happy pride weekend

                                                  this about sums it all up.....

farewell grade one

It's difficult to believe another school year has come to an end.
Any anxiety I may have had a year ago about how Lulu would do in grade one is long gone.
We were very fortunate to have had an excellent teacher this year.
I say we, because it makes all the difference as a parent when you have an open and easy to talk to teacher who you really feel is the perfect fit for your child.
Not to mention that Lulu absolutely Loved her.
Such a huge relief.
I only hope Lulu has many more teachers in her academic future as caring and patient as her first grade teacher.
Now if I could only stop her tears now that won't see her all summer.
Last night was rough to put it mildly.
Poor thing.

She also lucked out and had an excellent group of classmates.
No bullies or real serious trouble makers.
The girls in the class all seemed to get along pretty well and there wasn't too much drama throughout the year.
whew...one year down only 11 more to go... lord help me.

Fortunately Lulu really connected with one little girl in particular who I just adore and hope that they continue being "B.F.F's" as the years go on.
I am relieved because there were very few girls that Lulu really fully clicked with %100.
Sure she gets along with almost everyone but it's hard to find your girlfriend soul mate in grade one.
Not to mention when you are 41..
Then again, I have made some really great connections this year myself.
So good things often take time and patience.
At least that's what I kept telling Lulu all year long.

I actually try to discourage her from worrying so much about finding a "best friend" and encourage her to think of everyone as her good friend and not to get so caught up in all that.
But I have to admit, that whenever I see these two together my heart just melts.
I really like the way they seem to bring out the best in each other and are both polite and still really sweet and play so well together.
Fingers crossed that this also continues.

Aside from the social aspects of school Lulu did extremely well and I couldn't be more proud of her.
Haven't seen her report card yet, but something tells me that it will exceed my expectations for her.

Like I mentioned, I met some really great women through out the year and had the opportunity to get a little more involved in the school aside from just being a class parent like the last few years.
It feels good to be a part of a community and to try to make a difference to our school.
Though I'm not entirely sure if I want to continue on this particular path next year, still trying to figure out a politically correct exit strategy.
It's a bit like the mafia...once your'e in....
Not that I don't want to help out, but time is valuable and I really want to focus on other things next year.
like * cough cough* my career...or lack thereof.
Time for a change.
Big time.
Oh how I miss my old life sometimes.
And the last thing I want to become is some angry PTA mom.
Still want to help, only in maybe a different way.
I've got the next two months to figure that one out though.

That being said I love to volunteer in the class whenever possible and want to try to still be available to do that next year in addition to finding myself and what I really want to do for the rest of my working days.
I am really looking forward to a break from all the school politics.
I'm also really looking forward to spending time with Lulu and not running around on such fixed scheduels for a while.
Not only do I need that, I think she needs it as well.


So all in all Grade one was a very successful year.
We both learned a lot.
I think I did almost as much as Lulu.

friday night delight

 

I forgot how much I love Terroni.
Or should I say "we" love Terroni.
It's definitely a family favourite.
It's always so consistent and each time we go there we are almost never disappointed.

When they closed for renovations last winter (Yonge & St. Clair location) we missed it and didn't really find a decent neighbourhood replacement.
Enter the months of frozen pizza on friday nights.
The only good thing is that we probably saved a ton of money.
there's something to be said about staying in and cracking your own good bottle of wine.
Terroni is good, but inexpensive it is not.
I still can't believe we spend close to $20 on Lulu's pizza or Gnocchi.
But it is so worth it. yum..
When we really needed a fix though, we would head a few more blocks south to the Adelaide location.
Big daddy also orders lunch from the Queen st. location at least once a week as well.
Lucky him.
We are fans, what can I say?
But now that the new Summerhill location is almost finished (aside from the new patio) we are so happy.
It's our Friday night no-brainer.
Though I have to also give a shout out to the new Pizza Libretto location on the Danforth.
Also excellent.

Haven't taken Lulu there yet, but I'm sure she will approve.
Oh and for the record, the "sunglasses" she has on in the photo above, are actually the 3D glasses she got at the movie before dinner.
The girl is stylin' but not that affected.
yet. gulp.

How about you, what's your favourite go to family restaurant?

happy fathers day

You never fail to make us smile...

Happy Father's day! Xx P.G. & Lulu

june express

It's funny how when you have small children you think "when they get a bit older I'll have so much more free time."
But you don't.
Or at least I don't.
The days or should I say months are just flying by.
The last month of school is always a bit of a scramble.
All in a good way, but it seems like so much happens in the last month of the school year.

But at least I can take a big sigh breath of relief that some of Lulu's after school activities are coming to a close.
No more rushing after school to dance classes and piano for a while.
Ahh..
For now she can just enjoy playing with friends and practicing her "cross overs" on the monkey bars and working on her cart wheels.
No rushing, no more "hurry up we're going to be late!"
That goes for me as well.
Well the playing with my friends part and not rushing so much.
and no I haven't perfected my cartwheel yet either..

There are so many social things happening over the next few weeks.
I'm trying to pace myself and take each day at a time.
Canadians really do try to make the most out of summer and it's seems like we have things booked already all the way to September.
How did that happen?
As long as there is still some down time and a chance to read, relax, stay healthy and catch up with friends I'm happy.

We've been debating starting a major reno for quite some time now and I can't even imagine starting a huge project at the moment.
We keep bumping it from the priority list even though we would love to fine tune some of the things we wished we had done when we first moved in almost 8 years ago.
I already mentioned the time flying part right?
Anyhow I guess there is no perfect time to staring ripping out floors and doing a kitchen renovation but I know that it definitely isn't June.

Anyhow bit of a boring post, but that's all I've got for now.
Like I said, very glad that the school year is winding down.
Though the thought of Lulu moving forward into grade TWO blows my mind..