fun in the sun

Our December started off with a bang this year, as we boarded a plane and headed south. We were heading to Florida for 11 days, with the first five spent at Disney World, followed by a short stay with my family in Ormond Beach. We didn't fly out until late afternoon on the 1st, so had a little time to pack the final items, load up the car and the kids and drive to the Buffalo airport.

It had been two years since the girls' had flown, and they were beyond excited. (Quite frankly, I think they would have been excited if it had only been two weeks since their last flight, but that's beyond the point!). We flew from Buffalo to Atlanta where we had a rather lengthy stay - this one is my fault (as my husband would quickly tell you!). There was a flight 45 minutes after we arrived, but I decided to take the longer layover to avoid and crazy rushes between flights, or the ever-common American carrier giving away our seats if our first flight was a little behind. So....we had 4 hours to kill in Atlanta. Thankfully that passed quickly, then we were off to Orlando, and our final destination, Disney World.

It was late and dark by the time we arrived at Disney, but it's always a good feeling. With Florida being my summer and March Break home as a kid, I'm no stranger to the Magical World, but even at 36 years old, I still get a little jolt of excitement every time we drive through those gates and begin to see mouse ears on everything. We settled into our hotel room, and were ready for the fun to begin bright and early the next morning.

I was attending a conference, so my days were filled with amazing learning - which meant Cal and the girls spent their days by the pool. Gratefully, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and they swam for at least three hours every day, and spent the rest of the time enjoying a life of leisure. In the evenings we found our way to Disney Springs, the outlets and spent one night at the Magic Kingdom too!

For Lady A & Lady M, this was their second time at Magic Kingdom, the first being on that trip two years ago. At ages 9 and 6 (and a half - Lady A would have me remind you) they were so perfectly suited to the park. We hit up multiple rides that we hadn't done before, including the Barnstormer, PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress, and one of my all-time favourites - It's a Small World. It was as beautiful and fabulous as I remembered. We also took the kids to the Tomorrowland Speedway, where we allowed our two children to get behind the wheel of a go kart. I had Lady A, and Cal had Lady M and they both drove like complete MANIACS, giggling loudly the entire way. I think we all came away with a little bit of whiplash, and a clear understanding as to why children cannot have a driver's license, but they are still talking about this ride several weeks later! We finished off the evening with Peter Pan's Flight - a favourite from our last trip - and after enduring an extra long line-up thanks to the ride breaking down briefly, we flew through Neverland to close off our day. It was, as they say, magical.

After our multi-day stay drew to a close, we hopped in our rental car and headed for Ormond Beach. This is the place where I have loved going since I was a little girl, and now my kids love going just as much. (Cal seems to go more often than all of us, so I think it's safe to say he loves being there too!) A visit to see my aunt, uncle and cousins is a guaranteed good time, and spending time with them  was wonderful. We managed a little more outlet shopping, visited the Christmas light display at Daytona International Speedway, decorated my Aunt's Christmas trees (both large and small), and most importantly, just spent time with family.

While the weather was warm for the first part of our trip, it began to cool off in the latter few days, but that didn't stop us from a visit to Daytona Beach. I packed up a picnic and off we went, planning to just take a little walk in the sand. When we arrived, we found a playground/picnic area that overlooked the water and hung out there as the tide was so high that we couldn't go down to the beach. The girls played and played and looked out over the water, taking great joy in watching two men who were surfing a little ways out. We ended up spending a good amount of time there, that sure enough the tide headed out, and we descended the stairs to the water.

Lady A was horrified at the thought of getting sand in her toes, but quickly got over it as the girls did handstands and cartwheels up and down the beach. Slowly, they became extra brave and worked their way further and further into the water. They had both - smartly - put bathing suits on under their clothes "just in case", which worked out in their favour. In no time, my brave little Canadian girls were in the water, soaking up every minute. As a baby, I'm told that one of my favourite things to do was to stand in this very stretch of beach and yell "pum waves, pum get me!", so I suppose they come by their love of the beach honestly. They happily hopped the waves for ages.

