Happy Birthday Samantha

Eleven! Hard to believe.

Thanks to all who sent cards and called to say Happy Birthday.

New roller blades.

Samantha is such a fun girl to be around. She is friendly and thoughtful and loves to be creative and inventive. She is an amazing big sister and she loves her family. She especially loves to spend time with her uncles, aunts, and cousins, and her grandparents. We are so blessed to have her in our family.

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Our Play On! Anniversary Weekend

This past weekend kicked off the first of 17 Play On! events we will have in 2011. Remarkably, all of these events will be held over the next 6 weeks.

We had a great event in Hamilton! Except for the lousy weather, it was really an outstanding weekend.

Scott and I celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday, and it was definitely a memorable day.

Scott spent the weekend walking the site, talking to players, putting out fires, and training the Hamilton team on the ins and outs of running a Play On! event.

This is where I spent the weekend, in the Scoreboard Tent:

I prefer to stay as dry as possible.

I was really touched that during a busy event day, others would take the time to play a song for us from our first date (thanks, Jeff!), make a loud-speaker announcement, send text messages & emails, and join us for cake, which we ate off paper plates in the Registration tent.

We came home that night to a kitchen full of gifts from our children:

It might take us a while to get through all of those cookies... !

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband. Scott is a devoted, thoughtful husband and a fun, caring, and loving father to our children, and I love being married to my best friend. Happy Anniversary!

3 on 3 - Spring Hockey

This year we decided to let JD play Spring Hockey. He has been invited in the past, but never played before because it's every Saturday from mid-April until the end of June, right during our crazy busy / travel season for work.

This year when his friend invited him to play on the team, a couple of families offered to take him to the games we aren't able to, so we thought we'd sign him up and give it a try.

So, after a score-less winter hockey season, JD arrived at his first 3 on 3 game last Saturday, and scored 2 goals. Including the winning goal in a shoot-out that resulted in a final score of 6 - 5.

Second game they won 6-2. JD scored four goals!

Third game was against a team of girls, all of which were 2-3 years older than the boys. JD's team ended up losing by a whopping 25-0.

JD is really enjoying the season. My only complaint is that I wish I could go to watch all of his games!

Theory Exam

Samantha & Brett took the Basic Rudiments Theory Exam (Royal Conservatory) on Saturday.

They were nervous going into it, but came out thinking that it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be. Their teacher did a great job of providing practice exams and fun games to learn the concepts.

Grandma took them to the exam, as Scott and I were out of town for a Play On! event. I wish I could have been there, but I was thinking about them all day.

The Library Field Trip

We had scheduled a Field Trip for Preschool not too long ago. One of the Moms had planned a Scavenger Hunt at the Park and told us to come rain or shine.

When we woke up that morning to some drizzle and overcast skies, I sighed and pulled out the rainboots, raincoats, and umbrellas.

About 15 minutes before we had to leave the house, we heard a loud crack of thunder. We looked outside to see torrential downpours, lightning, and so much darkness that there was almost no light coming through the windows at all.

We decided to move the Field Trip across the street from the Park to the local Library.

Unfortunately, I only had my iphone handy, so these pictures aren't the greatest quality.

We checked out some books. Clara liked to pick them out herself and put them in her basket.

We played with the train set.

We played some educational games on the computers. It cracks me up seeing the kids wearing these headphones.

As soon as we left the library, the sun was out and it had turned into a beautiful day.

Spring Cleaning

Samantha cleaned out her backpack last week.

It became so full of "stuff" that she had nowhere to put things.

When I say things, I don't mean an extra hoodie in case it gets cold, or a book she wants to read on the bus.

No, I mean nowhere to put things like her HOMEWORK. And her LUNCH.

This girl has saved every rock, gum wrapper, and piece of string she has found on the playground since preschool.

If you were wondering why our spoon drawer was dwindling down to nothing... mystery solved.

Two days later she woke me up at 2:00 AM to say that she couldn't sleep because she was worried about her art project that was due.

She accidentally threw it away when she cleaned out her backpack.

And the garbage had been picked up that morning (of course).

Still, I'll take the missing art project over the cluttered bag.

Easter Weekend

Here are some more photos from our Easter weekend. Some highlights:

• Samantha and I had a fun Mother-Daughter Activity Night at the church. Lots of crafts, decorating cupcakes, friends, and fun.
• Aunt Heather & Uncle Pete planned an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids... in the hen house! Such a fun idea and the weather was perfect.
• Clara loved the chickens.
• We headed to Colasanti's after the Egg Hunt. Our kids had fun playing with their cousins. I love the photo of Landon chasing JD.
• Brett and Scott enjoyed some time with Papa watching Hockey and Man Tracker.
• Nana made a beautiful and tasty Easter Ham, and decorated two tables for such a big group.
• Clara scavenged all of the chocolate eggs left behind by the older kids and had her own dessert party on the kitchen floor.
• We came home for Easter Monday and spent most of the day cleaning out the garage.
• For Family Night we made treat baskets to drop off for unsuspecting families. Our kids love to ring the doorbell and race to the getaway car (aka the van).

Happy Easter!