Little Athletes, Big Leaders...

Imagine never having played  a particular sport until age 20.

And then working hard and mastering skills so that over the course of the next decade and a half, you've progressed enough to play in the professional league of your sport AND win a couple of Grey Cup championships, along with being named a league all-star player...not once, but 3 times?

It really is an incredible story.

***

This is the story of  my fellow Acadia University graduate Bruce Beaton.

Bruce and I both started Acadia University in 1986, and over the course of my studies there, or rather, my social life there, I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce as a young football player.
He joined the Acadia Axemen Football team....having never played the sport before...but the coach saw potential in him and gave him  a chance.

We used to call him the "Gentle Giant" because although he was 6"5" and around 300 pounds, he was kind and thoughtful and had a very gentle manner about him.

He was well liked and respected by everyone who knew him.

Although Bruce and I left Acadia at different times, me to a full-time job and family,  and he to pursue his football career....I always followed his career through the media and marveled at what he had accomplished in his football career.

Bruce is now retired from the pros, and lives in my home community in Nova Scotia with his wife, Michele and 2 young children.

He is a very dedicated husband and father....he cherishes his wife & children above all else.

And he has recently written a book called,"Little Athletes, Big Leaders".

I had the privilege of receiving a signed copy from Bruce and I am so excited to be able to share my thoughts about his book here at Echoes of Laughter.

In this book,  Bruce has tackled the topic of effective sport parenting....giving advice and well thought out strategies and suggestions on how we, as parents of children in organized sport, can support, encourage and nourish our children as they participate in sport.

His message is child-centered....he explains in very clear ways how parents can create a family culture that supports the child as they grow in their sport.

Once I started reading this book...I found it hard to put down.

It has so much great information and so many inspirational quotes.

Little Athletes, Big Leaders is not only an incredible book on sport parenting, but an amazing book on the subject of well-rounded parenting as well.

I think that many of the strategies & methods that Bruce suggests would be useful in supporting your child in any endeavour...not just in sport.

It is full of advice that every parent should bring to the 'game' of parenting EVERY.SINGLE. DAY.

He has gathered solid evidence from the fields of sports psychology, science, sociology, and business management on how to create a positive environment for your child to thrive in while learning to work at and give effort to the task at hand.

I love how he suggests that parents focus on the approach to the game and NOT the results of the game.

And he stresses how the approach to the game is everything... the effort, daily work, the fun and the camaraderie of teammates...those are the lessons that our children take away and apply to their everyday life for years to come.

This book does an amazing job of empowering parents to make informed decisions about how to direct and support their child in a positive and loving manner that will yield a lifetime of happy results.

I think this is a book that every parent should have on their book shelf to read and refer to often as they guide their young children along in sport.

To learn more about how you can get a copy of this empowering book, please click here.

***

As parents, my husband and I have been very lucky in the fact that both of our children have been very passionate about their chosen sport at a young age.

Our daughter, Hunter, was 4 years old when she came to me and expressed her desire to 'learn to skate and twirl in a dress'. We enrolled her in CanSkate's Learn-to-Skate program and she has been skating ever since. She's now 15 years old.

{To read more about my daughter's passion for skating, click here.}

She has progressed through the figure skating testing stream- passing over 20 different skating tests to finally reach the 'gold level'. It has been a personal goal of hers for a number of years now to pass her gold level tests.... one of the highest levels a skater can attain.

She also participated in the sport of synchronized skating for 6 years...skating on 11 different teams at various levels.

She was fortunate enough to have had the experience of skating at the  Canadian Synchronized Skating Nationals...twice.

And let me qualify here by saying I have no background in the world of skating whatsoever.

None. Zilcho. I can't even skate.

But I have spent hundreds of hours at arenas over the last 10 years supporting my daughter in her love of skating.

For the 2010-2011 season, my daughter was on ice 10+ hours per week...not including off-ice practice, while maintaining honours at school and tutoring 4 elementary children weekly in french reading.

{I marvel at the time management skills she has learned at this young age!}

  I  have attended and watched every practice and every competition she has skated in, except for the last season when she, as a 14 yr. old, wanted more independence from Mom.

For years, I was the Mom who drove other girls to practice. I seldom went to practice with less than 2 skaters in my car. Many, many times I had 4 skaters in my car...driving to practice at 6-something in the morning in the coldest of weather.

And I always stood by the rink boards to watch my daughter skate.

To me, she was so beautiful to watch.

