Back to Childhood

We had so much fun tobogganing today! After missing out yesterday R and I joined in on the fun. And what would a family fun afternoon be without mom's camera? So here are some shots!


The girls bailed early (after an hour and a half) R needed her nap. The boys stayed out for 3 hours and then walked home. What a difference a year makes. I remember sitting in the van with baby R last January while they tobogganed and it didn't last too long. This year S is flying down the hill backwards on his own little sled.

Slowing Down

The hustle and Bustle of the holidays seems to be coming to an end. We had a fantastic Christmas. It is so much fun watching the kids. They handled the busy-ness well and learned a few lessons about receiving gifts (thanks Cindy ;) ). I was happy to see them enjoy each gift instead of tearing to the tree to see if there was more. It took over 4 hours to get through our gifts and we really did not have many here. Such a relaxing and enjoyable morning. A few favourites:


Playmobile plane


Fur Real Tiger and princess accessories.

a happy baby with no cares about what was in her stocking.

I was spoiled once again...a new lens for my camera, a Creative Zen, a writing tablet for the computer, and an external flash for my camera (which I was lucky enough to open a few days early for a photo shoot). But best of all a CD from the kids singing Christmas songs and reciting poems with a great big "we love you Mommy," at the end. Nothing could beat that!!!

Production

It was a full day of Sunday School, lunch with friends, a photo shoot, and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. You can see the excitement setting in for the kids. They are having a tough time keeping their emotions in check...but only 2 more sleeps!

Tonight they put on the cutest "play" for us and Grandma and Grandpa. It was so cute to see them planning together and helping one another. They were so excited to perform for us. R's laugh was contagious as she giggled non-stop at her dressed up siblings. I think everyone had a
blast watching them!




Only 1 more day left to shop. I have a couple of gifts to pick up tomorrow. Hopefully I will find something I am happy with and if not guess it is my own fault for waiting so long. Like I always say...I will be more prepared next year :)

Merry Christmas to all!

There were three in the bed...

I have been too busy to actually download my own pictures and add them to my blog but...a quick update on life. Little R had a high fever last night and did not want to sleep. We finally gave in and brought her into our bed, something she has never done. She calmed down immediately and we all had a good cuddle and went to sleep.

S had his kindergarten Christmas party today. He was SO excited. He got dressed and ran to brush his teeth as soon as he woke up (I was still in bed). He was very proud of himself and loved having us in his classroom. His sister had a great time and did not want to leave. She loved all the games and of course the snacks! I did take pictures and will post some later.

Photos, inventory and sick kids have been filling my days. I can't believe Christmas is so close. I still have some gifts to buy and ALL of my gifts to wrap. I'm sure it will be a Christmas Eve panic to get it all done, I guess there is something about that rushing that I like because we seem to do it every year!

Day 61

We experienced the first cancellation of the school year. School was canceled due to poor weather. S was very sad when he realized it was day 61 and he would miss going to the high school to do some baking with the "older kids." :(

The Clutter Gene

I now have proof that being a pack rat can be genetic! It does not help that Preston and I are both bad for it, we have two kids who also like to keep EVERYTHING. I had this wonderful idea that we would sort out the clutter in our house and start to purge. I got rid of a fair amount considering we only got through the kids room and the rec room. The kids give away pile remained fairly small. I could go through their stuff and do the purging myself, which they likely wouldn't notice, but this process is about teaching them to give away the toys they no longer play with. T tried so hard. She even put a Dora doll in the bag, but then put on the sadest face and said she would miss her Dora. Wow, did that ever make me feel like a mean Mommy...making my child give up 1 of her MANY stuffed toys (which she loves by the way). I'm sure I will take it out of the bag in the end, but we really are trying!

Besides decluttering and cleaning we had an opportunity to celebrate the holidays with Preston's coworkers with a banquet on Saturday night and a more intimate get together tonight. It was a wonderful weekend but now back to my panicky online shopping. We are STILL trying to figure out what to get the kids. S is certain he will get Cars movie stuff, this is what he told his Uncle Trevor on the phone today. Hope Santa follows through!

The Benefits of TV...

I'm feeling a little forgetful today...the whole episode happened over a 20 minute span and could have turned bad. So thankfully here I am posting and laughing about it now.

After I pulled the garlic bread out of the oven to check on it I threw my oven mitt onto the stove and walked away. When I came back I saw it smoking. I had thrown it onto a hot element (which I had just taken the spaghetti noodles off of). I pounded it on the counter a few times to smother it and then took the garlic bread out of the oven to cut some off for the kids (they do not like it if the top gets crusty). I had intended to put the garlic bread back in the oven on broil just to quickly toast the top of it and then got called away by DD who needed my help in the bathroom. By the time I came back to the kitchen, I smelled the burned bread and opened the oven door to a fire. DH got the bread out (which is now stinking up our garage) and we opened our windows while fanning our smoke detector. DS came crawling through the kitchen, "everyone get down on the floor!" Later he told us he saw that on some cartoon. Thankfully all that I am dealing with is a stinky house. I'm just happy it is still standing.

