Catching up

Always the easiest way to catch everything up is to post it all in photos. So much has happened and we are definitely in the home stretch to wrapping it all up. I can feel us all starting to breath a little easier.

Wednesday night - Taggart's preschool graduation. A little emotional for me as we have been with those preschool teachers for 6 years. Such great teachers and I will miss them.Just minutes after this photo was taken, poor Nana had a fall. She missed a step and went down on her ankle. Her and I spent the evening in the emergency room but luckily it was just a sprain and she is healing up pretty quickly. Never a dull moment. :)Thursday - Reagan's class put on a presentation for the parents in one room of the school while Cooper's Grade 5 graduation was going on in the gym. Taggart and I ran back and forth trying not to miss too much of either one.Saturday - Reagan spent all morning on the floor of her bedroom, with Hannah Montana on the CD player, with her art supplies spread out in front of her. Well over two hours I think. Which made my time spent at Ikea the other night picking out the perfect art table and accessories for her room so much more worth it. I wasn't totally sure that she would go up there by herself and work but I know now that she will. Today after school she spent quite a time up there just organizing her supplies. She's a girl after my own heart, that's for sure.Saturday afternoon - a party with all of her closest friends (16 of them to be exact). We rented a room with a bouncy castle, tumbling mats, crafts, etc. We served hotdogs, chips and cupcakes. Typical birthday party fare.She blew out her candles.Saturday evening. A bbq dinner for Mary, Rochelle, Jake, Nana, our friend Rich and his daughter Sophie (one of the guest at the party). An ice cream sandwich cake for dessert. She blows out her candles... again.Setting up her art table Saturday night. It was very late and Cooper was all ready for bed when he discovered what we were doing. He was determined to help. A robe might have been a good idea. We snuck the whole set-up into her room while she was sleeping and she woke up to it on Sunday morning.The fresh face of seven - Sunday morning.

Lots of love all around. A pink basketball from Cooper.

A paper beading book from Hudson.

A one piece bathing suit from Taggart. (not shown) She has been asking for a 1-piece for months and I kept discouraging her, saying that two-pieces are way better, more comfortable, easier to move in, etc. But she insisted so we got her one for her birthday. She tried it on today for the first time and after a few minutes proceeded to take it off and change into her two-piece. 'Not comfortable' she said. Take note - Mom's are always right. Money and some crafting supplies from Nana.

Oma and Opa came to share dessert with us on Sunday evening. They brought Reagan a card with one of Opa's now famous drawings in it and some money. But the sweetest present in my opinion? - Opa let Reagan paint his toenails. He didn't even want me to paint my own when I was her age. There is definitely something special about a grandparent-grandchild relationship.

And Reagan blows out her candles for the third and final time of her birthday weekend extravaganza. A big old-fashioned ice cream sundae.

We didn't forget it was Father's Day - we have just postponed it a week. Reagan took priority, as I know she always will. We are blessed to have this beauty in our lives. Happy Birthday Reagan!

Numbers

24 - hours in a day

48 - hours I need in a day

7 - number of teacher gifts to make - 3 down, 4 to go.

5 - days of school until summer vacation - Yipee!!!

7 - how old Reagan is turning on Sunday. SEVEN!!!!

4 - loads of laundry waiting to be folded

3 - number of Oreos I ate today, but the day's not over

Sorry for the bad blogging - I'll be back soon. July is now only 12 days away.

Hooray for the underdogs

Roller hockey season ended this week for Cooper and Hudson. I haven't brought the camera to one game. The kids really all look the same in those helmets and the big concrete gym is far from idea for photo-taking.

But tonight was different.

Last night they both played their playoff games. Three games to see who would advance to the final game tonight. Cooper's team had done pretty well all season so we thought they had a pretty good chance of going to the final. Hudson's team, on the other hand, had a record of 1 & 9 and no one thought, including Hudson, that there was any chance of them playing tonight.

It ended up that Cooper's team lost all 3 games last night and that was the end for them. Cooper was very disappointed. Hudson 's team won 2 out of 3 games and Hudson even scored a goal and they advanced to tonight's game. So needless to say, Hudson was very excited and he talked about it all the way home in the truck. Hudson is usually a quiet little guy so for him to talk this much I knew how thrilled he was. I loved when he said "Winning is way more exciting when you hardly ever do it."

