Girls trip to G.P.!!

On the 13th the Edmonton and Stony Plain Cameron ladies embarked on a road trip to Grande Prairie!!  The primary purpose for our visit was to meet Miss Aurora who was born at the beginning of April, to our niece Kourtney.  Of course we also were excited to visit many other relatives :)  We had a fabulous time! The kids had so much fun and loved playing with their cousins and meeting Aurora, who by the way, is the cutest baby ever!!  Kourtney is doing such a great job as a new mom :)  Here are a few pics from our road trip (which I hope is the first annual Cameron girls road trip!!):

Emerson, Kailey and Kerri loving on Aurora :)

So sweet, Em just loves babies!!

Kerri, Reese, Kourtney, Aurora and Kailey at the baby shower

Reese loves her new baby cousin!

So thankful we were able to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Alstad, they hold a special place in my heart.

 

Let's see how much we can fit into one weekend ...

This weekend Blake's team was in the Beaumont lacrosse tournament.  They had a great tourney and we got to spend some time with the Stony Plain Cameron's, as Colby and Blake's teams played each other :)  On Saturday evening Blake headed to his game with the Mauro family, while Reese, Cal, my Mom and my Dad, my sister and I headed to the DOW Centennial Centre in  Fort Saskatchewan for Emerson's year end dance recital. Em's group performed two numbers and rocked that stage!! They did so well!  Emerson really enjoyed herself and wanted to stay to watch the older kids :)  We left after the second act and Cal and I took the girls to Red Robin's for a late dinner, before picking Blake up at Matteo's house.  Blake had fun with the Mauro's and enjoyed their dinner at Mongoli Grill!  He was very excited to tell us about the goal he scored in his lacrosse game that afternoon!!  Mother's Day we were up and out the door very early for the last game of the lacrosse tournament.  Mom and Dad met us for the game and afterward we all met at Boston Pizza for a nice Mother's Day lunch!  The rest of the day was fairly low key ... I even snuck in a nap ;)  I hope all the Mother's out there in blog land had a wonderful Mother's Day!!  Thank you to all who support me in this journey, I couldn't do it without you!  

xo

~Tracy

Em's year end dance recital - so proud of her and how much she has learned this year!

Happy 9th Birthday, Blake!!

On May 5th, Blake turned 9.  I am so glad he is not in the double digits yet ... my momma heart wouldn't have been able to handle it!  So now I have an entire year to prepare for the big 10th birthday ;)  Blake had a very busy birthday.  We weren't sure when we would host his birthday party, between baseball, hockey, swimming lessons, dance practice and a dance recital, lacrosse and a lacrosse tournament and soccer ... we didn't have a lot of free time!!  Fortunately, we have early dismissal Thursday's!!  Reese doesn't have school on Thursday's and Blake and Emerson are out at 11:51 am AND Blake's birthday was on a Thursday, so it all worked out although we were sad that a few of our family and friends couldn't make it.  We had the party the afternoon of the 5th and it went well!  I was so worried we'd be rained out but thankfully we weren't.  We had the party at the park and I think it might have been one of the best parties to date!  The kids played on the playground, ate lunch and cake and finished the afternoon off with a baseball game!  All Blake wanted to do for his birthday party was play baseball, so I'm glad we were able to grant that wish :)  Below are a few pics from our morning before school and from the party:

Opening gifts from Mom and Dad and Em and Reese

Nuggies for his sisters ;) (Reese didn't have school that morning, hence the pj's!)

Ready for school :)

Party in the park - the handsome birthday boy!

Just a bunch of monkeys, hangin' out!

Cake time!!

Most of the party crew :)

Batter up!

Eating lunch on the fire truck ;)

3 cuties, Ava, Reese and Nathan

Blake requested either a Jays cake or a Cubs cake ... DQ didn't have a Jays cake so Cubs it was :)

Opening presents

Waiting for their turn to bat!

Grandpa playing bat catcher, while Dad pitches it in!!

Em also loves a good game of ball!

 After the party at the park, we headed home for a quick dinner and Grandma's famous carrot cake before Blake headed to lacrosse and Reese and I headed to school for a Mother's Day tea.  Lindsay and the boys, Mom and Dad and Blake's buddy Dante joined us!

