Christmas Celebrations

It's funny how we spend weeks preparing for Christmas and just like that, it's over!  The preparations are always more than worth it :)

On Christmas Eve we spent the day at home - cleaning house, decorating cookies for Santa and relaxing.  That evening we attended the family pj service at Church, followed by take out and Christmas lights!!  It was a wonderful evening, the pj service is always so great, the stories and prayers targeted towards children but also enjoyable for the adults.  We picked up dinner and took in St. Albert's version of Candycane Lane.  It's just 2 blocks but gorgeous!  From there we headed to the actual Candycane Lane!  It was BUSY but we snuck in a 'back' way and enjoyed the scenery :)  When we got home we said goodbye to our elf, Picks Rudolph, set out cookies, carrots and Christmas milk (aka egg nog) and it was off to bed for the kiddo's!!  They took awhile to fall asleep ... after numerous threats that Santa was not going to come if they didn't get to sleep, they fell asleep.

On Christmas morning Cal and Blake woke early to go to November Project.  Blake was so excited to attend his very first November Project and it was a great time to attend, as they met at the zoo and there was a special visit from Santa's reindeer!!  When the boys got home, the girls were cuddled in with me and we quickly headed downstairs to open stockings and gifts :)  We spent a few hours at home, enjoying our wife saver breakfast and the kids enjoying their new gifts!  We headed to my parents house for the remainder of the day, where we met my sister and her family and my Grandma Kelley.  We had a great day!  My parents recently had all their old home movies transferred to DVD and we watched hours of footage!!  It was so awesome, I loved it all - from Christmas celebrations at my Grandma Marg and Grandpa Art's to swimming lessons in St. Paul!!  I'm so glad we have those memories to treasure forever and hopefully we'll be able to take in the other home movies some day soon!!  It was a great day with my family and after the previous weeks scare, I'm sure we all had our moments where we thanked our lucky stars that we were all together, at Mom and Dad's house.

On Boxing Day we had Cal's brother and his family, his mom and his niece and nephew over for a Cameron Christmas!  We had another wonderful day :)  The kids played outside for awhile and all had a blast together.  Many manicures and pedicures were given with Em's new salon set, Lego was built, plush pillows created and a few games of NHL '15 were played!

It was a wonderful Christmas and we are so very blessed with time with our wonderful families.  Sending love to those we did not see on Christmas, we are always thinking of everyone during this special time of year.

xoxo
Tracy

2015 Christmas Letter

We hope our annual Christmas letter finds all our family and friends enjoying the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season!  We have been enjoying the mild winter Mother Nature has blessed us with!  We are nowhere near done our Christmas shopping but we do have a start on it and the baking is in full swing.  This Christmas we will be spending Christmas day in Stony Plain at my Mom and Dad’s with my sister and her family and Boxing Day at our house with Cal’s brother and family, his Mom and his niece and nephew.  We are looking forward to spending time with family and also to some time off with our own fab 3!  The days pass quicker and quicker and before we know these kids will be teenagers!!

Cal is off for most of the Christmas break.  He has to sneak in a work trip to Bonyville on the 22nd.  He’s keeping busy at work, working mainly on fibre to the home projects. He completed one of his long term goals this summer when he finished the full marathon at the Edmonton Marathon!  We were all so proud of him; I had tears in my eyes as he crossed the finish line.  Blake and Emerson ran the last few meters with him and it was an emotional moment.  He’s already thinking ahead to summer 2016 and his next goal is to beat his 1^st marathon time!  He and a group of his November Project friends have also signed up for the Sinister 7 race in July.  It sounds like quite the challenge!  We hope to tie our summer camping vacation into this race and head off to the States or BC from there. Cal is coaching hockey again and this year the time commitment is slightly more as he is the head coach of Blake’s Novice rep team.  He’s doing such a great job, the team has improved so much and I think it’s partly because of Cal’s practice planning and his dedication.  Cal is also an assistant Coach for Emerson’s ringette team.   He’s enjoying learning the game of ringette and sharing his skills with the team and Emerson loves having him on the ice with her.  Cal has also volunteered for the Bauer First Shift program this fall.  It is an ice time once a week, coaching players who have never played hockey before.  Bauer outfits them from head to toe and then they learn the game of the hockey!  Cal has volunteered for this program in the past and really enjoys being involved at the grass roots level … you know, before politics are involved!!

