Something Creative again!

Wow!  Two posts in 2 days and something creative to boot!  I'm thinking I need to give credit to Shimelle and her challenges this weekend as well as starting to feel a little festive and thinking about the holidays (just a little!).

The challenge was to create a pocket page for your Journal Your Christmas album for the holidays.  I pulled out my stash and this is what I ended up with.  Quick and simple, but fun for sure and it's all stuff that was sitting around waiting to be used!  Bo Bunny striped paper and Bella Blvd houses paper and sticker along with a Jenni Bowlin journaling block and some cards from my Becky Higgins Project Life and there you have it!

Not sure what we're up to this afternoon, but enjoying not having to work today for sure and might even get into some more crafty stuff yet today!

Cheers,

Happy February!

Yes, it's hard to belive it's Tuesday again already!  Most of us in the house have been down and out with a stomach bug the last few days, but are all seemingly back at it today.  Poor George had his birthday yesterday and was the only healthy one!  Sorry hon!  We'll celebrate another day this week...

Now for Project Life from the last week!

January 22nd

Yes, this is my glorified pencil sharpener!  It's actually a paper shredder that I'd like to get rid of since I now have a bigger and better one, but Kyle loves this thing!  He gets all the pencils and pencil crayons out and sharpens them.  He'll stand there for ages!  I just can't seem to get rid of it when I know it'll break Kyle's heart!

January 23rd

This was our first family dinner at our new table!  Now it's just to get the other 2 chairs put together and get rid of the box in the background.  Looking forward to lots of nights like this!

January 24th

This isn't the best picture of me, but it's the one I've got!  I ended up switching duty days with Tracy at the last minute because Matthew was sick this day.  Had a fun day playing with Nathan and helping out!

January 25th

Mmmmm...gotta love leftovers!  This was my lunch today and it was leftover sloppy joes.  These are a recent favourite for the boys which I love because they're quick and easy!

January 26th

I actually posted about this last week.  It was just one of those morning where I was feeling quite grateful and enjoying a moment!

January 27th

Who can resist those faces?  We ended up making cookies 2 days in a row here.  The kids love helping and we made chocolate chip ones, so who can resist the smell of those baking?!

January 28th

Poor Kyle!  He came into my room at 6:30 telling me his stomach didn't feel good.  He generaly just gets up and gets himself breakfast, so I sort of knew something was really wrong.  He ended up throwing up around 7 and then again at 9am, but that was about the worst of it.  He napped for the latter part of the morning and was so much better after that!

Check out all the other Project Life inspiration over at The Mom Creative too!

I'll update about Nathan's birthday party (Sunday) soon as well!  It was unfortunately after that that we all ended up sick though I think it was the same bug that Kyle had had Friday.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Cheers,

Mindful gratitude...

Just having a quiet moment here and catching up with some stuff online when I came up this post by Kelly Willette and thought it was a wonderful reminder of being thankful for the everyday in our lives.  Yes, there are a million things to complain about if you want to and we all have days that we do, but wouldn't we all be so much better off if we looked at all the bits of good in our everyday lives?

I'm learning already from doing Project Life that there's so much in our day to day to celebrate.  The kids are loving seeing all these bits of our life preserved in pictures for them to go through any time they want so I can only imagine how thrilled they'll be in a couple of months when there's a lot more to look at.  I think it's making them appreciate the little things as well. 

I have a little time this morning since 3 of the kids are at school and Matthew is home sick still with Daddy.  Just sitting here with the winter sun coming through the curtains and thinking about how very blessed my life really is...  Really appreciating it - all of it!

What are you thankful for today?  And who are you going to tell?  How are you going to celebrate that?

Cheers,

Project Life - Week 3!

Wow!  Hard to believe we're already 3 weeks into 2011!  Where does the time go?

Take a look at all the Project Life inspiration at The Mom Creative.  It's time to update with my pictures from this week again... 

January 15th

This was the first time Kyle had used his debit card and he was pretty excited about it.  he got a new Lego game called Ninjago.  I was really proud of him!

January 16th

OK now, this isn't the best pictureof me, but I love it because of the wonderful woman in the picture with me - my grandma!  This was a special day as the family all got together at my aunt and uncle's to celebrate my grandma's 95th birthday! 

She's a truly amazing woman... 

January 17th

What a day!  We were up early (5:40am!) to get ourselves ready and out the door to be downtown by 7am for Kyle's dental surgery.  What he was actually having done was having 5 teeth pulled!  It was supposed to be 6, but one of them fell out when we were at my grandma's birthday celebration. 

He was a real trooper though and thankfully they put him under for it.  The freezing was about the worst part for him since he'd never had it before.  I gave him one dose of Tylenol in the morning when we got home and then he didn't even want/need anymore after that.  It was a take it easy day and he slept a lot in the morning.  By about midday the same day, he had perked right up and though he was on soft foods, he was pretty much back to normal!  Amazing how fast kids can bounce back! 

