The new jerseys are a hit!

James's U13 rep team got new jerseys this weekend and not only do they look awesome, they have an incredible local sponsor too! A&W stepped up in a big way to get these kids these new jerseys, and the best part is that they have their names on them and they get to keep them at the end of the season! 

Talk about an amazing memento of an exciting year. 

No matter how this season turns out for this team, I know that for James, this year will always hold special memories for him, and for us. His first (and maybe only) year playing rep hockey, and it's been quite the year so far. It's had it's ups and downs, but overall he's been proud and happy to play hockey with these kids. Playoffs are starting in two weeks and they are making a run for the provincials. I can't wait to see how the next few weeks goes for this team!

Such a great picture of this group of kids! 

Seeing our last name on this jersey makes me tear up. I am a sap, yes, but truly, watching this kid play competitive hockey this year has been such a great experience for Jim and I. He worked SO hard to improve his skills over the last few years and he earned his spot on that team. He's played hard, had some great moments, taken some good and bad penalties, celebrated some great wins and mourned some tough losses. Whether he ever makes another rep team in the years to come remains to be seen, but I'm sure the fire is there to at least try out next year (and that's all we can hope for!)

Side note: A&W will always hold a special place in my heart. My best friend in high school, Melanie...her parents owned the restaurant back then when it opened. I spent many evenings hanging out there helping Mel finish up with work so we could go and have a sleepover. The couple that bought it from them many years ago, still owns it today! Their support for our team has been incredible!

Why are pre-teens just a little bit awkward?! 

And just for memories sake...I'm going to leave this text message that was shared on our TeamSnap today. This was sent to our hockey association about our team and it was shared with the parent group. I had James read it and he smiled ear to ear telling me all about how they cheered them on during their scrimmage. THESE are the things that I hope these kids remember years down the road.

 

A really sweet moment captured!

Big brother reading his favorite Franklin books to little sister. He is so good to her and she just adores him. The time and effort that he puts into this relationship with her is really sweet to see, and I see some real similarities between these two and me and my middle brother.

I hope she looks back on these photos one day and really truly realizes how much he loves her, and I hope he realizes how much she looks up to him.

Cuddles with Koda Bear

We are making progress in their friendship and it's cute to see. He absolutely understands now that she is the boss and has made zero attempts to nip at her in well over 2 weeks now. He takes treats from her really gently and he walks great with her on leash. I am so relieved because those first few days were super scary for me. 

These two get me every time with their big brown eyes staring at me. They are the best of buds and I love watching them together.

Jordie is the only kid that I've seen Koda do this for. He likes the other two kids for sure, but you can definitely tell that he has a fondness for and a comfort with Jordie. In all fairness, Jordie is the one that spends the most time with him though and never passes up a chance for snuggles or pets or belly scratches.

Cuddles for Jamesie too!

Such handsome smiles on this big boys!

He will only give James “hugs” like this and he never does it uninvited! He has never once jumped up on either of the two little kids. This is his special thing with just James…and Jim and I on the odd occasion we invite him! 

Wowzers, that plague was rough!

Whew boy, I hadn't been that sick since I had Covid back in early 2022. And I did test this time, but it was negative, just a super crazy high fever, body aches flu and then a cough and chest congestion type cold. I took 2 full days off work and then worked from home a few hours over the next 3 days. Jim was on afternoon shift last week so he took on the morning routines and then a few nights James took over with Kennedy and all I did was drive the boys where they had to be. Thankfully, Kennedy didn't have any activities so we had a quiet no Complex week, which for us is super rare. And also thankfully, none of the kids caught the bug I had! 

I am so very grateful for having two awesome boys. This was the one night when James put Kennedy to bed and Jordie made he and I Mr. Noodles for dinner (at 8:30pm after his hockey practice...thanks to Papa for driving him there and picking him up). It's nights like this that make me very thankful that we are out of the toddler years! 