Some downtime before lacrosse!)

Blake's request ... hot dogs!!!

Cutie patooties!!

The final cake of the day :)

 Happy 9th birthday to our boy!  Blake, you make your Dad and I so proud every single day.  We love the young man you are growing into - kind, thoughtful, caring, driven, smart, funny and athletic! You stand up for your friends and aren't afraid to do so.  You have a strong sense of right and wrong and always try to do the right thing. You are a strong student, a wonderful big brother and a great friend!  Love you to the moon and back, our (not so) little man!

 

Adious April!

Well, April has come and gone ... These are the highlights of our month and what we've been up to :)

~ Blake's spent a lot of his free time on the lacrosse field!  I'm not sure if it's called a field or not, I think maybe it's called a court?!  Hmmm ... I better figure that out ;)  He plays box lacrosse (indoors) so maybe it's called a box?!  lol!  That just sounds weird, so probably not a box.  Anyways, he is in his 2nd year of lacrosse and this year moved up to Novice lacrosse (equivalent to Atom hockey).  He's loving it and it is definitely more of a challenge this year, as he is a first year Novice player.  He's happy to be on the same team as some of his friends and teammates from last year and excited that two of his hockey buddies have joined the sport and are on his team!  We're looking forward to the start of the regular season in May!
~ Choir is wrapping up soon.  I think Blake is ready for it to be over, as he's worried about missing baseball or lacrosse for the performance's he committed to ;)  The choir sang at the open house this month.  I really enjoyed watching him but after the performance I had to confirm that he was enjoying himself, as he had a very serious look on his face the entire time.  When I asked him if he had fun, his reply was, "Of course!"  So funny!  Mr. serious was serious about his choir performance ;)  The girls also had a role during the Open House, as they were invited to volunteer in the kinder classroom, answering questions from next year's kindergarten students!  They were so cute and very happy to take on this important role :)
~ Ukrainian Dance will be wrapping up early in May.  Emerson had her 2nd performance at St. Michael's long term care.  She did fabulous in both dances and we loved watching her group and the other groups as well!
~ Reese's class had a TWOS field trip.  I took the afternoon off work to join them and had fun spending 1 on 1 time with Reese, visiting the various areas of the science centre and laughing with Reese! 
~ Cal was invited to attend the Hockey Edmonton banquet, where he and his fellow First Shift coaches were recognized.  It was a lovely evening with friends!  Lindsay and Jeremy babysat for us and the kids had a blast with their Aunt, Uncle and cousins!
~ Blake was invited to play shinny and had fun!  We are really trying to give him a few months break from hockey but he sure had fun being on the ice again!!
~ Baseball practices began and Blake was VERY excited to start!  He loves baseball and was extremely excited to be on the same team as 4 of his classmates. 
~ Cal ran in the First Responders 1/2 marathon.  His cheer squad caught him around the 1/2 way mark for high fives! It was a cold, rainy day but Cal rocked it!!
~ At the end of the month, our Parent Council hosted our 2nd Annual Pasta Dinner and Silent Auction.  It was  a very successful evening, which was celebrated after wards at Brewster's!  Our school community and parent council is so awesome, I'm proud to be a part of it!
~ My parents will soon be home from their vacation and we can't wait!!

Those are a few of the highlights of our April!!  We're looking forward to May and Blake's 9th birthday celebrations, May long weekend camping and hopefully a sunny, warm Spring :)

Talk to 'ya all soon!!

xoxo
Tracy

AZ Love!!

 

 

approx 4 am ... little sleep that night for the Cameron family, so excited to fly to Phoenix!!

On the shuttle to the airport :)

#yeg to #yyz to #phx, 1 hr waiting for our Budget rental car, 1 hr drive to Buckeye and finally ... this.  #bliss 

adorable sisters :)

ready to head to the ball park!

hanging out with Grandpa :) at Peoria park for a Mariners vs Royals Spring Training baseball game! (Grandma, Uncle Ken, Auntie Brenda, Sam and Jen were also with us!)

fun in the sun :)

the girls with Grandma and Grandpa :)

the next day Cal, Blake, my Dad and Uncle Ken took in another ball game at Sloan Park (Cubs vs A's)

Blake and Grandpa at the Cubs game!

