Katie and The Carrots

Christmas Conversations with a Pre Teen

2011-12-04T19:49:00.002-04:00

Me: Alex what kind of cookies would you like for Christmas
Alex: Jalapeno Poppers, Bacon Wrapped Crunchy things, Cheese Puffs..
Me: Alex, I said cookies. Not appetizers
Alex: But we're having appetizers right??

The Door Has Openned

2011-11-09T19:10:00.002-04:00

It's true, when a door closes another one opens. However hanging on in the mean time can be a b*tch. ;) That was our September/October, a wild and crazy ride. The writing had been on the wall for awhile that my husband's group at work was/would be downsizing, however they'd never gone with less than 2 of what he does for a living. The weekend before my birthday we found out otherwise. I don't think anyone can fully appreciate what that does for the psyche until it happens. Thankfully after a couple of weeks of tears and silence he had not one but two interviews back to back and he started back to work this week. It's not that we were in dire straights but that weight has been lifted. We've held off buying a larger home as this one suits us fine, and when I bought it 7 years ago I made sure it was something I alone could afford on maternity leave. :)

However, that 'we shouldn't spend money' translated into me getting my stitching mojo back. It kind of was shelved when Lily started moving around. Now she's not exploring as much so my work is relatively safe ;) I treated myself with a birthday gift card and bought a felt applique kit. I haven't done one in so long and it was a nice break from the norm, or at least until I find my floss boxes!! I put them somewhere after Lily dumped one and haven't a clue where that safe spot is. Amazing as this house has been cleaned and decluttered from top to bottom!!

Book Worming

2011-10-26T21:26:00.002-03:00

If someone had of asked me this time last year what I thought of ereading, they probably would have gotten a very indifferent answer. I may work in the tech sector, but I'm probably the last person to buy a new gadget. Yes, we're that odd family that doesn't have a cell plan ;) However, my awesome parents got me a Sony Reader for Christmas last year and well, the rest is history. For three months it kind of sat there, sad but I was still on Mat leave. Anyone that considers that a vacation is crazy ;). When I went back to work I loaded it up for lunch hours and well, I think I've read more this year than I have in a very long time. Maybe even pre Alex! I love how I can slide it in my purse and not worry about it getting bent or ripped (plus I have the Roots purse specifically designed for carrying a Kobo) and well when we went on vacation this year half of my suitcase was empty because I just threw it in. No more lugging a bunch of books. My hubby is also on board which is good, if we kept anymore of our books at the rate he reads we'd need to have bookshelves in every room, and that's not jiving with my decluttering ;)
So what have I been reading?

Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich
Wicked Appetite - Janet Evanovich
Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris
Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris
Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
Altogether Dead - Charlaine Harris
From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Plum Pudding Murder - Joanne Fluke
Apple Turnover Murder - Joanne Fluke
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo - Stieg Larsson

Reading plans for the remainder of the year? Well I'd like to finish the Millenium Trilogy and hopefully The Hunger Games too. Janet Evanovich has a book coming out just in time for Christmas and in 2012 I'd really like to read The Cottage Tales series and start Dianne Mott Davidson's books as well. That barring books that have interesting movies coming out. The unofficial book club I've proposed involves reading the book before seeing the movie and having a dinner/movie/sans kids night :) Hopefully our first one will be The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. That's about my level of commitment, I just don't have the time to read something I don't pick or to discuss it ;) Now to stick my nose back in my book.

Happy Half Birthday Lily-belle

2011-10-06T19:15:00.003-03:00

Here's our little 18 month old beauty all ready for Halloween. Life is too short to not have 'half' birthdays...or at least not have half birthday cake.

Happy Dancing

2011-10-03T18:02:00.002-03:00

Yeah...that hasn't been the title of a blog post for a very long time ;) I would probably wager that my last finish was before Lily got mobile, or should I say before Hurricane Lily got mobile? She might have taken her good old sweet time learning to crawl and walk (almost 17 months) but there's no stopping her now. In fact she can walk backwards and jump over a foot horizontally when she gets going.

So a happy dance...so where's the picture. Sadly after so long my first happy dance is actually one I can't post until after it leaves the house. The who and when will have to leave some people guessing for a little while ;) Although with summer bidding us adieu and shows to clear off of the pvr, I see plenty of stitching in the cool autumn nights ahead :)

The FREX Report

2011-09-04T20:29:00.005-03:00

So, it was a nice afternoon so we packed up the kids and took them to our local Exhibition I don't know if it's a sign of the tough economic times, our aging population or what but entries were down :/ Mind you I can't say too much, I only had one entry this year as Lily keeps us hopping. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she's our daredevil child.

This piece was beautiful, although upon close inspection it wasn't laced very straight. :/ I don't think the judges in this city appreciate hand dyed fabric either.

This Star Gazer was breath taking. It's motivating me to find time to stitch again. I can't say I haven't been stitching at all, they've just been gift pieces. I need a me piece. Shame on whomever hung that ribbon over her face!!
Yvonne's Grand Champion piece was gorgeous, althogh I wish this picture caught Angela's canvas work piece better in the top corner. She is an amazingly talented stitcher who's stitching is immaculate.

Some additional entries but as I said before, not alot this year to compete with. I remember the years where there was a much bigger haul :/Pieces from the unframed category, and some hardanger. I really need to do hardanger again!!!
And here's my sole entry...great job presenting it huh? The last of the SB stockings I'll be stitching unless my brother moves home from Argentina...or if either of them get married. I was so psyched to place first. Any other time I entered one of the stockings they only came in second. Hey when you're not in competitive sports anymore you've got to take your competitive spirit somewhere right?? ;)

Looking forward to FREX 2012...that Grand Champion ribbon will be mine...yeah right!

What's Shaking?

2011-08-30T12:00:00.000-03:00

Well apparently my office building was. Last Tuesday, a bunch of us stumbled out of our cubes thinking we had vertigo...and the blinds were shaking, and well that's a big coincidence! I don't ever remember experiencing an earthquake before, nor the aftershocks. Apparently we were feeling the earthquake that hit Washington up here. My office is fairly close to the river and apparently sits on alot of clay, while the towers downtown were swaying there weren't any other reports of quaking in the rest of the province.

Also apparently my backside is shaking too...Well, I knew that was happening but I just thought I'd throw it in there. However since June it's been shaking it's way to being shake proof ;) I wasn't down to my goal weight when we got pregnant with Lillian, the closer you get to 35, the less you want to put things off waiting for everything to be perfect. Factor in a csection that had me laid up for about 8 months due to some issues, a glorious round of SSRI's to combat the depression that set in when I can't be active and stupid breast feeding medication, well I back filled every inch of my abs that pregnancy stretched out and then some. I shudder when I hear people talking about elective csections, or that are so obsessed with breast feeding that they demand Domperidone before leave the hospital and they give their bodies a chance to do what it's supposed to do on it's own. Bf'ing doesn't happen for everyone, people need to lay off the breast is best...it's best if it's in the best interest physically AND mentally in the case of both mother and child . These things have long term ramifications :/ I'll step off my soap box now. Regardless, I've hit a minor milestone of 15 lbs down. The road to slim, or in my case 'sporty' is a long one but the journey has begun :)

But Katie, what about stitching? Well the annual exhibition is about to come to town. It's kind of depressing that I don't have a large piece to put in. I'll be entering Lily's stocking but that's about it. However that's extremely motivating to getting my stitching groove back, now that a fitness schedule has been achieved. Now if a newly toddling daughter allows for my stitching plans remains to be seen ;) LK's Christmas Rules is looking mighty tempting at the moment, with it's little pieces to concentrate on and finish. I need my mojo back, the ornament issue is just around the corner ;)

Catching up, photo style

2011-08-25T19:17:00.010-03:00

May - Trip to PEI!! My little brother graduated from Vet school :)June - My big baby turned 11And Graduated from Elementary SchoolJuly - We Ziplined across the Grand Falls Gorge, twice!Alex made a 'friend'Lily thought this was hilarious

Taking the Saint John ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia We visted Upper Clements Park upon arrival to the province

The kids loved the zoo in AylesfordWe stormed the Halifax CitadelAnd turned Lily into a raging Cows Ice Cream Addict August - Alex was a Junior Calithumpian for a weekLily's standing on her own and walking upwards of 12 steps at a time now. I also painted this room and did a massive declutter, loving the results

Paging Potter

2011-08-18T20:46:00.002-03:00

Or more like Weasley :) Tomorrow marks the end of Alex's run as a junior Calithumpian and he has the 'part' of Ron Weasley. They tend to inject pop culture people into their plays about local history or social issues and well Alex was a shoe in for that role with his flaming red hair. I wonder if I can be Molly and Lillian could be Ginnie? ;) I had to dig out my old witch costume for him tonight to make him look a little 'Hogwarty'. They're doing an anti bullying play, ironically one of the kids that Alex would peg as a bully is playing one in said production

For those interested in catching Alex's performance the junior Calithumpians perform at 12 pm at Officer's Square, or at Barrack's square in the event of showers.

Summer...Busy, Busy Summer

2011-08-17T09:55:00.001-03:00

When people said, having two kids not only doubles your load, it increases it exponentially...I should have listenned. ;)

We have been incredibly busy this summer, but we do it for our children. At school's end we had a mere 2 weekends until September that were just for us. For those that have given us flack about our schedule, try getting your head around never getting a weekend to just rest when you work all week and call me in the morning. Thanks to my wonderful parents we gained a third weekend as they offered to drive Alex back from one of his camps, however we quickly went back to 2 to accomodate company. However there are days I feel like I'm not very well liked for not being able to visit everyone....but really it's too bad. The kids come first and that's it, and they are far from spoiled. They're only going to want to be around us for so long, Alex has a camp budget and he's maximized every dollar in it. ;)

So what have we been up to? Well let's start from Canada Day and move on from there ;)

Weekend 1: Visited the inlaws as Mathieu also had his 20th reunion up there. Again my parents are amazing, instead of trying to coordinate a time for us to get back to Freddy and meet them as Alex was going to basketball camp on the Miramichi they came to pick him up in Grand Falls :)

Weekend 2: Unexpected weekend off, Mom and dad drove Alex back, which was good because Lily was teething and I was exhausted

Weekend 3: Our official weekend off, so I started painting our family room, something I really need to wrap up soon!! Alex was at the UNB basketball camp the following Monday-Friday

Weekend 4: Our first family vacation as the fantastic four :) Sunday we drove to Saint John, caught the SJ to Digby, Nova Scotia ferry then drove to Upper Clements Park in Annapolis Royal. The kids had a blast. Monday we continued on through the Annapolis Valley stopping at Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Ayelsford, Joe's Food Emporium (my old hang out from my Acadia days) in Wolfville, past the Church camp grounds where I spent many a summer in Berwick and then rested for the night in Windsor where I finally got to see my friend Shannon after 10 years!! Tuesday we headed to Halifax, toured the Citadel, took the kids to the harbor for some Cows Ice Cream (Lily is hooked, the little bugger was sucking my chocolate bits out of my ice cream), then we did a little shopping. The boys took in their first IMAX movie (Harry Potter in 3D, I'm so jealous) that evening, but someone had to watch Lily right? Wednesday we headed for home, stopping in Moncton at Crystal Palace and Matt's favorite restaurant Saint Hubert

Weekend 5: U2 Baby! We headed back to Moncton, braved the rain and it cleared up before we got to the gates. Thank god we were in the stands, as it was muddy++++. I've learned I'm not meant to stay up until 3 in the morning anymore either. Came back from Moncton, grabbed a nap and headed to the Miramichi

Weekend 6: I'd planned and prepped to leave for home by 10-11 am...and woke up to Lily having a boil and an infection all through her bum cheek. We had an 8 hour hospital experience including IV's and some minor surgery to drain the abscess. I'm envious of their hospital, I was treated better there than I was at our own after major surgery. :/

Weekend 7: Inlaw visit. Not exactly easy to do when your daughter required a dressing change and bath after every #2. The boys were able to take them shopping while we napped and then to the Calithumpians Haunted Hike so that occupied most of the evening

Weekend 8: Well that's this coming weekend. We were really excited, the Calithumpians were selling off their free spots in their daycamps at a drastically reduced rate for this week. The original 170 was way over the camp budget, but 99 was doable. Alex is having a blast, it's nice to have his camps balanced between sports and other interests. This weekend we're off to Brown's Flats outside Saint John to drop Alex off at Caton's Island Summer camp. Yes, it's on an island!! He wanted to try a different camp this year and this one has more rock climbing than the camp he went to for the past 3 years, and they have horses. It should be interesting

So as you can see, not alot of stitching time. Any brief 'Me' time I get I've been working on a couch to 5k program which has helped me lose around 14 lbs since June :) Now to do that how many times to get back down to my 'hot' weight?? Ughhh, slowly but surely right?

Happy Birthday Miss Lily

2011-04-06T20:29:00.003-03:00

It's hard to believe I was finally getting to hold my little girl around this time last year. It was such a crazy delivery, and disappointing to not have her immediately on my chest like I did with my son. It was torture watching everyone else get to hold her but me, but we survived and now I can't put her down ;)

I took today off to spend with my little girl. What a treat. We had our check ups (I've had alot of issues post surgery) and she's doing well at 21 lbs and 30 inches. Me? I still have a ways to go, my iron and blood count have barely improved, no wonder I'm zonked all of the time. We then picked up some stuff for her upcoming party this Saturday, scooted over to the school to pick up Alex and had a nice quiet afternoon napping. We followed that up with a couple presents, some cake and a nice family trip to McDonald's. She loves slides and it was getting cold so eating with the indoor playground was a must.

I think she had a pretty good day, but I'll let you decide based on some pictures ;)

We Survived!

2011-04-04T20:55:00.004-03:00

Day one of back to the real world, that is. Sadly maternity leave is only a memory. Lily did fantastic at Tracy's and well, work wasn't so bad. Having a new project to look forward to helps alot! Five years of working on the same project left me feeling a little pigeon holed, but now I get to do a new project and work with some new people and needless to say I'm excited. However I'm beat! Taking Lily in today was kind of a moving day for her, the playpen, bedding, extra diapers in case her cloth supply runs out for the day, food...was a lugging experience to say the least that I'm glad I don't have to put up with tomorrow.

Momentarily I'm going to put my feet up and stitch a special secret project that I'm aiming to have done by the end of the school year and catch up on some tv with the hubby. But first some pictures of Lily's first day at daycare.

Lily all set in her big girl car seat

Lily and Tracy, the fantastic sitter who took care of Alex for 10 years. I would have taken another picture of her actually looking at the camera, but I was too excited to get her back in my arms.

It's Time To Party...Almost

2011-04-02T18:04:00.006-03:00

T-minus 1 week until Lily's first birthday bash. Needless to say I'm more than a little excited. Not necessarily about the absolute migraine juggling guest room arrangements can be. The little nut's birthday is actually Wednesday, which I'll be taking off work. Needless to say I'm pretty sad about starting back Monday, I adore my little girlie and love spending time with her (and her brother too when he's not to preteen hormonal ;)) We decided on a mid afternoon event to give people that need to travel time to, and to give the little miss a chance to nap.