I had a big change this year as I headed back to work in September.  I am working as an Occupational Therapy Assistant for Alberta Health Services.  Although I am employed by AHS, I work on an Inclusive Learning team for the Edmonton Public School Board. It is a bit complicated keeping straight who is who and where all my paperwork should go but after a few months, I think I have it!  I work with children who have mild to moderate delays, in various schools around the city.  Mainly we work on fine motor skills, concentrating on printing and legibility. I absolutely love my job and am so grateful that the opportunity arose.  I work part-time and am still able to drive the kids to school and pick them up, on most days. Kindergarten is ½ days, so Reese attends a day home 3 afternoons a week.  The day home is only a few houses down from the school, so she is picked up at school and then I meet her back at the school at the end of the day when Blake and Em are dismissed.  It’s worked out really well.  Other than work, I am still taxiing children around from school to activities; although it is much easier now that all are in the same school.  I am also coaching Reese’s ringette team and loving being on the ice with her and her team.  I’m so glad my girls are enjoying a sport that I grew up playing!  And I keep busy with the Parent Council at the school.  I am the secretary and really enjoy being involved in the school community. 

Blake turned 8 in May and is nearly as tall as both of his grandma’s!  He is in grade 3 and is doing very well in school.  He’s busy with homework, hockey, swimming lessons and school choir!  His downtime is often spent playing NHL ’15 on the Xbox, reading, creating with Lego, and playing mini-sticks!  He’s doing great in hockey and loves playing defense.  He has a great group of kids on his team!  They are kept quite busy with practices, games, power skating and dryland training.  He loves every minute and we love cheering him on!  This spring Blake played lacrosse for the first time.  He loved it and in the spring of ’16 he wants to play lacrosse and baseball.  I’m not sure if we’ll be able to juggle both team schedules but we will try! 

Emerson turned 6 in February!  Em is in grade 1 and LOVES school.  In fact, she isn’t really keen on being off from school for 2 weeks for Christmas break!  She switched from tap/ballet to Ukrainian dancing this year and I am so impressed with how much she has learned in such a short time!  She also loves Ringette and is in swimming lessons.  Ringette is once a week and twice every 2^nd week.  She has improved so much and really enjoys herself.  In her downtime, Emerson draws.  She draws probably 5-12 pictures every day!  Our fridge is beautifully decorated with her artwork (and some of Blake and Reese’s!)  Emerson has also recently discovered Shopkins and enjoys collecting them and watching Shopkins videos on YouTube!! 

Reese turned 5 in November and is in Kindergarten.  This is her first year of French Immersion and she is slowly picking it up!  As compared to her brother and sister, she is quite shy and not keen on being the teacher’s pet or answering every question.  But she is enjoying school and making new friends and her teacher says she is doing well!  Reese’s ringette team plays once a week.  She is doing great and loves each ice time!  Both she and Emerson do not like much help when getting their ringette equipment on, Cal and I have to sit on our hands J  Reese is also in swimming lessons and she recently wrapped up her very first music class.  She really enjoyed her music class and learned quite a lot.  Every class she would bring home her music folder with homework for the week.  I was actually learning alongside her!  I will definitely enroll her in another session in the New Year.  In her downtime, Reese enjoys playing babies and Barbie’s.  She plays independently very well and we enjoy eavesdropping on her conversations with her toys! She has a vivid imagination J

We all enjoyed our summer this year.  We spent many days and nights with friends and family at various campgrounds throughout Alberta.  The kids loved spending numerous hours behind Grandpa’s new boat!! We visited Kananaskis, the Icefields parkway and Jasper this summer and enjoyed some scenic hikes. The kids did really well this year and were able to take on some more challenging hikes! The kids also had fun at their Pedalheads bike camp in July and all three are now 2 wheels which has been nice for family bike rides!  Blake played in a 3 on 3 hockey league in June, July and August, so even though it was summer, we still spent some time in the rink!  Our nephew Colby also played 3 on 3, so it was really nice to visit with family during the games and Cal and his brother even coached a game or two together!

