A Year in Review:2018

Each year when I look back at what we did and the places we went it is amazing to me how many good memories can be crammed into 365 days.  Even with just the highlights our year was pretty darn good.  Were all the days good?  Certainly not, but the good ones far outweigh the bad.  On to the highlights of 2018!

JANUARY

We rang in the new year with a ski day at Nakiska since we had spent the night at the Kananaskis lodge the night before.  We had so much fun last year that we are repeating it again this year.  The lodge and the skiing.

FEBRUARY

The winter months are always full of hockey with little time for much else.  We went to Golden, BC for Cooper's team in January for which I have no photos.  There is no team photo taken after losing 4 games straight!  In February we headed back to BC for Grady' team, this time to Sparwood, home of the former biggest truck in the world.

MARCH

After a slow start to the season, Cooper's team took home a gold medal in a shoot out that they actually televised on the news!

Grady's team finished the season as the south side city champions!

Then once the hockey season was officially done, we hopped on a plane and headed south to Mexico for spring break.

APRIL

In April my Mom and I headed to watch Ellen live at the Dome.  The performance was really good, but short.  It took longer to get out of the parking lot than it did to watch her show.

MAY

We had some visitors in May.  Sophia and her parents came to visit and this was about the time the kids started asking for another baby.  No thanks, we'll just enjoy having baby cousins!  Another one will be arriving shortly!

May also brought one of my most memorable trips.... a class trip to Frank Slide with Grady's class.  I am so happy I was able to join on such fun trip. No cooking or cleaning, not fighting siblings  It was almost like vacation. Almost.

JUNE

In June, Sara and her kids made their annual trip to visit.  It is an anticipated trip each year and always very memorable.  Next year the goal is to make it to the mountains if the weather cooperates. Fingers crossed. 

In June I also ran my second half marathon.  I struggled with injury this year which held me back from achieving a personal best.  I love that I have this group of fit moms that support me and have the same running goals as myself.  We've already registered for another next fall!

The biggest event in June is always this little Dude's birthday!  Double digits this year, 10 years ago this feisty young man made me a Mom!  He's a fire cracker that one.

 JULY

Our summer is always busy and full of travel... we kicked it off with a  weekend of camping.  We are all fair weather campers meaning we have electricity, heaters, and slow cookers!  My kind of campers! 

We closed out July with a trip to SK to visit the family.  The cousins had so much fun that the kids asked if they could move there. It was short lived when they realized they couldn't bring all their friends and hockey teams with them.  The just have so much fun talking, can you tell?

AUGUST

Our trip to Kelowna was a little louder this year as we headed west with 2 other families including 6 adults, 7 kids, and a dog!!  This will go down as the kids favorite vacation, and you know what, it may be mine to!

The biggest event of the summer was James turning 40!  We celebrated in style with a big shaker with all his friends and lasted until after 3am.  We partied like rock stars!  James has his work cut out for him this year as I celebrate this milestone birthday in 2019...

This kid also starts school in August.  Grade 5.  Am I old enough to have a kid in grade 5?

SEPTEMBER

Two weeks later, Cooper started grade 2.  One more year until the kids finally get to go to the same school.

OCTOBER

Our annual Thanksgiving table is was a little fuller this year while our friends and family gathered around the table to feast on our gigantic bird with all the fixings!

NOVEMBER

This guy turned 8 on November 8th.  A champagne birthday before you are 18 is no fun.  Ha!

DECEMBER

We spent the month celebrating the season with friends and family. We enjoyed hosting our first Christmas dinner and celebrating with both sides of the family.  We enjoyed waking up at home on Christmas morning and watching the kids open the presents under the tree.  It was a fantastic way to close out 2018.

Thanks for all the memories 2018! You've set the bar high for 2019!

Have a safe and happy new year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.  

The Night Before Christmas

The night before Christmas you will see the kids and I in our not quite matching onesies.  I asked James if he wanted one but he politely declined.

Of course I bought all three from Amazon Prime where I do the majority of my shopping these days (Adult, Kid).

