Kindergarten is over...

Today is Anya's Kindergarten graduation.  It's currently peaceful in the house and everyone is asleep. I am grateful to have this opportunity to be alone with my thoughts, reminisce and drink my coffee.  The truth is my thoughts are sad.  I know I am supposed to be happy to see Anya on her special day but I feel a lump in my throat the size of a baseball and tears welling up in my eyes.  How did time slip away so fast?  When did my little kangaroo jump out of the pouch and begin hopping all on her own?   How did I miss it?  I never imagined having older children, let alone a pre-teen with attitude and a strong willed six year old.  LOL! 

 

ANYA.  She is the  baby of the family and knows how to work it.  She knows when I need the cuddles, kisses and when to crawl into my lap.  She willingly gives it to me still but I know those days are numbered and maybe that's why I feel so sad.  She still humors me and  pretends she is a baby and will let me smoother her, as will Halie, but not nearly as often as they used to.  While Anya is sweet and cuddly,  she is also very bright and knows how to use her love in order to get what she wants.  She loves to play and be social.  When we pick her up from school she hugs everyone in sight; this is how she ended up with  lice earlier on in the school this year.  She enjoys school, socially and academically, and is extremely curious. 

 

Her graduation ceremony was wonderful.  There were three classes combined to sing songs and recite poems for all the parents.  Afterwards her teacher prepared a PowerPoint slideshow of just their class back in the classroom and gave a heartwarming speech addressing the parents and then the children.  She is everything you want your child's teacher to be.  She is gentle, kind and firm all at the same time.  She is young, hip, cool and knowledgeable.  She nurtures the children's curiosity and exposes them to new ways of looking at the world.  My personal favorite moment of the year is when she invited me, along with other parents, to share our cultures with the class.  I was reluctant a bit, nervous in a way, but teaching them about my country's song and dance, also made my child proud and curious of her heritage.  It was a great year for Anya. She is ready for grade one (a lot more so than her mother). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last thing.  I got this idea from a friend and have started it for my own girls this year.  I bought them each a book, Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Life, for each of their teachers to sign from K-Gr.12.  We will give it to them at their grade 12 graduation.  Most people choose Dr. Suess',  Oh, The Places You'll Go!, (excellent choice), but I wanted something a little different.  Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Life is filled with inspirational quotes from Albert Einstein to Confucius to Abraham Lincoln to Shakespeare and more!  Check it out, it's super cute. 

 

It was a good day.  A day to celebrate.  A day to be remembered. 

Little White Dress

A little white dress can go a long way in the summer.  Work life, dinner date, patio drinks, weddings, church, or in my case a baptism.  I used to shy away from anything white but then a couple of years ago I joined Alison's Get Your Pretty On Style Challenge, and invested  in a pair of white jeans and  tee's.  Now I wear white a LOT, without fear, and bleach is  always on hand :) 

A couple of weekends ago we were invited to celebrate our nephews baptism. It was a beautiful Sunday and following the church service we were heading outside for a BBQ at my sister in-laws.  I decided to wear this adorable, new to me, white dress, courtesy of my sisters closet YAY! I also paired it up with a floppy hat, and some sparkle from Hillberg and Berk. 

This stunning, three-in-one, rose gold, necklace was a gift from my sister and her family for my birthday.  Eek, I am one lucky girl.   

 

 

Last, but certainly not least, my girls agreed to wear these adorable, matching dresses.  They are totally not into matching these days but I was so excited when they both choose to wear their lovely, spring bloom, maxi dresses to the baptism.  I just think they are so darn cute and still head over heels in love with their cousin Cooper. 

 

 

Happy Hump Day!!!

Halie's Tears of Joy

A couple of  nights ago I took my little girls to their first concert ever, Justin Bieber.  Halie, 9 years old, has been asking to go see a concert for the past year and a half but when she heard in October 2015 that Justin Bieber would be coming in June, she begged us to get her tickets.  Since the girls have their birthday's in December and January, along with Christmas, we decided we would do our best to get tickets for their birthdays.  My grandma, their great-grandmother, was the most loved person at the birthday party in December as she was the one to give their girls their tickets as a birthday present (she always gives them money so this time we used the money, along with our money, to pay for the tickets). 

 

Finally two nights ago we ventured out to the  Justin Bieber concert.  Halie had been counting down the days for a couple of months.  They both had every Bieber song memorized as they listened to it on their IPods and danced around in their rooms for weeks and weeks.   We did out hair, check out the purple and blue, and put on just the tiniest bit of make-up.   We entered the venue to a LOT  of girls, mainly 15-25 years of age.  The line-ups for the T-shirts were LONG, like 45-60 min. wait time, but we stood in them without any complaining from the girls.  They didn't even want junk food (if you know Anya, nothing matters more to her than sugar, so I was stunned), just the t-shirts.   

