Weekend Recap

 

  The kids did not have school on Friday.  E went to the food bank to volunteer with a couple of friends.  They were there for a few hours, a great way to spend a day off of school!

I did a workout before dinner, while Dave and the boys played PS5. 

On Saturday, we took Q to a baseball camp with Vladdy!! Yes, that Vladdy (Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays in case you aren't baseball obsessed like we are).  This event came up on my Instagram a few months ago, a three hour baseball clinic with an opportunity to "hang out" with Vladdy.  I wasn't sure if this was a real thing or a scam, but we signed up and I did learn it's a real thing but the "hanging out" was not going to be much, fair enough. You could sign up for upgrades for a one-on-one photo with Vladdy but we didn't do that.

Looking good!

Ready to take the field.  There were about 400 kids there, divided into different groups.  They rotated around doing different baseball drills. 

The man himself!!

Q was eager for everything. 

Q's group getting ready for their photo with Vladdy.  Q said he got to high five him after the photo, so it was all worth it for that moment :)

After we got back, I took E with me for a walk up the street.  We got a Booster Juice and some ingredients for dinner. 

And Q and I made cookies too.  

We had homemade pizzas for dinner and watched Tron.  Then after the kids went to bed Dave put on A House of Dynamite and we thought we would just watch a little bit, but it was very engaging and we had to watch the whole thing. 

On Sunday morning we walked up to have breakfast at a new spot by our house, Yolks. It was nice to be up and out of the house early.

We did a great job in the afternoon of tidying up the house and organizing various thins, including the front closet. I got some of the old shoes out of there and put our hats and mitts in our drawers. 

I made this stew and put it in the oven for it's two hour cooking time, which meant I had lots of time for a workout. I did a 60 minute bike bootcamp.

The stew was smelling good when I came upstairs. 

Q got this little soapstone carving kit for his birthday, so he started working on that.

I worked on our Christmas cards and E did his homework (because why not leave it to Sunday night when you had all weekend?!!).  We capped off our night with a couple of episodes of The Office. 

Christmas Readiness

Around this time of year I like to do a little check in with myself to see how I am feeling about the upcoming holiday season.  I have found that the influencer crowd is very much over the top when it comes to being “ready” for Christmas and there is only setting - full on excitement and joy. It’s like a competition on who can be the MOST EXCITED!  When one doesn’t feel the same way, that can cause an unsettled feeling that often leads to being more depressed than you’re actually feeling. When you aren’t quite at the same level as the people you see on the internet, you ask “Why not me? What’s wrong with me?”.  Some years I have not felt very excited about Christmas for various reasons, knowing that family wasn’t able to get together like in those pandemic years, when things I was looking forward to were cancelled, when holiday traditions were being replaced with different things, or if the weather was too warm and didn’t feel Christmas-y.  I may have been sad, disappointed, annoyed, or just neutral on the whole thing. What I have learned over the years is that any of those feelings were fine, as long as I was aware of what they were, and determined not to dwell in any one mood for too long.  I am always a proponent of accepting where you are at any given time, finding contentment in the situation, and not trying to make something into something it’s not.  Each year will be different in its own way, and isn’t that a blessing! 

This year I am excited about the events and special days to come. I started listening to some Christmas music during the first week of November, a little earlier than normal. We have watched a few movies, and I am actively planning our Christmas party.  Some years it seems like a trial, but I am looking forward to the prep, but mostly to welcome our friends and neighbours to our home.  

As the kids get older, it means we have forgone certain things, like visiting Santa at the mall (don’t worry, we will still see him at the golf club brunch!), but it’s fun to see what still sticks around as things they like to do.  Q wants to do gingerbread houses again this year, and E simply asked for Christmas gum drops. I remember when I was in university, we would often sit around in the cafeteria talking about different things, and one favourite topic was to share how our families celebrated Christmas.  I’m sure the things that I remembered mostly only really happened one or two years and were probably not something my mom even did deliberately. I always wonder what our kids will remember in years to come. Despite our best efforts to make everything so special, their main memories will likely be of some inconsequential item that wasn’t even planned. Or maybe it will be something like “my mom always did ____” even though I don’t think they are even noticing now.  

Something that does stress me out is buying gifts and also telling people what to buy for us.  But this year I have a few ideas (and I’ll share them later in the week) and I know that are real big gift is our March Break ski trip (details on that to follow) and so I won’t feel the same pressure to spend money as I usually do.  

