Today is a big day. A hard day. An important day. See #1.
This week I am thankful for:
1. One year and two days together with our Baby Girl. She returned home this morning for good and we are hopeful that she will still be a big part of our lives. There is nothing written or official so it's all dependent on mom to maintain this relationship if she desires (and I understand why some moms do not). We are very hopeful and hope to be a source of support. Fingers crossed! I am so grateful for the sweetness she brought to our family; there are always different interactions and issues with any extra addition but she was as close to perfect for our family as you can get. Thank you, God.
2. The drive to work. I have been doing this drive along 80th in Surrey since I was 13 years old (for highschool and then work). In a city that is becoming wildly populated I am thankful for the quiet scenic farm roads. Please let this never change. The other thing about this drive: I'm not sure I'll ever let my kids drive themselves on 80th because of the deep ditches and no guardrails (if you've been there, you know what I mean!).
3. Family advent activities. You guys, we are super chill about it. Like, I choose something we'd do anyway or something that takes minimal planning/effort/money and the kids LOVE it. Here are a few of them.
Dinner by candlelight |
Pick a pie from Krause Farms (we had a gift certificate) |
See what Sinterklaas brought! (Dec. 5) |
4. The boys playing together for HOURS without fighting. They rediscovered their Mixels and although some of the instructions are missing they still love them. I may have found some at Toy Traders (as they are discontinued) for Christmas. Kai, you better not be reading your Mama's blog.
5. Koen being gifted in athletics. I mean, maybe he's average, but I love that it's a great way to expend energy and he loves it. He feels confident in his ability which makes me happy because not everything comes easy for him. I love when kids find their "thing". Also, love that we had a free night to have our first Little One sleepover and he could cheer Koey on.
6. Being able to watch volleyball provincials. I love watching sporting events but it often doesn't work well because it's far away or our family has something else going on. I'm glad we could head out to the Langley Event Centre to watch a game. Looking forward to watching Gary's games now that we have a bit more freedom (don't need a babysitter for the baby).
7. Starbucks gift cards. I can't pay $5 for a coffee (I have the money but can't allow myself to pay that for a coffee when I can have one for free at home) so I love having gift cards to pay. Gary gets them for teaching and he doesn't drink them and gives it all to me--so nice, right?!
8. A perfect series to watch with Gary. We need to the perfect combo and this one works for both of us. There's only six episodes though so we're almost done. Boo.
9. Getting Koen's passport renewed. Being that I am at work each day (and then the kids activities, baby, Gary bball etc) getting out to do errands is tricky. I ran to the passport office on my spare and got it done! I have 1.25 hours free each day where I normally do all my marking, photocopying and lab preparations but used it to do this errand this time. Starting at the end of January I will only be working 50%!!!!!!!! I may have mentioned that a time or two ;)
10. Going to VanDusen Garden's Festival of Lights. We went for a private function and the kids mostly enoyed it. It's hard to drive for an hour somewhere afterschool. Throughout the evening someone is always grumpy but it was very beautiful and they liked the hot chocolate. Last year there was popcorn so I think the lack of it this year caused some grumpiness (not on my part).
I hope you had a great week!! What is something that you are thankful for today?
Love,
Louise
Trust the transition back home for your little girl goes smoothly for all involved.
ReplyDelete