Pages

Photo of the Week - Owl

|

Rocks

|
 
 Just before Christmas Curtis got bought a rock tumbler.  He was very excited by it, talking about how he has always wanted one and his Grandma used to have one.  I was not quite so excited but I know that when Curtis gets his mind on something it is going to happen, no matter what.  Each week as he checked out his rocks before starting the next phase he would get so excited at the idea of what each rock would look like.  I have a little less vision and so I was interested in a few but the rest just looked like gravel to me.  This weekend when we pulled the finished rocks out, I too became excited.  Each rock was so unique and wonderful. They are shiny and smooth, great to just hold in your hand.
We spread all the rock out on a towel and just played with them for a while, looking at each one.
Its hard to believe all these great rocks just came from a hand full of gravel outside our back door.  Once all the snow disappears I will be on the lookout for interesting rocks to tumble.
 Right now the rocks all sit in a vase on our island so we can look at them all the time and its easy to just grab a few and check them out.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inspired by Sharon Nowlan's Pebble Art of Nova Scotia that I saw at the Butterdome Craft Sale and loved, I put together our own rock family. 
 
I couldn't bring myself to actually use any of the rocks for a permanent rock picture yet but I think I will be making one of these in the future.

Photo of the Week - Snow

|

100 Goals for 2011

|
Inspired by Michelle here is my list of 100 thing to do in 2011

  1. Get up at 6:30am when Curt leaves for work
  2. Get back to a weekly cleaning routine
  3. Tidy up every night
  4. Start trim in the house
  5. Finish sidewalks
  6. Make a back patio
  7. Paint deck railings
  8. Hang pictures
  9. Get a proper window covering for the patio door
  10. Plant trees
  11. Have a bigger and better garden
  12. Help Curtis organize and set up the shop
  13. Set up the craft room in the basement
  14. Use up half of my fabric stash
  15. Sew a piece of clothing for all five of us
  16. Make a quilt
  17. Finish my cross stitch
  18. Sell the box of old items on ebay (or give away at the end of the year)
  19. Eat fruit when I feed it to my girls
  20. Post on my blog at least once a week
  21. Transition Waverly to the girls room
  22. Set up an RESP for Waverly
  23. Set up company RRSP/RESP matching
  24. Set up automatic payments to savings account and keep the money there
  25. Start Nollie in Kindergarden (Yikes)
  26. Take at least one individual date with each of my girls
  27. Take one internet free day a month
  28. Stick with meal planning
  29. Replace the Delicio with a non-processed "I'm feeling lazy"  meal in the freezer.
  30. Have at least 4 dates with just Curt
  31. Set up a will
  32. Order all online Christmas gifts by December 1
  33. Give something home made with each Christmas gift
  34. Send out Christmas cards by December 10th
  35. Give family at least one week notice for Birthday parties and events
  36. Set up a system for keeping/getting rid of kids crafts
  37. Read a 20 books
  38. Organize my spare room so it works
  39. Clear my island completely once a day
  40. Take a family photo
  41. Take another Calgary trip
  42. Go camping with my parents at least once
  43. Invite someone to dinner once a month
  44. Visit my Grandparents one a month
  45. Plan backwards from when I have to arrive so I'm not late
  46. Send out Birthday cards (and in time for the person to receive them)
  47. Floss my teeth every day
  48. Do a puzzle
  49. Ride my bike 
  50. Go on a hike
  51. Purge photos on the computer
  52. Take photos at least once a week
  53. Continue a thrift store donation bag and keep adding to it
  54. Get a box of toys to donate ready and get it out of the house before the kids find it and unpack it again
  55. Golf more than once
  56. Swim as a family at least twice a month
  57. Take more photographs of extended family
  58. Have a sisters date
  59. Go to the craft sale with my Mom again
  60. Use my facial gift certificate
  61. Use my embroidery machine
  62. Make a piece of jewelery for myself
  63. Sell something on etsy
  64. Get back to drinking water
  65. Go outside every day
  66. Get more indoor plants
  67. Clean up the junk area just beyond the back yard
  68. Sit at the table for breakfast and lunch with my girls (even if I've already eaten)
  69. Do something fun for my 30th Birthday
  70. Get rid of 100 things
  71. Accept that my jobs as mother/homemaker never end, they just repeat
  72. Take time to just sit and think
  73. Declutter my feed reader, probably a few times
  74. Discover new music
  75. Knit something
  76. Have a big BBQ this summer
  77. Watch the sunset on our front porch with Curt...several times
  78. Read with my kids every day
  79. Cuddle more on the couch
  80. Clean sheets
  81. Buy things with less packaging
  82. Make/get reusable produce bags
  83. Display some kids artwork in frames
  84. Drive to the beach for the day
  85. Go bouldering at Vertically Inclined again
  86. Play more board games
  87. Sushi in DV
  88. Sew some doll clothes
  89. Go for a few Sunday Family Skis
  90. Make french bread
  91. Summer vacation
  92. Plant more perennials
  93. Plant an apple tree or two
  94. Save for something big and then buy it
  95. Go for a massage
  96. Stage a fun photo shoot with props
  97. Do one thing before the girls get up each morning to make my day easier
  98. Enjoy a couple morning coffee's on the deck
  99. Plant a tipi
  100. Review this list at least once a month

    This is the Way We Christmas

    |
    We had a wonderful Christmas season this year!  Visiting, eating, playing, eating.  Curtis was on-call this Christmas which worked out ok.  He didn't get called out on Christmas day or Boxing day but he said he couldn't quite relax, it was always in the back of his mind that he could get a call.  He had two ridiculously crazy days after Christmas because the oil patch (in Alberta atleast) never stops.  Following that he got 5 days off in a row, yippie!