 

 

 

Breaking up our girls day of shopping with a lunch at Chick-fil-A ... yummmmmyyyy ;)

a roadtrip to Sedona for the day!  so cute to see Blake reading to Reese :)

a nice hike in Sedona.  beautiful scenery.

burning off some of that energy!

lots of time spent in the gorgeous pool :)

I could get used to this view :)

"Take my picture underwater, Mom!!" #littlefish

evening card games (no tv service, no iPads = good 'ol fashioned fun ... like the old days, we told the kids!!)

JUMP!!!! (and repeat ... over and over!!)

2nd stop at Target ... #ihearttarget

boarding our last plane in Calgary, almost home

twinsies ... reading sports mags and talking stats

bff's (most of the time!), sipping apple juice and coloring :)

I really didn't take that many photo's but those were some of the highlights!  We had a fabulous time and were so blessed to have a gorgeous house to stay in!!  A HUGE thank you to Sue and Randy, who own the house (I know they'll never read this but we are so grateful for the use of their gorgeous AZ home).  Thank you to my parents for visiting us and making our time extra special and thank you to my Aunt and Uncle for also visiting us and having fun with us all :)  We were also lucky enough to spend some time with the Donaghey's, thank you Sam and Jen for the yummy dinner and for letting the Cameron kids spend hours in your pool ;)  We also spent lots of time with just the five of us and we loved every moment - so grateful for this time away!!  The highlight of the trip for me, was just seeing how excited the kids were at every moment - we had people all around us on our first flight, smiling at their excitement!!  None of the kids remember their first flights, so it was all new to them and their joy was contagious ... even at 6 in the morning ;)  They're still talking about the trip and I am glad that they are all old enough that they will remember it forever, as will I!!  #heartfull

Hope you enjoyed the photo's!  ttys :)

Marvelous March :)

March is nearly over and I just can't concentrate ... I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!!  I'm about to leave on a jet plane with my 4 favorite people ;)  BUT I did want to re-cap the marvelous month of March before embarking on what will probably be a magnificent ending to marvelous March ;)

~ EMHA playoff's: Blake and the Saints finished off their season with the playoff's!  Many up's and down's with the biggest UP (IMO!) coming on Saturday, March 5th when the team beat the 1st place team in our division!!  This team had moved down from tier 1 and were undefeated!  The Saints played their best game of the season, it was amazing and the entire team, coaching staff and fans were WAY BEYOND excited!  It felt like we had won the Stanley Cup ;)  That exciting.  It may have helped that the boys were within feet of Mr. Mark Messier before the game and a few even got his autograph on their game sticks!  Messier was doing an interview for Home Town Hockey at the arena and everyone was pretty pumped to see him in person!! (although I think some of the mom's were slightly more giddy than the boys!)  I want to back up a bit before moving on to the rest of the playoff's - Blake was soooo sick leading up to the big win I just talked about.  He was sick to his stomach numerous times the Friday night before and Saturday morning.  Very weak, couldn't eat or drink.  I really didn't think he should go to the game and I didn't even know how he could physically play hockey.  Even during the drive to the rink, he fell asleep (which he NEVER does) and had a hard time waking up when we got to the rink.  First of all, when we were still at home, I told him that I didn't think he should play, that he needed to rest and then he'd feel better for the remainder of the play off games.  But he wanted to go.  So once in the van, I told him we could just watch the game ... but he said he was playing.  I was worried about spreading the virus to the rest of the team (earlier in the week anther player was down with a similar illness) but he had not been sick to his stomach since 6:30 am Saturday, so I thought he might be on the mend.  Before the game he drank approx. 1/2 a gatorade and ate 2 soda crackers.  He walked into the rink, put on his dryland gear and warmed up with the team and then proceeded to play one of the best games of his young hockey life!!!  I swear no one in the stands believed me when I told them how sick he was.  We were seriously amazed and impressed!!  I don't know how he did it, I'm not joking when I say he was REALLY sick.  He's a warrior!  So back to the playoff's!  We lost our next game and tied the last game.  With a win, we would have been headed to the final.  It was so close and a great game!  I'm so proud of how far these players came this year and most especially proud of Cal and Blake :)  Blake improved so much and was a very solid D-man.  He loves that position and worked hard every single game.  He's a total team player, not concerned with goals or assists, just determined to do his best every single game and practice and I could not be more proud of him!!!  Cal developed these players and worked hard every single day for this team.  He put 110% into the team and I loved watching him learn along side the kids and lead this fine young group :) He dealt with some difficult situations with such dignity and respect for everyone around him, I really commend him. I would have lost my mind and my temper but he really kept his cool.  So proud (did I mention that already?!) 