The most exciting part? The menu... Not because it's stellar but in my blogging absence I tore off the wallpaper border in my kitchen, got over my previous failures in painting, went through 5 test pots of paint and now I have a kitchen closer to the way I imagined it. The crappy floor is still there, however it's a bit less noticeable now IMO. I feel so recharged when I go in there now and inspired to cook again. I even did a little reorganizing to make working in the kitchen flow better. U shaped kitchens look cool but it takes alot of organizing to make them practical IMO. Now back to that menu of fantastic finger foods...

Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
BBQ Chicken Egg Rolls
Cheese Puffs
Jalapeno Poppers
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Smoked Salmon Devilled Eggs
Extraordinary Cheese Dip and Fritos Scoops
Stuffed Mushrooms (surprisingly simple with herb and garlic cream cheese and bacon bits)

And of course the usual assortment of
Veggie Tray
Fruit Tray
Shrimp Ring

A Children's table of
Sliced cheese cut into adorable shapes
Chips and cheesies and crackers
Toddler friendly treats
and either Rice Krispie squares or Jello Jigglers (haven't quite decided on that one)

Oh...and an Elmo cake from Monkey Cakes. It wasn't my original plan for a cake, I was thinking more princess themed but little miss Lily picked Elmo invitations right off of the shelf when we were shopping and declared her plans for a party theme. It'll be quite the treat after my first week back at the office.

Goodbye Is The Saddest Word

2011-02-05T10:50:00.003-04:00

Yesterday wasn't the easiest day. It marked Alex's official last day at the sitter he's had for pretty much the last 10 years. We didn't know up until this week if he'd be able to go back when I went back to work, the original plan was for me to accomodate the other parents relocating their children where I'm still on leave. However the stars and moons have not aligned and Alex won't be able to go back (thanks province of new brunswick) when I go back to work in April. Now begins the daunting task of finding him somewhere to go! Who wants to occupy a slot for a kid for three sole months? It's one of those times I really wish we had some family closer. I haven't been getting much help from the other adult in this house with regards to the matter which is even more frustrating. Why it always has to be me to sacrafice my career and vacation time I don't know. I wish more men had great male role models like my dad.

The Many Faces of Lily

2011-02-03T08:20:00.005-04:00

Last night I was talking to my mother about how long it takes us to get through a store when I have Lily in tow. I mean people stopped when I had Alex but Lily seems to attract ALOT of attention, which I don't understand. However my mother pointed out when I'm not looking some of the expressions she makes while shopping are priceless, so I thought I'd share some pictures of some I've been able to catch. This is actually quite difficult to do because she's a natural camera poser, the second she hears the shutter open she's usually starting at the camera. ;)

How you doin?

Big Smiles

Pucker up

The Gangster

Just too darn cute

I will only tolerate this for so long...

Something Positive

2011-01-25T21:43:00.005-04:00

Well, there has been one positive thing so far this week. An actual stitching finish! I finally stitched an ornament for Lily, now to get caught up and finish Alex's sock monkey onament. Lily's Mill Hill Kitten Stocking Ornament

Lillian's Stocking, also finished. Needless to say I'm glad to be done sewing!!

Bump in the Road

2011-01-25T10:04:00.002-04:00

With just over 2 months until I return to work we hit a slight unexpected bump in the road. There are days when I think the rest of the world didn't get my 'I'm trying to be more positive in 2011' memo.

Yesterday morning I was working away at my part-time work assignment when the phone rang and our awesome sitter was on the phone...which was quite odd considering that Alex wouldn't have been due to arrive there until 3:30 so he couldn't have possibly done anything to get himself in trouble yet in the day ;) I could tell she was very upset, so I my mind started racing to a pet death or something I'd have to talk to Alex about later but it wasn't.

One thing that is very important to me, if I'm going to be using my education and working, is that my children be raised in an environment that's very 'home' based. While I know regulation of child care is in the best interest of safety for children, I cringe at the site of cubbies, schedules and charting for infants/preschoolers and that's lumped in with regulation in this province. I'm no hippie parent but that atmosphere makes me feel like my children are numbers and lab rats. They get enough of that when they hit the school system, and for all of this pressure to 'grow up faster' I don't see any wowing results.

So what happened? One very vindictive resident of our childcare provider's subdivision decided to call the province to have our childcare investigated. If this individual honestly had the best interest of children at heart the two other unlicensed daycares would have also been investigated. To make a long story short, the four afterschool kids have to go immediately, which includes my son. Apparently the brief 30 minute lay over my son has there still counts as a number. Now with some maternity leave, and some juggling there isn't a long period of time before he's able to come home on his own. But seriously, the regulations do not take into account the number of adults on the premises, let alone Red Cross certified babysitters. The ratio of Adults and sitters to kids was 4:7 (4 of which being short term afterschoolers) where else am I going to find that kind of ratio?

What about Lily? She'll still start in April thank goodness, I couldn't imagine anyone else taking care of my little carrot. Ironically Alex will more than likely be going to a friend's home which will have more kids than his original arrangement. One of the babies that would have been coming will not be able to which is quite sad. Those kids have all grown up like one big family :/

Needless to say we'll survive but my heart absolutely breaks for Tracy, she's had some of those kids, since they were infants. It's one thing when one kid grows out of daycare or moves away but to take away 4 of them at once cannot be easy. Let alone what this does to her own families income. Some people are so cruel. Especially where her kids are never off the premises and are escorted from the bus stop. I've almost run over (and anyone that drives with me knows how slow I go) kids from the other daycare who are darting on the road without an adult in sight. Sigh.

Ridiculous Fact: In the province of New Brunswick, if you have twins or two children under the age of 24 months and happen to be getting help from your family (including your parents) and if you happen to have any other children, they are technically violating the Child care act and have too many children. Eventhough in most cases your parents are retired and both of them are on the premises...meanwhile if you quit your job to be a stay at home mom, you're on your own with three or more, and that's ok.

Birthdays and Stash Shopping

2011-01-23T11:03:00.004-04:00

Saturday was our first 'us' trip of the new year. To some that might not seem like a big thing but we have no family here in town but just close enough away that juggling travelling decisions can be huge. Mind you when I go to my parents it's like a mini vacation ;) A few weeks back Lily received her first birthday party invitation, and we were eager to jump on board. I've been looking for an excuse to get to Moncton for a long time, I really wanted to get to the region's cross stitch shop Because You Count, I had some boy clothes to hand down but neither of the two alone was enough to justify the trip. A party definitely swayed things in that direction.

Friday was frustrating, I could not for the love of goodness locate my Ornament issue and I really needed some fabric. Add in a snow storm and it's inevitable clean up, a teething night rolling baby and a power outtage and I could have cried Saturday morning when I looked outside and could estimate the clean up time for the driveway. We did make it out however, with just enough time to make it to Because You Count before the party (it closes early on Saturday). I had to drop my Roots outlet store stop but in all honesty, Lily isn't hurting for clothes...it just would have been a fun trip ;) The party was really fun. My Matron of honor's little boy was turning one and having Lily out and about with kids her own age was really nice to see. Plus catching up was nice too! The time flew by and before we knew it it was an hour after the party, time to drop by Old Navy and grab some dinner at St Hubert and it was well passed someone's bedtime and time to hit the snow covered roads back home.

So...what was in the latest stash purchase? Not as much as normal because I was rushed and brain dead after a night of little sleep.
-JABC Mitten buttons for Alex's sock monkey ornament
-Lizzie Kate's Snowman 2010
-Heart In Hand's Winter Bird (or as some of us lovingly refer to as part of the bird 'pooping' series)
-Fabric for a small Shepherd's Bush piece
-Fabric for this year's Victoria's Sampler ornament, except sparkly!!
-More ornament Fabric
-A frame for Imaginating's Three Kings...which has been finished for years and sitting rolled up :/

Now for some birthday Pics

The Birthday Boy Wyatt

Wyatt's gorgeous Mickey Mouse Cake

Present TimeLily's Garb for the Occasion

Alex after eating a black fondant ear

Happy New Year

2011-01-16T09:29:00.002-04:00

It's amazing how fast a year passes when you aren't sleeping through most of it. At least we ended 2010 with Lily sleeping a little more consistantly. They say a parent loses 550 hours of sleep in the first year...and with this one I'm inclined to believe it! Lily started sleeping just in time for the Christmas rush, so I'm only starting to enjoy her sleeping schedule :)

We had a really nice Christmas. It was the first Christmas we've spent in our own home and it was perfect. My parents and one of my brother's joined us and it just goes to show, it's not where you celebrate Christmas but who you celebrate it with. Childhood is fleeting and it's essential to make your own holiday traditions, and those that don't support that can suck it with their selfishness. ;) I also finished Lily's stocking on time. I was beginning to think that wouldn't happen, we had flooding with a freak storm a week before Christmas and it really through the preparations for a loop, let alone the renos...whose materials were blocking access to my sewing machine. This stocking was the smoothest sewing job I've ever taken on, maybe afte 7 stockings I finally have the hang of things.

2011 hasn't brought as much stitching as I was hoping...yet. It's kind of hard when you're living room is continually being turned upside down. However the beadboard is now up, as is most of the new chair rail and baseboards so after a few paint touch ups the furniture will be back to normal and so will my stitching. The only thing left will be finishing the corner where the tv is, Matt is still deciding on what network wires to run but that shouldn't involve moving all of the furniture.

Now to share the pictures we had taken of the kids for Christmas :)

Alex & Lillian

A Working Weekend

2010-11-21T20:42:00.002-04:00

There are days where I swear that I work more being on leave from work than when I actually had to go in the office. Saturday we had a potential playdate for Lily so I did a complete clean of the main living areas, which was well overdue. What a job that was!! Throw in a little christmas decorating and wow there went the day. I took the evening off to work on my sock monkey ornament though ;)

Sunday, I finally tackled my nemesis, the fridge. I banished the science experiments, and those glass shelves finally shine again :) I love the look of glass shells but they are terrible to keep clean with two foraging males in the household that don't always notice when they knock things over :/ I treated myself to some Christmas baking after though and made the filling for some peanut butter balls. There's just something about getting started on Christmas baking that gets past that daunting feeling and makes it seem manageable and of course fun!!

Then this evening we had a lovely dinner with my sister in law and her family. It's definitely feeling a little more like Christmas!!

Stitchy Pics

2010-11-16T14:04:00.002-04:00

Finally, some stitching... Lily's Stocking
Santaberry Pudding ~ Shepherd's Bush

Travels

2010-11-14T20:15:00.002-04:00

Well, Santaberry Pudding is almost finished! We travelled up to Grand Falls as Matt needed to put on his winter tires that are stored there and there was a mass for his grandmother. I'm not Catholic and don't understand but that's besides the point. Ughhh...travelling with a baby is NOT fun. There's soo much to lug! Plus depending on where we're going Lily's sleep gets thrown off. Oye. I definitely am hoping to not have to juggle travelling into the holiday mix, it's just too crazy with two kids! Anyway, back to Santaberry Pudding. It turns out, surprisingly that Michael's had the two colours that I needed! Amazing, considering their selection, and even more amazing to find them because they are not stored in numeric order...no matter how many times it's pointed out to them that they'd sell better that way. At least I didn't have to order them in! Because of the aforementioned mass being at 7 pm, Lily's bedtime, I got to stay at the inlaws and stitch for three hours until everyone returned home. Now if only I hadn't forgotten two colours here! I could have screamed. So hopefully after I get my work hours in tomorrow I'll have a chance to finally take a picture of what I've been working on :)

One Down

2010-11-12T10:20:00.002-04:00

Yay, one item down on the Maternity bucket list :) It's amazing how many clothes a little boy can accumulate over 10 years! In addition to that item I also decluttered our video cabinet, yippee!

Thankfully that's not all that's been occupying my spare time. I've almost finished Shepherd's Bush's Santaberry Pudding, I can't figure out how out of all of my stocking stitching how I could possibly be missing two colours of perle cotton! Oh well, at least I still need to order the charms for Lily's stocking so I can add those two in. Although tonight I'll be finally kitting up an ornament from the ornament issue to take for an over night trip :) Definitely exciting, especially where I haven't picked out my next big project.

It's amazing how much more you can get done when you're finally getting a little sleep again ;)

Some Much Overdue Pictures

2010-11-07T22:36:00.005-04:00

Now for some very overdue pictures of the little rascal that takes up all of my time ;)

Look Who's Sitting on her own

Being Inspected by Uncle Steven

My Trick or Treating Cuties

Yummy pumpkin fingers

Going Green for Halloween

Lily and Alex on her half birthday

Showing off her first tooth

The Maternity Leave Bucket List

2010-11-03T09:29:00.003-03:00

If I learned anything after Alex, it's that having as much as possible in order before you go back to work is a sanity saver...needless to say, moving back to Freddy days before returning to work taught me this life lesson. I believe that not having a big nagging to do list when you're already trying to balance work hours with the few precious awake hours you have with your kids when you get home is crucial. Also not having to spend weekends and vacation time decluttering and reorganizing any more than a season's worth of clothes would definitely have saved me some guilt I've felt over the years. So in an attempt to stick with my goals, I thought I'd put it on the blog :)

1) Sell the 10 years of boys clothes I'd saved in case we had another boy
2) Have Lily's outgrown clothing sold/ready for sale
3) Reorganize and clean kitchen cupboards
4) Declutter tupperware shelf
5) Declutter crafting supplies
6) Paint headboard for double bed that Alex wants to upgrade to
7) Lose at least 15 lbs
8) Clean freezers to make room for some premade casseroles
9) Establish a consistant cleaning routine with the boys
10) Setting aside Sunday afternoons for meal prep

and if possible
11) paint bathroom
12) paint kitchen

Why the last two? The rest of the main level has been painted in the ongoing renovations and if we've learned anything, it would have helped to paint these before doing the other renovations in each room when you're contending with dust. Plus the renovations for those rooms will be quite costly so having something in the interim to make small improvements to the rooms doesn't make the end task as daunting, at least in my mind. :) Plus I hate wallpaper borders and they are in these rooms and looking ratty and dated...they need to go while I have the time to deal with them :)

With 5 months to go, I'm hoping this list is reasonable

Life in the Twilight Zone

2010-08-16T14:30:00.002-03:00

Omigosh, I forgot how time consuming having a little one in the house was. Factor in the craziness of summer and here I am blogging almost 2 months after my last post. Summer has seen it's usual stitching slow down, although I do make it a point to get to stitchy night to get out of the house once in awhile! Not quite up to going to a friend's place to stitch just yet, my energy level is still day to day, and I hate showing up somewhere only to turn around an hour later. At least at the community room no one seems to notice ;)

I have been getting some stitchy gifts lined up and of course Lily's first stocking! I was so excited when the fabric arrived Friday. Alex and I decided on SB's Mary's Stocking. If she were older I might have chosen one of the ones with the hand dyed threads but where she's little I'm scared of christmas goodie covered finger prints that'll need to be washed! Now to go back to debating the Lily or Lillian labelling.

