Wishing you all a (belated) Happy Thanksgiving!!
I love this time of year - the chill in the air, the beautiful fall colors, re-visiting all we are thankful for, the excitement of winter sports and activities approaching, Thanksgiving gatherings and our wedding anniversary :)
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom and Dad's, so nice that as the kids get older we can stretch bedtime a little later and get more visiting in! It was fun playing with Connor and visiting Lindsay and Mom and Dad. The kids were all angels! We took our annual walk to Forest Green park and the board walk for some fall photos. Let me tell you, it is not easy getting a 7 month old, 1 1/2 yr old, 3 1/2 yr old and 5 yr old to all look at the camera at the same time ... but we got some cute shots :) The weather was gorgeous and the kids enjoyed playing in the leaves (and chewing on a few for Connor!)! Thanks for the great dinner, Mom and Dad!
On Sunday afternoon, Blake, Em and I met Mom, Lindsay and Connor at WEM for lunch and some shopping. Shopping is not Blake and Em's forte ;) Some days Emerson is a little shopaholic, but not when it's in Mom/Grandma/Auntie's stores! Blake, he could just do with out shopping all together, unless it's Toys R Us or the toy section at Walmart! But I got them a Jugo Juice and took them to the Disney store on the way out of the mall, which are two of their favorite things at the mall, and they had a great time checking everything out and enjoying the free movie and coloring in the Disney store!! One thing I can say, is I am very proud of them for not whining or crying for something every time we go shopping. They, of course, ask for things all the time but they accept a reply of, "That is really nice! We will have to put that on your wishlist!"
On Monday morning it was back to the mall, but this time we went straight to Build-A-Bear! Lindsay and Jeremy have bought Blake and Emerson Build-A-Bear's and it was now Reese's turn to build a bear with Auntie for her 2nd birthday :) She was so cute and loves her Rosie bear! Although she does have a hard time not calling her bear Honey Bear!! Honey Bear is Em's build a bear, who Reese has played with for the last year!! So now Rosie is often referred to as, "Rosie Honey Bear!" Too cute :) After Build-A-Bear we went for coffee at Timmies and then said good bye to Lindsay and Connor, as they were headed home to Fort McMurray. I am so grateful that my sister takes time to come to Edmonton and visit us. It's hard for us to get up there and I miss them dearly but like I said, I am so, so thankful that she visits frequently. I know it's not easy to travel with a little one, although Mr. Connor is a pretty awesome traveller!!!
The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, spent building LEGO, watching movies, doing a little bit of yard work, a bike ride, regular house cleaning stuff and just enjoying some down time. These are some of my favorite days :)
Tuesday was our 8th wedding anniversary! I still remember our wedding day, as though it was yesterday :) I had the time of my life, so much fun and so wonderful to have so many of our friends and family all together under one roof! Ahhh, great memories to cherish forever :) We pulled out our wedding album to show the kids and had fun reminising and answering a zillion questions!! To celebrate our anniversary, we decided to take the whole family out for dinner to Red Lobster! We love seafood and so does Blake! Emerson tried Blake's shrimp and liked it too, so next time I think she'll get that kids meal! We had a really great dinner, the kids were so well behaved and cute as could be ;) I like taking them out once and awhile for a 'nice' dinner (a.k.a not McDonald's)! I remember as a kid going to one of the 'fancy' restaurants (do you remember the name, Dad?? Not Gentleman Jim's but a different one! Maybe Flames??) in St. Paul and my Dad teaching Lindsay and I about the different utensils and why there were so many forks!! Not sure why that has stuck in my brain (Lord knows my memory is terrible!) but I do remember it and that has made me want to teach our kids proper table etiquette and restaurant etiquette! We had to laugh at the number of trips made to the washroom with Blake and Em! I think they just wanted to walk past the lobsters ;) 8 years as a married couple - it is amazing to reflect back on the last 8 years and all that we have accomplished, built, felt, dealt with, and enjoyed. Wow! Here's to 80 more!
On the 12th I had an opportunity to take Cal to a trial kettlebells class! I was so excited to show him what I've been up to for the past year!! Thanks to my Mom for babysitting and putting all 3 to bed!!! I'm glad Cal got to meet Laurie and Jodi and see what this whole kettlebell thing is about! It really has changed my life, not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Laurie is such an amazing woman, I can't even put into words how wonderful she is and I am so grateful for meeting her and for the friendship that has developed with my consignment bff, Jodi!!! Cal enjoyed (I think?!) the class!
And that brings us to the 14th!! A big day for Blake!!! He had his 1st hockey game and his 1st school birthday party :) The hockey game was first and went great! He touched the puck a few times, made some passes and best of all, came running out of the dressing room with a huge smile on his face :) So proud of our little #4!! I loved the game and we all got a kick out of Reese cheering, "GO Blake GO!!" He has a great group of kids on his team and a Coach who makes them work hard and listen, with a little bit of fun thrown in and an Assistant Coach (aka Coach Dad) who makes sure they're not only working hard and listening but having alot of FUN!!! Cal is so great with the little guys :) It will be a great hockey season and I am proud to be a hockey Mom!!
After the game, Blake and I rushed over to Chuck-E-Cheese for his classmates 5th birthday party! He had so much fun :) I love watching him having a blast with his friends! Chuck-E-Cheese is okay in small doses ... this is only the 2nd time I've been there with Blake so it was good. I wouldn't be able to go too often!! lol!
We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and are enjoying Fall :) Talk to you soon!
xo
Tracy