~ Veeteretz Ukrainian Dance Family Night: The girls, Cal, my Mom, my Grandma Kelley and I attended this event on March 5th (after being so sick and playing hockey, Blake was completely wiped out and headed home with my Dad.  He literally had nothing left in him.  He didn't even want to eat supper, he pretty much went to bed immediately!)!  We had sooooo much fun at the family night!  The food, drinks, entertainment and dance were top notch ;)  The girls had so much fun with their friends and Cal and his friend Eric were the best bartenders ;)  It was a great night. Em claims that she wants to dance next year, just so she can go to the Family Fun Night, lol!!

~ Ringette: Emerson and Reese finished up their ringette season!!  Emerson enjoyed ringette last year but this year she fell in love with ringette!  She absolutely loved every minute and she improved a great deal!  We are so proud of her :)  She can't wait to play next season and even asked me if their is a 3 on 3 ringette league that she can play in this spring.  So cute!!  There isn't for her age but I'm sure in the future, the opportunity will be there!  Reese is not sure if she'll play ringette next year.  She did so well this year, we are also very proud of her but she wasn't crazy about the games.  She told me that she likes the practices but not the games!  She also told me that she is happy when the other team wins because she would feel bad if they were sad.  I nearly died.  Such a sweetheart!!  I do wonder if competitive sports are her 'thing', I have a feeling they may not be!!  But we'll continue to introduce her to various sports and activities, as we try to do with all 3 kids and I'm sure one day she'll fall in love with something or maybe even a few things!!  She really loves her swimming lessons and she misses her music class, so we will have to continue on with those!  Secretly I hope that next fall she does want to play ringette but we definitely won't force her :) Both girls improved a lot this season and it was a pleasure to watch the learn and grow and Cal and I had fun coaching them! 

~ Other Saints business: The Saints mom's also had a ladies night out, in amongst the playoff madness :)  We had a gigglin', cocktail sippin', appetizer and dessert eatin' great time!! Many, many laughs and hilarious stories!!  And I don't think we even discussed hockey ;)  There were some fabulous hockey momma's on this team and I'm so glad to have met some new friends and to have grown closer with my bff hockey momma's ;)  God forbid we're not on the same team next year, I may cry.  lol!  We finished the season with a wind-up party on the 24th.  All the families and players came together for one last hurrah!  It was a great evening!

~ Wizards lacrosse: For some reason our lacrosse club decided to begin evaluations during the week of hockey playoff's ... geez louise!!  Fortunately Blake only had to miss one evaluation!  He's very happy to be back at lacrosse and I'm happy to be back watching ;)  I love this sport!!!

~ Report Cards and Demo of Learning: Report cards came home on the 18th and we attended Demonstration of Learning on March 23rd.  Blake and Emerson's report cards were phenomanal.  I could go on and on but I won't, other than to say they are excelling in grades 1 and 3 and we are extremely pleased :)  Kindergartener's do not get a formal report card so we had to wait until the Demo to see how Reese was doing!  She's is also doing great and getting ready for grade 1!!  Demo is always a fun night, it is so nice to have the kids lead us through their classrooms and to see how proud they are of their work :)

~ Visit with the Hrdlicka's: Near the end of the month, we snuck in a playdate/lunch with our bestie's.  It was great to catch-up and as a bonus, we got to take a peek in Brandon's 'Batmobile' aka RCMP dog handler Suburban!!  It's pretty cool, to say the least!  Blake was in awe ;)

~ Baseball practice: And just because Blake isn't active enough (bahahaha), he attended a few baseball practices this month.  The league he'll be playing in hosted drop in practices for 7-12 yr olds.  Of course, he had a blast and was lucky enough to actually get to play out side, as our weather has been so mild!