I chose this Christy blue snow flake pattern so I can wear them all winter instead of just for Christmas.  When I tried them on for these photos it made me so excited to wear them all Christmas morning.  They are so soft and cozy and I'm thinking they'll keep me toasty warm since I am always cold.

I felt like a big kid wearing these and that is not such a bad way to feel, especially during the holiday season.  Shouldn't we all feel like big kids?

Link up and show us what you'll be wearing the night before Christmas.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Trip to the Library

Last week I gave up my Monday off to spend the day with Grady and his classmates at the new Central Library that just opened last month.  I had been looking forward to checking it out but wanted to wait until it wasn't a busy.  This was the perfect opportunity to check it out mid day on a Monday when it was quiet, other than the 50 grade 5 students lurking around....

I loved seeing Grady interact with his friends.  This is his second year at the school and his new friendships are flourishing.  His teachers even tell me that he is VERY social.  Is this kid more like me than I thought?  I think so.....

I loved meeting his classmates.  They started out quiet and uninterested in chatting with me.  As the day went on I learned about their siblings and all the Christmas movies they had watched and enjoyed this holiday season.  Because of them I've added Christmas Chronicles, A Christmas Project and A Christmas Inheritance to my shows to watch with the kids this Christmas.

One of the reasons we were there was to watch the Grade 6 students do their Ted Talks on space.  I was so proud of those kids even though none of them were my own.  They got up in front of an auditorium of both kids and adults and did an oral presentation.  Even as an adult I would hate this. Two kids, in particular, stood out to me.  One kid got up to talk about BFRs, Big Flying Rockets, except that is not the F word he used.  Oops. He just kept on going and didn't miss a beat.  I'm thinking it was a Freudian slip.  The second kid forgot a word in the middle of his ted talk.  He stopped and told the crowd he forgot the word.  As he stood there, one of his classmates shouted it out, he thanked the classmate and carried on.  At the ripe 'ol age of 11 these kids were shining stars in my eyes.

In addition to the 50 students, the library was a hopping place, including some strange individuals.... we met one in the elevator.  The kids were fascinated with the elevator and wanted to use it as much as possible.  One of the many times we hopped on was with a guy in his 20s with a full beard.  Or should I say a beard full of shaving cream.  For reals.  I could smell it.  Given the location of the new library I'm thinking he was homeless.  I saw the kids sneak a peak at him but none of them said anything in the elevator or after we got out.  Crisis averted.

The library is beautiful.  It really is 4 floors full of not only books, but play areas for the kids, a coffee shop for adults, so many meeting spaces, computers, work stations with plug ins and more!  The murals, the woodwork, the art... all beautiful, which just happened to be the subject of the kids assignment while we were there.  Take 8-10 photos of things that are beautiful and make a video explaining why.  We found a cozy spot to do the assignment and can I just say these kids are whizzes on their ipad?

I will happily spend any Monday with Grady and his classmates.  They are certainly a pleasure to get to know.  Now if only they would have more field trips on Mondays......

My thoughts on .... Natural Deodarant

I just recently learned that antiperspirant is bad for you.  Some may say I was living under a rock, but I seriously had no idea.  I've wearing the same Degree antiperspirant for years.  And more and more and more years. So many years I can't even count.  When I know that something is bad for me I have an overwhelming desire to get rid of it.  So there my quest for the perfect natural deodorant began.

I read Jillian Harris' post on deodorant and none of them spoke to me.  Can I just say that when I typed Jillian into google, Jillian Harris Deodorant popped up.  Can you imagine how many people have googled that blog post for it to pop up immediately.  Wow.

The ones she suggested were all expensive and none jumped out at me so I decided to just order one from Click and Collect to be picked up along with my weekly groceries.  The one I tried was the Green Beaver and it cost $7.99.

I got it and I started using it immediately.  It smelled like a typical deodorant, not mild at all, which is what I expected from a natural deodorant.  It seemed more than strong enough to camouflage what was to be my stinky pits.  I applied it liberally and off to work I went.

My biggest complaint about this deodorant was that it didn't dry, my armpits felt wet and I didn't like it.  About mid morning I reached in my shirt to touch my armpit and see how badly I smelled, it was not good.  I actually stunk.  I went to the gym and applied my degree deodorant in my bag before hitting the treadmill.  I was done.  I tried, it was stinky, it felt gross, and I was gave up after half a day.

