4 step regionals

Sunday February 12th was the Regionals for the 4 Step. Maelie was extremely excited! I was very nervous because that bowling place is not the best for kids who have a slower ball. The lanes are old and kinda in a V shape. But all went well!

Maelie's team had a few laughs before it all started. It is so much fun seeing them all together as a team. They genuinely like each other!

Let's pose before it starts!!

The girls played well, and ended up winning 1st place!! They are moving up the the provincials on the 26th! If they win 1st place at the provincials, we are heading off to Newfoundland in May! Cross our fingers!!

CONGRATS GIRLS & Luc, the coach !!! YOU ROCK!!

Twas the night before bowling

This past week seems like a blur to me. Between prepping for the Valentine's event at work, Valentine's treats for Maelie's class, helping out a friend while she was away, and bowling games and a tournament... I barely remembered my name!

On Saturday morning we started off with bowling as usual. Saturday afternoon we picked up Naomie and came back to our place so I could work on the chocolates for work. After supper we returned to Naomies house for her treatment and to sleep. While there, the girls worked on decorating some cookies! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me so I had to use my phone, and it turned out blurry! but we get the idea...

They turned out looking pretty tasty!

Morning cuddles with Peluche. Little spoiled puppy :)

The next morning, we had to get going early. It was Maelie's regional tournament! Naomie was also joining us :)

 We went to our house and had a breakfast of champions! LOL Rice crispie squares! Both girls have their mouth full in this picture, so obviously it must be tasty!! There's nothing like warm rice crispie squares...

At lunchtime, I grabbed some subs and we headed off to the bowling alley. Turns out the boys (who played before the girls) were not done so we got to see them win first place!! :) Maelie wolfed down her sub and then the tournament began.... (in the next post!!)

Fun haven IS a fun haven

Last Thursday was an outdoors day for Maelie's school. Maelie didn't want to go, and I didn't insist because the last thing I would want was for her to break an arm while skating just before the bowling tournament! So I took half a day off and we headed out to Fun Haven to check it out. Maelie wants to have her bday party there so I figured we would see if it's actually worth it.

When we arrived, we were the ONLY people there! (being a weekday) It was great! Maelie had a swipe card and could swipe in the activities as many times as she wanted.

The ball area was awesome! There were 2 stories and there were some tubes that brought the balls upstairs for you (a bit like a vacuum cleaner).

She was also able to try out the rock climbing as many time as she wanted. Personally, I think that they could have invested a bit more in this activity. The wall was one of the plainest we've seen at all the places we've been to. Maelie didn't even want to try it over and over.

There was also unlimited mini-bowling. It's a quick game of 10 pin on a shorter alley. Maelie tried this one many times, of course.

There was laser tag, and Laser Frenzy. We didn't try the laser tag. The Laser Frenzy was a lot of fun though! Basically you choose your lever, and then enter a room with lasers pointing all over the place. You have to make your way over and under the lasers without touching them. It's a bit like in the movies! The game doesn't last very long but it's a lot of fun. I didn't get a good picture of it but you can check that out on their website.

Before heading off to the game area, we had a bit of lunch. Maelie loved their little mini pizzas, and i really enjoyed the small ham sub. It had a very tasty sauce in it. MMMmmmm.

We spent the rest of our time playing games! Spent way too much money on those. But Maelie was happy and thought it was well worth it!

Everything works with your card. You swipe to play and the tickets you earn are automatically loaded on your card. it's great!

Maelie got a ton of points... we won the jackpot on one of them. She shopped for her loot. She got a bit traffic light lamp. The colors light up and blink. She got a small rotating disco ball, and all kinds of other little gadgets.

We had an awesome mom & daughter day. We also booked her bday party for April! It should be an awesome party! :)

2 cute little new braces!

On Monday morning, Maelie finally got 2 cute little braces to fix her front teeth!! Here is her before shot so we can remember the moment!

And here she is with her two little braces! She debated for weeks which colors she would choose. She opted for green and blue!

Isn't it SO cute? Maelie enjoys going to the othodontist!

Cute cute cute! it's so sweet to see her with her braces! She will get to change the color of the elastics in 6 weeks. She will also get a bigger metal string in the middle.

This expensive plan (thank you insurance!) will help her mouth a lot!

Happy bday Bill! & more on our weekend...

