Marvelous March

Oh dear ... I sure would like to have more regular updates here but alas, this is not the 'blogging' season in my life ;) March seemed to fly by and the weather really did not help my mood! Or the mood of many yeggers!! Come on spring ... we NEED you!!! In sticking with what works best for me (aka most efficient), here are my top bullets of this month!!

• Mar 2: a day at Sundridge with the Anderson's! Thank you teachers for having a convention :) The kids enjoyed a day on the slopes but it was VERY windy :( Although the wind didn't hold us back much, we did turn in a little earlier in the afternoon.
• Mar 3: a bunch of ringette gals try fastball!! Em and friends went to a 'Come Try Softball' event at ACT! She loved it and is considering playing this spring :)
• Mar 9: Rustic sign night with friends at Brewsters - super fun night out and a nice sign to come home with! Mine says, "The Mountains are calling and I must go!"
• Mar 10: Veeteretz Dance Festival and 2 GOLD medals! Emerson and I had a great weekend at the festival. Her group did amazing, I was so proud of them!! I volunteered all day Saturday - handing out medals and keeping the instructors/adjuticators room stocked and clean. The adjudicator chose Em's group to perform in the showcase on Sunday, as well!!  
• Mar 11: Reese and the Blue Dragons participated in the AS2 jamboree in Sherwood Park! Two games in one day, with a pizza party and play gym fun in between! They had a blast and played two really great games :)
• Mar 11: Last game of the year for the Ice Queens :( Emerson and the Ice Queens lost their last playoff game, ending their season. They were sad but had a great season together. Emerson made some new friends and had a blast!
• Mar 15: Demonstration of Learning at Ecole Bishop Savaryn! Demo of learning is always an exciting time. I love having the kids show me around their classroom and explain to me what they've been learning about and working on. Em's teacher did a super cool "Hollywood" theme which was very neat! And I teared up when I read about Reese's accomplishments thus far ... she's grown so much, has worked so hard and is doing amazing! Blake blew me away with his computer skills and the Google Slides show he made! I can't believe how quickly kids pick up on things and as always, I am so proud of how well they are doing in school :)
• Mar 17: KC Cougars wind-up party!! We had an awesome 3 on 3 re-match followed by a family skate and dinner at Boston Pizza on Whyte Ave! It was a fun afternoon/evening! Sad to say good bye to this amazing team of players and families. It's been a great year and we've all become so close. So much fun with this group!!
• Mar 24: The Cougars parents had such a great season, we decided to have a KC Cougars parents only wind up party ;) The kids stayed at the Stecyk's and Cal and I had a blast! Thanks to the Flippers for hosting but you could have slowed down a little on the "shots shots shots", lol!!!!
• Mar 26 to 30: Spring Break!!! Praise the Lord, we all needed a break!! Cal was busy at work and couldn't take any time off but the kids and I headed out of town for a night! We left early in the morning and headed down hwy 2 to Calgary. We stopped at Cross Iron Mills (new shoes for all!) and then stayed at the Best Western Port o' Call in Calgary. We had such a great time! The water slides and pool are top notch (for a hotel) and the kids spent hours swimming and playing. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel and ordered room service dessert and a pay per view movie, it was wonderful! The only thing that would have made it better would have been having Cal with us. We promised the kids we'd all go back to that hotel one day!!
• Easter: Spring Break ended with Easter. We had the Cameron's over on the 30th after dinner at Tony Roma`s :) And then we celebrated Easter at Church on April 1. The kids did the annual easter egg hunt before Church and we had a chill day at home after Church :) 

Take care everyone, we`ll talk again next month!!!

Fabulous February!

Re-capping February in the ever-popular 'bullet style' ...

• Feb 3: Oilers Skills competition with the Cougars followed by the Coast 2 Coast Winter Classic! As participants in the Ford Drills and Skills Competition, Blake's hockey team won tickets to the Oilers Skill competition! As always, it was a great time and a lot of fun to see the Oilers 'show off'!! Bonus, this year one of the KC Pewee AA teams was chosen to participate along side the Oilers so we knew quite a few players on the ice which was pretty cool! After the Oilers Skills competition we rushed over to Cal's Coast 2 Coast Winter Classic. It was really cold that day so we caught glimpses of the game but had to stay warm inside!! This group puts on such a great event!! They think of every detail, very neat!
• Feb 11: Connor and Mason has a ninja-themed party at My Gym and the kids had a blast!! We then celebrated Cal turnring the big 39 :) 4-0 next year, wow!!
• Feb 16: Emerson's 9th birthday (see separate post!)!!
• Feb 17-19: We headed to Bonnyville to attend the Winterland Invitation in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northern Alberta. Another great out of town tournament with the KC Cougars. From hallway mini stick games to adult hallway parties, we had a blast!! And bonus, the team brought home a gold medal!! Great weekend with a great team :) We could have drove home on Sunday night but decided to spend another night as it was Family Day Monday the next day. So glad we did, another night with friends!!
• And last but not least, Mom and Dad left for their southern vacation. We'll miss them but can't wait to hear about their travels!!

xo

Tracy

Happy 9th Birthday to Emerson!!

