five on friday

{one}  Wow, I am in a blogging slump.  My goal is 3 posts a week and I throw in a five on Friday if I don't know what to blog about by weeks end.  This is my third or fourth Friday in  row.  Oops. On a brighter note, I've had 2 separate people tell me that they like my five on Friday posts. So we'll just say I'm doing it for them.  

{two}  Grady's team finally won their first game 8-1 and Grady scored one the goals.  I was so happy for the team, and for Grady of course.  James is always the one to go into the locker room so when Grady came out the smile on this face and his little tongue sticking out said it all.  He was proud of himself.  So happy to have that first win under our belt.  Go Wolves!

{three} Does anyone else have recurring dreams?  I have the same one where the university calls me and tells me I am a few classes short on my degree. I have to move back to Saskatoon and I end up living in the same house I did when I actually went.  Carmen was my roommate in this particular dream.  Sometimes I have to live by myself because my friends all have families.  It is a weird dream and I have it a couple times a year.

{four}  Yesterday we carved pumpkins at work. I made the mistake of telling my co workers that i was pretty good at pumpkin carving, so guess who got nominated to carve?  Yours truly.  In the end, I was the foreman and I just supervised.   I trained up my friend and coworker and she did this pumpkin like she was an old pro.  Recognize who it is?

Donald Trumpkin

{five}  My blow dryer died this week.   Since I only wash my hair twice a week it wasn't that big of a deal, I thought I could make it until today to get to Walmart, but yesterday it started making really bad noises and blew only cold air.  Yikes!

Happy Weekend!

What's up Wednesday

What's up Wednesday?  Today I am linking up to give you a tiny glimpse of what we've been up to.

What we are eating this week... Chicken Fajitas!  I found a recipe on Facebook, one of those ones where there is a video and it looks super easy and fast.  You must have seen one on FB recently.  I would post it, but it was only OK,   It needed lots of taco sauce and jalepenos to up the flavor.  I'll be eating it all week since James is doing a juice cleanse.  6 juice a day for 3 days.  Good luck to him!

What I'm reminiscing about.... nothing actually.  No time to dwell on the past these days.

What I'm loving... the beautiful fall weather.  I don't ever remember having an October with so many Tshirt weather days.  I LOVE it.

What we've been up to.... Hockey!  I better get used to it as we are just getting geared up.  It is a good thing I enjoy being at the rink!

What I'm dreading.... Winter.  With all the nice weather the thought of winter jackets, scarves, and tuques is really not appealing.  It is life in Canada thought, one would think we would get used to it.  You never get used to the frigid cold.

What I'm working on.....  I am always working on hockey.  Always.  I manage both kids teams and there is always administrative stuff to.  In my other spare time I've been catching up on my annual shutterfly book, starting my picture calendar, and {{gasp}} finishing my xmas cards.

What I'm excited about.... Halloween! Pumpkin Carving! Trick or Treating!  Chocolate!  And Wine!

What I'm watching/reading.....  Yesterday James subjected to me to a horror movie called The Human Centepede.  If you have not heard of it, consider yourself lucky.  That is 2 hours I'll never get back.    I would have rather spent my time reading my book - I'm still reading The Royal We.  It isn't as good as I hoped but it still has my interest.

What I'm listening to....  My top 3 right now are Demi Lovato - Confident, Florence and the machine - Dogs Days are Over, and Elle King - Exes and Oh's.  All three make me sing and dance....

What I'm wearing......  After convincing myself that I wasn't going to buy a second fur vest, I saw this one and had to have it.  LOVE.

Then I ordered these legging pants from Cleo.  Does that make me old?  I always thought of Cleo as an older ladies store.  But seriously, these pants are hot.  Just add black heels and shirt.....

What I'm doing this weekend.....  Hockey practice, Hockey game, pumpkin carving, Halloween party, trick or treating, hockey, relax.  We only have one ice time on Sunday - what will we do with our whole day????

What am I looking forward to next month... Celebrating Mr. Cooper's 5th birthday!  Star wars party here we come!

Happy Hump Day!

On losing

Our kids hockey seasons are well under way for this season.  While Cooper is not allowed to play games until December (league rules), Grady's team has had 3 exhibition games and one league game.
We've lost them all.