The only advice I ever gave to Hunter was to work hard, try her best and have fun. That's all I  ever asked of her.

However, I have been in the dressing room and rink side when I have heard other parents make disparaging remarks about other skaters. And I have heard parents make critical comments to their children which always took my breath away and made me feel crushed for that child.

I wish I could give a copy of this book to every parent out there who has a child in organized sport.

It takes a village, right?

In my opinion, Bruce has given the village an amazing message to share!

My day today...

...trying to get these rascals to be semi-serious for about 10 seconds for our annual Christmas card photo shoot.

Bananagram for you....

I have been absent around blogland lately. No reason. Just savouring summer. We just spent a better part of a week hosting some friends from Nova Scotia who stayed with us. We had so much fun sharing meals, visiting parks and water slides and playing fun games like this one: Bananagrams.  My mother gave one of the children this quite awhile ago and we just started playing it. And....

this game is so addictive.

Every night, as least 3 of us would spill out the chips to play a game or two. It was so curious to me that my friend's 11 year old son could beat us with his three and four letter words.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes the challenge of word games. It's also an excellent size for travelling....it barely takes up any room...it can be squished into a shoe!

Next week I will be back with the rest of our camping recipes. And soon I will be featuring a week of posts on school lunch planning and recipes. Yes...it's that time again!

Have a great weekend!

Menu Plan Monday & Camping Cuisine Part 1: Perfect Picnic Sandwich

Our family has been enjoying some camping trips this month, so I thought I would devote my posts this week to  sharing some of our favourite camping food recipes.

Let's start off with one of our all-time yummy-always-a-hit picnic sandwich.

This recipes comes from a little fundraising cookbook project done by my daughter's Grade 1 class in 2003.

I love it because not only is it a fabulous sandwich, but it is the ultimate in 'make ahead'  food.

It tastes better the day after it's made....after the flavours have had time to mingle.

This sandwich is the perfect lunch for the first day of camping. After arriving at the campsite and spending a few hours putting up tents, inflating mattresses and getting things in order, everyone is usuallly tired and hungry. That's when I am so happy to pull out the picnic sandwich for an instant lunch. It makes 8 sandwich wedges and each piece is very filling and satisfying.

This sandwich requires a filling, some meat & cheeses and a round loaf.

First step.

The filling.

5 seeded & chopped plum tomatoes

1 cup chopped red, orange or yellow peppers

1/4 cup chopped pitted black olives (I use kalamata olives)

1/4 cup chopped red onion ( I increase this to 1/2 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil. Do not skip this ingredient!

2 tsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar

drizzle of olive oil

Mix all of these things together.

The tomato mixture is similar to a brushchetta topping. You can adapt the filling to your own tastes by adding grilled vegetables with hummus or pesto.

The filling will look like this:

Next step is to scoop out the round loaf to get ready for stuffing.

Scoop out the loaf so that you have about 1 inch of bread all around. Keep the 'hat' of the loaf for the finished sandwich.

Brush the inside of the loaf with olive oil.

This step prevents the bread from going soggy.

Now spoon half of the filling into the bottom of the bread and press down with spoon.

Then layer in half of the sliced meats.

You can use different salami, ham, turkey or even eggplant if you want to keep it vegetarian.

In this sandwich, I used sliced turkey & ham.

Then layer in cheese slices. I used havarti slices. Again, any favourite cheese can be used.

After the cheese layer, layer the remaining meat and spoon in the other half of the filling.

Place the 'hat' back on the loaf. Press firmly. You are done!

Wrap sandwich tightly in saran wrap.

Then I also wrap in tin foil.

Place sandwich in large bowl with some soup cans on top for weight to help "press" the sandwich.

(This step can be skipped, especially if you don't have room in your fridge for the big bowl).

Place sandwich in fridge overnight.

I usually slice my sandwich in the morning with an electric knife into 8 wedges.

Then I re-wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and tin foil and place in the cooler until lunch time.

This sandwich doesn't take long to make. Once you chop up the ingredients for the filling, the rest only takes a few minutes. My 13 yr. old daughter actually made this sandwich while I was working on the prep for other meals for our camping trip.

There you have it.....a super scrumptious sandwich for camping!

Menu Plan for our Camping Week:

Monday: Picnic Sandwich

Tuesday: Chicks on Sticks

Wednesday: For Goodness Steak: Steak & caesar salad.

Thursday: The Loin King: Pork Loin with potatoes

Friday: When you teach a man to fish: A campsite Fish Fry. 

