Happy 6th Birthday Miss Emerson!!

Em turned 6 on February 16th!!  She had her birthday party on February 8th due to the Stollery hockey tournament the weekend of her birthday.  Her party was at the Cineplex Odeon theatre.  This is the first time we've hosted a party at the theater and it tuned out really good!  We would definitely do it again!  The move we chose was a bit iffy (Strange Magic) but all the kids did seem to enjoy it!  I had no idea from the previews that it was such a love story!!!  But it was really cute, the message was great and I enjoyed the musical aspect!  Em thought it was the best ever :)  She enjoyed having friends and family at her party!  They enjoyed pizza, cake and gift opening before the movie!

On the 14th, after ringette, Em went with Grandma and Grandpa D to pick out her birthday gift - a new bike!  She'd outgrown her bike last summer and was really excited to pick out a new one :)  

On Em's actually birthday she wanted to go to the Terwilliger play gym after Blake's hockey game, followed by wings at BP's!  She had a great birthday and basked in all the birthday wishes from our hockey friends :)  She had the best birthday dinner ever at BP's - wings, nachos and a giant cookie dessert!!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa D for treating us to dinner on Em's birthday, it was a great time and Em was just so happy to have those wings ;)  Love her and her unique little traits ... and can't wait to have beer and wings with her on her 18th birthday ... lol!!

Then on the 17th (the Monday was the Family Day holiday), I made little heart cakes for Em's class!  Every year I think Em's birthday is a birthday that is celebrated over a spread of a few days and this year was no exception!  I think that just kinda suits her ;)

On the night before Emerson's 6th birthday I was thinking about our life with Em and her little personality.  She certainly has a strong one!  I think I summed it up best in my FB status:

Happy 6th Birthday to our sweet & spunky Emerson!! I remember hearing those words, "It's a girl!" as tears came to my eyes and I had visions flash before me of all the fun, cool, 'girly' things in my future but never did I imagine how one 6lb 11oz little spitfire might change our lives! My wish is that you never loose your soft, gentle heart, your tough-as-nails, stick-to-your-guns, no-one's-telling-me-what-to-do attitude. You're a walking, talking contradiction, from your tutu and tap shoes to your Oilers jersey and ‘boy’ skates and I know you are going to change the world. Love you a million times around the moon, Em!

It's all 110% true and more!  Em, you certainly changed our world for the better and we love you so very, very much (even on the days you drive us crazy!)  You are so helpful, always volunteering to help us with whatever we may be doing - laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc.  You love us all unconditionally and forgive so easily.  You idolize your big brother and 85% of the time, are so great with your little sister :)

I remember checking into the hospital the day you were born.  I was going for a non-stress test, not to have a baby!  The lady looked at my records and commented that I was quite overdue.  She asked if I knew the sex of the baby.  I said I did not.  She said, "It will be a girl!  A stubborn, beautiful baby girl!"  She was right :)  When the nurse who helped deliver you, held you for the first time, she said, "Oh boy!  This one is going to be spunky and smart!  She'll be saying her ABC's before she's one!!"  And she was right.  You're spunky AND smart :)

Love you Em!  Hope you had a great 6th birthday but really hope you have an incredible year ahead with lots of fun, love and adventure.  We're so proud of you, each and every day :)

xoxo

PS: Here are some photo's from Em's birthday celebrations:

Cake at Em's party!

Us at Em's party!

D

Get that pizza, Em!!!

Presents from Mom, Dad, Blake and Reese - on her actual birthday

In love with her new bike!

Dinner out on her birthday!

Little heart cakes for her school birthday celebration!

Stollery Family Day Classic 2015

This family day weekend, Blake and his team participated in the Stollery Day Classic,

First and foremost, we want to say a huge thank you to all our friends and family who donated to this great cause.  In order to play in the tournament, each team has to fundraise $100/player.  Blake raised $275.  Thank you so much to everyone who donated :)

The tournament format was 4 on 4, with no whistles, no icing and a few other different rules!  It took a few games for the boys to get used to this format!!  We did not get a medal but had a great time and won a few games.  Here's a pic with Blake's sweet new hat, thanks to the tournament loot bag!!

Love that smile and hockey sure does make him smile!!

And a photo of the girls with their new balloon animals, thanks to the balloon man who has worked every hockey tournament we've ever been to at Terwilliger arena!!

