So far behind....

I am not doing so well with my goal to post regularly.

This past week has been pretty busy- I subbed 2 days this week, had MOPS, errands to run and had 2 wisdom teeth pulled.

The wisdom teeth extractions went well, they just "popped" out (the dentist's words- didn't feel like it to me!). I was feeling pretty good until late yesterday afternoon and last night when my left side began to swell, have lots of pain and just felt awful. This morning I woke up to a fever and nausea. I figured it was probably infected (mouths are cesspools for bacteria, so no surprise there), so I headed in to the Urgent Care centre. Usually we go to Didsbury but I (wrongly) thought that since I was arriving at opening time, I would get seen quickly and then could get my prescription and go home, rather than drive the 20 minutes to Didsbury, then drive past my house to Airdrie to get my prescription and then home again. After 3 hours of waiting, with no one getting called back, I decided to leave and go to Didsbury anyway. I told the nurse I was leaving and she strongly advised me to stay because she was worried that the infection would spread since I was basically swallowing it constantly. She secretly bumped me to the front of the line and I was in the back an on my way to the pharmacy 20 minutes later.

I've had 2 doses of antibiotics and am beginning to feel better. I'll pop in to the dentist tomorrow just to have her check and make sure it looks alright.

I'm getting my hair done tomorrow and am embracing a dramatic change. Its something I've been throwing around for a while now, and I've decided to do it. Its just hair, right? It'll grow back..... Stay tuned.....

A few weeks ago school was cancelled due to -40 temsp (with windchill) and we stayed home in our jammies and had a fun day.

True to one of my goals, I set out painting activities for the boys, despite the mess I knew it would  make. We experimented with different tools to paint with and they had a blast. It was a great way to spend an hour of our long and cold day!

The boys are also into Angry Birds (they are way better at it than I am!). I had found these coloring sheets online and printed them off. They intently colored for a while too.

Levi is getting to be a very careful colorer!

(Blogger won't let me change the orientation for some reason. Sorry!)

I kept busy doing some baking- blueberry muffins and brownies.

This weekend Chris has been busy building me a pantry. Pictures to follow when it is complete!

Have a good week!

Worldless Wednesday: Things I love

Nephew, my sons

My sisters and their families

My Mommy and Daddy

My In-Laws 

The greatest man alive

Our wonderful dog

My perfect little family

Some of the best friends a girl could ask for!

Perspective

The woman on the right is an average sized woman. The woman on the left is a model.

Did you know that in the fashion industry, a size 6 is considered a plus size?!?

Friday Night Leftovers

• Chris got me a tablet for Christmas. I chose the Acer IconiaTab A500 and I love it. It is so convenient and also a great big time waster. Its one of the few tablets that had a full size USB port, which is something I wanted for my doula business so I can share files easily with clients if I need to. I've watched videos on it and have been impressed with the quality. I've played games on it (I now know what the fuss about Angry Birds was!), I've used it in the kitchen to try new recipes and almost best of all- I can browse pinterest all from the comfort of my bed! ;) 

• Without either of us knowing what we were getting for Christmas, we got each other the same thing. Chris has been wanting an iPad for ages so I knew I wanted to get him one. This is normally waaaaayyyy out of our budget, so I mentioned to family that if they wanted to contribute in the form of a gift card, I would be giving him the balance remaining so he could get himself the iPad he's been wanting. Normally, we don't spend much on each other for Christmas but this year, we splurged. Its not very often that we spend large amounts of money on ourselves, so it was a really nice and appreciated treat.

• My job is so exciting. I love to be a part of welcoming new babies to the world. Sometimes the stories are so good and the circustances around the baby's entrance are so exciting. I had one of those births this week. Amidst a snowstorm that had the roads at a near standstill, a first time mama went from mild back pain to feeling the urge to push in less than 2 hours. Thankfully, an ambulance was not too far away and was able to transport her to the hospital in time to have the baby. I was sure that the baby would be born before I arrived at the hospital, but I got there, flustered from trying to get through traffic in rush hour and a snowstorm, in time to be there for the baby's grand entrance. A whirlwind few hours, for sure!