 

 

Finally we made it to our seats after getting our t-shirts, popcorn and water (my kids declined pop, I couldn't believe it)!!!  We missed most of the opening act which was fine because we had no clue who it was. 

 

Pre-show excitement

THE BEST MOMENT OF THE NIGHT!!!!  When the lights went out, the music started, and finally Justin emerged on the stage, you can imagine the screams that echoed throughout the venue.  I looked over to my girls who were both screaming, and my Halie, who is so reserved and timid, was loosing it and had tears in her eyes, slowly escaping and running down her cheek.  Later in the car she said to me, "Mama, I was so excited.  I had tears of joy in my eyes."  This was the sweetest moment.  My heart was so thankful that I was there to experience this with them, especially Halie who seems to be growing up so fast and whom I've had so many ups and downs with.  Just writing it, thinking about it, fills my soul and makes tears of joy come to my eyes.  I feel grateful that I have a life in which I can afford these extravagant luxuries for my girls.  I have the ability to spend an insane amount of money on one night to make special memories.  I believe memories can be made without these extravagant outings but it was a special night.  Dancing with my girls, watching their eyes aglow as they experience their first concert, them being overcome by joy, excitement and pure love for this singer (gag, but it's what they like).   This is a memory I will treasure forever as a mom and they will hopefully remember for their whole lives as well. 

Anya's first reaction.

This is Halie's face when he first came on stage.  LOL. 

Halie dancing the night away.   

 



 







City Girl, Country Girl

This city girl had an absolutely fabulous weekend from start to finish.  The highlight of the weekend for sure was the GARTH BROOKS concert we went to with  friends.  I have always liked Garth Brooks but I was not even close to a die hard fan, well I AM NOW!!!  The man is amazing.  He is a hard worker.  A lover of music.  Extremely talented.  Dedicated to his job, family and fans.  He did 6 shows in our city in 4 days and each one was full of energy and pure love.  Friday and Saturday evenings, he performed back to back shows.  We went to the late show which officially started at 10:30, but due to the large crowds was delayed.  That didn't mean that Garth didn't give it his all, nope he played from 11:15 p.m.-1:36 a.m.  We did not stop singing and dancing the entire time. Our seats were unreal, so we got some sweet video's, check it out below.

What did I wear?!?  Well, I was pretty pumped to get my country girl outfit all ready.  My cowboy boots, which I recently purchased while out shopping with my eldest daughter.  A mini jean skirt I snagged off of a local buy and sell for a sweet $5 just for this occasion.  Finally, this bohemian top that I adore and immediately fell in love with from H & M.  I love the shoulder cut outs, the whole peek-a-boo style.  I also love the the embroidery on the front of the shirt that shoes a little bit of skin, or the illusion of skin, right down the middle but doesn't give anything away (for work, I wear a tank underneath it and a longer skirt :) 

Date night with out of town friends. 

Love this girl to pieces.  We've been friends since high school. 

Krienke Family Top 6 of April/May

I can't believe it's June 10th and I am just recapping our lives for April & May. Sigh. I have finally   downloaded all of the pictures from our cell phones and camera,  and organized into their appropriate folders on the computer.  

 

Here are some of our family highlights from April to May.

 

#1 Halie had her adenoids surgery at the beginning of April.  She has always had a difficult time breathing through her nose, like mother, like daughter. She was a trooper  and was back at school in a few short days.  We had her checkup recently and all is healing the way it's supposed to.

 

#2  FAIRY GARDENS!  This was so much fun.  The girls and I had a mother-daughter day and went out to a green house to create these beautiful fairy gardens.

 

 

#3 Another baby in our lives.  Rhett Weisgerber was born to my best friend Amber and her husband Lee.  He is a wonderful addition to their family, making them a family of five.  I have had the previlage of having baby snuggles several times and I am soaking it all up.

 

#4  Mother's Day.  My husband always makes an effort to do/make something special for me with the girls.  We don't buy elaborate gifts but a couple of years ago we decided to start a book in which we collect all of the items the girls draw or write for us.  It's such a neat experience to go through and see what they wrote or how they saw us when they were three as opposed to what/how they see us now.  I am really glad we have this one book, with all the treasures.   Of course they also made me a pancake breakfast, coffee and chocolate covered pretzels.  I also got to stay in bed and read for most of the morning.  My mom and I ended up going to buy some flowers for our pots outside and we had a beautiful supper with my parents and grandmother.   What else could a girl want?!?  I felt loved and cared for.

 

#5  Halie had her dance recital and a gymnastic recital/fake competition.  Halie  is always cartwheeling or dancing around the house.  Even though I am not a very good dance mom, I feel like it's been such a positive experience for her and has  been instrumental in boosting her confidence level.  Watching her on the stage was a pleasure.

