Meet Leo!

After years of convincing, they finally broke me, we got a dog! Meet Leo!

Ever since I met James, I always knew he wanted to dog eventually. Initially, he thought it was a good idea to get one while I was on maternity leave and I shot that down idea pretty quickly. Now that I actually have one, I am confident that was the right decision! I’ve always been a dog person, my grandma had two boxers growing up, my brother had a dog, my mom had a dog,...but I’ve personally never had one. James had a dog growing up that I saw exactly one time before he passed, I still remember his fluffy white face. I always suspected a dog would be in our future, and as the kids got older we realized the time was now or never.

We decided to surprise the kids. They’ve been asking on and on since James' brother got a dog two years ago. It was in the spring that James started looking somewhat seriously on Kijiji to find one. We had even scheduled a FaceTime call with one pup but before the we could call it was sold. It was a really frustrating experience to try and find one available immediately. In the end, we decided to go with a breeder.

My girlfriend got her pup last spring from Wildflower Labradoodles out of Salmon Arm. Yes, it seems ridiculous to get your dog from BC when you could easily find one closer but we really wanted to make sure that it was a good breeder and she had nothing but good things to say, so we decided to follow in her footsteps.

Leo was born on September 4th and we got his pictures weekly from the time he was born to the time we picked him up on November 18. The timing of our vacation wasn’t ideal as we could’ve picked them up the week we left, but instead he stayed with his mama an extra two weeks before coming home to us.

Let’s talk a little bit about his name. When we started talking about getting a dog in the spring, the boys were all excited to name him Wiener, yes, Wiener. I’m a name person, so this was not gonna happen on my watch. Instead we used the same method we used to name the kids, I made a list of all the names that I liked and then James vetoed them and chose one from the list that I accumulated. I knew that I wanted a real name for our dog and Leo was the front runner almost immediately. So our dogs official name is Leo Wiener.

I have never seen James so excited. He made a special trip to Salmon Arm to meet the puppies and choose the perfect one for our family. When he called me after the visit he said there was a smaller calmer one and a bigger rambunctious one that really seemed to like him. I said the obvious decision was the smaller, calmer one, but of course he disagreed, he wanted the one that showed the most interest is it in him which happened to be the wild one. He is already a perfect fit for our loud and rowdy family! 

We decided to surprise the kids with the pup. James went to Salmon Arm to pick them up on Monday, and the boys and I went about our regular day, including a hockey practice that evening. We ate at the rink knowing that James needed some extra time to get the dog into the house to greet us. James was waiting in the family room with Leo expecting that he would run to the door when we came in, but he was wrong. When we arrived after hockey practice the dog bolted behind couch, he was terrified. Grady happened to catch a glimpse of the dog running behind the couch and asked his dad if that was a dog. He asked if we were dog sitting again, and when James said no that was the moment the kids realized that the dog was theirs. Grady came running over to each of us to give us a giant hug and then proceeded to convince little Leo out from behind the couch.

Leo started out as a very timid dog. When people came over he would run away rather than greet them and shake when they tried to pet him. He was scared of everything. Leo had a lot of adjustment to do to get used to our chaotic family.

On day two, the boys had three friends over. So let’s count, that’s a total of five boys in a house with a new puppy. He spent most of his time hiding and on more than one occasion I had to tell the kids to be quiet and go to a different room. Maybe day two wasn’t the day to introduce him to our extended brood of boys…

Our first weekend with Leo, Grady and James went out of town for a hockey tournament. Cooper and I were left in charge of the pup. It was way harder than I was expecting. It was cold and I would spend the majority of my time standing outside waiting for Leo to pee or better yet, poop. Instead, Leo mostly pooped on the carpet in the house. One particular time, I caught him in the pooping position. I grabbed him and I ran him outside where he had a little turd, I praised him, we came inside and found 90% of the poop on the carpet. This whole training a puppy thing is hard!

Here we are, almost 2 weeks into having a dog, and things are WAY better. Leo seems to be a very social dog, he no longer hided from people, and he excitedly greets us when we come in the room. He’s had his first set of puppy classes, and got an 'A' on his report card. We no longer have to stand outside for 45 minutes minutes waiting for him to do his business, most times we are down to under 5 min.

Leo has worked his way into our families and most of all our hearts. Even though he poops on my carpet, he nips constantly, and he gets up at 6 AM sharp, he is the most lovable and adorable dog I’ve ever met. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t threaten to give them back if he bit a hole in my dress pants, but I was only kidding. Mostly. I’m glad that James made the executive decision to add Leo to our family, it is hard to imagine our family without him!

