Redo...
I just read a half post from 2011.... I am clearly very dedicated. I will begin again. A family blog is always something on my to-do list. Maybe 2016 is my year.
2015 Recap. MOG (mother of god) where shall I begin. The beginning of the year I guess but its already kind of blurry. I digress.
Ava.... She's in grade 3!!!! I know!!!! She is my little introvert. She's had a bit of a tough year with some of her buddies changing schools this year but overall is doing great. Great report cards, well liked by the teachers. Possibly better friends with the teachers than the kids but not unexpected. She is an old soul. So serious. Very logical. Teacher says she is a little math whiz. No problem too big for her. She is incredibly independent and prefers it that way. No help wanted or needed.
Ever the artist, we are still amazed at her sketches though we have cut back on some of the art classes. They don't seem to challenge her and are very generic. I keep looking for something a little more suited for her. An odd combo to be a mixed left/right brainer. Should serve her well in the future. She's says she wants to be an architect. Doesn't seem to change her mind. Wouldn't surprise us if she never does. She's always been very clear on what she wants. However, she's eight,. The world is her oyster.
She's not much for sports at the moment but she knows the rules. You must be active. We've tried a variety of things; dance, swimming, volleyball, gymnastics. No winners there. We picked up tennis last summer and she doesn't seem to mind it. She is playing with the Tennis Saskatchewan developmental program this year. She plays 3 times a week. Once is a physical training session (they work hard). One is a group on-court session. The other is a private. She likes anything that is one on one. To this point, its mainly been skill work and some partner work but no real games. She isn't keen on the game part but I keep warning her that a game is the whole point of all of the hours of practice.
She's still playing piano and seems to enjoy it. She is starting to play some more complicated pieces and practice time has picked up. She is a trooper and heads down to the basement and practices on her own most of the time. I think she tries to get it done before I get home so I can't critique her over her shoulder!!! I remember hating the mom over the shoulder part when I played but it's a necessary evil. She seems to play mostly by ear and by pattern which the teacher informs me is a very good thing. It does make for some stressful moments at the start of new songs though. During a moment of IPad ban, she decided to write and play her own song. Murray posted it on Facebook. It was nice to see of her do that type of thing of her own accord.
Ella is in kindergarten. She's thriving. The almost complete opposite personality type of her older sister, she adores the social aspect of school. Her teacher says she's very advanced both intellectually and academically for her age (mom brag moment). I asked her how school was one day and she said, "You know maternelle is not really school, right? It's just to prepare us for grade 1 when the real learning begins!"
Ella is a gregarious young lady. She likes to be the star of the show. Not shy in the least. I can't imagine her having much trouble navigating her world. She knows what she wants and is charming enough to usually get it. She has the ability to make those around her feel good. A master of complimenting others (many times in order to get what she wants) at the tender of five.
She just finished up a session of swimming. She is doing really well. Swims like a fish. She is also taking piano and has picked it up easily. She sight reads really well so piano sessions generally go smoothly and quickly as long as I can get her to stop talking. She also started Ukrainian dancing this year which the Lawrek's are getting a kick out of. Somehow, none of us Lawreks ever got signed for Ukrainian Dance. It's a shame. She is leading her group in their performance piece. I haven't seen it but I am that parent who listens outside the door. Can't wait to see it. I am only sad that grandma Katy (my grandma who passed away last year) won't be around to see it.
Mila is two and half and is a ball of energy. She definitely has the third child advantage and refuses to believe that she can't keep up to her older sisters. She was riding a scooter by two!!! She has the nice long glide. She is talking up a storm. A lot more English is coming out of her mouth these days though the language of play between the older girls and her is still French. Her P's all sound like M's. Princesse (french spelling) sounds likes Maincesse and instead of Pancakes, she says Mancakes. Cute!!! Still working on potty training. Of course the last child had to be the most stubborn. The other two were in panties by two. This one is doing number one but not number two. She's not so keen on the panties which she says are, "Pour Ella". Its a work in progress.
Murray and I are still busy at work. Not too much slow down for us even thought the boom is over which is good news. We rearranged our work schedules at midpoint of this year to try and get a little more work-life balance. Murray's pulled back a little on his hours to run the girls. I leave early and he gets the girls ready for school. He's had some hairy moments. Trips back across the city for forgotten lunches, kids going to school in house coats or multiple layers of clothing (This mom had to give Ella a serious talk about not giving daddy a hard time in the morning) but he's got it down pat now. He comes into the office until 3:30pm then gets the kids from school and does the domestic stuff. Turns out he is a great cook!!! I have to work a longer day but it's cut down my evenings and weekends and we are still managing to maintain our file load so its a win/win. We feel like its working well for us.
Murray is playing some REC volleyball on Sundays which he enjoys and works out in our office gym at noon hours. I generally spend my lunch hour at yoga downtown which has been a life-saver for my back and my sanity. Can't say enough good things about yoga. Could go on and on about how great it is... but I won't. Not this time at least.
That's the quickest recap I can manage. There are thousands of more going-ons but I'll save them for another post, hopefully.
Here are some photos taken this summer by the amazing Peter Scoular.
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