Archive for Homemaking

Crafty Lady!

August 9, 2009 · Filed under Crafts, Homemaking

Suddenly I’m turning this thing into a craft blog! But I just can’t help but show off my treasures!

I went to a bridal shower yesterday, and I decided it would be fun and unique to make something for the bride! When I got married, someone gave me a beautiful jar with the dry ingredients for cookies, along with instructions to bake them! So I headed out to the Dollarama and got a nice little jar to make it in. I used some spare quilting fabric I had lying around to put under the lid. I used my super sticky tape (Stampin’ Up) to put on some ribbon around the lid. I grabbed some spare pink cardstock to write the recipe/instructions and sticky taped it to the lid.

After that, I decided I’d make her a love CD mix. I added all the songs I wanted to my iTunes playlist and when I was finished, I realized I had 3.8hrs of music! HAHA! So, I just went ahead and put it on 3 CD’s. I wanted to use my cricut to make some sleeves to put the CD’s in, but the cricut itself wouldn’t cut them the right size. I remembered that almost a year ago I got the Cricut Design Studio software, so MyKidsDad set up the PC (it doesn’t run on a mac, thus why I haven’t used it yet). It was AWESOME! It is totally easy to use and I was able to make my sleeves just exactly the way I wanted them! I also used it to manipulate the word “love” on the front tag of the CD package. I used some cardstock I had that came in a pack from Costco a while back. I added some different fibers and ribbons to the top. I cut a 2 inch strip to go around and secured it with a large brad. The strip helps the CD’s stay neatly together. The wide white ribbon goes through all 3 sleeves and holds them together when flipping through to grab the CD wanted. I am in love with it! In fact, I’m going to duplicate it for the wedding I’m going to next week as a wedding present!

Lastly, I made a little box with some recipe cards in it. I used regular old index cards but I stamped some images in different colors on to spice them up a bit. I think I used about 10 recipe cards. On each card I put some of my family’s favorite recipes on. I used the design studio to manipulate the “crayon box” on the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge, so it would fit the recipe cards exactly. I used some Basic Grey paper that had come in a kit with some adhesive letters to write the word “recipes” on the front. I also included a sampling in a small cellophane bag of one of the recipes I gave her. Yum! Once the package was all done I used a pre-made tag from the kit and the letters again to label the gift. I had so much fun making this gift and am so proud of it!

I think she liked the gift. She texted me today commenting and laughing about some of the songs I put on the CD’s. (*ahem* Spice Girls *ahem*)

I am leaving in 36 hrs for the wedding I’m going to (it’s on Wednesday. Weird, right? The 12th date meant something to them, so whatev!) and I’m SO NOT READY to leave. I still have piles of laundry to do from last weekend, my house has barely been touched (I cleaned the washrooms, go me!). And what am I doing to help myself? Blogging? Hmmm, bad idea probably. I should go!

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SOLD!!!

January 8, 2009 · Filed under Homemaking, Life in General

We bought our first home during the holidays, in case you didn’t notice by all the talk about it in my meme! I’m so super excited!! The Boy is at school today, and the 2 little ones are at my step-mom’s today so I can do some power packing. I’m just creating a playlist for my iPod and waiting for it to finish syncing (it’s taking FOREVER) so I thought I’d post some pictures while I wait!

We get the keys 2 weeks from yesterday, we’re moving that weekend. It’s all happening so fast, I’m starting to feel a little anxious about everything being packed and organized the way I want in time for the move. Geeeee!!!

It’s a brand new house, never lived in. It has an abnormally large backyard for new developments around here, and it’s on a corner, so there’s plenty of space to run around! The Boy’s bus will stop only 1 block away so that’s not so bad. It’s a bi-level, and the basement is half finished, with a nice family room with a gas fireplace, and space to build another bathroom and 2 more bedrooms. It comes with all the appliances, and window coverings which is really a nice bonus on a new house, usually you don’t get that. There are 2 bedrooms on the main floor and then the master suite is above the garage, about 3 steps up from the kitchen. Sorry about the last picture, I wanted to show you my tub but I don’t like to post pictures of my kids! :)

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I shouldn’t be here.

November 27, 2008 · Filed under Homemaking

I really want to blog these days… but just can’t seem to justify taking the time to do it. My house is constantly on the verge of being condemned. Today I took all the dirty laundry down to the laundry room, and decided I need a larger capacity washing machine. Or, you know, less clothes. 

