Ski Day!

On Friday, we had office ski day.  I was dreading it.

You see, I hadn't been on skis in over 10 years.  When I first moved to Calgary I made it a mission to ski once a year since we were so close to the mountains.  The company I worked for at the time had a yearly ski trip and I decided to partake annually.  Every year I would end up in tears on the mountain.  I really liked green runs but every year someone would convince me to try an 'easy' blue run and I would end up near tears and wanting to walk down the mountain with my skis.  After a particularly bad year I called it quits. I was done with skiing.  It just wasn't my thing.

Fast forward 10 years and I am raising 2 boys an hour away from the mountains.  If they are going to grow up here, they are going to learn to ski.  So just like I promised myself 10 years ago, I put them in lessons once a year so that they feel comfortable on skis if they ever decide to take it up.  Like me, they don't love it, but they tolerate the lessons and at the very least aren't scared of the bunny hill.

When the office announced the ski trip this year I decided to take lessons.  When was I ever going to get the chance to go to the mountains without kids and focus on my own ski skills?  So with hesitation I booked myself in for lessons.

When we arrived at the hill my friend Jen immediately wanted to go up the chair lift before the lessons. She promised that it was only easy green runs so without letting myself get to worked up we jumped on the chair lift, which was actually one of my biggest fears.

It turned out skiing was like riding a bike.  I was actually not to bad at it.  We completed the run and started our lessons which turned out to be way too easy since I under shot how much I would remember.

Before arriving at the hill I told Jen that I would not be skiing after lessons but after so much success we headed up the bigger lift where again she had to promise me there was a green run to get me all the way down.

It turned out I actually enjoyed myself.

After only one day on the slopes I feel confident enough to bring the kids and to do green runs as a family.  Once the kids are better than me and want to do blue runs, I am out.  I'll be a lodge Mom with a book and hot chocolate and Bailey's.

I am so happy that I faced my fear and I won!  Now instead of dreading ski day next year I will be excited to get back out on the mountain for my once a year ski.  I really don't want my own fear to stop me again.

Truthfully, it was an easy decision when choosing between a view like this and sitting in my office all day.

There is nothing better than crisp mountain air.....

five on friday

This week I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and volunteered at the Drop in Center with my office and served lunch for the homeless.  As we approached the building, I felt uncomfortable.  Once we stepped inside and went on the tour of the building I became more and more happy that I decided to sign up. Here are 5 things I learned on my outing

{one} There are 3500 homeless people in our city.  Of these individuals, approximately 10% are woman and the remaining 90% are men between the ages of 35 and 55.

 {two} We walked through an area on the first floor called Harm reduction.  It offers a place for the intoxicated to sleep.  We walked through about 11:15 and there were so many people sleeping on mats on the floor.  Our tour guide told us that it was not busy that particular morning and here I thought it looked packed.  Most shelters will turn you away if you are drunk or high.  There are only 250 spaces each night for these individuals (less in the summer as they lose funding).  If you the 2 shelters that accept them are full, you are forced to sleep on the street.

{three}  The most shocking thing I learned is most of the people that sleep at the Drop in Center are employed.  The sleeping areas close at approximately 7am and all the clients have to leave.  We asked where they go and the tour guide said that most of them have jobs.  This was eye opening that someone could have a full time job and still not be able to afford rent.  That is so sad.

{four}  Some of my co workers plated the meal and some served.  I was a server.  We served lunch to hundreds of people and as we left there was a line down the stairs and towards the door waiting to see if there was more food.  I was astonished by the number of people that were waiting for food.  I was also pleasantly surprised by how friendly and polite most of the clients were.  With the exception of only a few that had their heads on tables asleep, they were all sitting and chatting with others and expressed their gratitude as you placed their meal in front of them.

{five}  The tour guide told us that the lack of one thing makes is 3 times more likely to be homeless.  Any guesses?  FAMILY.  Most of the clients that return over and over are the ones that have no where else to turn to and find themselves seeking help at the drop in center.