I put the idea of natural deodorant behind me for a few weeks and forgot about it until Shaeffer from Shaeffer told me To blogged about Kopari Deodorant.  She kept referring to how good is smelled and that it worked.  I love the smell of coconut which is what led me to go to their website and see that they were an Allure 2017 winner.

I also LOVE that the website went through the process of detoxing your pits and what to expect.  As a natural deodorant newbie this was important to me.  Somewhere on the site I read that it would take 2 weeks to detox.  I can do anything for 2 weeks... right?

At a whopping $18 per stick I decided to wait until Sephora was 20% off and take the plunge.  That is 3X more than my Degree.  Wow.  I certainly hoped it was worth it.

My original plan was to wait until Christmas to detox happily at home with my family who love me even if I stink.  When the box arrived and I smelled the Kopari I decided to try it for one day just for a little preview.

I've worn it everyday since.  Every day.

It smells so good and goes on smooth.  It doesn't dry as quickly as Degree, but it does eventually dry.  I wore it the first day and while I felt like I could smell myself sometimes, I wasn't sure.  I took that as a good sign.  Even when I put my hand right in my armpit I wasn't certain I could smell BO.  

Every night when I took off my shirt  I would smell the pits and assess whether they stunk.  Truthfully, I don't think they did.  I asked James to smell one day and he said it smelled like perfume.  Well that is certainly not a bad thing.

While it was working great day to day, the real test was wearing it to exerice.  The first day was a little gross.  My armpits were slippery, it was a strange sensation that I wasn't used to.  I was sweating a lot.  I did the smell test a few times during the run, despite sweating a lot the smell wasn't terrible.  Let's just say I was expecting way worse.  During the first 2 weeks I was applying deodorant before exercising which I never used to do, more as a precautionary.  No one wants to be that girl at the gym that no one wants to exercise beside....  

I was also applying after the workout which I did even with Degree.  An interesting thing to note is that since I didn't want to buy 2 $18 deodorants, I moved the Green Beaver one to my gym bag.  After I had partially detoxed my body tolerated the cheaper deodorant way better.   So what they say is true, the first week or 2 is the worst but it does get better if you persevere.

Another thing I did was to use a charcoal bar on my pits in the shower.  I read that charcoal is known for detoxifying and I already had a Beauty Counter one at home that I generally use on my face.  I love the way my skin feels squeaky clean after I use it.  If you haven't tried one, you should!  After washing my armpits with the bar I just feel like they are so clean.  

So here we are 4 weeks later and I am still wearing Kopari deodorant and I have no plans to go back.  I've finally stopped smelling the pits of my shirts when I take them (for the most part) and only do a sniff check once a day if I remember or feel sweaty.  Not once did James or the kids tell me I stink and trust me they don't hold anything back.

One thing I didn't know that I wish I would have is that I didn't stop sweating after the detox, I just stopped smelling.  Sweating is natural and our body needs to do it and that was the problem with antiperspirant, it wasn't letting the toxins out.  I'm still getting used to the feeling of sweat in my arm pits but I must admit that I don't like it.  The good new is that I may be wet but I don't smell.

Since making the switch and telling a few people I realize how many people are really interested in learning about it and my experience with choosing which one to use and the truth about how much I stunk.  If you have any questions ask it in the comments and I'll be happy to share any more information with you.  

The truth is that the switch was way easier than I expected and I think I'm done with antiperspirant for good!

My Favorite Christmas Tradition. Ever.

My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree.  I love pulling out each and every ornament that I've purchased over the years and remembering where they came from.  I'm trying to pass this love down to the kids and so far I think its working.

Unlike a lot of people, we decorate the tree unlit.  When the tree is fully decorated we each make a wish silently and then flip the switch and admire the tree in all its beauty.

This year , like every other year, our tree contains a few new ornaments.

This one was purchased in the fall when we headed to NYC to celebrate James' birthday.  We bought it in a huge Christmas store on the outskirts of Time Square on our way to see Pretty Woman on Broadway.  I'll remind James of that every year as I pull this beauty out of the box.

