Sunday, December 30, 2018

Wonderful 2018- A recap of our year

You always hear the adage "the days are long but the years are short." Boy, did 2018 fly by with so many fun, hectic activities but also moments of family stillness that we've come to relish so much.

It has been almost three years in our new (is it still so new anymore?) home and neighbourhood and the love affair still continues. We enjoy our summers in the backyard, our fall staring at all the foliage and our winters enjoying the river view. 
We are taking our time with projects bit by bit as our time and budget permits and loving the uniqueness of our property. Our neighbours have become friends and family. We love our neighbourhood summer happy hours, book clubs, music parties and our inaugural carolling adventure but more than that all the little kindnesses we experience from Susan bringing free run eggs for us bi-weekly, Karen babysitting on a very last minute basis and Frania sending little treats for the girls.

Image may contain: 13 people, including Karen Carter and Sarita PG, people smiling, people standing and indoor

C is now in Grade 4 and officially a 'junior' in elementary school. This year she wrote her EQAO exams and really rocked them, confirming what we knew all along- girlfriend can do all that she sets her mind too. She is in her second year of competitive swimming and she has continued to improve on her personal times through the year. She loves her swim team and is one of the last ones to emerge from the locker room most days enjoying all the chatter and antics.
This year, she also did skiing, soccer and dance until the summer, replacing  them with karate (twice weekly) come fall. She continues with her violin and piano and will be judged at her first festival next year (eeek!). She also did an engineering camp where she learnt some basics of coding. She, and by extension me, is so busy. She moved into her new room this year and it's never as neat as we'd like it to be!  She is a bookworm, brave, strong and level headed and is slowly and ably navigating all the girl politics that come with the fourth grade... and all you girl mamas there know how complicated it can be in the elementary battle-ground playground. This year she did her first neighbourhood food drive and amassed 503 pounds of necessities for our community.


Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, child, outdoor and closeup

A completed Casa 3 at the Montessori and after 5 years at this school, I bawled my eyes out in the last parent teacher interview. We love her CASA teachers and the strong foundation that she had to enter Grade 1.
Image may contain: 2 people

We were nervous about the start to Grade 1 as it was such a new experience for her but once again, this kid surprised me by transitioning with unexpected aplomb. She has made so many friends and regales us with stories every single day about her little friends. Always learning and growing, this little one's report card is the stuff that parent's dreams are made of! As I sit writing this, she is practising tying bows, a very important skill I am told as she now wants lace up shoes. She did Kindermusik this year, dance and lacrosse until summer and gymnastics (her very favourite ) since the fall. Since C moved out of her room, it is as neat as a pin, her handwriting is beautiful and her tears come easily...  She is strong, too sassy at times,  stubborn but so kind with elders and little ones.

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing, shoes and indoor


D and I continue to laugh at our little ones and life way into the night. We do not have the same shows in common anymore (I think he used to humour me when we first got married) but we watch movies ever so often with his comment ever so often being: that was the longest two hours of my life. We enjoy quiet evenings and the very occasional adult night out.  In April/May of this year, we started to very carefully watch the carbs and the sugars in our diet  and we more or less have stuck to it for the majority of the year with the exception of some holidays and vacations. We've seen some wonderful results(losing almost 40 lbs collectively) and feel better with all those veggies in our bodies.

This was a year for some big purchases with both of us getting new cars and me saying good bye to my beloved Lexus of eight wonderful years. We also went to Greece.... sans kids! We had the best  time and my kids loved all the screen time, sugar and toys only given to them by grandparents... A even accidentally got bangs.... maybe I'll be able to laugh at that one day!
Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, sunglasses and outdoor


We also had many other little and big travel adventures this year. I went to NY five times this year! In February for my mom's birthday, in July to drop off the kids and head to Greece, in August for my parents' anniversary celebrations, in August sadly again for my great aunt's funeral and in October to a family wedding- phew and thank goodness for Nexus! We also headed to Rochester with our framily in February and Mexico in March for a little time away from the cold.



Apart from the hectic nature of our lives, we've also come to really appreciate the beautiful moments when it's just the four of us hanging out, playing, laughing or watching Little House on the Prairie! I made a whole hearted effort this year and especially this holiday season, to really enjoy the little things and not overschedule our social calendar. This year was about bringing more joy into our lives and surrounding ourselves with people and things that made us happy. 