The photography venture has been taking off. We have been doing a number of shoots lately. I just posted some new pictures in my flickr account but here are some of my favourites.

The countdown is on!

It is really beginning to feel like Christmas, with all of the freshly fallen snow and the beginning of Christmas celebrations. We put our Christmas tree up on Friday. It is so much fun as the children get older. Seeing the joy and wonder on their faces is such a reminder of the importance of the little things. All of the ornaments ended up in a little cluster in the middle of the tree (about the height of T and S) :) - they did almost all of the decorating. This year we got to add another little face to our annual Christmas tree photo.


Yesterday, we enjoyed breakfast with Santa with Preston's work. The kids get such a treat with a performance, great food, a visit from Santa and a gift. After the party the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's while we went shopping. I typically start the day feeling as though I have lots of time and then end up cramming the last hours full of hustling around trying to get my shopping done, which we didn't. I guess we will be doing some online shopping this week.

The Decisions Been Made

It has been a stressful week with trying to make a decision about going back to work. I left it until an hour and a half before my deadline and then forwarded the decision of the hour. So it is official - I'm a stay at home mom (well that and a business owner, LOL). It was a tough decision to make but in the end realized there is no way I could regret staying at home with my children.

We started our Christmas shopping on Saturday, after two photo shoots that morning. The kids spent 2 hours in Toys R Us looking at all the toys and showing one another what they wanted. S and T both bought for one another and of course then wanted to open them. They still haven't spilled the beans!

We managed to get a picture with Santa. S was not too pumped about sitting on Santa's lap so the picture is a true representation, which is great.

Here is a picture from one of the photo shoots. We will post more at a later date.

First Skate

We took the 2 oldest out for their first skate of the year yesterday. It was actually T's first time on skates. I was amazed how well she did! A little hockey player in the making ;) They both skated on their own for a little while and as soon as S finds his confidence he will be off! It is so much fun watching them learn new things.



We celebrated 2 years of Rhubarb Roots this past weekend at the store with a crop on Friday and Saturday. It was a lot of fun...getting together with friends, meeting new people, eating and of course scrapbooking. I got a start on a calendar and am really enjoying the size of it (15 x 7) - it is the scalloped calendar by Making Memories.

The Family Grows

S and T are the proud owners of pet fish. They are so lucky to have such a thoughtful friend who brings them gifts (and asks their parents first ;) ). They asked several times what the water on the counter was for and found out shortly after lunch. It was so much fun seeing their response.

They have been very responsible pet owners so far. T was so sad when she had to leave her fish at home to go grocery shopping, there were quite a few tears. She is trying so hard not to cuddle her fish (an affectionate girl that one). They both were giving the fish kisses through the bowl.

It was a day of tea parties, play and a little cleaning. Such a great day...but here is a little glimpse of a not so great day (the Friday of the online crop). A time out turned bad...he felt it was necessary to write what he was thinking on the walls with a dry erase marker.


R finally has her first tooth and has started taking steps holding onto furniture. She is still INCREDIBLY woobly but I see those baby days running away on me (literally). It won't be long until I am chasing her around and helping her wipe the marker off the walls.

A full nights sleep!

I can fairly safely say that we are through the bumps of the middle of the night wakings. R has slept through 7 nights straight from 7:30 until at least 7:30 the next morning. Wow, what a difference this has made on my outlook. And all it took was 2 nights of holding her instead of feeding her, guess she decided my cuddles were not enough to wake up for. :( Honestly, I may actually miss getting up with her...I really wasn't in much of a hurry to put an end to those midnight cuddles(knowing all along she MAY - yes I said may Dad - be my last baby), but I know it will be better for my sanity and overall health to get a full nights sleep.

I am busy this week planning the 2nd anniversary celebration of Rhubarb Roots. What a difference 2 years and an insane amount of work has made! Be sure to stop in the store this Thursday, Friday and Saturday to take advantage of the sales! Here is a little teaser...think American Crafts.

I think my camera has gone into hiding...I'm going to need to dust it off and take some pictures of the kids...because what am I going to scrapbook in 3 years from now when I am finally caught up? We will be doing a little photo shoot for a friend in the next week or so and I'm really looking forward to that!

On my way to enter the boxes of inventory sitting at my feet. Be sure to check out the what's new section on the site!

Lest We Forget

Thank you to my grandfathers, great uncles and all of the other men and women who sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we are blessed with today! You are all in my thoughts.