EAch year I also purchase each kid an ornament that represents the year. When I asked the kids what they thought their ornamant was this year they answered immediately, and they were right.

We got not one Fortninte ornament, but TWO!

This next one I ordered from some chinese site last year and it arrived while were away for Christmas so never actually made it on the tree.  Grady had a poop party for his 10th birthday so it was an perfect addition to our tree this year.

The flu has hit our house hard this month with 12 school days being missed between the 2 kids.  Today I spent a sick day with Grady and he ran a few errands with me.  While we were waiting for the furniture store to open I suggested we walk next door to Dollarama because I had to pee so bad.  We walked up and down every aisle and picked up a few things.  Grady was adamant that we purchase these ornaments to paint.  For $3 I agreed and brought them home for our evening activity.  They were so into it and now we have 4 new ornaments on the tree.

I had a list so long for my day off yesterday, but spending it was Grady was a surprising treat.  He was sick enough to not go to school but not sick enough to get out of running errands with his mom.  After our fun day together he may just be 'sick' more often.

I will remember this day with him every time I pull these 4 ornaments out.

Also, if you are looking for new santa hats, Dollarama is where it is at!

TBB Asks: Holiday Edition

I love love LOVE the holidays.  I had been looking forward to putting up my decor for weeks leading up to it.  I mostly love the soft glow of the lights on the tree.  Reading a book by the tree with my baileys in hand is one of my fave holiday activities.

I'm so excited to be joining the ladies of TBB to talk all about Christmas!

1. Candy Canes?  No thanks, I'll take all the Chocolate!

2.  Christmas Morning I used to sleep in since we opened all our gifts on Christmas Eve.  Apparently it is a french thing.  Now with kids we wake up bright and early because you know, Santa comes overnight!

3. Black Friday... usually I am super into it but this year not so much.  I ended up at Micheals by accident on the Saturday and all the Christmas decor was 60% off.  If you count that, then yet I shopped Black Friday.

4. My tree goes up the last weekend of November.  One year I put it up the week before and I felt like it was too long.  I also take mine down before the new year.  I feel line 4 weeks is the perfect amount of time to enjoy the holiday decor to its fullest and not get sick of it.

5.  I rarely use Pinterest except recently for house decor.  I also decorate the same every year so no need to search for ideas!  

6.  Glam or ugly Sweater?  Can I say both?  I love getting dressed up for parties and this will be the first year in as long as I can remember that we didn't have a party to attend.  With that being said, I love to wear ugly christmas sweaters as well.  They are cheaper and you get more wears out of them year after year. 

7.  Stockings. Growing up, stockings weren't that big of a deal, but I married into a family where stockings are a huge deal and all gifts are wrapped.  

8.  Christmas music - I like both traditional and modern.  My favorite Christmas song is All I want for Chritmas by Mariah Carey, so that may make me more modern.....

9.Fruitcake.... gross!

10. I am 90% done Christmas shopping and 80% of it was done online, Amazon in particular.  Why fight the crowds when you can shop in your PJs with a glass of wine?

11.  There is lots of snow where I live and I like it for the month of December only!

12.  As for Christmas movies....I prefer the Rom Coms.  Love actually and most recently The Holiday have been top of my list.

So excited that December has arrived and the countdown is on!

Fur! Pink! Plaid! Oh my!

A few weeks back I hit the road for Edmonton to shop with my gal pals. While I've already told you about all the fun we had, I haven't actually showed you what I bought.  Some years I have a little luck, some years I have a lot.  I'm happy to report that this year was one of success, much to James' dismay.

Let's start with this furry vest.  I've been hunting for one since last season but I didn't find quite the right one. Until now. I grabbed this bad boy off the shelf even though it was a medium and I suspected that it would be too big.  I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't.  I wore it with the tag the first day to make sure it was a keeper and hands down this will be well worn this winter!

This was another item I was looking for, a dusty rose sweater.  What the heck is this color called anyway???  My friends and I called it Carmen purple all weekend.  Now Carmen has a color just like I do, Christy blue!  I scored this one at Simon's for $40 ad haven't looked back since  The color, the fit, the length is all perfect.  I should really go back and get a second color because at that price they are practically giving it away!

