LOST

Yesterday's prompt for LOAD in Vogue was to do a layout about LOST.  Something you've lost. Someone you've lost.  You get the idea.  I am never able to do the prompt immediately - I can't find the photos, I can't think of something to journal about, the time limit is too much pressure.  You get the idea.  Today after I looked through the gallery a few things came to mind that I might work on later. 

LOST - the TV show that Drew and I were hooked on forever.  And I still don't totally get it.  But it was definitely fun to watch.  It's been over for a few years now but we still talk about it once in a while.

LOST items - This is what has really come to mind.  I lose things sometimes.  We all do right?  Keys, my iPod case.  The kids lost the blue iPod for several months. We've lost countless items from the library.  There was a time that I really got freaked out about this.  I like to think of myself as pretty organized but life certainly gets in the way sometimes.  Too many piles.  Too many projects.  It has really helped me to learn about the power of prayer.  So many things have been found. Some right away.  Others may take time.  Still others may never be found.  But I've learned not to sweat it.  If it is meant to be found it will be.  And it's one of those things that when it happens, I know just who to thank.  I have yet to stand up in church and shout it out as a praise item, but I have been tempted.  Really tempted.  I mean God works in the little things too doesn't he?  What once was lost has now been found.  Hallelujah! 

Everyday Life

As prompted by BPC Twelve last week, I took a photo of my bedside table and its contents. 

Why?  To note its primary purpose and how I acquired it.  Even these things tell a story!

Here are 20 things in my bedside table!
On top:
- my lamp (IKEA)
- my clock radio (set to go off at 6:00am to hopefully give me some quiet time before the kids get up) - my iphone charger (I charge it every night and keep it here so I can add notes or move the alarm with me if I have to go to Mitchell)
- the baby monitor (although lately he just yells "mom!")
- magazines - I'm not sure why they are there - they haven't made it far from my to go through pile; I don't tend to read in bed anyway

In the drawer:
- scrap paper and pencil (for those thoughts in the middle of the night, although I am using my iphone more now)
- hand cream (not like I remember to use it); I am still using up all of the half used and full containers from Grandma
- butter creme roll-on (for those foot cracks that inevitably crop up - this works awesome over night - from that little store downtown)
- lip balm - using some up and some new homemade bee balm from Sarah
- vitamin D drops for Mitchell (free samples from Dr B)
- steroid cream for my knees and elbows :(
- my eye mask  (I started using it in university when I worked nights, it still works without fail if I have trouble falling asleep)

Underneath (You can tell I don't use this often anymore):
- cotton gloves for when my hands are in really bad shape (poor Drew - what a sight I am when I need to use all my remedies:)
- a smelly sachet (purchased at the One of a Kind Craft Show in Toronto 3 years ago - it still smells great!)

Wow! Well there you go - I don't even have 20 things in my table! A little bit of everyday life.

So....

We have some more NEWS.

It may not be hard to guess.

Matthew guessed right away.

He and his sister are very happy.

Just in case, I'll give you some clues.

Our first blessing came in December 2002.

Then in August, 2004 we had another blessing.

Then we added another blessing to our family (April 2007).

And yet again in March 2010 we added our last blessing.


While we had thought another would be awesome,


we assumed our family was complete.


It appears that God has other plans.

Yey!

Due July 2012.

Stay tuned for more details.



(let's see which family member reads this first lol!)

November to do list

After finishing up LOAD I find that I have neglected a few things around the house. The guys have been great and it was a very successful time for me (I find that I am much happier when I do have some 'me' time on a regular basis - and what better me time than scrapbooking?) however it time to get back to reality. For me that does not allow for scrapping every day of the year. Last year I found it really helpful to focus on my to do list for November. Tackle some of those things that I have been procrastinating on. Sooooo...
This is what I have come up with:

- Recap for Sept (yikes - how did I forget that?) and Oct

- Receipts

- Blog book (while the discount is still available)

- 1 Jessica Sprague layout

- Gotta do list update

- Print out family mission wordle style

- Add layouts to BPC classes gallery

- Pantry shelf - Drew

- Part for bike stroller

- Something on kijiji or ebay

- Tickets for Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka

- Catch up on safe church names

- Purge at least 5 boxes full

- Get caught up on family binders

- LOAD recap

- LSNED recap or layout

- Purge kids school stuff

So hopefully this is not an outrageous list. There is definitly some doable things here. Off to get started. Wish me luck!

