I had another sleepover at Poppa & Grandmas and came home with a beautiful new Naartje outfit I love. I am getting excited about the trip cause Mommy & Daddy said we’re all going to the airport in a van together!

He said…

Despite the calendar telling us it’s officially Spring in this past week, the weather said anything but. For a household that revelled in the unseasonably warm weather a couple of weekends ago, the snow we got 2 or 3 times this week, was an unwelcome kick in the pants! We’re all more than ready for the weather to stay on the plus side of zero, and to be able to get out more and soak up some fresh air.

This week was a strange one for me for work. I ended a seven day work stretch on Monday and had Tuesday and Wednesday off. And then I was back to work for Thursday and Friday, before having the entire weekend off. It was really nice to have two days off together, back-to-back, as well as having a weekend off too! I got in plenty of time with Danielle and Emelia. And I even managed to have some sleep-ins to boot.

Tuesday night, Danielle and I managed to have a grownup night going out to see Stars play at The London Music Hall. It isn’t our favourite venue in London, but Stars are easily one of our favourite bands. We’ve already seen them play once recently opening for Metric last November at Budweiser Gardens, but this show had them headlining, meaning more time and songs in the set list. And they didn’t disappoint. Danielle and I got ourselves right up front and rocked our patooties off for the entire show. It was a perfect night out for the both of us.

The rest of the week was some rush planning for the trip – Air Canada has twice switched the departure flight on Saturday with the second time making it very tight for us to get our luggage and get the shuttle to the cruise ship departure dock. So Mom cancelled our flight with them and booked a Friday evening departure on WestJet to make certain we arrive with time to spare. This meant however that I had to make an additional day off request at work and Danielle had to notify the daycare parents she would need close early on the Friday. In the end it all worked out perfectly. And we leave a day earlier, which means the trip counter changes by a day!

With the planning for the trip in heavy rotation this week, it was also time to start planning on what were packing. And with respect to weight that both Danielle and I have lost, meant adding some clothes to our wardrobe. And while the always budget conscious Danielle resisted the notion of spending any money pre-trip, after we spent 5 minutes assessing Danielle’s clothes, it was very evident that we couldn’t escape getting her some new clothes.

So today we spent longer than Emelia would have liked, focused on getting clothes for Daddy, and more importantly Mommy. And the best part of this – aside from getting clothes for me – was the look on Danielle’s face as she realized she was trying on sizes she would never dreamed of touching a year ago, and outfits that she wouldn’t have felt comfortable wearing either. It was a real delight for me, because I am so damn proud of the job she has done with the weight loss challenge she’s given herself. And the results are too big for her to ignore any more.

So, with all that said, it’s time to absorb the last little bit of a normal weekend, weekend with my two girls before we fall into the pace of the work week. The good news is I have three days off next weekend and that the weather looks to be finally headed towards where it should be for Spring. Front porch season can’t be that far off!!

Oh and only 46 more days till Disney!!!

She said…

Well I can tell you in all honesty I am absolutely done with winter. This winter has been mild in comparison to other winters, less snow than normal but is NEVER going away and we are done, done, done with it. The kids are getting squirrley and I am on the countdown most nights just to get to the gym as a break from being trapped in the house. There is however light at the end of the tunnel. Looking at the forecast for Easter weekend looks like we are FINALLY getting plus temperatures.

The week wasn’t all bad, it was great because I got some great time with Emelia who has become quite the little helper with the daycare. I know that my days like this are numbered, there is going to be a day when she isn’t going to want to spend all her time with her mommy and I want to bottle all this time for as long as I can. She loves helping me with the kids, loves doing crafts with them and trying to be the teacher to the kids. All in all it was amazing having her home for so much this week. I am really going to miss when she is in school full time next year.

The other daycare related fun, and I use the word fun sarcastically that I had to do this weekend was start our taxes. Our accountant had a promotion going on if you got your taxes to them before April 1st we could save on our preparation. Hey saving money is saving money and it was a good kick in the butt to get things done and over with. Plus we are hoping that John gets a bit of a refund so we have some extra money for our trip.

So that was the not so fun part of the week. Now to the fun. As we have spoken about over and over the last few months, John and I about 18 months ago drastically changed our eating habits and started to take our health very seriously. Well in that process of healthy and cleaner eating PLUS lots of exercise we have both lost a fair bit of weight. At last count I am down just shy of 70lbs and John is down at least 25lbs. What that means is that we both need clothes. Some of John’s clothes still work but he does need some more since many clothes fit too big now. Me on the other hand, I am having to start from scratch. I went through my clothes this week one more time and I literally have NOTHING that fits, maybe 3 skirts (that need to be altered) and some t-shirts can work.

So this means with our tight budget we had to make this work to get me new clothes. This weekend we went out to look and with some great sales we both managed to get some clothes for ourselves. I was actually excited to shop for the first time in the last 10 years. I was picking up sizes I have not worn since university and they FIT!!! In the end with some careful planning I think I might just have enough to pull off enough clothes for our trip.

With this we are almost done shopping for what we need for everything. We need to just pick up some basics and accessories and we can just save as much money as we can over the next 6 weeks to get ready for the big trip.

I can say we are bursting with excitement with anticipation of this vacation. I cannot say enough thank you’s to my amazing in laws for everything they have done. This is a dream I keep waiting to wake up from. So once again and 10000000x again – thank you!!!!

Now back to reality, tax prep… Booooo!