1/25/2020 0 Comments games with kidsWe've been trying to play more games with our kids. It's nice because they are finally at an age to understand games and actually play them instead of us dictating every move. I mean we still haven't managed the ability to calmly accept defeat, or even accept a move that wasn't their idea. I mean, I need to be able to have my checkers piece kinged at least once a game!
Reuben loves crokinole and will play with the kids. I absolutely hate it because I'm insanely terrible at it. Reuben says it's because I don't take my time to shoot my pieces but just fire them off as soon as I can. I have no idea what he's talking about. But he has the patience of Job and plays the game endlessly with my kids. Who can now easily kick my butt even when I am trying. Hurray. We've started to work on playing memory. Here are the things I've learned while playing Memory with the kids. 1. My memory SUCKS. Even when I'm trying, they still beat me. I've never felt my age more. 2. Harper will put her matches back into the game and act super excited every time she ''magically'' picks the right pieces. And it takes me at least a few rounds to catch on. 3. I have heard every tone and variation on the saying "good job you got a match." What I thought was a way to encourage the kids to be less competitive and let's be real less serious, has turned into the most sarcastic and insincere encouragement possible. 4. Shiloh steals my matches from my pile. Again, I don't catch on for a long time. 5. Jackson will narrate with farting noises and inevitably break out into song about butts. 6. The lines NEVER stay in lines and it makes me mental. Just when I think i actually remember where some pieces are, the girls go and ''fix'' them and I'm back to square one. 7. Harper takes 10 0000 years to flip pieces over and loves to have her stuffies flip pieces which doesn't mess up any other piece or cause any fights at all. 8. I love playing games with my kids.
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1/3/2020 0 Comments 2019 favourites2019 has been a year. A really hard year to be honest. I'll post some reflective post about that to fit in with everyone else on social media later. But for now here our family's top 10 things of 2019!
1. We renovated our kitchen! I know that doesn't seem like a huge thing but it has changed my whole attitude around my little house. No longer is the kitchen dark and horribly outdated. Now it's just slightly outdated with the cast off cupboards we put in :) Nothing is better than having my 3 little crazies sit at the breakfast bar while I'm working the kitchen. It feels light and open and I love it. 2. We took a trip to the Strong Museum with some good friends. My kids are still talking about it. Road tripping, staying a hotel and then spending an entire day at the most amazing children's museum with some of our favourite people was incredible. We made tons of memories, including a late night run to Target and lots of cheap fast food. Nothing better than that my friends. 3. Reuben became a project manager. I am immensely proud of him for how hard he works. And not just because he's learned some wicked skills that are incredibly handy when I have ''Pinterest projects " (aka I show him what I want and he does the rest because home improvement is too much like crafting for me). Okay so this is a bit of a proud rant about my husband but he's pretty great. Hard working, cares so much about those he works with and works hard. All the dang time. We got to celebrate all this by throwing axes, drinking beer and eating pizza with some of those dearest to us. 4. We built a gate in our fence to our neighbour's yard. I think it's quickly become my favourite part of our home. In the summer it's open all day with kids running back and forth between the yards. It's what we wanted with community - a safe welcoming community for our kids and the chance for them to be kids. I love when we have 10 or more kids in our backyard all day. Seriously. Okay I don't love it when they eat all my cookies. But we've been so so blessed with our neighbours. 5. Our summer bucket list was epic. We explored Haldimand County, Hamilton and so many other places. We did some adventures spur of the moment, some on our own, some with friends, some with family. We laughed, we cried, we all napped in the van. We ate lots, got sunburned and threw tantrums. We petted elephants, we harvested heirloom garlic at a castle, we groomed donkeys, we danced in the rain and watched drive in movies. Take me back. 6. Okay nerd alert. I love our garden. I love finding worms with the kids for the compost. I love turning the compost into our veggie beds. I love planting, tending to and harvesting our plants. I love when my kids escape to the garden and eat cucumbers or beans right off the plants. I love when they are constantly giving our produce away to anyone they can see. I love the dirt under my nails. And I hate the spiders that live in my garden. 7. Reuben went to Ecuador on a mission's trip and came back forever changed. He got to experience 10 days with some pretty great men from our church and step out of his comfort zone to see God work in amazing ways. He got to step outside his role of dad, husband, brother and friend to step out in faith. I love listening to his stories and hearing him process all that he's wrestling with. And I love how excited my crazies were to have their beloved daddy back. 8. We've started hosting a lot more. I'll be honest, I was embarassed about my small house for a long time. But now I've learned I have some pretty incredible friends who genuinely don't care about our house, my appearance or the inch deep layer of dog hair on everything. We hosted a Victoria Day firework thing, a couple BBQ's this summer, and a wicked costume birthday party where every single person came in a costume. I am not kidding, this is the kind of community my heart longed for. We celebrated a 'Friendsgiving' potluck at a local park. We have games nights at each other's houses while we shove the kids outside. We have a Christmas party. If any of you are reading this, thank you. Thank you for embracing our chaos and coming into our lives. 9. We went to the Aquarium this year and took the train! The kids LOVED it, especially being able to take the train. Jackson loves fish and sharks of all kinds and it was so awesome watching the girls. 10. It's true what they say. It's those small, normal everyday moments that seem to be the most precious. Ou wrestling matches, our movie nights, our game nights. Making dinner with the kids, watching them vacuum each other's faces, finding joy in cleaning the toilets (that's all Shiloh, definitely not me). Snuggling on the couch after school, building forts, singing at the top of our lungs. Those moments saved my 2019. |
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