Thoughts

“Be careful little ears what you hear; be careful little eyes what you see…”

It's amazing the way the mind works and what tangents it can go to.

We went and saw a movie put on by the BFilm Festival tonight.

It was called the Whistle Blower. We had intended to go see the Blues Bros but then I saw that Rachel Weiss was in this and the drama seemed more appealing. I didn't really know what it was about. It was about human trafficking in Bosnia.

Scary stuff.

Disturbing stuff.

Make you numb and cry stuff because you know it happens stuff.

I get at least one email a month talking about it and asking for money combat it.

So afterwards there I sat on my cushy car with tears running down my face thinking about our fallen world.
Then I started thinking about the movie Taken where this happens to teenage girls on a fun trip. That lead me to thinking about my exchange trip in high school and how I'd love for our kids to do that but is it now too dangerous? Would I let them go without us there with them? I did some really stupid stuff when I went. If I did that today???

But are we to be ruled by fear? No. The world has some amazing things to discover and explore but on the other hand it is still tainted with sin.

Bottom line? I live a cushy life. I flit away lot money away needlessly.

That lead to me thinking about wanting to live like no one lives so that we can live like no one lives (Dave Ramsey – no debt so that we can give).

But will I remember this?

Will I remember to give so that others can have better lives?

A fraction as good as ours?

There are so many causes - which do you choose? Healthy living for our own kids? One or two children through Compassion or World Vision? Family as a whole through Focus on the Family? Local giving in our community? Do you give now or work to pay down your debt so that we can give more later? How do I keep from forgetting? How do we protect our kids?

I have no answers other than to breathe, believe that we believe in a good God; one who shares my struggles and my pain and I have to trust that our kids are in His hands. I have to trust that if I ask, He will lead me to give in the way that I shoudl give. I have to thank Him that I was born into this type of life with the ability give back and to help others if we only do remember.

I pray that I will remember.

I pray that I will not forget how blessed I really am.

Extra big {HUGS} to the kids tonight.

Man how I love them.

Return of the lost...

Yes at long last I am making a post. What can I say? I took a blogging sabbatical and I'm not quite sure that it is done.

But since I use this primarily for me as a way of remembering what has gone on in my (our) lives, I thought I'd better add a few things before the memories lost me.

So without further adieu... you can find my

May 2011 Recap here

and my June 2011 Recap here.

Crazy.

Over a month without a post.

So what have we been up to?

In few short words - it doesn't look like a lot but it feels like A LOT!

I can say that I LOVE my ipad but it is just not good for producing.

Blog material that is. I can type back emails etc but I find it hard to add links, difficult to type longer portions of writing and in general it is easy and portable but not good for production.

I think I heard that somewhere - great for consumption but not production.

They are right.

So talking about CONSUMPTION....

I have definitely been consuming. In fact the kids can attest to the fact that every time I see them on the ipad they are pretty much kicked off. I have discovered a few more blogs that have become very inspiring on the one hand and yet have added some incredible frustration to my life on the other.

Those that know me understand that I have always had a passion for the environment and getting right down to the root of it, feel that as a Christian, we have a responsibility to "keep and till the earth" (Genesis 2:15 " The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it." Contemporary English Version) I have always felt that we have been doing our part within reason. And I still do. For the most part.

I have also been exploring more natural ways of eating, eating more local food and cutting down on the processed crud we eat (I do confess that I am a candy and chips and chocolate junkie). Well one of the blogs I discovered linked to another and another and the consumption continued.

So these new blogs have put me over the edge.

I don't even know what took me there in the first place.

I am firmly entrenched in stage 3 of this new "process"? (aptly described in this post at The Zero Waste Home), although I do dip back and forth in some of the other stages.

"Action boost and trial : I need to do something! and fast! Deciding to do something about those environmental issues if not for myself at least for the future of my kids, meant doing a little research and jumping on the learning wagon..." I already DO do a lot but of course there is more. Some more extreme measures, some experimenting, some definite learning curves. Oh and first and foremost, learning to REFUSE ( more on that some other time).