Bonus fact - During the economic downturn that Alberta is experiencing, there has not been an increase in clients OR a decrease in donations.

This was such an eye opening experience for me.  If you are local,I highly recommend looking into volunteering and/or looking into a tour.  I know I will be back.

What's up Wednesday

This has been a weird week as I took yesterday off to volunteer in Grady's class.  I worked Monday, took Tuesday off and am back at work today, which is Wednesday, but feels like Monday for the second time this week to me!

What we are eating this week...  I am eating lots and lots of hummus.  Lately that has been my snack of choice.  Usually I buy the hummus but this week I was motivated to make my own.  It is a touch bland but overall pretty good for my first time.  I plan to add in sun dried tomatoes in my next batch.  This is the recipe I used.

What I'm reminiscing about....  I don't reminisce.  Each month when I read this questions I try to think about what I should be reminiscing about and I still don't know.  I'm a lost cause.

What I'm loving... The spring like weather.  We've barely had winter this year and I am certainly not complaining.  James may feel differently after all the hours he spent on the rink that is currently melting... in February.  Mother nature has been good to us this year.

What we've been up to....   We've been watching hockey, going to birthday parties, walking on the treadmill and catching up on Suits.

What I'm dreading....  Nothing.  And that is a good feeling to have.

What I'm working on.....  I'm working on getting my 10,000 steps in each and every day.  Even the days that I do strength training and only get a few steps, I try to make it up with a walk on the treadmill.  Our treadmill has never seen so much action between James and I!

What I'm excited about.... I'm starting to get excited for our winter trip to Maui that is coming up very shortly.  Maui is my happy place.  With the dollar the way it is we are expecting this to be our last Hawaiian vacation for the next few years.  Boo.

What I'm watching/reading.....  I've currently reading Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo.  It is a murder mystery that was rated well on Good Reads.  I signed up for an account this month and love seeing what all my friends are reading and rating the books I read.  I set a goal to read 20 books this year and I think I am going to blow it out of the water!

What I'm listening to....  The radio.  I'm not picky.  I love me some top 40.

What I'm wearing...... For the past several weeks I have been taking part in Lisa's What to Wear Series.  Here is one of my favorite outfits.

What I'm doing this weekend.....  Cooper has a hockey tournament this weekend and the kids have a birthday party on Sunday.  Not to mention I am off to a flames game and Grady has his own hockey practices.  The weekends are always busy and fly by.

What am I looking forward to next month... Next month is vacation month - how can you not look forward to that???

Any further questions?

My thoughts on.... pink eye

Pink eye in general sucks.  Pink eye as an adult sucks more.

It all started 10 days ago when Cooper got pink eye, the day before we left for Whitefish.  I was just going to use the over the counter drops on him but since we were leaving the country I decided to take him in for the prescription drops in case it got worse while we were away.  His eye cleared up in less than 24 hours and life went back to normal.

Or so we thought.

On Thursday afternoon, I started showing the first signs that I may also be infected with the virus.  All was good until my eyes started to feel really dry. This isn't abnormal since I often have to use drops but this was persistent.  Before leaving the office I looked at my eyes in the mirror and they looked a touch red.  I immediately started to worry I had pink eye.

When I got home from work I asked James how my eyes looked and he told me they looked slightly red.  I was hyper alert to any change in my eye and when I noticed the first sign of goop in my eye I knew my concerns were validated.  I had pink eye.

Within the hour, my eye was swollen and I couldn't keep the snot like substance out of my eye. If just kept coming back.  At about 9 while I was debating whether I should be going to work I asked James again how I looked and he said I looked effing terrible.

With that blunt response I texted my boss to let her know I would not be in.  In the meantime I was using Coopers prescription drops hoping that it would clear it up overnight.

No such luck.