Sending best wishes to all our friends and family, near and far and thinking of you all during this magical time of year!  Merry Christmas and best wishes for a wonderful 2016!

xoxo

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese

When time stands still

December has been flying by.  That is until last weekend when it came to screeching halt.  Our world was turned upside down on Saturday night.  My Dad suffered a heart attack.  You never think this type of thing will happen to you or to your people.  It was very scary but the good news is, he was very close to the hospital and was treated extremely quickly.  If we can take any positives from this situation, it is that.  3 stents later, 3 blockages cleared and Dad is home and feeling quite well.  We're so incredibly thankful for our health care system and wonderful dr's and nurses.  Dad received great care and I still can't quite wrap my head around what happened but the bottom line is that he has minimal damage to his heart, is in the best care now and will be back to himself very soon and possibly feeling even better than before!!  We are extra thankful for our health and family this Christmas.  And we love you Dad, so very, very, very much.

Demonstration of Learning

We had a very eventful Demo of Learning on the 2nd!!  First up was Reese's class :)  This was Reese's first demo of learning and unlike her brother and sister, she was very shy!  The main thing she wanted to show me in her classroom was the nativity scene ... apparently this is her most favorite part of school.  I am not surprised, as she also loves our nativity scene at home.  In fact, we have 3 nativity scenes and she is known to hoard all the Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus statues.  lol!  In her Santa letter she also asked for, "a manger and baby Jesus with his Mom and Dad."  I pointed out that we already have 3 of those and she said, "yeah but I want one to play with all year."  Alrighty then, Reese!!  She also showed me some of her school work and the various centres around the classroom.  We tried hard to get her to speak French and did get a little bit out of her!  As I said, she was quite shy and almost whispered most of her answers when I or Mme. Sina asked her a question.  But Mme. Sina says she is doing well and is coming out of her shell a little bit :)  She's made friends and doesn't complain about going to school!   

Next up was Emerson's grade 1 class.  Emerson was super-duper-excited to show us her classroom and the centres they had set up for demo night.  It was really great to hear her reading in French!  She's very excited to start her home reading program!  She's very strong in all her subjects and absorbs every single second of school.  Mme. Khair says Emerson is her go-to person in class.  She always knows the answer and is always raising her hand to answer ;)  Mme. Khair only speaks to the class in French and if someone doesn't understand something, she will ask a student to translate.  That student is usually Em! 

And last but not least, we visited Blake's grade 3 classroom.  Blake was very excited and official.  We had to follow the instructions laid out by his teacher ... step by step, minute by minute!  The pattern of progression from centre to centre could not veer off track ;)  Blake is doing really, has very high marks but as we know, sometimes need to concentrate on his work a little more!  He still sometimes complains of being bored and does not apply himself 100% because "it's too easy."  Oy!  Sounds familiar to someone I met back in 1996 ;)  But when it comes to testing and assignments, he rocks!! 

We're so proud of all 3 kids and their unique personalities and learning styles and are grateful for wonderful teachers!  Demo night is one of my favorites, as we get to see them in their classroom, leading us through their learning centres.  This year was a bit chaotic with juggling the 3 appointment times but we did it ;)

~Tracy

Playing catchup!!

I haven't blogged in awhile ... I've attempted to many times but have been uninspired ;)

So here's a little catch up:

Our weekends are jam-packed, much like our weekdays.  Saturdays seem to be our most low-key day, with a hockey practice for Blake and Cal's Bauer 1st Shift program.  Usually that is all although typically one of the kids also has a birthday party (or two) on Saturdays!  I swear, we might need to take out a loan for all these birthday parties ... lol!  Sundays are super ... super busy and super fun!!!  They always include a hockey game for Blake, Church, a ringette practice for Reese and a ringette practice for Emerson.  If we're lucky we can fit all 4 into our day ;)  We're usually gone for the entire day and Sunday evenings are very relaxed. 