Scrapping Itch!

I was really hoping to get more accomplished this weekend at the online crop. I did get a little mini album finished and a couple of layouts. I was hugely inspired by all of the fantastic layouts that were posted in the gallery and have the itch...now just to find the time amongst the mess (the remnants of a weekend on the computer and scrapping). Here is one of the layouts I managed to complete this weekend (I actually have since added more rub-ons and rhinestones but you get the idea).

I have a class at the store tonight and then will be getting together with highschool girlfriends. I am REALLY looking forward to that. It has been far too long. And this facebook thing - I'm so excited with reconnecting with some old (what I thought were lost) relationships. Yay, for friends!!

Trick Or Treat

According to the kids this Halloween was the BEST Halloween ever! :) We started off in a bit of a rush so I didn't really get any good pictures. One of Spencer's friends came over to join us for some Trick or Treating (it was nice to have some adult company). Preston and Reece (the little pumpkin) stayed home to hand out candy!

The day really dragged out for Spencer. He was waiting so patiently for the evening to come that he even went to his bed for a rest thinking if he went to sleep the time would pass quicker.

The Little Things...

What a great weekend. Just a bunch of little things that contributed to all the fun! First was the Book about Me club at the store on Friday, Saturday Spencer insisted it was time to remove his training wheels - so Dad did and viola he was off! Tyra got to spend the afternoon with grandma and Spencer and Preston went on several mini bike rides because Spencer could not get enough! Later that afternoon one of Spencer's friends showed up on his own to ask him to come over to play. The cutest thing...he arrived in his very own jeep! :)
Sunday was take out Chinese with friends and pumpkin carving! Spencer was so excited to ride his bike to school today that he was ready and waiting in the garage 15 minutes before we actually needed to leave! I'm hoping the novelty of no training wheels does not wear off too quickly. He considered during breakfast how surprised his "crosswalk teacher" might be about no training wheels. Secretly I questioned if she would notice. Sure enough! We arrived at the crosswalk and commented! It's those little things that make me smile and happy to be in a community where people are interested in who you are! Thank you to our "crosswalk teacher!" :)

All About Me...

Well generally not...but our last club day is tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing everyones' creations. The store is keeping me beyond busy with a lot of great events, new product and at the same time I am faced with a decision about the conclusion of my maternity leave (two months to go). I would really appreciate it if someone could look into the future and tell me what decision I made, I am finding the process far too stressful! But for now I will head on over to the store and enjoy pizza and angel food cake (with strawberries) to celebrate the end of a successful event.

Our Spiders have eyes!

I'm not sure where Spencer gets his "I have all the time in the world gene," but I know it is not from me...this kid forgets to eat his breakfast when it is right in front of him. The mornings become rushed and stressful trying to get out of the house on time for school. The bell rang before we were off our yard this morning and he hardly batted an eye. If that had happened to me when I was 5 I would have ran all the way to school. Not Spencer! I'm having to learn a new level of patience and understanding that this is just who he is. BUT if anyone has any advice to get the fire burning To get him moving please pass it my way.

We spent the afternoon doing crafts. The infamous Alphabet hour, and then putting eyes on the spiders Preston had started with them. They also spent a good amount of time counting their money to see if they had enough to fly to England. :)

I had my second hockey practice tonight...legs are a little tired. It was tough to gather the energy tonight ... I'm starting with a cold. Have some inventory numbers to adjust and then I am done with inventory. HOORAY!!!

Arachnids Unite

...on our kitchen table are spiders!

I'm sure enjoying Preston's computer being out of commission. He has not been able to do any of his computer assignments. This has meant earlier bedtimes for him and sleeping in for me :). He got the kids going on a craft today (making spiders - they are still missing their eyes). He has big Halloween decorating plans. Something about a spider den in the garage...not sure we really need to make spiders, there are enough live ones!

We got a little yard work done, but needed to stop to play - so there are piles of leaves throughout our yard. Hopefully they won't blow away before we get around to picking them up!

I counted some inventory at the store tonight, I just couldn't go the whole weekend without throwing in a little work and now it is movie night. We will see about Preston's pick "The Astronaut Farmer." He was trying to chose a movie we'd both like and those usually bomb, but I will try to go into it with an open mind.

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

It has been over a month since I started this blog and this is my first post! I'll give it a shot and see if I can keep it up!

The day was filled with a spontaneous day to the city to do a little shopping. We were on a time crunch to get home, so my shopping was cut short. Likely a good thing!



Tonight, I will create. I really should be counting inventory at Rhubarb Roots but...I'm being selfish and my free time this weekend is for me. I'm looking forward to working with the November kit - now to search through my stack of pictures awaiting me and find some fall themed photos to go with the kit.