    Our first day of Christmas was on December 22nd at the Buchan's.  There are 12 of us now 7 adults and 5 kids.  The kids were amped and ready to play (as they should be).  We enjoyed supper, wine, and presents.  Before supper we all open Christmas crackers and then we wear our paper crowns, show off our cheesy gift and tell our jokes, its becoming a fun tradition and is something I've never done before. Marilyn cooked the whole spread for dinner and it was delicious and oh so Christmasy.  After supper was presents, mostly about the kids, the adults draw names so everyone gets one gift. It was all wonderful.

    The next day was Wavy's 1st Birthday and we had the crew (Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins) over for a Birthday supper and cake.


    Christmas Eve was at Grandma and Grandpa Martins.  Courtney organized it letting every one know what to bring.  It worked well but there was still so much food, I guess that's just Christmas.  The kids now go up to the loft and play for the most part.  We ate, we drank, and of course the kids needed to go for a quick walk out to see the chickens and check for eggs.  Grandma had been busy and knit each of the little girls a Santa doll.  Curt didn't make it there since he was busy with work but we met him at home after supper and the girls got to open a present before bed.  I had got them each a new pair of jammies and much to my surprise Curt got me a new pair too.  We all got in our pjs left a note for Santa and read a couple Christmas stories before going to bed.

    Christmas morning Luca came to our room at 5:30am and figured it was time to get up.  She didn't remember that it was Christmas, just thought it was morning time and this is unusual, she usually sleeps in until 7:30 or 8:00.  She came to lay in our bed and would not go back to sleep, just kept chatting and so Wavy got woken up too.  Finally at 7:00 we went to get Nollie up and start the show.  They ran out and found their Lego table first.  We all sat down and played Lego for quite a while before I decided to make some Coffee and then mentioned the stockings.  Nollie finding an orange and a chocolate in her stocking said that Santa must know the rules that we have to have a fruit before a treat and so she ate her orange first and then her chocolate.  Luca I'm sure went right for the chocolate.  We then opened our wrapped presents to each other and played.  Nollie was so excited to see her hockey helmet that she was shaking, "just what I wanted".  The living room when we were done looked like this:

    We played a bit and got dressed.  Since Wavy got woken up too early she cried through most of the present opening and then fell asleep in Curt's arms as we sat around.  He was so happy holding her and didn't want to wake her up to go.  We then went to my Mom and Dad's for breakfast and opened presents there.  We were able to spent the whole rest of the day there it was great.  We ate, we drank, we visited and even got a board game in, yay!  Jesse didn't make it out this year but he called to wish a Merry Christmas and I also got to talk to Grandma and Papa Hutch which was nice.  They had Mom and Dad eyeing up each of us to see who was keeping secrets and had everyone running to look for "The Apron."

    Boxing Day was at Grandma and Grandpa Graves.  Grandma puts on a mean feast and we all sit down in the basement at one big long table and eat together.  You could hear and see the 4 little kids giggling and playing at their table before we sent them off to play. We ate, we visited, we ate and then we snuck out just before the girls broke down.

    The next couple days Curt had to work and the girls and I just hung out around the house cleaning up a little but mostly just hanging out and playing.  On the 29th we were planning on going for a cross country ski as a family but since the weather got cold we headed in to the city.  We went to Costco for a meat run and then took the girls to Toys-r-us and let them each spend their $20 from Grandma and Grandpa Graves.  We set up the rules for ourselves before we went: we would let them buy whatever they wanted, we would not try to influence their decision and we would not top up their money.  We had fun and in the end Luca chose a stuffy (just what she said she was going to get) and Nollie chose a new Barbie.  On the way home we went to the Tri-leasure Center for a family swim.  My swimsuit got forgotten in the craziness of getting out of the house that morning so I got a new (expensive) swimsuit so that I could come too.

    The 30th was another take it easy day.  I took the girls into town for eye appointments and then we just hung out.

    New Years Eve we headed out to our friends cabin for a sleepover.  We exchanged home made gifts, the kids played and played, the men put on a fire works show on the lake, we had a dance party followed by an early countdown for the kids complete with sparkling juice and a cheers.  Magically 5 kids went right to sleep all in the same room. The adults then got to stay up and play games.

    On Sunday we finished the holidays off with a sledding and skating party at our house.  We had the family over and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside complete with a campfire, hot dogs and hot chocolate.  It was so much fun and we couldn't believe the kids lasted outside for three hours.  The best part, I got to sled and sled and sled.

    So there it is, our holidays in a nutshell.  I'm not quite ready to take down the Christmas decorations yet, I think I'll leave them up for another week.
    Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin

    Add This