To read Part 2 of Camping Cuisine: Chicks on Sticks, click here.

To read Part 3 of Camping Cuisine: For Goodness Steak, click here.

To read Part 4 of Camping Cuisine: Blueberry & Cream Cheese Dessert, click here.

To read Part 5 of Camping Cuisine: Eat Your Veggies, click here.

This post is linked to:

Menu Plan Monday @ I'm an Organzing Junkie

Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam

Delicious Dishes@ It's a Blog Party

Spotlight Yourself@ It's so Very Cheri

Recipe Swap Sundays @ Remodelaholic

Show & Share @ Just A Girl

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello

the lake of shining faces...

When Matthew was bringing Anne home to Green Gables for the very first time, she poured her heart out to him about all her wishes and dreams for the future, whilst charmingly describing all the pastoral beauties of PEI that her eyes could see. The first lake she saw on her way to the farm, she named the "The Lake of Shining Waters"..simply for it's beauty and the way it made her feel.

I will always refer to this day as the "Lake of Shining Faces".

On a bright, sunny Saturday, we took our boat out for the very first time. And by very first time, I mean the very first time our family took a boat out on a lake. Ever.

My husband was so very excited. He has wanted a boat for a long time. He got up really early on this day to take the boat for it's first trial. I thought it a good idea to stay home with the children in case things did not go well. He wasn't gone from the house for very long when the phone rang. I could hear and feel the happiness in his voice as he told me that he got the boat into the lake with no problems and it was a beautiful day to be on the water. He knows how I hate highway driving, and he offered to drive an hour back to pick up the rest of his family. I told him to just enjoy himself. But when he called 2 more times to tell me how gorgeous it was....I quickly packed up the kids and drove the hour to meet him at the marina to take our first ever family tour.

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Everyone looks so happy!

We had an amazing day. We took a 3 hour tour of the lake. Ate a picnic lunch in the middle of the big blue ripples. We watched other boats and the odd water skiier.  We saw lots of lakeside cottages and a church camp. The marina was busy with lots of other boaters taking their crafts out on the water.  We really couldn't have asked for a better day. I don't know who was more thrilled.....Ron or the kids.

And it leaves me feeling really good about all the future lakes of shining faces.

a three hour tour...

Our family recently acquired a boat.Yup. A boat.

For tours. Fishing. Knee-boarding. Water-skiing. All the fun stuff.

Whenever I think of boat tours, the theme song from this little show from my childhood pops into my head.

This got me thinking.  If I had to describe our family in terms of Gilligan's Island, who would we be?

Ron. For sure, he would be the Skipper. He is fatherly, of course, being a father to our children and all. He is also brave, determined and sensible. He keeps us on course and he takes care of us.  He will be the one to float our boat. (But we will skip the part where he gets us marooned on an unchartered isle. Luckily, we are not the ocean-going sort, and live in the middle of the Prairies and the Rockies.)

Me. I hate to say this...but honestly...I am Mrs. Thirston Howell. The Third. No doubt about it. I like to be pampered. I don't like the wind in my hair or strong sun on my face. If I could be pampered on our boat tours with a martini and a little 'lovey' calling...I would be a super happy chic.

Hunter. Well.....she is Mary Ann. Funny and bubbly. Strong and athletic. She looks so cute in her little bikini, and she would be the most likely female on board to help out the Skipper. She is the all-canadian girl....sweet as can be.

I bet you think that Tyler will be Gilligan. That dumb-witted, but lovable numbskull.

Nope.

Tyler is our Professor.

He loves knowledge and learning and he likes to collect scientific facts. He also likes to share his scientific facts. For instance, the other day he asked me if the dogs could 'see' colours. When I said I wasn't sure, he went to the computer to google it. He reported back to me that 'dogs could only see primary colors'. Good to know.

So there you have it. Our own little family of Gilligan's Island people going on boat tours.

Another song that pops into my head when I think of boats is Robert Plant's song, "Crazy Ship of Fools."

I'm sure I'll be able to talk about that one at the end of the summer.

Here is the Skipper and the Professor with the S. S. Minnow.

Summer can't come fast enough for these two.

Hello Mrs. Bunny Cake...

My mom always made a version of this cake for us at Easter. It's a simple homemade cake cut into a bunny shape. Decorated with jelly beans, coconut, licorice and whatever other yummy things we had on hand.When she happens to be visiting us at Easter, she makes it for my kids.

Such a simple little tradition. But it makes the kids feel so special.

