I finally got my Competitive Team Jacket for gymnastics! I am so excited to wear it to my first competition next month.
He said
Life with a kid in double digits this week was pretty low-key. After the weekend that completely focused on her and celebrating the beginning of her tenth year, and making sure she knew how much she is loved by her family, it was nice to have a week that really didn’t have too much on the itinerary. So, quietly I think we all sat back and just enjoyed the week for what it was – especially a gift since we’ve all been taking turns with some low grade sore throats and achy bodies indicative of an oncoming cold.
This week brought us a new month in February and the return of the Wellness Challenge that we’ve done at work for the past three years. It always comes at the perfect time as I usually derail on my getting to the gym in December when the holiday season gets into gear, and February and this Challenge are the perfect excuse to get back into the routine of regular exercise at the gym in the name of friendly competition amongst my peers at work. This year’s version is a little different in that it’s all about activity and closing the rings on the Activity App with exercise daily as opposed to doing that plus tracking your meals. Not that, that is a bad thing, but because we don’t eat a lot of box premade food, it is a lot of work tracking your meals entering everything that goes into the recipe. Not having to do that this time makes it a lot easier just to focus on getting my ass active.
With Wednesday being the start of February, I kicked off my 2017 Wellness Challenge campaign with a return to the gym and a sweat-filled workout. And I am proud to say I have managed to close the rings (and then some) each and every day since the challenge began. In fact, on Friday I didn’t just let my hour of Friday morning hockey be the only work out – I met Danielle at the gym after work and put in a bit more time and closed a few more rings. I am hoping that barring any run-ins with the aforementioned low grade bug that’s made it touch on each of us, and getting any worse, that I will be able to maintain a perfect record of closing all the rings every single day this month.
With Emelia turning ten I know that both Danielle and I have both really felt the impact of that number and it’s really cause us to reflect on what an amazing journey we’ve had with her. It’s hard to believe she’s ten, and yet when she stands beside me it’s also very easy to believe as she’s getting closer and closer to eclipsing her Daddy’s height. Definitely the conversations we have and the personality we see budding, it is obvious that she’s older than we want her to be, but if I am being perfectly honest as she becomes her own person and needs us less and less, I love her even more and more. She has such an intense personality and we see the smart-ass more and more (Don’t know where she gets that from?) As much as Danielle and I both look at the pics and videos of her as toddler that Facebook keeps reminding us about and what to have those moments last longer than they did, I truly relish this moment we are in with her, right here and now.
And to that point, yesterday I worked the close at the store. Knowing that they would be free around the dinner hour, I got a message from Danielle a couple hours into my shift telling me that Emelia wanted to come to the mall and have dinner with Daddy. It’s funny how little of a thing had such a big impact in my day. I caught myself as Emelia was telling me in intricate detail about her day with Mummy and the different kinds of hair product they bought how much I truly cherished this moment. There we sat in a mall foodcourt on a Saturday night, eating fast food, cheer’sing our A&W onion rings and as far as I was concerned there wasn’t anywhere else I’d rather be. This was a perfect life moment.
Today was a delightful Sunday off for me and all of us. We got to sleep in as long as Emelia would allow. We got to have a slow-paced eggs and bacon breakfast. And, we got to just be together and hang out with zero obligation or errand that needed to be run. Emelia got to spend the afternoon with her best friends skating on their backyard rink and then making pizzas, and Danielle and I got to hardcore veg on the couch. It was the perfect kind of way to close out what was a pretty amazing week. And over and above it all, I still managed to close the rings today, too!
She said
As John said compared to the last few weeks this week was pretty low key for us. The big focus for us was getting things back in the groove and refocusing on our health and fitness. What I love about John and I promoting a healthy and active life is that it is having such a big positive impact on Emelia. And it is becoming a part of her reality that we hope will carry with her into her adult life.
The big focus for Emelia this week was getting a fitness tracker, it was her big wish list for her birthday and after failed attempts to get her one for her Christmas present she finally got the one she really wanted. When her birthday was getting closer we of course got the usual what does Emelia want questions. We apparently did a great job for Christmas because she really had nothing on her wish list for her birthday – well other than a FitBit. The problem is that FitBits are close to $200. So with generous gifts from family and friends Emelia had more than enough to get her much coveted gift. Before her gymnastics on Monday we made a quick stop and gift cards in hand and we got Emelia her fitness tracker. Ever since getting the device set up she has been obsessed with assuring she gets her target steps in every day. It is a perfect gift for our little athlete.
The other focus this week was Emelia’s gymnastics. Emelia’s focus has been completely getting ready for her competition. Her determination and focus in her training is incredible to see. We cannot express how much gymnastics has given our girl – it has given her so much confidence that has carried over to all areas of her life. Proud is just not a big enough word to express how we feel when we see her work and work until she masters a skill. Her first completion is coming up fast so her focus has shifted into high gear. Her coach is happy where she is already and we still have 7 more weeks of practice before the big day.
The other big news for Emelia this week was also on the gymnastics front, we finally got the message from the gym owner that their competition jackets had arrived. There was no question the day we got the message what we were doing that night – of course we were going to pick up that very night. She was beaming with pride walking around the gym wearing it and has been wearing it non-stop since.
By the time the weekend came the chaos of the last few weeks caught up, we did get to the gym a few times over the weekend but by the end of the night I was feeling the grossness kick in. Today has been a full fledge low key day, other than getting laundry done and some cleaning around here we have done very little. That is basically the week that was, I am going to wrap up finishing watching the Super Bowl and hang out with my favourite people and snuggle with Gordie before crashing early tonight.