Life here is great, although Alex is starting the Emo preteens, combine that with adjusting to a sibling no matter how much he claims to adore his sister is making me pull out whatever hair was left after the whole postpartum shedding mess...I swear anything I stitch has a red hair in it :/ Lily is starting to sleep better, or at least nap better. She gets up between 4-7:30, and depending how late she sleeps, usually goes for a morning nap and lately we've been getting an afternoon nap, hooray! There are quite a few things I'd like to reorganize around the house before I go back to work so the house will be in basic cleaning mode without that 'elephant in the room' feel. It's nice to have a chance to recharge the old batteries to have the energy to start tackling said projects :)

Lily also had her first photoshoot a couple of weeks ago. A good friend of mine pointed out that the second child hardly ever has their 'own' pictures so we made a point to get at least one done with just Lily and went all out to capture her sweetness. No cookie cutter portraits for her. Needless to say I LOVE her pics. We had the very talented Faye Kingston come to my parent's home when we were on vacation to snap up our little cutie.

Little Miss Lily

Framing

2010-05-30T19:42:00.003-03:00

Oh yes and in the last month things are getting a bit more 'normal' although far from what we're used to (or I should say I'm used to). I actually got some lacing done. Something I can mindlessly do when I have some downtime. I might not get to stitch much on leave but maybe I can get the 'to be framed/finished' drawer closer to being ready to take advantage of framing sales ;)

Mom's Sweet Pea Pixie Framed

Lily's birth sampler before sending it in to be framed

Lily - Almost Month Two

2010-05-30T19:29:00.002-03:00

We're rapidly coming up on Lily's 8 week and 2 month markers, what a change in that girl :) We've made the move in the last week to exclusive pumping, and my goodness that girl eats! She's had a content couple of days recently which is such a relief. Colicky inconsolible days are hard on the nerves and break your heart.

In the last month she's rolled from front to back, smiled and gained ALOT of control over her head, if only I didn't have yet another unpleasant experience with attempting to get a bumbo off of Kijiji for her :( She's still very much a bath girl, she can be screaming but as soon as that bottom of hers hits the water she's in heaven. She has no fear of water like her brother...you can dump it on her head, although that prompts her to try to lick it up and that's just gross ;) As much as I love itty bitty babies, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming month when she really starts to get interesting. In the back of my mind is that Angelina Jolie quote where she referred to her daughter as a 'blob' in the early months and got alot of flack for it. I can relate, although there are probably 'warmer' ways to say that. Lily is amazing but it's hard knowing there's sooo much personality coming really soon.

Thankfully she's having more good days of getting sleep and hopefully the growth spurts or what I think were partially at least feeding issues are going to be a bit less frequent. In most of the growth spurt literature there are alot of little spurts in between months 0-2 with larger gaps...I could deal with that. I'm interested to see her weigh in this week. She might catch up to her brother's birthweight on his birthday ;) Although I think she might have even surpassed it, she is really growing and changing. I feel a little better knowing how much food is going into her system. They keep telling you mother nature takes care of things when you are breast feeding but I'm the kind of person that needs to see numbers and not rely on diaper counts to know everything is going ok.

Lily @ One Month

2010-05-20T19:02:00.004-03:00

Things are still hectic here. Lily is a good night sleeper considering her age, she usually gets a 4-6 hr stretch followed by a 1-3, she's had a flukish 8 even, daytime however not so much. It's only been recently that she's truly taken to the swing so instead of trying to get her into bed during the day I'll be content for now just letting her swing. She's a pretty advanced little tyke, I feel weird saying that but that girl just baffles me. She's been smiling since 3 weeks, laughing at 6, rolling at 5 (scary) and can scoot herself a good foot on tummy time she gets soo ticked off.

Although she is a bit colicky, some days are amazing, other days I consider going back to work where it's nice and quiet ;) I think you really have to have been off on Mat leave to truly get how exhausting constant crying can be. It's frustrating to go out in public when they're like that as well , you could have given them 2 L of breastmilk or formula (if that were possible), have an automated diaper changer and just had them wake up from a 24 hour coma and you get the experts, 'oh they're hungry, dirty, tired', which is frustrating when you know that sometimes baby's just cry. At times though I think she does it just to get Gripe Water, she treats it like liquid crack! ;)

We have a loose schedule for her which is all we can hope for at this point. I'm looking forward to her hitting that magic 10 lbs and getting up to 12 weeks when her little body should start producing melatonin, making a schedule more reasonable...all without trying to wish our last baby days away. We are also cloth diapering her which definitely isn't 'our mom's diapers'. I was disappointed with the first set we bought, although from the research I did they sounded like 'the ones' however now she uses a combo of Flips, Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz. I can't get over how easy it is to be green, plus we've paid off a chunk of our fuzzy stash (yes there are other stashes besides stitching ;)) and that's just with phasing them in. I'm looking forward to years 2 and 3 where we're really in the black...then I can spend it on real stash ;) Speaking of which I've finally gotten a couple of stitches in! I'm hoping to have Lily's birth sampler ready to frame tomorrow.

Now for some eye candy :)

A Little More Lily

2010-04-26T14:09:00.002-03:00

Welcoming Miss Lily

2010-04-22T16:33:00.007-03:00

She's finally here...or should I say I'm finally close to a pc again to announce it ;)

Miss Lillian Madeleine arrived April 6, 2010 at precisely 7 pm and weighing in at 6 lbs 12 oz, born at 38 weeks 5 days

To say April 6th was a busy day would be an understatement. I'd been pretty miserable all weekend with some pregnancy complications and after my apt on Wednesday I had shown no signs what so ever of being close to delivery. Although...I did get a whole lot of cleaning done before I got sidelined, heck I even cooked a turkey for the boys on Easter Monday.

At 5:45 I woke up to a weird sensation and thought I should run to the bathroom. It would have been quite amusing to watch in hindsight because I was waddling down the hall with my knees together whispering 'sh*t, sh*t, sh*t' the whole way there. I was worried that if it really was my water breaking I'd ruin the finish on the new hardwood floors. Needless to say it was that...and the floors are still in tact ;) This time around wasn't nearly as bad as when I had Alex, I wasn't trapped in the bathroom for half an hour.

So after I got myself comfortable, it was close to when we get up for work and get Alex up for school so I woke Matt early and I think he was running on pure adrenaline and shock. We decided not to tell Alex and then unleash the waiting big brother on the school system. He seemed to have a sixth sense though as every little thing we did he asked if I was having the baby. So we got him ready, I demanded we make a pit stop into Tim Horton's knowing they wouldn't let me have anything delicious again until this kid was out and dropped Alex off at the sitters as per the norm.

We arrived at the hospital just before 8 and because I was positive for Group B strep the wired me up immediately. My OB just happened to be finishing up rounds and dropped in to check me, I was soo discouraged that besides my water breaking I had no progress what so ever :( I began to panic. They wheeled the ultrasound machine in to make sure Baby C wasn't breech and I had a really unsettling feeling. Head was down so we were good to go.

They started me on Pitocin because apparently my body has no problem breaking it's water on it's own, which is only supposed to happen in 25% of all pregnancies but it just does not want to go into labor. After my experience with Alex I knew I was in for a long day. Mid afternoon I made it to the grand 4 cm but there was something in the monitoring that was beginning to worry my nurse, and the dr on the floor and subsequently my OB. When they started talking surgery I was needless to say devastated. I wasn't the screaming patient (although the one beside me was frigging hilarious, nothing breaks the mood like someone screaming 'poop'/'pee' every so often), I was polite, I wasn't complaining through my contractions , I was trying to go as long as possible without meds to get things working, and darn it all I'd done all of the walking, sitting on the ball, exercise you're supposed to leading up to delivery...why was I getting the shaft? When my OB, who is one of the most cool calm and collected doctors I ever met came in and said his recommendation would be a section I was hysteric. I wasn't at an emergency point so he let me see how things went for the next hour. It was the fastest hour ever, I spent it all crying, or more precisely in chest racking sobs.

The hour passed and my body had done nothing, I was so mad. I think signing those consent forms was one of the most laborious things I have ever done. I'd love to have a writing analyst tear apart my signature as it looks nothing like my loopy lofty signature that I'm used to signing with. The worst part was being wheeled to the OR, all I wanted to do was crawl in a corner and die. No one wants to be seen mascaraless (or at least when you're a redhead this is not ideal), puffy, scared crapless, disappointed beyond belief...

The OR was so bright I was blinded, or maybe it was the initial 'happy' drug they'd given me, a small concession they'd made because I was pretty adament about not being awake through this whole thing. Although as soon as things stopped looking like a supernova I happened to notice one of my old elementary on friends behind all of the scrubs. I never thought I'd want someone I knew in L&D with me but she was a godsend. I could at least relax some, or at least behave knowing someone would later keep me accountable for my actions.

A section has to be one of the most degrading things in the world. Being strapped to a table fully exposed, and poorly shaved for that matter did nothing for my dignity. You'd think if you have an epidural in they could at least do a bikini wax ;) It's about the only way I'd get one done. Anyway, I was back to cracking jokes, and attempting to get a liposuction out of the whole ordeal by the time it started. It wasn't too long before Lillian made her entrance into the world. It seemed like forever between Matt looking over the curtain to see her head (I would have passed out) and hearing her first cry. Apparently my little girl tried the same sunny side up position her brother did but because she hadn't dropped like he had (the joys of a first pregnancy) she just wouldn't come down and had her cord tangled up. I got to see her before she was whisked away, the sleepy time doctor gave me some wonderful concoction that made 'putting humpty dumpty back together again' as she put it go by in a blur and while they did that Matt disappeared to whatever location they were cleaning up Lily.

Shortly therafter I was wheeled to recovery, which would in fact top the degrading experience surgery was. I hated my postpartum shower with Alex but the 'sponge bath of shame' as I've dubbed it was worse. Being moved on a blanket and then having two older ladies scrubbing you down and rolling you around, isn't fun, no matter how stoned you are. I was so frustrated with my arms too which weren't as under my control as I'd liked. I couldn't hold Lily unassisted although we somehow managed to get breastfeeding going.

All that aside, my heart grew about 10 sizes that day. Lillian is adorable, extremely petite compared to the 8 lb 6 oz brother I delivered. She's strong, loves to smile and has hair that depending on the light, either looks strawberry blond or blond. I love her to bits. By the time I was cleaned up visiting hours were over so her big brother had to wait until the next day, he was not pleased with this. It's hard to keep him away from her, he's deemed himself her protector and loves to cuddle with her, this warms my heart. :)

We're home now and recovering well, and without further ado, some pictures :)

Now to go feed one demanding little monkey again as I can hear her from down her on another floor... ;)

Finally - Some Non Baby and Non Reno Pics :)

2010-03-26T07:09:00.005-03:00

See, I still stitch. Or in this case frame as this pregnancy finally has my hands too swollen to do much detail work :(

Lizzie Kate's Beware of Cat - Finally framed for Halloween (frame a lucky find from the Dollarstore)
Lizzie Kate's Happy Hoppers, omigosh it's up in time for Easter after almost 3 years in the craft room. Another Dollarstore frame find (both painted by moi of course)

Mill Hill Treasured Diamond kit stitched up over the March Break

1 Month Until Baby - Let's Renovate!

2010-03-15T19:55:00.009-03:00

Dear goodness, I'm being punished for my hours logged in HGTV. 5 weeks before our EDD my wonderful DH decided to pull all of the carpet in the main floor of the house...yep the living room, hall and bedroom. To say we live in chaos at the moment would be an understatement. I've also learned that if you don't have your ceilings finished when you rescrew your subfloor, any exposed areas of your semi finished basement will look like a beaver upchucked in it! Anyway, here's some in progress photos of what's been going on ;)

Our living room in October 09, at this point we'd replaced the ugly old beige baseboard heater and all of the old light toggles for deco white ones
March 2010, picture window replaced in December, carpet replaced with Cappuccino Ash hardwood, upside down chair rail stripped to make room for wainscotting, 46 inch tv replaced after contractor scratched it with a 50. God bless the previous owners and their sense of sadism for painting up to that border. You won't catch me doing that!!

Painting in progress, Behr Crimson Red on top to eventually have white wainscotting on the bottom.My sexy painter painting the entry (one end of the living room) and hall Behr Pumpkin Butter.

Update:

A little dark but an idea of what the red kind of looks like with the white, and some new drapes ;) Not all of our furniture has been added back in, mainly the lamps, hence why the pic is sooo dark!

And the entryway fixed up a bit. My poor china cabinet's contents are in the basement :( 6 panel white bifold closet door to go in this weekend and MAYBE some trim.

Now onto our room, no pictures exist of it before hand because lets face it...it became the catch all rooom. The room where clutter piles went to hide when company came ;) So here's a start. DH is in the process of painting it Behr Skipper so I should have another update tomorrow.

What it looked like when I got home, and the suitcase I lived out of for most of the first week!My closet, what a mess it was now it's almost fully organized!! I hated the semigloss paint in the room, the colour not so bad with the floors but we didn't have the swatch. There's nothing worse than trying to read or having your spouse read, you turn in the opposite direction of the light but it just bounces back in your face regardless!DH's closet and eww more semigloss paint.

Alex-isms

2010-02-26T09:21:00.002-04:00

Today marks the first storm day of the year for my son's school district. So Alex made himself comfortable on the couch watching the Women's Hockey Medal distribution. Last night on facebook I noticed that Jennifer Aikman-Smith's (Dragon Dreams) status mentioned her uncle was handing out the golds which I thought he'd find cool. So when team Canada's turn came about I mentioned it. 'Gee, he's not looking to bad for his age'....so apparently anyone I know who 'still has' living relatives must have ancient ones??

Then it was on to women's figure skating and Joannie Rochette's bronze medal, God love that girl, to put on a performance like that in such a tragic week. Anyway, we kind of talked about that and I commented on how beautiful her skating outfit was (oh the bling) and Alex pipes up 'Well she's not wearing too much mom'...oh how in a couple of years he'll 'appreciate' that soo much more ;)

A Note to Canadian Sports Editors - You Suck!

2010-02-25T18:00:00.002-04:00

Seriously, I'd be ashamed to be one today. Rewind to yesterday February 25. 2010, and if you want even rewind a day more. Complete coverage & build up to the 'great' showdown between the men's Canadian Olympic team and Team Russia in hockey. Sure it's what we claim to be 'our sport' and yes the game was very exciting but it wasn't even a medal match.

Yes, Canada beat the Russians and completely dominated the ice, but there is no way that this should be the top story on just about every single sports page. Especially if you consider the other accomplishments of the day.

Has Canada ever had another 4 medal day in Olympic history? Apparently it's not news worthy enough to make the top billing. Clara Hughes' swan song bronze, Canada's highest medal holder in both Olympics...that barely made a blip. A surprise silver in the women's speed skating relay, mentioned like a footnote. A gold-silver women's bobsleigh wins, again treated like a side bar. However, the world knows we beat the Russians because we beat them over the head with it.

It's truly a sad day when we glorify 'just' a game, a game played by professionals that are paid millions to train for their sport as a job instead of celebrating people that actually pay to train and have medals to show for their hard work.

Hockey may be 'our' sport...but it shouldn't be the only thing we're proud of :(

Realty Bites

2010-01-22T13:55:00.002-04:00

No, that's not a typo ;) Although I wholeheartedly agree that reality is highly over rated as well.