There was a letter for the Tooth Fairy and she left him a $20!!

January 18th

OK, sooooooo totally excited about these boxes!  We went shopping on the weekend for a new kitchen table and chairs and they arrived today!  We had looked before Christmas and didn't find anything we liked, but we sure did this time.  Now it'll just be a matter of when they're all put together!

January 19th

Yes, Daddy has started to put some of the new table and chairs together, so you decided that you wanted to build a tent with the big box.  And what could be better than a tent to play in?  A tent to sleep in!  I was actually kind of surprised that you really did sleep in there all night!  Adorable! 

Who needs toys when you have cardboard boxes?

January 20th

There was a big assembly at my son's school for the official opening of the new playground.  I was actually asked to come up and accept something on behalf of the PAC that did a lot of fundraising and made a big donation for the playground.

January 21st

Going to cheat with this one and take a picture later!  It was my son's PJ Spirit Day at school and I forgot to get a picture, so I'm planning on taking one this weekend of him in the same jammies he wore to school that day and adding it here!

Well, better go upload these pictures for printing while I'm thinking about it too.  Matthew is still sick, so he's not here today, but George went back to work today after being off sick with a fever yesterday.  I have some cold symptoms, but am taking Cold FX and ignoring them as best I can!

Have a good one!

Cheers,

Project Life Week 2!

I can't believe it's been more than a week since I've posted, especially since so much has happened this week.  Well, this will be a quick peek and I'll try and get back soon to update a little more and add.  The Mom Creative is a fun place to check out and a lot of people are sharing their Project Life stuff there, so you can see a lot of other ideas as well!

This was a busy week with doctor's appointments and check-ups, some crazy weather, my first class in about a month as well as a little boy turning 5!!  We also had a life lesson for Kyle and those are never really fun.  Certainly nothing harmful, but there was a loss of a toy involved after mum suggested he not take it to school!

I used my first vertical picture this week in the bottom right on this page since it was just too cute.  I'm not worrying about the direction of the odd one of these and, to be honest, I'm finiding it a bit more of a challenge to take more horizontal pictures since it isn't the norm for me!

Yes, it's hard to believe, but my "baby" turned 5 on the 13th.  I got to be on duty at preschool with him and we had a little celebration there with cupcakes.  We had mum and dad over in the evening for dinner.  Pizza, pepperoni of course, was Nathan's dinner of choice!  We had George's mum and dad over for cake as well afterwards and there were more than a few presents once again!  Just can't believe he's my little man and he's now 5 and will be going to full-time Kindergarten in the fall!  How time flies!

Well, think that's it for this week.  Having a ton of fun puttering with my Project Life and I'm fully up to date (*including today!) with my journaling!  Trying to get pictures developed on the weekend and popped in quickly so that this project stays up to date.  The best part is that my family is enjoying it as well!



Cheers,

Project Life - Week 1!

Yes, this is the first actual week of my Project Life and I had soooo much fun doing it.  Everyone in the family seems to like the idea of this and both Kyle and George read all the journaling for the week once it was done.  I think this is simply awesome!

With all the classes I'm prepping for at work, I find my own scrapping seems to get left.  I love doing it, but I don't always have time.  This is a way top document what's going on in our lives without any stress.  I'm still planning doing some scrapping, but I can do it when I have time and not worry about being caught up. 

I'm doing it as a picture a day, but also not stressing if I miss the odd one and will simply fill it with another picture related to the week or our family in some way.  I've decided to try and do the journaling before bed daily to keep it fresh in my mind.  I am using OhLife daily as well which e-mails you a generic question about your day.  You just hit reply, add your response and send it and that is added to an online (private) journal.  Sometimes I actually write and other days, it's just point form of a few things.  Whatever it is, it's something to this point!

Had a bit of a crazy day today.  Got up early and got the boys dressed and ready so that we could head out to the clinic and get an appt for Kyle.  Next Monday, Kyle is having 6 teeth pulled. and they're putting him out for it, so that means a need a form filled out by the doctor saying that he all good and healthy - check up basically.  We were up there before 7:30 (not long after they opened) and were told to come back at 11:30!  This is what happens when your doctor has been away for a week and everyone loves him!  

My plans were done at that point because I was hoping that since Matthew and Sophia weren't here first thing this morning that I could have Kyle in and out before they got here (after swimming).  I also thought Kyle would be in and out before school - no go there!  Instead, all 5 of us were up there and waited more than an hour.  I'm truly lucky they're all so good because other than asking more than once when we were going in, they were really good.  It was almost 1pm before we got out though, so I popped into Burger King and got 2 kids meals for the kids to share and then added some fruit and other things.  Amazing that one kid could actually eat all those fries anyway!

Took Kyle up to school and just missed the bell, so we walked him in.  Came home and put Matthew to bed.  A friend was nice enough to bring Kyle home so that Matthew could sleep a little longer.  Brian had left money for hot chocolate for the kids and because it was so late after the doctor, we didn't go then, but went up to Starbucks once Matthew woke up.  Had fun and someone commented on how well behaved they were - the second time today with the first being at the doctor's!

