Happy Halloween!!

As I've said in the past, Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays :)  I think this is one of the reasons I love the month of October SO much - our anniversary, Thanksgiving and Halloween!! 

The kids didn't have too much difficulty deciding on their costumes this year and we were some-what organized and purchased them quite awhile before the 31st.  I say somewhat because at 10 pm on the 30th I was looking for black hair dye and green face paint ...

Reese was her favorite princess - Princess Aurora.  Emerson was a pirate - argh ;) And Blake was the Hulk.  This choice surprised as he's never really mentioned the Hulk before! 

I made a mistake this year and did not buy pumpkins when I saw them at the grocery store.  Never again!!  Apparently there was a pumpkin shortage this year.  I called everywhere, looking for pumpkins.  There were none to be found - none in Edmonton, none in the surrounding areas!!  Thankfully my mom is one connected lady and she found us a pumpkin!!  It was HUGE and although it was only 1 pumpkin, the kids were thrilled and thought it was pretty cool to have a pumpkin that big.  We looked up ideas on Pinterest and all settled on one pumpkin design ;)

The 30th was celebration day at school!  Because Reese is in a.m. kindergarten, she got to wear her costume to school and parade around the school in the morning.  I stayed in her class for awhile, before heading to work.  All the kinder kids were adorable and so excited!!

Blake and Emerson had to bring their costumes to school, as their celebrations were in the afternoon.  I sprayed Blake's hair and painted his face before school and sent green face paint with him, for touch-ups!  I was working on the northend that afternoon and was able to meet Reese and her dayhome at the school for the afternoon Halloween parade!!  Cal also met us!  This is one of my favorite parts of Halloween!  So much fun watching the students parade around the gym and ooo'ing and ahhh'ing over all the fabulous costumes!

On the 31st my Mom and Dad stopped by to see the kids all dressed up, then we put our bowl of candy on our step and headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's to see my Grandma, who was handing out candy at their house.  Their neighbourhood was so awesome!  Most homes were decorated and not just 1 or 2 lawn or house ornaments - they went all out!!  We did some trick-or-treating on their block before heading back to our own neighbourhood to meet the Parenteau's.  Blake had an early morning hockey practice that morning and so we didn't stay out as late as we have in the past, which was fine by Cal and I ;)  Less candy and less tired the next day!!

I hope you also had a spooktacular Halloween :)

~Tracy

de-gutting the giant pumpkin!

pumpkin guts!!!

Ree

executing the carving!

finished product :)

snack bags for school!

Reese's Kindergarten class

Some of Blake's class at the Halloween parade - Blake is the Hulk in the back left hand corner :)

don't mess with these two ;)

thanks for stopping by, Grandma and Grandpa!

love them so much!!

visiting with Great Grandma Kelley!

trick-or-treating in Greisbach

BEST house ever!!!  Zombie family, live in person ;) And the decorations were amazing!

ready for bed ... after a few more treats ;)

Blake

Blake is enjoying grade 3 but he has complained it is boring ... which I know it isn't!  I mean, it just can't be.  I could only imagine if he wasn't in French Immersion, the "It's boring" comments would be doubled, I'm sure.  I'm looking forward to his first report card and SLA results.  His teacher says he is doing great and all his marks thus far have been great, sometimes even 110% with the bonus question ;)  This year he continues with his French spelling words and now also has English spelling words.  I love the English spelling words as I can actually say these words, without assistance from some Internet robot!!!  French Immersion is a lot of work, not only for the student but for the parents ;) 

Blake's joined the school choir, which I think is really cool!  I'm glad to see him involved in a non-sport activity!  He has choir every Tuesday after school for 1 hour.  He also has hockey practice every Tuesday, so Tuesday's are busy.  It's home from school/choir, make supper, eat and off to hockey practice.  He's going to have to do his home reading in the truck on the way to practice because it's bedtime as soon as he gets home.  Typically he has one more practice every week, always has a game, sometimes has a dryland practice and sometimes has a team power skating ice time.  So basically, he has a hockey-related activity 3-4 days a week, but 4 most weeks.  He's enjoying his new team and they're all becoming fast friends!  His D partner is taller than him, hard to believe, and they have nick-named themselves 'the twin towers." lol!!  Today after school he was talking to a friend about trick-or-treating together and I over heard him say, "I should invite my twin tower!  He's on my hockey team." and he went on to explain the whole twin tower nickname!!!  So funny!  Blake's also still in swimming lessons and doing great, swimming lengths now and loving every second.  Awhile ago we bought him goggles and they have really helped.  Blake also plays soccer or baseball everyday after school. Talk about an active boy!  He's go-go-go and has so much energy, I wish I could have even an 1/8th of it ;)  As on the go as he is, he is also in love with his NHL '15 XBox game and his NHL YouTube videos!  He knows almost every hockey player and all their stats.  He can talk hours on end about stats.  He loves to read his Dad's Hockey News and Sport Illustrated magazines and helps Cal with hockey drafts, pools and loser pools!  As I've said many times before, he's a mini-Cal at times ;)  Loves his sports and has an amazing memory for stats and trivia!  He also has an interest in history and has been taking books out of the library on the WW's and geography.  Recently my Dad visited with his Uncle who was in WW II and Blake is quite enthralled with that information!  He took a book out of the library about WW II aircraft and asked me, "Do you think this is the kind of plane Grandpa's Uncle flew?"  I told him he'll have to ask Grandpa!!