Throw in numerous playdates and birthday parties and there you have our March :)  We said 'see ya soon' to my parents at the beginning of the month, as they began their spring travels!  And now we wait for our Spring Break Vacay!!!  EEEEEKKKKK!!  Get me on that plane and in the sun ;)  Talk to y'all soon!!

~ Tracy

Mr. & Mrs. Cameron

So what have Cal and I been up to?!  We're important too, right ;)

Cal's been busy with work, coaching and a bit of NP!  And dad-duties, of course ;)  Work-wise I can't provide the most accurate updates as I myself don't completely understand the technicalities of his position but I do know a lot of his time is taken up by fibre optics!  And meetings ... tons of meetings!!  And I also know that for many of these meetings he provides lunch which usually involves leftovers for the family, lol.  Hey, it's the small things ;)  Coaching takes up a large majority of his time.  From practice planning to game strategizing to dealing with the shit that goes with the job (yeah, I said it!), it is a very time consuming volunteer role!  But very rewarding at times!!  Such as yesterday when the Saints beat the top team in our tier!  A team that was moved down to tier 2 from tier 1, in round 3 of the regular season.  The team played so well and Coach Cal was very proud (as were all the fans and parents!)!!  We won't talk about the shitty side of coaching, lol ;)  Cal makes it to NP almost every Wednesday and every Friday.  He misses a lot of Monday's because his dad duties are a little extra on Monday's, as he drives the kids to school in the morning.  He has been dealing with an injury these past few weeks.  We hoped that new runners would help cure the problem but they haven't so he will need to see a Dr. or a P.T. possibly.  His Achilles has been bothering him after a few km's of running or walking :(  Hopefully he can deal with it asap, as he should be training for his 1/2 marathon in April, followed by Sinister 7 in July, followed by his full marathon in August.  Cal's getting ready for spring hockey as he joins his co-worker for Friday night hockey with a group made up of mostly EPSB teachers.  He had a great time last year on the team and is looking forward to playing with the same group again.

I am doing well, keeping busy with the usual!!  I feel like I'm a full-time (plus OT) Mom, part-time O.T.A. and part-time wife (sorry Cal, lol!)!  I LOVE my job and am happy to report I was the successful candidate for the permanent, full-time posting!  The lady who I was covering for decided not to come back after her sick leave.  I'm so excited to be permanent and know that I will be returning to this position in September!  I love my job.  I'm actually happy to go to work.  It's kind of bizarre to me and I hope this feeling lasts ;)  So far so good!!  I remember starting a new job when I returned to work after Blake was born and loving that job, too!  Unfortunately my role changed a few months into that new position and I didn't love it quite as much as when I started.  Hopefully there won't be any major changes to this new role!  I'm happy driving to work and happy driving home, it's a wonderful feeling. Other than work and mom duties, I don't have much to report - other than I can not keep up with housework and laundry and 75% of the time I am able to pull together a good meal at supper time ;)  Since having Reese, I don't think I've kept out with housework and laundry, so nothing new there.  For the most part I don't let it bother me, water off a duck's back and all that good stuff, but there are times when I feel like I'm being choked by laundry and housework!!  Then I take a deep breathe and relax and let it go!!  I've helped our hockey teams manger a lot this year.  I'm the treasurer but we've pretty much just shared manager and treasurer duties.  It's fun and I enjoy being involved!  I usually manage to have coffee once a week with my good friend Jodi, which is always so nice!  I'm still on the school council at the kids school and really enjoy that.  We're currently organizing our 2nd annual pasta dinner and silent auction.  I've said for years now (probably 5) that I need to start getting to bed early and waking up early to work out before the kids are up ... but yeah, that has not happened!  I am a night owl.  I love the quiet evenings!  Even if I am folding laundry, tidying up, making lunches, etc, I really enjoy the peace and quiet :) So although I know I should change my ways, I haven't gotten there yet ...

Cal and I have been getting out for at least one date night every month, for the most part.  We're so glad that our neighbour Stephanie is finally old enough to babysit and even more happy that the kids like her and she is a great babysitter!!  I know she doesn't get them to bed on time most nights but that's alright.  They're usually busy playing games and making crafts (that she plans and brings all the supplies for!)!

So there's a quick update on the Mr. and Mrs. of the house ;)

Talk to you soon!

~Tracy