This next one is one of my pricier items from Aritzia.  Candace came out wearing this over a blue dress and I really wanted to try the blue dress, of course.  The sales person came back with this green guy.  I said I wanted the dress, and she looked at me like I was crazy, this is the dress.  So apparently this can also be worn as a dress.  Truthfully I liked it better as a dress but I forgot to take a picture.  If I were to wear it as a long cardi again I would wear a more fitted shirt.  I felt very shapeless in this ensemble the way it is.

This plaid jacket from American Eagle is by far my favorite find of the weekend.  It was also the second winter jacket I purchased.  Before you judge, don't forget I live in the frozen tundra!  We were walking by AE, a store I usually don't go into, when I saw this coat out of the corner of my eye.  I stopped, I tried, I bought, no hesitation.

Just a side note on American Eagle.... Have you ever tried their shorts?  They are perfection, perfect amount of stretch to make them flattering and comfortable.  My sister tipped me off a few years ago and I haven’t looked back since. 

This sweater was another one I kept the tags on the first time I wore.  I actually wore it home on the Sunday of our trip with the tag hanging down my back and the waitress told me how cute it was.  So it came home with me and stayed! I'm a sucker for an animal with glasses, what can I say?

Finally, let's talk about these sneakers.  Four of us bought them.  Love, love, LOVE.  Except it snowed on the way home and I haven't worn them since.  They didn't have mine in the camo print but I did walk away with a pink pair.  I love them!  Thanks for the tip Abbie and Lana!

While these are not all the items that I bought, these are the ones I remembered to take pictures of.  I love shopping, but  better yet, I love shopping with my besties who share that same passion.

Shopping is my Cardio!

seven on monday

Today I am breaking the rules.  Does it have to be Friday?  Or five for that matter?  Heck no. This is my blog and I'll do what I want.

{one} The kids have found a new obsession with Peter's Drive in. It's a Calgary icon and their milkshakes are epic.  Not to mention the burgers and onion rings.  So when our Nexus renewals came up and we all had to go to the airport we decided to add supper at Peter's to the trip.  It did not disappoint. I love seeing the kids enjoy something that we have enjoyed for years.

{two} I love seeing Grady find a new love for board games.  He really wanted to play Monopoly Jr but we were missing a few pieces so we pulled out James' Calgaryopoly from when he was a kid.  Grandma started the game with him and thankfully after dinner he lost interest and we packed it away.  We all know how long one game of monopoly can last...

{three} Last week brought parent teacher interviews for both kids.  I love the opportunity to take a step into our kids world and see what they for the hours they are at school.  Academically, both kids are doing great. No complaints here.  I loved seeing the pride that Grady has in his work at school.  He showed us all his coding on the ipad which is his elective this term.  It is nice to see Cooper engaging as he will be heading there in 2 short years.

{four} Christmas has arrived at our house!  Technically, I am not 100% done.  Our schedule no longer allows a full day dedicated to decorating so I broke it up into what I wanted to do solo vs what I wanted to do with the kids.  Friday night I put on my mickey ears, poured a glass of wine and cranked up the Christmas music.  I did the banister and the fancy tree solo while the kids and James were out and about.  A wild and crazy friday night around our place I tell ya.

{five} I survived Black Friday without buying a single thing.  I just don't need anything right now.  With that being said I ended up benefiting from the sales without intending to.  After pulling out the Christmas decor I realized I need a few things.  So... I hurried over to Michael's to pick up a few small things and ended up in the middle of the weekend long Black Friday sale extended over the weekend. . 60% off all Christmas decor!  I walked away with this new wreath among other things.  So maybe I didn't exactly not buy anything on Black Friday after all.....

{six}  Grady's team had a Christmas skill comp over the weekend.  The coaches are such good sports and showed up in festive attire.  The kids came ready to battle.  Grady took home 2nd in the fastest skater comp then got last in accuracy. You win some you lose some!

{seven} Cooper scored the heart and hustle award for his defense skills yesterday. Despite a 8-4 loss he hustled out there and I was happy to see him walk out sporting the tiger hat.

Have a great week!