Currently I've been going to the store and I think,

Am I buying this for the "naturalness",

for the packaging

or for the "localness"?

Ahhh!!!

Let's say it is all very confusing.

Which brings us back to the previously mentioned post.

I am where I am and I know that at some point I will come to decide on my own position.

I spent basically this whole past month reading the entire zerowaste blog from beginning to today.. That led me to listening to the beginning (6years old) and current podcasts over at More Hip Than Hippie. I also linked up with 100 days of Real Food and am reading about the prcoess (and the recipes) this family have gone through to eat zero (yes 0) processed food.

I have become reacquainted with the blog family at Simple Mom, Simple Kids, Simple Organic and Simple Bites and more as well as Kitchen Stewardship and Keeper of the Home. Plus most of these bloggers are Christian! Bonus! Thank goodness that Mitchell is still nursing quite sporadically and that their posts are short.

Who knew the world wide web had so much information?????? lol!

As for the rest of the gang....

Now that the kids are out of school and are at home we have been busy making summer plans. We have a list of "Summer Goals" - places to go, things to do etc. Many are repeats but easier done in the summer. Much to my dismay (!), the kids were totally devastated that I didn't want to do Summer Bingo again this year. I succumbed though and we have had a successful week 1 of bombardment. Isn't it supposed to make my life easier? Being the overachiever that I am, it appears that I have put a lot of squares on that require "checking" in with me. Oh well, live and learn. Some rules have been added and changed, some new rewards and compromises have been made (less junk food this year, more financial incentives) and less days. I have daycare kids M, T, and Th of most weeks and a few W but not on Fridays so it will be a 4 day Bingo, with the last day to just be us and chillax. We have been so enjoying the pool (M3 particularly - so cute the way he throws himself in the little blue pool - I think he may be our fastest swimmer - we will see).

Soooo, sorry for the loooonnnng rambling post. I hope that this means that I will be back more frequently to update but I can't promise. Office time is limited and there is lots to do while M3 sleeps. I have lots that I want to document for our family but unfortunately most of it remains in my head and not in concrete form. Such is life. But it is a good one!

Since M3 is still sleeping and M2 wants to paint....(and M1 is away at baseball with Drew for another tournament) I shall be off while I can!

Oh and maybe some lunch!

TTFN!

MIA

Missing In Action. Yep that's me. Like I just noticed on my sister's blog, I haven't felt all that chatty lately. That and we've been super busy....

I'll be back soon to write about...

• May recap


• Drew's 1/2 marathon run in Ottawa


• visit to see Sean


• did I ever write about visiting Sarah in South Carolina????


• Cierra's birthday


• LOAD recap


• wondering if we'll ever get to put up the tether ball set, the basket ball set or the trampoline that is sitting in the garage


• Cierra's "broken" foot


• my latest obsession with a new blog I came across http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/ and exploring our own carbon footprint


• our trip to Great Wolf Lodge


• looks like it will probably be the June recap by then too!

Until then, a few recent photo faves!

Marlee and Autumn taking a [cool] dip.

Matt and Theoren in deep discussion.

Cierra eating a fireball (yes she was warned it would be HOT!)

The family enjoying the outdoor water area at Great Wolf Lodge (that's Marlee int eh pink in the background).

Mitchell enjoying some watermelon.

TTFN!

Grateful for eight on the eighth...

I was inspired by a layout by Ali Edwards from her book Life Artist...

1. Today I am grateful...that my husband was able to hold down the fort and I could go out for a run first thing before everyone got up... 2. Today I am grateful... that my buddy slept until 12:52 which allowed me to tidy up, catch up on emails, look into True Scrap, do most of Cierra's monthly receipts, tidy up the office (majorly), and more... 3. Today I am grateful... that I can have a peanut butter and banana sandwich (and that I am not allergic like one of the kids in my care)...

4. Today I am grateful... that we got the sand toys out and could enjoy the sunshine and the sand and friends at the park...