This is our project for today...to make a Mrs. Bunny Cake. We have icing, jelly beans, licorice....it can't be a holiday unless there's a mess in the kitchen.

oh february, why do you seem so long?

I find it so ironic that the shortest month of the year also  feels like the longest month of the year. Yes, February, thrown in the middle of winter, seems to go on forever. When the calendar turns to March, you can actually think spring. But February just seems to perculote in it's cold glory. I find myself exceptionally lazy these days....no gumption or motivation to do much of anything. I just walked away from a half-emptied dishwasher because the notion struck me to go blog. My husband will not be so happy when he enters the kitchen and hits his shin on the open dishwasher door.Then he'll call my name in exasperation. I think he has grown used to my sometimes half-witted ways.

We have been sick here at my house for the better part of almost 3 weeks now. First Tyler with a tough cold and an incessant cough. Then me, with a cold that turned into a flu/feverish illness..... and now Hunter. She has a stubborn cold with head congestion and a cough. Yesterday, I took her to the doctor for the first time in more than 5 years. We ended our run of 13 years of no antibiotics with the diagnosis of a sinus infection and a head throbbing so much that bending over felt like an explosion of the skull. I caught her holding her head like it was going to fall off while trying to put on her boots.

Yesterday I was surfing the net for a two bite brownie recipe. Those little bites are so darn good. I keep telling myself that they cannot be that hard to recreate at home, but alas I have had 2 failures with 2 different recipes. The brownies were just too chewy and not tender like the ones you buy. So yesterday, my google search brought up a blog called 'Dinner with Julie'.  Not only did she have her own two bite brownie recipe, but they were also low fat. Bonus! I started reading her blog and I learned that she is a food writer, food stylist, journalist, and sometimes commentator for CBC in Calgary. Not only is her blog full of good looking dishes, but her writing is fun and entertaining to read. I immediately added her to my favorites list. I love blogs where the writing is honest and real.  So today, I am making Julie's "Ham & Lentil Soup". Just so happens that I have a ham bone with lots of meat on it in my freezer.......courtesy of my mother...she's real handy like that....tucking away little surprises in ziploc bags autographed with her handwriting into my freezer for me to find on a day when I don't know what to make for dinner. This ham soup is a winner....it's meets my requirements for a healthy dose of veg and lentils, but the ham makes it palatable for my boys. I can honestly tell my 9yr. old that it's "ham" soup without being the least bit coy. So tonight we will be tucking into ham & lentil soup with a bit of a french loaf. And I will happily eat away what's left of the month of February with my two bite brownies. Just 5 days left to go.....

(photo: courtesy of Dinner with Julie)

despite the cold....

This is the first time, at 8 years old, that Tyler has taken a true interest in the Olympics. I think he has been too young in the past  to really understand, or the big hoopla of the Winter Olympics being in Canada this year makes it too hard to ignore, but he has been following the Olympic Torch make it's way across the country for weeks now. He kept asking me what day the torch would be in our city and could we go. I said "of course", while praying that it was not going to be during a sudden -30 cold snap. The day soon arrived, and the smart mothers took their kids out of school at lunch time to go to the torch relay activities, while the less bright mothers, such as myself, volunteered to chaperone a group of children from my child's classroom to the festivities. Oh well. I gave 2 other children a chance to experience the chance of a lifetime, right? The city put on a fun event, with lots of things to do....such as crazy carpeting, snowboarding, cross country skiing, and hockey skills. The 3 boys I chaperoned were like magnets to the hockey skills event. There were also FREE hot dogs, and  a very LONG line up for FREE hot dogs. What is it with kids & free hot dogs? Nevermind that they just ate lunch....we had to stand in the lineup for FREE hot dogs...the nice, cold 40 minute line up for free hot dogs. To be honest, I could have drove home, made 4 hot dogs and been back to the event faster than waiting in that line-up...I won't deny that the thought crossed my mind. I was not really interested in having a free hot dog, but my inner child could not deny these children their hearts desire. So in the hot dog line up we go. It just so happens just as we were getting to the hot dog table, the torch arrived. I was left standing with 4 hot dogs while 3 children ran closer to see the torch on the stage. I am not sure how I did it, but I managed to take this picture of Tyler waving at the torch with 4 hot dogs in my hands. Then I briefly entertained the thought of sliding those warm dogs in my pockets for hand warmers, because by that time I was chittering & chattering with cold. But this post was supposed to be about Tyler and the magic he had in his little heart for the dream of everything that the Olympic torch embodies. And it is. I think the picture says it all.

