All in a Week

When the new year hit I made a conscious decision to slow my life down.  After a fall of running with my hair on fire and feeling exhausted at the end of it all, I decided that we were going to start this year off on a slower foot.

It hasn't been without it's challenges.  I am used to filling up every minute of my time with something, am forever planning things for the weeks and months ahead and really don't enjoy being idle at all.  But I find that in those idle moments, especially with Sydney, is when magic often happens.  Small, precious memories unfold that I have the feeling will be the ones that stick with me for the rest of my life.

This week I had an afternoon that was one of those times.  We had absolutely nothing planned after school so we simply came home and I asked Syd what she wanted to do.  We played about five rounds of Candyland and then decided we couldn't stay in the house a minute longer while the sun was shining so we packed a bag of outdoor toys and headed up to Dunbar park for the afternoon.

Syd played for a while and then decided that she wanted to have a snack so we climbed to the top of the bleachers by the baseball field and had a little something to eat while keeping a bird's eye view of the kids playing down below.

We chatted and laughed and shared some stories.  I loved it.  Every minute.  I've missed moments like this over the past few months as I've been busily shuttling Syd around from one activity or event to another.

Having less to do has also meant more time to connect with friends.  Yesterday afternoon we had Bea and Erin over for a playdate, something I had meaning to do for months.  We had a lovely visit together, Bea is such a sweet girl and I am looking forward to Sydney building a deeper friendship with her. 

Just love this shot of her holding the Cinderella Barbie that Sydney gave her on Christmas morning.

This weekend we had the pleasure of celebrating with two of Sydney's friends in birthday celebrations.

Yesterday we went to Leo's 5th birthday party which was a bowling extravaganza at the Grandview Lanes on Commercial Drive.

It was Sydney's first time to bowl, she loved it and was quite good at it right off the bat!


Leo's Mom, Marcy, made a very cool police car cake for Leo.  We so enjoyed the party and visiting with Sydney's preschool friends. 

I love this picture of Sydney and Julia waiting for the balls to return!

This morning we headed out to Crash Crawly's in Coquitlam to celebrate sweet Jack's 4th birthday.  What fun the kids had playing around in the indoor playground!

This week brought so many other great times.  Sydney and her classmates celebrated the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat which is kind of like a Jewish Earth Day.  The kids refer to it as the birthday of the trees and take time to learn all about the environment and to be thankful for everything that trees give us.  Sydney made some special cards for Jen and Carmen for the occasion.

Sydney took a picture with her favourite tree for a homework assignment.  I love how she's hugging this little sapling that was just planted across the street from our house.

In celebration of this day Sydney got herself a little primula which she used as the centerpiece for our Shabbat dinner along with some freshly picked leaves from our garden.

I also had the pleasure of reconnecting with both my brother and sister this week.  Sydney and I met up with my brother for lunch and were treated to some lovely new year's gifts from him!

Sydney got a new Brave Barbie doll and a Disney princess floor puzzle which she absolutely adores and has put together at least two or three times every day since Paul gave it to her!

Paul gave me some very lovely gifts as well, some beautiful soaps, David's Tea and some Body Shop treats.

On Friday morning my sister and I met up at a funky little diner on Main Street called Slickety Jim's Chat and Chew for brunch and then popped up to Oakridge to go boot shopping.

We had such great luck finding boots!  Liane got herself an awesome pair which fit her perfectly the first time and I got this very stylish pair of dark brown boots with the best gold hardware!  I absolutely love them!

Of course, one pair of boots hardly seems like enough when there are so many terrific sales happening these days so the very next day when Syd and Paul and I were shopping in South Granville I got a great pair of black Geox boots as well.  I think I'm done boot shopping for a while...I hope....

Sydney has been hard at work creating some great artwork at home and school these days.

She was thrilled to inherit the giant box that my new boots came in and recreated a craft that she'd done in her preschool class where she rolls small bouncy balls in paint and then rolls them over a piece of paper inside of a box to create the coolest effect.

I especially love this piece that she made at school where she wrote the name of each of her classmates on a piece of green tape.

She also made a beautiful flower necklace with a practicum student, Young, in her class.

Our days have been starting and ending on a special note lately.  Sydney has requested what she calls 'special breakfasts' almost every morning where we set the kitchen table with proper glass plates and cups and make something a little out of the ordinary.

Sydney has been so into snuggling with a stuffy or doll to fall asleep lately.  The other night I went into her room to check on her and found her snuggled up with her Dora doll just like this, so precious especially with her Dora sheets on the bed that night!  A theme! 

What a wonderful week!