Our last night, we headed back to Orlando to stay at a hotel in preparation for an early morning flight. I had booked it a little close, and was scheduled to land in Buffalo at 12:30pm, then needed to be back at my office to teach a course at 4:15pm. (No problem, right?!) I was prepared; we had a carry on bag that had all of our clothes for the flight and a work outfit for me to change into when we got home. Everything else was packed away in the main suitcases back in Ormond. As we boarded the flight in Orlando bright and early that Monday morning, the gate attendant said that she would take our carry on suitcase and put it straight through to Buffalo. I didn't think much of it at the time.

But as we watched our three suitcases come off the conveyor in Buffalo, followed by nothingness...and then a completely empty conveyor...we knew one was missing. I went to speak with the Delta representative, who made some calls for me, telling me it was likely on a different flight from Atlanta. (As you may recall, I didn't have time to wait in Buffalo...I had a course of 30 people waiting for me!). But, patience paid off, and shortly thereafter, a Buffalonian in his security vest came upstairs with our lost bag. Turns out it was completely soaked (inside and out), so it appears likely that it was left in a snowbank, but we had our stuff!!

We got back to our house at 3:03pm; I quickly changed and got ready for work then headed to the office. A quick glance at the time confirmed that I would have enough time to swing into Tim Horton's for a tea, and then I arrived in my training room at 3:58pm, hot tea in hand! WIN!

I was so grateful for the time away with my family. We had some amazing adventures, shared a million laughs and spent time with some of our favourite people. What a great way to kick off December!

camp chronicles - 2017 edition

Every year, our trip to my camp in Northern Ontario is our favourite family adventure. This summer, it was the only week where all four of us were on vacation at the same time, which made it even more special. 

On the August long weekend, with Cal scheduled to work ridiculously long days on the Friday and Saturday, I began to pack up the troops for the week. (Slow clap for me for doing my absolute best - and most efficient - packing that I have ever done. Very little went unused by the end of the week, and the truck wasn't overflowing in the same way it usually does! Win!) 

By Sunday morning, with a sleepy, hardworking husband in the truck, two excited children and the boat hooked up behind us, we were ready to go! 

So far, Lady M has only participated in dance camp up there, but this year she was determined to be a badminton camper. Last year she had planned to do the same, but pulled the chute at the last minute. But, I once again packed everything she would need for badminton (with some dance clothes, just in case) and packed Lady A for dance camp, as that's what she was planning to do. 

Our classroom is pretty awesome.

Upon arrival, camp was reeling from a tornado that had struck less than 48 hours before. Power had been out, weather had been iffy, and trees were down all over the place. But anyone who has worked at a camp before knows that almost nothing will stop counsellors and staff from bringing their A-game every day, complete with enthusiasm that cannot be rivalled. By later that afternoon when opening ceremonies rolled around, we were ready to rock! 

That evening, Lady M made her way to her first badminton session, and she LOVED it. I repeat L-O-V-E-D it. The coaching team for that particular sport are amazing, so I had no doubt, but seeing the joy in her face when she got back to the cabin made me beam. 

Lady A settled quickly into Dance Camp, where at 6 years old, she's already completing the program for the third (maybe fourth?) year, and jumped right back in happily with her amazing coach, and many friends. Watching her dance a lyrical routing to a gorgeous version of Wind Beneath My Wings in the end of week showcase brought this sappy mama to tears. So. Much. Sweetness. 

Despite the fact that the weather report was looking rather gloomy (rain. every. single. day.) we spent our week being active constantly. Cal and I played in the coaches' badminton tournament, the girls played in the coaches kids badminton tournament. We even tried our hand at a Pickleball tournament this year - quite fun if you've never tried it out (or heard of it for that matter)! We played tennis, badminton, swam, paddle-boarded - you name it, we did it in between rainshowers. 

Lady A rocking the ropes course

The girls developed even more courage this year with the high ropes activities. Lady M kicked off her week of heights with the "Giant Swing" - a very high (especially from a mother's perspective, even though I've done it myself) swing, that launches my less-than-50-pound-baby out over the lake at sunset. Lady A did it just a few minutes after - though she didn't start up quite as high, my littlest lady was launched out over the lake too, with a giant smile on her face the whole time. My stomach was in knots, and my fists were clenched, but I lived to tell the tale! 