Em's pretending to be a pirate with her monkey in a tree ... Reese has a poodle on a pillow, on her wrist ;)

Valentines Day 2015

Today after school was the best 'free time' we have spent at home in a long time!!  The kids were so excited to make Valentines for each other.  They busied themselves for hours, crafting Valentines for each other and Cal and I.  It was so, so sweet!  I loved listening to them, watching them and helping write those special sentences!!  They were hiding them from each other and Emerson was orchestrating gifts from Cal and the kids to myself and from the kids and I to Cal.  She's such a sweetheart :)  At one point in the evening, Reese showed me a picture she drew of her and I.  She said, "That's me and that's you Momma.  And that's a heart in the middle, because I love you."  *Cue the tears*

Emerson does not forget anything - she's like an elephant.  Every holiday, she remembers what we did in previous years.  I've been caught last minute a few time, like the year she woke up on Easter Sunday morning, so excited to see where the Easter Bunny hid the chocolates ... the Easter Bunny really had to do some last minute scrambling to hide chocolates ... now the Easter Bunny knows, he/she must hide chocolates each and EVERY year!!!  Today she was excitedly chatting about the card and chocolates Mom and Dad will give them this year, because they did last year! We like to buy a small gift for them, so she was not disappointed, I remembered ;)

On Feb 13 all three kids had Valentines Day parties at school.  So my Mom went to Preschool with Reese and I went to Blake and Em's school!  It will be so nice when they are all in the same school for a few years ;)   Thank you so much Grandma D for joining in Reese's preschool Valentine's Day party fun!!  They went sledding to end of the party and Grandma said Reese had a blast!!  I got to make punch for 70 Kindergarten kids and the ingredients the French Kinder teacher bought did not make the best punch ... the kids were definitely not crazy about it!!!  lol!!!  Too funny!  I told Mme. Sina that I will be responsible for the punch ingredients next Valentines Day ;)  Feb 13 was also Bishop Savaryn's Best at Blake and Em's school, so I got to take part in the assembly!  It was a lot of fun, with tons of singing!!  The school has a new music teacher this year and she is FABULOUS!!  Lots of singing with actions and being a Catholic school, she incorporates singing with praying!  It was fun and cute to see Blake and his friend Ryan waving to their siblings in Kindergarten!  I also stopped by Blake's classroom just before recess to spend some time with him :)  Great morning spent at Bishop Savaryn!!  Then Em and I met my Mom and Reese at McDonald's for lunch.  Great morning/afternoon!

Valentines Day was spent on the ice!!!  Not a big surprise in this house ;)  Blake and Cal headed to Terwilegar rink for their first game of the Stollery Family Day Classic and the girls and I headed to ringette for our mini-silver ring game.  The girls had a blast and did so well!!  Thank you Auntie Lindsay, Connor, Mason, Grandma and Grandpa for coming to watch! 

After ringette we all went out for lunch to Subway and then Em went with Grandma and Grandpa to pick out a new bike for her birthday and Reese and I went shopping for Em's birthday present!  Reese and I got stuck twice (it had snowed a lot the night before and the snow fell over a nice sheet of ice!).  Blake went with Cal to Bauer 1st Shift and Reese and I picked him up on our way home!  I made a yummy beef/shrimp terryaki supper and as usual at least 2 of 3 kids were not over the moon about dinner but they did enjoy the cupcakes for dessert ;)  It was a great day and Cal and I enjoyed quiet time after the kiddo's were in bed!! 

Here are some photo's from our Valentines Day:

Ready for school on the 13th!

Chocolate for breakfast on Valentines Day!

mmm mmm mmmmmmm!!

So proud of my little ringette players, they are doing so well :)

Surprise!!

Yesterday after school I surprised Blake with a ticket to the Oilers vs Penguins game!  He was so excited, as I knew he would be!!

We had a great night, taking in warm up from the 1st row and enjoying the game from our season's tickets seats (even though the Oilers didn't win!).  We sang Oh Canada along with most of Rexall Place, we danced in our seats to all the great music, we ate nachos and popcorn and Blake talked my ear off!!  He told me all sorts of stats and facts about nearly every player on the ice (from both teams).  Who was traded for who and how tall and how much some of the players weighed.  He asked me questions that I could not answer and had to text Cal for the answers!  Oh and the sweetest thing, as we were walking to Rexall I complained that my hands were cold and I should have wore my mittens.  He immediately said, "Do you want mine, Mom?"  How sweet, such a little gentleman, I will try to ensure that trait remains with him through to adulthood :)

Thanks for the tickets, Cal.  I know you would have had just as good of a time with him!!

