the "Pink Hockey" girl

Avery had a game today and before her season is over I dusted off my camera to capture some great pictures of her and her team mates. She is my Pink Hockey Girl!! Always has a smile on her face even when she gets confrontational, and yes she will talk back and slash back to the

boys. This is a sport that she absolutely loves and I think we will be in this for the long haul.

WE ARE PROUD TO BE CANADIAN!!

Life's Little Challenges

Life's little bumps in the road, stop and make us realize what we can do. . .

I was asked yesterday to be part of a "Go Girl" seminar put on by our County for Girls only. One of the sessions instructors cancelled. I am not sure why my name came up, but it did. I was asked to teach the Weight - Fitness Class for the afternoon. It was 2 class' 1 hour each, consisting of girls from 8 - 18. I was a bit nervous, but I put my game face on and had a BLAST! The girls were so much FUN! They loved the knowledge and were very willing to try the exercises. I am not a professional body builder, or do I know everything but with the knowledge that I do have,(and Tod) I managed to stumble through the 2 hours and teach the girls some very inexpensive ways to turn their bedroom into a home gym.

Thanks Laurie for the challenge! Maybe it is better that we don't know what is around every corner, because life's "little surprises" can turn out to be very fulfilling.

My girls had such an EXCITING, ACTION packed day, they are talking about "next time" already.

Not such a good start to the week

Well I think i was premature in my update on Face book by putting, Monday is off to a great start, this week should be good. The first part of Monday was great, it didn't all start until my last break of the day. I was talking to a co worker and she had 4 eyes, usually that isn't a good sign for me. I ended up being escorted home by Nalaine and Tara followed her to take her back to work. It was straight to bed for me until the kids got home from school.
I then gave them instructions on their after school activities and what needed to be done so that all the activities of the night could be accomplished. The kids did their after school chores and O & A worked together to make a great supper. I was sitting on the stairs supervising with no little interaction, my head was pounding.
The 3 kids cleaned up supper and the kitchen. Who new they could do this? I certainly didn't! It was spotless, except the floor but I'm not keeping track of that. T & O took off to go to O's Hockey game in Edmonton. That left me with the girls and I had to prep myself to go clean the Post Office, not what I really wanted to be doing but it had to get done. The girls were speedy at cleaning, we were done in 15min's. It was home to bed after that.
T & O weren't going to be home until after midnight, but that was not the case. They showed up just after 11pm. O was hit by behind, he hit the ice and was out! CONCUSSION! It is not so good, he can't remember the game, what happened, or coming home last night. The last thing he remembers of the night is going into the rink. Today he had a tremendous headache and will probably have it for a while. A.A. was really worried that O wouldn't remember her so the first thing she did after school was ask O if he new her still and what his favorite color was? Is this it for bad luck for him? We really are hoping so.
Avery is gearing up for her 1st playoff game in her league on Thursday. It should be a good game and if they win both games it is on to another round of playoffs. Go Thunder Go!!!
Aspen has 3 more weeks before her 1st competition, she is ready to go. The living room floor has been a great Hip-Hop practice room. She is also looking forward to her Birthday Party on Friday. With 5 tweens hanging out for a few hours the house is going to be a happening place. I hope she has fun!
It is only Tuesday Night, so here's to a positive rest of the week! :)

G & G with the Kangaroos

Well the last conversation we had with G & G, Avery wanted pics of them with Kangaroos and G delivered. He made her day! :) Thanks DAD! I thought I would share them with everybody, so you could all see what FUN they are having.

We cant wait to see you in 2 months or so! Lots of LOVE!!!

