Giving Thanks

With the approaching Thanksgiving weekend, I have been talking with the kids all week about Fall traditions and the things that we are thankful for in our lives. Some of the answers ranged from marshmallows, to mommies and daddies, and obviously horses! I personally am very grateful for my health and my family, both immediate and extended. I know I am very lucky to have such a large extended family who is so very helpful and involved in our lives. I am also thankful that my business allows for the possibility to have my children with me and not have to deal with shortage of quality child care available. I am again so very thankful for my family members who offer to take my children every so often to give me a work day without children - and oh, do I appreciate those days! I am also thankful my career and my husbands career can be considered relatively stable in the current time of economic uncertainty being felt by so many in a government city. Furthermore, I am thankful for our friends, who are oh so patient and understanding of our crazy work schedule and still take the time to try and connect. We have really tried this past year making friendships and family relationships more of a priority as opposed to getting lost in our work and it has been wonderful creating a more balanced lifestyle. 

On the topic of balance, A Gym Tale will be closed this Thanksgiving Sunday and Monday. I know not typical of indoor playgrounds, but I feel it is important for us to take some time to really reconnect with family and friends. As a small business owner, a wife and a mother to two young children, it is becoming more essential to find time to really focus in on only my family and not split my attention between them and work. I am so looking forward to doing this over Sunday and Monday this weekend.

Another hard decision that Alan and I have recently made is to not hold the New Year's Eve Sleepover this year. Alan and I have run this event each year for the past 6 years. Yes, it is true, I have slept on the yellow crash mat the past 6 years on New Year's Eve, even very pregnant and with a baby, while Alan worked all night at the desk. Although we very much enjoyed spending the evening with your children, for this year we have decided to spend it with our family. This is not to say, that we will never run the event again, just not for this year. I cannot tell you how excited I am to not have to whisper 'Happy New Year' to Alan because twenty children are sleeping in the forest!

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and is able to find a moment to relax and feel thankful for whatever it is, big or small, that is making your life amazing right now.

My new favourite picture below, once again taken by the ever so talented Elizabeth Fulton Photography.