Hey May - where'd ya go?!

Blake's 11th birthday was May 5th! The girls and I had a long day planned in Fort Saskatchewan for Emerson's year end dance recital and Blake and Cal went to Blake's lacrosse game. After dance and lacrosse, we celebrated our birthday boy with DQ ice cream cake! The next day we met the Stecyk's and G&G D at Soda Jerks for a birthday dinner and came back to our house for Grandma D's famous carrot cake (birthday boys request!!) Blake wanted to see the new Star Wars movie (SOLO) for his birthday so we waited until yesterday (June 1) to have his birthday party. He had Dante, Brogin, Max and Gavin over for tacos and Fortnite and then we took all the kids to the movie. He had a blast and we all loved the movie!!

Em's year end dance recital was fabulous!! It was a long, busy day but she did so well in the welcome dance and in her group dances :) She was invited to be a part of the welcome dance this year, which meant extra rehearsals and being at the theater extra early. But she did so well and loved it and we just LOVE watching her dance!! Another dance year is over and she has grown and learned so much, we're so proud of her! She seemed to love dance more this year, which is awesome. She definitely bonded more with her group, which makes a big difference!

Our May weekends and evenings seemed a bit slower for us and we all enjoyed our down time, which often led into bike rides, slurpee runs, street hockey, lacrosse and baseball!! But also more iPad time, X-box time and iPhone time (lets be honest). Loved it though and really appreciated a less 'scheduled' calendar :)

On May 12 we headed to the horse races after Blake's lax practice! It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. We didn't bet much, so we didn't win much but we enjoyed hanging out at the track, seeing the horses and cheering on our favorites!! Cal and I used to go to the horse races a lot pre-kids and we've been a few times with the kids when they were little but haven't been in awhile! If we win the lotto, we're buying a horse!!! lol! We will try to go back every summer, we all enjoyed it :)

Our year end Church BBQ seems to always fall on Mother's Day which makes me slightly grumpy but by the end of the day, my mood has always turned around ;) I help plan and cook for the BBQ so it is a busy morning! We had a nice BBQ at my parents house that evening :)

May long weekend was a great first camping trip of the year!! We left Friday after work and had pretty good weather! Can't complain! The kids got out on the tube, Reese also kneeboarded and they all fished as well! The Scott's and Streadwick's weren't with us this year but the Pasko's and Stagg's were and we had a great time. On holiday Monday Cal and I packed up and left the kids with Mom and Dad, as we had an appointment to meet some puppies from H.A.R.T. Edmonton!!! (more on that to come!)

On the weekend of the 25th, Blake and the Wizards played in the Parkland Spring Classic lax tournament. They came in 3rd place and fought hard all weekend. I try very hard not to complain about officials but they were sure questionable this weekend :( Blake and team came in 3rd. Emerson also had her first birthday sleepover that weekend and had a lot of fun but very little sleep!!! A right of passage, I suppose ;)

That pretty much wraps up May! There was a lot of excitement at the end of the month but I will share that in a separate post!!

Wrapping up April

~ Blake and the KC Cougars were lucky enough to win a spot in the Ford Drills & Skills Train Like A Pro day at Rogers Place! Thank you to everyone who voted, this is an amazing opportunity for these young hockey players :) They had a great day experiencing a day in the life of a pro hockey player! 

~ Despite the cold, windy weather, we went ahead with a photo shoot for Emerson and Reese and boy oh boy am I ever glad we did!! Their photos turned out beautiful :)

~ lax started and we had our first bottle drive! We seem to be bottle drive pro's by now ;) Many people don't enjoy bottle drives and it's not that we really 'love' bottle drives but it is a great way to raise some money for a team and the kids have fun doing it!! So win-win - team bonding and raising funds for the expense of youth sports!!

~ We had a nice dinner with our niece Kourtney and great-niece Aurora! Aurora just turned 1 and is such a sweetheart!!

~ We got some great news towards the end of the month, when I logged on to Class Dojo and saw two amazing messages!! One from Emerson's teacher, letting me know that the bake sale her and a friend planned raised $401.05. All funds were donated to the Stollery Children's Hospital :) The second message was from Reese's teacher. She wanted to let us know that Reese's reading has improved dramatically and she has gone up about 6 reading levels!! Very, very proud parent moment! Way to go girls, we are soooooo proud of you both!

~ At the end of April my mom picked Emerson and I up for a quick day trip to North Battleford, SK! Emerson has in a dance competition! Thank you so much to my mom for driving us, it made the road trip that much better!! Em's group did amazing, earning two golds! We also had a nice visit with my mom's cousin and her husband. She was very close to my Grandma Kelley and it was nice to get a visit in :)

Humboldt Strong

April began with a tragic accident near my parents home town of Tisdale, SK. The Humboldt tragedy really hit us hard. We eat, sleep, breathe and live hockey for so many months of the year and to hear of and see the devastation this accident caused was really, really tragic and hit close to home. It hit so much closer to home for so many others but somehow this crazy world of hockey is small in the grand scheme of things. As a hockey mom, your heart hurts for the hockey moms who lost their hockey boys. As a coaches wife, your heart breaks for Darcy's wife and children. It is so easy to imagine yourself in that position and yet unimaginable to fathom the devastation in these families homes.This tragedy while devastating the nation also brought us all closer together. Thousands of dollars raised for the victims and their families and thousands of people brought together to help in any and every way imaginable. It was remarkable to see that amongst all the devastation, there was a light and there was so much love and hope. Cal, Blake and Reese were able to attend a Vigil and skate at the CAC arena on April 12th. Emerson and I were at dance and I couldn't`t help but think of the 3 of them. After Em`s performance we called Cal and he said it was incredible to see all the support in the arena, just as we`d witnessed in the news and all across social media. We pray for everyone involved in this tragedy - from the players, coaches, trainer, bus driver, semi truck driver, friends, families, emergency responders and all those who have been affected and touched by this event. #weareallbroncos #humboldtstrong #hockeystrong #hockeyfamily 

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