Anyways, here’s why I don’t blog much anymore. (Warning: Pictures may cause stress and panic in neat freaks and even generally tidy people) :D

 

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Sooey-Blankey

March 13, 2008 · Filed under Homemaking, Kids

So, Lil’ Miss is FAR too attached to her “Sooey-Blankey” (soother and any receiving blanket) and I’m ashamed to say that at 26 months old she still requires them to get herself to sleep. MyKidsDad and I have been talking for a while now about finally putting her into a toddler bed (she’s still in a crib) but I want to get rid of Sooey-Blankey first. MyKidsDad thinks it should be done all at once, but I’m afraid that it would be too much of a change for her, that it might be better to conquer one at a time. I doubt there are very many people reading this anymore, but I’m open to any suggestions anyone might have that pops on here! I’m also working on simplifying my home. I think I really need to start this FlyLady stuff that my sister has been doing – I only seem to get 10 minutes at a time between all 3 of my kids needing something from me. I’m trying to purge all the clutter, and reorganize, in the hopes that having a “place” for everything will help it get easier to put everything away and keep the place tidy. We are at an all time low right now when it comes to disaster zone in this house. That picture a few posts ago doesn’t even begin to scrape the surface of how gross my house is right now. My mom, bless her heart, is going to start coming over one night a week to help me get stuff done. It’s hard to figure out the balance between housework and time spent with each child and personal time. I also need to squeeze in some personal time in there so that I can start exersizing again. How do you spell exersizing? I can’t figure it out. Brain. Doesn’t. Work. I bought a new pilates mat in hopes of finding the time to do it. I definitely feel the energy and motivation to, it’s just finding the time. Speaking of energy, my sweet, sweet little baby slept 7.5 hrs in a row last night!! Woot woot! He’s right on target to tie the other kids at mostly sleeping through the night by 6 weeks (which is tomorrow! Wow!). But I better not talk about it too much, he has an incredible sense for these things, and I just KNOW that he will aim to prove me wrong! Kids are supposed to be sleeping but are screaming now. Better go! 

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I’m baaaaack.

March 10, 2008 · Filed under Homemaking, Kids, Life in General, Pregnancy

While some people are unplugging* from the internet in order to get back in touch with reality, I’m unplugging from reality in order to get back in touch with the internet. I am constantly blogging in my mind, and I figure it’s time to get the thoughts out in order to free up some mental space. I’m running at max capacity right now, mentally, and I figure I could use all the space I can get. The only obstacle is finding the time… I don’t want to lose my grip on reality entirely, only now and then. So, on the rare momentus occasions that I find myself with nothing else better (better is like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder) to do, I will take time to enlighten you, the Internet, on all of my unleashed knowledge. *scoff, scoff* Aaaaanyways. Yes, baby #3 has arrived, thanks for asking! :) He was born on his due date (who knew!) Feb. 1st at 2:01pm. He was 9lbs, 6oz at birth, the exact same weight as his big brother who, by the way, adores him. And, for the purpose of this blog, he will now be referred to as Little Man. There is a link to his picture if you look at the bottom of this post. Life is going in super fast motion now, I often write blog posts in my head while I’m showering, as that is the only time it is quiet enough to think. I knew having 3 kids would be tough, physically. Y’know, staying up all night, then having to deal with the other two, but I never thought it would be so mentally challenging. As in trying to keep sanity while having 3 (and sometimes 4) people wanting/requiring your attention, time, love, and services. It feels like I entered into one of those careers where your phone rings all day long and you are constantly being pulled this direction and that…only I don’t get to go home at the end of the day. The end of the day is the end of the day! I love being a Mom though, and I still think it’s the most important job in the world.  *I’m not insinuating that she made a wrong choice! I think it’s great! Good for her! Go her!  Little ManAnd yes, I’m aware that this is one big run on paragraph, but I can’t figure out why it won’t separate the paragraphs for me like it used to. I guess I have been away too long… 

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In which drawer do you keep your forks?

August 22, 2007 · Filed under Homemaking, Kids, Life in General, Pregnancy

With that kind of headline you might think that this post is about some quirky personality survey. Like, if you keep your forks in the drawer next to the refrigerator then you’re a meat-loving animal killer.

Well, sorry to disappoint you. I was just wondering because in this chaos that we call home I can’t seem to find a clean one right now. Right now, when I really really need one. I figure if I’m going to stab it in my eye, I at least should use a clean one. I wouldn’t want an infection or anything. So I guess the only thing holding me back from stabbing a fork in my eye is … well … not having one. A fork that is, not an eye. I have an eye. In fact, I have two. One on the left, one on the right. It between is my nose, in case you were wondering.