We are so thankful for all the visitors we get during the year. Special mention to our parents who come to visit for birthdays or around the holidays and to my cousin Chad who makes it a priority to come visit or to call us weekly... I think our antics are his entertainment! I am also so grateful for my tribe and besties D, Priya and Jenn who are sources of laughter in those happy moments and solace when the going gets tough. In such a tough, triumphant, fascinating time we are living in, we feel so very blessed.

I hope that everyone is enjoying this holiday season and that 2019 brings so much joy and love into your lives. I'm so blessed that after almost 6 years of blogging, I still have so many beautiful moments  and adventures to write about and so thankful for you guys coming back to read. Happy New Year, friends!




Monday, December 24, 2018

Merry Everything!

Merry Christmas, everyone! May your season be filled with so much love and joy. Thank you for taking the time to stop and read this little blog of mine! 

Here are some of our Christmas pictures. 














May we remember all the love, kindness and compassion shown at this time of year all through 2019. From my family to yours, have a wonderful holiday season!



Friday, December 21, 2018

Friday Favourites- Shoe-boxes for Shelters


 Hello Lovelies and Happy Friday before Christmas! Tis' the season for giving and what a great party I went to catering to just that- Shoe-boxes for Shelters. Lifting directing off their website, Shoe-boxes for Shelters caters to women collects and distributes shoe-boxes to women impacted by need and homelessness through North America. One of my friends hosted an event, Shoe-boxes and Sangrias, inviting us to bring what we could to an evening packing the boxes to help those in need. 



















What a great evening, filled with giving, goodwill, good cheer and lots of fun for all. 


Have a wonderful weekend, friends!



Linking up with
and Andrea, Erika and Narci for Favourites on Friday



Wednesday, December 19, 2018

What's Up Wednesday, December 2018

Ho Ho Ho!! Here's a little holiday what's up for ya! 



What we're eating this week?
Monday: Curried chicken and cauli rice
Tuesday: Turkey burgers and salad
Wednesday: shrimp with konjac noodles
Thursday: butternut squash soup
Friday: takeout
The weekend will be a mix of home cooked and a bit of ordering in, I'm thinking

Low (ish) carb and low sugar with some  treats thrown, today when I was 
volunteering I ate a cookie the size of a newborn's head for lunch! On a sidenote, I resisted the king size muffins. #smallwins.

What I'm reminiscing about
Christmases past! 
Oh my heart!

2013

2014

What I'm loving
The fun my kids had at their cookie decorating party this past weekend. So easy and so much joy.


What we've been up to…
Lots of Christmas cheer. This weekend we met up with some of our favourite people for  some dinner. 



Twinsies!


A little craft table set up for the kiddos to do some ornaments!



Isn't their tree so beautiful. Looks even prettier in real!


What I'm dreading…
Not a whole lot! Maybe the end of the season!?

What I'm working on
Our Christmas menus for this weekend and for the season. Wrapping up just a very  few odds and ends with shopping!

What I'm excited about…
School closing for two weeks and sleeping in!! 


What I'm watching/reading…
Christmas movies. Some Hallmark ones, some Netflix and some old blockbusters.  Love the Coopers was an awesome one!

Image result for the cooper's christmas movie

Rereading a little Nancy Thayer Christmas books... These fluffy  books put me in the holiday spirit, that's for sure!

What I'm listening to..
So much holiday music... google home selects and we listen. We are going caroling with our neighbours and the kids are practising! So much fun!

What I'm wearing…
A little red, a little sparkly, a little festive-- not all at once but you get the point!

What I'm doing this weekend…
D is unexpectedly on call (helping a colleague in need out). Other than that, we have a mall trip, a  birthday party, a little lady's first karate belt presentation and a get together of a couple families at  our home on the Sunday. 


What I'm looking forward to next month..
I have a milestone birthday coming up and lots of family are coming to visit! 

What else is new?



Also, isn't festive food the best!?
These are some fun ones that my kiddos did. 





Have a wonderful Wednesday, friends!
 Linking up with Mel, Shay and Shaeffer

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...