Just happy to be there.

December Daily: Christmas Trivia...

1. Best Childhood Memories: My favorite memories of Christmas as I look back is how our family always spent the holidays with our grandparents and extended family. My paternal grandparents hosted dinner for their 3 sons and their families and I have many fond memories of these dinners....the smell of the turkey, my grandmother's mashed carrots, the sounds of my Grandfather carving the turkey with an electric knife and the shouts of "Merry Christmas!" that rang through the house as each family arrived and the stomping of snow off of boots. And after our Christmas dinner with my paternal grandparents, my parents would pack us up for an hour long drive to visit our maternal grandparents where we would spend the night and I would share a bed with my cousin Kelly. My maternal grandparents had 6 children....3 married and with families of their own......to pack into their house over the holidays which meant lots of noisy commotion and laughter. Warm memories and happy times. {as a side note: Don't you LOVE my dad's shirt (he is the man on the right).....it is so vintage 1970's}.

2. Best Childhood gift from Santa: My dolls. I absolutely loved DOLLS as a little girl. My very favorite doll for a long time was Thumbelina. I also remember other dolls received for Christmas that I cherished: Baby Alive, Lazy Daisy and Baby This n That. I was never really a 'barbie girl' although I owned a few.

3. Favorite Christmas Cookie: Hands down: My mother's cut out sugar cookies.....warm from the oven.

4. Icky Christmas Memory: The year that me, my brother and my dad were all sick with pneumonia. I think we were all too sick to eat our turkey dinner and we missed a family sleigh ride....my mother was the only healthy person in the house that year.

5. It's not Christmas without: Our knitted Christmas stockings, homemade eggnog and English Trifle for dessert on Christmas Day.

6. Christmas Pet Peeve: Those who brag about how much they spend/buy for Christmas....as if that has anything to do with the Christmas spirit. We keep Christmas simple in this house: 1 gift from Santa and a stocking.

7. Our Church Service: Is usually the 4pm service. However, in the last few years we have not attended. I would love to attend Midnight Mass now that my family is a little older....if I could manage to stay up that late!

8. My Favorite Christmas CD: I enjoy the classics at Christmas...Bing Crosby is a must. The last few years I have been buying the Starbucks Christmas CD and we so LOVE the music on these cds. For instance, the first song on this year's CD is a duet with Willie Nelson and Norah Jones singing "Baby, it's Cold Outside". A fun combination, don't you think?

9. Real or Fake: Although we did REAL for many years, we have now switched to fake. I do like the fact that there are no sticky needles tracked all over the house with a fake tree. But I still LOVE a fresh tree.



10. I spend Christmas Eve: with my family. We enjoy staying home, having hors 'deuves for dinner, sipping eggnog and putting on our Christmas jammies early. I will usually read a Christmas story or two with the kids and then we leave out cookies and milk for Santa.After everyone has gone to bed....I turn out all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights and have a cup of hot tea and remember beloved family members that have passed on.....and then my thoughts turn to Baby Jesus.



This post was inspired by the lovely & talented Sarah over at Clover Lane.

a visit...

We are so lucky to have my parents visit us over the Thanksgiving holidays. They are the only company we receive on a regular basis from the Maritimes. I would be so lonely without their visits. We have so much fun while they are here. My mom is the ultimate in "Grammies". While she is here...she always has a 'project' of some kind planned for the kids...whether it be making cupcakes or pancakes, or taking the dogs for a walk, or walking to Chapters with the kids....browsing at books and getting a hot chocolate before the walk home.

My Dad keeps us busy as well. He is the 'Grandfather' of grandfathers. However, his pursuits are a little different....he takes on the homework questions, plays card, and goes for walks with the grandchildren. He loves to tease us. The kids also know that an endless supply of Grammie's homemade pancakes and bacon follow Grampie wherever he goes. Usually this breakfast gets served up at around 8 am....and little people know to be at the table when Grampie sits down.

Here he is getting yummy kisses from the new little puppies. Ha! Doesn't he look so thrilled?

In my opinion, their visits always go by way too fast. We are always wishing they could stay for 'just a few more days'. But there is always the next visit to look forward to....thankfully.

a saturday around our house.....

Hunter wanted to take on a baking project this morning...so she made these pumpkin, walnut & chocolate chip cookies. Tyler did his new Saturday chore..."poop scooping" the yard. After I took this picture, he said, "Mom! I have poop and I know how to use it." Little stinker!