Emerson turned n.i.n.e. on the 16th!! Her last year of single digits, oh my!! February is always a crazy month in our family, with so many February birthday's, my parents leaving on their spring vacation, ringette and hockey business, etc, etc and this year Blake's hockey team had a tournament on the weekend of Emerson's birthday. Thankfully they didn't play until later on the 17th so we were able to be at home for Emerson's birthday and celebrate her special day!! We went back and forth as to what kind of party she'd like or what she'd like to do for her birthday and she finally decided on a shopping birthday party! We put one together and it was a great success :) I bravely (if I do say so myself) took 8 young ladies shopping at WEM, followed by dinner at Boston Pizza. We did have a blast and no one got lost!! I bought the girls WEM gift cards and let them spend them however they chose! The most popular spots to spend their gift cards were Claire's and LUSH! They had so much fun browsing and deciding on what to choose! Quite adorable :) Dinner was great and Emerson had such a great time, I was so happy it all turned out! 

I can't believe Em is already 9. She is a firecracker full of love, hugs, emotions, smiles, knowledge and intelligence, passion, kindness, gentleness, love, stubbornness and sometimes sass!! She is the biggest helper around the house, willing to help out in any way possible. She's not much for sitting still and would rather be busy. She is often Reese's best friend and a really great big sister! She idolizes Blake but doesn't want to admit it ;) She loves her friends and play dates and more recently, sleepovers! She has started writing short stories and has always had the best imagination!! She excels in school and loves to read. She's also really enjoying her guitar lessons! She mastered a cartwheel this year and practices everywhere she can! She's a chatterbug and talks our ears off :) Sometimes we butt heads and I think that's because in many ways we are a lot alike!! She's one awesome gal and I can't wait to see where the year takes her!! Love you to the moon and back, Emerson!!

*photos will be uploaded soon!

Starting off 2018!

Seems there isn't enough time in the day and the blog is the last item on the 'to-do' list :( But I want to keep this going as I know I will really appreciate when I am old and grey (or more grey than I currently am!) and I hope our kids will also enjoy it one day. So here's a point form breakdown of the rest of our January!!!

• On January 1st we celebrated the Christmas season with some of our Cameron family! We always have a great time and the kids especially love spending time with their cousins whom they're so close in age with. We went to Cal's brother's house in Stony Plain, where his mom and neice and nephew were visiting. We had a delicious meal, opened gifts and visited. It was a great day!
• On January 5th we headed to Red Deer for Emerson's 1st out of town ringette tournament!! She was so excited, as were we!! Cal and Blake hitched a ride home with my parents on Friday night, so they could go to hockey on Saturday and Sunday. The tournament was so much fun! The team and siblings had a blast in the hotel pool, we had a fun dinner out on Friday night and the kids played awesome! Emerson was a rock star in net for a few games and earned herself the player of the game stuffie!! They didn't come home with a medal but we all went home with smiles from a great weekend :)
• It was back to school on the 7th :( Not too many happy faces about that but we had a wonderful Christmas holiday!!
• On January 13th Emerson's dance group performed at St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church for Ukrainian New Year's Eve (Malanka). I love watching her dance!!
• January 19-21 was the Edmonton Silver Ring Tournament, which both girls played in! We had an awesome weekend with both teams! Team lunches, fun at the rink and some great ringette!! Grandma D even sported an Edmonton Ringette jersey and filled in a volunteer spot for us!!!! Thank you so much, Grandma!!!
• January 12 to 21 was Edmonton Minor Hockey Week. This is always such a fun tournament and this year was no different!! The KC Cougars had a great run with some awesome games. They played some of their best hockey to date, winning 2 games and losing the last in a close, hard fought battle. No medal this year but all should be proud of how well they played as a team!! Loved watching these kids, so exciting!!
• January 27 brought a 'nothing on the calendar' day, which is extremely rare during hockey and ringette season!! The kids played outside, building a snow fort and playing for hours. It was awesome and I had a moment where I thought, "Hmmm, not sure how many of these days we will get :(" They are growing up so fast and I'm not sure how many more years we'll have of all 3 wanting to play outside, building snow forts but I hope at least a few more! I love when they all play together and have fun :)

February is coming up next and although the shortest month of the year, it is one of the busiest in the Cameron house!! Talk to you soon :)

~Tracy

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all!! We spent the evening with friends. I think we all had intentions of a bit more of a upbeat party but after some late nights over the Christmas holidays, we were all a little tired! We chatted, ate and watched a movie while the kids whooped it, lol!! And we did make midnight ;) We took the above photo when we got home, just before heading to bed at 1:30 am!! 