Friday was Bill's birthday so we ballooned up the house the night before. Since Bill works evenings. we didn't get to see him on his actual bday, so we celebrated a little on Saturday instead! We DID have a cheesecake in the fridge for him on Friday night though... (hence the missing piece when we went to sing Happy Bday the next day)

Maelie wanted to make him some breakfast so she made him a grilled cheese sandwich in our George Foreman grill that was given to us by my aunt Helene last summer. It's been the most useful appliance for us! :)

Maelie had bowling Saturday morning and ended up being the first Bantam girl to play over 600 for three games! (Game 1 : 217, Game 2: 180, Game 3: 217). She also won a hockey ticket, and a prize, AND her and another little girl will be playing at the Hi & Lo tournament as they placed the highest above average! What a Saturday!!

We went to eat out at Scores that evening for Bill's bday and then called it an early night.

On Sunday, Maelie made her daddy another grilled cheese for breakfast and she said "mom, take a picture of this one.. it is MUCH nice that yesterday's grilled cheese. Put this one on your blog." So at Maelie's request, here is the "improved" grilled cheese.

After breakfast, I took Maelie to play bowling once again. She loves practicing on Sunday mornings on her own at another bowling alley. (the one she will play at for 2 tournaments) It makes her more confident on those alleys as well.

Sunday afternoon, Maelie and I went cross country skiing! I hadn't been cross country skiing in over 20 years!! I was hoping to take a pic with my phone but it froze and died. LOL no more battery power to even take ONE pic!! We did pretty good! i only fell once, and it was a graceful fall as I was going down sideways in a steep hill! I don't do hills....!! We had a great time, and thankfully, Maelie didn't break anything on her body!!

All in all we had a very fun weekend :)

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Maelie did this on Saturday night before going to bed. I guess she was watching hockey with Bill and wanted him to fill in the final score since she went to bed. I was already in bed a bit before her !

My life has been taken over by bowling

On a good note, we are alive and well!! :) I apologize to my family and friends for having disappeared! Our lives have been taken over by this wonderful sport:



Maelie practiced every weekday except for Friday. She is slowly improving . Her team is quite good... not consistent, but good nonetheless. We are looking forward to her 4 Step tournament on February 12th for the regionals, and if they place, the provincials on the 26th. It seems so close yet so far away! We will be practicing 5 days a week to make sure we are ready.

All these practices mean we need to plan plan plan! Meals are made in the slowcooker since I don't have much time to cook. As for cleaning, well I am implementing a plan so that hopefully, everyone in the household can participate in chores... not just me. I seriously think it is not fair for one person to carry the burden of cleaning the common areas in the house all the time. I also don't want to *ask* anyone to do anything. Asking does not make me comfortable, and I think I should be comfortable in my own home. So I created a list where everyone can choose a chore or 2 during the week. It is completely up to all the members in this household... but in order for me to stay happy and sane, it's best for everyone to do chores! LOL

Here is Maelie's Hexbug playground. She played with her friend Melyna yesterday while us moms crafted. They played with the Hexbugs for hours!! Today, she invited Rebecca and Lorry to play so they spent a long time playing with the Hexbugs as well! Glad to see that her Christmas gifts were not a waste :)

Bare with us for a while, we will be quite busy and therefore posting a bit less regularly.

Maelie's American Girl

For Christmas, Maelie used some Christmas money and we ordered an American Girl. She doesn't really *play* with dolls, however she really wanted one that she could dress up as well as do her hair! Needless to say, after paying what we did for the doll, I didn't want to start paying more for the doll's wardrobe than I do for my own! So i got a few online , Simplicity and McCall's patterns and got to work. I really really am basic at sewing !! I made her some cute skinny jeans!

We are not sure if this top is a dress or a long shirt. This outfit was a surprise as Maelie was away for a sleepover. When she walked in, it's the first thing she saw and was ECSTATIC!

Some of the cheap clearance fabric I got was stretchy pink and stretchy aqua. I made some little legging style pants (same as the jeans pattern). It's SO easy!!

We can't see it very well on the picture but this top is reddish and has sequins on it. Maelie uses it as a sleeveless vest and usually ties a red ribbon around her waist. It's so adorable to see her mix and match different outfits.

I had to almost bribe her to get a simple picture !!

My next goal is to teach Maelie how to sew the basics. I know she will hava a ton of fun learning. Her great-grandma Matante would be so proud!! :)