The girls also tried the high ropes course, with Lady M flying up the telephone pole (again) and trying out a more challenging element this year. She ran through it easily and confidently. Lady A made it to the top of the telephone pole (further than last year!), but wasn't able to step out onto the platform to complete the element. At least not when I was watching! The very next day, she had an opportunity to try it again with the kids from her dance program, and I'm told she got up there and went all the way across!! So proud of her courage. 

Lady M ready for some pinata fun @ Coaches' Happy Hour

Both of the girls attempted the zip line as well, with Lady M rocking it, and Lady A climbing, but choosing not to actually zip. While the girls did that, I was out with my campers and co-coaches on our annual day-long canoe trip. 

Unfortunately we didn't even make it to the first portage this year - partly due to the impending weather, and partly due to (literally) the SLOWEST canoe campers we have EVER seen. Honestly, in 18 years of teaching this program, this one boat moved slower than a three-toed sloth. Thank goodness for great company in my own canoe (and for our ability to take naps in strangely comfortable canoe corners, right Trishy?). 

One of my fabulous teaching partners & friend!

By the end of the week, our kids were pooped. They did every single session (which is about 6 hours/day), and still managed to stay energetic for their free time, and for the campfires and manhunt games at night. When the week was over, neither of them wanted to leave...but I always think that's a good sign. 

And as a side note: I also knew there was a mouse in my cabin this year, and managed to keep myself very calm and collected. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me, as typically this sends me over the edge, and the thought of sleeping in the truck, or anywhere that might be mouse-free is more appealing...but I did it. 

Less than 10 months until we get to go back... 

playing catch up - winter 2017

This winter has been filled with travels for both Cal and I. I kicked off the year by heading to Denver for a conference in January, which was fantastic. As someone who is typically developing and delivering learning sessions of all kinds, it was sooooo nice to sit back and just be a learner. I soaked up my three days there, and enjoyed my first trip to Colorado, though I didn't get to travel much beyond the hotel. Of course I was there just days after Trump's inauguration which made for an interesting time to travel to the States. But that's probably a story for another day! 

At the beginning of February, I also got to hop on a plane to Vancouver for a quick wedding weekend! Much of my dad's family - including my mum, dad, brother and sister in law - were in attendance as my cousin was married in a lovely winter ceremony. Of course, we choose only to come to town at the most exciting times, and Vancouver was experiencing their biggest snowstorm in years, shattering many snowfall records seen in their history. For us Ontarians, the snow was pretty minimal, but it makes you appreciate the city services we have in place for snow removal! It sure made for some stunning wedding pictures though! More importantly, we had the majority of our cousins together for the first time in years. I was only in town for about 48 hours, but I soaked up every minute with the cousins who I adore, and just wish that I was able to see more frequently. 

A couple weeks later, it was Cal's turn to hop on a plane, when he headed off on his annual Daytona 500 trip. He certainly didn't experience any snowfall, and instead enjoyed a week of fun in the sun with the other side of my family! The girls and I held down the fort while - I assume - he drank beer, attended races, hung with my family, drank beer, drove fast cars and drank a little more beer. A well deserved mini-vacation for my hard-working mister. 

In April, Cal was off once again to spend Easter weekend in Calgary with one of his oldest friends and his family. Living multiple provinces apart means that we don't see these friends as often as we'd like, so it was such a nice opportunity for him to go visit, and spend time with D, Katie and their three sweet little kiddos. While most of the time was spent in Calgary, he and D also took a 3-hour detour for a night in Edmonton to see John Mayer on his recent tour.

I'll try to stay away from mentioning my favourite story from his Calgary trip - the one where Cal left for his flight that first morning and called me just before 6am from his airport gate to let me know he'd lost his wallet...and his keys. Thankfully, he was flying out of the Hamilton airport, so the girls and I hopped in the car and saved the day with his spare set of keys that opened the truck where his wallet had fallen out. After holding up the plane, he hopped on and made his way to Calgary... but right, I'll stay away from mentioning that. :) 

Now it's May and we're staying put a little bit more! The boat is out of storage, and once it actually warms up around here, we are so ready to get it out for a ride. Lady M has the countdown on until the last day of school, and I'm looking forward to getting through the push to the end of the school year, and taking a little time off over the summer to spend with my fam. 

roy, ahoy!