Well making a Stroganoff WW recipe tonight, so I'd better go get at it!

It's Bachelor night tonight, so I'll be watching that and the weather network to figure out what's going on with the snow!  Have to prep my Wednesday class too and just hope that I can get there.

Well, better go get some cooking done for real!  I'm out of here!  Have a good one!

Cheers,

What a completely crazy day!

Crazy day and not at all how I thought things would go the first day back for our school routine!

- George was off today still - thankfully!!!
- Nathan is seeming sick still, so we wanted to take him to dr
- George goes up early, but it's closed and he doesn't check what time it's open
- about 8ish, he takes Nathan and goes up again only to find out the dr isn't in until 9 as our dr is on vacation
- I get a call from a friend that their younger daughter is sick and could I pick up their older daughter and take her with Kyle since they're in the same class - fine!  All good!
- called Tracy since the kids were coming a little later and asked her to come after 9 when I know we'll be home again - she said no worries
- get Kyle and his friend to school and go to make Nathan a dr appt
- find out the dr I want to see (at the clinic) isn't in until later, so we have to go back to make appt
- Tracy brings kids
- George goes to run errands
- I play with the kids and make them lunch
- George makes appt for Nathan on his way home
- he comes home and replaces lightbulbs in the kitchen (Yeah!)while I go grab sushi for us for lunch
- lunch and sit down for a bit and then off to get Kyle and his friend and take her home

This is going to be my Project Life picture for today!

- pick up Nathan and take him to dr only to find out he has pneumonia!! Needs more meds and a chest x-ray!!
- come home to find Brian has picked up kids and George has dinner going
- George takes Nathan for chest x-ray and they're waiting for ages
- Nathan called after an hour or so crying and wanting to come home
- I told him I'd come up and see him and bring Rufus his dog and his blankie, but by the time we got there, they were in already
- waited and Nathan was happy to see Rufus!
- George took Kyle home in the truck and I took the car and Nathan to go to Tim's for a chocolate milk and a bagel!
- poor Kyle missed karate tonight as a result os all this craziness too - felt badly!
- poor George had dinner and then went grocery shopping for us thankfully!
- gave Nathan medicine, tucked the kids and they were done for the day
- relaxing a bit and then calling it a night!

Let's just hope tomorrow is a little more "normal"!  It better be because it's just me and the kids!  Such a different day than the relaxing one we had with the 4 of us yesterday!

Cheers,

Happy New Year!!

Hard to believe that we're once again at the end of another year!  It's been one that has seen a lot of change for me personally and I plan to continue that into the new year.  We've had some wonderful times as family and have some big things coming this year as well in terms of change for sure. 

As a result of the craziness that may ensue this year along with all the everyday stuff, I'm hoping to complete Project Life this year.  The idea is that you take a picture a day for a year and document it with journaling as well.  I'm not going to stress about this and just fill days I miss with suff of the kids, but I think might be a fun project for us since I haven't been scrapping as much lately (though I plan to do more of that in 2011 as well!).

This has been the big change for me personally.  I got tired of being tired and worrying about my health, so I did something about it.  I went back to Weight Watchers in July and have lost almost 60lbs since going back (though have put a few back on over the holidays!).  Need to get back at it because I plan on losing more in 2011 and I'd love to get to goal!  I know it'll be hard work, but I'm looking forward to the challenge to be honest.  And nothing can replace how much better I already feel, so bring on 2011!

As for our family...

- George continued working for the city and is doing very well there with a possible promotion in 2011
- I'm still taking care of Sophia and Matthew, but it changed to 5 days a week as of September this year when Tracy got a new job
- also working at the store and teaching a lot of classes!  Fun stuff!
- Kyle started Grade 2 and had 2 new teachers as well as being in a 2/3 split
- Nathan continued at the preschool and is doing well
- we thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics earlier this year and George volunteered!
- I was lucky enough to see one of the Olympic speedskating events since Tracy and Brian won an Olympics package!
- continued on the PAC at Kyle's school as the Emergency Preparedness rep
- celebrated my 40th birthday in May!

- we had an amazing birthday/retirement party for dad!
- the boys opened bank accounts

- Kyle started karate and has laready passed his first grading and has a new belt

- poor Nathan spent the last few months of the year sick with everything from bronchitis to ear infections (though we think he's thankfully finally feeling better now!)
- We went to see The Wiggles again with Tracy, Brian, Sophia and Matthew as well!

- enjoyed many wonderful family get togethers!  Above picture is from Easter.
- it was a year of Star Wars and Lego (or both combined!) in our house this year!

We've had a fun year full of wonderful of wonderful memories.  The boys are growing so quickly that I sometimes want to be abe to slow time and just enjoy every single moment and while I can't do that, I can take the time to appreciate what is - right now! 

Here's to an amazing 2011 everyone!  Happy New Year!



Cheers,