• My thankfulness journal that I started on January 1st is going really well. I've already had to stop and make myself find the silver lining in some trying days. Its only been 2 weeks and I already feel my outlook on things being more positive. I didn't think of myself as a negative person before, but I am definitely stopping to think of the positive more. For example, earlier this week, Levi was really sick and fevered and whiny. All he wanted to do was to sit on my lap. At first, I was annoyed because I had things I wanted to get done and he was hot and uncomfortable making me hot and uncomfortable. But then, I stopped and looked for the positive. And that was that my little boy, who soon won't be so little, just wanted to sit and cuddle with his mommy. Who cares that the laundry and dishes didn't get done? Emails didn't get returned until later that day? I took a deep breath, didn't worry about my to-do list and just enjoyed snuggles with my littlest big boy.

Life, Unorganized

I came across this calendar on (where else?) pinterest and had a look after a friend mentioned it to me. It seems so easy and reasonable to do. Afterall, its just 1 task a day to get my home organized.

I decided when I saw it that I would do each daily task and by the end of 2012, I would be a very organized person.

Normally, I am very organized, but when it comes to things like cupboards, closets, drawers, storage rooms, etc, I let those things get so out of control. Then it is too far gone that I'm overwhelmed.

This seemed like a gret way to tackle this problem..... so why haven't I started yet?? (its rhetorical, I don't need or have an answer).

I guess I'm going to have some catch up to do..... starting soon. Ish....

If you've heard of FlyLady, this is similar. I think the major difference is that FlyLady also teaches you to add certain routines to your day to keep your life organized such as shining your sink every night and little things like that.

How do you keep your house organized? Do you have junk drawers and overflowing closets hiding stuff that you don't know what to do with like I do?

Quiet Time Bins

Well, its the 11th day of January and already I've failed one of my goals- to post at least once a week. Oops.

The boys have both been sick in the past week or so- with high fevers and coughs.  Both boys had fevers that lasted 48-72 hours and yucky, chesty coughs. The fevers are gone thankfully but the cough remains.  Other than that, they are both still active and being boys!

In my pinterest browsing, I came across a bunch of ideas for "quiet time bins" before Christmas and put it in the back of my mind as something to do. I had been putting a few things away since I saw the idea to create a few bins. Then I grabbed a few small Christmas gifts that they hadn't yet had a chance to play with (sticker books, puzzles) and put them aside as well.

Everywhere is having organization sales, so I was able to find some small Rubbermaid bins on sale.  Once I had those, I could begin putting bins together in the hopes that they would keep the boys occupied for an hour each afternoon during quiet time so I didn't have to answer the same question every 5 minutes- "Mom, is quiet time over?". Having to stop what I am doing every 5 minutes to answer the same question makes "quiet time" kind of pointless.

So, I put the bins together and I let the boys each choose a bin to take to their room's each afternoon. So far, they have been a great hit! My plan is to vary the activities every few weeks to keep them from getting bored.

Some of the activities included are:

• puzzles
• sticker books
• pipe cleaners
• wooden beads (to sort or string on shoelaces or pipecleaners)
• books
• Pre-K math games
• Bendaroos (waxy sticks that can be shaped into different letters or objects and reused)
• Matching Game
• A Ziplock baggie of buttons to sort and little cups to sort them into
• Pom Poms, clothes pins and tongs with a bucket with various holes on top to put the pom poms into

I should have taken more photos of the actual activities.

So far, the boys are loving them and it is giving me an hour in the afternoons to return emails, do the dishes or just relax and read!

I've got many more ideas on my Quiet Time pinboard on pinterest that I want to add/ substitute in the bins. I'll try to post more ideas as I get them together.

Do you have any quiet, independent activity suggestions?

 

 

 

 

 

Crafty Christmas

I'm behind on posting this but wanted to wait until all the gifts that I had made were in the hands of their recipients.

I didn't think I would have time to make much this year but then discovered that I actually got quite a bit of homemade gifts accomplished.

I made this adorable little snowman family diorama for my sister in law. Another pinterest find! (Check out the tutorial here if you are interested.) It was super easy and so cute! I'm going to make one for our family to display next Christmas.  I also got her one of these personalized necklaces with her 4 kids' names and birthstones from an Airdrie girl. When I picked hers up, I was so pleased with it, I made sure Chris knew I wanted one for myself under the tree! (It worked!)

