November

Sam spent half of October and a bit into November pretty sick so she missed quite a bit of Halloween and Sparks celebrations. Her ear drum ruptured from an ear infection and that was part of it. The cough that came with it lingered on for a couple of more weeks and ended up getting worse. Now she's much better but I'm tired of being on lock down. Back to school now and all is much better. Besides catching up on lots of homework, she kept occupied with an amazing get well gift I found for her at London Drugs. A perfect steal for only $14.99!

Cardboard castle she can color!

When we moved into the condo, Sam got the small room which was really challenging to furnish with a simple bed and dresser. To maximize space, I bought her a loft bed second hand from a friend that also turned her room into a fantastic play area!

 She was also invited to a couple of birthday parties where one was held at a ballet studio. Tutus were made for each girl in their favorite color....Sam's was red.

And of course just sitting back for snuggle time with our Max is always a great way to spend sick days.....

My Spark

Sam is in her second year of Sparks in Girl Guides. I don't have any pics of her swearing-in ceremony until I get my camera hooked up, but I got one of them lining up for cake afterwards.

my proud Spark

Halloween

We've always known Sam to be not so girly and have a bit of a tomboy side to her. As she gets older I found that is changing more and more; this Halloween she wanted to be Tinkerbell. Here she is in her classroom party. (again my phone is not the best quality but I also have to learn to hold steady!)

Camrose Trip

The month of October was quite busy. Sam and I started it out with a 12 day trip to Camrose which was well overdue. Photos are taken from my phone, not the best quality but hey....

Dad and I

Sammy and Great Gram Hagen

The Hagen girls

Sam and I with her big bro Cody!

My special friend forever

This is the view on our walks we'd take staying at Dad and Pat's

Mitzi "roo" cat in her favorite spot

Mitzi's view

Sammy and Grampa stencil their Halloween pumpkin

ooooooo SCARY!

 Sam loved her story time with Grampa
 

Back to School

I cannot believe it's that time of year again and Sam is in grade one. My baby girl is growing up and she continues to surprise me and charm me in every way possible. I'm so proud of her, my little young lady.

First day grade 1

Second day grade 1

Floor hockey!

Summer Holidays!

Sam is finally finished school and is on her summer vacation for the month of August. it sure is going to be something to get used to with this balanced calendar concept. We only have 4 weeks for vacation and then school starts. This month we each had our own adventures....Sam had her time with Wayne and I had a great girls weekend with my BFF Jen! Samantha flew to Ottawa with Wayne on his business trip and got the chance to visit for a week with the family. The Cassidy's haven't seen her in 3 years, with the exception of 'YaYa', aka Wayne's mom.

Cousins Virginia and Cassidy

  

Auntie Ilo

Now, I have quite an amazing friend in my BFF Jen, She surprised me with tickets to see Janet Jackson's first world tour celebrating all of her 35 number ones. We booked ourselves at The Georgian Court Hotel, had dinner on Robson and even squeezed some shopping in before we got ready for the concert. Janet put on an incredible show, she looked amazing and we loved the video clips she had running during her change times. She even did a touching tribute to Michael which made me cry a little - everyone appreciated it.

Saturday was spent shopping at Pacific Center Mall, where we continued our shopping expedition. We had dinner at Earls in Yaletown, then took a cab to Gastown with some friends for some all-night dancing. We had such an amazing weekend. I love our girls weekends away. Thanks BFF!

              * pictures from my cell phone, not very good quality

Spa Day!

 

Samantha was invited to a birthday party held at The Sour Apple Nail Bar, her first spa experience! It is such a cute little contemporary lounge oozing nostalgia in an Audrey Hepburn theme, dripping with black and crystal chandeliers and photography. The girls decorated their own glasses to take home and played games, where Sam won a few prize packs of candy jewelry. Then they had their fingers or toes painted and Sam chose her favorite polish color electric blue. My girlfriends are planning our next girls event at this spa very soon!

Sparks Adventure Day Camp

Sparks has been keeping Sam and their girls quite busy these days. On Sunday she attended the District Adventure Camp with the rest of the Girl Guides and participated in Wildplay events throughout the day. It was her first time climbing the rock wall which she's been dying to try for eons. She had a fantastic time and did a great job at all the activities.

Relaxed April

Sam is in a balanced calendar school system where she's at school for three months and one month off. April was a good break for us and allowed me to have some bonding time with my girlfriends. We headed downtown, shopped 'til we dropped at Metrotown, relaxed with an incredible pedicure, put ourselves up at the Sheraton overnight and enjoyed a well overdue girls weekend....sort of making up for February when I missed the girls weekend after I came down with the stomach flu just days prior. All in all we had a great time and I can't wait for the next time away with my BFF's. Thanks so much Jen, I'm so blessed to have you!

First Sparks Camp Out

 Sam had her first 2-night Sparks camp out last weekend. She was so excited  but ended up in tears both nights feeling quite homesick. Despite missing mom and dad she had fun having her face painted, doing crafts, playing games, sitting by the campfire singing songs and roasting smores. When I picked her up she was exhausted but says she'd do it all over again.

