Russell Soccer: Timbits final kick of the season!

This weekend E had his closing soccer tournament of the season. It has been such a fun first season on the soccer field, and I have no doubt there will be many more to come.

I had really low expectations going into the season, but I was impressed with E's interest and commitment to this activity. Although there were evenings that he was tired, he always enjoyed it once he hit the field. He made lots of friends on and off the field, and of course the tasty team snacks at the end of every session didn't hurt either!

The organizers did well to mix up the soccer drills in the beginning, and kept it interesting. The last four weeks of the season were probably the most entertaining for the parents because they involved the teams playing mini-games.  This is where I think E started to fall in love with this game a little more. Once he figured out where the net was and how to score, he was into it - BIG TIME! He may need to work a little harder on staying in the game when he doesn't have control of the ball, but with a little more field time, I think that will come.

All in all, a very fun season for this little Timbit - #8. Thanks to Russell Soccer, the volunteers, coaches, and all the organizers who made this year possible.  We'll be back next year!

 

Funny because their true!

For the past few months, friends and colleagues have shared with me various ecards that continue to make me giggle. I have literally spit water on my computer screen over a few of them (of course, none of which are blog appropriate)!

If you are looking for a good laugh at your own expense and many, at the expense others, I would point you here. Go empty your bladder, and set aside some time to chuckle.

These are only the tip of the iceberg... but their clean enough for the blog, and are definitely my kinda humour!

Like I said there are a million others that you will no doubt relate to. They are inappropriate, but you can't help but howl... and I think we all need a good laugh every now and again. Enjoy!

Poolside!

What an amazing summer we seem to be having here weather wise. And by amazing, I mean the heat is off the charts, which, if you love the sunshine like me, you have been in heaven every time you step foot out the door these days (however, if you're a farmer, I feel for you - where is the rain?!).

This is the summer to totally have a backyard pool. I think many can agree that the last few summers we've had, maintaining a pool has hardly seemed worth it with all of the rain and crappy weather we've had to contend with. The pool season seems short to begin with, and for all of the effort it takes to keep a pool running, the past few summers has probably been more work than pleasure. But for the pool peeps who have been there through thick and thin, this is the summer it all pays off! People who have had their pools up and running on May 2-4 are definitely going to get their money's worth this year - and then some. I am betting at this rate, we'll still be poolside in late-September, which is awesome!

We are lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa C close by, along with their refreshing salt-water pool. My boys have enjoyed swimming in their pool a lot this summer, and its only just begun! They are becoming little fishes... and they love all of the splashing and fun that goes along with it, not to mention the extra spoiling that Grandma & Grandpa add in with each visit.

E has become quite the little swimmer, and has really gained a lot of bravery when it comes to jumping in, and going under.  H has taken his fearless approach to life right into the pool too... he loves when Daddy tosses him in the air for his own demonstration of the baby CANNON-BALL! We had both boys in swimming lessons in the spring, and now with the awesome summer we're having, they are able to continue building their water confidence in Grandma & Grandpa's pool.

Lots of fun summer memories are being made poolside this year... so glad I've remember my camera for a few of these pool trips.

 

Shooting in manual!

A month ago, I took a little photography course to learn more about my Canon DSLR, which is now almost 3 years old.  I bought a Groupon for this course back in January, and forgot about it, until I saw another offer for a similar photography course in June and  it sparked my memory that I had a Groupon that was about to expire.  I went to the course thinking that I didn't want to just waste the $40, and that at the very least I would probably learn something.

Well I did learn something - I came away with a wealth of new information.

This course was only a couple of hours, but it covered the basics for learning some important details about a DSLR camera, and it gave me the primary know how to shoot in manual if I ever wanted to.

Before taking the course, I honestly thought, what's the big deal about manual shooting. Why would someone waste their time getting the manual settings in place when you have one button called 'automatic' that would do it for you.  My philosophy in short was... 'when in doubt, use automatic'.

After the taking course, I am definitely a believer in figuring out the manual settings. With a little education, your pictures can go from okay to AMAZING. Natural lighting is everything, and if you have it, it's really a shame to be using a DSLR camera in automatic.

