Wordless Wednesday (June 27th)

I just had to share these pictures of the kids.  They were fooling around with my camera earlier and actually managed to get a few really cute shots.  I only wish I was so photogenic.

Seriously, these kids melt my heart ! 

Teacher's Gifts (Part 2)

Laila took in her teacher's gifts today and they all seemed thrilled with them.   I know there are many people that don't acknowledge the teachers because they feel it's their job and they are paid to do it.  But in my opinion these people are not paid enough to do what they do day in and day out so a little recognition is the least we can do.

Since Hayden started school I have always tried to stay away from the "World's Greatest Teachers" gifts because I'm sure most of them have had their fill of those.   I  have a few good friends that have been teachers for over 20 years and they have quite the collections of "memorable" gifts.

I played it safe for Laila's teachers this year and got them Mastercard gift cards and a little box of Purdy's chocolates.  Then last night I decided that I would make them the reusable gift bags that I made for Hadyen's teachers.

 

After I made the bags for Hayden's birthday Laila asked if we could make some for her classmates for the end of school so whipped up some cute cupcake (for the girls) and superheroes (for the boys) bags.  Faruq took her to the dollar store the other day and bought a bunch of little stuff to fill them.

Honestly, I'm a bit "bagged" from making all these bags but they are super easy ande everyone loved them so the effort was totally worth it.

Tomorrow at 3:30 we will be officially on summer break and I honestly can't wait to not have any schedules or routines for two whole months.

Teacher's Gifts

We have a total of 14 teachers between Hayden and Laila that we try to recognize at Christmas and the end of the year so I have had to get somewhat creative.  This year for Hayden's I kept it fairly simple and made more reusable bags for them.

In the bags we put a bag of Smarties with a cute label on them.

Hayden then wrote out a thank you note to each teacher telling them what they have meant to him and how they have helped him.  To finish them we added a 2 for 1 movie pass  (great deal at Costco) in some and Starbucks cards in others.  

Hayden took them in yesterday and by all accounts were a huge hit.

I'm still working on Laila's gifts and will post pictures when I'm done those.

That's a Wrap...

On another school year that is.  Hayden's last day in Grade 3 is today and I'm not sure who is happier that this year is over him or me.  I know he has worked harder this year then in years past but that is to be expected.  He set a goal of making the honor roll this year and for the most part accomplished that feat.

He has grown so much as a human being and matured so much.  Gone is my little boy and emerging is a wonderful young man.  All of his teachers noticed that this year as well and had lovely comments for him in his yearbook.

I'm so proud of you Hayden and hope that you enjoy your summer break because you definitely earned it this year.

I can't wait to tackle grade 4 with you buddy !!

Love
Mom

Another sewing project...

I have been plugging along with sewing projects and I had a few friends recently try rag quilts.  I had never heard of them to another friend mentioned it a few weeks ago.  After I seen the ones they made I thought I would give it a try.

They are actually quite easy to make and the end result was good.  Laila was thrilled.

I learnt a few lessons along the way though.  I will use a better quality flannel and put batting in between the squares to make it a bit fluffier.  Lastly, I will double check the squares before sewing them together as I made a small error in Laila's blanket and it still drives me mad when I look at it.

Now I'm working on more loot bags for Laila's classmates for a little year-end treat as well cute pillow case dresses for the girls for July 1st.  I will post a few pictures when I'm done.

Lastly,  I'm so excited to find a sewing store in Calgary that offers courses on Brother sewing machines which is what I own.  I have an embroidery option on my machine that I would dearly love to use but honestly it just scares me every time I think about learning how to use it but this store is offering a course in July on exactly this.   I'm super excited and hope to be embroidering everything after this class.

19 years...

And I feel like we are just getting started.  The years seem to pass more quickly now because we are so much busier but our bond just grows stronger and stronger with each passing year.

I'm proud of my marriage and that we are celebrating our 19th anniversary today.  We both take our relationship very serious and work on it everyday of every year.  We want to be the best role models for our kids and show them that marriages can last a lifetime.  

I love that I have history with this man and that we can sit for hours and laugh about all the funny things that have happened over the last two decades.

I love that he accepts me with all my flaws and battle scars.

I love that he never speaks harshly to me but is always the voice of reason and reassurance.

I love that he is my calm (and trust me I have needed that a lot).

I love that our kids adore and love him to bits.  He is an amazing father.  He is my equal partner in this parenting gig.

I love him.  Period.

~ Faruq  ~ 

June 19th, 1993

~ Faruq ~

New Year's - 2012

So tonight we celebrated with a party of 5 instead of 200 and we are dining on chinese food rather then beef wellington but it is just perfect.