I was part of a baking exchange with some local ladies and my contribution was peanut brittle. Here are the packages ready to be distributed and below is the peanut brittle cooling and hardening.

This wreath wasn't a gift for anyone. Well, for me, I guess. I had seen it online a few years ago and wanted to make one, and then when I came across the tutorial on pinterest (of course!) I had to to it. I got the Christmas balls at Superstore on Black Friday for 50% off so the project cost just $10!  It is made up of 100 mini balls (1") and 24 medium sized balls (2"). I could have used a few more actually. I ended up making the wreath a bit smaller than the clothes hanger because I ran out of ornaments.

This advent calendar was a MOPS project. Its a premade box with the smaller boxes. We added the scrapbook paper and embellishments. I filled the boxes with a Hershey's Kiss for each day.

I made 15 of these rice bags with aromatherapy scents (peppermint, cinnamon or citrus. And one disgusting lavender one for my sister's boyfriend. I hate lavender.) They were so easy! I use mine almost nightly. Heat it up, throw it down by my feet in bed.....ahhhhhh, bliss!
Super easy tutorial here if you are interested.

This denim quilt was my dad's gift. Their tv area is in the basement and a bit chilly. Plus, my dad always has a blanket when he watches tv. A friend gave me a bunch of pairs of old, used jeans and I gladly took them. This super sized twin quilt took about 6 pairs of adult jeans (and a few more for pockets). I did the reverse in a soft, cozt fleece with John Deere design. The blanket ended up being really heavy (all that denim!) but so cozy!  I filled each of the pockets with some of my dad's favorite treats, pictures of the boys, chap stick, etc.

These little tins were used to hold gift certificates, a necklace and magnets (see below). I took plain tins and decorated them wtih scrapbook paper and embellishments. I love wrapping things creatively!

These magnets were given to both sets of parents. Made from stones and photos printed on computer paper with a magnet attached. Tutorial here. Another pinterest find.

As I try to do every year, I made a calendar for my parents.

Luca also wrote and illustrated a story completely from his own imagination which we had made into a photo book. I also interviewed both kids with some fun questions and included their answers in the book as well. That was a gift to Chris' parents.

And here is a photo of my wonderful family on Christmas Eve after a fantastic day of family, fun and laughs. It was a really great Christmas.

2012 Goals

My friend Tasha inspired me to write my own set of goals for this year. I thought that writing them down and revisiting them mid year would motivate me and keep me accountable to myself.

So, here are a few things that I hope to accomplish this year (in no particular order):

• Run 5K. I got close this past year but in 2012 I am going to do it. Along the same lines, I'm going to make an effort to walk more rather than hop in my truck. To make this measureable- I'm going to choose walking or another "healthier" option 3 times a week.

• Donate blood. This was also inspired by Tasha. Both of us are 30 and up until last week had never donated blood out of fear- of the unknown maybe. Tasha did it on New Years Eve and said it was no problem. Donating blood is something that has always been at the back of my mind as something I should do, especially since in 2005 I was the recipient of 3L of donated blood when I had emergency surgery.

• Blog more frequently. I know I've been sporadic and I hope to blog at least once a week, if not more this year. (Tom and Lisa- hold me to this! If I'm not blogging, email me and kick my butt in gear!  For those that don't know, Tom and Lisa are my brother and sister in law that live in Ottawa and are probably my most frequent visitors to my blog. Its the source of much of their information on our family. :)  )

• Keep a Thankfulness Journal. I saw the idea on pinterest about 2 months or so ago and marked it as something I wanted to do. Then I was gifted this beautiful journal by a client and knew that I would reserve that book for this project. I started it today and my goal is to write in it daily and have 365 entries by this time next year. (Since its a leap year, I can miss 1 day over the whole year.) I think it will be a great activitiy, especially when I have days that I am frustrated or feeling down to force myself to sit and come up with at least 1 thing to be thankful for.

• Allow my children to do more activities and projects that may create messes. I tend to disuade them from doing certain activities due to the mess it will surely create, but I'm going to try not to be so uptight.

• Start saying no more. This past year, with my doula business picking up, I found that I was getting overwhelmed with the commitments that I had taken on. I'm always eager to volunteer for something and then end up regretting it when I stress over getting it done and trying to fit it into my other daily activities. I'm going to choose my commitments more carefully.

Do you have any goals for the year?