Oil Kings Clinic!

Blake was lucky enough to spend some of Sunday afternoon at an Edmonton Oil Kings clinic at West Edmonton Mall!!!  He was extremely excited and really hoping he would get to meet his favorite Oil Kings player, who also happens to be named Blake AND is #4 AND plays defence ... what are the chances?!

We headed to the mall early, to make sure we could find parking and get to the rink on time!  Blake's session was from 2 to 2:50 pm and he had to check in 45 min early.

He had such a great time!  He was on the ice with another team mate and school friend and we ran in to a lot of people we know from our hockey community!!  Grandma D got to come and watch too!

They did various drills and played a scrimmage against three Oil Kings.  As they were getting off the ice, Blake Orbin was getting ready to go on the ice for the next ice session.  So luckily Blake got his autograph and a picture taken with him!  Blake Orbin also thought it was kind of cool that they were both Blake's, both #4 and both defensemen ;)

This was  a fabulous event, and I think Blake is pretty darn lucky that he has all these opportunities!!

Blake and his friend Ryan, ready to hit the ice for the clinic!

Getting some tips from the Oil Kings!

Blake and Blake, #4 and #4 !!!

Our Blake with his signed Oil Kings cards. One happy boy!  What a great experience :)

Reese's Birthday Celebrations!

I volunteered in Reese's preschool classroom the day of her birthday.  The day before we baked cupcakes for her class and she was so excited to bring them to her friends at school!  That night the girls had dance and she was so happy when her class sang Happy Birthday to her :)  We came home to have lasagna for her birthday supper (one of her favorite's!) and birthday cake, of course!

Her birthday party was the next day.  She wanted a 'jumping' birthday at the Launch Pad ... but the Launch Pad is so far from our house and expensive in my opinion.  So I showed her the Princess bouncy house at Jumpy Things and she got super excited, so a Jumpy Things birthday party it was!  She wanted an Aurora party, she is slightly obsessed with Aurora these days which is interesting, considering Princess Aurora isn't a very popular princess right now!  I had a hard time finding Aurora plates, napkins, etc, but did find napkins that had a few different princesses on them, including Aurora!  And as always, birthday invitations and cupcake toppers from Etsy were ordered - with only Aurora on them :)  (huge thank you to Auntie Lindsay for assembling the cupcake toppers!!)  And thanks to my crafty friend, we had Aurora zipper pulls made for the gift bags!  Reese had a great time at her birthday party, this was her first out of home party!  She was spoiled by family and friends and is enjoying all her new presents!!  Thanks everyone for celebrating our little girls 4th birthday with us :)  On the drive home from the party she said, "My party was so fun!"

Opening gifts before school on the 19th!

Big brothers and big sisters are always so much help ;)

Quick pic before school on Reese's 4th birthday!

Team work, blowing out the candles on Reese's 4th birthday!

Bouncing in her princess bouncer, at her birthday party on the 20th!

Cupcake time at her birthday party!

Our beautiful birthday girl :)

You are 4, Reesey!!

We are glad you had a fabulous, fun 4th Birthday Reese!!  We love you to the moon and back :)  You have grown up a lot in the past year, beginning preschool, starting unparented swimming lessons, becoming more independent and learning so much!  You are a smart, beautiful, imaginative, stubborn, funny little girl who loves to 'read', sing, dance, play dress up, wear dresses every day, play Barbies and dolls, color and draw and cuddle with your Mom and Dad!  You love your big sister and brother and play very well (most of the time) with both of them.  You have made new friends this year at preschool and we have enjoyed watching you come out of your shell, just a little bit!  You are still quite cautious and shy around people you do not know well, which is just fine in our books.  You are loving your new dance class and doing so good at ringette!  We are so proud of you and can't wait to explore this next year with you :)

xoxo

Mom & Dad