I woke up during the night and my eye was glued shut.  I put a warm cloth to it and went back to sleep.  I woke up in the morning and my darn eye was glued shut again.  When I finally got it open it, I realize that it was swollen half shut.  It was actually easier to keep my eye shut then it was to try and open it.

I made a call to the doctor and he squeezed me in for a 5 min appointment.

When he walked in the room and asked how he was I told him I'd been better.   He took one look at me and the look on his face said it all.  Immediately he said it's pink eye.  I told him that Cooper's eye looked nothing like mine and asked him what was up with the swelling.  He said it was aggressive.  I walked out with an aggressive pink eye diagnosis and a prescription for adult strength ointment to clear it up.

My eye started to improve almost immediately.  Here is a progression of  'first thing in the morning' shots of my eye on Fri, Sat, Sun, and Sunday night when it finally seemed to look normal again.  i was sending my mom daily updates.  I'm only posting these for you since I trust you not to show anyone else.  Ha!

Today, my eye looks 100% normal but I'm scared to stop the drops.  I don't want this bad boy returning.  With that being said, this ointment is gross.  I put it in and it slowly oozes out of my eye.  For the first 3 days I was putting it in 4 times a day which means by the time my eye stopped oozing I'd have to reapply. On top of that, I've had a headache for 3 days.  I never get headache.  I think it is from the eye strain from the swelling and then the ointment that when it spreads across my pupil blurs my vision.   

I've decided to refrain from eye make-up this week to let my eye fully heal and also there is no point when I put the ointment in my eye anyway.  

The other odd thing about my pink eye experience is that my eye was never actually itchy which I thought was one of the key symptoms.  If I were to compare my experience to Cooper's, I would say mine was way worse.  Or maybe I'm just not as tough of him.  

On top of the discomfort, it was super embarrassing to tell people that I had pink eye.  It is a kid thing, adults aren't supposed to get it.  All weekend I felt like people were starting at my eye wondering what was wrong with it but never said anything.  Or I told people and they backed away.

I hand sanitized like crazy and left a bottle on my kitchen counter and a travel one in my purse.  I hope that no one else in our house gets it. I am so over pink eye.

five on friday

{one} I have pink eye.  I am 36 years old and I have pink eye.  Oy.  Grady told me it is because I slept with Cooper in Whitefish.  I felt like I was so careful....  Obviously not.  It came on so quickly.  this afternoon my eye was bothering me a bit.  I thought it was dry and kept putting drops in.  I asked James when I got home how it looked and he said a bit red.  By 9pm when I asked him how is looked he said 'effing terrible'.  I did not go to work today to save my co workers from being infected with  my eye virus.  Yuck.

{two} This week I donated blood for the second time.  I had a few delays while they checked my meds and my nurse was quite concerned about whether I had an over or under active thyroid.  Who cares as long as my medication is approved....  I'm happy to report I booked my next appointment as I left.  After years of thinking I wanted to donate my universal O- blood I'm proud of myself for following through.

{three} James and I had to shift our Monday night date/spin night due to the long weekend.  We ended up choosing a team teach class last night with our regular Monday night instructor featuring only Beyonce and JayZ music.  It was the hardest spin class I've done in some time - 148 average beats per minute is a personal best.  I'm not surprised since I felt nauseous towards the end and had to slow down a touch.

{four} Does anyone else love Taco Time?  It can't be Taco Bell or Muncho Burrito, it has to be Taco Time.  I love the veggie burrito.  LOVE.  It is also the highest sodium item on the menu, likely because of the black beans.  If you haven't tried it, you should.

{five}  If you like my fashion post, you are in for a treat!  Starting March 2nd, the gals and I from The Blended Blog will be featuring different outfit combos and all posting a variation of the same day.  See if you can guess which outfit is mine!