Yes, I am babbling and avoiding the subject of why I might want to put a fork in my eye. No, not put. Stab. Stab. MyKidsDad has been away less than 48 hours and I’m about to go bonkers. My kids are so loud. They don’t stop for a second. And I can’t keep up. And it’s exhausting. And now, not only are they tiring me out with all of their activity, I am starting to feel the baby move too. I can’t even lay down and be still by myself, because there is still movement going on inside of me. Is there any rest for the weary? I’ve heard not.

Does anyone have some rubber cement that they can teleport to my house right now? I need some, and I don’t feel like taking these monkeys out of the house. I suppose I have no choice. Do you think the people at the store will look down on us if Lil’Miss’s hair is all messy, and her shirt is all jammy from supper? Do you think they will care if my eyes are all red and puffy and there’s mascara smeared on my white sweater? I think today, I am past the shame. I don’t even care.

I’m sure I will run into someone I know. That’s just how these kind of days work. I’ll keep you posted.

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News in my world

May 30, 2007 · Filed under Homemaking, Kids, Life in General

It’s beautiful out today. Over 20 degrees (celcius, people) so I’m happy! We’ve spent the majority of the day outside in the sun. I planted a flower garden in the last week or so, and this is one of my marigold’s opened up. (if you click the link it will show you the picture.) The kids played in the sandbox. After lunch once Lil’ Miss was asleep, The Boy got to play in the sprinkler and in the kiddie pool. It was nice to sit out there with my feet in it. I love summer. I wish I could move somewhere that it’s summer all the time.

I got a new camera recently too. I’m very very excited about it. I’ve been taking pictures left right and center. It’s a Sony Cybershot, and it has a huge 3″ screen on the back. And MyKidsDad was very excited that it takes pictures in High Def. Here’s one of the kids playing in the sandbox. 

MyKidsDad won a playhouse at a raffle for a local battered woman’s shelter. We’re REALLY excited. It’s quite the fancy dancy playhouse, complete with bunkbeds inside and everything!

Our relatives visiting from Alaska finally left last Sunday. It was sad to see them go, we had so much fun having them around for such a long time.

Did I mention how happy I am that it’s summer??? We’re going camping in two weeks just for one night, but it’s going to be great. Then over the Canada Day long weekend we’re going camping for a few nights in Osoyoos with my mom and step dad, then we’re heading to Kelowna for our own family vacation. We have some friends there so they’re going to take us to their favorite beaches and what not! I’m praying for good weather!!!

Well that’s about all I have time for. The dryer just buzzed, so it’s back to work I go!

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I’m sorry…I’ve been a bad blogger.

May 7, 2007 · Filed under Homemaking, Kids, Life in General

I have many excuses as to why I’ve not been blogging lately. The main one being that Facebook has taken up most of my internet time. I started a group on there with mom’s for my city (it’s been so long, I don’t remember if I wrote about this yet) and it’s been so great to be networking with other moms! We’ve had 3 meet up’s already, and there are more planned coming up! I’ve made a few good friends, and the kids are meeting new kids too, which is always fun.

Next excuse is that Lil’ Miss, who is now 16 months old, is very very very busy/active. To the point of temporary insanity for those responsible for her care. It is very different for me, because The Boy was SO calm, and would sit and play with one thing for a very long time, from a very young age! He still does…like the time we got new Leap Pad books for him and he sat there for 3hrs straight, plus 1.5 more hours after a lunch break. It has definitely been an adjustment. She is also very curious, and into EVERYTHING, constantly touching things she shouldn’t be, and emptying cupboards, bags, anything that has stuff in it. I am not the most efficient housekeeper as it is, so adding her mess onto it has caused a lot of chaos around here.

Because of both of these things, I’ve been working on a schedule, and trying to restrict my computer time. Now that I’m more active socially, and Lil’ Miss is keeping me very busy when we’re at home, I just don’t have enough time in the day anymore. I know, waa waa waa. It’s just something new for us – some of you have probably experienced this since day 1!! I don’t operate well on a fixed schedule, I’m awfully rebelious. So I’m going to make a plan that I can change around, depending on my week. I also got a really neat family day planner that I’ve been using a lot lately. (It was a Christmas present) It has spots for planning your meals for the week, a tear out grocery list, and enough space to write your plans for the week. I want to combine that with a schedule, and factor in computer time – because I don’t want to spend as much time on here as I do currently. This is the week for all that, so I thought I’d get a post in before I have ZERO time.

