Looks like this blog is becoming a one-a-month sort of thing. I honestly can't get over how crazy busy it's been the last while. Time is FLYING by, which is good in the count down to Australia, but also means I feel like it's so busy we forget to stop and ENJOY life.
Here's a small glimpse into February...
I went to the school "read in" day with Will. It also happened to be crazy hair day AND PJ day. We saw Thea and grabbed her to join me, Will, Georgia and Caitlin. The school showed the Paper Bag Princess movie. Will was not too impressed by it and read instead. Then a guy from the Stampeders football team read to the school. I wish I could remember his name. Oh well. Then we all read together for awhile. They passed around bananas while the kids read. Cute morning.
I recently did an art class with my activity day girls and had a little bit of leftover watercolor paper. The kids decided to try their hand at watercolor painting. They did such a great job! They painted a lot of sea creatures and pineapple... Australia on their minds??
Jimmy and I went on a date to see Maren perform. She was part of the Haven Sessions which featured a bunch of local artists. Super fun! She's so very talented and I loved listening to her sing! We up with Maren and Joe before the show for dinner at Original Joe's and then went to see Split after concert. The roads were HORRIBLE, but thankfully we made it across the city alright. The joys of winter in Calgary - nice one week, blizzarding the next. It was a great night and Jimmy got his dinner and a movie date, and I got something different date. :)
Jimmy took 4/5 kids on a hike to Troll Falls. They LOVED it!! I'm still not ready to embrace winter activities. They had a blast climbing up and then sliding down the side of the frozen waterfall. Good thing I wasn't there. I don't know if my heart could've handled that! But they loved it!!
I found an awesome Groupon deal for boot camps at a place called Vitality Fitness (which happens to be super close to my house!) and bit the bullet and started. It's actually been really fun! I just need to find a time that I can go. I did a few 5:30am sessions but end up having to sit down a LOT so that I don't pass out. Yup, that's how bad it is for me haha. I think the best part of these boot camps for me is that besides actually working out, I'm learning how to do the exercises properly so that I can do them at home too. I am completely clueless when it comes to stuff like this, so it's been really helpful. Sadly after 2 months there hasn't been a lick of change, but I'm not totally out of breath after going up and down the stairs now, so I'm looking at that as a bonus :)
I'm not sure what came over me but I chopped off my hair! AHHHHH!! I actually really like it, but it is a huge adjustment for me.
Tuesday the 14th was Valentine's Day and on Monday night we realized we didn't have Valentine's for the kids that "needed" them. My computer was busted, the laptop on the fritz and so was the printer, so hand written Valentine's for Will's class it was this year. And I may have handed out treats whether we were supposed to or not...
Jimmy was on a business trip the week of Valentine's Day so the kids were extra sweet to me and wouldn't let me out of my room the night before V-Day (that was a treat all on it's own!). When I came downstairs in the morning I found hearts all over my bedroom door with a cute note and poem, and an adorable banner at the bottom of the stairs. They were so thoughtful! As my treat to them I took them out to Denny's for dinner! On Tuesdays at Denny's 2 kids eat free per adult meal so it was a win win for everyone :)
On Valentine's Day while the kids were at school James and I went to a little pottery place in Bowness and painted Jimmy a mug and a coaster for his birthday. James did the coaster all by himself and helped with the minion mug. I wouldn't have gone with painting a minion, but he kept saying "dad will LOVE it" so how could I resist??
The week Jimmy was gone was a busy one! It always seems to be the case though. Whenever he leaves it's always a super busy week and things get thrown at me left, right and center. On Wednesday, on top of pick up at 3 schools, Austin had basketball practice and I was in charge of Activity Days, plus getting Will to Cubs (which wasn't going to be at the church :( ), plus getting Austin and Ella to their activities after Liv and Will's ended. It was chaos after school, we get dinner finished, and right as I'm walking out the door to take the kids to their activities James says "mom... I swallowed 2 keys!" You did WHAT??? We couldn't tell if he was joking or not. But he kept saying that he put them in his mouth "and they slid down". UGH hahaha. So I take the kids to their activities, explain what the Activity Day girls would be doing, pass it off to my assistants and head back home to take James to the ER. I have to know if they're actually there and if so what to do! I guess I should be happy that I made it through 4 kids before this happened. James was such a ham at the hospital. He was waving at everyone and skipping down the halls as we head to get an x-ray. Turns out he DID swallow the keys and he'll eventually pass them. Fun.
