This little girl...

is constantly on my mind, in my prayers, in my thoughts. She is the bravest person on earth. WE LOVE YOU.

Life...

Blog posts have been few and far between lately....sorry? Lots has been happening here, I'm not sure where to start or how much I'm good with sharing...... yet.

Lets start with Jason. My super star husband has been tracked down, offered and accepted a new coaching opportunity. He will be coaching the Quest For Gold Beach volleyball athletes in their push towards the 2015 Pan Am Games, The 2016 Summer Games in Rio and The 2020 Summer Games. This is a very exciting opportunity for him and there are lots of exciting things happening in Beach Volleyball in Canada. What this means for our family is he will be gone every Thursday to Toronto in the months or May and June. In July and August he will be gone to Toronto to coach from 3-5 days a week. He may also have the opportunity (if one of his teams make it) to travel to Turkey and to Portugal.

We have had some sickness. Riley, Cooper and I have had a cold. Riley had the worst of it with coughing. Cooper has managed to make it through with only a runny nose. Somehow Jason and Simon have managed to escape it.


We have been outside as much as possible enjoying this beautiful weather. Riding bikes, playing in the puddles and having little mishaps in the mud...


We are leaving on Sunday for the cottage until Thursday. Looking forward to quiet time together and a few days with friends. Have a great spring break.

CANNONBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday at "our hotel" was spent in the pool with Jason teaching Riley the art of a good cannonball.











We think she got it.

A Birthday Interview

One of the other blogs I read is called i should be folding laundry. The woman that writes the blog does birthday interviews with her children. On their birthday she asks them a series of questions which she posts on her blog. I really liked this idea, it will be fun to look back over the years to see how their answers change. It will also be fun to see if any of the things they thought they would do or be comes true. Here's Riley's 5th birthday Interview.

How old are you? Five

What do you want to be when you grow up? A veterinarian

Why? Because I want to take care of animals, give them medicine to feel better.

What else do you want to do when you grow up? Marry William.

Why do you want to marry William? Because he asked me to.

Do you want to have any kids? 2 kids.

What do you want to name them? Sara and Isaac or Cooper

How about three kids like mommy and daddy? Nope. Three is too much.

Can I babysit them? Yep. You can come to my house and I can come to your house anytime I want.

Can I have sleep over with them? They can only sleep at your house if I'm there.

Why? So I can make sure you're doing it right.

What's your favourite food? Noodles with butter

What's your favourite thing to play with? Dress up and my babies

What's your favourite activities? Swimming, dancing and playing with my friends

What do you want to do for your birthday? Go to the hotel and swim.

Are you big now that your five? Yep, because it's my birthday and I'm taller then Simon and Cooper.

Riley's Birthday Celebration - Take 26?

It's been a week of fun. A week of celebration. A week of Riley.

What we eat for dinner for kids birthday is always the birthday kids choice. I asked Riley what she wanted for dinner and her initial response was rice and vegetables. Hmmmm....not really what we were all hoping for. Her second choice was to go to the Rainforest Cafe in Toronto. That, we are happy to do. Jason suggested that if we were going to go down there we might as well stay in the hotel, "our hotel," afterwards. It is across the street and the kids could swim and play tennis. We invited Jason's family as well as our friends the Olijnyk family. A great plan....you know what happens to great plans right.

I dropped the kids off at school with the intention of picking them both up early so we can check into our hotel room and head to the Rainforest Cafe for our 5:30 dinner reservation. I was home packing for everyone, the perfect, well thought out packing job. Then the phone rang. It was Simon's teacher, he was not well, he was not himself. Great. The last time Simon was sick was last year at Riley's birthday. We had a hotel and Disney on Ice tickets. He slept through Disney on Ice. I went to pick him up and he looked.....sick. So much for that well thought out and planned packing job. We came home and he rested for a bit and then he was up and ready to go, so we went.

We checked into the hotel and Riley quickly did all the special hotel things...

Wrestle and jump on the beds.




Simon, not so much. Things didn't look good for the poor little guy.



He insisted on coming the Rainforest Cafe. Although he didn't see much of it.


Riley on the other hand was glowing. She was so happy. Her and her friend Bree happily explored the restaurant, collected coins from everyone to throw into the fountain, searched the floors for more money (yuck), had their dinner, played with birthday gifts and enjoyed a volcano together.










Cooper was mesmerized. He spent the dinner devouring his food... and Kate's food. Pointing at all the animals and making animal noises.




Simon, stayed like this



After dinner we headed back to the hotel with the Olijnyk family for a swim. Simon came to life and swam with everyone.




The girls had a great time jumping off the edge together.



While Cooper cuddled daddy in the pool (the cold pool) and hung out with Izzy on the lounge chairs.




Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Rosemary, G.G., Kate, Pete, Bree and Izzy for making Riley's night so special. We are pretty sure her skipping feet didn't touch the ground at all that night.

This is what a five year old looks like

This is what a five year old looks like fresh out of bed.


This is what a five year old looks like on her new bike.




This is what a five year old wants for her birthday breakfast even though her mommy had blueberry banana pancakes for her.




Isn't she perfect?

What a girl wants...

if the birthday girl wants ladybug cupcakes to take to school to share with her classmates, the birthday girl gets ladybug cupcakes to take to school to share with her classmates.



nuff said.

Five

Riley,

You are five. Five. FIVE. Five is big. Five is a real kid. Five is beautiful. Five years ago a miracle came into our lives. An amazing little bundle that we were told would never happen for us. You were the beginning of our new lives, the beginning of parenthood. You also were the end, the end of heartbreak, the end of yearning and the end of countless needles.

When you were born we were able sit and watch you sleep. We remember the little heart shape your lips made, the perfect swirl of hair on the crown of your head, your long skinny legs. Five years later and we are still in awe, you still possess all these beautiful physical features but have grown into so much more. You are gentle, caring, empathetic, smart, loyal, kind, and the list can go on and on.



It is amazing to watch you with your brothers. The way you care for them, the way you play with them, the way you help them, the way you cry when one of them is hurt, the way you love them. You are like their second mom... the bossy and saucy second mom.








I am not sure we could be more proud of you. There is SO MUCH to be proud of.







Love you tons and tons,
Mommy
xo