I’m also working on a few projects. I went to a crop night at a local scrapbooking store last Saturday. It was a hoot. I got some really great paper to do some more pages with Lil’ Miss, I haven’t done much with her yet, besides her “announcment” type page. There also was a sale the other day for 15% off with a home based company so I made a big order there. I’m trying to get caught up on some scrapbooking! At the crop night I did some cute pages with my son and my nephew. I also am trying to finish the extension I’m building for a quilt I made for my brother for Christmas of 2005. I started the extension this winter, and haven’t finished yet. I’m notorious for not finishing projects, and I’d really like to get things done!! I also have a few other things on the go…so yeah. Busy with extra stuff too.

I’ve done a bit of shopping lately too. I’ve discovered H&M. They sell men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes! They have reasonable prices too. And it’s cute! I bought Lil’ Miss a new spring jacket, and I need to go back and look at some summer clothes for The Boy. It’s exciting to have another option when it comes to clothes for my kids! Hah, yeah, I’m boring.

We also discovered Settlers of Catan this weekend. It’s a board game that has a different board each time you play it (you lay out cards) and you have settlements and you build roads and you gain points for your settlements and accomplishments. It takes a while to play (an hour or two) but it’s really fun, and you don’t even realize how the time is flying by! I went to a ‘girl’s night’ at a friend of mine’s on Friday, and we played it there, and I was hooked! We bought it on Saturday, and had my Mom and Step Dad over on Saturday night and MyKidsDad is hooked now too!!! I’ve won 3/5 games that I’ve played. FYI. ;)

Lil’ Miss has been incredibly agreeable lately. We were thinking hey – well she doesn’t talk much, but at least she understands much. When we ask her things, she nods her head, so we figured that was a sign of understanding. We were wrong. After asking her a few normal questions, like ‘do you want a drink’ or ‘are you stinky’, MyKidsDad chimed in with something off beat. And…she nodded. I don’t even remember what it was now, but it was followed by about 10 more rediculous questions like ‘are you going to by a gypsy and live in a van and travel the world?’, and ‘do you like eating raw steak?’, and ‘are you going to be the first female NHL player?’ all of which were followed by enthusiastic nods. I still think there are a few things she understands to nod to, but I also think she’s nodding in response to the tone we use when we ask her question. Oh, and I’m also thinking about growing out those bangs I gave her.

When it comes to updates…my rabbit still has a bit of ick on his head. I’m still not really sure what to do with it. It seems to be like a clump in his hair now, so I’m not even sure what it is. I should have left him out in the rain the other day, that might have taken care of it! I think I need to give him a little outdoor bath, on a warm day. I do have special bunny shampoo, and he definitely needs one. I was thinking about pouring rubbing alchohol on it, but I don’t want it to get in his eyes. Also, I haven’t done anything with my hair yet. I think one day this week I will phone my hair dresser and just have it dyed back to brown again. And I’m just going to grow it out. I’ll have the cut fixed a little bit in a few months, once it’s a little longer. Now that it’s grown out a bit, the choppy-ness isn’t so obvious anymore.

Anyways. This post has been extremely boring, and I’m aware of that. But this is what I’ve been up to lately. I’m going to try to minimize my facebook time, and my internet time, so hopefully I’ll post more. And more exciting.

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A bad day

March 27, 2007 · Filed under Homemaking, Life in General

I need a vacation. Over the last week or so, we’ve had mostly sunny days, and most daily temperatures in the “above freezing” category, which has been delightful. So why must I still complain about the one day that it decides to be overcast and ugly out? I love spring, I love that it is getting warmer. But I’m just not a fan of the dirty-ness of it. My SIL and I did some spring yard cleaning yesterday, and it was wonderful to be out in the fresh air, and to rake up all those leftover leaves and find partially green grass underneath. I had this big plan of taking a picture of my backyard in its current pitiful state, but, alas, my husband took the camera to work today.