So, my husband has always wanted a boat. He grew up spending most of his time at the cottage with his grandfather touring around the lake on their boat. It is an activity that holds plenty of fond memories for him, and one that he's always wanted to recreate for our own kids.

While my childhood wasn't filled with boating or a cottage, we spent most summers with our family in Florida. I rode my first jet-ski around the age of 7 and was completely hooked. Of course the weather in Florida is a little more conducive to water sports than it is in Ontario, but that wasn't going to stop us!

We have been talking about it for a number of years, and decided a while ago that we wanted to get a boat. We planned that once we had settled in our new house, we'd take a little time off from travelling and get ourselves a speedboat that would allow for a summer filled with rides on the water, tubing, swimming and just good ol' family time.

Fast forward to this past May: Cal and Lady M were heading out one day a few weeks ago, and I knew they were going by the boat dealership to have a look at some options my hubby had his eye on. He'd been looking online for ages, checking out all of our options. He tends to be very detail oriented in his shopping - learning all he can, perusing every option. So off they went to the dealership to have a look. Just browsing...

...or so I thought.

A short while later I received the call from Cal and Lady M. Their excitement was noticeable right off the bat, and Cal shared excitedly: "Guess what? We're boat owners!"

My reaction was not what he expected. It was lacking the enthusiasm coming from the other end of the phone. Now, please note this caught me off guard on a very busy day. Lady A and I were at home knee-deep in preparations for her birthday party the next day, cleaning, cooking and trying to get her to a hair appointment on time. Not surprisingly, my reaction was not the most positive when I learned that we were boat owners and the excitement that once existed in that red Dodge Ram quickly dwindled.

I carried on with my mile-long to-do list, and our day moved forward. By the next day when the party was over the news of our new watercraft had sunk in. Sure, my sweet husband had jumped the gun a little, but he made a great choice, and upon learning more I was getting really excited too!

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the boat is now in our possession, and I too have my boating licence. We have docked it in a marina just 20 minutes from our house - and a convenient 5-minute drive from Cal's office. I suspect that if the wifi reaches, our lovely new navy blue Monterey may be his summer office.

We took it for the inaugural family spin this past weekend, and while the water in Lake Ontario was still a little chilly to jump in, the nearly 30 degree temps made for a beautiful afternoon on the water.

Looking forward to many more...

goodbye, home

The temperature dropped below zero outside as we closed the door to our old home, and began a new season in our lives. We moved into our townhouse in 2008 when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Lady M, about to begin our parenting adventure. I spent hours waddling through Home Depot as we prepared the house for our new arrival. A couple of weeks ago we had her 7th birthday party at the house, and then began to pack our lives away in preparation for our move.

It's funny the amount of memories that linger in a home. Seven years may not seem like a terribly long time, but we've seen a lot of firsts in that house, and it's shaped many of our memories as a family of four.

We brought both of our girls home from the hospital to that house and watched them begin to crawl and take their first steps in the hallways. We must have walked six thousand laps around the kitchen island while trying to soothe the babies back to sleep. We've bandaged scraped knees, had thousands of family meals together, ridden bikes, drawn countless chalk pictures on the driveway and snuggled up for many family movie nights. We've celebrated 25 birthdays there, spent seven Christmases decorating, baking and celebrating.

Thinking back on all of this started to make me a little emotional as we gathered up the last of our things. Thankfully, we squeezed in a final visit to our first home, complete with a moving box picnic dinner and an impromptu dance party in our bare living room. After that, we shut the door for the last time. 

I know that our new home will provide the setting for new memories, and the ones we've created in our townhome will always be special.

Thankfully, the new house we're now settling into is just what we all wanted. After a long journey to find it we are thrilled to be in our new town, closer to the girls' schools and in a lovely neighbourhood with a lot more space to play.

Paramount Drive will always be a special part of our lives, but we're all excited to shape new experiences, make new memories and ride our bikes on a brand new street.

our jamaican adventure

There's nothing quite like a family vacation. Even better when you get to head to a country that you've always wanted to cross off your travel list. For me, Jamaica was a place that I had always wanted to visit, so when Cal's cousin decided to get married there we were happy to accept the invitation to head south to celebrate with them.

