Family Priority Goals 2016 - update

A few weeks ago I wrote about these 2016 Family Priority Goals.


- learning new things (Learning to play the piano.  I have asked the kids' teacher and she is going to take me on!)
- taking photos of our life (Working on what this might look like.  I think I would like to take photos of birds in 2016 -- in addition to the usual subjects I photograph)
- keeping fit (I don't know exactly what this will be, however, I have told Vic I want to do another 10 km in the fall.  I have also started to intentionally increase my weights in 2/4 weekly fitness classes).

With one month of the year down, I wanted to report out on some progress! I started my first piano lesson this week following Fynn's lesson.  Sophie is currently on a break from piano following her last exam. She did well on her exam (75%) and needs to recharge.  In her place, I have started to learn some of the very basic fundamentals.  It's tough slogging as I have no musical training at all.  I have a new appreciation for what the kids are able to do.

With respect to my second goal - birds - Vic and I did purchase a second bird feeder so we can keep attracting more birds to our yard.  We've also managed to identify at least one of the birds that comes to our backyard.  The photo is attached. 

Finally, I am so proud of myself for braving a CrossFit Lite class tonight.  I asked a co-worker about it (she competes in CrossFit) and she was very supportive and encouraged me to take a class.  I had one of the best workouts ever!  Looking forward to next Tuesday's class.

2012 Priority Goals - how I (we) did

On Dec 30, 2011, I came up with a list of Family Priority Goals. Many the goals were directed at things I needed to do, but there were also some "couple goals" and some family ones as well.

Here is the recap:
Family
1. Read to Fynn daily. This fell off the rails over the Christmas holidays. I would say it was hit and miss even before that. I was much more diligent about this with Sophie, but haven't been so good with it for Fynn.
2. Have a family walk or bike ride (when weather is warmer) once a week.I would say we have done quite well with this. Either a walk, sledding, or hike.
3. Do more art with Sophie. I would say that I have helped encourage this with Sophie. She had her art themed 8th birthday last February, she has her own set of pastels and she now has a doodle book which she is using regularly. We also took both kids to a gallery opening this fall.
4. Volunteer once before the end of the school year at Sophie’s school. I did one activity in the last bit of Sophie's school year in Grade 2. I can't say I have done any volunteering yet for either of them, but I am planning on doing a field trip to City Hall with Sophie's class this year.
5. Set weekly date nights with Vic. We have done well with this. We saw several movies which we actually kept a record of and we did our final date night of 2012 at a nice restaurant in Osoyoos.

Health
1. Exercise everyday. I would say I exercise everyday, with only the odd miss.
2. Find a trainer so I can add basic weight-training and strength exercises weekly.Didn't happen.
3. Drink at least two glasses of water a day. I know that is really low, but better than what I am doing now. Much more aware of this and I am doing better.
4. Get minimum 7hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends. I would say this is generally okay.
5. Only 1-2 lattes per week (I am allowed a Tim’s each workday however). I stopped my regular latte habit for several months but then we got a Starbucks in town and that didn't help. Still I only drink coffee at work. Lattes are treats only.

Work
I have some work goals that I am working on formulating still, so I won’t post here.

Create/Art/Photography
1. Complete one scrapbook layout a month. I have really not done much scrapbooking since Fynn turned 1. Just some birthdays and milestones. I would like to do more of the everyday. A creative release is good for the soul.I am still scrapbooking but only milestones. That kind of bums me out, but I really can't seem to get inspired to do anything more than that now.
2. Learn how to take some photos with my new micro lens . Enrol in a Shutter Sisters class. Yes, did experiment with my new lens! Did not take a Shutter Sisters course.

Travel
1. A trip for Vic and I to Amsterdam. Amsterdam didn't happen, but Vic and I went to Ottawa. Really enjoyed that!
3. A fun family trip with my extended family to Disneyland in the fall.Yes, this happened.
4. A spring break trip to Vancouver Island. This didn't happen as both Vic and I got very sick last Spring Break. However, we made it to Vancouver Island in the summer. It was really nice.
5. A trip to Barkerville in the summer with our friends Bryan and Patti. We decided Fynn was too young for such a long drive. Maybe another summer.

Reading
1. Read a book every two weeks. Continue to request / order books from the library to ensure I am reading what I want and not leaving my selections to chance.Yes, I did this and exceeded it! My book club has really helped bring this even further up. Love it!

Learning
1. Take one class non work related locally. Don’t know what about yet.Yes, Vic and I did the Moma Art course. Loved it!

Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
1. Continue to go out for breakfast on Fridays with Vic, Bryan and Patti. Yes! We do this regularly.
2. Make a coffee date with Kim (1 per quarter). Didn't happen, although I made an effort to visit her at Christmas time.
3. Leave comments on blogs I read once a week. Yes.

Home
1. Work on (work in progress) making the front study/piano/sitting room homier. Art work, a carpet/rug.We purchased some art. Still a work in progress.
2. Locate and purchase a carpet/rug for our bedroom.Yes, we have new art and a rug. All good.
3. Art for kids play area. No progress here.

I think we did fairly good and it was fun to document our progress. I will be writing up a blog post in the next couple of days about our 2013 Family Priority Goals.

Tube Town

Our season's passes at Silver Star also include admission onto Tube Town. Fynn was a little apprehensive at first, but he got into the fun pretty quickly and enjoyed zipping down the hill on a tube with the rest of us.

We met up with our friend Kim and her son Jack, which was nice and added some social time to the day.

Winter...

