November

November has come and gone!  Here's a quick review of this fabulous month :)

- Cal started coaching the 1st Shift program, a collaboration between Hockey Alberta and Bauer Hockey.  He shares his passion and expertise for hockey with a group of first time hockey players every Saturday for 8 weeks!  He is coaching with our friend Dale and is loving this experience. (for more info click here!)

- Reese had her very first special helper day at preschool!  I stayed to watch her, as the beginning of the morning is when they do their show and share and she gets to lead the class in the morning routines!  I was so proud of her and how she pointed out the schedule for the day, counted the letters in her name and told everyone the letters in her name.  She was also so cute during the show and share portion of the morning!  She brought an old doll from home.  They have to have their parent write out 3 clues and have the class guess what the show and share item might be.  She took the sheet out of the show and share bag and pretended to read what was on it.  It was adorable and of course I teared up ;)

- Cal traveled to the exciting town of Drumheller for work!  He will be visiting Drumheller often, as it is a test site for some new technology Telus is trialling.

- My wonderful Mom babysat the girls so I could volunteer in Blake's in class field trip!  It was a pirate themed, buoyancy field trip where they made their own sailboats.  Lots of fun!  I just love Blake's teacher and her perfect classroom.  If I was a teacher, she would be my inspiration!! 

- We enjoyed our first ever Fall break.  I really hope our school board continues this break!!  We had our regular activities but it was also very nice to spend down time together :)  The kids relaxed, played well together and enjoyed their break.  Cal took some vacation time too, which was nice!

- We celebrated my 34th birthday!  I had a nice brunch with my Mom, sister and nephews the morning of my birthday and we went out for supper with my Mom and Dad the following day! 

- We celebrated Reese's 4th birthday, which I will dedicate a separate blog post to!

- Emerson lost her first tooth and received a Bishop Savaryn's Best award at school :)
- Blake's 1st report card of the year came home on November 21st.  As expected, he is doing very, very well and we are extremely proud of him! 

- Cal and Blake had fun at an Oil Kings game with their friends Dale and Ryan!  They are 4 pea's in a pod ;)

- On the 27th we attended Emerson and Blake's demonstration of learning day.  It was nice to spend some time in both their classroom's, learning about their daily routines and what they are currently learning and working on in class.  Both teachers have nothing but praise for both Blake and Em!  We are very proud of them both.  After the demo, we visited the book fair and picked out some new books!

- Winter hit Edmonton on the 27th, making travel within the city difficult!!  Many vehicles were stuck in our neighborhood and so we kept the girls home from school on the 28th.  All 3 kids had cancelled field trips on the 28th, which really upset Reese.  Her field trip will be re-booked but she was quite upset!  Blake still wanted to attend school, as it was a pj day for him, so Cal came home and stayed with the girls while I used the truck (and 4x4!) to take Blake to school and then go to the preschool to cancel the field trip for that day.  Cal worked from home that day!

- On the 29th we had Reese's preschool pub night at Richard's Pub.  It was an extremely successful evening, raising almost $14,000.00!!  We had a fun evening out with my Mom, sister and friends.  Thank you to my Dad for babysitting our munchkins!!  Our fundraising committee this year worked so hard!  I have to say I am glad it is over!  Check that off the list ;)

- Blake's hockey team is doing great in their regular season games!  Blake's having a blast and we are enjoying watching the team grow and learn!  Cal is doing a fabulous job as head coach, putting many hours into practice planning.  It is obvious, as the entire team is working so well together and improving each and every week.  

- Ringette is going well.  The girls are still enjoying themselves and excited for Saturday's!  I was the head coach last weekend, which was a bit stressful but it went well!!  The girls tire out after 40 or so min so trying to keep them interested and on the ice can be challenging!  But they are all improving each week and having fun :)  

- And swimming and dance are great too!! It was parent watch week at dance last week.  I loved watching the girls classes and can't wait for the year end recital!!  Em will also be in a competition in the Spring!
- And last but not least, I can not forget to mention the 'stache ... Cal's November Project friends decided to support mens cancers by participating in the Movember Project!  Cal grew quite the unique mustache, resembling Lanny McDonald!!  I was not sad to say goodbye to the mustache but I really didn't mind it too much ;)  The November Project team raised $3700 - 3 cheers for the 'mo!!!

And that sums up the most exciting news from our November!  Christmas will be here before we know it and we are busy preparing and enjoying the Season :)

Talk to you soon!!

Tracy

Reese is star of the day at Preschool!

Enjoying the first snow fall!!

Crazy hair day at preschool!

Em looses her first tooth and receives an award at school :)