The other night I was unwinding watching some shows on HGTV and there was a show 25 biggest mistakes to make in real estate. They went on to comment on paying too much for a home that it should be around 1/3 of your salary. Anyway, my husband has had 'garage fever' which somehow wasn't even on the list when I bought the house. And yes...I bought the house. So, giving due consideration to his whole 'garage' obsession just for giggles I looked up what houses that would be double the price mine was 5.5 years ago would be, say if someone else was chipping in the same amount that I currently do for the mortgage. Now before I go further, just to be fair, he covers the majority of the renos.

Anyway, so on to MLS I got trolling. For comparison's sake I didn't even take in location as a major consideration. I popped in the area we live in and the city we border and boom, a little list appeared. What a disappointment that was! Any of the double garages were not attached and on a smaller house, the 'attached' ones compromised basement space and were the 1.5 variety. Any of the remotely promising ones had pending renos to do that we've already done in our current abode and I don't think any of them had the 5 bedrooms and semi finished basement ours does. Mind you I didn't take into consideration how much my home has appreciated in value, but still... So the hubby can wait it out and build what he wants sometime down the road. It'll be a heck of alot cheaper ;) To justify the pain in the butt it is to move, I had better be moving into my dream house, otherwise the good things will come to those who wait ;)

Hello 2010!

2010-01-19T20:45:00.004-04:00

So much for my New Year's Resolution to blog more, I've done much better on my resolution to take more bubble baths ;)

To be honest I've been very preoccupied. Before Christmas it was confirmed that our hospital had removed it's nursery and has an expectation that new mother's just seem to be able to pick support people out of a hat. While that may be a safe assumption for first time moms, for us 'pro's' it is a terrible step in the wrong direction in my opinion. Seriously, I wouldn't be staying in the hospital if I didn't think I needed rest and observation, I really don't give a crap what some university professor thinks is the best way to establish breastfeeding. I love every member of my family, I would never think to spend 24 hours in the same room as any of them. Bonding does not necessarily mean proximity for me. I think what ticks me off the most about this is how sweeping a change it is...and how quiet they've kept it.

2010 is shaping up to be a decent year for stitching at least, apparently lack of mobility helps in that case ;) Alex is already contemplating what dragon he'd like for Christmas ;) Although I think there will be a stocking that'll have to come first. He's already informed me that he would like to help choose his sister's stocking from my SB collection. It's so cute to have a son that's actually interesting in some of my 'girly' hobbies :)

Merry Stitchmas

2009-12-25T13:48:00.003-04:00

Just a couple of things I couldn't share before the 25th :) I had bigger stitching plans this year but a certain little belly got in the way and changed some plans for certain gifts. However, these did make the final cut

Peter's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush for my brother Steven

And this little LK :)

We attempted to take a serious family picture on ther 24th, especially where it marked Baby C's 24th week but this is what happened ;)

Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T19:54:00.003-04:00

Hooray, I successfully escaped Chateau Chaos Saturday morning and trucked it up to my parents house for the holidays. I left my beloved DH home to finish filling, sanding and painting the mouldings as it does nothing for my respiratory system. I loaded him up on food at my branch's Christmas party the night before and had him well socialized with a game of Rock Band that went until after 1 in the morning. Originally we had planned on having people come to us ofer the holidays but with the finishing lingering and this pregnancy not always agreeing with me, I sought solice in my old home :)

Needless to say it's been great. I finally got around to getting my cards done. It's amazing how much pressure we put ourselves under to get everything done. I'd facebook'd one of my Ottawa friends to find out her address and I got the 'are you crazy? you don't need anymore stress', true! But then again she's a bit more understanding with a 6'ish month old at home ;) I got to help out at a leisurely pace instead of the Martha Stewart mode that no matter how crappy I feel or how immobile I've become in the last month would surely have felt compelled to be, regardless of what others expected of me. I finished off one last stitched gift and actually had some time to make something for me! Omigosh! So here's my latest Mill Hill ornament:

Tomorrow Matt is supposed to join us for a couple of days and then it's back to Freddy and some decluttering.

Merry Christmas One and All :)

Katie

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

2009-12-08T17:55:00.003-04:00

Today after a relatively uneventful trip to the OB\GYN I got to attend Alex's Christmas concert, his class and choir sang beautifully :) What a crazy day though, apts, concerts, meeting people and now getting someone's supper on the table at precisely 6:30 so he can sand Alex's window mouldings...C'est la vie.

Garden Creek Harmony and Boy's Choirs

Pain in the Butt

2009-12-07T20:55:00.004-04:00

Oye, I thought being sick was bad enough but apparently my daughter and I disagree. I've been hobbling around most of the day with symptoms very similar to sciatica, which apparently in my case is more than likely PGP. Great! Just what I needed at least I have an appointment with my dr tomorrow to discuss if there are any sort of exercises that could help. Well at least the decorating is done so I can take it a bit easier.

Other than that I've been sneaking a little stitching on the side, nothing I can show at the moment unfortunately as it's personalized :) Oh well a couple of weeks should be worth the wait :)

Greetings from Chateau Chaos

2009-12-03T17:59:00.008-04:00

For some people the Christmas season means decorations, baking, shopping, gift exchanging...then there's my husband. Christmas to him seems to involve renovating! Which makes the task of decorating, baking, wrapping and the list could go on and on, very difficult.

Last year we needed to redo the children's floors after a bout of Norwalk turned Alex's white carpet into one with an unbleachable stain dead center. This year? New Windows! I love them! The original ones on the house were wood, with thin mouldings that weren't always mitred properly, cracking, mildewed and sucking energy. Although it has come at a price, absolute chaos. It's not just clearing out one room it's cleaning and minimalizing every room! Plus my box of exterior lights was used as a stand for the moulding painting that took up our entire storage room! It wasn't safe to put my precious decorations out until they were done. Even with all of our precautions, there was one casualty...our 46 inch plasma. We moved it far away from the window and covered it but apparently one of the workers tripped on his equipment with a board in hand. One very expensive reason to always double check that your contractor has insurance! Although goodness only knows how we love dealing with that profession. It is supposed to be resolved by Monday.

This picture doesn't do justice to how truly annoying it is, sigh.

But on the brighter side here's a glimpse of what Alex's room used to look like pre reno

Alex's room Circa 2006 - dingy chaos

With new larger (building code req) window, new heater, new floor, decluttered, fresh coat of paint and just missing those last two pieced of mouldings :)

Replaced closet door, door and thermostat as well

Now to just find window coverings! So now I'm desperately trying to get caught up on Christmas stuff and get back into that stitching groove I had not so long ago :)

Define Frustration

2009-11-25T20:03:00.002-04:00

Arghhh...I signed up to refresh my french and my placement makes me miserable :( It's so frustrating. Yes, I graduated 15 years ago bilingual but didn't use it. I retained comprehension and pronunciation but to regurgitate? That theory is long gone. So based on the first two I got placed higher than I'm comfortable with. The whole point of me taking the course was to redo the grammar portion but now I'm looking on about.com for what on god's green earth a préposition is, sigh. There...that's my rant for today ;)

Plus this crap is impeding my stitching, bummer!

Progress

2009-11-18T16:41:00.001-04:00

Well here's my In The Arms of an Angel as of dinner time last night with 2 weeks and change in. The blogger gods were working against me last night so I couldn't post :( Thankfully there's been a bit more progress but I decided to not tempt the fates waiting to process another picture ;)

Stitching For The Princess

2009-11-16T15:06:00.005-04:00

One advantage to feeling like crap for the next 5 months is that I definitely have alot more time for stitching :) I set aside the ornament I have been working on in order to work a bit more on TIAG's In The Arms of an Angel. I'm pretty impressed with my progress after two weeks of work and hope to post a little picture of it this evening.

Alex and I had our first trip out baby shopping/looking and after alot of research I think we're going to definitely give cloth diapering a try with some of the new products out there. I picked up Baby C's first cloth diaper Friday at a tax free sale. It's pretty cool, it has an insert that you whip out and replace, instead of having to wash the liner and the shell. Will we be completely independant from disposable, probably not, they have their place when out and about and travelling but if we cut back our waste a little bit, it should definitely make the world a greener place :) Now to pick up a shell and soaker pack about once a month to get our supply up.

We also spotted a bedding set we absolutely adored, although considering the markup on this side of the border we'll definitely be sucking up the hit in duty and shipping, if we can get Matt on board.

It's quite amusing, I had alot of people ask if we were finding out or even to let them know if we found out the gender of our baby. So of course now that it's out there we've told people who weren't in the original group and most of those have been 'didn't you want to be surprised'. Ironic ;) Believe me, it was no less special finding out. There were no less tears of joy and quite honestly I feel the bond deepened that day beyond any bond I had while expecting my delivery day surprise son. I was actually quite jealous the other day when I was getting my hair cut and my stylist was talking about enrolling her son Logan in daycare, who is due in February. There are no more impersonal he/she's, it's, the baby, no more trivial well if it's a boy here are the names, if it's a girl here are some more...Looking for names is much more passionate, I want one that fits her, not random baby. Heck, it should also cut down on an argument or two with DH, now that we've eliminated boys names ;) So yes, I'm happy I know what we're having (even if she had have been a boy), and am even more anxious to meet her. She's not just a bun in the oven any more, she's the ultimate cake :)

It's A....

2009-11-13T09:39:00.009-04:00

!!!!!GIRL!!!!!

Needless to say, we were all 'tickled pink' to find out. Matt took one look at that little face and instantly changed his mind about finding out. Which is good, his son has been scheming for ways that 'we' could find out and not him...who knew a nine year old would be that interested?? One of them involved bonking his dad 'lightly' over the head and asking...of course in his plan I was the one doing the bonking, lol. After two brothers and a son, I've been hoping desperately for a little less testosterone in the house, and even though the Old Wives tales were all pointing girl (verysick, high heart beat, etc), I tried hard not to get my hopes up too high.

Our little girl has all 10 fingers and toes, ok...8 fingers and 2 thumbs, is right on track with our dates, and everything else was either 'strong' or 'solid'. She's also extremely flexible, she spent most of the exam with her feet above her head and her arms either tucked behind there too or grabbing on to her toes, except for the brief moment it took her to 'wave' in another picture.

Now I can finally start picking out an SB stocking for her, I was dreading that task if it was a boy, with stockings for Matt, Alex, my dad and maybe someday my brother's all picked out I was running out of nice boy stockings that didn't have the ridiculous hand dyed perle cotton that made an already expensive project insane. I can also go back to some guilt free stitching with my L&L In the arms of an angel and Mirabilia's Mother's Bliss, those two pieces can now stay up much longer in the nursery :) I've also avoided the conundrum concerning the pink arm chair we inherited. It's been here in the 'office' for awhile and fit in with the neutral colour scheme, it's perfect for late night feedings (daytime I see myself in our extremely comfortable reclining furniture in the living room) but pink didn't work for a boy and it's actually a style that's pretty hard to find a slip cover for...and reupholstering was crazy expensive, especially over a silly colour. At least we dodged that bullet ;)

Let the shopping begin! :)

Sponge Bob Scary Pants

2009-11-04T16:56:00.006-04:00

Apparently we were able to make Sponge Bob look a little scary ;) It's almost a personal challenge each year to take a cute and innocent costume and make it creepy for Alex. So this year it was either a haunted pumpkin or this ;) In the past he's been a haunted warlock, a haunted crayon, etc...

Hopefully the new baby will want to be a cute little skeleton or bumblebee...or may I dream of a princess? Only time will tell.

H1N1 Vaccinations - Done!

2009-10-30T15:15:00.004-03:00

Omigosh, it feels so good to put that worry somewhat behind me. For months, weeks, I’ve agonized over what to do and how we were going to coordinate this as a family. Thankfully after almost a week of persistant phone calls citing my concerns about me being high risk and waiting in the inevitable 4 hour line ups with 700 plus people I managed to get Alex into the prenatal clinic with me with just a 1 hour wait with a whole lot of bellies around. Yes…you read that right, WE'RE FINALLY PREGNANT AGAIN!! :)

To be honest, that’s part of the reason my blog has fell to the wayside. We managed to keep it a secret (well except from some close friends) until Thanksgiving. Mathieu had this GRAND idea to make our family announcement at our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Arghhh… I had to be ultra secretive to find a way to ‘get’ maternity clothes for my birthday from my family without telling them two weeks before. Plus I’ve been uber nauseated, and it’s only ‘controlled’ with Diclectin. I still can’t eat much but at least I don’t feel like being sick all of the time. It was fun trying to avoid food and commitments and people just thinking your flaky...yeah right!

Back to the vaccination clinic, Alex was a real trooper. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to taking him to any needles, it’s been a long time since he’s had one so he’s got ‘that’ apprehension. Factor in a lot of screaming toddlers also being done and he was pretty white in there. He didn’t even blink, said a little ow when they were putting the bandaid on and he was done. He was wiggling around less than me after ;) I was soo proud.

In stitching news, I’ve been on an ornament kick, while waiting for fabric for the two pieces I want to do for the nursery, L&L’s In The Arms of An Angel and Mirabilia’s A Mother’s Bliss. Now that they’ve arrived I really need to figure out which I want to do first :)

Vacation

2009-08-11T04:06:00.010-03:00

After a week long vacation I finally feel recharged!! The last Friday in July Alex and I packed up the van and headed north to the Miramichi to visit my parents for the week. The weather finally decided to cooperate and there was only a couple rainy evenings and the rest was glorious sunshine! Despite lots of sunscreen, Alex and I are two of the most golden red heads going :)

It was fun not to have to be 'somewhere' or doing 'something', there were lots of visits to the outdoor pool, the beach in front of my parents home, a nice girls only shopping trip to Moncton, trips to market and a lazy afternoon at the Escuminac beach. I got to the gym, caught up with some old girlfriends that were also vacationing in the area and got to have some great walks and dinners out. I don't think there's any other place in the world I'd take off for a 10k walk at 8 at night to catch up for hours :)

Matt joined us for the last weekend of our stay which was nice. His back wasn't cooperating with doing anything extravagent but who cares. I can veg quite well with my stitching (2 more pieces down) and some books :)

Playing with Pappy

Hiding out in the hole he dug to China...

Catching up with his favorite four legged friend

Involuntarily going for a dip

My view every evening

Nice Surprises

2009-08-11T03:54:00.002-03:00

Who doesn't like a nice surprise now and then? I had a little time to check out the Silkweaver site for a new piece of fabric for a pattern I recently picked up and saw that the gallery winners had been announced. I was thrilled to bits to see my Trick or Treat fairy in the finalist, but even more excited to see her in first place, you could have pinched me! I love the way she turned out but to actually win, wow. I'm going to have soo much fun picking out my prize :)

If The Shoe Fits...

2009-07-28T10:48:00.004-03:00

Buy it! In my case anyway ;) My feet are a blessing and a curse. I love strappy little shoes, but my feet are far too wide for 80% of what's out there, that's still affordable. It's a pain to find something, but it saves me from being a shoe hog. Maybe this is why I prefer to be barefoot quite often? :)

Well, after a very busy weekend due to a family wedding I was left with just a couple hours on Sunday to pick up my groceries at the local Coop and check a sports store for their remaining bicycle stock. Well it must have been my lucky days as I picked up two awesome deals.