We woke up to a day off with picturesque views, real winter weather. After Vic had his work meeting we headed out to Coyote Park with the kids, my camera, big boots, warmth, and had so much

fun. Sophie had been there on a walk with her friends last week and showed us the four forts that had been built. Magical stuff.

She had swimming lessons later and then I rented this for them. Eye candy!

The Weekend Lens

There is just so much to love about autumn; the vibrant colors, fallen leaves, crisp air, yummy warm drinks, and great movies (after a summer of block buster YUK!).

Vic and I went to The Master last night. Part of our date night goal for the year. Great actors; challenging storyline.

Here are some images of our weekend.

The Weekend Lens

It was a good weekend.

Highlights included:

Sophie's and Hunter attending the swim/movie at the Recreation Centre on Friday night followed by a sleepover at our place.

Tidying up the yard. Vic took down a section of an old birch tree that was leaning for too heavily into our yard. His buddy Ray came over and made quick work of the branches with his chain saw.

Scrapbooking two new layouts. It has been a couple of months since I have done one and it was nice to get back into that groove again.

Having lunch today with my brother Steve, Aunt Donna and Uncle Gary at Red Robin's. It is good to get caught up with family over a couple of hours.

And, enjoying the beautiful fall colours.

Date night

After an extremely busy week of work, it was nice to have a couple of hours of relaxing tonight. Vic and I caught an early show and had dinner out.

The Weekend Lens

Vic had heard about the Kangaroo Creek Farm from our dentist's office (of all places) so we decided it would be our family day trip today.

Highly recommend it if you are in the Central Okanagan area. No admission fee, but they have a donation box.

A reason to celebrate...

Our September daycare bill came in today and it is half of what it has been for the past several years. With Fynn starting full day Kindergarten our total bill is now $515 (varies a bit by month depending on number of days in the month) instead of $1000.

The extra money can now finally be allocated to paying down our mortgage and savings.

On another note, we took the kids out to Margaret Falls tonight - a last trip to the falls for the summer and a chance to do something together after another full day of work for us

and waterslides for them (with their daycare).

Date night

I've been wanting to see the new Meryl Streep and Tommy-Lee Jones movie, Hope Springs.
Our babysitter Dory was available tonight so we were able to get out to see it. Great story, well acted.

Friday wrap-up

Vic had been promising the kids that he would take them to the waterslides this summer. He really wanted to take them last weekend when we were down in Oliver/Osoyoos but it didn't work out. Today the daycare was taking a group of kids to the Vernon Waterslides so Vic drove down and joined them. Both Sophie and Fynn were thrilled to have "their dad" at the waterslides.

Fynn was so tired after the full day of fun he promptly fell asleep as Vic was leaving the parking lot to go back home.

In other news, Sophie and I got a mid-summer haircut/trim. Feels good. Sophie convinced me that she needed some colour in her hair. I relented to a couple of streaks of temporary pink and purple.

And of course we are watching the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremonies tonight.

Everybody Into The PYOOOL!

Whenever someone jumps into the pool for the first time, that classic Flintstone's episode comes to mind. Fred wants a better life for Pebbles, so he moves the Flntstones into a high society apartment. This is one of the most classic and imitated scenes in Flintstone's History..."Everybody Into the Pyoool!"

Here is Sophie doing her big jump.

It was a great day -- we hung out by the pool, had sandwiches, chips, grapes, read and played. Perfection.

Friday update

We are the proud owners of a new camera. My Nikon D70 which I have had since Sophie was about 1 year old finally bit the dust last week. Vic surprised me with a new camera for our 22nd wedding anniversary last weekend. It is a D90. I love it!

Sophie is enjoying the lighter schedule of school as we are in the home stretch now. She has swimming lessons (Level 5) two days per week. This level is more challenging (naturally) then what she was required to do last year, so it is pushing her a bit. I am proud of her for giving it her best.

Fynn has one more day of soccer and then he is wrapped up for the year, unless the season is extended by one more week due to a cancellation that occured when the field was rained out due to heavy rain we have been having.

The kids are really into their bikes right now. We are taking them out fairly regularly at night for either a ride around the neighbourhood or down to the waterfront.

And finally, Vic and I are taking an on-line course offered through the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It was one of my 2012 Priority Goals. We love the course -- very interesting and the lecture speaker is engaging.

The Weekend Lens

Trying to find interesting things to do on the weekend with the kids is sometimes a bit of a challenge.

Based upon some recommendations we decided we would try the Revelstoke Railway Museum. It turned out to be a big hit and the kids (primarily Fynn) really liked it.

We finished off our little day trip with a trip to the Modern Bakery (we vetoed McDonalds) and it was well worth it.

Priorities

One of my 2012 priorties was the following:

Volunteer once before the end of the school year at Sophie’s school. That doesn’t seem like much, but it is hard for me to get away from the office. I have read that parents who are involved with their kids schools have kids that do better in school.

When Sophie's teacher asked if any parents / friends/ family could come to the school and speak about any trips to Asia, she would love it as the kids were learning about other countries. Our friend Patti spent 3 weeks in China a couple of years ago. Patti is a great presenter, so I asked if she would like to come and speak to Sophie's class. Happily she did and the kids really enjoyed learning more about China. While I wasn't the one doing the actual volunteering, I tagged along with Patti and helped her set up, so I feel like my goal of volunteering and spending more time at Sophie's school is met.

Art

One of my priorities for 2012 is for me to create more opportunities for Sophie to do art and for Fynn to have less TV time (ideally with books, but a colouring book works too).

His attention span for colouring is not particularly strong. Sophie enjoyed her new Junior Artist oil pastels. They are really inexpensive and can be purchased at an office supply store.