Fitness 2014

I was a regular runner for about 7 years. Nothing major but enough so that I could always go out and run 10 km and feel good. I wasn't fast and I only ran every other day, but it was a good and easy way for me to stay fit. In the fall of 2011, I started working in a building that didn't have a shower facility and as I usually run at lunch time, this became a bit of a problem. I walked a bit but for various reasons, I didn't keep up with my running. Finally in the spring of last year, I decided to get back into a regular fitness routine. So, I drove to another building during lunch where I exercised and then showered and then headed back to work. It felt good to be exercising regularly again. In the summer our office moved into a new building with it's own gym and shower facilities. Yeah. It's a bit more convenient to work out and I try to run 4 out of 5 days a week. I don't worry too much about the weekends. I would love to, but it's usually too much stress on myself to exercise on Saturday or Sunday. There is too much else going on.

I'm still doing fine, but I decided to use some Christmas money and buy myself a gadget. It's really a glorified pedometer, but I decided this was as much as I wanted. I wear the fitbit zip all day and it measures my activity. It can tell when I am exerting more energy and I when I am just walking. I'm aiming for 10,000 steps a day. It automatically syncs to my computer and as you can see from the screenshot, there are all kinds of fun graphics and reports. Last spring when I started running again, I also started using the fitness pal app on my iPad. I love it and was faithful through until the fall. Then I took a break. I enter the food that I'm eating and the exercise that I do, and it monitors my progress. Now my fitbit and fitness pal app are connected and I'm back on track monitoring my eating and my exercise. Actually I'm only on my first full day, because it took me a while to break down and buy myself a pedometer, but I'm glad I did.

This wasn't a goal of mine for the new year. Just one of those fine tuneup things I want to do periodically. I'm comfortable with where I am at physically, but I just want to be a bit more consistent with my exercise and eating. For me, it just helps when I keep track.

Wow - It's Been 4 Years

Monday we celebrated 4 years as a family. In so many ways it seems as though we've been together forever and in other ways, it seems like just yesterday we were in Ottawa anxiously waiting for the plane to land.

We have done something different each of the past 4 years. This time both kids requested ribs for the meal. 

Finger licking good.

Apple crisp for dessert.

And then 3 sisters goofing around the table.

Singing at the top,of their lungs.

Looking at the latest funny video.

Check out how tall Peter is. Crazy. And getting taller. 

We try not to make these days an over the top celebration. But we do want to acknowledge the event. It was life changing for all us. We are so blessed to be a part of Peter and Gaëlle's life and are excited to see what this year will bring.

2014 Begins

January 1st has come and gone. I made the traditional Haitian Soup Joumou (Pumpkin Soup) once again. 

It's nice to have a pumpkin base for the soup instead of a tomato base and I love this tradition altho Peter and Gaëlle would prefer fried chicken. We told them they get to choose the meal on PG Day and that's coming up. I have a feeling they won't be asking for Soup Joumou. 

Carol and Rob came over and brought some crafts for the kids. Emily needed to help Gaëlle with hers. 

But Peter picked up on the concept pretty easily.

After the meal, we had ice cream sundaes again. We still have lots of toppings. 

We played the game "APPLES TO APPLES". It's a fun easy game for all ages to play. I wish I had taken more photos but this is it for the day. 

Friday, January 3rd, we had a bit of a blizzard. Emily spent the night with us before as she was working on grad school admissions. So she pulled out Kaylin's guitar and spent some time learning. 

Another one of the dresses Grammy sent up for Gaëlle that gets washed and then immediately gets worn again. 

Robin and I actually drove into work on Friday morning. The building was fairly empty and as the storm was worsening we decided to leave early. Somehow between the time we decided to leave and getting in the car, Robin put out his back. He is so frustrated but came home and laid down on some heat. 

Peter spent some of the day reading. 

Gaëlle worked on some "THANK YOU" cards. 

Peter played with planes and created his own out of styrofoam. 

I finally got my energy to do some baking. I made white bread, brown bread, banana bread, apple crisp, and double stuffed potatoes. It felt good to be productive. 

Goodbye to 2013

It was great to have Josh home for a week but he left last Saturday and headed back to Pennsylvania and his life there. He managed to take back some more of his stuff. Robin is still mourning the loss of his big screen TV.

There he goes. He had a good trip back and made it in one long day. 

Gaëlle is loving the fancy purple dress Grammy found for her. She would wear it every day if she could.

We managed to take down the Christmas decorations last Sunday. I love to have them out, but I also love to put them away. It actually didn't take much time. Altho, note to self; it seemed to put Peter and Gaëlle in a funk. And I wasn't even at them to help. They were just a bit moody.