5 things I learned on our first away hockey trip

We spent on our long weekend on the road to Whitefish for our first ever away hockey tournament.  Yes, we took our team of 16 seven year olds to a another country for a battle of the border tournament.  It was a BLAST.  While we were away, we learned a few keys things that we will remember for our future team road trips

1.  It doesn't matter what city the tournament is in, you will only see the hotel and the arena.  We made a 5 hour trip to Whitefish, which I hear is beautiful, but we did not sight see or walk around downtown at all.  We went from hotel to arena and back to the hotel.  In particular, we spent oodles of time at the pool.    In total, we estimate that 12 hours was spent at the pool.  12 hours.  We would spend hours in and out of the pool broken up by a quick game of mini sticks.  We stayed at a nice hotel (aka $$$) which now I'm happy about since we spent so much darn time there.  The pool area was perfect to lounge at all day complete with TVs, couches, tables, and water coolers.  While I may not have seen much of the town, I can confirm that the Lodge at Whitefish Lake was fantastic!

I also learned that arenas with metal seats are very cold.  Here are our fans all huddled together to keep warm. 

2.  Meltdown are inevitable.  With a combination of late nights, early mornings, loads of junk food, and a very active weekend, bad behavior is too be expected.  We would forget to feed the kids because they wouldn't get out of the pool, and when they did emerge, they wanted to eat RIGHT NOW. Real meals were few and far between.  Hungry, tired kids makes for grouchy, whiny kids and frustrated parents.

Ipad was a welcome break after they were tired from the pool.  Ratio 1:9 

3.  Parent nights are key to survival.  The evening we got there, the men planned a poker night.  They started at 10:30 and finished right around 4am.  Let's just say that we didn't see any Dads at the pool the next morning....  The woman planned ladies night for Saturday and we hit the pub in the hotel for live music and then went in the hot tub until they kicked us out because it closed.  Then we went back to the pub in our robes and towel.  Thankfully, we were the only ones there!  It is so nice to get to know the other parents.  There are a few I will really miss seeing weekly when the season is over.

4.  Planning a team meal for 60+ people should be planned before you arrive.  We knew we wanted to have a team dinner but we didn't book anything before we left.  Big mistake.  When we figured out that we had 15 kids averaging 4 people per family, we were looking at a reso for 60 people.  In the end, the hotel let us host a pool party with pizza and BYOB.  It sounded good in theory but having 30 kids in the pool while you tried to eat and have a glass of wine was not all that relaxing, especially since cooper didn't want to wear his water wings.  When he wanted to get out I was relieved as I could finally enjoy my glass of wine!

Adding to the stress level was the dim lighting at the pool

5.  Winning isn't everything.  The boys played a great game on Friday night and the team decided to have a pool party that started at 8pm.  Grady got home at 10pm and then was up at 7am.  This was also the morning that James got home at 4am so I took the kids to the pool at 7:30 and we stayed there all morning.  Don't worry, our nice hotel also had a coffee shop to hit up before the pool.  As the morning went on there were more and more players that set up by the pool.  A lot of energy was wasted and we lost our game later that afternoon.  Bad.  Because of that loss, we did not make the championship game.  While we were there to play hockey and hopefully come home with a medal, the memories were not only made on the ice, they were made in the pool goofing around and playing mini sticks getting to know each other better.  While I wish they could have pulled it together that afternoon, I have no regrets with letting the kids stay up later than they should have or letting them get tired in the pool.

The weekend was a blast.  The bar has been set high and it will be hard to beat in the following years.  What a great opportunities to make connections off the ice with the kids (and parents) you've been seeing multiple times a week for months.  Next year when the question of having an away tournament comes up I'll be the first to throw my hand up and start planning a great weekend away.

Featured on Friday: Jordan

Each Friday on the The Blended Blog we feature one of our favorite bloggers.  Today, it is my turn to choose the blogger for the Friday feature and I chose Jordan who blogs at Just Jordan.  While we have never met in real life, I have gotten to know her through her blog which is the perfect mix of honesty and humor.  That, and Deena talks about her often.  Every once in a while the 3 of us will text our outfits, mostly by accident in a group text.  Ha!