The BFFs Celebrate 40 in LA!

This year, instead of going to Edmonton with my BFFs, we celebrated our 40th birthdays in LA! This is a big upgrade from our usual drive to West Edmonton Mall where we shop all weekend. Instead, our weekend was full of celebrity spottings, tours, show taping, live podcast, and more!

Believe it or not, this trip was actually planned before our Disney trip was decided. Each year on our trip, we pick the weekend for the next year so that we all keep it open. It seems to be the only way to allow six different moms to break away from the family for a few nights.

When my family started planning a Disney trip and the month of November was chosen, we worked it so that I wouldn’t have to fly back-and-forth. It couldn’t have been more perfect as my friends got off the same plane that my family got on at the airport.  

We may have been in the same city but the two trips were very different. 

From the very beginning, we really wanted to go and see some live show tapings. Our first choice was Ellen, but sadly we didn’t get tickets. Sara and I tried twice with different entries using different email addresses and were unsuccessful. Little did we know at the time we’d have many other opportunities during the week that made up for it.  

The first day was jam packed with excitement, so much so that we barely found time to eat! The first thing we did was a bus tour at TMZ where we saw many locations were others saw celebrities, HA!   My favorite part of the trip is when we drove by the hotel where pretty woman was filmed, that is One of my favorite movies of all time, and I think I’m due for a re-watch! I’m really happy we did the tour as we saw many parts of Hollywood that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, but I’m not in a rush to do it again.

After the tour, we strolled the boulevard for a bit before it was time to get in line for Jimmy Kimmel Live. The thing with getting tickets is that you sign up two months in advance but you don’t actually find out if you got tickets until two weeks before (sometimes less!) and still when you accept the tickets you don’t know who the guest are going to be. The Jimmy Kimmel guests were Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, among other things) and Camila Morrone (Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend, among other things). I had no idea who are the guest were, but the show was amazing and we walked away with a one year subscription to Disney+! 

What I found interesting that was for a one hour show, we waited in line for an hour, then we were seated, and waited probably close to another hour before the show started. But because Jimmy Kimmel is live, the taping of the show was actually only an hour.

James took the picture below of our TV screen the same night that it taped. While all six of us were at the show, only Dee and I were on air for this scene. James couldn’t spot us in the crowd during the show, but we could see ourselves given we knew where our seats were.

You may think that after Kimmel we decided to head back to the hotel room, but you would be wrong. Instead 4 of us headed to a live taping of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast, Off The Vine. This was a last-minute addition to our agenda. We literally bought tickets the night before the show.

Believe it or not, this was my favorite part of the LA leg of the trip. While some of you may not know, Kaitlyn Bristow is a former Bachelorette and I listen to her podcast quite regularly. Interestingly enough, she wasn’t my favorite person on the stage that night. Her guest was Nick Viall , a former Bachelor, and also one of my favorites. He has a pod cast, The Viall Files, that I sometimes listen to though admittedly it is not my favorite. The best part is, that when we bought the tickets we didn’t actually know who the guest was, you can imagine the squealing from all of us when we found out Nick was the guest. On top of that, Blake from Bachelor in Paradise was the guest DJ, and Demi even made an appearance.  It was a super fun night filled with wine, laughter, and a whole lot of fan girling!

After a very hectic first day in LA we toned it down a bit for day two. The main event was to attend a taping of the Kelly Clarkson show which is brand new this season. I remember watching American Idol the year that she won and love her music so it was exciting to see her live.  She starts each episode by singing a song and that day her song was Bitter Sweet Symphony bu The Verve.  I remember this song well from my younger years and in particular for being in the movie Cruel Intentions which even she said she thought of when she sang.

Her guests were Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna, and Ne-Yo, who I'd never heard of. I really enjoyed the taping of her show and the format. The guests stayed on stage as the next guest was introduced and she engaged with both of them at the same time including a cooking session with Ne-Yo. Kelly Clarkson was very “normal“ and exactly how I would expect her to be.

There were some differences between the taping of this show and the live Jimmy Kimmel show. The breaks were substantially longer and she had an entire team come out to prep her for the next segment.  This included lint roller’s, make up people, hair people, and entire entourage fixing her up for air. It was interesting to see how scripted the show.  There was a woman standing out of view that had potential questions that Kelly should be asking her guest to lead them in a certain direction. It wasn’t just the show that I enjoyed, but seeing the whole process behind the scenes.

