five on friday

{one}  I went to the dentist yesterday.   I don't like the dentist.  As I was laying there at 8:00am and my stomach was growling because I didn't eat breakfast or drink coffee, I wondered if I just don't like the dentist at 8 am,pre food and coffee.  The dental hygienist suggested I may be hangry.  And I think he may be right.  No tasks should be performed before coffee.

{two} This week for work I made a quinoa salad. It was so good I may make it for lunch next week as well.  I like that it is more sweet than savory, with hints of cinnamon in the dressing and cranberries, pecans, and apples thrown in. Note:  add the pecans just before eating.  Check out the recipe here.

{three} I should really wear this skirt more often.  Each time I wear it I get several compliments. The only problem is that it is a statement skirt so everyone will notice when you wear it. It is more a twice a season kind of outfit.

{four}  My friend is hosting a Stella and Dot party on Saturday that I can't attend. On a side note, I originally responded yes, because me and jewelery go hand in hand, but then I looked at our day for Saturday and I would leave the house at 9am and not return until after the party, so I declined.  I am working on saying no and it is all about baby steps.  I had to order something on line, to support my friend.  

Necklace, Ring, Earrings

{five}  Tonight is the night I finally get to eat the cheesecake I made with Cooper.  I am attending a favorite things party where each person brings one of their favorite items, each person talks about the item they chose and then we draw names.  I think it is going to be a fun night!

Happy Friday!

My thoughst on... short hair

Sometime after I graduated high school almost ahem 20 years ago, I cut off the hair that I had been growing for years for graduation night so i could put my hair is some fancy 'up-do'.  I kept it quite short until I got engaged and immediately started growing my hair again for another fancy hair style on my wedding.  Thankfully my hair grows fast since James only gave me 5 months after his proposal to our wedding day.  Thanks James.  After the wedding I cut it off again and kept it short even after i found out I was pregnant with Grady.  When I found out I was pregnant for the second time I started growing it out again thinking there was no way I could have short hair with a baby again.  I needed a pony tail.

I grew it out and got that pony tail I so desperately wanted and kept it long ever since.  I had varying lengths but the most important factor was that it was pony tail length.  And, trust me, the pony tail was in heavy rotation when I wasn't at work.  

I started to realize that my hair was in a pony more than it wasn't and that started me thinking it was time to cut my hair, again.

Surprisingly, i didn't think about it for very long, a few weeks later I had an appointment booked and I just went for it.  Here is the photo I took before I left for the salon.

pre-haircut

I told my hairdresser I wanted an angled bob long enough to go into a pony.  This is what I ended up with.

post haircut

While I liked it and was happy with my pony, it wasn't what I was looking for.  I had to be brave and get rid of the pony tail.

My next appointment I brought a picture.

I came out with exactly what I was looking for, even if i didn't know it.

When I came home that night, James said he really liked it and asked if I meant to cut that much off.  I told him I wasn't sure. I showed him the picture of what I showed the hairdresser and he said that my hair did in fact look like the picture.  I guess I did mean to cut that much off.

Now that you know my 'hair history', you must be dying to know if I have any regrets in chopping it off.

I don't.

Surprisingly, I am finding that my short hair takes about the same amount of time to style as my longer hair, less time if you consider how much less time it takes to blow dry, and the real kicker is that I feel better about myself when I look in the mirror.  I like the way my short hair looks quickly styled more than when my hair was just thrown up in a pony.  There I said it,  I like my short hair.

I will let you in on a little secret. My hair is wild when I wake up.  I have one cowlick in the back that I have to wet down each and every morning when I wake up.  Have I mentioned I only wash my hair twice a week?

You may wonder what my super simple hair styling involves?

1.  Spray with Dove hair shampoo on day 3 or 4 of non-washing and/or hair is looking a touch greasy.

2.  Wet down cowlick on the back of my head.

3.  Give my hair a solid brush.

4. Straighten the tips of my hair in the front.

Essentially, what I am trying to tell you is that if you have been thinking about getting your hair cut and you have been scared. Remember that you may end up liking the shorter hair better.  And if all else fails, wear a hat.

iPhone and Captains

Just the other day we were riding in the van and had an interesting chat with our oldest regarding his Santa list.

Grady:  I am going to add a phone to my Santa list when we get home.

James:  You are to young for a phone.  Why do you want one.

Grady: So I can get apps that cost money.

James:  You still have to pay for the apps.  Who is going to pay for them?

Grady.  I will.

Pause

Grady:  And I am going to put a password on it so you can't go on it.

Pause

Grady: And I will keep it in my room so no one can use it.

Silence.