Hurry over to the The Blended Blog and check out how Jordan responded to questions we asked her!

Three Things Right Now

I was inspired by a blog I read to write 3 items about each member of our family, youngest to oldest.  Here we go!

Cooper

1. Cooper fell out of bed one night this week.  He didn't cry, he just found his way to our room on my side of the bed and I immediately assumed he peed the bed.  He corrected me and said he rolled of bed.  When I asked him if he hurt himself he told me he hurt his nose.  We just took his bed rail off a month ago and this is his first fall. I hope there is not another.
2. Cooper has been having lots of play dates.  I like Monday afternoon play dates which means I get the whole day to myself.  He likes to play with his friends. Win-Win.
3. We recently took the iPad away cold turkey when we noticed that Cooper didn't want to go to hockey or leave the house because he preferred to play on the iPad.  The week was a success but he did use the computer as a replacement.

Grady

1. Grady wants to skate whenever he can. He plays his scheduled hockey, wants to go to shinny, play on the outdoor rink at the school, or the one in our backyard.  He can't get enough.
2. Grady has no pants that fit.  It is like he between sizes as one size is to short and the other is too long. I've done to orders and now have 7 pairs of pants all ready for when he grows an extra couple inches....
3. Grady, both my kids actually, are minecraft obsessed.  They read books, watch YouTube videos, and play video games, all minecraft.  I just don't get it and have no desire to.  The less I know the better.

Christy

1.  I finally caught up on scandal and the show resumes on live TV Thursday.  Super pumped. Having a touch of withdrawal.  I started Gilmore Girls and I can't say I love it... yet.  So many people do so I'm going to watch the first season and decide after that.  I've watched 4 episodes thus far.  
2. I have read at least 5 books this year already.  That is some sort of record for me since I had kids.  I read The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, Winter Stroll bye Elin Hilderbrand, Inside the Obriens by Lisa Genova, The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark, and The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth.   My favorite.... The Choice.  But I actually liked them all.  Except the ending of Inside the Obriens.
3. I took a little break from shopping then had a little bit of a spending spree on my free day.  No regrets here.  Great finds and great sales were everywhere.  They were practically giving the stuff away!

James

1. James is embracing being a hockey Dad.  This weekend, he went on the ice 3 times between the 2 kids.  James didn't grow up playing hockey or doing all that much skating so this is big for him.  I am so happy to see him embracing hockey even though he didn't play himself.
2. James signed up to coach both kids soccer teams this year again.  He does a great job and I know that the kids love having him on the field.  
3. James is on a fitness streak.  He is going to the gym at work, using the treadmill at home, and running on the spot if he has to go get to his step goal!  I love that the kids see us exercising and know that monday night is spin night.  

Now you knew what we've been up to!

My thoughts on.... Shopping for swim suits

My thoughts.... it sucks.

For someone that enjoys shopping, even I despise looking for a new bathing suit.  Let's be truthful, no one looks the way they want to when they put on a swimsuit.  First, let me point out that we are all hardest on ourselves.  When I put on a swimsuit I see every bump, role, and dimple there is to see, but I remind myself that not everyone is looking that closely.  I know for one that I am not examining other people on the beach so I assume they aren't examining me.  As woman, we are built to have insecurities and for me it comes out with intensity the moment I put on a swim suit.

With our upcoming trip to Maui, it was inevitable that I needed to address the swim suit situation.  I went through my drawer to find most of my one pieces had to go.  In two of them the elastic had come out of the butt and the other two I bought super cheap and they never fit great.  I threw them in the garbage pile immediately, you don't donate swim suits - do you?  I also had a tankini top that the elastic came out of.  Looking at my bathing suits, I was down to only bikinis.  Yikes!  I only wear bikinis on vacation so it was apparent that I needed a new one piece... and fast!