Of course, this educational seminar didn't just talk about manual settings, it actually explained many other functions of my camera that I had no idea even existed, or other automatic settings that I was not taking full advantage to improve my photos.

After the course was over and I had a few days to digest the info, we spent close to a week at the cottage and I thought it was the perfect time to try my hand at manual.  I experimented, and I learned, and I think I grew a little bit as a Mommy photographer. Yes there were four or five shots at the beginning of every set that were dark or overexposed, or noisy. But then came the next four or five that were a bit better, and better, and better. The single most important thing I probably noticed is that your child doesn't have to look at the camera and say 'cheese' to get an awesome shot. If you shoot in manual, in natural light, the possibilities are endless for those amazing candid shots.  Of course, I still love to get my boys looking at me in their happy faces, but I am more drawn to the candid shots now that I know the basic principles of manual shooting.

Since the course, if I have a minute to configure my manual settings, I do try to shoot in manual as much as I can. Of course, in a pinch, I still flip the camera to automatic for fear that I will miss that special moment with the boys, but I am getting quicker all the time.

I do have a new appreciate for the fees that photographers charge. If they are shooting in manual in different scenes and composing different shots for you and your family, they are earning every penny, as they have to put their minds to work every time that shutter clicks.

Thanks to Christine Tripp Photography for offering a Groupon for this course, I am interested in taking her level two course in the fall hopefully - but for now, I will just try to master the basics and enjoy being behind the lens to capture our family memories.


 

First time for everything!

Today a very special man in my life celebrates his birthday! That's right... PC is prepping to blow out a small bonfire worth of candles this evening, and while that is a big deal, I think what is an even bigger deal is that for the first time in the ten years I have known him, he is working on his birthday.

Can you believe it?

Is the sky falling?

Hell has clearly frozen over.

PC prides himself in taking a day off on his birthday... and he usually golfs or does something that makes him happy, but this year, work has prevailed and he's up and at it with the rest of the working world today.  However, not to panic people... he's taken Friday off instead, not quite the same as his actually b-day, but a close second!

We are celebrating his big day with his family this evening at our house... and looking forward to Mom C's famous donairs - a birthday tradition in the Coleman household, and oh so yummy!

Happy birthday to my number one (and only) husband, lifelong friend, and rodeo partner! We have our ups and downs, as many couples do, but through thick and thin, I know I love you with all my heart... and you and our boys are truly the best part of life!

Have a great day birthday boy - you seem to enjoy life everyday, but I hope today is extra special!

Everything happens for a reason...

I am once again a believer that everything happens for a reason... and sometimes I question why things happen the way they do, but I am truly thankful to have a higher power watching out for me and my family.

Nine months ago, I was beside myself with our former daycare situation. It was going downhill fast, and I could see that it was not an ideal situation for my boys to be in going forward. It caused me to lose a lot of sleep over how to proceed ... and I was really hard on myself for making the initial decision to change daycare providers. But looking back... it was by far the best decision we've made for the boys and our family.

Fast forward to now, and our former daycare provider has moved out of town - which if we would have stuck it out, we would have found ourselves high and dry, and now frantically searching for a daycare provider in the middle of our summer holidays. Instead, we made the switch seven months ago, and discovered a very caring and nurturing individual who really is not in the daycare business for the money but truly enjoys looking after young children and only wants the help them learn life skills that will suit them well in the future. Its like night and day the difference. The flexibility with our current daycare provider makes our lives less stressful... and the sheer fact that we don't have to speed home from work to get the kids is probably the biggest blessing for us - it makes the end of the day that much more manageable and has really relived a lot of stress in our household. In addition, we pay a very reasonable price per day on the days the boys go and our daycare provider's contract does not ask for anything out of the ordinary.

Overall the kids are doing really well at daycare, E is preparing to start kindergarten in the fall, and H is learning how to have fun with the big kids! I am actually upset that I wasted so much time and energy agonizing over my decision, when I should have trusted my gut from the get go to know that making a change was going to be for the best, and it really has been.