 

#6  May long weekend was full of family fun.  We started off seeing Mary Poppins live and all I can say is WOW.  We were mesmerized and enthralled by the performance.  Our local theater hosted not only a fabulous show but created a wonderful atmosphere.  They had an old time candy store set up and characters dressed in costume ready to take pictures with the kids.  Absolutely perfect. The next day we took a trip to Calgary which was a great deal of fun but COLD.  Like it was snowing cold.  We braved the weather, and were somewhat frozen, but we took the kids to Callaway Park, a small amusement park, and they had a blast.  We also spent a good five hours at the Telus (science) center.  We were able to visit with a friend of mine from University and she was an absolutely awesome host.  The only downfall of the trip is that I got sick and continued to stay sick for through my half-marathon the following weekend. 

Half- Marathon: Dealing with Disappointment

Heartbreak.  Disappointment.  Despair.  Devastation.  Crushed.  Anger.  Frustration.  Bruised ego.  These are the feelings that I felt on Sunday, May 29th following the Sask Marathon.  I ran the 21.1 km.  I trained 6 days/week for 14 weeks.  I put my body through up to 54km of running a week, plus a cross training session each week.  I worked through IT band pain and 5:30 am wake up calls.  I had emotional highs and lows throughout the training process.  I felt STRONG and on fire more than once.  I felt 100% sure that I would achieve my personal best because all of my runs were at a way faster pace then my previous races, and that was after my legs had already ran 30 + km during the week.  I didn't feel 100% confident about  know if I'd achieve my goal of 2:02:00 but I honestly I never thought I wouldn't achieve my personal best (not to sound stuck up, I just felt really prepared).

 

The week before the race we went to Calgary and I got sick with a cold.  Fever, congestion, aches.  I powered through and made the best of our time there.  Leading up to the race, I did my 5km runs but just didn't feel good and had trouble breathing.  The congestion got worse and the day of the race was effecting me.  I ran hard out of the gate, meeting my goal time but having trouble getting air into my lungs, it seemed to just get stuck in my throat.  I tried to push through but started falling apart around 13 km.  I tried to take my gels for energy, as I had in training, but couldn't keep it down.  The course was hilly and hot.  I started feeling over heated and out of breath.  Once I started taking walk breaks, I just couldn't get back to my pace.  The closer I came to realizing that I was getting away from my goal, the more I fell apart mentally.  I was frustrated, annoyed with myself, and at the same time I just wanted to stop.  I couldn't find my "happy place" or my "happy home" for the rest of the race.  I stopped several times over the next 8 km and  I finished the race at 2:09:07, pretty close to a personal worst. :( 

Now this is not to make anyone feel bad about any time they have ever achieved.  In my heart I believe any distance that you walk/run, is an accomplishment and something to be proud of.  My first half-marathon was 2:10:00 and I was extremely proud.  My second one was 2:06:59 and I was once again ecstatic.  Both times I met my goal, this time I didn't and I was just so sad about it. 

 

Let's talk about the positive things. I loved the clinic  and I met personal bests time after time in my training schedule. I I trained with a great group of people, but more importantly I strengthened my friendship with a work colleague that I had been running with prior to the training.  We pushed each other for 14 weeks.  We kept each accountable.  We encouraged each other through our tough times and celebrated with each other when we met new milestones.   Here is the quote that I have been holding onto over the past few days. 

 

My amazing husband completely supported me throughout the training process.  He picked up the slack at home and got the girls ready most mornings while I was out running and then getting myself ready for work.  They all came out to cheer me on, as did my dad and my in-laws.  My friends on Facebook cheered me on and gave me pats on the back after the race and really helped me get out of my funk.  I also had my daughter Halie to celebrate as she stepped on the stage for her 2nd dance recital.  She shone brightly and I was able to put my race into perspective.  I am a healthy, happy and fortunate woman, who has nothing to pout about.  My life is good. 

My little cheerleaders. 



How can I have a bad day watching this girl shinning brightly on her special day? 



Today, I dragged myself out of bet at 5:30 a.m. and joined the Sweat Squad for an intense workout.  If you live in  Saskatoon, the Sweat Squad is a boot camp style class, that is FREE and meets every Wednesday 6:00- 6:45 a.m. down by the river.  Look them up on Facebook for locations.  My pity party is over and I am moving on.  I might do another half at the beginning of September, Queen City Marathon, but I might not.  A few girls and I are going to do 10km  in Waskesiu and make it a girls weekend.  I know that I want to enjoy my summer and return to running for the love of it, without the any pressure (which is only created by me). 

Sweat squad, 6;00 a.m. workout.

 

 

If you are doing something you love to stay healthy and strong, I'd love to hear about it.