After the taping, a few of us headed to a taping of the sitcom, the Connors, and the other half of us headed back to Melrose Ave. to browse some shops and had a little fun with all the murals along the way. See picture above.

Sunday morning, our Uber was booked for 7 AM, which meant a very early start to the day. We had a Warner Bros. tour booked for 8:30 AM to maximize our last full day in LA. The highlight of the tour by far was sitting on the couch of the friends set. The show was such a big part of my adolescence and I watched it for years with these exact girls, so it just felt right to experience it with them.

Deena picked us a great hotel in Santa Monica right on the ocean, which Arnold Schwarzenegger dined at every morning... though we only spotted him once. We looked at the pier every morning as we hopped in our Uber and headed to our destination saying we were going to visit the pier soon.  Finally on our last day, a mere two hours before the sunset, we headed on a walk to the Santa Monica pier. It was a beautiful night, the sunset was beautiful, and the pier was crowded. Now that I’ve rekindled my love of roller coasters I actually wanted to go on the roller coaster at the pier but we were afraid the line would be too long so I passed. It really was a great way to say goodbye to LA.

This was a perfect trip for us. From celebrity watching to just the right amount of shopping, it was perfect! I have no doubt we will be talking about this experience for years to come. There’s always something about spending time with my oldest friends that makes my heart happy. Not everyone can say that they still spend time with their best friend from kindergarten or their roommates from University, but I can say both! I am so fortunate to call all of these women my friends. I think the Golden girls said it best when they said “thank you for being my friend“.

Happy 40th birthday to us all!

Disney Extravaganza!

Over 30 years ago, my Mom took my brother and I do Disneyland for the very first time on our very first plane ride.  It was my most memorable childhood memory, and we still reminisce about how Mom fell in a mud puddle on the way to the park and we insisted there was no time to go back.  My Mom wanted to recreate this memorable experience for her grand kids and memorable it was. We had 7 full days together and I documented each day diary style at the end up each night. 

Day 1

Travel day is always the worst. This trip was no different, what I will always remember about our travel day to Disney was that our suitcase was drenched in fish juice when it came off the carousel. Yes, fish juice. I’m not talking about a few dribbles, I’m talking about the whole front of the suitcase was wet. People on the shuttle bus complained about the smell, people getting their luggage complained it stunk... it was bad. In the end when we got the rental car James emptied the suitcase into the trunk and left the empty suitcase in the parking lot. For the record, that was 100% James‘s idea. On the hour drive from LAX to our vacation house, I called WestJet and convince them to give me a $100 travel credit. I guess I’ll be buying a new suitcase, among other things, on our trip to target this week.

Day 2

We spent our first full day at California Adventure Park. The most memorable moment for me was waiting in line for our first ride, Soarin' Around the World. I remembered it from the last time we were there and it was a real hit among both kids. Although that time, Grady cried as we tried to strap him into the seat, in the end he loved it. That was James' fault for telling him that there was a drop at the end, which there is NOT. It was easy for us to forget that although Cooper came when he was four years old, he really doesn’t remember.  I watched Cooper's face more than I watched the screen.  His smile was big and and his eyes were glowing.  The excitement didn't fade even after the third time we rode it. For me, seeing the world through your children’s eyes, really is a blessing. And that’s what Disney is all about.

Day 3

Today is the day that Cooper turned nine! While most would think that celebrating your birthday at Disneyland would be the best day ever.  Cooper disagreed.  By mid morning Cooper told me it was the most boring birthday ever. Those few little words hurt my heart. Mostly he was bored because we spent our morning walking back-and-forth in the park trying to orientate ourselves on the first day. Also, Cooper is not a big ride guy, so he spend a lot of time waiting for others to get on and off rides. I just wanted his day to be perfect, and thought that being in Disney would be enough.

In the end, his favorite part of the day was dinner at Goofy’s kitchen. We had eaten there for his fourth birthday and knew that he would get special treatment. The dessert was de-lish per the birthday boy. The picture with Chip was one of the best photos of cooper on the trip.    It is harder then you think to catch a natural photo of this 9 year old!