Is he really asking for a phone at 7 years old???  I knew they started asking young these days... but 7??  I think it is safe to say that Santa will not be bringing him a phone this year.  Santa's list is sure getting expensive these days.

Now let me brag on Grady a bit.  It's been a big season of learning hockey positions, icing, offside, penalties, and he has been a very focused learner, not wanting to make any errors on the ice.  Sometimes that means that he didn't let loose and go for it when he could.

Well... this weekend, Grady lit it up and got 3 goals in our Saturday game!  His coaches have introduced 2 ways to recognize hard skaters, a hustle helmet and the honor of wearing the 'C' on your jersey and acting as captain for the game.  Well guess who was our team captain for the game on Sunday......??

This guy.

We were all hoping for it and all so proud of him when he skated out. Well, technically, James was the only one there to see it.  We had a divide and conquer morning as Cooper and I were at his hockey practice across town.

Grady was so excited to give us a play by play of the game where he scored another goal!  They tied 4-4 with our team tying it up with minutes to go.  James said the parents were going wild and it was a great game to be at.  Thanks for rubbing it in honey.

Meanwhile across the city, I showed up at the rink just before 8 in my new super fun Hockey Mom tuque I received as a gift from a friend, only to find out that Cooper's hockey equipment was not in the trunk.  It was that kind of a day.  But at least I looked cute.

Happy Tuesday!

My thoughts on.... hockey matters

I'm going to start a little series where I tell you my thoughts on various items.  This is the first in the series.

My thoughts on being team manager....  It is a big job.  There is a lot of responsibility, money management, and communication.  I am good at that.  What I am not good at is making decisions on behalf of an entire team of players about what tournaments to do and what we should do for social events.  As a people pleaser I have to accept I can't please everyone.  I remind myself if someone complains, they should have volunteered. One thing I do have as team manager is a lot of control. I choose when the socials are and what games we play.  You better believe that I don't plan things for when we can't make it!

Grady's first time playing center

My thoughts on Grady as a player.....  Grady has the ability to be a very good player.  He is a good skater, he can puck handle, he can even anticipate a play, what he needs to work on is confidence. In novice they spend a lot of time learning positions and I think because of that Grady holds back in a game because he wants to play the position right.  I know at some point it will click for him and he will be a confident little player like he was last year.

My thoughts on Cooper as a player.....  Cooper is a different player than Grady.  Cooper is a good skater and scores goals, but I think Cooper really likes the social aspect. While Grady keeps to himself on the ice, Cooper is busy chatting with his team mates.  His birthday is late in the year which means we will always be on the young end of the team.  Along with skill improvement, I expect that Cooper will end the season with many more friends than he started with.

Scrimmage fun!

My thoughts on shifting from Timbits to Novice....  There is a huge shift from Timbits to Novice. When you step on the ice in timbits, some of the kids can't even skate.  There is one kid on Cooper's team that needs a coach one on one to work on basic skating.  The focus in timbits is clearly to have fun.  When you move to Novice, you start immediately playing real games with referees, penalties, icing, offside, and positions.  I think it can be overwhelming for the kids to go from a free for all in timbits to 'real' hockey in Novice.  We are definitely seeing growing pains in our first year of novice.  For the record, I am still working on learning what office and icing are.

Pep talk between periods

Final thoughts.....  This is only my second year of hockey and I've learned so much.  Being team manger 3 times in 2 years has helped. I've been forced to get involved and ask questions.  If my kids are going to play hockey for the next 10 years, I may as well learn to love it!  I never imagined myself as a hockey mom - but I've fallen into the roll quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

Fist pump for Dad after a goal

a day in the life - November 16, 2015

The last day in the life post I did was almost 6 months ago so I figured it was time to see what a day in our lives is like in November 2015.

7:44am - I hear James get out of bed.  First thought is 'yeah the kids slept in' quickly followed by 'oh sh*t, we have to leave for school in 45 minutes'.

7:55am - I arrive downstairs to start coffee, breakfast and lunch making.  A smoothie for me (spinach, cherry, pineapple, banana), leftover pancakes for the kids, and a large instant coffee and hot chocolate on the side for me.

Today for lunch Grady requested macaroni so that is what is in the thermos, along with a granola bar and cheddar rice cakes on the container.  I am always interested to see what others pack for lunch.

8:45 - we hustle to school. For the third week in a row it snowed on Monday for our walk to school.  Grady's BFF comes to school with us as well.

Cooper and I load back into the van and head to his school that starts at 9:15.  Lately we have been driving the big kids to school otherwise we are late.  Cooper is a terribly slow walker.