What is interesting is that we've had good games.  The kids have played hard, had many chances, but just can't seem to get the puck in the net.  Some games have been close, some we've lost pretty bad, but the kids don't get down on themselves.

There are parents in the crowd that yell at the players.  Some encouraging, some not so much.  The parents want to see the kids win, us included.  But yet, there is still no win.

I think us adults could learn a few things from the kids.  While the players want to win their games, it really has not affected their love for the sport.  They are not deflated, they are not sad, because they had fun.  And isn't that the reason we play sports to begin with?

On an unrelated note, Grady no longer wants to play hockey when he grows up.  He is going to be a singer.

Dance like a ballerinaSpin like a tornado

Original lyrics by Grady R. 

five on friday

{one} Due to unforeseen childcare issues, I took the day off today.  You know what, I needed this.  This fall has been so busy that I just needed a day of nothing.  I invited one of Cooper's friends over for the afternoon so they can play. Or was is to occupy Cooper so I can catch up on Dancing with the Stars.....

{two}  We have 2 pizza parties, 4 ice times, 2 exercise classes, and a Chinese lunch planned this weekend.  Lots of eating offset by exercising.

{three}  James went to the hockey game one evening this week and I caught up on 3 hours of Grey's Anatomy.  Many of my friends have long ago stopped watching, but I am a loyal TV fan.  Even when I don't really like it anymore I see it out until the series ends. Weird, I know.  Surprisingly I loved the episodes I watched and don't miss McDreamy at all.  They have done a good job of introducing some new characters and the transition has been seamless.  Good job Shonda Rhimes.

{Four}  We are having such a beautiful fall this year.  The kids were on the driveway last night playing road hockey in their tshirts.  It makes me wonder how bad our winter is going to be.

{five}  I finished Night Road (Kristen Hannah) this week and loved it. Highly recommend.   I started a book called The Royal We which is loosely based around Princess Kate and Price Harry and how they met and dating a royal etc.  I am infatuated with Princess Kate.  I think it is because she was just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life, and now she is a princess.  The book was recommended on another blog so I am hopeful that it will be a good one.

Have a good weekend!

Heritage Park Field Trip

I volunteered on Grady's field trip on Monday and gained a new found respect for Grade 2 teachers.  Those kids are full of energy.  This was Grady's first ever field trip on a bus.  They have in-school 'field trips' where they bring someone into the classrooms, and we've walked to the fire hall, but this time we got to ride on an actual big orange school bus! To say the kids were excited would be an understatement.

When we arrived at school each parent was assigned 4 kids to be responsible for.  I got Grady and one of his friends I know quite well who I wouldn't say is the best listener and 2 girls.  One was a perfect angel and the other was a talker.  With 2 non chatty boys, having a chatty girl for the day was interesting.

On the bus ride on the way their she asked me what it was like to kiss a man.  For real.  I politely told her she should ask her mom.

I had my hands full.

I have been to Heritage Park countless times and never have I learned as much as I did this visit.  We toured around different old houses and the guide told us stories of the voyagers and how explained how fur trading worked.  What a great learning experience for the kids (and parents).

We even ate bannock.  Grady friend loved it and ate 4 pieces at least and Grady thought it was gross and gagged it out so I got to finish his piece.  Did any one else get the bannock making badge in brownies?  I totally did.

As we were walking by the Wainwright Hotel, the location of our family pictures not even a month ago, I noticed they were paining the railings grey and I felt so sad.  When I got caught taking a photo of the paint, the teacher confirmed with the painter that it was in fact primer.  Phew.

We toured around HP for 6 hours with a quick lunch break where I barely had time to finish the small little lunch I brought.   On a brighter note, Grady saved me a spot beside him.  My heart melted just  little.

As the afternoon went on, the kids quickly started to lose interest, start to fidget and eventually stop listening.

After following around 4 seven year olds all day, I was tired.  Those teachers must have stamina to do this everyday.

After the field trip I headed to fill my civic duty and voted. Then I helped the economy buy buying a few necessities, buns, a mouth guard to replace a lost one for hockey, and a new fur vest.