First:

Nike Impax PTU's on clearance (except mine are in a lovely purple)

Ok, maybe not as flashy as I usually get, but the were a heck of alot cheaper than the Shox I have been pricing for the last couple of months. It wasn't looking good, there was one box on the table and they were an 8. Thankfully Nike's sizing is horribly inconsistant (I've worn every thing from an 8 to a 9.5) but low and behold, they fit! My walking sneakers at work are just about toast and my indoor aerobic shoes have lost their springyness in the ball of the foot and were ready to be designated as outdoor walking so the timing was perfect.

So after picking them up and some groceries I popped by a sports store to see if they had bikes and low and behold when I walked in they had these on clearance and in my size!

Omigosh, they are soo comfy! Bonus, my hoof isn't hanging over the side. If only I'd found these before the wedding I went to on the weekend as my feet are still getting over the shoes I wore to that. These even go perfectly with the skirt I bought! My husband actually complimented me on my shoes (he's not a croc fan) and even a couple of coworkers commented on them and were shocked when I said they were crocs (one of these was even a male!)

Now if only a pretty pair of winter boots would pop up for say 30$, that's not too much to ask right?

Going To The Birds

2009-07-24T11:24:00.003-03:00

I love animals, I'm just scared to death of anything non cat/dog. So imagine my surprise when I walked down the four flights of stairs in our work's parking garage half asleep to have a raven fly up near me. Eep! After first contact I didn't see it below and ran to the door, well I found it again. I shreiked! All I could think of was it landing on me, or crapping on me. Needless to say I took the first available door out and snaked out. This must have been very amusing to the offices across the street as the stairs are fully windowed. All this just a couple of weeks after I left my van windows open for about an hour to air it out, only to drive to work the next day and find a bird had flown through and did it's business on my dash. That's NEVER happened before. Eww. I'm telling you, life's going to the birds :)

Reconnecting

2009-07-24T11:20:00.001-03:00

It's amazing how much being comfortable with where your child is staying can affect your ability to reconnect with your significant other. We haven't had much luck in the evening/weekend babysitter department so we got used to being a unit of 3 all of the time. We've had alone time other than camp but it always hasn't worked out as well. Needless to say I was a bit nervous with the thought of Alex being gone for more than the 3 days earlier this summer that was disastrous. If I know he's going to be truly happy I'm soo much more at ease.

This week has been great, we've had the guilt free time to do alot of little projects in and around the house. I've taken a break from cooking so we had lots of time to talk uniterrupted over delicious meals out and we've vegged out watching adult content movies without worrying what impressionable ears might be listenning. Our extended alone time has definitely been positive in helping us prepare for an upcoming wedding this weekend and casually hash out issues. The only other place I'm that comfortable sending my son is my parents home, he begs to go there without me continually.

So I'm counting down the hours until I get to pick Alex up tonight, time alone with Matt was great while it lasted but I'm eager to get some monkey hugs and kisses this evening. :)

Pretty Things

2009-07-22T13:58:00.004-03:00

In my blogging absence, Eleni has introduced me to the world of jewellry making. I'm not a die hard convert, you probably won't find a huge stash in my home but it is nice to know suppliers, skills, etc to build the sparkly bobbles you see in the downtown boutiques to make for yourself. Again, I'm not a big jewellry person and tend to save up for big pieces (diamonds are a girls best friend after all) and well after browsing one boutique that was selling a set of earrings atleast 5 times the cost to make them, I found myself motivated.

So...I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the materials for the following bracelet that I adore, except in purples, silvers and minus the gaudy charm and a clasp that's more me (ie: star shaped) .

I dunno, for me it works. It's random enough to not look like just a set of beads on a string but also not 'out there' enough to look like my nine year old was playing in my craft room, two qualities that have kind of held me back from jewellry making. So, when the mats arrive and are assembled hopefully I'll have something pretty to show, if my purple subsitutions aren't to garish ;)

Lazy Days of Summer

2009-07-21T15:09:00.002-03:00

Inadvertantly taking some time off does wonders for wanting to resume blogging. With the renovations drawing to a close for this year and the house in much better shape than it was with a defined easy to maintain schedule set it allows for a lot more freedom in activity. There is no more nagging guilt that something else needs to be done. Sure there are the nooks and crannies that could still be decluttered more but in the grand scheme of they are small manageable tasks that can be dealt with now that there isn’t a backlog :)

So for renovations in 2009:
New laminate, paint, doors, closets, moldings, hardware for Alex’s room and the computer room
Fresh coat of paint on the deckings of our two decks (I curse the previous owners for this every year)
New shrubs to fill in our back flower bed.
New kitchen faucet
New pulls in bathroom and finish restored on cabinet, existing mirrors painted.

We’re still wrapping up replacing our heaters in the upstairs and putting in modern light switches (I loathe our current ones)

If I could wish for one last thing it would be to have the border removed and the kitchen/dining room repainted before we put in the new heater. We purchased a convection heater and the space that the baseboard sits probably has the pre blue paint….and as much as I detest the blue it’s a step up from the old colour!

One of these days the house will be exactly how we want it. ;)

Crafting wise I’ve been getting back into stitching. I do need to par down my stash though, some of it I’ll never use or it no longer suits my taste and I need to review what scrapbooking materials I’m going to keep. I’m hooked on digital scrapbooking and the beautiful bindings, and compact storage are definitely bonuses. I can definitely use up my existing supplies on cards and tags so that’s not a worry. I have two of my current books up at http://kscott77.shutterfly.com to check out.

I have been getting back into stitching. I have some projects that currently can’t be shared but they have been great gateways to restoring my interest in it again. Although I must admit, I have really rediscovered my joy of reading which does cut into this. It was so hard when Alex was young to get enough undisturbed time to read, stitching I could pick up and put down or watch a movie with him, reading not so much.

In other events we celebrated both Dad turning 60 and Alex turning 9 in June, very exciting time. We also took our first family out of province trip to Prince Edward Island which was a blast and far too short. Alex went for a sleepover on one side of the family and is off to camp this week. He’s counting down to our trip to the Miramichi and hoping to sneak off alone there later this summer.

Be sure to check out my Shutterfly site for some of the photo updates from the past little while. I highly recommend this business as their products are fantastic, shipping is reasonable and quite fast considering their location. Until next time…

Some Finishes

2009-05-27T17:27:00.004-03:00

Omigosh, I'm soo bad at blogging lately. Apparently running three nights straight for Alex-tivities, working full time, renos and landscape/gardenning will do that ;) But not to fear, my needle has actually been near ;) Although to be truthful I've been more on a fitness/reading kick (obviously not at the same time)

A little exchange prezzie for a dear friend :)

SB's Fright Night, finally a finish!!

Tidbits

2009-04-21T10:04:00.003-03:00

Omigosh, I want this reno to be over! It really zaps the life out of my stitching ;) I can honestly say I haven't picked up my SB piece since I went back to work. Who'd want to get dust on those lovely silks ;) Plus after you've been sanding and painting most nights who'd want to do more crafty stuff? However the end is in sight. All mouldings (excluding the exterior wall baseboard as we're waiting on an electrician) are up. I love the look of the boston headers in the two rooms that we did. However my dh filled the nail holes before I could get a picture so I'll have to wait to take a picture.

In other goings on, I took advantage of Matt's basketball tournament up north to take Alex for a quick jaunt across the border. The boy kind of has a skewed idea about international travel, because two of his uncles live abroad he thinks he's entitled to travel whenever and wherever he wants, ha! So I took him to this little 'town' in Maine where he doesn't 'remember' his last trip as an infant. Well, you'd think I'd taken him to Disney instead of a town that exists solely because there is a Walmart and a grocery store. lol. It was quite funny watching my quite well educated almost 9 year old going completely nuts.

Upon getting about 10 seconds away from the border "It's sooo beautiful"
20 seconds later "Can we go to Ruby Tuesdays"...45 minutes from where we were going, no thanks
Upon jumping out of the van "I've finally arrived and I'm now touching the United States"
Upon seeing a crow fly off of Walmart "Look Mom, a bald eagle"
Less than 30 seconds into Walmart "Do you think we'll see Jon & Kate plus eight here?"

So much for blending in ;) We picked up some of our favorite groceries that we can't get in Canada, Alex begged and pleaded his way into getting a Star Wars figure we haven't seen around here, had a treat of some Friendly's sundaes to go and headed back. I was not looking forward to crossing the border, our enterance into the US was not smooth, between my birth certificate faulter (the town I was born in no longer exists since it merged into a city 14 years ago) and the fact I was crossing the border without Matt with Alex in tow (and I'd forgotten my wedding band at home) lead to a nice search of the van. Oye. However, getting back into Canada was quite smooth, the border guard got a good laugh out of my stock pile of Crystal Light flavors on my receipts and Alex's one toy. Needless to say every day since Alex has been inquiring as to when he can go back.

Also since the last time I blogged we ended up staying put for Easter again and it was wonderful :) It's soo much more fun to spend holidays in your own home. Also, I was quite pleased that a package I'd prepared had arrived. I'll have to post a picture of it's stitched content when I get home :)

Other than that, we're back into crazy season with basketball and karate taking up three consecutive nights in a row. At least there will be plenty of opportunities to read and get out walking ;)

Sweet Georgia Brown

2009-04-03T08:04:00.003-03:00

Wow, where did March go? Well, I guess I could answer that. Renos, travelling, then entertaining the inlaws and stress due to impending civil service cuts apparently wore me down enough to turn the cold that rocked our house and my office into full blown pneumonia. Eventhough I had no energy and had looked better, I don't think I'd do well on long term bedrest as the 5 days mandated by the doctor had me ready to crawl the walls. I got a little stitching in on SB's Into the Night, finished another ornament and mainly read...Matt rented me quite a few movies, and I think we firmly established what movies are and aren't my genre ;)

The two rooms we've been working on are nearing completion, hopefully this weekend they'll be done so I can truly have a 5 day break over the easter holiday. Then I can go back to organizing and purging my craft room :)

Last night we went for an early treat for Matt's upcoming birthday...a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters! Needless to say they don't 'give' tickets away anymore. One middle of the road ticket alone was about what we paid for two courtside 20 years ago. Alex LOVED it! He's been begging us ever since to take him when they come again. Normally I wouldn't spend that much on an 'event' but when they only come around every 5-10 years...well he won't be a 'kid' then. Not that Matt and I weren't enjoying the show as much as the first time we saw it back in the late 80's :) This marked my 3rd time going and definitely not my last. This time around there was a really neat autograph sesssion that lasted 30 minutes and the kids could circulate around and get what signatures they wanted. Alex managed to get the entire team, the announcer and Globey the mascot with 2 minutes to spare. We also got this pic as a reminder of a really fun family evening!

March Break

2009-03-04T23:37:00.002-04:00

Ahh...finally a day off. I didn't take the traditional March break off this year. We've been saving our vacation time for if/when we go down south so I just had my three flex days that I'd been banking. So...Alex got to do what he's always wanted to, head to his Grammie and Pappy's on his own. He's soo much better adjusted than I was at his age, or maybe I'm that terrible he wants to get away ;) When I called him Monday it was like 'mom...why are you calling', but I know he's having a good time. I'm hoping to join him tomorrow, weather and health permitting.

In his absense we've been getting the final preparations in for the last part of the reno 'push' for the two rooms we tore apart. My first day of vacation involved alot of choice words and painting. It reminded my of just how much I hate being 'hovered' over, it puts me in a little Ally McBeal kind of place where I can comically think of 'accidentally' head butting someone. Yes, I'm new to painting but my gawd, I don't need to be looked over >:( It does not bring out the best in me that's for certain ;)

After painting wrapped up for the evening I got to use up some of the excess paint and complete a little project I've been gathering materials for, and have had in my head for a little while. Alex has been wanting a dragon room, and while I've been stitching a number of them for that I kind of wanted something a little 'extra so I played around with some of my former scrapbooking materials and voila...now hopefully it's not too girly. At least it was a good excuse to use up some of the leftover paint from his room reno ;)

Pics

2009-03-02T00:10:00.004-04:00

Alex's Belated Christmas gift:A paper ornament to be backed (hard to see with the reflection of the metallic though...):

My WIP:
One definitely in need of ironing...: And last but not least...my gorgeous exchange ornament from Shannon!!:

Starting Your Weekend Off With A Bang!

2009-02-16T10:11:00.000-04:00

They say things come in threes...well, my beloved flat iron decided to die, I was greated with a piece of falling weather stripping Friday and when I returned home the boys had literally blown up the microwave, it probably wasn't the best day to have taken advantage of a super duper deal on a bed in a bag for the guestroom ;)

So we spent Friday checking out microwaves with what little time we had after basketball and it was discouraging. We're not big nukers, we nuke our lunches at work and our system for leftovers is pretty much, if it's nukeable, it's for lunches. The prices we were looking at for stainless steel was getting up near 200 for something we don't use too often. Then our first stop Saturday was Sears and that openned up the over the stove debate, which would be significantly more and involved changing the height of one/all of our cabinets, wiring, retrimming, painting and an appliance that is much bigger than our needs with a very big pricetag. Thankfully our next stop was HomeDepot (our new home away from home) and there was the baby, same brand as before, stainless steel and cheaper than any of the white ones we'd come across. Yay! But like any HomeDepot trip it turned into a, let's look at knobs, lets look at this or that. Thankfully there was also a mouldings seminar going on and Matt got to watch someone building the Boston headers I want to put on the doors :) Not as bad as some people were making it up to be :) So we left there with a microwave, knobs for the two doors we're replacing and handles for the closets. It's progress. I should also be transferring some pics that mom took of the rooms so far to the blog soon. :)

Sunday I scored a deal on a new digital camera. Mine went AWOL over the holidays and after tearing houses apart looking for it I bit the bullet and bought a new one. Missing pictures of my son is just not worth waiting out for it to show up. On the flip side the boys would love a camera to play around with and having one designated for camping and stuff isn't such a bad idea ;) So I should be able to post some pics of my finished projects for 2009 and a gorgeous exchange ornament really soon :)

My Own Worst Enemy

2009-02-05T08:35:00.000-04:00

Is the week almost over?

I get up this morning, it's chilly, I put on my nice warm fuzzy green 'chenille' sweater. Love it to death but it sheds so I save it for cold days. I look great...until I go wash my hands in the florescent lights at the office and apparently one of the places it's shed? Boob level. What colour is my bra today, white. Can I throw my cardigan over it? No it's long. See? I don't need people to assist me in having a bad day, I can do it all on my own ;)

Kindness of Strangers

2009-01-21T08:17:00.002-04:00

I must have taken a cue from Alex's Wish Upon a Star stitched piece as it worked! Monday, after a weekend of a head cold and a headache that came and went (at least it wasn't a migraine), I had no energy to deal with the snowstorm or getting my vehicle out. DH was in 'company man' mode and not dealing with the mess in the driveway, if he'd spent half as much attention the the driveway as he did the deck over the lunch hour I could of gotten out. >:( I seriously thought he was joking when he told me I should go shovel, I mean I'm home sick, I feel like crap, I'm not eating, it's not like I was doing anything I even like to do, but at 8 it still wasn't done. So I went out, and shovelled , I was so mad and frustrated I threw down the shovel at one point to take a deep breath and looked up. The area we live in has a beautiful unobscured view of the stars and they are particularly beautiful during the winter. Sure enough did I not see a shooting one? I'm not big on wishing but I did, not for the lotto, not for alot of things I'd like or want to change in my life, just a little help. I quit shovelling when I got the halfway point. Eventually Matt cleared out enough room for him to get out and I made it to work the next day, definitely not the nice recharge batteries kind of sick day that's for certain.