5. Today I am grateful... that spring has sprung and the sun is shining...

6. Today I am grateful...that Cierra was able to go to a birthday party for a classmate and she was so excited about it all week. She had a total blast and it was neat to see her in her element...

7. Today I am grateful...that Marlee had a playdate over. They tested out new bikes together, got giddy on lollipops and giggled and giggled and talked about snoogers and their siblings and being BFF's...

8. Today I am grateful...that our kids love each other and enjoy playing with each other...

We are so blessed.

PS This was more difficult then I thought - there is so much more to be grateful for!

Today...

Today...started out as any other day - but you were dry! (and then you went potty! Yey!)
Today...your daddy took you downstairs to get Cierra off to school and I got an extra 30 minutes in bed
Today...your brother and sister had a PA day from school and were joined by 3 kids for daycare
Today...you did not sleep except while in my arms ( about an hour?)
Today...you were still in a remarkably good mood
Today...you had 3 potty misses (one a poop) =( but several hits =)
Today...you were drooling a lot - are you getting ANOTHER tooth?
Today...your bottom is really sore (again, maybe teething?) and you totally resisted diapers
Today...you were pulling yourself up whenever and wherever you could
Today...you pivoted and moved your foot while holding on standing (first time)
Today...your brother and sister loved spending so much time with you
Today...you wanted nothing but to be held all afternoon
Today...you grabbed at the potty and then went when I put you on (first time you signalled in this way)
Today...you wouldn't let me get any cleaning done
Today...you took over an hour and a half to fall asleep at bedtime
Today...you were not yourself
But you were still an angel
And tomorrow is a new day.

Today I...was glad to get an extra 30 minutes in bed after the previous nights happenings
Today I...was getting frustrated at the interuptions, the change in routine, the lack of sleep on your part
Today I...got caught up on some blog reading while you stood at my lap
Today I...was feeling guilty about the dishes piling up and the floor being dirty
Today I...laughed seeing you at the window while the kids played outside
Today I...was reminded about how fragile life is and how easily loss can occur
Today I...was glad to hold you as I reflected
Today I...was glad when you finally got to sleep. You need it
Today I...made up for the earlier lack of cleaning after you finally got to sleep
Today I...have so much to be thankful for
Today I...am blessed

3 hours - seriously?

So for some reason I just clued in that our dishwasher (the one we purchased a few months ago) takes 3 hours to do a cycle!!! Is it just me or does that seem weird? I'm pretty sure our old one didn't take nearly that long. So I'm asking Drew - could we have known that beforehand? Was the manual on display at the store? Uhh no. But perhaps we should have done a consumer report before purchasing. Let me tell you. Short story? We are not impressed with this dishwasher. Long story? Even though we bought it at Wise Buy it was definitely not a wise buy. Let me count the ways:
1. When we lean up against the counter we turn it on. It happens at least once a day. Very annoying because if you don't realize right away, it fills with some water and then you have to drain it or it gets smelly (see #3)
2. The decals on the front (that tell you where the power button and controls are) rubbed off within a month. Thankfully with some pressure to the powers that be, the panel was replaced.
3. It smells! I will admit that we have some weird shaped dishes and so I regularly do at least 2 loads of dishes by hand. That means our dishwasher then goes on maybe two or three times a week? So I'm assuming that the stuff sitting in there starts to smell. That or the residue that happens to sit in the water (see #1) starts to decay??? But I have never experienced that with any other dishwasher and we would have used it the same amount. But really, it sometimes smells really bad.
4. In trying to save money and the environment we usually don't turn on the dishwasher until after 9. With the delay start timer system however, it still starts running some water when you start it. I don't get it but often I just think never mind - I'll just turn it on after 9 manually. Yeah right. How many times have I forgotten? Too many.
5. It doesn't seem to dry them all that well and there is no heat dry option.
6. Did I mention that a cycle is 3 hours long?

Otherwise I do like the set up of the rack inside. I have found it cleans well enough - we do still have some that don't come perfectly clean but that could be the time factor (see #3).

So yeah - think carefully before you purchase a Samsung something or other dishwasher. Maybe do a consumer report. I'd check the model # but it the cycle is still running.

Today I am...