Thursday and Friday the week Jimmy was gone the kids were all off school. Austin had a Scout Winter Camp starting Thursday morning, so I got him off to that bright and early. Thursday night Kristy and I went out to dinner at the Mongolian place up near Costco which I'd never been to before. It was surprisingly really good! Then we hit a movie (saw Split again) and it was a much needed break. Friday I hit boot camp in the morning and then the kids were off to the Extreme Air Park and swimming with friends. It was just James and I for most of the day which was great!
Jimmy got back late Friday night and thankfully it was Family Day on Monday so we had him for a few days before back to the work grind. We took the kids to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller on the Monday. The museum is free on Family Day which is great, but I think everyone had the same idea as the road was packed with cars the entire way there. Once we got to the museum it was PACKED. We only ever go on Family Day and we've seen it busy, but this was insane. Some places you were shoulder to shoulder basically just going the flow of everyone else. Even though it was busy it was still fun to see all the dinosaur bones. There's this great little burger place in Drumheller called Bernie and the Boys that Jimmy likes to stop at with the kids. It was my first time and we only got fries and onion rings but they were SO good!! We opted for McD's for the burgers since it's SUPER expensive to feed everyone when we eat out. The ride home was fun as we found random old CD mixes from the late 90s/early 2000's and the kids would try and guess who added what song to the CD. That was hilarious!
I had to do head shots at a dental office down south and thankfully they're now ok with me bringing James, which is a huge relief. It takes longer to drive to these locations than the photos and I hate trying to find someone to watch him. Bringing him makes it so much easier and if he's got an iPad he's usually pretty good. After photos we stopped at Costa Vida as James' reward. Sadly he is very particular about what he wants to eat there so we never branch out and try different things. It's always a large sweet pork salad, tortilla on the side, with the ranch dressing. Every now and then we add black beans and rice, but it's rare. AND he'll eat almost the whole thing!! When it comes to Costa Vida, he's not the best sharer haha.
Our stake had a huge gala on Friday February 24. My mom was in charge of desserts and my sisters and I helped her out. We were to plan for 600-800 people!!! I baked all the meringues, tarts, phyllo cups, helped with the almond cake, filled the brownie bites with caramel, and then helped prep and serve the desserts that night as well. Jenny and my mom made all the cupcakes which were delicious!! I can't even tell you the hours my mom spent prepping for this (and me too). SOOOO much effort went into the night and from the sounds of it people really loved it. The desserts were incredible (if I do say so myself) and from the little taste of appetizers that I had they were awesome! The gym was decorated beautifully with rose gold sequin table cloths, fresh eucalyptus on the tables, white umbrellas and lights hung all over the ceiling, a live band playing in the center of the gym that was surrounded by beautiful antique sofas and chairs. It really was lovely. I wish I had more photos of the night and even more so that I had brought my normal camera to take those photos. I was too busy in the kitchen to get many photos, but it really was beautiful. I just hope we're off of food/party planning for a few years. That was a TON of work!!
Austin is on the Jr Boys basketball team and they came in 1st as undefeated champions at the Space Jam Tournament. They played hard and they played great! It was like watching a new team out there. They've had a hard time coming together, but they were passing and playing like a different team during the tournament. Hopefully that will hold on into playoffs!!
Will is finally finished basketball. He loved it, and learned a lot. Austin came out to support his last day where the kids played 3 on 3. Austin was giving Will pointers through out the games which was super cute! Now Will is all ready to move on to baseball. Fingers crossed it's a warm year for it!!