Day 4

Today was a rest day after two very long days of amusement parks. We tried to sleep in, but didn’t. The kids swim, the adults drank beer.  We went to target to purchase a new suitcase and a few odds and ends. We even made a trip to the mall and I came home empty-handed. Surprising, I know. The day was much quieter, but much needed rest from the hustle and bustle of Disney. Back at it tomorrow…

Day 5 

Today we headed to Universal Studios. My favorite ride is always the studio tour and this time was no different. I don’t know if it was because it was the weekend, but it was way busier than I remember and way busier than Disney. The bonus to the park being so busy was that Cooper was forced to hold my hand. That hasn’t happened in years! The lines were long, and I realized I am not very patient. After waiting in line one hour two rides in a row, I was done. No more rides for me. We are also accepting that Cooper really is not a ride guy. He doesn’t like drops, speed, or noise. Though he liked the Simpsons ride. The great thing about universal, is many of the rides are movies that give the illusion that you’re on a roller coaster, and he seems to like those. If you are planning to go and have some spare cash, the VIP tickets is well worth the money.

Day 6

Today we had another free day.  Personally, I really like these because you can sleep in (if 7:30 AM is considered sleeping in) and drink our coffee in our PJs. After that we decided to head to Newport Beach to check out the pier, dip our toes in the ocean and head to the nearby mall. Sadly, the kids were the only one with any shopping success. Macy’s was having a wicked sale and they loaded up our cart quickly with Champion and Nike attire. I guess I’ll have to wait until my girls trip next week to spend some cash on myself. More on Phase 2 of my trip soon.

Day 7

My sleep ended abruptly last night when I woke up to Cooper puking beside me. While you may think that I was sleeping with James, I was actually sleeping with Cooper. After he filled the bed with vomit we were able to change the sheets and get back to bed.  With a sick kid James and I switched off our Disney duties shortly after noon.  He read 6 movies over the course of the day while I crushed a good section of my book.

The highlight of my day with meeting Cinderella as we left the park.  She was so polite and kind as she asked  Taiya and Tessa at what kingdom they were from.  Saskatoon, of course!  I told her she was my always my favorite princess and she called me a queen. After calling Grady a prince he told me that Cinderella was really  nice.  Thank you to Grady who pointed her out as we left the park when he probably just wanted to walk right by. It was the perfect end to our Disney vacation.

And just like that, our time in Disney was done.  It is amazing how the time goes so slowly while you are there and then it is over in the blink of an eye.  The week was filled with so many great moments that I will never forget.  What an honor it was to experience Disney with my entire family.  Coming from a boy mom it was great to have someone who wanted to meet the princess and wait in line to meet Mickey.

Mom, thank you so much for putting the plan into motion and following through with all the details.  It was so relaxing to not have to deal with vacation planning for a change.  We appreciate everything you did to make this trip a fantastic one!

Celebrating Cooper

This kid…

I should have known that when I asked Cooper who he wanted to invite to his birthday party that he would have a list longer than my arm! This kid is a social butterfly, and being the kind kid that he is, he doesn’t want to exclude anyone from the celebration. So when his list got to 17 kids, including him and Grady, I agreed, assuming that there would be a few kids that couldn’t make it. Not this year, we had 100% attendance and 17 kids all present to celebrate Cooper’s birthday.

He had hockey friends, school friends, neighborhood friends, and family friends all gather together at one big bouncy castle place, and the rest is history.  

He chose the same place that Grady had his birthday. It’s a great place but it is a 40 minute drive to get there. And different from Grady‘s, we didn’t have to place to ourselves. It wasn’t crazy like I imagine the Saturday would be, but it certainly wasn’t empty like Grady‘s party in June.

However, exactly like Grady’s, the kids were red-faced and sweating within 10 minutes. Him and his hockey friends all had to miss a Hockey practice and I promise to parents that they would get more cardio at the birthday party then they would get at the full life hockey practice they missed! And it turned out I was right! One of his teammates approached me and told me he was so wet that it felt like he had showered… Success!

Despite how loud, crazy, chaotic, and expensive the party was, seeing this kid interact with his friends and that big smile on his face, makes it all worthwhile.

Given that we were away on Cooper‘s actual birthday this year bracket [more on this to come later], we celebrated Cooper the week prior and the celebration kept going and going and going. The same weekend that we celebrated with his friends we also celebrated with Jameses family with brunch and presence. I love the look on his face as he opened the jewelry box and found a gold chain inside from nana. It’s not easy to capture a big smile on his face and this smile is 100% genuine.

After brunch we returned home and we gave Cooper our presents. He was a tough kid to buy for this year. At that stage in between toys and not really sure what he wants. He knew he wanted shoes, and you’ll notice that he has two different shoes on his feet in the photo below while he tried to decide which pair to keep. As an aside, he kept the white ones. I also went out on a limb and bought him the Air Jordan jacket and it was a success. Another successful year of present shopping for the boys which let me tell you is not an easy feat! I’m dreading shopping for Christmas presents already…

And just like that I have a happy nine-year-old With some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket. I hope he enjoyed his birthday as much as I enjoyed spoiling him.

