Thankful Thursday

I am feeling a lot of feelings these days.

Who am I kidding, I always am. Along with the relief of summer holidays and being able to sort of sleep in, there are feelings of nervousness regarding our upcoming trip–how do I fully prepare for three weeks in Europe? Will it cost more than predicted? There are also feelings of frustration as I really wish my body was 100% healthy to do all the activities I would like but my foot still needs to be treated with great care and my weight is at a all time high (other than pregnancy). My kids seem to enjoy arguing with each other yet needing to be right next to one another which brings on some "wonderful feelings" Finally, there are ants in our home and a rat in our backyard which is just annoying. So, there's a broad range of feelings, time to focus on what I'm thankful for this week:

1. The ability to spend time with Gary as Kai can babysit. 

We usually only go out for an hour at a time but that's all we need! We never had someone who could just pop in and watch our kids without planning a month in advance so it sure is nice to "escape" when need be!

2. Sisters. 

We share a lot in common BUT we also have very different personalities! I love when we can spend quality time together and the opportunity for our kids to get to know their aunts, uncles and cousins better.

3. My dad being able to play with the kids.

He had his heart attack anniversary this past weekend and celebrates it like it is his birthday. It was 14 years ago when he had to have his heart restarted twice. He's not a sports guy but a highlight for me was seeing him take an interest in what they were doing. 

5. Our family.

Each sibling group had matching t-shirts for a giant family photo which is why they are dressed the same. The kids did wonderfully while we were there. Well, better than at home I guess. Koen did have one bout of abdominal migraines and cyclic vomiting which he gets about once a month but two hours later, totally fine. It's wild to me. 

6. Nya having her girl time.

She was so excited to have girl parties as she's "stuck" with two brothers and really just wants a sister so badly. Auntie Janny put lipstick on her and had her in her cabin a lot to "party".

7. Kai finishing grade 7.

They had a farewell evening which included a party afterward. It was really fun for them and they went all out with a DJ, dance, food galore and photo booth. I ran the photo booth and tried to stay out of his way (but did force him to take some photos with his friends). We're looking forward to high school and more of a focus on academics, sports and the variety of opportunities that arise.

8. Doing the grad intros.

I was a tad nervous having to introduce 106 grads alongside a colleague in front of 1000 people. It's a brief blurb on each grad as they cross the stage. I was nervous about pronouncing someones name wrong. It took about an hour and went well.Done!!

9. Nya starting to read more.

I have such great memories of devouring books and love that she's started reading chapter books (Junie B. Jones). I hope this is just the start of a life-long journey. Koen likes graphic novels and Kai does not opt to read ever.

We also have these neat Little Libraries around our neighbourhood!

10. Hockey

Gary was able to pick up some Bauer sticks that were samples for $20 each (normally well over $100--yahoo!). Kai's tournament is next week in Edmonton and he has a practice or game every day until then. Really hoping our road trip to and from goes well and maybe we'll see a bear or moose along the way, too!

What is something that YOU are grateful for today?

Love, 

Louise

PS Isn't this neat to see the growth over the past two years? Curious how tall Kai will be in two more years!

Also, another side note. Someone took Gary's size 12 sliders and left behind size 9's at the pool. I found the teen later trying to walk in shoes that were way too big and he was never going to tell his parents that they weren't his. We were able to switch them back which I'm glad about because I had just bought Gary the shoes TWO days before and there's no way he's squeezing himself into size 9's.