hard, is it was all roses and sunshine.  lol!!  I suppose that isn't the worst trait?!  At the very least, it is a great coping mechanism ;)

Here are some of the highlights (these are after thinking reallllly hard about it!  Ha, ha, ha!!):

- We paid off our van!!  Thanks to my incredibly resourceful, hard-working and smart hubby :)  Because let's be honest, I would have likely shopped that money away or taken a trip - lol!!

- Emerson turned 4 and celebrated the big day with (another) birthday party at Dynamics gymnastics club in St. Albert!  This party was "Rainbow Dash" themed :)  As always, we had lots of fun at the gymnastics club and afterwards we carried on the celebrating at Red Robins, where we celebrated Emerson's godmother's 40th birthday, along with Em's birthday and Cal's birthday!  So many February babies in our life!!

- Blake turned 6 in May and celebrated with a GI Joe themed party at the St. Albert Bowling Alley!  We had a blast and discovered all the kids quite enjoy bowling :)  We also had a backyard BBQ for friends, godparents and grandparents who couldn't make the bowling party.  It was a beautiful May day and so much fun :)

- Cal and Dad headed up to Fort McMurray in June, to meet Jeremy and friends for a fishing trip.  Actually, I think they ended up somewhere around Lac la Biche due to flooding and bridges being washed out.  But they had a good time fishing and quadding and I heard one of the funniest stories ever (for those who went or heard about the trip, think dropping the boat motor and worrying about getting a ticket ;) )

- I had a great time with one of my bff's on our 2nd annual Calgary Stampede road trip!  Lots of laughs, fun, food and drink, sleep-in's and quality time with someone I wish I could spend more time with!!  One of these days ... she promises me she is moving closer to me ;)

- We picked up our brand new trailer!!  This was so, so exciting!  We absolutely love it and loved spending so much time in it this summer (fabulous time with friends and family on May long, July long, Ol MacDonald's, August long, Jasper, a trip with the Hrdlicka's, etc, etc!).  The new trailer is amazing, the extra space makes all the difference in the world!  No rushing out the door in the morning because there isn't enough space for everyone!!  We have a table to eat at, that does not need to be made into a bed, each child has a bed, it's all just fabulous ;)  And with the kids being one more year older, combined with the extra space, I found this year to be far less stressful!  Not that it was ever really stressful but they all slept great, went to bed well, played well, no one was running off or crawling on rough ground, etc, etc!  Can't wait for this summer!!!

- We discovered geocaching and had some great geocaching adventures!!  We found a few caches and got lost a few times :)  Looking forward to more geocaching adventures in the future!  

- Both Blake and Em attended a Pedal Heads bike camp this summer and Blake officially took off his training wheels for good :)  Em also attended a YMCA day camp and Blake a hockey camp - lots of fun!  We enjoyed the days we spent at home this summer, with play dates with friends and trips to the park and spray park!

- 2 trips to Tisdale, SK.  One, just the kids and I this summer and one in November with the whole family, for my cousins wedding.  This was way overdue!  We had a great time visiting with family, most especially my grandparents and for me, my favorite (older!  ha ha, Jeanine!!) cousin and her family :)

- we had a nice visit with Cal's grandparents and Mom, as they were down from Grande Prairie for a few days this summer and came over for a visit and dinner out!

- a quick visit to the Francis family while they were camped outside of Edmonton!  The cousins enjoyed playing and popsicles ;)

- Blake started grade 1 and Emerson started her last year of preschool (3 days a week this time around!)  Reese started going to the YMCA childminding and is doing great!

- Reese turned 3 in November and celebrated at home with friends and family and a Dora themed party :)  She loved her birthday this year, really enjoyed being the birthday girl!!

- 2013 included hockey, power skating, ball hockey, trail running, Russian kettlebells, dance and swimming lessons as our main extra curricular activities!!  Cal returned to playing hockey once a week, Tracy is taking a break from kettlebell class and loving the classes at the Y!  Reese learned to skate!  Blake learned to snowboard!

And just like that, an entire year has passed.  A year full of ups and a few downs.  A year full of love and laughter and some tears.  A year full of growth and change and learning.  A year spent with the most beautiful family and fabulous friends.  We are truly blessed and thank each and every one of you for your role in our lives.  Here's to a new year ... new adventures, new opportunities, new challenges and chances to love and laugh and enjoy this wonderfully crazy ride we call life :)

I'll leave you with this quote I found on the internet, I quite like it!

"Another fresh new year is here  ...

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest ...

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity

Once more to right some wrongs,

To pray for peace, to plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs!"

- William Arthur Ward

HAPPY NEW YEAR, WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST IN 2014!

xo

Tracy 

Christmas Holidays Re-cap!

Christmas Day in Stony Plain

We had a wonderful 2 weeks off!  Here are some of the highlights from our Christmas vacation:

~ Christmas Eve family pj service at Church

~ Christmas morning at home, just the 5 of us

~ Christmas afternoon and evening with the Smith side of the family (had a blast skating at the outdoor rink Cal grew up skating on, fabulous eats and company!)

~ Blake's team played in the Confederation Hockey tournament (Blake received player of the game in his first game, we loved having the Stecyk, Smith and Stony Plain Cameron families join us to cheer on the Bobcats and enjoyed running into Blake's school friends and their families at the rink!)

~ Sledding with the Parenteau's on one of the nicer (but rainy!) days at our local hill

~ Playdate and visit with the Stony Plain Cameron's 

~ Shopping date with Em and my Mom and a friend at WEM

~ Having the Hrdlicka's over for an entire day of play and visiting :)

~ Cal and I had 3 date nights! (2 Oilers games and the below kid free day/evening!)

~ All 3 kids had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's (they loved it and Cal and I enjoyed running errands, a movie and dinner out!)

~ Playdate at the Tamminga's (just Blake and I :) )

~ Cal and Blake were invited to an Oilers game with one of Blake's buddies from school and his Dad 

~ lots of time to play with our new Christmas presents and enjoy some downtime at home :)

There are some of the highlights, in no particular order!  We hope you enjoyed your Christmas break and have a fairly smooth transition back in to your weekly routines!!  Our kids were quite tired this evening, it might take a few days to get back into the swing of things :)

xo

Tracy 

Skating at the Forest Green outdoor rink, on Christmas Day