Only one photo...I took some videos but these two are cheeky and ended up just fingering the camera. They thought they were so funny together. At least they were getting along! 

The only great part of the last 4 days

Since Sunday late afternoon/evening I've been down and out with the weird flu-like cold virus that's going around. Not like the super yucky throwing up flu, just like the high fever, body aches, accompanied by a wicked cough, headache and chest tightness. I spent almost 2 full days on the couch/in bed and only today did I get up and get dressed and attempt to work from home for a few hours. It's been a rough one but I feel like I'm through the worst of it now. 

Thankfully these two besties have kept my smiling lots. I love watching their bond grow day by day.

Funny fact - he will only take his toys to me, Jim or Jordie. Never to James or Kennedy. He just adores Jordie and we knew this was the way this would go.

3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months

Someone told me when we first got Koda to be patient and kind and understanding with him in getting used to his new surroundings. They said give it 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months and he’ll be a different dog each time. 3 days in was a scary time for me. I was falling in love with him and was so scared that something would happen that would make us not be able to keep him. I feared his old family would ask for him back (this happened to us 3 months before and it was devastating), and I feared that Kennedy would be too scared for us to keep him.  

Well, fast forward to 3 weeks in, and he is a different dog than he was those first 3 scared days. He’s settled into our life and our home and has formed bonds with each of us individually. It was around day 3 when he first started trusting us enough to sleep beside our bed at night  

Funny story….I’ll never forget the first few days he was here, he seemed to be terrified of our fireplace in the den. He avoided walking by it and would stop and just look at it but never got close to it. One day he waited till Jordie was standing in front of it before he ran past it, never a walk, always a gallop as far away from it as he could get  

Fast forward to now…laying on the floor snuggled up with me in front of that same fireplace. 

I think he knows he is loved and will be taken care of. He is safe and he is home. 

Selfie Saturday

I may not be front and centre in many photos on this blog but I am pretty consistent with my selfies with my kiddos. I always want them to have photos of me when I’m gone and I don’t always like asking Jim to take pictures when we are out doing things together. So, I take selfie’s. I don’t share a lot of them because I very rarely like what I look like in them, but I know when I’m gone that they won’t even notice the things I notice. All they will hopefully see is the mama they loved. 

Feel Good Friday - This makes me smile

I snapped this photo on our FFF (forced family fun) walk today. Kennedy and James were holding hands while walking and then I told Jordie to go up there with Koda hoping to get a cute picture and what I got is even better than I hoped. What a snapshot of my life right now. Out in the woods, with my loves, enjoying the last few days of winter break. 

I recommitted to myself...and I couldn't be more proud

Some days it's easy, and some days it's not, but I am committed to being the healthiest me I can be. When I got my Apple watch last January I worked hard and closed those rings every single day until August, and then I got a new phone and lost all of my progress. It killed me and somehow killed my motivation too. I didn't go completely back to doing nothing, but I certainly lost my drive for a few months there. 

Getting a dog has certainly made the daily exercise easier to accomplish. I knew the responsibility I was taking on when we got him, and I am just as committed to him and his well being as I am to my own. We're a team, me and my Koda bear. 

This is the face I look down at on our walks together. I just love him so much and think he's just the cutest thing in the world. He has brought some much needed joy to my life at the end of one of my hardest years ever. I feel like the world just knew exactly what I needed, and it may just be this fur ball right here. 🐾🎔

 

Just a puppy dog and his kids

We all feel like we hit the doggy jackpot with our Koda Bear. He has fit into our lives beautifully and we have all fallen in love with him. I'm sure another adjustment is coming for him and for us when we transition back into school/work/hockey, etc, but we are determined to get him out on a walk every day and give him all the love and attention that he desires. Lots of evening and weekend adventures to come in the spring and summer months with the days getting longer and the weather starting to warm up a bit in the coming months too. We can't wait to try this guy out on our paddleboards and out camping and see how he does with two of our favorite activities :) 

For now...here are my favorite photos of him with each of the kids. 