12 already

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY ASPEN! :)

It is Saturday the 13th, the day before Valentines Day and the most important day for Aspen her Birthday! Today she is turning 12. As a mom I cant believe that this day is here and that she is 12, sometimes it seems so unreal to me. Apsen I hope you have a GREAT Birthday, Mom and Dad love you. XOXOXO

Yup

Well I did my run, but it didn't happen until after work. That 5am just snuck up on me too quickly. I guess that's what happens when you don't go to bed until after midnight.
So I picked up Oakly at his Hockey practice, and as he is getting his seat belt on I ask the mom questions "how was it, did you skate hard?" etc. . . Well he said all was good until this happened and he showed me his for arm, well it looked like the arm off of "The Hulk". He had been hit with a stick between the elbow pad and his glove. I immediately called Dr. T and asked him what I should do? I was already in Leduc so we made an extra few turns and headed to the Hospital for an X-ray and medical advise. The x-ray came back good so they bandaged his arm up and we were free to travel the lonely black roads after 11pm. We arrived home and still had to unpack the groceries, have a bowl of cereal -O- and get to bed. So 5am came and went, very peacefully! I am kind of glad I didn't do my morning run because the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

Tuesday

It has been a long Tuesday and with the week starting off as tiring as it has I am sure that the days to follow will be just as taxing. I am sitting in Tod's work office waiting for Oakly's Hockey Practice to finish so I can return home to go straight to bed! That thought puts a big smile on my face. :) I am not sure if my body is trying to tell me something or if I am really just being BLAH.
Yesterday afternoon my knee started hurting and today it was swollen. Dr. Tod has suggested that I take a few days off of running, but I am not sure that mentally I can do that. Running has turned into my 5:00am routine and I love it. I love the look I get from Tod when he comes around the corner and smiles at me, try es to ask me how far I have gone and how much farther I am pushing for for that day, it also makes me smile when he says you are really losing it. That is my biggest achievement right their. Not only do I love to run, but my Butt loves it too. I have struggled to loss what was left of Oakly, after 14 long years, and 2 more kids that added to the poundage, and WOW their I was! It was an issue for so many years that finally after 18 months of dedication to running, biking and kinda' watching what I ate, it is all falling off. No it is not all happening in an over night get skinny diet, but in the love of something that makes me feel so good. So back to the thought of taking a rest, well that just doesn't exist in my thoughts. So until my 5 am call I will just have to wait and see what the morning brings.

outside run

Oh gosh it has been a long 10 weeks or more of running on the treadmill, so today I weathered the weather and brought Keri with me. It was so AMAZING, I love being outside. It was COLD and WINDY, and I know it was a little harder than usual for K, but she toughed it out and it was so good to have her with me. I really have missed our runs even the silence is better with some one there than by myself. Thanks K for going in the wind, it means a lot to me. ;)

January

I know it has been a very ling time.
So we have still been busy with Hockey and Dance, and now Oakly is back into the swing of Hockey full tilt this last week. Lucky for us we have been saved on the Hockey runs, but they were taken over by the Physio Therapist. Oakly was going to Physio at least twice a week. All his hard work is paying off, he is back to full playing mode. He isn't as fast as he used to be but hopefully by the time he goes to provincials in March he"ll have his legs back.

Avery has been skating up a storm, this weekend they won the Bronze medal game in their Tourney. As far as their league goes we are in 2nd place and pushing for 1st. They are a very rambunctious team, full of energy and with all that energy on the ice some times it is hard to get them to focus. This Valentines weekend they are off to another Tourney, it will be fun to hang out in the Hotel with the other families. But all in all they are having a very good year.

Aspen is getting close to her 1st competition. Her group only has 6 more practices until Performance Day!!! She is so excited and is always practicing her moves where ever possible, the rink, car, living room, couch, you name it and she is dancing on it. Aspen has also found a new passion. . . . SHOPPING! Oh yes she is in full girl swing. Her new wardrobe is very cute and I am trying to show her how to bargain shop, so far so good. Her new passion comes with a price tag that means she is trying to work on the weekends by babysitting. She has even taken on a job for this weekend, which is her birthday, but she knows the money will be good to have to. The Birthday party will have to wait until another weekend.