Fave Photo Friday

Some random photos from our week! 

I actually really like this little couch snuggle photo of me and Jimmy which is why it has the honor of being the first photo of the post! 

I also love this one too! We do love our couch snuggles and movie nights!

Her little smile is too cute!

Beautiful sunset on our walk last weekend to Nana's house

My after dinner Kings Corner card game buddy

Munchies after dinner are a real thing! Jim shared his M&M chocolate bar with me and even gave me the side with the face in it :) 

Wow, lots of couch snuggles this week apparently

Right after their Polar Bear Swim they wanted to play on the playground!

And of course yummy donuts afterwards too!

Pretty typical bedtime stall tactic. I just really want to nuddle daddy and be a "big fat kitty" This is her favorite way to lay with him and it's so cute.

Quick sunset snap last week when I did some grocery shopping in between the boys hockey practices!

This was a particularly bad night of munchies!

New hand me down outfit from Gracie Parkin

Yummy pre dinner snack for Mom

Yummy pizza roll ups for dinner

Another adorable new dress she got that she LOVES!

I snuck away on my lunch break one day and went on a walk down part of the sea wall

Random photo of Jordie boy (who appears to need a haircut soon!)

Kennedy's Wedding Dress photo shoot - Year 4 (Age 3)

I can't believe I never shared these last summer when we got them taken and got them back from Jenn! Jim does have that first photo as his profile photo on FB so I'm sure many have already seen it but still wanted to share it for memories sake.

My god she is just a gorgeous little creature! When I see these photos I no longer see my little baby girl, I see my little lady in front of me. She is growing up way too fast and I absolutely treasure these photos of her in my wedding dress so much!

It was SO windy at the beach that night and she was literally only in the dress for less than 10 minutes, but it resulted in 3 super cute photos so I was thrilled. This is hands down my favorite photo session of every year and I have all my fingers and toes crossed that she continues to be willing to participate in this yearly tradition because Jenn and I always have fun with this shoot!

Taking it back to the very beginning when it all started when she was just around 10 days old and I don't even think she was back to her birth weight yet. She was not even 6lbs when this photo was taken!

Taken in Jenn's studio when she wasn't quite 1 year old yet. She only lasted in the dress maybe 3 minutes and I was blown away that Jenn captured this photo, cause she was not a happy girl at all!

This was the first year that she was more aware of what was going on and was so excited to wear Mommy's dress, for all of about 5 minutes when she started to say "okay, I all done now"

This was a quick shoot (filled with tons of smartie bribes) but resulted in a gorgeous photo. Her hair was really starting to grow and her little girl facial features were really starting to develop.

Oh to see her grow up in front of my eyes is such a blessing to me, and not one that I take for granted ever. I know how absolutely lucky I am to be her Mama.

Mornings with my little lady

With the change to our daycare not having half days available anymore I am limited to what hours I am able to work in the office these days, which means on Jim's dayshift weeks I am working from home in the mornings with Kennedy. I both love this time and dread it too some days! She is great about playing by herself or like this morning she'll ask to watch something on her tablet. 

This is the tiny little nook under my desk down in the office. She loves to sit under there, both when I'm down there or just when she wants some peace and quiet. Jim and I have both found her down there all alone just chilling out peacefully. I'm surprised she hasn't taken a blanket to hide in there because it's much colder downstairs in our basement. If I was her I would hide in my warm comfy room but for some reason she prefers this little spot.

Yesterday morning we decided to do matching hair styles. Her daddy saw a photo the other day of her hair half up and half down and said he really liked it so we both did our hair that way and sent him a photo of his girls.

New clothes from Ms. Gracie means a whole new adorable outfit for Ms. Kennedy!

I can't believe in only 18 months this little lady will be starting Kindergarten. I am enjoying the extra time I have with her for as long as I can and feel very blessed to be able to work from home for now!

Little love notes from my sweetest middle child

A few years back one time when Hads and Kins were here with us in the morning w were looking through agendas and I saw that D wrote in them every morning. Sometimes it was just to tell them where they were going after school and sometimes it was just an I love you note. That very day I decided I would do the same, and I've now been doing it for the past 2 years. 

Jordie learned to read really early so even at the start of Grade 1 he could read my notes. By Christmas time last year he was even replying to them too, which of course made my heart soar for many reasons. I've snapped a few photos since then of some of our exchanges and every time I need a little boost I know exactly where to look.

Jordie boy, you are so very sweet to your Mama and I hope you always will be! 