Tuesday was just a day in the crapper on pretty much every level, work sucked, marriage sucked, in fact as soon as I put everything in the washers I jammied up, curled up in bed and was chatting on the phone. DH comes in 20 minutes later and asks me if I'd paid someone to clear out the driveway as apparently there was a 4 wheeler plowing us out. Apparently a guy a street over saw me shovelling out the mailbox when I got home from work and noticed how narrow our driveway was (we can fit at least 5 car lengths, if not more so well...it's a long haul so the path was as skinny as possible), anyway, he was bored and decided to go play with his 4 wheeler. I almost burst into tears.

I guess some wishes do come true.

Baskets, Renos and Happy Dances

2009-01-20T10:32:00.000-04:00

Hooray, after many weeks of practice, a team committed to getting the result and lots of cheering and clapping...Alex made his first basket in Friday's game!!! Championship wins, top scoring, or any other award I received in the 10+ years I played pale in comparison in how truly elated it was to watch him score in a house league game.

Things have been hectic around the house, hence my lack of blogging. Alex's little sick event before christmas required the removal of the floor in his room which was started over the holidays, and snowballed in my absence as my DH did not stick to the plan and removed mouldings with no intention of putting them back up and doorways as well. Throw in him thinking the two 'children's' rooms should have matching flooring and me wanting to paint One room...later snowballing into him wanting the current office painted as well....well it doesn't leave alot of time for anything too exciting. We did run into a bit of downtime after Alex went back to school, we couldn't very well fire up the mitre saw in the neighboring room after 7:30, plus the pc's were offline as we weren't clogging them up with dust. Oye! Through in some major decluttering and it's a wonder I finished Alex's dragon (DD's Wish Upon A Star)

So, as for the rooms they are now primed, painted, have new laminate replacing the carpet and updated switches, thermostats and recepticles, now they just lack doors and trim...and Matt has yet to install the new heater. I think I'm almost on a first name basis with the paint desk and Home Depot and the Electrical section at Kents, lol.

I'm still trying to decide on my next stitching project, restarting In The Arms of An Angel is looking very promising for 2009 but goodness only knows ;)

Tis The Season For Exchanging

2008-12-20T07:54:00.004-04:00

After being completed for months I can finally share my Christmas exchange ornament as it's found it's way into it's intended home.

To add to our Christmas excitement, Wednesday Alex's Boys Choir performed at the Premier's Open House at Centennial Place. It was sooo nice. I'm seriously contemplating skipping his school concert next year and simply going to see him sing there. No crazy non working family members that show up hours+++++ in advance so their husbands can waltz in at the last minute for a front row seat for his lazy a** to compete with. It burns my biscuits that I make the effort to leave almost an hour early and still get stuck in the back. Anyway, I got to see Alex sing for 30 minutes without any competition for space or pictures (much better than an hour and maybe seeing him sing 3 times, now that he's in the choir). Then the boys were escorted up to the Premier's office to sing their rendition of Rudolph, and my son was just so darn cute he actually got a picture taken with the Premier himself.

It was honestly what I needed to brighten my Christmas spirit. It hit an all time low Tuesday. Shock doesn't even begin to describe what state I was in after I got the list of victim's in a fatal crash back home. I'm sitting there reading Facebook status's looking at the surname's and as mom's listing off their first names I was still sitting there hoping one of them was the survivor in the list. One was a neighbor, and was one of the involved parents that you sat back and admired, the one with the big wave and smile no matter where you passed him. Another was a classmate who would alway liven up any Church server's get together (think co ed alter 'boys') and youth group with his mischievious ways. He was one of the faces you'd expect to see at Christmas eve service no matter how old we ever got and just seemed to beam as his own family grew. While I didn't know the third personally, his wife was in my class and one of the sweetest people you could meet. It absolutely breaks my heart thinking of what she will go through with her two young daughters in the future. Six children left fatherless, two celebrating their first Christmas's without their fathers, sad just doesn't seem to cut it. :(

Deck the Halls...With Norwolk Virus

2008-12-09T18:06:00.000-04:00

Oye, what a wild couple of days...well weeks it's been and the last two days have topped it off. We had our staff Christmas party Saturday evening and I woke up a little worse for the wear ;) However, that passed but later that evening I couldn't even look at supper, which was probably a good thing. Alex woke up Monday morning and was just dancing outside the bathroom door. He was in no state to be transported so it required staying home (which wasn't soo bad as I was queasy), he started to feel better but then I was up with him early+++ scrubbing floors, bedding, bathroom linens, you name it. Ewww... Sad thing is today was his christmas concert and he's been practicing for months with the boys choir. He was soo looking forward to singing and I was really looking forward to watching him. At least his choir sings next week at the Premier's open house so I'll be sneaking over to listen.

November? Now where did that go. I was dreading it, loathing the thought of 5 days of travelling back and forth to Sussex for work. With Matt's commuting situation I don't get alot of help around the house and getting back into town at dinner time was very draining, along with doing all of the other chores and running around. I had one weekend booked off to recoup but that quickly got snatched up with an unexpected cancer diagnosis (early) on the other side of the family and trying to be supportive of my other half even though that whole situation leaves me in some strange limbo. Throw in some Fifth's Disease, a Christmas Bazarre, attempting to get the house ready for Christmas, the whole nine yards and well, I'm pooped! However I did get to sneak away for one glorious day of stitching at Faith Ann's and as soon as I locate my camera's batteries I'll take a pic of my new pinkeep ornament. :)

Mini Finish

2008-11-11T21:49:00.002-04:00

2008 Dragonlet - Dragon Dreams (Ornament Frame from Michael's)

Why So Serious?

2008-10-31T22:13:00.001-03:00

Not that my trick or treater was The Joker, but his haunted warlock did channel a little batman ;) Happy Halloween

Working With What You've Got

2008-10-28T23:38:00.005-03:00

Well, I 'finished' that LK ornament. I picked it, one because I had a frame it could go in and that could be ornamentified and 2, I didn't have time to kit anything this morning. So instead of spending the insane amount to have it like the ornament issue (stitch a gift 12.00 + LK buttons 2.50 US) I took my 40% coupon (6.99*.60) and grabbed some red buttons out of some package I picked up a couple years ago at Michael's and came up with....

Not too shabby, although this would have a whole lot more meaning if it where Alex's first stitched piece. Who knows, he should be able to learn and crank this out quite quickly :P Sadly I neglected to 'finish' Heartfelt Harvey, even missed ironing him this evening. A true sin considering there was a great deal of design behind him (If I attempted to chart redwork, it would be a blob, plain and simple ;)) So here he is...and hopefully will get some felt loving this weekend...

I have to lol as I surely to goodness thought these would come after quite a few others that I'd like to stitch ;) Thank goodness I have some vacation time to catch up on my priority list.

When They Think You're Away, The Deer Will Play

2008-10-28T23:26:00.010-03:00

I do not live in the middle of no where, I live in a very populated subdivision (yes the yards are a bit bigger than city limits) but our end is also close to the main road. For some reason this does NOT deter deer from visiting our home. My hubby had a good chuckle this summer when I came home to two of them in the yard and boasted in the morning that they left my tulips alone only to return from work with not only the tulips mowed down, but the buggers took the bulbs. Well...imagine my surprise when I woke up from sleeping off a migraine monday, and decided to check on my son's science experiment in my kitchen window and there were two deer having an all you can eat buffet on my burning bush (of course when I'm in the process of restaining it!)

Caught Red Leafed!

Tell you're partner the lilac bush is not suitable cover

I see he's come out of hiding

That's right, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!

Move Along...

Please go visit Brenda across the way, I hear she has lots of delectable flowers to keep you busy

Just In Case There Was Any Doubt...

2008-10-28T13:30:00.001-03:00

The LK ornament from this year's JCS CAN be stitched in less than a lunch hour (and I take a short one ;))

Upcoming Picture Alert

2008-10-24T15:46:00.002-03:00

Hooray, I have my first finish out of this year's JCS all ready to be, well finished... Between the weather and some busy walking buddies, oh and a lack of motivation to go through my stash when there was a piece of white cloth sitting right on top, Heartfelt Harvey made an appearance this week. He was on my like list, maybe not near the top of the 'gotta do it now' list but one colour of thread and well, no serious stash diving was quite appealing ;) I can't wait to back him with red felt and finally get to try out my rotary pinking edger. No more attempting to line up the shears (plus it'll keep them sharp for actual sewing projects). Now I just need to fire up the camera and take a pic!

Nothing of great magnitude to report this week besides Alex bringing home his proofs for his school pics and they aren't too bad ;) The mailman was also nice to me this week and brough my SB Into The Night that I picked up when Traditional Stitches had their birthday sale and my new Turbo Jam Elite set arrived :) Now I have plenty of stuff to re-energize my weightloss plan :)

This weekend is thankfully low key. I'll be at Michael's at openning as my shelf is on sale...and when I checked yesterday there was only one left, then I plan on dropping by the church bazarre and maybe taking Alex to Science East where admission is free tomorrow. He absolutelyl LOVES it there, cool hands on science experiments all set in an old prison, complete with a couple prison bar doors left....and the old exercise grounds were converted into an outdoor playground complete with more fun exhibits. Really, every little eight year old boy's dream! Sunday's looking rainy so here's hoping we'll be hitting our crafting reserves ;)

We Made It!

2008-10-20T12:01:00.002-03:00

Last week I was pretty, well for lack of a better term, blah! We really truly enjoyed ourselves at Boo at the Zoo in 07 and that was completely thrown up in the air by some people we don't see alot 'dropping in' on the day we'd be going. This lead to some tension. I'm on the once a year event plans only get cancelled for emergencies plan. Friday, I vented a bit and sent what my tentative agenda would have been if we went to Moncton to DH. It made alot of sense, weatherstrip windows in the morning with draft stop, leave because it stinks and let the air exhanger deal with it, look at pillows at Pier 1 (I'm no style diva but cranberry, forrest green and navy weren't doing anything for my couch, in cotton anyway), drop off a Christmas present, have supper and go to Boo at the Zoo. It was an effective and relatively cheap use of the day, I mean if we caulked at home we'd probably have been at the movies (spending the price of Boo admission + concessions), had supper, probably gone to some other activity which would have cost money and I'd have had to pay into the 'evil' Canada Post to get a gift sent. Concessions + postage almost covered our gas in the Corolla ;)

So, I laid out my master plan and avoided DH when I got home ;) He came to see me while I was working downstairs and asked how I was going to pull this off with the 'company'. I suggested he call to see what time of the day they planned on 'dropping by' because if it was early enough we still would have time to at least go to Boo...Well turns out there was in fact a change of plans so we ended up having Saturday to ourselves (my head could have done with sooner notification, tension is no fun!).

After visiting Faith Ann and our favorite Beaver at the Esso for apple day we started caulking windows and were out of the house at noon. I didn't find my pillows at Pier 1 after all, but found them bundled (sweet) at HomeSense. Of course on the way walking from one store to another did my DH not run into one of his friends? I mean for a guy that rarely goes out but he can run into someone he knows just about anywhere, restaurant in my parents home town, drive in theater in the middle of nowhere (seriously)? Sometimes I have to wonder ;). We quickly left there and zoomed over to my matron of honor/Alex's godmother's house to visit with her family and couldn't get over how much her little guy had grown since July. He definitely looks like 'someone' and not random infant A ;) Alex adored playing with him. He'd make such a doting big brother.

We didn't want to overstay our welcome (had infant, I know I appreciated short visits) and headed to Vito's as I've never eaten there before, the chain restaurants are always too big a lure for me ;) Yum! Then it was off to be creaped out by ghoulies, zombies and creepy clowns at Boo at the Zoo. It was nice to be out in the crisp fall air, getting some walking in AND revving our heartrates just a wee bit ;) After one of the Haunted Manor shows (music driven lights display and fireworks) we headed back to the car and back on the highway :)

Until Next Year Zoo...

Happy Happy Dancing

2008-10-17T08:26:00.003-03:00

Hooray! I've got two more projects out of the way so I'm free and clear to play with the ornament issue :) I apologize for the dark pics, 5 minutes before we have to be out the door to catch the bus didn't leave alot of time to play with a camera who's batteries are on life support ;)

Britty Halloween Kitty - Brittercup DesignsHalloween Fairy aka:Haley - Mirabilia

Friends Shouldn't Let Friends...

2008-10-16T08:33:00.002-03:00

Stitch over one!

What was I thinking? Sure the Trick or Kitty Treat ornament out of the Halloween JCS is adorable, but it has taken longer than Haley (who btw should be finished after Alex and I make a quick trip to Walmart and Michaels after work). Thankfully though I'm on the last part, the darn tail, so it might be done by the weekend ;)

Last night was stitchy night at our end of the woods. It was quite a busy evening as Matt had to work out of town due to the holiday and that left me running to get Alex to basketball and then home, drop him off grab my stitching stuff (which is easier said than done when there is the slight chance you could be 'done' before the end of the night) and back downtown. Good thing I had a 4 day weekend to rest up for the evening's marathon. :)

Speaking of the holiday we had a really nice Thanksgiving. Mom and dad arrived Saturday and shortly there after mom, Alex and I ventured out apple picking which was a blast. Alex nominated him self the official rotten apple cannon and mom played with Newton's law a couple of times :P We had a fairly quiet evening, doing a little dinner prep here and there (big turkey dinners do not need to be stressful!), shopped and put on our first family viewing with the new Plasma tv/Blu Ray. I <3 Iron Man.

Sunday was also fairly laid back, started the day with some eggs benedict, went to church and then put Tom in the oven after his traditional butter massage and salt rub. The house smelled divine. Later in the afternoon we were joined by Mathieu's mother and his grandmother which made him very happy. Dinner was perfect and we didn't move too much afterwards. Dad and Alex braved public swim after the inlaws headed home but we were content channel surfing ;)

Monday mom and dad headed out after a yummy breakfast at the Blue Canoe and we well...vegged. I had a nice long nap and then mowed out front lawn for the last time this season. It was so nice to have a vacation day where I didn't need to cook. The kids also had Tuesday off of school so I took a flex day to stay at home with the monkey. We had fun painting ceramic ornaments, reading and then hitting up the halloween maze at one of the local greenhouses. If only being a SAHM paid what my IT job does, sigh...

Ornament Issue Review...