We're pretty proud of Blake are enjoying the young man he's growing into :)

~Tracy

Em

Emerson is loving grade 1!  She is learning so much.  Blake tests her French and it's so cool to hear all the new sentences and phrases she knows.  She is also proficient in the French alphabet and all the letter sounds.  She flips through her alphabet ring, like it's a breeze ;)  It's very exciting to watch Emerson learn, she soaks up every minute and is a quick learner.  She is an extremely responsible student and takes care of all her school library books, homework, agenda, any forms that come home, etc.  She is the one reminding me that she has to do homework, I have to sign a form, etc!  She always puts her books in her backpack the night before library day, without a reminder from Cal and I!!  She's as studious as a grade 1 student can be :)

Em isn't too upset with my return to work.  She seems kind of proud and in fact I heard her tell her friend Berlyn on the way to dance tonight, "Yeah, she's working again.  She works in classrooms, kinda like a substitute teacher."  lol!!  Apparently my role needs to be better explained, so funny!

Emerson is busy, busy with swimming lessons, Ukrainian Dancing and will soon be starting ringette.  She loves swimming but had a few weeks where she didn't want to go because there were no other girls in her class and the instructor was a boy!  Two weeks ago a girl joined her class and so now she's back to loving swimming lessons!  She is really enjoying Ukrainian Dancing and seems to be learning a lot.  We have a parent watch night in November, which I can't wait for!!  I'm so happy she's enjoying Ukrainian dancing, I loved it as a kid and have always wanted her to try it!!  When we looked into it a few years ago, the time was just too late for her but now it's workable.  Still a bit later than we'd like but at 6 years old she can handle it a lot better than she would have been able to handle it at age 4 ;)  She told me last week that she got a special sticker for keeping her toes very pointed during her 'Taneks' :)  Ringette begins this Sunday!  Em is super excited and really hopes to be on the same team as her friend Charlotte from last year!  There are two Active Start 2 teams, so fingers crossed she gets put on the same team as Charlotte!  Cal is assisting with Active Start 2 and Emerson is super excited to have him coach her :)  Em will be on the ice every Sunday afternoon and every 2nd Thursday evening!  They have committed to 3 tournaments - the Silver Ring in Edmonton, the Sweetheart tournament (very exciting, my sister and I played in this tournament for many years, my mom organized it and my sisters ladies team is playing in it this year!!) and the Beaumont Tim Hortons Jamboree (which was very fun last year!!)!  

We're as proud as ever of our Em :)

Next up, a little update on our boy!

xo

Tracy

Reesey

I think it's time for a Reese update :)  There's been so many changes in Reese's day to day, since the beginning of September!  

Reese feels so-so about the day home.  But she did have a good week at Maria's house, last week!  And by week I mean Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:30 to 3!!  She feels like she's there forever but really, she's barely there.  Maria lives less than a block from our school, so on Reese's day home days Maria picks Reese up from K and walks her to her house and at the end of the day, Maria walks Reese to the school where I meet her and then pick up Blake and Emerson!  If I make it to the school early, I pick up Reese from Maria's house.  Reese has had a few teary moments, mostly due to not wanting to leave a water bottle at Maria's house and not liking the lunch Maria has cooked.  Reese is definitely sensitive and it doesn't take much for her to get tears in her eyes ;)  So we decided it is fine for Reese to bring a water bottle to the day home and home vs leaving one at the day home.  She's happy with this!  And now the new rule with lunch is that she has to try it.  Maria told her if she thinks it's gross, she doesn't have to eat it!  This has lead to the discovery of many new foods that Reese will eat!!  I didn't think she was a picky eater but when I had to list the foods she likes, I realized maybe she is a little picky ... I'm just used to it.  So those have been the only 2 day home issues that Reese has had and they seem to be solved!  She's always happy when I pick her up, the tears are usually around lunch time.  Hopefully they're a thing of the past now!  

Reese is LOVING kindergarten and Mme. Sina said she is doing great and is starting to participate more in class.  She is coming home with new French words every week and French songs!  Her printing is getting much better and she is grasping her pencil correctly 100% of the time :)  I brought home our printing module from work for the girls and Reese loves working on hers!  She loves cutting and has been cutting out all sorts of shapes and pictures.  I'm looking forward to volunteering on her first field trip to Fort Edmonton Park and I know she will be so excited that I actually get to pick her up from school on that day!!