This trip has been planned since early this year, and with plans to go to Florida, then camp over the summer, we didn't tell the girls about it for quite some time. We figured they could enjoy the other adventures we had planned, then they could learn about the trip to Jamaica to shorten their waiting time. We told them around early September, showed them the website for the resort, and they began to count the days...

On October 22nd, we boarded the plane to Montego Bay and headed to the Grand Palladium Resort & Spa. Lady A hopped into her plane seat, buckled up and surveyed the area. She promptly looked over at Cal, eyeing her armrest and asked "Daddy - which button do I push to get a massage?"

From the moment we got to the resort, we had two little girls who settled very easily into the all-inclusive lifestyle; gladly sipping on virgin Pina Coladas (Lady M) and virgin strawberry daiquiris (Lady A) when desired.

Upon arrival we realized that we'd had a slight mishap with our luggage. I had carefully packed all of the toiletries into large freezer ziploc bags before putting them in the suitcase. In my preparation back home I had tried to distribute these items between Cal's bag and mine to ensure neither bag was overweight when we got to the airport. Well, the weight distribution was excellent, however, it seems that the sunscreen fully exploded in flight, bursting out of the ziploc and spraying all over the suitcase it was in. That suitcase was not mine. Suddenly Cal's wardrobe for the week was cut in half.

Thankfully, that was the worst thing that happened all week; the rest of our days were happily filled with swimming, relaxation and fun.

Some highlights:

• Lady A mastered the fine art of swimming through the pool with her drink held high enough, to the laughter and cheers of many of the adults at the pool.
• The girls loved the variety of pools to choose from, and moved happily from the kid pool (filled with waterslides, waterfalls and fun), to the enormous main pool, to the beach. Lady A even began to swim on her own, under water about 20 feet between Cal and I. 
• We had a great day trip to Negril on a catamaran where we had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, visited a local mall and watched the cliff divers at Rick's Cafe. 

• Part of the day trip was having the opportunity to snorkel too. This was a first for all four of us, and the tour guides from the catamaran were awesome with the girls! One guide had a life preserver that both girls held on to as he pulled it through the Caribbean sea. He would dive down into the water and bring something special up for them. On various dives he brought up a sea cucumber, female sea urchin, starfish, sand dollar and assorted shells and the girls were mesmerized while happily splashing around, and peeking under the water throughout the adventure. 
• Lady M bravely took the plunge (from the lowest platform) at Rick's Cafe into Cal's arms, and was quite excited about it! I played my anxious mom card and said that Amelia would have to wait until next time. 
• Both girls got to head to the resort spa one afternoon to get some braids in their hair. Now I realize that the woman who did them was skilled in the area of braiding, but DAMN, she was FAST! I was mesmerized by her speed and efficiency. I should have taken lessons; it would make our morning routine at home much faster.  

Of course the reason we headed south was to celebrate the wedding of one super fabulous couple with Cal's family, and their special day was lovely. The ceremony was at noon, followed by pictures and pool time, then the reception was at 6:30pm. After a full and fun day, Lady A passed out in my arms during the speeches. Lady M lasted a little longer, happily playing with her older cousin until about 10pm when she hit her limit and Cal brought her back to the room for a good night sleep.

The rest of the week was really just filled with lots of swimming, eating and relaxation. I polished off a couple of books, worked on my tan and just enjoyed being disconnected for a while. Lady M certainly settled into the caribbean life, and proved that when she was out swimming one morning and asked:

"Is it 10 o'clock yet?".
Me: "I'm not sure, why?"
Lady M: "Because that's when the swim-up bar opens!"

Clearly my almost 7-year-old girl has her all-inclusive priorities straight!

It's always a treat when we can take some time away from the real world. Waking up when we wanted, not having to rush to school/work and having lots of extra hours in the day to spend time as a family was wonderful. The girls were not ready to leave when Thursday came around again, but they were rockstar travellers, even on the flight that didn't land until 2:00am. Lady A was sleeping against the airplane window before we ever left the gate in Montego Bay, but woke up four hours later in Toronto telling us she'd been awake the whole way. :)

Though we were all sad to see the vacation come to an end, we'll happily look forward to our next travel adventure, wherever that may be!