March

Posting anything in the month of March has been a bit of a challenge when all I've been dealing with is sickies in the house...when does the fun ever end? Everyone I know has been sick for weeks on end and just when you think you're done you get hit with something else. Sam had the stomach flu at the beginning of the month, while I fought a cold which turned into a sinus infection. A couple of weeks later Sam came down with a fever that lasted 3 days, with a bad cold that lasted for 2 weeks. Now that she's better I'm praying we all keep healthy and the flu is all finally over with for this season.  I did however manage to get out with my girlfriends for a little break one weekend, to join the adult world again which was much needed!

The weather has been very mild, anywhere from 10C to (17C at one point). This gave me a chance to assess the garden situation, trim things up, rake leaves and fertilize the sorry excuse for a lawn we have (I swear if we had extra money to just throw away I'd hire someone and hard-scape the entire backyard....with water fountains and all!) I had to tackle one palm tree...the tree that didn't have a shelter over the winter, and cut off the fried leaves it suffered from all of the freeze. My poor baby went from this....to this.....to this....

 

Now look at the beautiful palm that took shelter from all of the freeze and rain...

Hmmmm.... with....or without?

First Tooth and Dental Surgery

This post is a bit overdue and fits into the month of February. In the first week Samantha finally managed to wiggle and pull out her loose tooth that has been ready for probably a month. She was so squeamish about the whole thing, favoring it by not eating much and not even touching it with the tooth brush. It was so loose one night just an hour before a Girl Guides overnight camp out, we talked her into pulling it so it wouldn't be a problem for her over the weekend. She resisted with everything she had in her while Wayne and I practically had her pinned to the couch. It didn't have to be such a dramatic event, but she wasn't going to budge. After an long hour of crying and fighting, she had enough....sat straight up and insisted she do it herself, took a napkin and pulled it out (after a few tries). She put it in her pink tooth-fairy box the dentist gave to her and was so proud of her little empty space with the adult tooth growing behind it. She showed it off, smiling to everyone at Sparks.

On the last week of February Samantha went to her dental surgery appointment and had 2 baby root canals, four crowns and four fillings done. Poor thing went through quite a rough day, but she was a trooper. All I can say is thank goodness for our dental benefits EESH! We still had to fork out a good chunk of cash but at least its done now and she has no more pain. Eventually these teeth will fall out but not until she's 10, so she has to take good care of them. DONE are the teeth issues...at least for a while we hope.

All four corners

Happy 6th Birthday My Baby!

Time has sure flown by and while it seems like just yesterday she was 3, Sam turned a whopping 6 years old  *just like that*. Where did 4 and 5 go??

We celebrated on the weekend at McDonalds with all her friends. I planned it with a kinder mom whose son has his birthday just 2 days beforehand and since they all have mutual friends it worked out perfect.
Sam wanted a surprise party so grandma suggested that we go to McDonald's for lunch. When we showed up she noticed one person from her class inside the play area so we opened the door and everyone yelled "Surprise!" She was  shocked at first and was so cute to see the look on her face slowly come to realize that the party was for her. Unfortunately it all happened so fast I didn't have time to pull out my camera.

Yesterday on her actual birthday her whole class sang to her and they shared cookies I took over for snack time. Her teacher gives out books for the kids as birthday gifts so she's got one more for her great collection. When she got home she enjoyed watching her new Tinkerbell movie with her favorite lunch Mac and Cheese. At night she was spoiled rotten with gifts from all grandparents and mommy and daddy, ate her favorite cheese pizza, followed by her favorite decedent chocolate cake. I have one happy girl...and very busy today with all her new gifts!

Happy Valentine's Day

Mom and Rick came down for the week and we all got to celebrate Valentine's Day together - Greek style. YUM!
 

Happy 40 To Meeee

Here's to a new chapter, a new beginning in my life, at 40 years of age...how the heck did I get here so fast! This is the age I remember my parents being when, what felt just like yesterday, I was in high school. Now I'm here and in 10 years I'll be 50...just like Ross reminds Joey in the above Friends clip which echoes my sentiments exactly!

Really though, turning 39 I think was worse, as I knew it was the end of my incredible 30's and being on the downslide to the next decade. It's given me much time to reflect, accept, want to change certain things, appreciate (or not) the hardships and challenges I conquered along the way, being proud of my accomplishments and realize the strengths I have built because of it all. It's empowering to begin a new phase of 'ME'. I know who I am better than I ever have and with that I can continue being proactive in 'living my best life' - (my favorite quote I mantra from Oprah).

 We celebrated over the weekend with 7 of my greatest friends, old and new, plus their spouses in White Rock. I chose my favorite go-to restaurant The Boathouse overlooking the ocean. They decked me out in "40" party accessories which made it so much more fun and they all hit it off so well I think a dinner party with them all is in order soon! So blessed to have such great people in my life!