Happy birthday Cooper!

Happy 9th Birthday Cooper!

Dear Cooper,

It is hard for me to believe that you are already 9.  Nine years ago today, you completed our family on a rainy night.  You have a BIG personality.  You are a confident, loud, vibrant young man and the only child that anyone every says looks even a little bit like me.  While you probably don't love hearing that you look like your Mom, it makes me so proud.  Sometimes you remind me of myself when I was your age, the funny, social kid that doesn't like to hug.  Heck, that is still me!  Cooper, I look forward to celebrating you today and all year long.

Let me tell you a little bit about your 9 year old self.

You are in Grade 3.  For the first time ever you have been separated from both of your best friends.  But no surprise to us, you came home on the first day of school telling us you made a new friend.  It certainly didn't take long.

Hockey is your jam.  After our tournament in Cranbrook last month I asked you what your favorite part was and you looked at me like I was crazy and said the hockey, obviously.  I just assumed it would be the pool or running around the hotel with your friends.

We've fully embraced that you are a defense men.  You are slowly gaining confidence in taking those rushes and going for the net.  Though when asked to play forward you still say no.  You look good on defense Coopman, keep it up!

As for food, you still have a jam sandwich almost every day.  You don't like pizza but you'll eat it if that is all there is. You have a sweet tooth like your mom but you like sushi like your dad.  Your favorite is the orange fish egg, I think its called ikura.  I can't get you to eat vegetables but you'll eat raw fish.  Weird.

You take after your Dad in the language department.  I am constantly reminding you to stop using bad words.  I hope that you don't develop a serious case of road rage like your father…..

You are SO SO loud.  You are known as the loudest in the dressing room.  Though sometimes you scream like a little girl and it hurts our ears.  For the most part the loudness comes when you get excited and especially when you are around your friends.

You are not a toucher.  You don't hold my hand, you don't hug, but you may give me a kiss in the morning if I ask for one.  The fact that you don't like them doesn't mean I don't give them anyway.  Especially at bed time.

We've moved past Fortnite and currently you are into Tik Tok.  I don't really get it but you spend a lot of time making videos around the house and telling us to be quiet. Check him out at @Coopmanyt and give him a follow.  He checks it daily.

You are not a cryer.  When you shed tears, we know you are really hurt.  Thankfully it doesn't happen often.

You all of a sudden started caring about your appearance.  Let's start with the hair.  In the spring you spotted a mohawk mullet and immediately aspired to grow one.  It has been several months since then and you've finally grown a defined mullet much to your mother's dismay.  It took telling the hairdresser at the last appointment to NOT touch the back, not even a little.  Why is it that hairdressers don't understand the word trim, and in this case, do not cut at all.  The 2 cuts prior they still trimmed the back despite direct instruction not to.  Insert eye roll.

The other item you've become passionate about are your chains.  Yes, plural.  You ordered one on amazon in the spring and you've worn one every single day since.  You have gold ones, silver ones, think ones, thin ones.  Sometimes you where 1 and some times you layer them up. It has become your signature item.  As a fashionista myself, I can appreciate your unique tastes.

You stay up to late, but that's mostly our fault.  It is always after 9 and sometimes as late as 10.  The good news is that you always go to sleep easily.  You don't want me to stay, you just want to go to sleep.  You are and always have been a dream to put to sleep.

You still sleep with bunny and I take pictures more often then I care to admit.  I can't get enough pictures of you hugging bunny every. single. night.  I will never throw bunny away. Maybe when you are done with her I'll keep her in my bed.  She is no longer soft and fluffy like she once was but she has more character just the way she is.

You are wise beyond your years. You seem so much older than most of your peers.  Probably because you have an older brother.  You have no problems fitting in with him and his friends and even invited a few of them to your birthday party.

You are such a kind friend.  You don't leave anyone out and don't have a mean bone in your body.  I've literally never heard you say a bad thing about anyone.

You are responsible.  Your teachers always say you are the best helper and very reliable.  You are my child that wants to stay by himself when his older brother will still not consider it!  You are wise beyond your years young man.

Cooper I love watching you grow and change each year.  You continue to amaze me with your confident and charming personality.  You are going to big things.  Big, HUGE.

Happy Birthday to you, my baby boy.

Love,

Mom