Reese is keeping busy with her extra curricular activities!  She still loves swimming lessons and continues to improve!  This past Friday her group went in the deep end and she was swimming underwater, unassisted!  She was very proud!  Her music class is going great.  So far I've been able to take her to all her classes but now my Mom and Cal will be taking turns until mid-December.  Reese comes home from every music class with her duo tang and homework :) The last classes homework was to work on tapping a beat with her foot.  It's pretty cute seeing her attempt that!!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to get her into the same class in the new year (this semester is over in December) but I'm hoping there might be a Thursday class so I can!  Ringette starts next weekend and I'm so excited!  Reese is a bit hesitant, she says her feet hurt ;)  Her skates were too big last year so maybe this year they'll feel better?!  I helping coach again this year.  

It's great to have Thursday's off with Reese but we're doing more housework and errands, than we'd both like.  I think we're going to have to just put that all aside and get it done another time because one of the reasons I was looking forward to Thursday's off was that I'd get a few hours with just Reese!  I think next Thursday that will all have to wait and Reese will pick what we do.  I'm 99% sure she will say, "Play Barbies!!"

Reese is growing up so fast and we are so proud of her :)  I knew all the new transitions in September would be hard on her but she's dealt with them like a champ!!

Next up, Em's update!!

xo

Tracy

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!  I think it's a combination of the Fall weather, our anniversary, spending time with family and great food :)

On Thanksgiving Monday Reese had music class.  After class we quickly took some photo's in the ravine that is near her class.  It was so gorgeous, with all the fall colors and paths through the woods.  Unfortunately it was raining off and on and I forgot my tripod :(  So we had to move quick and we weren't able to get a good family photo!  However, I did get a few great shots of the kids :)

How adorable ... honestly.

Love this one :)

We always need an outtake ;)

After the photo's, we headed for Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Lindsay and Jeremy hosted our get together this year.  Jeremy smoked the turkey and I think it was the best turkey I've ever had.  Moist and delicious!  We had a great afternoon - visiting, eating and watching the kids run 'round and 'round and 'round ;)  Thanks for having us, Jeremy and Lindsay!

Mr. Mason and Uncle Cal

Grandpa, Connor, Blake and Great Grandma Kelley

Blake with Uncle Jeremy and Grandma

Em and Connor

Blake and his dessert buffet ... ;)

Reese, waiting for her dessert :)

Emerson and Great Grandma Kelley

Mom and Dad :)

Happy Anniversary!

Our 11th wedding anniversary was on October 9th and we wanted to celebrate with the kids!  I really wanted to try out a new restaurant, or at least one the kids hadn't experienced before.  We settled on Japanese Villiage and it was a great choice!  The kids were thouroughly entertained by our chef and even got a kick out of his cheesey jokes ... such as, "Mushrooms, Japanese Mushrooms ... from Walmart!"  or when he called the bean sprouts "Japanese french fries!"  The kids thought he was hilarious :)  The meal was also a hit!  Everyone really enjoyed their dinner.  It was a fun night out with the kids!!  I'm so proud of my family and love them all to bits.  Happy 11 years, to us!  

Beautiful flowers that look very similar to my bouquet and dinner with my favorite peeps :)

Extracurricular Activities

I've blogged about Blake's hockey, we know for sure that he will have hockey 4 times a week, for the most part! 

All 3 kids also have swimming lessons on Friday nights.

Reese is in a music class on Monday afternoons.  I've made 3 so far and will be able to make the next one.  After that, my Mom and Cal will take turns taking her to music class.  A HUGE thank you to my Mom, for taking that on!!  I'm so glad we could all work together to make this class work for Reese :)  I enrolled her before I had even applied for my job and after I got the job, it was one of my main concerns!  Reese LOVES to sing and I really wanted her to try a class.  So far she's enjoying herself!  She brings home homework after every class and is very proud of the guitar they made last class!

Emerson is Ukrainian dancing this year and I couldn't be happier!!!  I loved when I Ukrainian danced and can't wait to see her perform :)  She's dancing with Veetreez and has had 2 classes so far.  They are 1 hr long, on Tuesday evenings.  Her bff, Berlyn, is also in her class!  She was excited to purchase her new red slippers and although we can't see the class, she tells us she's having a blast!

Emerson and Reese will both be playing ringette but they don't start until mid-October.  Reese's icetimes will be Sundays from 1-2, in Active Start 1 and Emerson's ice times are Sundays from 2:15-3:15 and every second Thursday from 6:30-7:30, in Active Start 2.  Emerson can not wait to start ringette, Reese is a little more aprehensive!  I will be coaching AS1 and may help on the ice with AS2, depending on if I'm alone with the girls at the rink or if Cal or Grandma and Grandpa are there!  My being on the ice with AS2 also depends on Emerson ... at times she says she wants me to help, other times she says no way!  We'll see ;)

Reese would like to take karate or tae kwon do and we might look into lessons in the New Year!  But for now, I feel we have a handle on the extracurricular activities and we'll leave it as if for awhile :)

I love how active our kids are and in turn, it keeps us active as well!!  I'm hoping Blake's games don't interfere too much with Church on Sunday mornings or with Ringette on Sunday afternoons, but I know we're bound to have some interference!!  Fingers crossed we'll still be able to make most games!!