Here's to the next 19 years !!

I love you forever and ever ! 

Michelle

xoxo

Happy Tears

We received news today that Laila was granted the funding required to return to her current school next year.  I'm not afraid to admit that I prayed many many times for this news.  But I must also thank her therapists and teachers for going the extra mile in helping with this as well.

Faruq and I are over the moon with this news and know that with another year Laila will be ready to be integrated back into the mainstream system the following year.

Today is a very good day for our family !

13 Days and Next Steps !

Not that I'm counting but we only have thirteen days left in this school year then we are free for 2 glorious months.  We are all tired and the break will be so welcomed.

It has been a wonderful school year for both Hayden and Laila.  They have both accomplished so much but have also worked really hard to achieve it.

Hayden has studied so hard this year and put so much into his classes.  His goal this year was to be on the honor roll so we are hoping that he can achieve this because he deserves it.  He is writing his provincials exams this week with his finals for school over the next two weeks.

I can't in words adequately express the transformation that has occurred with Laila.  I have been pretty honest here with the struggles she faced and I'm still truly amazed at what she accomplished.  While her journey with speech issues is not over yet she is most definitely much farther ahead then this time last year.

We are praying that she will be able to return next year to the school that has done so much for her.   You see after the initial reports by her therapists were put into our provincial government for funding next year they came back asking for more justification as to why she should be there.  To say this has rocked our world a bit would be an understatement.  We don't dispute that she has indeed come a very far way but there is still work to be done to fine tune her skills to give her the best possible chance when she is mainstreamed in Kindergarten.

We would pay for the schooling in a heartbeat but here's the problem only kids that are funded by the government are able to go to the school.  The cost is somewhere in the range of $2500 a month and while it would be a strain we would do it for next year but it's just not a possibly.  They do have another program offered at a different center but it doesn't have all the extra therapist support which she really needs and it is on the opposite side of the city.

All 4 of her teachers/therapists have written further justification on her behalf and we have written our own impact letter explaining that this could be devastating to Laila's further growth if she is not permitted to return.  I try to remember these people are just doing their job and trying to ensure the kids that really need the funding get it but it still doesn't make it an easier.  If they could only spent a few minutes with her they would see what we see.

There is nothing further we can do now but wait for the final verdict and we really don't know when that will come.  It could be next week or not until August.  We have a Plan B if funding is not approved that we feel will be the best possible solution if need be but we truly hope they will let her return and we will not need it.

The truly ironic thing about this whole situation is that Sophie is #1 on the wait list to get into Laila's school but we never thought in a million years that it could possibly be Laila's spot that she could get.

Faruq and I could not be prouder of what both kids accomplished this year and know they both deserve the break that is coming.

Where does she learn this ?

I took some pictures of the girls the other day and noticed a trend in all the photos.

Look

at

Laila's 

hands !

Except for the last one where she is hugging Sophie so her hands were busy !

I'm still not sure where she got this pose from but I have to say it's pretty darn cute.  

She is definitely all girl ! 

And of course, guess who is watching every move she makes ?

I can't wait to have two little girly girls.

Wish they were all like this....

What a wonderful day !  Faruq had the day off and it was lovely to have him home with us.  He misses a lot of dinners and bedtimes during the week so these days make up for it.  Although I have to admit I'm definitely not as efficient when he is around but that's okay.

We had a lazy morning with a great breakfast and I managed to get a little sewing in.

By far the best highlight of the day was Sophie's hearing test and I'm so happy to report that everything is fine.  I was again amazed with the audiologist that we had and her ability to get Sophie to cooperate.  She is a very strong willed little girl so I tend to break out in cold sweat whenever we need to do something like this.  So we will now just keeping hoping and praying that a spot comes out at Laila's preschool so Sophie can start Speech therapy in the fall. For now we will start her with private therapy.

We kept Laila home from school and she came with us to Sophie's appointment but I gotta say she was a bit pissed when she realized she actually did have school and missed it.  Girlfriend loves her class and is crushed when she misses it.   But a trip to Toys R Us after the appointment seemed to ease her disappoint a bit.

Hayden's school had their annual Track & Field day today and other then a small back injury I think he had a great day.  I know he is eagerly awaiting the end of the school year.  This kid has worked so hard this year so the break for 2 months will do him well.

I picked up my new "grannie" glasses today and holy hell I can hardly see with them.  This is my first pair of progressive lens and I have to say it is going to take me more then a few days to get used to them.

We have ballet and gymnastics tomorrow which are true highlights of my weekend.  Then it's home to work on a few teachers gifts and new dresses for the girls.

I hope you have a lovely weekend with loved ones !