Lady A wistfully saying goodbye to the resort! 

lessons in moving

We started looking for a new house around the time that hieroglyphics were becoming obsolete. It's been a long haul. Why, you may ask? Well I'll tell you.

First of all, Cal and I had two very different dream homes in mind:

Kristin's dream home: a newer house, mud room for all of the damn boots and shoes that are strewn about my front entrance, move-in ready, large kitchen, space for entertaining, fence for the dog, pretty kitchen, no renovations required. Easy, right?!

Well, then there's this:

Cal's dream home: significant acreage, space for guitars and other musical goodness, fence for the dog, separate family room, hot tub, happy to complete renovations.

Hmm. Slightly different. To summarize, we were on different pages of the MLS. 

Knowing each other's housing wants, we spent a lot of time looking for some kind of mystical home that combined all of these elements, and we spent plenty of time viewing houses that were better suited to his wants, and ones that were better suited to mine. At times we considered whether buying two houses and working between them both might be the better solution! But, with each new showing and open house we attended the end result was always the same: not quite what we wanted. And the months of searching kept flying by...

Fast-forward somewhere between 18 months and 2 years: we went to see a house that seemed to fit the bill. Having clearly identified our shared wants, and somehow finding common ground over time, we found the house that was right for us. On a Saturday morning we viewed the house at 11:00am, wrote the offer at 1:30pm, presented it in competition at 3:30pm, and won it shortly after 4:00pm at which point we signed the papers on the hood of our real estate agent's car. Whew! After a couple years of house hunting, we had a new house in 5 short hours!

But there's just one little thing that remained...selling our current house...and before that, prepping it. You see, we have our lovely 10-year-old dog, Dakota:

She looks sweet, right? Well she is...but she's also taken a little toll on our house over the 7 years we've been here. So with our listing date upcoming, we shipped her off to my parents for a few weeks so we could complete the few little restoration projects that she created for us in the house. We also took on a number of other small projects to finish beautifying the house and have learned a few things along the way...

• Re-screening doors has become a new forte for Cal and I! Those damn things are annoying, but with the right tools (thanks Rona!) and some patience, our screen door (previously ripped by Dakota's determination to get into the backyard one afternoon) looks fabulous! 
• The laundry never stops. Now this is not really a new revelation, but how is one ever supposed to stop doing laundry long enough so that the house can remain looking like a museum for those coming to see it? 
• My sweet children are so patient, and are hopefully developing lifelong habits of tidiness seeing as they must pick up every toy, marker, hair elastic and morsel of food that finds itself out of it's 'proper' place. Lady M commented the other day "I don't like bossy mummy"...apparently I've been a bit, shall we say, directive lately. I like to think I'm just demonstrating varied types of leadership for them in an effort to help them build up their own repertoire of leadership skills. That's just good parenting, wouldn't you say? 
• Running around the house in the morning chopping pillows, folding toilet paper edges, and picking up stray hair elastics does not help me in being on time for work each day! 
• Though all four of us enjoy home reno shows (with Property Brothers, Love it or List It and Flip or Flop being some of our faves), and Lady M regularly makes comments such as "it's okay, we can just reno it", we are not going to get into the business of home flipping any time soon. 

Although we've put in a lot of late nights, plenty of elbow grease, and I may have upped my bossiness leadership quotient a little bit lately, the end result when we move to our new home will be well worth it. And not having to look for houses anymore is the best pay-off of all! 

mother days

When one of your children is born just a few days before Mother's Day, it's pretty hard to top that! But this year, my sweet girls (and their fabulous Daddy) gave me one that was just terrific.

Leading up to Sunday, the girls would give me little hints about the crafts and surprises they were making at school and daycare, struggling to keep the secrets for nearly a week! The newly minted 4-year-old, Lady A, kept telling me that "Mother Days" was coming on Sunday, and it was so cute that I tried not to correct her too often!