Today I am...walking to school with the kids and Mitchell on my back
Today I am... picking Cierra up from school because she has a cold
Today I am... botching a homemade loaf of bread - what is up with that?
Today I am... spot mopping the floor for the umpteenth time
Today I am... working on my Yesterday and Today layout
Today I am... trying to get Mitchell signed up for Universal Child benefits which I had forgotten to do when he was born
Today I am... emailing thanks for Scraphappy Mail I received yesterday
Today I am... glad the sun is shining even though it is FREEZING
Today I am... doing dishes for the third time
Today I am... picking up Mitchell's toys from the floor for the umpteenth time
Today I am... reading The Happiness Project and Infant Potty Training simultaneously
Today I am... listening to PRT #40 about scrapping about our work - I want Melissa to do this for P365!!!
Today I am... glad I am not coughing as much as yesterday
Today I am... making fish, corn, home fries and sweet peas for dinner.
Today I am... convincing the kids that play practice will be just as fun as creative design
Today I am... trying to get rogers on demand to work - unsuccessfully
Today I am... catching up on some Modern Family Season 1
Today I am... me, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a care provider, an acquaintance, a scrapbooker, a baker, a cleaner, a doer of things on my list.
Today I am... glad for inspiration from fellow scrappers who scrap about life.

computer issues

We have had computer issues. For about a week and a half things were getting really slow and then slower and finally hardly moving at all. My ipod touch froze. The laptops. The desktop. Everything. Drew did some investigation. The next day we discovered we were in need of a new modem. Problem solved. Thank you! And yes pastora - I am defintily impatient when it comes to this area.

November Task list continues

I've been moving right along with my November tasks. I'm right on target as today is the 11th and I have done 11 of my tasks. Today wasn't that productive as Mitchell didn't really go down for a nap. I had to take him for a drive and ended up starting to sort the receipts while he slept in the car. At least they are started. I also got the family pictures up this morning (#25). Last night as I waited for things to load on the computer I was able to sort most of my alphabet letters (#11). I have a lot more then I thought! (Really that is no surprise).

One thing I have been noticing while I've been working on this list is that I have just as many MORE things to add to a new list. But that, is for another month!

November task list - Day 2 and 3

My progress has been going well. I did Mitchell's food list (#18) and Mitchell's Dev't list (#21) yesterday and got Marlee's 6 year old photos in the frames (#24) today. I started to arrange the photos for the wall (#25) but I think I will need to wait for Drew's assistance.


I've posted Mitchell's lists in the kitchen so that I can have easy access to note his development.


I also found my list from this post and re-evaluated where I am. Funnily (lol) I haven't gotten that far. Of this list I have completed the following:

- read ella's book on portrait photography
- completed at least 1/2 of October 2010 LOAD - I did all of it!
- I am getting caught up on my PSE tagging (Oct and Sept are done)

AND
I made and am in the process of getting my blogbook for P365 2009. Speaking of which, I got an email today that I've been booked! I'll be adding the blinkie to my 365 blog momentarily. I can't wait to see the book.

I am now off to do some back tracking on my 365 - 2010! TTFN!

November To Do List

I have a To Do list that is a mile long. I like lists. I like to do list. I like to check off my accomplishments in a day. I am also a procrastinator. I have a number of things on my list that have been there for a very long time. Some not so much. But I am figuring that if I can devote 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours to LOAD for this past month then maybe this month I can devote to my to do list. Some are longer and some should only take a few minutes - once I actually start on it. So here is my list (in no particular order) - let's see how I do!

1. Jewelry holder - sand, add hooks and hang
2. Mending
3. Kids art work - purge and sort
4. Plastic bag recycling
5. Sort Matt’s outgrown clothing for Mitchell
6. Purge kids toys in playroom
7. Receipts
8. Cierra’s receipts
9. Cierra’s inventory
10. Label Cierra’s photo albums
11. Sort scrapbooking letters a-z (and add foam letters)
12. Scrapbooking inspiration files - hang
13. Get rid of VHS tapes
14. Garage bucket
15. Cierra’s magnet boards - hang up
16. Tissue paper - sort
17. Cierra morning routine pictures
18. Mitchell’s food list
19. Update health books
20. Print out family mission statement
21. Mitchell’s dev’t list
22. Scrapbook pages into albums
23. Label LOM albums
24. Marlee’s 6 year photos in frame
25. Hang frames upstairs
26. Kids school photos in frames
27. Dust hallway landing
28. Pull out fridge and clean
29. Safe church – something!
30. print digital scrapbook pages

At this moment ...10-9-8...

