Lately - Life/Agassiz/Hockey/Church/Snow!

I'm having guilt! I want to keep the blog up to date. For my future self. I didn't even do Dom's 7th birthday post! Or my annual year-in-review post. Future me will regret it... Dang it. 

Life is just so busy. So different from a couple years ago. It will only get busier! I am going to be starting some courses for basic accounting/book-keeping. These will be online and I'll start sometime this Winter or Spring, depending when I pull the trigger. I'll take it slow. One course at a time. I really don't have time for this, but when I have to get up at 530am just to find time to start a blog, I guess I'll get up at 530am to do my schoolwork. 

Anywho... I haven't posted since January 1st. Life goes on! 

• School goes on. 
• Horseback riding goes on.
• Dom got his gear and is starting ice hockey. He has made MAJOR strides with his skating (yay!!!)
• We are officially moving on from the church we've been at for 20+ years (please feel free to connect with me if you have any questions about this! It's been a journey, but we are at peace). We met with the Chair of Council the other day and had a really good conversation which provided good closure for me. It's been a season of grieving, but I feel like we're mostly coming out the other side now.
• I have been doing yoga every day and am doing dry January (which both feel amazing).
• We had a deep freeze for a few days with wind chill up to -25. Today we have our first snow day of the year. 
• I filmed an embarrassing reel about being an enneagram 1 and actually shared it. 
• Follow @ki.storystudios on Instagram to see some of our reels and videos!
• Marta & I went on a date to Yuk Yuks at the Elements casino.

The kids have said some hilarious things lately, and I have to get better at documenting them. I need to do another Kids Say post too. Eva is at quite a ridiculous age. She is fun, hilarious and exhausting and trying. 

Here's a photo dump! 

She's still loving on her boy, Blue. We found out this week that she is for sure the youngest in her class. The two other young kids are almost 7, and 8.5. She's also only been doing it for 7 months, whereas the others have all been just about 2 (or more) years. When I told her this information she couldn't believe it. She's doing so well (especially given those factors), and has come SUCH a long way. I still don't know who we think we are... Private School... Horseback Riding... Ice Hockey... We make delusional financial decisions apparently haha.

She's on the left. They often try something new at the end of class. This week they each got to try reverse-saddle. Just a little walking with the instructor, but they put effort into trying new things which has been good for Emilia. She used to politely decline, but now her hand goes up straight away wishing to go first.

A random winner meal. I made Asian-inspired meatballs, peanut butter noodles, and Costco Asian salad. The kids loved it (except they didn't touch the salad). Actually two of the meals they'll all eat consistently are Asian flavours oddly enough.

It was pouring rain one day and we wanted a playdate with Ash & Phoebe. That means we have to be adventurous and go outside. Hard to convince the outdoor preschool teacher that it's too wet to go outside haha! We went to Penzer Action Park in Langley and it was actually so fun. The kids were cold, but everyone just embraced the soak.

Making mud angels...

The little ones washing their hair in a dripping storm pipe/gutter thing. They thought it was PRETTY hilarious.

That day Mom took the kids for us after the park (thankfully I packed them a second set of clothes). Dave and I went out for lunch, worked, and did a thrift store drop off/shop. At Mission Thrift store I found these beauties on the shelf and had a chuckle, because they are not the content this store would usually allow on the shelf. Cute mugs though!

Eva's Nutella face watching Frozen in the car on the way to Agassiz. She just lights up during this movie. Also I have to say travelling with her has improved SOOOOO much over the last 2 years! A year ago it would have been a serious slog getting to Agassiz. 

We stayed overnight there which I always prefer because I can actually settle in!

The kids learned how to play charades.

I brought some leftover Christmas goodies and we made this yummy charcuterie board for after bedtime with some games!

We decided to leave after nap time the next day, so we had a nice slow morning. Eva had a rare moment where she went off and played on her own. Celebrate!

We had Sherlock with us and I wanted to get him to have a walk. We went down to the river and walked along the river while the girls stayed home and Eva napped.

Success tuckering out this boy!

This is Eva the first time we brought the kids to a new church we've been checking out. They don't have a nursery, so she and I just went to the back with some toys. She played so so well and quietly which was awesome and made it very un-stressful for me! The big kids stayed in the service, but the church provided bags with coloring books, pop-its, snacks, etc. Talk about including everyone in the service! So nice for parents.

Dom got fitted for his First Shift hockey gear!

He is BEYOND excited!!

The kids sometimes sneak down early and we watch funny dog videos together.

Dom & Dave finished building the engine Dom got for Christmas

My little one with the biggest heart has brought "Valims Day" to us early! Found these beauties on my pillow one evening!

Some of these frigid mornings have been so so absolutely beautiful!

Emilia is suddenly very into kids yoga and will do it for an hour or more. Actually doing it. Eva joins her sometimes too!

Sister selfie after the comedy show!

I finally got to light my BIG candle from my birthday! The size of my head and smells like vacation!

A second week with the kids at the new church and it went well. I went to the newcomers lunch afterwards too. Who knows what the future holds, but right now this feels good! 
Also... they have a DOG that roams free during the service. Doesn't get much better than that!

Very proud of herself working on this puzzle at the back

Finally it was closer to -10 instead of -20 and we got out for a family walk before it got dark. 
I am loving these SLIGHTLY longer days. And loving the fact that they'll keep getting longer and brighter for months. 

Why do they look like teenagers?

Beautiful mornings as mentioned above, and a few gorgeous sunsets as well!

Dave took Dom to a stick & puck for kids at the ice rink the other day to try out his new gear/skates from First Shift before his first skate with them on the 27th. We weren't sure what to expect as he's struggled with skating and was feeling discouraged. Well... apparently he just needed gear. He did amazing! He feels so proud of himself and I even had a tear in my eye watching the videos Dave got. Relief and pride!

Today is a snow day, and Emilia seems to be getting a mild cold. I just hope she doesn't spread it to anyone as Dom is having his birthday party with friends on Saturday! Wish me luck as we have 10 some-odd six-seven year old boys to entertain and feed. 

I went to the library yesterday and bought some 10 cent magazines. Emilia and I cut some stuff out and she made a very Emilia poster :)
Dom did one too, but it was a card for Dave and it was just hockey gear from a Sport Chek flyer haha!

Hooray for big kids! They played outside for around 2 hours with each other and some neighbour kids. They found the sand toys from the garage and made great use of them!

My view while doing yoga.

Boy loves the snow!

By the time it stopped we had 12+ inches! Crazy.

Emilia and I snuggling while watching Bluey. Eva was napping and Dom was outside for 3 hours which is longer than Emilia lasted. She's been craving and needing a lot more connection lately, so I've been trying to be intentional about that. Today we had this snuggle, she helped me make dinner, we did that magazine art earlier on, and we put Eva to bed first and Emilia and I did a puzzle before she headed to bed. 

This girl is a feeler. She reminds me a lot of her dad. She's learned the word melancholy, and frequently feels this way seemingly out of nowhere. She just gets feelings and doesn't know what to do with them. She says she's sad, but it's not quite sad. Just blah. Melancholy. Usually she needs some one on one, cuddles, and some art time. She's definitely her father's daughter! <3

The kids have another snow day tomorrow and I'm hopefully able to go into work!