Hooray for one of the good things in life!

 

Friday the 13th.

Everyone always jokes that Friday the 13th is destined to be a weird day and before I wasn't really believer, but after today, I totally am.

This Friday was to be a fairly typical, routine day in our household, and it started out just that way... the kids were up as per their regular waking hour and PC and I got them shuttled out the door as per usual. Normally I would drop the kiddies off on my to the office, but today PC took them as we both had dentist appointments in Ottawa and his was first.  I stayed behind, logged into work briefly and then cleaned up the house a bit with the extra 45 mins I had before I had to leave.  I left in decent time and was putting on a car concert to some Maroon 5 when I saw the dashboard light up with the  'low tire pressure' message. I really didn't read to much into it because that light has come on in the past in extremely cold temperatures and I wondered if it was just another false alarm with the extreme heat we've been experiencing this week.

I cleared the dashboard warning light, and continue my concert, but as I am literally one exit away from the dentist, I hear a loud 'wop wop wop wop wop', and another exclamation light appears on the dash. Immediately, I knew it was trouble and pulled over the shoulder of the road to find out that my back rear tire was completely flat.

Just as I get back in the car to make my emergency call to roadside assistance, the guy on the radio says 'anybody having bad karma today? Remember, its Friday the 13th, so be careful out there'!

THANKS TIPS!

It was not a good morning... needless to say I missed my dentist appointment and a good portion of the day. Since PC was at the dentist and just leaving when he got my call, he was able to come to the scene and assess the situation.  I was pretty lucky that A. traffic was light on the 417 this AM, and B. that PC was close by to rescue me (and C. that the kids were not with me). Roadside assistance took for.ever. but PC, my hero, managed to get my spare on so I could atleast get myself back home (doing 80km on the 417 with my four ways on all the way home).

I actually spent a good chunk of the day shopping ... FOR A TIRE! My flat tire was no where near patchable... so I had to shop around for a replacement tire. Not my idea of a great time... and trust me I would have rather spent the $250 on something like a new purse and coordinating shoes, but Friday the 13th would not allow it.

The next Friday the 13th that roles around, I think I'll stay in bed.
It will definitely be cheaper!

 

Cottage Vacay (before & after children)!

We just returned home after a week of vacation at the cottage. It was beau.ti.ful. The weather was fantastic... hot sun, warm water, and a cool breeze at night.

Everyone had a good time for the most part, with the exception of a few sleep deprived nights (thanks to H), and the odd overtime shift of suicide watch (two busy boys near open water), I would say it was one of the better weeks of vacay we've had in a while.

I absolutely love the cottage when the weather is gorgeous... it makes me immediately return home to buy a lottery ticket in hopes that I can permanently move to a waterfront/beachfront location for life ever after. But since having children, the cottage has a different feel... while its beautiful and still has small windows of opportunity to be relaxing, its a hot bed of no-no's for my little monsters.

Before children I could kick back with glass of wine and a trashy magazine and my only worry was whether I used enough dark tanning oil to actually get some noticeable colour.  But now... those activities are rare, I am actually lucky if I even get five minutes to myself to apply a shot of sunscreen!

Being with my boys at the cottage my fears are constantly verbalized, saying things like...

1. back up from the edge of the deck
2. away from the water
3. your too deep
4. don't throw sand
5. don't eat sand
6. off the ramp
7. no running on the dock
8. stay where I can see you
9. don't splash your brother
10. put the rocks down

and the list goes on... and on... and on.

By the end of a week, I sound like a broken record. If I had to do a shot everytime I said 'be careful' to Thing 1 and Thing 2, there would have been a lot of drunk parenting going on up there.

Despite the challenges of being at the cottage with young children... it is still a wonderful piece of paradise for our family. I truly can't imagine a better vacation for the boys - while the chance for disaster to strike does exist, the childhood memories the boys will have from their experiences at the cottage are nothing short of priceless.  They have so much carefree fun up there... that I would not change that for the world.

Can't wait til we can go back again in August!