Let's be honest.  After spending my day off with 25 seven year olds.  I totally deserved it!

Our Spot 2015

For those that are new around here, our special spot is on the covered deck of the Wainwright hotel at Heritage Park.  This happens to be the place where James and I had our wedding reception 10 years ago.  

You see, on our wedding day, it rained.  Not like sprinkled, but rained and rained, and RAINED.  It poured.  Did I mention it rained?  I was so excited for the all the outdoor pictures at Heritage Park and I got none. Except for this one on the covered patio.

It has always been my absolute favourite picture from our wedding day.  We used in our wedding thank you cards and it also still sits on the mantle in our family room.

Once we decide to have our annual photo shoot at Heritage Park this year it was a no brainer that we were going to recreate that photo.  I'm so glad we did.

I find it interesting that both James and I thought I was on the right in the original and we didn't realize we were wrong until we were looking at the photos a week later.

Check out some of the other pictures taken in this exact location by clicking here.

five on friday

{one} I am looking forward to a less busy weekend after 2 fun but jammed pack weekends of travelling and company. My mom asked if we had a busy weekend and I said no, then realized that we have 4 ice times, hockey pictures for both teams, 2 exercise classes and hosting dinner for friends. My idea of not busy is warped.

{two} I'm reading Night Road by Kristen Hannah right now and I am loving it.  I'm only 50 pages in but am choosing to read at night over watching TV - yay me!

{three}    Last night I admitted to James that I've taken on too much. I got home from work last night and handled hockey correspondence and class parent emails for 2 hours before heading to spin.  I've realized that while I am doing all this for the kids, in the meantime, I'm not spending time with them because I am always on the computer.

{four}  The spin class we went to this week was a breast cancer ride.  One of my friends is a survivor and is just back to work after being diagnosed last November.  She came to the class and biked her little heart out.  I am so inspired by her.  At the class when they talked about remembering why your are at the class, I was thinking of her. So proud of her.

{five}  Monday, Grady and I are off to heritage park with his class. It is their very first field trip off site and he couldn't be happier. One of the perks of being class parent is deciding what field trips you want to go on!

Have a good weekend!

Thanksgiving 2015

Let me tell you about our busy busy busy but full of FUN extra long thanksgiving weekend.  Like in the 4 years past, Dad, Sheila, and the girls traveled to visit us for the weekend.  This year was extra busy with 2 boys in hockey and a list of things that Dad wanted to do. Good think Dad picked fun things!

First up, we chose to go to Cross Iron Mills mall this year instead of Chinook Mall.  Blaire was unimpressed with our selection as there was no Sephora and no Aritzia.  I felt her pain.  Dad said that everytime they drive by the mall they never stop and he wanted to check out Bass Pro Shop.  So we did.

Saturday was turkey day!  With a lot of coordination.  We were able to squeeze everything in, starting with Cooper's hockey practice.

I had to stay home and get the turkey in but Cooper had a great skate.  He scored 4 goals!  What a little skater.  

I met up with the rest of the crew at St. Patricks Island downtown.  It is a great new park that opened in the city.  We had such great weather this weekend we just had to spend it outside after spending all day Friday at the mall.

Great location for photos as you can tell. 

Straight from the park we headed to Grady's hockey game.  He is #2 on the white team.  His team lost again - I really hope we get a win soon.  We also were exposed to our very first hockey dad, on our team.  Could be an interesting season.

We rushed home from Grady's game to see if the turkey was cooked.  Unlike last year, the turkey was fully cooked and ready to go!

Clearly it takes 5 people to cook a turkey.

So thankful to have a table full of family and food this thanksgiving.

Grady wrote us out a menu and had Blaire write out all the guests names to put at the table so we all knew where to sit.  Smashed potatoes were a big hit!

Then the next morning Kolby woke up with this in her bed.  To say she freaked out would be an understatement.  It was possibly the biggest spider I have ever seen.  And it was in my house.  Yuck.

After Kolby calmed down and we killed the spider outside, all 8 of us climbed in our clown car mini van and headed to the mountains, Dad's final request of the weekend.