9:20 - I head out to do errands for the 2.25 hours that Cooper is at preschool.

9:25- I arrive at Superstore for spinach for my daily salad and smoothies and buns for dinner tonight, among some other random things I purchased since I was there.

9:47 - I pull in at Buck or Two to get items for Operation Christmas Child.  Per their website, Operation Christmas Child is a hands-on project that allows individuals and groups in Canada to help bring joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world, through gift-filled shoeboxes. It is one way to remind children suffering through war, poverty, famine, disease and disaster that they are loved and not forgotten.   Essentially you fill a shoe box with toys, hygiene, and other item that will be gifted to children around the world.  They are filling shoe boxes at my office so while I wanted the kids to come with me, it was more important that I get it into the office to be packed.  In early December we are doing going as a company to stuff the boxes at the warehouse.

10:15 - I arrive at Mastermind Toys to get the kids stockings finished.  As you read in my post on the Blended Blog earlier this week, I am working towards finishing my shopping by the end of November.  When I was paying for my items they asked if I wanted them wrapped as well.  I of course said yes.  I walked out with all my stocking stuffers wrapped and ready for Santa to give.... Score!

Lastly I went to Micheals to finish off the stockings with a few smaller items before heading back to get Cooper for 11:30.

11:35 - Cooper and I start our drive home.

11:50 - While I wait for lunch to cook, I deal with hockey emails.  Today there was talk of cancelling a practice, scheduling an exhibition game, changing the schedule and responding to emails re socials on both team.  Never a dull moment.

12:15 - We eat lunch.  Cooper wanted macaroni like Grady for lunch so that is what I made him and then he didn't like it and wanted pizza with me.  He had a cheese pizza, his was not as good as mine, full of ham, pineapple and jalapenos.  Yummy!

After lunch, Cooper played on the ipad and made funny faces for the ipad.

1:30 - We picked up Nana and headed to Make a Wish Foundation of Alberta.  For Cooper's birthday we collected donations in lieu of gifts and went to their office to drop off the money we collected.  One of Marla's friends works there and she does such a good job of making the kids feel special.  Cooper was extra shy today but brought out his smiles for the photo.

If you haven't done it before, I highly encourage you to try donations for your next birthday party. From my experience, not every kid brings a donation, usually 3 or 4 still choose to bring a gift, and that is ok.  Cooper is thrilled to open the few gifts he gets and then we donate all the cash we collect.  The Children's hospital also has a great donation program for children's parties, click here for more info.

2:16 - We arrive back home after dropping Nana off and decide to bake brownie cheesecake to bring to a party I am attending next week.  James and Grady don't like cheesecake but I discovered today that Cooper certainly does!

Here is the recipe from Tasty on Facebook.  So easy and so good.

2:40 - Jasmin took Cooper across the street to play and I sat down to start my blog post.  I have short term memory issues.  Need to get it on paper asap.

3:21- I barge out the door to get Grady from school.  I am out of breath when I arrive but I made it before the bell!  He was the first one out!

I have bit of lost time after school where I forgot to document.  I'm sure there was some ipad time and an early supper because at 5:10 we loaded in the van to go to swimming lessons.

5:40 - Swimming lessons start.  Can I just say I hate swimming lessons?  The ground is wet and gross. It is like a sauna in there. And they have terrible chairs. Thankfully the kids are loving them!

6:35 - We get home from swimming and I quickly finish off my cheesecake before putting it in the freezer in preparation for the party next week.  I can't wait to dig into this!

6:40 - The kids want to start their Santa letters.  We use the toys r us website to give us ideas so that I can order the presents once they go to bed.  Sneaky.

7:10 - James and I hop in the van and head to spin leaving Jasmin in charge of bedtime.  That is my favorite part of Monday night spin.

7:35 - Spin class starts and we swear our butts off.  James claims he could wring out his shirt.

8:55 - We settle in to watch Goldbergs.  Does anyone remember the movie Troop Beverly Hills?  I nearly died when the episode was about that movie.  Although IMDb only gave it 5.4 stars... it is a 10 in my books.

10:20 - Bed time for this couple.  

Another busy 'day off' for this mom and her boys.  One day, I'll look back and wonder how I got so much done in a day, but for now, being busy in my norm and I've learned to embrace it.

{the blended blog} De-stressing Chrismas

I can't be the only one that feels like Christmas can be a stressful time of the year where the list of things to do is never ending and the time to do it is shrinking by the day?  Head over to the blended blog to see some of the things I do to make the holiday season more manageable.

five on friday

{one} My Cleo pants that I blogged about here.