This kid NEEDED a dog in his life. We always knew he'd be the best big brother to a fur kid and we were right. He loves him so much and you can tell Koda loves him too.

I'm amazed every time we take him for a walk how good he does both on leash and off leash. His recall is great and he doesn't pull much at all and is easily corrected if he does.

This has been the trickiest relationship for us to navigate since getting Koda. He was really quite intimidating for Kennedy the first week that we had him. He is a big dog and was trying to herd her which resulted in some scary nipping, a LOT of tears and some real genuine fear on her part. She was a really brave girl and has worked through her fear (with us never leaving them alone anywhere together) while we worked really closely with Koda to ensure he understood that she was the boss and he had to be gentle with her. I won't lie...there were a few tough days that I feared we would have to give him back, but I knew with time and patience we would get to where we are now. They have an understanding...but I don't know that there is total love and trust there yet. I'm sure it will be different down the road, but for now he's still much bigger than her and I still occasionally see the faintest look of fear on her face. We are very careful with him and have noticed a few trigger moments that we need to work on with him to ensure that everyone is safe with him. 

Both the kid and the dog have the best smiles! 

Being a brand new dog owner has had it's challenges for sure, but I still feel like we 100% made the right decision in getting him, and we plan to love him as part of our family for as long as he is alive. We waited a really long time to take the plunge into the dog ownership world, but we feel like he was totally worth the wait. 

Crib Tournament Results - 2021 and 2022

I first wrote about our annual fun crib tournament in a post called 2021 Crib Tournament - how many games can we play in 365 days?

I always intended to share the results of that tournament, but clearly my total lack of 2022 blog posts would mean I never did. So, as suspected, Jim has now beat me two years in a row. The kids and I joke that it could be many years before I actually beat him, but I do believe that it WILL HAPPEN! 

So here are the stats: In 2021 we played a total of 162 games! Jim won 92 games to my 70 games. He had 13 skunks + 1 double skunk to my 8 skunks. I remember one particularly horrible day where he skunked me twice and double skunked me all in the same day. Why in the hell did I keep playing him after the first skunk/double skunk?! 

Just for fun, we also play for MONEY! We pay .05 cents per hole and .10 cents for each hole in a skunk. In 2021 Jim won $115.40 and I won $74.95 so he was the overall winner of $40.45.

In 2022 - we sadly only played a total of 95 games all year :( We went through almost 2 months and didn't play a single game. We struggled with a lot of things in 2022 and this was just one of those things that we didn't often find the time or energy to do.

2022's tournament ended up being a way closer race but in the end Jim won 49 games to my 46 games (10 skunks to my 6 skunks). His winnings totaled $66.65 to my $43.15 so he was money winner of $23.50 and again the overall game winner.

I'd love to see a year where the games won are close but the money winner is the opposite person. It could easily happen...but I will admit that 2023 is NOT feeling like my year either. I am already 0/4 of games played so it's not looking great! Still lots of games left to play and we're hoping for more time and energy this year. 

We still LOVE this crib board we bought off Wayfair in 2020. We use almost every time we play together. And in this photo you can see the trusty black book that holds our scores and our cards too!

Camping is always our main times to play crib. This past year I'd say at least 30% of all of our games played were while we were camping in the spring/summer

If you've never played this game and you love crib, you should try it out! It's called Crib Wars and it's crazy. It screws with the rules of cribs and makes you have to play really strategically and that doesn't always mean scoring the highest hands possible! We don't play it a lot but this weekend up at the Woodson's cabin on Lois Lake we did play quite a few rounds on it! 

 

Living the cabin life during my favorite weekend of the whole summer! I got a wicked sunburn but we played so many games that weekend. 

I love this last photo....our Jordie boy has learned to play crib too! He loves playing the game, while the other two have zero interest in learning. This kid is so much like his daddy!