We debated New Years Eve plans and then decided to just have a quiet night at home. Emily and Kaylin were here for our traditional meal.

I didn't have too many snacks but enough for the kids to feel like it was a party.

We all chose paninis instead of a cold sub sandwich.

The older girls left and we had a game marathon. Each one of us chose one game to play. We were not at all surprised when Gaëlle chose "JUST FOR FUN". She loves that game. We got points for each game based on our standing.

Peter chose LIFE. Robin chose UNO.

 

And I chose QUIRKLE CUBE. 

Robin ended up the big winner of the night. And so he chose the prize he wanted first. Peter was second and so he chose next. Then Gaëlle chose. Somehow they all ended up with what they would have chosen if they won. Funny how that works out.

I ended up last with no prize. 

Then we made ice cream sundaes. 

There are times that we make huge efforts and make huge plans either because we want to or because we want to create a memory or if I'm honest, because I think it's expected of me. New Year's Eve is one of those nights where I think a lot of us place huge expectations on being a part of some HUGE event. I've had very little energy this Christmas and have loved just being home surrounded by family. When Robin and I decided to keep New Year's Eve a quiet time for the younger kids and ourselves, I made a small effort to make it fun for all of us. And honestly, we all had a blast. We laughed. We enjoyed the games. We enjoyed the food. And the kids commented on how much fun it was. 

My reflections are not meant to criticize anybody who chooses larger than life experiences or to say that small family moments are better. It's just nice to be able to sit back and say that for this year at this time, we had a nice quiet family New Years Eve and I'm thankful. I don't want to take those moments for granted. 

Family Photo Session

The kids gave me a family photo session for Christmas. I was so pleased because it really is hard to know when we'll be together again. All of the photos are by Jimmy Bennett who is our neighbour who does this on the side. He sent these along within the hour. The rest won't be ready for a week. But I'm happy with just these. 

Friday was the planned day and it looked like the temperatures would be around 0. So not too cold. So, I wanted to do an outdoor shoot at Mt. Uniacke. I asked the kids to wear layers and try to wear denim, plaid, and little bits of red. Altho at the last minute, I gave into Gaëlle and let her wear her big fur coat. I would rather she be warm and full of smiles then cold and grumpy. She was quick to comment throughout the photo shoot that she was warm.

My amazing kids.

Gaëlle begged us to do a silly pose. There was some snow throwing. And some jumping in the air. 

Me and Robin by ourselves.

Dad with his girls. I love this one. As you can see, by this time, Gaëlle's hand were getting cold in the thin red gloves, so she switched to her colourful fleece gloves. But as long as she's smiling, I can live with it.

Country Girl Dolls for Christmas

As I mentioned in the post below, Gaëlle has consistently asked for an American Girl Doll for Christmas. It is always difficult to know what to buy her for special presents. People always think she will be so thankful for anything she gets, but it's just not so. She is not attached to very much. As we've discovered, that's not always a good trait. It means she is super rough with stuff. She doesn't take care of anything that most kids would regard as special. She quickly forgets about items that most kids would consider special. 

But we wanted to get her this doll because we hoped it would be special and we hoped it would be another thing that she and her sisters would have in common. We are constantly looking for ways for her to feel included in our family. Both girls have American Dolls and so this will be a shared memory.

She was thrilled. And it's not because she looks at the catalogs and drools (like Emily and Kaylin did). She has a few friends that have them and she knows the older girls have their dolls which are carefully stored away.

I bought a new outfit for her doll as well. This is the cute tiny sweater. At 6:00 pm as I was cleaning stuff up, I noticed this cute overpriced sweater already has 3 holes in it. It is just hard for Gaëlle to be gentle with "stuff". So it's tough to spend money on items for her. We can encourage her to be careful, but so far, the message doesn't seem to be sticking. I brought the holes to her attention in a casual voice and reminded her that it will last longer if she is careful.

As soon as Gaëlle could talk them into it, Emily and Kaylin brought out their tubs of dolls and clothes. It was doll heaven.

Can you see the look of concern on somebody's face?

It appears the nightie set got placed in the wrong girl's box. Oops. Back to it's rightful owner.

The dolls all got new outfits on and the hair was brushed.

So many choices. For this one day only, Emily and Kaylin gave Gaëlle full reign. She could play with their clothes to her hearts content. 

Oh, time for another change.

Bitty Baby even got a fresh outfit on.

Then the 3 girls posed for me with their dolls. Emily and Kaylin are making plans to go back to American Girl Place with their dolls in tow, so they can experience it again through the eyes of a little girl. We have about 3 years to try and make that happen before the little girl is too old.