We walked around downtown, Grady had a major meltdown, we ate lunch, then we hit up the hot springs.  Almost 15 years ago, before I even met James, we had gone to the hot springs.  The family has expanded a bit since then!

When we got home from Banff some of us settled in to watch the Jays game and some of us read a book and got teased.  I wasn't the teaser.

Monday, our guests headed home, but the weekend didn't stop there.  I headed up to Edmonton to go to the Madonna concert!  I'm not a concert gal, but this was a bucket list kind of concert and she didn't disappoint!

The four of us had a great night away - great food, great music, great friends.

Dare I admit that 2 of us stayed up until 3am drinking wine and chatting. It was a whirlwind 24 hour trip but well worth the drive!

I have so much to be thankful for after such a great weekend filled with so many people I love, plenty of sunshine, and lots of good food.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Celebrating 60

My Mom celebrated her 60th birthday last week.  I am sure she loves that I keep telling the internets that.  My brother and I have had this surprise weekend planned for almost a year.  While the details were just firmed up in the last month or two, we always knew that I would come to his house and we were going to do a party at 4cats art studio.  And that is exactly what we did.

I don't really think that they book many 60th birthday parties... but Mom still got a shout out on the board when we walked in.  These studios are top notch and know how to do a party.   Even for a 60 year old!

We started out sitting at the main table, coloring on our chalk boards, and learning the rules.  The most important rule was, No Big Deal.  If you get paint on your hands, no big deal.  If you eat the paint, no big deal, if you get paint on someone else's painting, no big deal.

Next, we moved into the splatter room and we each painted our own picture.  We had some serious painters.  John and James both took their painting very seriously.

Finally we got to start the big canvas that Mom gets to eventually take home with her.  First we painted the background grey.

Then we splattered all the colors that mom chose.  She let each of the kids choose a color. Lots of greens and blues.  Poor Taiya had to wait until the very end to see the pink she wanted.

And Mr. Kiptyn....  the poor guy ate the paint a few times.  It was non toxic but didn't taste very good.  Then right at the end, a balloon full of paint exploded in his face.  Chantelle ran for a cloth and I ran for my camera!

It was so much fun and I love that Mom will get to take a giant canvas home to hang on her wall that each of us contributed to.  I hope she thinks of us each and every time she looks at it.  

The canvas turned out great.  It is amazing to me that a bunch of amateur painters end of creating something so beautiful.

All in all, my Mom had a great day, we were successful in surprising her, and we spent a busy weekend together celebrating a wonderful Mom and Grandma.

Happy Birthday!

five on friday

{one}  To say this week was chaotic would be an understatement. We've been out of the house every night this week and none of it has been fun.  Lots of hockey and hockey meetings and grocery shopping.  Yuck!

{two} My Dad's family arrived last night for our thanksgiving weekend of fun.  It has become an annual tradition that I look forward to.  This year, we are going to put the turkey in the oven earlier so we don't eat at 8pm. Ha!

{three}  I am loving the fall colors in the mall this year.  Marsala Maroon and teal are everywhere!  I am patiently waiting to make my way to my favorite local store Purr.

{four}  I am loving that the new shows are back on TV.  Now I just wish I had time to watch them.  I am watching Modern Family as I type.  Can Hailey and the manny just get together already???

{five}  I love fall.  And I know it is almost over.  I can feel winter creeping in right around the corner. I am soaking it up right now and enjoying what time we have left to spend outside before it snows.  Boo.

Have a good weekend!  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Blended Blog: Sweat is the new black

Today I am posting about staying fit with a busy schedule over on the Blended Blog.  Pop on by and give me some of your tips to motivating yourself to be active.  I know I could use them!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

This past weekend we made a surprise trip to Saskatoon to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday.  It was a fun filled weekend full of family, fun, and a little chaos.  How could it not be with 12 people and a dog staying in the same house.  I will give you the detail soon soon but here is a group shot of her birthday supper courtesy of my selfie stick.  Also, how did we take group shots without selfie sticks? 

{Blended Blog} My Interview

As we début the Blended Blog each Friday a new contributor has a chance to answer a few questions so the readers get a chance to know them better.  Today is my day.  Check it out!