Lately... (a bit of this and that)

Lately we've been in a very busy season of life.  Swimming lessons, soccer, piano lessons, speech therapy, church commitments - it all starts adding up.  Thankfully everything is winding down now in the next few weeks, and I'm really looking forward to taking a break over the summer.

On Friday was the kids' last swimming lesson.  Neither of them passed their level, but that's okay because that's what I was expecting (it was the first time for both of them in their levels).  Plus, I had registered them for these same levels for summer lessons (1 week, 45 minutes each day), so I was actually glad neither of them passed because then I'd have to try to re-register them in a different level.  They both did really well though, and I was very proud of how hard they worked.  This was Emmett's first time doing "real" swimming lessons (without a parent in the water) and aside from a few tears on the first day, he really enjoyed it.

Yesterday Annika really got the hang of riding her bike with two wheels.  We'd been practicing for a week, but it wasn't until yesterday that it really "clicked."  She still has a few issues with steering and stopping (and starting on her own), but she's pretty much got it figured out.  Very proud of her, since it wasn't that long ago (just after we bought her new bike) that she was quite scared of riding it, even with the training wheels on. 

Father's Day this morning.  We had a pretty low-key day, as we had celebrated with my family on Friday night and with Carey's family yesterday.

Last week in church the children's feature was about Psalm 23 (as was the sermon) and it was generously promised to the kids that if they could memorize all of Psalm 23, they would receive $5.  Annika worked very hard all week, and she was so excited to receive her $5 this morning.  I was quite impressed with how quickly she was able to memorize it all (I typed it out and added a few pictures to help with word associations), so now we need to find something to work on next.  It was good practice for me too - it's been a long time since I've memorized Bible verses and even the ones I learned as a kid (like Psalm 23) have gotten a bit foggy.  It's definitely something I want us to keep doing as a family.

"Weekend" getaway

Last year on the May long weekend we went down to the States for a night, so this year we figured we would attempt going for 2 nights.  Since Annika didn't have school on Friday, Carey took the day off and Emmett played hooky from preschool and we went down on Thursday night already.  We came back yesterday, so we missed all the long weekend traffic (I think we spent less than 5 minutes at the border going down, and maybe about 15-20 minutes coming back).  It was a good little break.

We ate lots of yummy food...

Went swimming in the pool 3 times...

Relaxed...

Ate more yummy food and had fun drinks (both kids requested a pink umbrella for their drinks)...

Had some good "family quality time"...

Had fun with glow sticks...

Found a park to fly the kids' new kites (bought at Menards - what a funny store that is)...

And slept!!

First of the season

And someone is eager to learn how...

Our anniversary

Yesterday was a very busy day.  Not only was it our tenth anniversary, but I also met with Annika's piano teacher (she'll be starting piano lessons next week!) and the kids had their first skating lessons.  Annika is on her own this year, and Carey is doing the "parent and cub" class with Emmett.

After skating lessons (which are from 5:30-6:00) we dropped the kids off at Carey's parents' place for supper and a sleepover and headed out to celebrate our anniversary.  We had to stop at home so Carey could change (he came to skating lessons straight from work) and he surprised me with this beauty.  I was absolutely blown away.  I had jokingly hinted that the anniversary gift for 10 years was diamonds, but I wasn't expecting anything (we don't usually buy each other anniversary gifts).  He had picked it out himself, and it was exactly what I would've picked myself.  The only downside was that it's way too big, so now it's back at the jewellery store being sized, and I haven't had a chance to wear it yet.

We went to Tony Roma for supper (we had a gift card - thanks Mom and Dad!), and ended up also getting a free dessert, because of some poor service when we first arrived (we sat at our table for about 10 minutes without being acknowledged before we finally flagged down the manager and asked where our waiter was).  After that the service was great, and the food was delicious.

This afternoon I got out my wedding dress and put it on (I do it every year on our anniversary).  Still fits!! 

Annika also had to try it on.

And Carey tried on my gift to him - a toque I knit for him (he gives me diamonds, I give him a hat - seems fair, right?? ;) ).

10 years

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary.  My, how time flies!!  You can see more of our wedding pics here.

Here's a glimpse back at the past 10 years...

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

(clearly we were new parents this year - 

could not find a photo of just Carey and me without Annika in it!)

2010

2011

2012

2013

Christmas

A glimpse at our Christmas...

Emmett's first time on his skates, at our family gathering on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, putting the star on the top of the tree.

Opening presents at home - can you guess what Emmett got? ;)

 

Christmas brunch at my parents' place.

Getting ready to open presents at my in-laws' place.

Carey's dad built this awesome workbench for Emmett.

Hard at work decorating a gingerbread train.

Toys for kids, both big and small. :)

We had a great Christmas, and it wasn't even too busy.  In the past it's felt like just "go go go", but this year we've had a little more time to relax and play, which is nice.  Hope you all had a merry Christmas too!

Date night

So excited for tonight!!

Getaway

It was time for a change in scenery.

Family pictures

Last week we had some family photos done, and I absolutely love them. It always seems like a bit of a hassle to do family pictures (what to wear, where to go, the cost of the photographer, will the weather cooperate, will the kids cooperate, etc) but it's totally worth it.  I actually have a few nice photos of Emmett now!! (Some of you on FB or Instagram will have seen his terrible school photo proofs :P).  Sorry for tons and tons of pictures, but I just had to share them.  How am I going to pick only one or two to put on the Christmas card??