Sunday morning began with the girls telling me I had to stay in bed, and I could hear all of the effort that was being put into my breakfast just one floor below. Perhaps Lady M was down there helping (or directing) Cal, but Lady A spent much of the prep time up in my room telling me exactly what breakfast I could expect - chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, strawberries, bananas and tea. When she got tired of me being in bed, she asked if I could come play Mouse Trap with her, and so I did - and hustled back to bed when I heard the others coming up the stairs with my special delivery.

With kids who are 4 & 6 I truly think the best part of Mother's Day is the homemade crafts. Lady M proudly gave me a handmade potted plant, paper flower and a necklace with three handmade charms: a star, a heart and a flower. Lady A gave me a variety of paper crafts including a big flower pot with a picture of her in it, a paper purse that had all of 'my favourite things' in it, and a handmade card. I loved each thing they made for me, and I love even more how excited they are to give it. I was even serenaded with a song that Lady M learned in school - listen/watch here!

These homemade gifts really are special. To this day, my dad still has a giant tie that my older brother made for him one Father's Day hanging in his walk-in closet. If I remember correctly, it's an acrostic poem that Greg wrote using Dad's name, Richard. Goes to show that these sweet crafts really do mean a lot! My brother is 36 after all...

As a quick aside since we are on the subject: I would be remiss not to mention that my Dad doesn't seem to have any of MY Father's Day creations adorning his closet. Might have to have a conversation with him about that. Maybe mum has some of my things hidden in her drawers, little gems she's been keeping safe since the 80's...

In any case, back to this year's crafts! Here are a few of the adorable items I received:

Lady A's gift bag for me

The inside of Lady A's card

Handmade charms by Lady M

My flower from Lady M in my office window 

The sweet note from Lady M

We spent the rest of the day together as a family, and had our usual Sunday adventures to the pool (kids swimming lessons) and the baseball diamond (adults softball game). It was a perfectly lovely Mother's Day made absolutely wonderful by the two little ladies who made me a mum, and my sweet husband too.

christmas comes this time each year

Ahh, the magic of Christmas time. With a 6 year old and 3 1/2 year old in the family, this was one of the most exciting years yet, that's for sure. Lady M is enamoured with the holidays, and loves everything about it. This year, she happily helped her little sister remember the many traditions we have over the holiday season. Lady A didn't remember much from Christmas past, but this will be the year that she really starts remembering everything, which is super fun.

I could recount a million different stories over the past couple of weeks, but I thought perhaps I should make a little point form list to bring you up to speed on our Christmas season, and to serve as wonderful memories for our family when we look back on 2014 one day.

So here are some things that made our family Christmas magical this year, in no particular order...

• Lady M's spirit of generosity (see: A Tale of Giving, if you missed it!)
• Both girls singing duets of this year's favourite Christmas songs, including I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and the 12 Days of Christmas. 
• Holidays crafts - this year, along with some crafts done at home, one of my girlfriends put on an amazing craft day for Ladies A & M. She has two older daughters who my girls think the world of, and they were so excited to spend a whole day with them making ornaments, christmas trees, sparkle jars, and more! 

• Our tree (though put up extremely late this year - we're talking, like, the 23rd of December) filled with beautiful handmade ornaments that the girls have made over the years
• Lady M's Irish Dance recital - after four short months of dancing, she's rocking it! More importantly, she is sooooo happy when she's dancing...and super adorable. 
• A visit to Mountsberg Christmastown with our friends - a very magical night filled with a horse-drawn wagon ride singing carols, cookie decorating, and capped off with a visit to Mrs. Claus and the big guy! 

• Christmas brunch with my mum and dad
• Our annual shopping bonanza day - Cal and I save it all until the 11th hour, then embark on a marathon shopping trip. Some people think we're a little crazy for leaving it so late, but seeing as I have a list that's been cultivated over a 2-month period, complete with gifts, prices, and order of stores we are going to visit, it's just a really fun (and well organized) day! Don't worry though, there are several random purchases that jump into our carts too...it wouldn't be fun if it were totally regimented! 
• Finding the girls' most-wanted gifts - this year, Lady M wanted holiday barbie (easy!) and Lady A wanted a stuffed hippopotamus - a little more challenging. But, we did it! Thank you, Hallie the Hippo from Doc McStuffins. (Last year all she wanted was a stuffed "baccoon"...let me tell you that raccoon was not easy to find...but we did!)