I kept them!  Unfortunately, they were hard to photograph.  I wore them with all black and loved the outfit.  I got several compliments and will get lots of use out of them this Christmas season.

{two} Second Cup Christmas Drinks.

Friday is latte day in my world, so imagine my excitement when I arrive at second cup to see that the Christmas drinks were out.  Then, imagine my disappointment when I saw that my all time favorite latte, the Candy Cane latte, was discontinued!   She sold me on trying the pepermint bark latte which was OK.  Back to the drawing board....

{three}The Friends Movie

Don't get too excited, I was fooled.  You know on Facebook where it sometimes shows you things that you may be interested in your news feed?  The Friends Movie popped up so I quickly clicked on the link to see the trailer.  It was so real.  I texted Deena and when she was clueless I googled it to find out I had been tricked!  Boo.  How cool would that have been?  Check out the you tube video that fooled me and you will see why!

{four} Shoe Me.

Last week I got an email from Shoe Me saying that I had been shoe'd with a $50 gift card.  I knew exactly wear it came from.  I immediately texted Deena who told me that Jordan bought a pair of shoes and she got to forward on a $50 gift card, Deena bought a pair and forwarded hers on to me.  And just like that, I had a pair of Sam Edelman Felicia Flats on their way to my house with free shipping and returns! No need for returns here... I love them!   If you have never worn Felicia flats, you should know they are the most comfy flats ever.

{five} Healthy Choices

After the rememberance day service on Wednesday we headed to Phoenix Grill for lunch.  After months of no results at the gym, I am trying to make healthier choices with my diet.  I think I am a pretty good judge of what is healty and what is not and in the end chose the roasted beet salad on feature menu thinking that is was a smart choice.  It was described as follows:

balsamic beets, arugula, cucumber, red pepper, slaw, spiced almonds, goat cheese,
pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette 

Doesn't that sound healthy?  I got the salad, it wasn't huge, it wasn't drowning in dressing, and I was happy with my healthy choice.  When I got home I quickly googled the nutrition information to find that my smart choice, was not so smart at all.  The salad had 1000 calories and 86 grams of fat.  And to top it off, I wasn't terribly full!  I was so upset.  I think we should move towards what the US does and put nutrition info on the menu so you know what you are consuming.  James burger was better for you than my 'salad'.  I am still mad about consuming so many calories and not even realizing it.

That is my random tidbits for the week.  Have a great weekend!

It's in you to Give.

A little while a go, I wrote this post about my sister Blaire and her journey through stem cell donation.  In her honor, I decided to donate blood for the first time.  Not nearly as big of a deal but still something that I always wanted to do but just didn't make that call to book an appointment.

You see when I first got pregnant I found out I was O- which apparently is a universal blood donor.  I found some interesting information regarding my blood type here.

As an O Negative blood donor you have a particularly unique opportunity to help people in emergency situations. O Negative blood cells are called “universal” meaning they can be transfused to almost any patient in need, and only 6.6% of the population has O Negative blood. In the event of an emergency, trauma patients and accident victims are given a fighting chance at life due to O Negative blood transfusion. You may hear that “O Negative blood is the type they carry on the medical helicopters”. This is often the case when there is no time to ask questions. 

Additionally, O Negative red blood cells are safest for newborn infants with under-developed immune systems. Your commitment to regular and frequent donations is especially important to maintain sufficient supplies for our community. And, local patients are grateful for your “gift of life”. It is also important to remember that while donors of all blood types can receive O Negative blood, those with O Negative blood can generally only receive O Negative blood. In extreme emergencies when O Negative is in short supply, sometimes O Positive can be substituted. 1 in 15 people have O- blood (approximately 6.6% of the population).

From the time I learned this, I knew that one day I would donate.  I wish I could say it was sooner than 8 years later...

I registered to donate the same day that I wrote that post and I cancelled the first appointment.  Partly because I was busy at work but partly also because I was nervous. I don't love needles, who does.  I don't really know anyone that has donated and I didn't understand the process.  When I cancelled I re booked and I went to that appointment last week.

When I showed up I checked in at the desk and got my fancy 1st time donor sticker to wear.  They watch new donors more carefully to make sure that they feel OK.

After checking in, I moved to the next station where they pricked my finger to test my blood for iron.  They were looking for a number over 125 and I was 152.  That is very high for a woman apparently.  I told her is was all the spinach I eat.

From there I filled in a health questionnaire before dropping my card in a box that essentially secured your place in line to donate.

I was called into a little booth to go over any medications I was taking and asked many many questions with the word 'sex' in it.  Apparently I answered correctly as I was still allowed to donate.  After passing the test, I was moved to a new area to wait to actually to the blood donation.