Here's some pics from our mother-son date night!!

Loved this time with my boy!

Catching the Penguins warming up, up close!!

Confederation Hockey Tournament

Blake and the KC 054 Storm took part in the Confederation Hockey Tournament, over the Christmas break.  A huge thank you to all our family and friends who came out to cheer on Blake and the Storm :)

We had a fun-filled few days, playing in the tournament and watching and cheering on friends in the tournament!!  I love a good tournament - so much fun for the whole family and always brings the team together :)

Here are a few of our favorite photo's from the tournament (Blake is #4):

Blake likes to pinch in, in two situations: 1) when they're up by 2 or more goals and/or 2) when he realizes they are quite a bit stronger than the other team!

Coach Cal in action!

A Storm win!!

Go Blake Go!!!

Blake carries it up the ice

Get that puck out of there, Blake!!

Big hugs for Bryton after a win!

Coach/Dad presenting Blake with his silver medal.  There were tears which quickly turned into smiles :)  A fierce competitor, our boy is!

Silver medalist's

Ryan on Blake's right, Max on Blake's left - best buds and on 3 different hockey teams!!  Nathan, in front of Blake, is Ryan's brother and in Emerson's class :)

So proud of Blake and the effort he puts in to every single game!!  That's my boy :)

Ryan won gold medal in his division, we had fun cheering him on in the final!!

The Weaver's and the Cameron's - great friends and goofy as heck ;)

Christmas Blessings!!

With the hustle and bustle of December, Christmas vacation arrived quickly!!  I always like to do a lot of Christmas baking and this year was no different!  Once the kids were off school, the bake fest began ;)  We enjoyed a few 'home' days off leading up to Christmas Eve.  Cal took the remainder of his vacation time and was off the same time the kids were off school.

I love Christmas time but always find it hard to not see everyone we love during the holidays.  I wish we could travel long distances, in a short period of time so we could transport to Tisdale and then to Grande Prairie and back home to Edmonton and get a visit in with all our family.

Christmas Eve was our family pj service at Church.  Cal and I were asked to participate in the service.  We enjoyed doing the candle lighting and prayers.  The kids had fun participating in the service, each making a beautiful ornament for our Christmas tree!  Afterwards cookies and milk were served.  It's a wonderful service for families and super fun and nice to wear our Christmas pj's ;)  After the service we picked up supper and drove around St. Albert, looking at Christmas lights.  When we got home, reindeer food was spread and cookies and egg nogg set out for Santa Claus!  Then off to bed for the Cameron kids!!

Ready for Christmas Eve PJ service at Church!

Egg Nogg and our homemade cookies and cherry tart, all set out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer!

Gorgeous craft from Christmas Eve PJ Service.

Santa has landed!!

Christmas morning we had our traditional Christmas Wife Saver breakfast (my favorite!!)  My parents and Grandma Kelley dropped in for coffee mid-morning!  The kids enjoyed showing off their new Christmas gifts!!  After lunch, we packed up and headed to Stony Plain for Christmas at the Cameron's.  Cal's Mom, niece Katie and nephew Greyson flew in from Grande Prairie on the 24th and it was great to spend Christmas with them and with Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna.  We had a great day, thank you so much to Gerry & Lesley for hosting our 'Cameron' Christmas :)  The kids played so unbelievably well together - for almost 7 hrs straight!!  The girls put on a little concert, complete with princess dresses and microphones!!  The boys played and played and learned some new Minecraft tricks!!  It was a wonderful Christmas Day!

Cousins, rocking out on Christmas Day!!

Jenna, Colby, Blake, Emerson, Reese, Katie and Greyson on Christmas Day :)

Blake and Colby playing Minecraft

The girls in their matching pj's from Grandma Bev!

 Boxing Day was Christmas at the Smith's!  We woke up and had a hard time getting ourselves together to get out the door, but we made it before noon and in time for round 2 of Christmas wife saver breakfast ;)  We had a great day!!  The kids had fun with their cousins, playing with their new Christmas gifts and we all had fun skating at the Forest Green Outdoor rink!  The weather wasn't quite as nice as last year but we still got some skating in!  Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting our Christmas, it was another great day :)

My family on Boxing Day at Mom and Dad's :)

Our adorable kids!

Reese and Connor, catching a ride to Forest Green Outdoor Rink!

Em and Connor

Uncle Jeremy playing hockey with Blake and Em

Reese and Cal playing ringette

Ready to open our stockings!!