Our new babysitter is working out fantastically and we've been using her a lot.  My Mom covered our butts one night though, as it seems I forgot to book the babysitter.  Thanks Mom!!  Cal and I attended a fundraiser for a charity called Generously Giving Back.  A friend of ours is on the board and this is their big fundraiser for the year.  It was at a restaurant in China town and the meal was 'authentic' ... the first course was jelly fish (which I did not care for!!)!  It was an interesting meal (I can say I really enjoyed 3 of the courses!!) and a fun night out with friends.  Our babysitter is babysitting for us this weekend, as we head to a pub night in support of our friends hockey team :)

Other than work, school, extra curricular activities and volunteering here, there and everywhere, not much else is new around here!!  I don't know if I blogged about Blake having pneumonia but he did and he's now over it.  A cough hung on for a loooong time (or so it felt) but is gone now (knock on wood).  I have to take him in for an asthma test as his pediatrician was questioning if he has asthma or not but the test results were not clear, due to his pneumonia.  Reese has had a cough off and on, more on than off.  I haven't taken them in for their flu shots yet, as they need to be 100% before they can get them.  I feel like Em and Blake could get them now but I'm not sure about Reese.  I had mine at work and Cal still needs his!  I might take Em and Blake in tomorrow.

We're looking forward to Demo of Learning at the kids school on Dec 2nd, first year for us with all 3 kids in the same school!!  It will be a jam-packed few hours ;)  Demo of Learning is always a fun night.  It's great to see their school work and especially awesome to see how proud they are of their classrooms and work :)

Hopefully I'll be motivated/inspired to update the blog a little more regularly ;)

~Tracy 

Happy 5th Birthday, Miss Reese!!

Reese turned the big 5 on the 19th!!  It's hard to believe our youngest is 5 years old already!  Reese had a few days of celebrations ;)  On the 19th we enjoyed cupcakes before hockey practice.  Reese decorated them that morning and they were delicious :)  On the 20th my parents and my sister and her family came over to celebrate with us.  We had Reese's favorite dinner, spaghetti and meatballs!!  It was a fun evening!  Then on the 21st, we all had a great afternoon at her 4 Cats Art Studio Birthday Party.  She had a blast and the kids loved their art projects!!  I'll share some photo's below!

We love you so much, Reesey!  You bring so much joy into our lives, with the world's best hugs and your adorable smile.  You are so kind and have such a huge heart!  You don't like to make people sad or mad and will go out of your way to make someone smile or laugh.  You have a funny, quirky personality and do the oddest things to make us break out in giggles!!!  Your singing and dancing is so darn entertaining, I hope you keep it up over the years ;)  Love ya, Reese!

Ready to open gifts from the family on the morning of her 5th birthday!

Reese and her new Auora doll :)

She's 5!!  And ready to head to school, on her birthday :)

Cupcake time on the 19th!

Blowing out candles on the 20th (and ready to enjoy Grandma's famous carrot cake!!)!!

4 Cats Art Studio birthday party

Blowing out her candles!! (she chose this cupcake cake at Sobey's, right down to the icing colors and piping!)

The crew with their finished artwork!!  Such a fun party!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

The 14th was the big 3-5 for me ... funny how I feel like the year 2000 was just a few years ago and I can't believe that I was 20 then and here I am, 35 in 2015?!  Man, time flies.  I like to joke that sometimes I feel 20 and other times I feel 65 ;)  I think age is just a number but when I REALLY think about it, I panic a little!!  35 isn't old by any means but each year passes faster and faster and the thought of that has my heart beating a little quicker!! 

I had a great birthday night out with my Mom and Sister on the 13th!  We went for dinner and to the Wynonna Judd concert at the River Cree Casino.  Dinner was delicious and the concert was good!  She sang some of the old classics, which I loved!  She is a bit of a comedian, which was funny but I think we may have had the most giggles while looking around at the diverse crowd!!  Thank you so much to my Mom and Sister for treating me to a fun night :)

Saturday was busy with hockey and a birthday party and so we did dinner and cake on Sunday!  The kids would never let us get away without having a proper birthday celebration (aka dinner and cake)!!  My Dad joined us and it was a nice evening!

Here's to my 35th year ... I will do my best to make it a great one!!

Cheers,

Tracy