52/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson & Lily: Thrilled to receive much sought after gifts Christmas morning. Jackson got a Fuji Pix camera and Lily a huge pink macaroon bean bag pillow among many other wonderful gifts. 

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51/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: I know I've posted a very similar photo before but I can't help it. This weekend, my boy played a game, reffed a game then played another all back to back. Hockey is his passion. He scored goals in both games and commented how fun it was to ref and watch the younger kids who are just learning to play. 

Lily: All smiles during her performance at the school Christmas concert this year. Her class did a Canadian Version of The 12 Days of Christmas. It was super fun and had the audience cheering and laughing. I'm glad she is finally comfortable performing. 

My kids fill my heart with such joy. I'm proud of them and their happy personalities. As we are one week away from the end of another year of weekly portraits, I will say again how very grateful I am for this project. It's so great to look back on the year and what my babies have been doing and how they have grown. Thanks so much for hosting Donna. I look forward to next

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50/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

 

Jackson: Thank goodness I got this shot even if it's not the greatest. It certainly highlights his hair and God knows he loves his hair!!! 😂 

 

Lily: Wearing her current favourite dress (she wore the same one in last weeks post) while posing near the stage as we waited for The Nutcracker to begin at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. This is our second year in a row seeing it live (see last year here)and we feel so lucky and blessed that we get to go and enjoy!

 

 

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The only pic of them together this week was a selfie Lily took with her new Fuji Instant camera. I'm so glad it was taken. My mind was a busy mess last week and rather unusually, I didn't get my shots.

 

49/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson & Lily: Our first ever visit to a tree farm. Jackson cut down his very first tree while Lily went around blowing kisses at her favourites.  Such a wonderful morning spent with my sweet loves and now our home has two trees!!! One artificial one fully decorated that's been up for weeks and a beautiful fir we hand picked and  paid $30 for. I don't know what I was thinking but I sure love it. 

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48/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: My boy gets a ton of homework (too much in my opinion) but usually gets it done right after school so he can have the rest of the evening to himself. His first High School report card was awesome. As ever, so much pride. I love him. 

Lily: She's almost 11 and in full party planning mode. It's impossible to keep up with her ideas. Hopefully her party will be all the she is dreaming it will be.

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47/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson & Lily: Disney was a dream come true for them both. We spent 5 days there last week and had the time of our lives. The place really is something else! Look for a post (with far too many pictures) soon! 

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46/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: Getting his monthly haircut with his favourite barber. He has very specific requests and Mike always delivers for him. 

Lily: Displaying her biggest school project to date. This was a ton of work and she had to finish a week before the rest of the class as we are headed out of town. I'm proud of all the work she put into and hope her teachers see it too. 

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45/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Big Pink Jack Rabbit: Such a serious bunny until he stood with his GG, his Nana and his friends for pictures later in the evening. Turns out the girls loved his cuddly pink costume. :)

Hermione: She was pointing her wand at everyone and so happy to play the part of Harry & Ron's best friend. I was worried as we didn't trick or treat with any of her girlfriends this year but it all turned out great. She was happy to join her cousin and a family friend and run from house to house. 

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44/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: We had parent/teacher conferences this week (for the first time in High School) and heard lots of great things about our boy. One teacher even said he wished he had 29 Jackson's in his classroom. Good stuff. 

Lily: She just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and immediately started the next in the series. I'm so glad she likes to read. 

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43/52

"a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: Attempting a handstand on the chilly water of Inland Lake. He loves the thrill of the cold apparently and has managed a jump every month this year so far.  

Lily: She has just been given the trumpet to learn to play at school Pray for us. :)

All photos are from my iPhone this week. It's been a busy one and unfortunately I didn't take my Canon out once. 

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42/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: My boy took the reffing course a few weeks ago and has officially worked his first game. He was very focused and did well. I'm so proud! :)

Lily: She's a pretty happy, positive little lady. She doesn't love her teacher this year but always has something good to say regardless of her true feelings. More pride! :)

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41/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: Hockey, volleyball and a big school project made for a very busy week for my boy. 

Lily: Her portrait this week should really be of her swimming as the pool is where she spent a load of time this week. She LOVES to swim and is REALLY enjoying her lessons right now. During Jackson's hockey game on Wednesday evening, she went swimming on her own hoping to see some friends once she arrived. (The pool and the rink are in the same building in our town). We found her by herself, swimming laps, "to practice for lessons". She could care less who was with her.  

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40/52

  "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: He's a teenager!!! Read about his day here. 

Lily: My sweet little muse, always more than willing to pose for my me even if it requires many takes. 

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39/52

  "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

All photos taken with my new phone. I've been pretty lazy and busy and haven't pulled out the camera all week. 

Jackson: One evening after volleyball practice, when the school was somewhat empty,  I convinced Jackson to take me to his locker and have his picture taken. I'd been desperate to check it out since he started high school earlier this month. Maybe it's because I still can't believe he is in high school and I'm having a hard time letting go. I'm not really sure the reason I wanted to see where his locker was but he was happy enough to show me and point out where other friends had lockers. He is a good sport and I'm grateful. 

Lily: As I mentioned above, I haven't pulled out the Canon all week and actually thought I didn't have a portrait of her alone at all. Then I found a few selfies on my new phone and was glad I had something to post. Yay Lily for giving me options. :)

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38/52

 "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson & Lily: Holding on to summertime fun just a bit longer. Last weekend was gorgeous and the lake was calling their names. 

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37/52

  "a portrait of, and occasionally a quote from my children, once a week, every week, in 2016"

Jackson: Grade 8/High School!!! is so far, so good. As a matter of fact, he's loving it. He's not super keen on his French teacher as he feels he gives "too much homework" but otherwise all is well. He enjoys catching the bus to school and home, has already been to and LOVED a dance and is managing fine moving to different classrooms and having several different teachers. This week he also finished his tryouts for Rep Hockey and didn't make the cut. He took it so well making Neil and I so proud of how mature he can be when he needs to be. Yay Jackson! You are such a good guy!

Lily: Grade 6 has turned out really well for my girl. The first day was interesting as we found that almost the entire school had gone to split classes for all grades except Kindergarten. Lily is now is a 5/6 split but as she spends most of her time with her friends in the grade below, this is perfect for her. She's my December girl and really does seem to gravitate towards the girls in the lower grade. She still loves to play and so do they. She has two teachers who are splitting the week in half, some days alternating the morning/afternoon. She likes one more than the other but that is the beauty of the split - she will only have to put up with the one for half the week. Next week, Acro begins and the week after that swimming. She a busy, happy little lady. 

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