2008-10-09T08:53:00.003-03:00

P10-11
Blackbird Designs - not that the pattern itself wows me but it's a stocking ornament that looks like a real stocking
The Sweetheart Tree - would have to be framed
Cherished Stitches - On the fence, looks nice on the cover but this angle does nothing for me, nor do the tassles

P12-13 (Favorite Pages)
Val's Stuff - Definitely on the highest priority list
Samsarah - Right up there too
Primrose - Grows on you but the long appendages are a bit freaky

P14-15
The Victoria Sampler - LOVE IT!
Prairie Schooler -very cute, love the blues and reds
Elizabeth's Designs - changing some of the colours could help this
SB - Nothing about this calls to me remotely, maybe I'm too attached to the old series

P16-17
Full Circle Designs - Love it!
Jeannette Douglas - Very cute, I'm thinking maybe changing the wording on the 4 of this style and mounting them in a single mat alternating between tree and ornament. That frame would bend my branches
Nordic Needle - change in colours required, burgundy, forrest green and gold perhaps?
Cindy Valentine - again a change in colours would be a huge improvement here, maybe a light blue fabric with a monochromatic blue stitching and silver beads, or a white opalescent with Blue Lavender or Tropic Seas (Caron) with silver beads
SS with S - please give us something with some real stitching or give this slot to someone who really designs. Harsh yes I know, but I've seen some of the 'rejects' and it's just NOT FAIR!

P18-19
Imaginating - Will stitch this, just not on Aida, and probably dress up the wire hanger with some funky glass beads
Sue Hillis - Change fabric to a pretty mottled cafe au lait colour and change the stitching to cranberry or pine, I've never found white on red gives good coverage

P20-21
Wildflower Stitchery & More - There's just something about the whimsical nature of this one, both stitching and finishing that draws me in...as normally I'd prefer if my angel had hair :P
Prairie Moon - wish there was a little more variation than last years ornament but a set of these on the tree would be nice (when I get around to stitching the first one)

P22-23
LK - Well...it'll be a good piece to start my son off on stitching, and I can quickly finish it for him with a novelty fram from Michael's. Again though step it up!
Brightneedle - this series is cute but I usually limit myself up to stitching over one once a year and that allotment has been used up

P24-25
Cross Eyed Cricket - Don't have a clue as to what this has to do with Christmas, but it's cute
Loopy Lou Designs - Needs a darker mottled fabric to really make it pop

P26-27
Raise the Roof - too cute
Dragon Dreams - When don't I absolutely LOVE Jen's designs? Definitely Alex's ornament for the year.
Charland - Quick cutie
Heartstrings - Always loved their Santa's, just never seem to find the time to stitch them :(

P28-29
Kitty & Me - Gorgeous
Brittercup - Love it, but it'll have to wait as I think it would lose it's whimsy over 2 and I don't feel like stitching over one any time soon.

Ornament Issue ~ Hooray!

2008-10-01T15:11:00.002-03:00

Hooray, I finally got my copy of the ornament issue today!! The poor guy at the magazine shop across from my office will be happy that I'm no longer stalking him ;) Initial reaction? The traditional 50/50, however I think that's more indicative of my slump than anything. That's pretty much been my general reaction all year to any new releases. I mean once your stash exceeds your life expectancy there comes a point where you're alot more choosey on what you do ;) Plus it cheeses me off to no end when some of the designs just don't step up to bat when there are many new designers that create beautiful works...and can't get a foot in the door. I mean I know that everyone's tastes are different but there is one ornament that's been in the issues twice...with no changes (thankfully not this years). There are some snowmen definitely on my list and of course a dragon for Alex :)

To Sell or Not To Sell...

2008-09-25T18:15:00.002-03:00

No not my house! No not my stash...well maybe no not my stitchy stash...

MY SIZZIX!!!

Sigh...I wish it were an easy decision. The more Alex grows and is active in other activities I've come to cherish what free time we have and that really means my all over the board crafting just doesn't happen anymore, and the situation won't change in the immediate future. I will probably still make cards and such but I just haven't been using my Sizzix as much for that purpose anymore and it's sad to see such a huge investment just sitting there. Now to figure out if I should bundle it as one package, bundle the dies and just how to go about selling it (kijiji/ebay/who knows...)

Haley ~ My Mirabilia Halloween 'Fairy'

2008-09-24T22:29:00.003-03:00

Really...I did just find the camera and got some of my photo editing software reinstalled ;)

Now I just need to wait for the last pack of beads and spool of Kreinik to come in and she's gtg (oh yes and a little piece of her left boot). I have an exchange finish but that post will have to wait until November, sigh...

September

2008-09-19T10:13:00.002-03:00

Ack...Do you ever have the feeling that someone pressed fast forward on your life? Welcome to my world!! After a severe sinus cold we were already into the exhibition and back to school. We are soo delighted with Alex's new teacher, definitely a nice switch from last year!! Alex's reaction? 'Mom, I've got my first permanent boy teacher!' Meet the teacher was also a big switch from last years disorganized chaos session. Agendas were ready, there was a structure for the meeting and I left confident Alex is in pretty good hands.

Then we were left to deal with extracurricular registration for the year. I definitely cannot pull off the four nights a week anymore, plus I don't think the reduction of family time is acceptable. So, we had to make the difficult decision on what to cut. In the end it came down to scouting at the moment which was due to the change in time more than anything. Alex goes to bed a half hour before it even ends, so if he was to go it would be more like an hour before he changed, and wound down enough to fall asleep, not something I was looking forward to dealing with in the morning. He's also up to full days 4 days a week at school (our school district has half days for elementary) and he is tired come bed time as it is. Where the program runs all year we may put him in later when things are a bit more quiet.

Stitching wise Haley (Mirabilia's Halloween Fairy) is just waiting for the last kreinik and pack of beads to come in :) I managed to locate my camera when I was packing up for stitchy night Wednesday so I should be able to take a picture soon. If that doesn't give any indication on how crazy the rest of the summer went I don't know what would ;)

Today we're off to the Miramichi to visit mom and dad for my birthday weekend and then on Monday it's the big 3-1! I'm really looking forward to some yummy mexican food with the girls at lunch :)

August

2008-08-22T09:26:00.003-03:00

Summer seems to fly by no matter how you try to slow it down and savor every moment of sunshiney goodness. It was soo exciting to send Alex to camp for the first time (even if it was only a two nighter). I did pretty good until we got to the gates, got a little choked up but he was so excited it was hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. His generation seems to be better prepared for camp than mine ever was. Within moments of picking him up he wanted to know if he could go to the 5 day camp next year, lol. Although next year I think I'll send him with a garbage bag with holes and a pair of swim trunks for the entire week, he was pretty much cleaned out when we picked him up (bad combo of untidy consellors and parents that just don't give a crap, I mean his name AND phone number is on everything). But it's important to keep in perspective just how much fun he had ;)

Our vacation this year was a bit different in tempo, but that wasn't a bad thing. The timing of the long weekend (when I take my vacation to get a freebie day) didn't sync with when they have the Napan fair at home. It rained on and off alot of the time but I think that finally forced me to slow down. I got alot done on 'Haley' the new Mirabilia 'Fairy' out of Cross Stitch and Needlework. Why she's called Halloween Fairy, I have no idea. I mean there's already a Halloween Fairy kit out and well...don't Fairy's have wings? Also on vacation mom and I got away for a little shopping day in Moncton, and I must say I was quite well behaved :) We also had a wonderful trip the the Aquarium in Shippagan and I think the biggest news of all....Alex finally can ride his bike! Within about 45 minutes of taking the wheels off and some guiding by Pappy (he was pissed with me for making him wear his Caillou hoodie that I could care less if he ripped falling) he was off and biking on his own! Sweet! We wrapped up our trip with a visit from my aunt and uncle who my boys have never met so that was quite neat as well.

The last couple weeks have been busy. Alex has been in not one but two vacation bible schools and loving it! While I don't advocate willingly keeping young children out of church, our absentee-ism was more exhausted working mom related, I am in awe of his genuine enthusiasm.

Last night wrapped up skating lessons and soccer so I have a free week next week, sweet!
Skating solidified that he wants to try basketball this year and has given up on hockey (yippee), basketball has better hours, registration is hundreds of dollars cheaper and gear = sneakers which would be about the same price we'd pay for the skate portion of his hockey gear. Not to mention his parents were big time into basketball :) Hopefully my supplies will arrive next week to finish Haley, and I'll locate my camera post vacation and upload some pics :)

Summer Pics

2008-07-20T13:53:00.010-03:00

Summer Eats

Summer Treats (homemade chocolate ice cream anf fresh strawberries :))

At our subdivisions Lake :)

Hayride at the Campground - Bear Island NB

Hiking at the appropriately named 'Alex' Creek - Mactaquac NB

Alex riding the Kamikaze

Me coming in on the Pro Racer

Meeting Hunter

Clan Côté

It's Been How Long?

2008-07-17T10:38:00.000-03:00

Omigosh it's been over a month *eek*

"Time flies when you're having fun" well that about sums up my blogging absense. We went straight from Homework/Karate/Swimming/Beavers to one night of skating lessons & soccer (1.5 hours of stitchy time, yippee) and the rest of them family time bliss. We've been frequenting our subdivision's lake and hitting up the wading pool, weather proofing our wood structure, hiking, picnicing and just taking advantage of the beautiful weather AND not being soo scheduled.

The only activity I booked for Alex is a two night stay at Green Hill Lake later this month which I thought would give us plenty of time to do stuff. Ha! Most people have some sort of appreciation for all that we do and respect that these two months are really the only sort of reprieve that we get, of course it's not those people that are showing up this weekend or asking for my son to visit next week. Factor in my vacation and Matt's on call schedule and we ended up having to schedule both camping and our Moncton Magic Mountain trip this week (and prepare for campany, arghhhhh!) or else we'd be at the two weeks at the end of August, one of which will probably have Alex at vacation bible school in the evenings and being at the complete mercy of the weather which for the past several summers has been cold and wet. I mean if I wanted to send my son anywhere it would be up to my parents which have a very close relationship with him and there just doesn't seem to be any time.

Anyway, our first family camping trip was a success. We didn't get into our original planned campground but meh... This one was smaller but had a Christmas in July celebration going on so there was plenty to do. Alex loved having a bit of freedom to bike around our section and just go play with kids. We got stuck beside some 'rowdies' (there are lots of offensive words I'd love to sub that with) but what mattered most was Alex was happy and not letting some drunk ding dong parents take away from that. Magic Mountain was also a blast. We have a little wiggle room with our vacations so we decided if it was nice Wednesday we'd head to Moncton and all the stars aligned for us :) The crowds were a bit more than I was expecting for mid week but it was a really hot day. Alex did the Kamikaze for the first time (huge vertical drop slide) and I got a pic which I'll post when I get home. He's definitely a thrill seeker. We also got to visit with Lisa and her new baby Hunter. Alex was on overdrive as he's never really been around a baby that small before. We wrapped up the trip with dinner at St Hubert (sigh I couldn't convince the boys to go to The Lonestar) visited Roots for me and Matt hunted down his season 7 of Stargate and we were good to go. Needless to say we're all a little tired today.

Now...on to stitching. Surprise, surprise, I actually finished something! Scratch SB's Pumpkin Hill off of my to do list!! I have an 'ornament' almost done too that I started on the way to Bangor in June as well. Weird :) Anyway, hoping to post some pictures tonight :)

Picture Time

2008-06-10T22:53:00.005-03:00

Woo hoo, two finishes in a week. It's a record for 2008 which has been soo insanely busy I couldn't tell you if I'm coming or going half the time. I shouldn't have bought the 'Mom's Taxi' shirt last summer, it had an odd way of coming true! I apologize for their slightly crooked nature, my camera has NOT been cooperating lately.

Willy of the Snowman Trio - Stitchy Kitty (buttons still in the craft room)
Mill Hill Kit (had to do something at all those karate sessions this weekend)

My favorite Birthday Boy and his Mario cake :)

Happy Birthday Alex :)

2008-06-02T21:55:00.002-03:00

Omigosh, where have the last 8 years gone? We started the day with a balloon ambush on him in bed and I drove him to school so he could hear his birthday announcement on the radio. I did some wheeling and dealing at work to take off a couple hours and picked Alex up at school. We then headed to Kingswood for some play climber and arcade tokens followed by ice cream and a rousing game of badminton until the black flies drove us inside. Matt managed to get home early so we started presents and headed out for dinner at Jungle Jim's. Needless to say we had one happy kid. We also indulged on the yumm mario cake mom made and watched a video of Baby Alex (and that's a whole other story) while he received a couple of phone calls. He was pretty darn excited to hear from his uncle in Argentina. :) He said he didn't want the day to end, and I can't blame him. I didn't want the fun to end either!

As Promised

2008-06-01T23:28:00.007-03:00

Some pictures :) We had a wonderful weekend on the Miramichi. We made the trip up to celebrate both dad's (Sunday) and Alex's (Monday) birthdays. The weather didn't cooperate with doing alot of the fun outdoor activities up there (our hike was cut a little short) but it was still a really nice visit. We all went out to see Indiana Jones 4 and loved it. Alex was in seventh heaven. Not only was he getting to see Indy on the big screen, he managed to sit himself inbetween both bags of popcorn and was double fisting it into his mouth ;) Afterwards he added some bling to dad's birthday cake with some jelly beans and kept eyeing the Super Mario cake mom made him. We had a lovely lunch before presents and cake today and then started the trek back home. Weekends go by soo fast up there.

Now on to those pictures...

Mill Hill Bunny Ornament

Paddington modelling the chenille scarf I sewed this month (yes me sew)

Ready for Alex's 8th birthday

She Stitches....

2008-05-30T09:45:00.003-03:00

but can she pick up a digital camera and update her blog? Guess that'll have to wait until we return from our trip the the Miramichi this weekend. I finally managed to finish something during Karate class this week. Normally I go walking but Mother Nature was not permitting it. So, I finally finished the little Mill Hill beaded bunny ornament I started on stitchy night. The bug is biting again but I'm still trying to figure out what to stitch up next. I may do another ormnament but chances are I'll likely either be starting Lady of the Mist or restarting In The Arms of An Angel within the next couple of weeks :)

In Peace

2008-05-30T09:44:00.001-03:00

WILSON, MARIANNE AUDRÉE The passing of Marianne Audrée Wilson, of Fredericton, occurred on May 25, 2008 at her home. Born on June 1, 2004, she was the daughter of Kevin Wilson and Isabelle Roy. Besides her parents, Marianne is survived by her brother, Henri Wilson; maternal grandparents, Carol Ann Bernard and Christian Roy; paternal grandparents, Diane Grant and Gilles Wilson. A Graveside Service was held at Hermitage Cemetery for the immediate family under the direction of York Funeral Home. Marianne fought a brave battle against leukemia for more than half of her life. She came to rest at home peacefully with her family by her side. In lieu of flowers, donations to the IWK Foundation (www.iwkfoundation.org) or to the Children's Wish Foundation (www.childrenswish.ca) are suggested.