 We hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations! 

xoxo
Tracy

2014 Christmas Letter

Christmas greetings from the Cameron family!  It’s been a happy, busy year here in our house!

The Cameron kids are all doing well in school and according to their teachers, they reserve their ‘best’ (cough, cough) behaviour for home!!  Blake is in grade 2 and loves school, especially science, math, social studies, art, DPA (daily physical activity, what us old folks call gym class!), Daily 5, music class … never mind, he loves it all!!  He is reading well in both French and English.  Emerson is in kindergarten this year, her first year of French immersion.  She is picking it up so fast, we love to hear the new words and phrases she learns and she loves to share what she’s learned at school, which is very nice.   Reese loves preschool and has told us she does not want to go to Kindergarten next year.  Hopefully she changes her mind by next fall!  Reese has made new friends at preschool and isn’t nearly as shy as last year!  We are so proud of all three kids and enjoy volunteering in their classrooms whenever we can!

Our kids keep very active and would probably try every sport in the book, if they could!!  Blake and Em played organized soccer for the first time this spring and had a great season.  Coach Dad stepped up once again and with a friend, took on coaching both teams.  Blake loves novice hockey!  He’s a solid D-man and sees the value in an assist!  Emerson and Reese are playing ringette this winter, with Coach Mom on the ice!  We’re having fun and the girls are doing fantastic!  It is more of a learn-to-play program, no organized games quite yet.  Reese is in her very first dance class and is quite the little dancer – we see many examples of what she calls her ‘moves’, all of which bring a smile to our faces!!  Em is also in dance again and enjoying herself.  And all three kids are keeping up with their swimming lessons.  Three little fishes, they are!  We really love cheering on and coaching our kids in their various sports and activities.  Emerson has mentioned trying Tae Kwon Do and Blake wants to play the guitar and/or the drums … so these activities might be up next on the list!

This fall Cal and I celebrated ten years of marriage.  It is amazing how much has changed in ten years and how fast those ten years have passed!  I commented to Cal that it sure didn’t feel like ten years had passed … he replied that he felt like it was twenty … funny guy, isn’t he?!  In September Cal accepted a new role within Telus.  He moved from Access Engineering to the ATOPS team, as the Access Engineering Design Specialist.  He is in charge of standards for Access Engineering in Telus.  He’s enjoying his new role and keeping very busy!  He still technically works from home but with the little ones around the house, it’s hard for him to work from home, so he spends most of his day at the Telus central office down the road but still enjoys the flexibility of a work-at-home employee.  Cal began attending November Project workouts this year and is really enjoying the exercise, vibe and community that are November Project!  Cal and the kids participated in a trail run this summer, Cal ran the enduro course (15 km) and set a personal best!  The kids ran in the 1K race and did fabulous. Cal is also playing men’s hockey once a week.  I am doing well and still enjoying my ‘Domestic Engineer’ position!!  This fall I took on two new volunteer roles - preschool president and secretary of Blake and Emerson’s school council.  These positions (especially the preschool president) have been more time-consuming than I anticipated but I am enjoying the work and the opportunity to use some of my skills.  I am still running my online consignment store and picked up a little side job helping a turkey farmer sell turkey’s this Christmas!!  Hey, every penny counts ;)  I’m finding that as the kids get older, we all get busier! 

 

This summer we enjoyed a two week break, travelling Alberta with our truck and trailer and visiting some of our favorite places and finding new favorites.  Mt Kidd in Kananaskis was a highlight and a spot we will visit again!  We had such a great time at the interpretive programs in both Kananaskis and Jasper.  We really found that the kids are all getting to the age where we can enjoy these sorts of activities as a family, stretching bed time a little later and sleeping in, in the morning!  As sad as it is to see the kids grow up so fast, this is one of the perks!  The remainder of our summer was spent camping with friends and family and all three kids enjoyed a Pedalheads bike camp and Blake played some 3 on 3 hockey.  I was lucky enough to get away on a girls weekend at the end of May, meeting two of my best friends in Jasper.  It was a very nice break and great to spend time with some of my closest friends.  Cal’s first week of his new job was spent in Vancouver.  Although there were meetings, there was also team building activities, which included zip lining on Grouse Mountain!!  He had a blast!

We are celebrating Christmas Day with some of our Cameron family and Boxing Day with our Smith family and hope to hear from and see many of you over the holidays!  From our family to yours – wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2015!!

Love,

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese