janice's mash-up

weekend wrap-up

Friday night we drove out to New Westminster for Adam's hockey game. I forgot my "big" camera which was too bad because Queen's Park Arena is such a great arena to take pictures in. My little digital camera doesn't quite cut it for hockey photos!

The team won 2-1 and is now second place in the playoffs.

It has been so so cold here. The boys and I woke up on Saturday morning to tiny icy snowflakes falling. We wondered if soccer and an outdoor hockey practice would be going ahead. Hockey was cancelled but soccer was still a go. We braved the frigid and slippery conditions in Kerrisdale. Brrr. The boys tied 1-1 and just tried to stay warm.

Crazy westcoast soccer in February.

Adam had a hockey practice and then came home to play in the snow a bit. Not really packable but still enough to get out in. Colin made his trademark happy face with snowing on our kitchen door!

Neil's plane was delayed for hours because of the weather so his brother offered to pick him up at the airport around midnight. It was nice to have him back home. It's just not quite the same when someone from our family circle is missing.

thanks again to my crafty friends for this Vintage Pearl pendant

 Neil brought the boys back all sorts of gadgets and gizmos from his conference and also found them perfect kanji shirts from Japantown in San Fran. Adam's kanji is happiness and Colin's is samurai. He also brought me some of my favourite SF treats and some more bento fun!

  
After Colin's guitar lesson, we headed over to the rink for a Richmond-Richmond throwdown. When Colin and I arrived, we were down 2-0. We kept creeping closer and finally were up 4-3. The last 30 seconds of the game were pretty intense - the other team pulled their goalie and there must have been about 10 good shots on our goal. Yikes. But the team pulled it off.

We're now tied for first place in the playoffs.

We all just had a quiet Sunday dinner and evening at home. After a very busy few days, it was much needed down-time.

Looking forward to another full and fun week ahead!

the peace that snow brings

Saturday morning, during Colin's soccer game, the snow started falling. Tiny icy flakes covered the ground and made playing soccer and driving a bit treacherous. Later in the afternoon the temperature warmed up, the flakes got bigger and the ground was being covered with about 5 centimetres of snow. Colin waited patiently for Adam to come home from hockey practice so they could go out together and play in the snow. 

I love the peace that snow brings. It is so beautiful and quiets the world with its blanket.

(Not so peaceful when the 11 and 14 year old boys in the house storm out into it to play though!)

I'm going to hang on to a quiet, peaceful moment with the snow though... 

This is this week's The Simple Things photo.

Check out other "simple things" photographs on Rebecca's blog...click on The Simple Things button below to link to Rebecca's site.

 

 

grade 6 basketball

On Thursday and Friday, Colin's grade 6 basketball team from his school participated in a tournament to raise funds for Free the Children. It was so great to just have a tournament for just grade 6s - it's tough playing against those grade 7 teams ;) And because Colin is involved with Me to We at his school, he appreciated the cause. We bought lots of extra snacks to make our contribution!

The boys played really hard and won 2 of their 3 games. I have not figured out how to get decent basketball photos yet - the combination of the gym lighting and the speed at which the players moves is a problem for me!

Sitting on the bench waiting for your next shift is an easier shot to get...

Friday's game was very competitive and Colin demonstrated some great defensive skills. Another parent commented on how tenacious he is ;) 

It was a great way for the team to come together near the end of the season.

 

bento fun

When I got home from work today I squealed when Adam told me there was a box from Japan at the front door. I ordered a few bento supplies and was excited to open up the package of fun-ness!

After dropping Neil off at the airport, the boys and I went to Izumi-Ya to pick up some sushi for dinner and I wanted to get a few groceries. The boys picked up this fun strawberry soda to have with dinner!

I've blogged about the bento queen of Hawaii before and pulled out her cookbook when I got home. Her fun blog is HERE.

I checked over there this evening for a few ideas and then proceeded to use some of new bento things to make lunch boxes for the boys and I for tomorrow.
So fun! If you've never seen a nori cutter/punch before...this is what it looks like.

For our lunch boxes, I included some edamame, orange slices, chicken karaage and some sushi rice faces. 

I know the happy faces are going to make me smile when I open my lunch tomorrow!

 Expect more bento fun in the future!

weekend wrap-up

Saturday morning we were off to the 49th Steveston Kendo Tournament. Adam missed this last year because of his broken collarbone so was excited to compete. Today was only his second competition with his bogu (armour) and he had a bit of an equipment malfunction during his match and needed a repair job!

I find it almost impossible to know when someone scores or not but there are lots of official judges with flags to take care of that. At the end of regulation time, Adam and his opponent were both scoreless so it went to overtime. Adam ended up losing 1-0 but was very happy with how he competed.

  

 

Next it was off to Colin's soccer game at King George Park. The view of snowy Mount Baker was gorgeous today. Colin's team played really hard but they lost 3-2 at the end of the game. As Colin said, they had a good "rampage" at the end of the game with lots of scoring chances.

Some house stuff, including making some chocolate chip cookies,  and homework filled the afternoon before Adam's hockey practice and then we enjoyed some sushi for dinner as Colin wanted something "fresh".

 

On Sunday, Colin had an early guitar lesson and then Neil and Adam headed off to the Arbutus Club for a hockey game (they won 2-0 but Adam is still in his scoring slump!) and Colin and I drove to West Van to deliver a birthday present to Ainsley. On our way, we stopped at English Bay to pick up a cupcake for Ainsley and some minis for our dessert. Colin had a treat while we were there ;) We also roamed around the laughing guys. Colin found them kind of creepy!

and a happy 13th birthday to Ainsley!

Colin and I had full intentions of making Adam's hockey game but we sat in traffic for over half an hour to get back on the Lion's Gate Bridge. I am so glad bridges and tunnels are no longer part of my daily commute!

After grocery shopping, recycling and other boring but necessary household stuff, we got outside a bit to shoot baskets and Adam shot goals on his hockey net.

After a very nice family dinner, homework completion and cupcakes we all turned to our different devices for our evening's entertainment. The boys did some online challenge on the Xbox, Neil was on his laptop and I was testing a bunch of apps on the iPad for school this week. Oh, the 21st century family!

caught reading

Last night as I was heading up to bed around 11, I noticed a light coming from Colin's room. This is not unusual for Adam and I am often after him to turn off his light and go to sleep instead of reading or being on his ipod touch. I was surprised to see Colin's light on though and when I peeked in, instead of being annoyed, my heart was warmed.

Colin was on the last chapter of a samurai novel he has been reading. Colin loves listening to audio books but it takes a special book to really pull him in. He usually does not choose reading as an activity of choice. As a child, I spent many late nights reading away and begging to read "just one more chapter". How could I possibly be annoyed with my boy who stays up to 11 on a Saturday night to finish his book?!

This is this week's The Simple Things photo.

Check out other "simple things" photographs on Rebecca's blog...click on The Simple Things button below to link to Rebecca's site.

 

celebrating spring, colin and a full moon!

After a crazy hailstorm at soccer and on our way to hockey on Thursday evening, we woke up to gorgeous crisp sunny day on Friday. The first signs of spring were peeking up in the garden.

Colin had his student-led conference at 1 and Neil was able to join us. Colin has had a great term at school and was proud to share his work with us. He won his class' poetry interpretation contest this week. They each had to choose a poem with the theme of ecology, memorize and read it orally with expression. Colin chose The Grey Wolf by David Bouchard.

We also got to see a picture of him at curling and a slide show of their snowshoeing trip at Grouse Mountain. 

The class is studying Canadian eco-zones and the art of the Group of Seven. This is Colin's interpretation of a Lawren Harris painting.

 

After Adam got home, the boys had some Xbox time before Colin headed off to fencing and Adam and I made cupcakes for his Kendo tournament on Saturday. 

 

This evening I kept running outside trying to see the full moon. The stars were amazing and I was trying to remember what constellations I should be seeing. With the class I teach in, we have been doing a night sky journal and I am so glad tonight was so clear so we could all see the full moon! I tried to take some photos with my zoom lens. All my shots just look like big balls of light. I don't know enough about my camera to know what adjustments to make to actually see all the shadows and dimension that I can see with my naked eye. Oh well, the full moon will be around again ;) I did upload one of the images to befunky and played around with some grunge effects.

    
before befunky                                                             after befunky

I quite like how the befunkified moon looks...artsy and sciencey at the same time!

seven things about me

I feel so honoured! Lisa of The Schwartz Chronicles nominated me for a Stylish Blogger Award!

I have been blogging since January 1, 2010 (I did Project 365 through this blog last year) and have learned so much about blogging and myself through the process. I'm still playing around and learning new things and adding new features to my blog. 

One thing that does freak me out a bit about blogging is the number of people I know that read my blog regularly but never post comments. Then, all of a sudden, someone mentions something and I know they must be reading my blog. I also have people tell me that they have been blog stalking me and then finally come out about it to me! So funny.

So although many people that I am not aware of obviously know way more about me and my family than is necessary because of my blog, I am going to share seven things about myself that some of even my closest friends may not know...

1) I always have a secret candy stash. I hide it from my sons...so terrible but so necessary!

2) In a total act of rebellion, I had my ears double-pierced when I was in Europe on a school trip in grade 11. So ironic now, as I never wear earrings!

3) I am highly competitive when it comes to sports. I am able to turn this off in other parts of my life but am seeing it surface when I play Angry Birds!

4) I spent many many hours at hockey rinks while I was in high school. Funny how life comes full circle.

5) I have not had any alcohol in my body since I was 23. No reasons or details necessary here, but this is a good thing for me.

6) I really miss performing. I spent a lot of time on stage in my younger years...dancing, acting, etc. 

7) Three things in my life that make me happy - okay, many of you will know this but this was my online wellness challenge on Sunday ;))

       -being with my family...they are the centre of my universe

       -experiencing the joy of learning (either my own, my sons or children I am working with)

       -favourites like: my happy green, lemon cake, coconut ice cream, Macintosh toffee, sunsets,         being at the beach, chai tea lattes, wigwags and photos that capture something special

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And I would like to award the following bloggers a Stylish Blogger Award:

1) to my former colleague Jen - when I read her blog about life with her two young boys, it takes me back to the years when my boys were that age!

2) to fellow soccer mom Nicky - who has been reading my blog for awhile, unbeknownst to me, and now I am reading hers!

3) to Angie at Echoes of Laughter - a recent edition to the blogs I always check in on and I always am inspired

4) to Eleanor at Stampers Studio- the former manager of Clipper Street here in Richmond who continues to inspire me

5) to Fleur at Fleur by Design - also a Clipper Street friend who posts creative scrapbooking ideas about life with her two boys

6) to Julie at Crazy Little Thing Called Life - Julie is a former TOM employee and I have followed her blog for years...she was the reason I jumped into blogworld

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To the nominees, let's keep the love going by:

1. Writing seven things about yourself.
2. Presenting the award to six bloggers.
3. Contacting those people.
4. Creating a link back to the person who did this for you.

Thanks again for the honour Lisa!

another year of science jam

I drove over to Richmond Centre after work to take in the chaos that is Science Jam! The boys have always loved getting their projects together for this event...it was a bit strange not having Adam there with a set-up. Colin and Jonah did a great job showcasing their findings from their investigation of the water at Garry Point.

Cool green shirts!

happy valentine's day

signs of Valentine's Day from around our house...

 
beautiful tulips from my boys and Neil

 
"you rock" treats for the boys and Neil, adapted from an idea here

    
a little minibook card for the boys and Neil...this is a tradition from way back and I love that the boys have theirs in their bedrooms from over the years

fun chocolate boxes I found that were perfect for the boys

and finally,

a little chocolate fondue at 9pm when we were finally all home together!

And really finally, I saw this fun idea on this fabulous blog tonight and just had to give it a try. Of course, I had no empty or near empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls handy so I unrolled a roll of wrapping paper so I could try this! The light at 9:30pm was terrible and my subjects were immersed in their typical late evening things that they do but...

  
I love how these photos capture the loves of my life through my heart ;)