And as our minister said in church yesterday, God is a constant throughout all of these changing seasons, He is always there for us.  Isn’t that the best comfort of all?  As we move into the season of Advent, I will hold that sentiment close.  We, the church choir, are going to sing “Where the Light Begins” on Advent 1 and isn’t that just the most fitting title? 

Friday Favourites

 Happy Friday!

We had some lingering snow this week but I was able to outfit the kids in warm clothes for their walk to school (except that E needs new boots). We are starting to look ahead to ski season and that’s the only reason why I’m happy to see some snow and cold temperatures. 

We handed out our Christmas party invitations in the neighbourhood on Tuesday night. Q was a big help.  Always nice to see our house from a different angle. 

Q’s piano needed to be rescheduled on Wednesday so I had time to walk to pick him up from school (because we didn’t need to be at the piano lesson for a specific time).  We ran into E and his friend and the kids all stopped for a cookie. 

Thursday morning called for The Grinch during breakfast.  We watch this movie way too many times during the Christmas season.

On Wednesday I did a Day in the Life post of my day on Monday. It was a pretty normal day.

We have a treat tomorrow - we signed up Q for a baseball “camp” with Vladdy Guerrero Jr.  Not sure the extent of the actual interactions with Vladdy but we are excited to see him.  

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika

Day in the Life

 I thought I would do another Day in the Life post. This was my day on Monday.

My alarm was set for 5:50 and I dragged myself out of bed shortly after it went off...

...so I could go down and do a workout.  If I leave it to later in the day then I find it difficult to get in, so an early alarm is a must.  I did 30 minutes of lower body and 10 minutes of core.  Dave came down too to do a bike.  

Starting my day with my AG1. 

And then a shower and a coffee. 

Dave had left for work and I was letting the kids sleep in a bit.  I had a scone to enjoy with my coffee.

Boys finally up and eating breakfast.

The snow from the day before was still there, with more that had fallen, so I thought we had better shovel the front walkway. Q was eager to help out.

I dropped Q off at school, and as I was taking E he saw his friends so he decided to walk.

I settled into work for the morning and after I finished up a phone call I got ready to go out.

I needed to pick up our Christmas party invitations that I had printed at Staples and I went to Canadian Tire as well. I got these gloves for E and a few cleaning supplies.  Canadian Tire was decked out with Christmas stuff but I was able to avoid buying anything new.

I had some leftovers for lunch when I got home and watched a bit of the Murdaugh Murders show.

Back down to my desk after lunch. 

Mid-afternoon I got some nuts to snack on.

I picked up Q from school and we spent some time on the couch before I started getting dinner ready.

We had tomato soup and nachos. Simple because I thought I was going to have to get Q to baseball but it was rescheduled.

After dinner and clean up, E practiced his guitar.  This is his reaction when I asked to take his photo.

And a real photo.

Q did some writing practice.

E stole my phone and took a few candid shots of me.  Not that flattering but real life.  We watched some of The Office and after the kids went to bed, Dave and I watched an episode of The Diplomat.

In bed before 11:00 (and then a bit of scrolling before actually going to sleep).

A pretty regular day.

Weekend Recap

First of all, it is Remembrance Day and that is always a special day on the calendar for me.  As noted previously, it is not a holiday in Ontario, but I will watch the ceremony from Ottawa.  The Bridge podcast had listener letters about Remembrance Day on their Thursday, November 6th program.  I always enjoy hearing about the various people that served and how people remember.

I started listening to Christmas music last week.  I was just tired of the regular music I was listening to so I clicked into our Christmas playlist and chose Jamie Cullum, a jazz artist from England. It was a nice introduction to holiday music for the season.

After work I got a bike in before dinner. Q was keeping me company.

We enjoyed a steakhouse style meal at home.  It was delicious.

Dave had one last round of golf on Saturday morning.  

When we got going for the morning we went out to rake some leaves. We did about 7 bags.

Then we walked up to get a Booster Juice and a few things for dinner.  Q went to hit some baseballs with his friend and I did a bike boot camp.  

I made these candied pecans for our dinner to have on a spinach salad.  They were so good.

We woke up to some snow on Sunday morning.  We didn’t have any coffee at home so Dave and I walked up the street to buy some, along with some breakfast pastries.

It snowed for the rest of the day and after I did the grocery shopping I was glad to be inside.  Q was playing with his car tracks for the better part of the afternoon. 

I made some gnocchi and used up the burrata that was in the fridge.

E had been at the pool doing his Bronze Cross exam for the afternoon and evening.  He passed!! We were very proud. 

It was a good weekend to get some stuff done.