Go Oilers Go!

It's tense in our little cottage in the big woods in

the moment. Yup, it's hockey playoffs, the finals

for the year, the quest for the Stanley Cup. Our

team, the Edmonton Oilers, is the last Canadian

team in the running, so there's a lot to be proud

of, and a lot to be nervous about. Hoping for a

win, as we haven't gone this far since 2006. I'm

so nervous, I end up cleaning and purging at

the same time the games are on. At this rate, I'm

going to have the most organized cottage ever!

Go Oilers Go!

~ Chy

Gold!!

Our little guy, who is not so little anymore, won

gold two weekends ago with his hockey team.

We came out to watch with dd, along with our

older daughter on the right, who also manages

his team. He's the goalie and I love how his

team is so supportive, even if he lets a goal in.

They played so well and coming out on top with

a gold medal was a very sweet and big moment.

~ Chy

Saturday Sharing.

My breakfast in bed this morning. Paying tribute to our upcoming Disney trip! And celebrating that we are safe and warm today. We had a bit of a blizzardy day yesterday. And despite careful driving and literally no traffic, we still ended up in the ditch. More on our adventure in a later post but all is well. A small dent in the muffler and no one was injured, so life continues, with thankfulness for amazing neighbors and perfect strangers who stopped to help. Life in the country continues to amaze us and this was just one example of how lovely and genuinely helpful people are out here. I asked dh if our experience yesterday would make him move back to town and his answer was quick and short ~ "no way!!" I guess that means we're staying put out here!

Yesterday afternoon, after our ditch escapade, I cancelled our grief program this morning. It was blowing snow, icy roads and cold wind. Thankfully, everyone agreed. We woke up this morning to beautiful bright sun but I didn't put class back on. Everyone is working so hard, a little break is okay. We'll go one week more this month to make up for this lost day. 

In this house, it will still be a busy day. We have hockey playoffs this afternoon and hockey to watch on tv this evening. In between both, we have to stop at Michael's to pick up an item I'm still missing for my art class tomorrow. I thought I had the glue required but went through my art studio and discovered that I'm out of that one. Off to the store we'll go, coupon in hand. We also have to stop at the grocery store for a few fresh items and pick up our favorite Chinese food that we didn't get yesterday with our ditch blip! Can't wait ~ such good food and prepared right in front of you as you order it. Mmmmmm! Home to eat and then time to chill. However, I have plans before the game on tv.

As you can see by my two pictures, the art studio has gotten very messy. Yup, this is real life some days. The rest of the house we can keep so tidy, except for our back entrance (five of us coming in and out each day means boots are all over and school bags and work bags dumped) and the art studio. As my dad, the realtor, would say "you have to have some spaces that look lived in!" And it's true. So part of my day before we go to hockey today (now that I'm not teaching this morning) and once we get home later today, is to tidy and purge the counters and put things back where they go. I have a whole cupboard full of painting supplies but do you see that nice pile above that should be IN the cupboard? And in the picture above, a few bins are out of their cupboard as I was looking for some items for the dollhouse reno. But then got sidetracked and never put them away. Once I'm doing cleaning up my mess, I'll post new pictures to show the open spaces that I dreamed of but keep filling up with projects. The back entrance will be my project next week ~ we bought some new heavy duty mats to cover the floor better in the Winter with our snowy boots. I'll take a before and after once I tackle that project. In the Spring, we're hoping to have someone come in and epoxy our garage floor but we'll paint the walls first and get it better organized. We built two big shelving units ~ one for the storage room and one for dh's workshop area but now I have bins to put items in so it's more streamlined. Can't wait for that project to start. Going to look great and be a nice work space for him, instead of "just a garage." 

Tomorrow I'm off to my art class, the one I'm nervous about and hope it goes well. I have some homework to do later when the game is on tv. My supplies are gathered and other than figuring out a snack to take along, I'm ready! I'll post pictures of my creation once I'm home. We have one more playoff game tomorrow, after my class, so it's a busy Sunday. Hope your weekend is fun and relaxing! Enjoy!!

~ Chy

Tiny Hockey Star.

I grew up around hockey players as

my dad was very involved both as a

coach and within the media. And my

younger brother played all his life too.

Our boys enjoyed watching the game

and playing for fun but none of them

expressed any interest in being on a

formal team. They played football,

soccer, did theatre, music and found

other creative outlets they loved to do.

We were just fine with that, especially

knowing that in this country, many teams

have to practice at 6 in the morning in

order to have ice team consistently.

So it was a bit of a shock when we had to

take our little guy to an early morning game ....

.... very early. We left home in the dark and

it was hard to feel warm as we drove thru

the snow. But the game was amazing, he

had a great time and played like a little

start and it was a great experience. On

the way home, he kept falling asleep but

perked up for the rest of the day and did

just fine. Us? We had to have a mid day

nap on the couch, with the fireplace on

and a cheesy Christmas movie playing in

the background. We were a little out of our

element but it was a fun time and worth it.

Our Green Team.

I went to the Oil Kings hockey game

with dh the other night. It was so windy.

Safe inside our new arena, we cheered

on our junior team, even though they

lost the game. Their new jerseys are

green, black and white, so the arena

was bathed in green. It was a fun night

and I hope when I go again, they win.

He's Ready!

Hi everyone!

Meet our little hockey player. He's so excited to be able to finally play, at the age of 3.5. Hockey is big in Canada and he's known for a quite a while that he wanted to try it out. 

Ready to rough up the other players!

With his dedicated sidekick following!

Did your children play hockey?

Are you a big fan?

First Stick!

He did it!

He learned to skate all by himself.

The reward?

His first hockey stick. 

Custom cut to his height. 

Congratulations B!

We're proud you met your goal!!

Tiny Hockey Player!

Tiny skates. 

Tiny helmet.

Tiny 3 year old hockey player.

That's our grandson!!