Right now

10th year

9th month

8th day

7th hour

6th minute

5 people

4 shots

3-2-1 GO!

Our life

right now

at this moment in time.

Is it a Funk?

One of my favourite blogs to read is this one, and I think I could have written most of her post today. What a day!

Today was a daycare day and the kids were busy. Thank goodness it was beautiful out and we spent the majority of the day outside. They went swimming, played on the equipment and "hung out". Not so bad. And then Marlee got a sliver. Woah! Her screams brought about Mitchell's screams because I had to put him down to get it out. Then the boys shared all of their wound stories which really weren't helping the situation. I finally got her calmed down and distracted, removed the sliver effortlessly (b/c she was actually calm) and then she continued crying b/c it hurt. Really? It was out! Woah. Enough.

Back to the post though. As I was finally getting my long anticipated shower this evening, I too was thinking to myself "I'd really like to cut my hair. I am tired of wearing it up". When it is down it has no style and gets caught in Mitchell's hands or gets spit up in it. So up it goes. Makeup? I haven't worn anything other then lipgloss since Mitchell was born. And clothes? Well we'll just say it's casual and leave it at that. Did we mention the spit up and yes, with ECing I do get #1 and #2 on me. Frequently.

But this sounds more like complaining then I mean to. Just like Erin, our little guy is amazing. He is so enraptured with us! He is totally into his hands right now, learning to spend a little more time on his own but still definitely MY guy. I can't believe he is already 12 weeks (today!! - I had to look it up b/c I thought he was only 11 weeks -oops!) It's so hard to believe how much our lives have changed in such a short amount of time.

But I am craving time. Whoever says that "wearing baby" still lets you get everything done is wrong. I feel very behind. Marlee and I spent a good couple of hours on Saturday cleaning up her room and purging a great deal of clothes (Note - Drew was home and Kristy was visiting - good entertainer!). We managed to get 5 baskets together. We brought them downstairs for some friends to go through. Since they went through them on Saturday evening, they are STILL sitting on the pool table. I need some boxes which I haven't had a chance to go get.

But this will change - and I will be wishing for these days to come back again. But for now, I too have to wonder am I in a funk and how long will it last? I too hope that some organizing - no let's just make it CLEANING will work. And that will come tomorrow. I can't wait!

PS - we did end on a higher note. The kids' school had a movie night showing Bedtime Stories. We had a great time!

Monthly Recaps!

I finally got around to getting my monthly recaps done for April and May. It feels so much better to get those done!

Now if I can find the time there is lots to talk about...

...LOAD is officially done and how did I do?
...Drew's half marathon
...our great weekend away at Great Wolf Lodge!

Hopefully I'll be back to tell you more!

This might be a bit more difficult then I thought...

I just downloaded all of my pictures thus far from both cameras... hoping to work a bit on a week in the life before Mitchell wakes up. He's had an awake morning but finally settled down for a bit after lunch. But I hear a little peep upstairs. I thought I might have 10 more minutes but it will have to wait a while longer. Til then!

PS - Can you believe he is 4 weeks old today? Here is a quick pic.

And btw - I may have that 10 minutes - he was just stretching.

Things I had forgotten

I had forgotten how much laundry a new baby creates - I had pretty much had laundry under control but it seems I've had to add a few more loads each week - not only his clothes but my own from spit up and pee and sheets and towels. The list goes on.

I had forgotten how much I like to use bibs and how handy they are for saving on laundry.

I had forgotten how much I like routine - and babies don't allow too much for this. Oh well. This too shall pass.

I had forgotten how soft and cuddly your own little one is. I don't tend to be a "baby" person but when it is your own. Well that changes.

I had forgotten how having a baby in the room can change the whole scene.

I had forgotten how quickly a baby changes from day to day.