Dear Marianne,

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet you in 2006, your infectious smile engraved a special place in my heart that day. You were definitely the best 'secretary' Caris ever had. We've watched your journey ever since you were told you'd have to be brave beyond your years once more but like a glorious sunset you were gone far too soon. Your parents have refined the word strength in my mind. You and your parents had so many adventures that most of us of sound body put off until tomorrow for far less that what you are going through. Please watch over them. You've made me cherish my health son far more than I ever thought possible and put into perspective many things I used to be far to impatient with. Thank you for making me want to be a better person. I am very sad to hear that your brief time on earth has come to end but find comfort that you are finally at peace.

Rest well little one,

Katie

Welcome to the World

2008-05-27T15:08:00.001-03:00

Dear Little Gabriel,

As pleased as we are to hear of your safe arrival you've given your parents an aweful scare showing up months before they were expecting you. Alex cannot fathom that you are only slightly bigger than mommy's 1 lb weight and hopes your wires don't hurt too much. He loves your 'sunglasses' but thinks you must be awefully cold with no clothes but we reassure him that your incubator is quite toasty.

Please grow strong little one in the weeks to come and we're hoping to visit you at the IWK this summer. Give your mommy and daddy a squeeze for us the next time they're at your little cocoon.

Love,

Katie, Matt and Alex :)

Life's a Dance

2008-05-21T09:56:00.002-03:00

Yes, I've been a very negligent blogger. I've come to realize I was suffering from some burnout. Alex being super busy with some afterschool activities (4 nights a week) combined with a husband being highly in demand at work and some new health weirdness just made my free nights a wipe fest. What down time I'd usually use for stitching was replaced with some catching up on Facebook and even that was cut down somewhat keeping up with the crappy hand life has been treating our friends. we're praying that two of our close friends have happy endings to two very rough pregnancies. We're praying that two of our university pals find peace and balance as they part from their 11 year relationship. And finally we pray for strength, painfree days and peace for a former coworker who's soon to be 4 year old daughter will sadly lose her battle with the monster that is cancer (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariannewilson).

All of that being said, I've just been too drained to stitch at night, especially the last one. Part of me feels like whipping off a princess piece or attempting to organize a quilt but I fear it would be too late and when I think about a memory quilt...would it have the same theme or is there something else I can do? I thought I would be stitching some baby pieces but with everything up in the air with one I just can't motivate myself to do anything. So what to work on? I'm too tired to decide.

Things are turning around though at the homestead, we knock off one of Alex's activities this week, and the other (that consumes 2 nights a week) in two weeks time. There's stitchy night tonight which will be good. I've also gotten to see my family twice over the last two weeks after a winter induced hiatus that was far too long. Mathieu and I also celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary yesterday. Oh, and during my time at home during the flood I finally managed to SEW something! I tried my hand at my first chenille scarf, I'll definitely have to upload the picture of it after I get some batteries for the camera :)

Until then...

Water Water Everywhere

2008-05-01T23:55:00.007-03:00

I had planned on writing a nice post about our wonderful girls getaway to Maine when I got back Sunday but I figured we'd be coming back to a drier area instead of an increasing flood. I have been soo distracted at work, thankfully our home is far away from the flood zone but my office is downtown and well, when it starts to cover the streets you begin to wonder... So I thought I'd share a couple pics, eventhough I think you really have to know the area to realize just how much water is truly covering it. It's been surreal having local schools closed and well...even the office. Thank goodness I can work from home.

Behind my office, three streets up from the river

The cosway to where the walking trail is that I usually jog on

Road and On ramp to the bridge covered
The Green where we had a number of our wedding photos

Where Oh Where,

2008-04-21T13:44:00.000-03:00

Did the weekend go? I just wanted to crash and burn Friday. I got out for my power walk at lunch, did some head shots for an upcoming promotional campaign at work on my break (now if that's not motivation to lose weight I don't know what is), picked up the van from it's tire change and servicing, picked up the remaining groceries, cooked supper and then was back out the door with the boys for swimming. Matt came along and we decided to go walking, although I've come to find he's not as fast...and we happened to run into one of our old university friends who lived in the neighborhood we were walking in. It was kind of nice getting caught up without Alex hiding behind us or wanting to get the show on the road. After the lesson was over it was auto bedtime for the boy (the timing of the lesson is perfect for a shower and change into pjs at the Y) and we flaked on the couch with some Stargate and stitching.

Wednesday I started Willy from Stitchy Kitty's Snowman Trio and I adore him. I decided to go DMC for him instead of the variegated option mostly because I don't find it adds to the project that much. The only place I could have seen benefiting from it is his scarf but I'm more than happy with it. That's the one change in my stitching that surprises me the most I guess. There was a time where everything had to be EXACTLY as charted...and really this got to be expensive, especially for pieces where it wasn't noticeable, and it just takes a bit more time to individually stitch each one. Not to mention that around here the threads don't seem to be nearly as variegated as the models which is quite frustrating. I now use a little more discretion using it mainly in pieces that are either going to a)stay in our house, b) have big blocks of colour c) require a multicolor variegated d) is a sampler or e) quaker'ish/country/LK patterns. That being said, I can't wait for my Simple Stitches Nativity to come in.

Saturday we were up fairly early and headed to the city's farmer's market for some sausages, orange juice, local blueberry wine and lox. Somewhere along the ride to pick up a new button for Matt's pants and the low fat crackers and cream cheese to go with our little feast the week's activities wore me down and I retreated for a 4.5 hour nap. After that we packed up my stitching and Matt updated his pod casts and we headed to McDonald's. I'm not big on the place so my WW points were saved for the wine and crackers. Alex had a blast in the new playground and was drenched when we took him home. He was quickly sent to bed and we cracked open our little treat, stitched and watched Patriot Games for the hundredth time (we're really exciting)

Sunday was busy as well. There were Christmas lights to bring in, taxes to do, a van to vacuum, sheets to wash, painting and reading sessions with Alex and an Usborne party to go to :) I was pretty good and stuck mainly to my list. I got one extra book for Alex for his birthday which he'll love and that qualified me to pick up two math practice books half price (which we've been looking for) so that was good. Somehow in all of the craziness I managed to get the majority of Willy's scarf stitched along with his face and scarf. I think I'll be sleeping the entire way to our girlie getaway this weekend ;)

Do You Ever...

2008-04-17T12:01:00.002-03:00

Have the feeling the week is never going to end? Welcome to my world. Alex schedule just got a little more hectic lately with Karate and swimming in the mix. We've adjusted quite well after prepping for a couple of weeks. So...when you have
-follow up trip to the doctor
-vehicle maintenance
-field trip
-parent teacher
-stitch night
Fall on on the same week, look out ;)

Stitching night was fun. Alot of the girls were pretty hyped up about retreat, although Cathey, Faith Ann and I are opting for a get away next weekend instead. The way this week has been I think I'd be sleeping and not enjoying it anyway. I got a start on Stitchy Kitty's Snowman Trio last night which works up surprisingly fast considering I was gabbing more than stitching ;) I was pretty impressed with how much of the hat was stitched considering. Although I pretty much collapsed in bed upon arriving home!!

What's up this weekend? Nothing...well at least not on Saturday as I need a real day off. Unless of course Matt's motivated to put up the new lights in the kitchen. Sunday I have an Usborne party to go to. I looked over the catalogue and am going in with a firm list of books for the moment, one baby shower gift and two for Alex's birthday Although I plan to sit back and gather lots of information for private orders throughout the year. ;)

Life Is Full Of Meetings And Partings

2008-04-10T12:01:00.002-03:00

Life is sprinkled with a handful of profound moments. One that sticks in my mind was while I was being driven home by my husband after finding out my grandmother had passed away. I was looking out the window in my distracted grief ridden state and there were people leaving their offices for the day, people gathering groceries and other out walking their dogs. Eventhough my world had stopped, millions of people in the world were travelling full speed ahead completely unaware of my misery and the realization that someday my life would go forward again, eventhough significantly altered was as calming as it was profound.

We had a wonderful day yesterday. We prepared Matt a birthday breakfast before work. I went walking at lunch to get some decorations and Matt arrived home to streamers balloons and two red head blowing horns at him the second he walked in the door. He loved his cards and gifts from near and far and once that wrapped up we headed out for a delicious meal at Jungle Jim's. We ended the festivities with ice cream cake (not my fave but I wasn't the birthday boy). Matt unfortunately had a trans Atlantic work call to deal with after Alex was in bed so I hopped on the internet to find out a dear stitching friend's world had 'stopped'. It made me reflect on that car ride and how we'd been hurtling forward oblivious to what had been happening all day. While we were celebrating the anniversary of one of our family entering a world the day will forever be marked for another as when their loved one left the world and for millions of others, it's was just another day.

Needless to say this morning's break involved finding a sympathy card for Tracy (of Fiddlestitch Cottage) which I find difficult. I just can't bring myself to buy a 'deep' card. It's not that I didn't appreciate any I've recieved in the past. I try to find one that expresses to that the recipient that we're thinking about them, the ones left to mourn. I find it frustrating that so many focus on either the specific loss or the 'freedom' of being deceased. However, I did manage to find 'old faithful' and am contemplating either buying the remaining stock or incorporating the following verse into handmade cards.

"Please remember, in your sorrow,
you have many friends who care.
You're someone very special,
and you're thought about in prayer."

You're in our thoughts and prayers Tracy

Happy Birthday Hubby

2008-04-09T14:47:00.002-03:00

Although it's been insanely busy here, I'll take a moment to wish my DH Matt a great big happy 35th birthday!! :)

Nothing Makes You Feel Old Like...

2008-04-04T08:39:00.002-03:00

'The reunion comes 20 years after the release of the group's multi-platinum album, "Hanging Tough." '

20 years, ack!!!!!!

Now to figure out how to get to one of the concerts ;)

Last night was the first night I actually got to sit down and do some stitching all week. It's just been 'one of those weeks'. Hopefully if all goes smoothly the Easter Snapper will be complete this weekend and I can move on to a couple of other potential projects :)

However it will be a busy weekend around the house. Some old friends of ours are visiting from Moncton so we're going out to dinner this evening. Then there is the air exchanger to finish installing and the new light fixtures to put up. On top of that there are some prep things to do for Matt's birthday and dinner prep to do to make next week run smoothly. Alex starts Karate lessons two nights a week (although this session we're only committing to going once a week) and swimming so were' going to be busy for the next couple of months. Our slow cooker had better not go on the fritz ;)

April Fools

2008-04-01T16:04:00.000-03:00

I wish! Our e-mail has been down since 11. I'm beginning to feel pretty cut off from the world!

April Showers

2008-04-01T12:09:00.000-03:00

Wow, is it April already? March just seemed to go by in a blur!! I had intended to get back to blogging like I was, however there were just a number of things happen post post that had me bitter or negative (holiday plans, work, school, you name it) and I was afraid any minor post would turn into a big tirade. So now that most of that has blown over, here I am ;)

We enjoyed our first Easter in our own home this year and that was wonderful. It was soo much fun hiding eggs and being able to put them where ever I pleased. It was nice to be able to go to our own church and then come home and actually relax. Previous years we've travelled and that side of the family insists on throwing a big (although rapidly shrinking) party at the location we're staying so there's no time to rest and usually we end up helping out. Instead I threw a turkey in the oven and sat back all day and had one of our groomsmen's families come over for the afternoon. We offered turkey but they had their eye on a 'big city' restaurant supper and I don't blame them. I know I enjoy restaurants that we don't have around here when I travel as well. So...we had a quiet turkey dinner that was scrumptious, did the bare minimal clean up and laid back and relaxed. Woot!

Stitching wise I've been working on Bent Creek's Easter Snapper. Back at Christmas I'd been aiming for it to be up in the house before the holiday however our discussion on where we were spending our holidays went in someone's ear and out the other and this lead to another back and forth argument and really killed any interest in the 'festive' part of the holiday. Thankfully things worked out in the end, the 'party' was moved to a date and time we couldn't attend and the second I had word of that I pulled the project out, knowing it wouldn't be finished but it was still fun to work on that weekend. Sadly there's been an attack of the frog that's set back progress a bit :(

Other things keeping us busy have been Alex's big swim up to Cubs and a bunch of home improvement projects. We've been a little stir crazy with the amount of snow still on the ground and that's been a big motivator in fixing some things in the house. First off is our lack of an air exchanger. When we bought the house we knew we needed to put a new one in (the old broken one wasn't even in the house) so you can imagine my shock when I'm minding my own business looking at mirros and Matt flies through the isle looking for the car keys because he's got a whole new system by the door of the store. Matt also go the light over my kitchen sink replaced, why on earth the original owners put in a florescent that hung down under the canopy is beyond me.
So that left the three lights in the kitchen/dining area as the last of the original 'yuck' light fixtures and miraculously...Canadian Tire had the replacement set I'd been eyeing on sale. So installation of the new Venmar started Saturday, however as with all home improvement projects it didn't go as planned, eventhough we bought the same system the piping and vents had become bigger so again to CT to buy a reciprocating saw to cut through some floor boards and the exterior of the house...so sadly no light installation this past weekend. Instead I have a new control panel hooked up that is smaller than the old one...so the hall could use some paint, and my basement looks like something out of funhouse with all the things hanging not yet hooked up to the system. On the bright side, the china cabinet had to be moved to install the new vent which then made it possible to center. I've been wanting to hand a picture over it (Bent Creek's Wedding Row) but never felt it was worth taking all of the crystal and stuff out to move it, and it would look odd without the china cabinet centered.

So as you can see, this hasn't left much time for blogging. Although April is looking like a more 'open' month than March with only a girlie road trip to look forward to ;)
Until next time...

It's Getting Chilli

2008-03-19T19:44:00.004-03:00

Well actually it's getting warmer but Chilli's Gift by Stitchy Kitty is now complete!

Chilli's Gift - Stitchy Kitty on SMF Ares

But just in case you were wondering, we've still got a tonne of snow!

Stick A Fork In It!

2008-03-09T11:20:00.002-03:00

Just like my vacation Miss Vicki is now DONE!

Victorian Christmas Eve - Nora Corbett

Like any good vacation I've been AWOL most of the week and loving it. I'm almost afraid to log into my e-mail, the most I've been doing online is glancing at my Facebook page this week ;). I don't usually completely disconnect for such an extended period of time but March break seems to be the one week of the year set aside for doing so.

This year Matt actually took the break off with Alex and I so there was alot of vegging around the house, minus the couple hours of paint touch ups I did in the craft room. We took Alex to two of the toonie movies playing, The Waterhorse and The Pirates That Don't Do Anything. Both of them were worth more than the price of admission. The other toonie movies we'd already seen so we didn't venture out of the house Wednesday at all. While we were at the mall we took advantage of the children's booksale at Chapters and found some additional deals on clothing at The Children's Place, my ultimate favorite kids clothing store.

Thursday Alex and I packed up the van and headed to the Miramichi. Since then I've been relaxing quite comfortably here, stitching without the normal distractions of our household, learning to put up moldings, heading to the gym and just zoning out :) The plan is to return to Hanwell today but that will depend greatly on the condition of the roads later this afternoon and the weather. Right now the weather has settled down from last night's storm but the roads are still pretty bad. So in the mean time I'll have to do the toss up between the next project and settle in to rewatch The Goonies with Alex :)