As a side note, does anyone else get annoyed at Moms that wear skimpy bikinis to the local pool? I don't care if you have a rockin' body I still think a one piece/tankini is more appropriate for a family trip to the pool.  First, what if a boob pops out and second, it just plain annoys the moms that don't have that rockin' body they had before kids, or maybe never.

It was only in the past 2 years I started wearing bikinis again.  Before that I hadn't worn a bikini since before Grady was born.  Truthfully I always hated bikinis so after kids was the perfect time to stop wearing them.  However, the more beach vacations I took the more I noticed that all shapes and sizes were on the beach sporting 2 pieces and being confident.  If they could do it so could I.  So I bought 2 cheap bikinis one year at the beach and haven't looked back.  It is hard to find a trendy one piece and let's be honest, it is hard to pee in a once piece as well.

I browsed on line, but in the end did my order from Simons.  The prices were right and the styles were cute.  Here is my order:

1. Keep.  What I really wanted was a black bikini.  I tend to choose bright colors and patterns and have to remind myself to choose plain neutrals sometimes.  I love how this top has a little extra padding for my less than voluptuous chest.  Bonus, it is attached so I don't have to worry about my extra padding floating in the pool beside me.

2.  Keep.  For $40, this one piece is super cute and trendy.  It comes which a strap that will always be used.  Do you know how long it would take one of the kids to pull on my suit and expose a boob.  Less than one second.  My only concern with this suit is that is skimpy in the butt coverage.  I have read that having less material on the butt makes it look smaller but it feels weird.  I liked the rest of it enough to give it a try.  

3.  Return.  This wrap around top looks super cute for a small chested lady like me.  I was wrong.  I couldn't get the 'girls' to stay covered and that was in my bedroom.  Could you imagine this suit at the family pool.  Utter fail.

4.  Return.  My biggest pet peeve is when the elastic is too tight and you get a bump or hangover where it is too tight.  I really liked how these bottoms looked but they were super tight in the waist and left a huge ridge where I hoped it would lay more flat.  Fail.

At the end of the order I ended up with a one piece and a bikini top.  Not bad.

What I love about online shopping is that is allows you to try on your purchases in the comfort of your own home with your own stuff.  For example, Since the black bottoms didn't work, i was able to try the top with some of the ones I already to have to make sure I had a match.  Which I did.

Also, i had to try the suits on twice.  The first time I was in a rush and left my socks on and everything looked terrible.  I waited until the weekend when i had more time and made sure my hair was done.  Why is it that I think that having your hair done and bare feet make your suits look better on? I can't tell you, but I promise it does! 

Thankfully, I am done shopping for bathing suits this year and I will dread going through the same process next year.

five on friday

{one} My fellow Blended Blog contributor Lisa's What to Wear series is off to a great start.  I've worn 4 of the outfits and this one has been my favorite.  I am really proud of her for taking a risk and trying something new.

{two}  I am on a mission this week to beat my neighbor in our fit bit work week hustle. If you don't know what that is, you seriously need to get a fit bit!  Essentially you compete for 5 days.  On Wednesday I got a new personal best of 21,240.  I didn't do anything that exceptional.  I went to the gym at lunch and a walk with a friend in the evening.  I was VERY disappointed that I didn't get an arm party (the buzzing you get when you reach your goal) when I reached 20,000.  How did my fit bit not realize that was my goal?

{three} Monday Cooper has a play date and I get the whole day to myself.  The whole day.  I'll drop him off at school at 9:15 and retrieve him from his friends at 3:45 on the way to hockey.  I plan to do a return at Nordstrom, spend my GC at lulu, go to Costco, and sneak in a work out.  Can I get a hallelujah for an entire day to myself?!?

{four}  Have I mentioned that Cooper is out of pull ups at night? Well, he is. We are finally a diaper free house after almost 8 years!  For the last month we've been using disposable bed mats for the odd accident.  They are the neatest thing, like a diaper, the surface stays completely dry.  When Cooper called me the first night he had an accident I told him he didn't pee because the mat was dry.  He informed me his underwear were wet and they were.  For the record, these mats also saved us when Cooper had the flu.  Dual purpose.