• Lady M's holiday recital at school - her first in French. She sang Petit Papa Noel with her classmates, then they narrated a little play. Lady M had quite a long solo line, and nailed it! We listened to her practice her line (backwards and forwards!) for about two weeks, so she was well prepared! 
• The beautiful fire burning on Christmas morning... ok, we don't have a fireplace, but this Netflix fire was the next best thing...

• Putting up the Christmas lights - again, this one was done quite late this year, but the house looked festive, just in time! 
• Christmas dinner with my family
• Lady A squealing with excitement when she saw her new baby that Santa brought her
• Christmas movies! My favourite has always been National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, so Cal and I watch that one on Christmas Eve every year while finishing wrapping our presents. Love Actually is my other favourite. The Santa Clause is a favourite with the girls, among many others! 

• Matching Christmas pyjamas for the girls. I figure they'll grow out of this eventually, but I'll enjoy this every year I can until then! 
• Annual Christmas cookie exchange with my girlfriends
• Time off from work to spend time with my sweet family
• The mess of toys in our home on Boxing Day, mixed with the happiness and exhaustion of the holidays

We are now blissfully worn out, and happy to be spending a day at home together with no plans at all. 

snapshots of 2014...the year in pictures

Here in Southern Ontario we've experienced our first snow storm of the year, which means that 2014 must be drawing to a close. Judging from my obnoxiously long commute last night (a typically 30-minute round trip to pick up the girls took more than an 1 1/2 hours), the winter is undoubtedly upon us.

Though I never post on my blog as much as I intend to, I find myself taking pictures year round with stories in mind. As you've likely noticed, my kids faces never appear on here (or in any other online spot), so my phones are always filled with pictures of the backs of them! I have lots of pictures of their sweet faces too...but they're just not for internet consumption. :)

However, as I scrolled through my photos, I thought I'd share a pictorial retrospective to let you in on the little happenings that I never ended up sharing in full this year.

Here is a snapshot of 2014...with a little commentary along the way:

Winter...
Braving the cold out on family walks...

Spring
Celebrating Father's Day with my Dad and Cal - the girls were practicing their golf swing. And if memory serves, Lady M crushed me. Future LPGA'er?

 Waterfall walks and bike rides...

First independent swimming lessons and fresh haircuts...

Summer
I experienced my first week away from my girls in their lifetime. I've never been terribly good at leaving them, but thankfully Calvin is an awesome daddy, and I got to head to Lake Tahoe, California for an incredible conference with some colleagues. And the hugs when I arrived back at the Toronto airport were priceless...

 No summer is complete without a packed truck, and a trip to camp. (My little dancer is getting her camp-rope bracelet put on by my friend Trishy, and one of our awesome counsellors).

Lady A experienced her first pedicure on our mother/daughter trip to the spa. Lady M is a seasoned pro, and declared this past weekend "Mummy, I really need another pedicure". Ahhh yes, an absolute 'need' for any 6-year-old. But, let's be honest, I'll take her to get some cute Christmas toes in a few weeks. :)

Lady A's colourful tootsies

Lady M's flowery piggies

Mummy/Daughter spa date!

Fall
Lady M started Grade 1 with her snazzy new Hello Kitty backpack, which was really just a 'filler' until we could locate a Frozen backpack (which were sold out EVERYWHERE!). Hello Kitty now belongs to Lady A, because I ended up locating a coveted Elsa & Anna bag shortly into the school year. The first picture is at home, before school...the second is of her holding her teacher's gladiolus - Lady M was quite nervous about starting at her new school, but when her teacher allowed her to come to the front of the line and hold her flowers, she was good to go!

We celebrated my mister's 36th birthday in September with his favourite - carrot cake! 

Having built up a little courage to go away for a week thanks to my time in Tahoe, I took another week away to head to Florida with my mum. We were there to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Casey, and his beautiful bride Alex. Wedding, family visits, outlet shopping, sunshine and sleeping in - a wonderful week away!

Halloween this year gave us one Queen Elsa and one squishy little monkey. Cuteness abounded!

Lady M's homemade Elsa wig!

And with our first snowfall this week, we are into the thick of it again...

So, there's a little glimpse into our year - it's been a great one!