May 2018 bring you peace, joy, love, happiness and good health! 

xoxo

The Cameron 5

2017 Christmas Photo Card and Letter

The holiday season is upon us and as I sit down to type our annual letter, I think back over 2017 and all that the year has brought.

My Grandma Kelley passed away in February. We were very lucky to have her in Edmonton for the past few years and are grateful we got to spend a lot of time together, most especially during the holidays. We miss her dearly but know she is in a better place, no longer suffering from any pain. Although hard to say goodbye, we were glad to attend Grandma’s celebration of life in the spring. Many hilarious and wonderful memories were shared and it was great to see our extended family.

In November we had to say goodbye to our beloved Heidi. As anyone who has had a dog knows, they become family members. Heidi was twelve years old and the loss was quite unexpected. It’s been hard adjusting to no longer having our fluffy friend around and I’m not sure we’ll ever really get used it. The kids have learned a lot about loss this year which is always hard but unfortunately part of life. Emerson cheered us up a bit when she commented that she thinks Heidi is keeping Jazz (our cat who we lost last year) and Grandma Kelley company in heaven. Sometimes kids just know the right thing to say.

Together with the sad times there have also been wonderful memories in 2017. The top of our list would be our summer vacation. We visited many spots in AB, BC and the USA and loved every minute! We had such a fabulous time, I think we could have stayed ‘on the road’ for another few weeks! Throughout our vacation we camped with my parents, with Cal’s brother and his family and visited friends and Cal’s Aunt and cousin while we were in Penticton. Some other highlights of our 3 weeks away were: Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach in Idaho, watching the Seattle Mariners play and the kids running the bases and beach days in Penticton! I could go on and on, it was just such a fabulous trip! I swear we didn’t see a day below +28 until the last few days of our holiday when we were back in Alberta.

We took on downhill skiing as a family this year, getting Reese on skis and Cal back on ski’s after a long hiatus!! Blake took some ski lessons this year and has decided he will ski and snowboard! We all loved our trip to Jasper and look forward to more mountain skiing in our future!!

We visited Tisdale, SK this fall for my cousins wedding and were so happy to see our Smith family. We hadn’t been to Tisdale in a few years so it was a long overdue trip and great to visit my Grandpa, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. 

The kids are all growing and changing! Still in the French Immersion program at the same school, Blake is in the double digits now, in grade 5 and almost taller than both his grandmas!! Emerson is in grade 3 and 8 years old and Reese is in grade 2 and 7 years old. They all love their teachers, Blake and Reese are in split classes this year and Blake actually has three teachers which is different for him but he is enjoying the change of scenery throughout the day. Blake is filling his spare time right now with hockey and guitar lessons. He loves his sports games on his Xbox and hanging out with his hockey and school buds. Emerson is currently filling her spare time with ringette, guitar lessons and Ukrainian dance. She loves her cooking and baking shows and lots of crafting and reading as well!!  Reese is keeping busy with ringette and piano lessons and still loves her Lego, American Girl doll and lots of art work and drawing!

Cal and I are good, still at our same careers. I’m still working part-time and Cal is still working from home on most days. Cal ran in the Sinister 7 Race again this year but took the year off from marathons. He’s playing hockey once a week and is head coach of Blake’s Atom AA hockey team. I am co-managing Blake’s team and assistant coach on Reese’s ringette team and head cheer leader on Emerson’s ringette team J Obviously we enjoy the rinks in the winters!!! Blake played lacrosse again this spring and Emerson played 3 on 3 ringette, so we were in the rinks for the spring too!

Our schedules are crazy but we try to stay very organized! It takes a village and we are very lucky to have great help from my parents and school and sports friends.

Christmas holidays will be here before we know it and we’re looking forward to the slower pace for a few weeks and all being home together. We hope this letter finds you all in good health and spirits. We are sending lots of love and wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2018! 

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese

Poor Em :(

I felt so bad for Emerson this week :( She's been so sick and has had to miss dance, ringette, choir and the long awaited choir performance at City Hall. She wasn't the biggest fan of choir but had the end in sight and was toughing it out so she could sing at City Hall and now she's had to miss it. Poor girl :( Thankfully she is on antibiotics now (ear infection) and is starting to feel better.

We're getting ready for Christmas. I've done a lot of online shopping and plan to finish up next week. Cal and I both had Friday off and our plan was to watch Em sing and then finish off the Christmas shopping but instead Cal worked and I stayed home with Em. We also plan to start our baking this week, which I always enjoy! The baking plan for this year includes, salted caramel pretzels, sugar cookies, peanut butter marshmallow squares, Christmas crack and butter tarts! And Cal will be making his cheesecakes :)

Talk to you soon!

~Tracy