{five}  Have you figured out that I am a creature of routine.  Fridays are always latte day with my friends at the office.  It used to be coffee and muffin day AND pony tail day.  In an attempt to be healthier I skip the muffin and my hair is too short to pull back.    We also have been known to have the odd pizza and wine night on Friday.  Friday is a good day in my neck of the woods!

Until next week.....

A day in the life: January 23, 2015

Today we are doing a little blog hop and talking about what we did for an entire day.  Not just any day, but January 23rd, 2015.  All of us are recounting our steps on the same day.  I've done a few of these posts, but never on the weekend, so it was fun for me to document our weekend life.  For those of you joining from Lana's blog - welcome!  Dont't forget to hop on over to Leslie's blog after mine to find out what she was up to!  Here we go!

3:30 - My day started very early. I woke up at 3:30 to go to the bathroom and I happened to notice that I was only wearing one earring. I didn't think much of it until I went to the bathroom and I heard something hit the floor. I looked around and found part of my favorite earring.  I was wearing my stella and dot ear jacket earrings and there are 2 parts.  Since James was sleeping, I couldn't look for the other part.  Then it was on my brain and I couldn't sleep.  I did find it when I got out of bed, it was actually in the bed the whole time.

4:45- This was the last time I remember looking at the clock before I fell asleep again.

5:50 - I forgot to turn my alarm off so the radio started blaring. Oops.

7:21 - Grady came in to our room and the official day begins. We have a quick snuggle before we go downstairs.  Cooper followed a few  minutes later.

7:40 - I make my coffee.  Which is actually a scoop of hot chocolate and a tube of Starbucks Via instant coffee.  Quick and easy.  Don't worry, I have a coffee machine for when we have company.

8:15 - The kids eat breakfast #1 and James leaves for spin class.

8:30 - The kids start their 60 min weekend xbox session....

....  so I can have a quick run and watch an episode of Scandal.

9:15 - I come upstairs, the kids have breakfast #2 and get their long johns on for departure.  I quickly make James a green shake for when he gets home and head upstairs to get ready for the day.  I wore my new Stella and Dot necklace that I just got the day before.  LOVE.

9:35 - I remember we have no food since I worked 5 days this week and didn't go shopping.  I threw a frozen pork tenderloin in the slow cooker and will figure out the rest later.

10:05 - we load in the car for our first hockey game of the day.  Note the 2 hockey bags in the trunk of the van.  That is one of many reasons we love our mini van!

11:00 to 12:00 - We watched Grady's game.  Sadly they lost, but they played a good game.  It was a tight match until mid third period and in the end they lost 8-4.

While Grady played, Cooper played on his iPad.  After the game he looked up and innocently asked who won. Watch the game, Cooper!!

12:15 - We loaded in the van and headed to the second rink of the day, but not before stopping for lunch at this fine local establishment.

1:15 - 2:30 - We watched Cooper's team play.  In Timbits they don't keep score and both teams came off the ice saying they won. Perfect, we have 2 winning teams!

2:45 to 3:30 - We ran a few errands on the way home from the rink including a stop at the bakery for buns for our pulled pork and a stop at the toy store for a birthday present.  When we finally get home I am exhausted.

3;30 - While the kids played I had to hop on the computer to download and delete some photos from my phone as it was full and I couldn't take any more photos.  While I was in there I printed off the kids minecraft valentine cards that I downloaded for free here and printed on card stock.  Yay me!

3:45 - I sat back for some R&R and read my latest book for an hour.  Note: I've since figured the book and really enjoyed.

5:00 - We pulled the pork out of the slow cookers, steamed some carrots and called it a meal.. It was really tasty all things considered.   We ate it so quickly I forgot to snap a photo.