So tonight we all went to watch and cheer Hudson on. It was a great game and very close but unfortunately they lost by one goal. Hudson didn't even seem to care that they lost. He came off with a big smile on his face, proud of himself and happy with his medal for second place. And I brought the camera because I love to cheer for the underdogs.

Aquarium

Today I joined Reagan's class on a field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was a very fun and busy day. Lots to see in a short amount of time. The highlight for Reagan was undoubtedly the brand new baby beluga whale born only two days ago. They wouldn't let us get too close just yet so it really made me want to go back this summer with all the kids. Reagan always tends to do so well at those kinds of things. All around me there are kids complaining, wanting to go home, crying because they can't see what they want to see. She is always so easy going and enjoys the moment. I sure love that about her. The only tears were when she dropped her little box of Smarties in the garbage by mistake, and since she had brought 5 other little boxes to share with all the kids in our group and they all still had theirs, I really couldn't blame her. Luckily, the other Mom I was with (a friend of mine) had an extra box in her bag and shared it with Reagan.

City mouse, country mouse

Leni and I experienced it all this weekend and I can't really say which I enjoyed more. When I found out she was coming home I immediately knew I wanted to have some quality one on one time with her so I booked us into the Sutton Hotel in downtown Vancouver for one night. What would be the chances that on that same weekend, our four brothers would be having their annual fishing weekend at Rudy's cabin in Lac Le Jeune. So what are two sisters to do but go crash the boy party. Actually, we were invited, on some matters of family importance. (it's a hard transition to make when you have to start taking care of your parents, rather than the other way around) But all the seriousness aside, we had such a great time and the boys made us girls feel more than welcome. They served us wine by the lake and cooked us a great dinner over an open flame. Nevermind the fact that this was somewhat a momentous occasion, as the six of us have never really spent any time together without spouses, kids, etc. And who knows if it will ever happen again (eventhough the idea of crashing their weekend annually did come up).

So after a day and night in the city, where Leni and I chatted, ate, shopped, chatted, drank a little wine, shopped, ate and drank a little more wine we headed to the country to do more of the same (just replace shopping with fishing). I know I will cherish this weekend in my memories for a long time. Some great conversations and the reminder that the safety and comfort of family can't be easily replaced, at least not for me. Thanks guys.

In our hotel room

Around the fireMy friend, Chip

Cooking our dinner

A call from Tina while on the boat

Rudy and Willi in a showdown. This was a bit of a weekend of the cameras. Photos of people taking photos of people taking photos.A moment in time

FPOTM - May

Better late than never. Here it is, for reasons which I think speak for themselves.

Someone - please stop the clock

Seriously, how is it already June?? I have failed to blog so many things in the last couple weeks. Why, you ask? Because we have been so busy doing so many things.

There have been field trips, track meets, organizing teacher gifts, roller hockey, crazy hair day, skipping, school projects, saying goodbye to some great neighbors who moved away, field trips, my sister is here, the school play, setting up the backyard pool, and more field trips. Whew!!

So instead of trying to record all that - impossible - I am going to use this venue (my blog) to get something off my chest.


I hate stickers on produce!!!

Were you expecting something more important, more meaningful? Nope - that's it. When I am already late in the morning and trying to pack lunches and get breakfast and make sure my shoes are on before I head out the door I really do not need to spend five minutes trying to peel stickers off nectarines. I know you know what I'm talking about. They don't peel off in one nice swipe, they rip, they tear the peel, the glue stays on the fruit, blah, blah, blah. Petty? Yes, I know, but it is a source of frustration in my life when I really don't need any more. In the good old days, when I worked as a cashier at the grocery store, we had to memorize the produce codes - there was no sticker to remind us if we forgot. (That may be why I only lasted at that job about 3 weeks)*

There you have it - and I feel surprisingly better. Whether or not it's because I finally vented about that particular pet peeve or just because I finally got on my blog again, I'm not sure. But it doesn't really matter now does it? Don't sweat the small stuff.

*P.S. I quit, I didn't get fired.