After the baking project was complete, Hunter played with the puppies.

Ron was hanging on his computer for a spell. He coached a winning hockey game at 8 am this morning for the little munchkins. The score was 6-1.

I ran out and got us some chinese takeout for dinner.

And I enjoyed reading the ideas/recipes in this.

All in all, a good day.

the house of sick...

Yes. For a better part of 3 weeks now I have been sick. Desperately sick at first. Aches, pains & chills. Wicked headache. Fever. Followed up by vomiting, diarrhea and coughing. When I was finally able to get in to see my doctor, she sent me for a chest x-ray, and blood work. The chest x-ray showed pneumonia. No x-ray could show just how miserable I felt. So a course of anti-biotics was prescribed, along with lots of rest. I spent most of 2 weeks in bed. Ron had to travel to Toronto for work, but he was able to take Tyler to school on the first day. My friend Josephine drove him for the rest of the week. Hunter made school lunches for both herself and Tyler. We stocked up on frozen Michelina dinners....not the best option...but I don't have a Grandma in my neighbourhood. **Sigh** Thank goodness for girlfriends. Laurie dropped by with ginger ale, saltine crackers, soup, and tea. Theresa came by with delicious homemade chicken soup, bread and flowers. Shelley delivered a pot of steaming borscht...the best borscht I have ever had. Laurie treated me later in the week with the latest magazines...a House & Home Makeover issue, the Martha Stewart Halloween issue and another decor magazine. I am so very grateful for my friends. They really helped me make it through a miserable 2 weeks. I am feeling better now, although my cough still lingers and my energy is not yet up to speed. On Monday, Tyler was diagnosed with pneumonia after 4 days of fever. So I have been nursing him back to health as well. We have been running the vaporizer night and day. Lots of old-fashioned methods have been employed....vicks on the chest, lots of honey, hot water & lemon, lots of water to drink and chicken soup. Naps and many glasses of ginger ale. I have no idea how I caught the flu/pneumonia. It hit hard and fast and knocked me off my feet. I hope that this is my major winter illness over with for this year.

eight new little feet in our house...

The kids have been wanting a puppy for over a year. The request appeared on the christmas list. It appeared in letters written to Dad during summer vacation. It was the request that would not go away. So on Sunday morning, Ron roused me out of bed early to look at puppies on Kijiji. We viewed some really cute puppies which led to a discussion about breeds. Althought we loved our Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Brandy, we felt a smaller breed would be better for our children. We wanted a dog that they could handle on their own....take for walks, play and feed on their own. We decided a breed that would be 10 to 15 lbs. fully grown, and that did not shed, would best suit our family. Ron began calls and made an appointment to meet with a breeder to look at some Shih-tzu puppies that were 2 months old. We surprised the kids with the announcement that we would be going to look at a puppy.....they were beyond excited.


Little did we know that we would meet 2 completely adorable puppies...sisters from the same litter and the last of a litter of 6 puppies. Our intention was to go home with 1 puppy...but Hunter chose the puppy with a lot of black, while Tyler chose the puppy with a lot of white. Hmmmm. I looked at Ron and asked if we could take both home. He said, "Are you crazy?". I said nothing more, but the next thing I knew, he was doling out money for 2 puppies and we went home with each child holding a little puppy on their lap. Oh happy day!
This little girl that Tyler is holding is a chunky little puppy who likes to sleep a lot. She is also a very laid-back puppy. He chose the name "Rigley" for her, along with a blue collar and leash, as well as an Oilers bandana. She will be completey ready when hockey season starts!

This little girl is quite delicate in build and full of pep. She gets into things quickly and looks for trouble. Hunter named her "Molly" and chose a pink collar and leash for her.

And by the way, the color of the bucket and mop is red.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Your Dad and I cannot believe it has been 13 years since we held you in our arms for the first time....our little curly girl has grown into a lovely young lady. Hunter we are so proud of the young person you have become....your amazing grades in school, your passion for your skating, your dedication to the little children you tutor in french reading, your love of literature and your yummy cookies from the kitchen. I cherish the goodnight kiss you give me at bedtime.

Kisses to our big girl.

room with a view...

A pink room for the little 8 year old girl that moved into this house.

The almost 13 year old young lady decides she would like a little more sophistication...so after a shopping trip with Dad to buy new bedding....and a trip to the paint store with Mom.....

This one day project is done. A new room for a young lady. Happy Birthday Sweetie!! xo