5:45 - After cleaning the kitchen I spent the next hour at Superstore.  A cart full of groceries and $300 later I strolled out of the store with 6 new latte mugs and a bunch of groceries for the week.

7:00 - Grady did a very good job of helping me unload the groceries, so I agreed to a quick game of mini sticks before bed.

8:00 - we headed up for books and snuggles before it was lights out for the kids at 8:30.  

8:30 - We ended the night each watching our own netflix show with a snack.  I'm watching scandal, of course.

9:45 - I crawled into bed with my book and read for 15 minutes before I turned out the light.  

Just another wild and crazy night around here.  

For the record, the next day Cooper had the flu and we did absolutely nothing.  A nice change from our overly busy Saturday!

Don't forget to head over to Leslie's blog to see what she got up to.

January in Numbers

Once again, I'm linking up with Dee to tell you all about January in numbers.  Perfect for the numbers gal that I am!

We have had the the rink for 31 days.  Yes, James built the rink on New Years Day.  I have been on the ice exactly 2 times.  Truthfully, it is a little small for adults.  I would like to skate laps for exercise and to add to my step count, but when I did 10 laps I started to get dizzy.

These 2 or 3 kids, on the other hand, have been on the ice everyday that we have time to get them laced up and outside.  Grady would stay out there much longer if Cooper was willing to stay out longer than 30 minutes.  Also having a friend over increases the time outside.  Considering it takes about 15 minutes to get them geared up, and an extra 10 if Grady wants to be goalie, it is a huge parent time commitment get all that gear on!

My fit bit numbers this month are pretty impressive.  I met my 10,000 step goal every day except one day.  I broke my own personal best at 18,378 steps in one single day.  Per my app, I worked out all but 3 days in the last 22 days.  I'm not sure how the fit bit deems that I exercised, but I suspect it has something to do with heart rate.  I guarantee I didn't not go to the gym that many times!


Cooper had the flu for 1 afternoon.  He was really grouchy all morning and I dragged him around Grady's hockey and didn't have much patience for him.  Then he threw up.  3 times.  Then I felt terrible.  Why don't 5 year olds tell you that they are sick to the stomach??  After a 90 minute + nap he was pretty chipper and ate non stop.

The morning that Cooper had the flu, Grady's team had its first bottle drive. I emailed many friends in the area and collected their bags of bottles, some even donated 4 bags full of bottles to the team.  No matter how little or how much you were able to donate I really appreciated it.  We filled the entire van and still had 2 bags in the front, not to mention the one bag we forgot on the deck.  In the end, the team raised $630!!

 

I watched 65 episodes of Scandal this month which is an average of 2 per day.  Wow.  That is approximately 2,730 minutes or 45.5 hours.  Again, wow.  About 50% of these episodes are watched on the treadmill, the other 50% after the kids go to bed.  So at least I got some exercise.  Sadly, these extra calories burned were not reflected on the scale.  Ha!

James was away for 1 night this month and I had a sleep mate.  Every time that James is away, Grady keeps his side of the bed warm for him.

Mom and I went to see Dirty Dancing the musical earlier in January.  I saw the movie at least 30 times as a kid and a handful of times as an adult. I can't get enough!  I enjoyed all 120 minutes of it.  I grinned through the whole thing.  Was so glad to share the show with my Mom.

The kids also took 2 ski lessons right after the new year.  We took lessons last year and it was -20 three out of the 4 days.  The 4th day was cancelled because it was colder than -25.  This year the temperature was mild and the lessons were a success.  Cooper made it on to the more advanced carpet and Grady went on the chair lift for the first time.

This month we had 22 ice times between both of the kids.  Grady played in net for 1 practice and 1 game.  Our team won but he let the first 2 shots in.  The first one should have been called interference and him and all his team mates were talking about it at the end of the game since he physically got pushed into the net.  In the end he had several good saves and came off saying he liked being goalie, but scoring goals was better.  I agree.

Phew... that was a lot of numbers.  Stay tuned for next month when we do it all over again!