This was from yesterday and made me tear up when I read it after school.

 And one for Daddy too. Often on afternoon shift weeks then Dad takes on the agenda writing. Moon back was how non-speaking toddler Jordie said I love you. 

This week he was on a roll and replied almost every day to Jim and I's notes

Seriously so glad I snapped these photos along the way. 

These are the memories that I want to keep forever and are the reason I have this blog in the first place! I hope years down the road my kids appreciate the ability to click on their name and see hundreds of posts about them as kids (and hopefully teenagers if they allow me to post about them!)

And just for fun...here's toddler Jordie saying moon back (it's a fave video I have of him)

Polar Bear Swim 2021

Ever since last January 1st, Jordie and Kennedy have been saying that they wanted to do the Polar Bear Swim this year. James said he'd do it again too, and Jim waffled back and forth on it :) 

January 1st we woke up and the weather was stormy and miserable and we knew that no one was jumping in the water that day. The forecast showed that Sunday would be nicer so we planned it for that day instead. 

Sunday arrived and it was sunny but still cold. Jim decided he was not into it this year but these 3 kiddos were all in! 

We were thrilled to make plans to meet Katie and her family down there again this year too! 

I knew she was gonna cry! But holy she's braver than I am. I would absolutely hate that and would likely be cold for the next 24-48 hours afterwards! 

Jordie and Kennedy swear they are doing it again next year. James says no thanks and Jim says next year he won't chicken out :) 

Jordie wins the best big brother award this time!

A few nights ago Kennedy was extremely whiny and teary eyed at bedtime. She wanted someone to snuggle with her and lie with her until she fell asleep. I'd love to say I am the mom that will do that (and once in a blue moon I will) but generally I just don't. It had been a long and whiny day and I was feeling very done at bedtime and knew I had no desire to lay there with her. 

I told her she could ask her brother to join her and of course as soon as he saw her tears he grabbed his blanket and crawled in beside her. We never heard a peep from them and this was what we saw hours later when we went to move him back to his bed. 

Thanks Jordie boy for taking one for this tired Mama!

2021 Crib Tournament - how many games can we play in 365 days?

If you know us at all you will know that Jim and I's favorite way to spend quality time together is to play crib. He taught me how to play when we had only been together less than 6 months and we have played thousands of games together over the years.

This year for our anniversary we splurged and bought this awesome huge crib board off of Wayfair. It comes with a stand that you can use between two chairs but we tend to use it on a table between us instead. It was not cheap but we both agree that it was our best purchase of the whole year! We both think that we played more crib in the last 6 months than we did in the last 2 years. 

Before we had kids we used to write down all of our crib games and even played for points/money (which we never actually gave each other). This year we decided to do a year long tournament with each point being worth 5cents (10cents for each hole if skunked!) Then on January 1, 2022 we'll tally all of our games and see who the ultimate money and game winner is. Then that person gets to go and spend that money on whatever they want....with zero guilt! 

This photo was from our first time playing on the new board! Funny story, it arrived to PR after we had left to Texada for camping, but our awesome friend Dena grabbed it from our porch and brought it over to us when she came for a daytrip visit!

We stole away to Lund the other day for a lunch date (thanks Nana and Papa for taking the kids) and the Boardwalk Restaurant has crib boards so you can play while you wait for your food. Jim kicked my ass and skunked me :( 

This is what a lot of our games here at home look like. A child, or two, around coloring or playing on their tablets or eating. They like to be where we are and we don't mind that one little bit. 

Jim says if yesterday is any indicator (I lost both games we played...I'm not off to a good start) then we should call it the 2021 ass-whooping extravaganza! This was from New Years Eve when he kicked my ass horribly (probably my worst loss in a long time!) Thankfully this skunk doesn’t count as we started the tourney on January 1 😉

Note: I started writing this post yesterday afternoon after we’d played two morning games that I lost, then last night we played two more and I beat him good both games! Not quite a skunk but still both games had significantly more points! 

My bet is on Jim winning this whole thing, but you just never know how the year will play out!

My goals for 2021

I'm not one for resolutions but I always try every year to set aside some goals for the coming year. I always fail horribly at them, but I always start the year with high hopes :) 

2020 ended up being not a total disaster for us, and I figure that as long as we all made it through it alive and well then it was a success! 

After we got the boys to bed last night after midnight I came across this on IG and decided to put some thoughts down while I was on the new years eve high. All of these are genuine things I want to accomplish this year as I know that if I do it will lead to a happier and healthier me.