Friday Favourites

It is sort of like a short week since the kids didn't have school on Monday. I posted about our Easter weekend here.

At the end of the day on Tuesday I laid on the couch for a few minutes and enjoyed the sunlight. 

I accomplished a few things this week, and although were not captured by photos, deserve mention:

- Cut Q's hair - I'm not a barber but at least he can see now :)

- Submitted our taxes - Also not an accountant, but our taxes are pretty simple, now just need to wait for our refund. 

- Got Q started on his online reading program - one day at a time, getting his reading minutes in.

It's Masters weekend! We enjoy watching golf but there is something extra sentimental about the Masters. Good to see Rory on top after the first round. 

Good to see the Blue Jays win a game and stop their losing streak. It's been a tough start for them with so many injuries. We are going to the game on Sunday so I hope it's a good one.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Let's Look - Hardest Things We Have Done

 

Linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look.  Today we are talking about hardest things we have ever done. 

The first thing that came to mind was our hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  The hike itself wasn't that bad, and our group moved at a good pace. I think this is the day that I found to be the most challenging. It was foggy, damp, and we were at our highest altitude that day. I remember feeling very tired and cold when we got to camp but eventually got comfortable by changing all of my clothes and joining the group in the dining tent for popcorn and tea. 

I ran two half marathons before our kids were born, but it was two 10K races that I found more difficult because at the time I had very low iron (and didn't realize it) and I remember really struggling to finish. 

I have had two children via c-section and although those were difficult, and required some good time to recover, it was another abdominal surgery that was worse. I had fibroids for many years (refer to low iron above) and I had a myomectomy to remove them, I think in 2013 or 2014, and I had lost a lot of blood and it felt like it took me longer to recover from that than my c-sections. 

Learning to breastfeed. Moms who did that, you know what I'm talking about. Feeding every two hours, feeding E with a little cup because he wouldn't latch, pumping, cleaning everything, and starting all over again. He got jaundice and we had to go back to the hospital for a night and I remember feeling like a failure, but we didn't give up and eventually he was eating very well and was a healthy baby. I remember the Jamaican nurse at the breastfeeding clinic who reassured me that I was doing just fine. And all that work paid off because when Q was born we had no problems getting him fed. 

Working from home during COVID with two kids in online school. Again, if you were a parent with small kids at this time, you remember. There was just so much to balance day to day, and it went on for so long. Americans may not have had the same experience, but here in Ontario we were in and out of lockdown for about two years. We had so many rule changes in terms of being in person with people, school attendance, masks, vaccine "passports", travel, testing, and quarantine periods. As I'm thinking back, I still cannot believe all of the things, but yes, it fits into the category of hard things I've done. 

Weekend Recap

Hope you had a good weekend, we did. I love Easter and although we were busy we were able to find some time to relax.

I know spring is here although I would like temperatures a bit warmer!  These little mice are a new addition that I picked up at Simons. 

I went to Good Friday service, which was very meaningful and our choir anthems were a success. When I got back the boys had been doing some yard work and then the boys had some friends stop by to go for a bike ride.  They looked for a geocache and then picked up some lunch.

Meanwhile I made a cherry pie.  It looks good but I didn't think it was my best. 

That afternoon we went to see Project Hail Mary, which was very good, and we picked up some fish and chips from the golf club for our Good Friday dinner. 

It was chilly on Saturday but Q and I ventured out for the neighbourhood Easter scavenger hunt, while Dave and E went to Home Depot for lawn supplies. 

We visited the local businesses for a egg and to fill out the scavenger hunt answers.

It started pouring at one point but the errands at Meaty Eats, Bulk Barn, and Booster Juice corresponded with most of the rain so we stayed pretty dry.  Then when we were ready to move on the rain had stopped.

After we got back the boys went to the golf club to hit balls at the simulator and I made a coconut cream pie.

We had people coming over for dinner.

Instead of an actual Easter tree I just added a few eggs to our fake tree in the corner, and that worked out well for us this year.

Our Easter dinner table :)

We had ribs and salad, the ribs were delicious. 

The Easter Bunny found us on Sunday morning. 

Hunting for eggs.

And enjoying them.

My breakfast - hot cross bun, fruit, and a (few) chocolate egg.

We all went to church and then we went to the golf club for brunch. 

Since we were stuffed from brunch (and dinner the night before if I'm being honest), we chilled out for the afternoon.

The boys didn't have school on Monday but I was working. I sat with Q for a little bit of time while he painted some plastic eggs. 

And we played Mobi, the math version of Bananagrams. 

E was at the food bank volunteering with a couple of friends. 

Ski Season Recap

As of last weekend, we are officially done with ski season for the year. I like to do a little recap of our season.

This year was characterized by snowy weather and challenging driving conditions. We were constantly checking the weather and Ontario 511 for highway conditions and were still sometimes surprised when the snow came down. That said, we safely made it back and forth and to all of our races without incident, thank goodness!  The first few weeks were also very cold, but it made for fabulous snow conditions so I am not going to complain. 

Dave and the boys went skiing once in December, then we skied at Blue Mountain on New Year's Day and after that were up at Mount St. Louis-Moonstone every weekend until March 7-8 (with some detours for races at other hills here and there). We skied in France for March Break and then were back up on March 28 and 29 for E's last races of the season. 

This was Q's second year as a U10. He had a core group of buddies that he enjoyed skiing with and coaches that we have known for a few years.  He got to participate in a few races at our own club, at Mansfield, and the Heights. He is excited to go into U12 next year when they get to start doing slalom and get a few more opportunities to race.

E was in the first year of U16 which is combined with U19 for training and race purposes, since there are fewer athletes at this stage. He had the same coaches he had two years ago, and they are the best coaches at the club (I'm not completely biased, Coach Gavin did get Coach of the Year at the closing banquet).  Sadly one of his good friends broke his leg right at the start of the season so he was missed, but hopefully will be back next year.  E enjoyed his year and even received the Most Improved Athlete Award, which he was pleased with. Not only did he improve his technique on the slopes, his coaches appreciated his help setting up the courses, taking them down, slipping the course, and just being a good teammate in general. He has one year of U16 left and then is interested in coaching.

We enjoyed hanging out with our ski friends. We stayed up at a hotel about every other weekend, visited a few different ski hills, and eventually got our volunteer hours in. 

It's a busy time of year for us but it's a great way to pass the winter.