Here I am all hooked up 

During the donation, they collect a pint of blood and it is divided into 3 parts.  The blood that I donated will save 3 lives.  I liked hearing that, it felt rewarding, like I was actually helping someone.

It took 7 minutes to collect the blood and the average is 8 to 12 minutes.  The key is to drink water, the more hydrated you are, the faster the blood flows, apparently.  And we all know I am well hydrated.  Someone sat with met he entire time since I was a newbie.

Here was the view for 7 minutes I say in that chair.

Don't judge my shoes, I had just power walked from the gym!

From the chair, they directed me to the snack station where I had to stay for 10 minutes. I had a juice and was on my way.

The entire process took an hour.  An hours worth of time to save 3 lives.  Not bad.

You have to wait 56 days between donations and I've already made my next appointment.  

Thank you Blaire for motivating me to do something that I've always wanted to do.

If you would like to make a donation, click here.

Blood.  It's in you to give.

Cooper's Star Wars Party

Is it any surprise that Cooper wanted a Star Wars party?  I didn't think so.  Every birthday, after a theme is chosen, Nana makes the cake.  When Cooper chose Star Wars as his theme it was pretty convenient that we already had an R2D2 tin.  Either James or his brother had a Star Wars party when they were little and in true Marla fashion, she kept the tin.  Does that mean I should keep the tin for my potential Grandson's party?  Although, I certainly wouldn't do nearly as good as a job as Marla!

As always, the cake was made with love by Nana. Not only does it look good, it tastes even better.

This picture is missing the 3 red colored M&Ms at the top.  Marla had a little bowl of red M&Ms on her counter for weeks and we kept trying to eat them and she would tell us they were for Cooper's cake.  So... she decided to give them to us to store at our house.  I left them on the dining room table, out of sight of the kids, thinking they were safe.  Then when I went to pack the items for the party, I noticed that there were only 3 left, Jasmin had been eating them.  I 'hid' them on the other end of the table under a few papers thinking all was good.  Nope, when I went to pack them for the party, they were gone.   Thankfully, Marla kept some spares, but I didn't have them when I took the photos.

For anyone new around here, we have a birthday hat.  I bought it at the dollar store shortly after Cooper was born.  I also bought one for my Mom.  On every persons birthday, kid or adult, you have to have your photo taken with the birthday hat.  I've noticed now they have much nicer looking ones but this is our original, it is ugly and had food stains, but it is ours!

Since Cooper's party was on a Sunday we got to have his party that day as well.  Truthfully, kids only care about party days and presents, not what day it is.  Well, my kids anyway.

This year we tried out a new place in our area for the party called Joso's.  I was a little concerned that it would be too 'young' for the kids but after the fact, I realized that was silly.  The kids had a blast and moved non-stop.

There were 2 parties happening at the same time.  Thankfully the other birthday person was a 5 year old boy.  I can't even imagine our group sharing the play structure with a 1 or 2 year party.  That could have been disastrous.

Having another 5 year old party happening in the next room had it's own issues.  When our pizza arrived I had to gather all the kids from our party from the play area into the party room.  I stayed in the play area and got the kids while James went with the kids to the room with the pizza.  When I finally came in the room there were 3 kids in there that did not belong to our party.  James wasn't sure so he waited for me to kick them out. There were a few kids from school that James wouldn't know and he didn't want to get rid of the wrong kids.

We told the kids to go back and play, their pizza would come later.  They left.  A few minutes later, they came back!  We ushered them out again and closed the door behind them this time!

Here are our party goers- 12 boys, 1 girl.  We had a few parents that stayed back to help manage the party.  I always think that it should be easy, but when the food arrives and you have 13 hungry kids to feed it is so nice to have extra hands around to help!

Another cute moment was when one of Cooper's friends approaches me and says we have a problem.  He took my hand and led me to the other end of the table and pointed to the only girl at the party.  He was convinced that she was at the wrong party.  I assured him that she was our one and only girl and she could stay.  Ha!

I think it is safe to say that Cooper had a great time at the party!

Here is another picture of the cake with the red M&Ms and the candles, just before Cooper blew them out by spitting on the cake...

And our annual family birthday photo.  This will be remembered as the year that Cooper made funny faces for the camera.  Thanks Stacey for the great photography!

Post party and presents, it was Lego time!  It is crazy how much the kids have advanced in their building skills.  Grady can build them all on his own and Cooper will build in increments as he gets bored a bit faster then his brother.  While Lego is expensive, i love watching the kids build a masterpiece from the directions and the creativity that it encourages.

All in all, this guy had a great day.

Happy 5th birthday Cooper!