I need a vacation. Lil’ Miss has had a runny nose for over a week now, and just yesterday it went from being routinely runny to being yellow. Not her nose, silly, the snot. Which means some sort of infection, which means I have to take her to the doctor and get her some medicine. Oh, the joy. Needless to say, she’s whiny and cranky and clingy because she’s not feeling her best. And while I don’t blame her, it only serves to make me whiny and cranky too. You’d think I’d have a little more compassion and enjoy these clingy moments, but today is just not one of those days. The Boy has been extra whiny and cranky today too. I think it’s because he’s overtired for the last 2 weeks. We’ve been pretty busy, and he’s been doing a lot of playing with his cousin. Yesterday when his cousin came over, he didn’t even want to play with him, he just wanted to sit and look at his books. So to have both of them (my kids, that is) crying and whining at me at once, causes me to have a bit of a breakdown. Everyone! Please be quiet!! Lil’ Miss is sleeping now, and I’m kind of considering turning on the electronic babysitter and having a nap of my own.

I need a vacation. I have accomplished nothing today. We gave away the TV we had in our bedroom last week, and since then I’ve been doing really good at going to bed earlier. In fact, the last 2 nights I have been asleep before 10:30. Considering it used to be more like 11:30 or as late as 1am. It’s been really great. I’ve been waking up around 7, just naturally, and wide awake. Usually when I wake up I’m groggy for the first bit, and I have a hard time keeping my eyes open. I also got motivated to try to make myself a schedule, in order to help myself get things done. I started out this morning semi-tired, and only accomplished the first few things on my list. At least they were the most important things on the list (feeding the kids breakfast, bible reading to them, and dressing them). But since then I’ve done nothing that I was “supposed” to according to my list. I need to make the choice to get things done, and not allow the weather to control my moods. I need to be in control more. I went out on a limb this morning and decided to make cookies. Apparantly my brain is fried today, because I literally and 100% forgot about them, until I smelt the smoke. And then when I opened the oven, only to be overtaken by smoke, I pulled them out to find them burnt to a crisp. I was so looking forward to them, having a nice warm cookie to set my mood a little higher (yes, I know, medicating myself with food, great) and I thought “of course!”. I should know better than to bake when I’m having a bad day! I always burn stuff on a bad day! And again, I thought I’d take a picture of my failed memory in the form of burnt cookies and post it here for your viewing pleasure, but the camera is out in “the bush” with MyKidsDad, hard at work. ARG. Darn him for trying to make a living so that I can sit at home and burn cookies!! :P

Well, maybe I’ll go play some Dance Dance, and that will kick in some endorphins and I will get out of my funk. When food fails you, there’s always exersize. Work off all of that raw cookie dough I ate in mourning of the cookies I burnt. (I didn’t try again with the left over dough, too afraid of doubling my misfortune, and only serving to make me grumpier) Yes, I think that is what I’ll do. Then, maybe, just maybe, I’ll consider the laundry.

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House Dreaming…

March 11, 2007 · Filed under Dreams, Homemaking, Life in General

Today, I’ve been dreaming of a house. A house of our own…something dreamlike, really. Every now and then I catch myself getting pulled under the tide of want. It literally comes on like a wave now and then…

MyKidsDad and I were discussing our “future plans” as we sometimes do. I always manage to get excited when we think about it. I’m definitely a forward thinker when it comes to stuff like that. When he gets into a job, I’m full of questions. “Do you like it? Can you see yourself there for a long time? Will you stay there forever? Is this what you see yourself doing?” He usually doesn’t have all the answers I’m looking for…I don’t think anyone, save God, really does.

Our future plans are extensive. They include a large family (which I question, on a regular basis!), a possible geographical relocation (not referring to simply switching houses in the same general area), career moves, travelling, and more.

Most of these future plans are wishful thinking, or simple possibilities. We want to be in God’s calling wherever and whatever it is. Even if that means living somewhere remote in a worn down house. So long as we’re serving Him and we are sure we are following his Plan. It’s hard to keep that in perspective though, when you have big, and I mean, big, plans. What if God doesn’t want me to have a big house for our big family on an acreage with a dog and Charlie and a big fish tank and our four-wheelers and MyKidsDad’s shop and my craft room and my kitchen and our playcenter and whatever job MyKidsDad decides he wants to do???? It’s so easy to say “I’d follow God anywhere”, but how easy is it to do it??? I mean, if you TRULY want to be in His Plan, I would think it would be very easy, joyful even, no? How hard is that, as humans to force those emotions and make our heart happy even when it would be so much easier not to be?

I buy home plan magazines every now and then. Seeing as we already have children, and are well into our childbearing years, I don’t want to move many more times. This is our third house in the four years we’ve been married. We said at our last house that we wouldn’t move until we were ready to buy, which we were fully prepared to do. But then God’s Plan called. A family at our church were moving to another city, and wanted to rent their (BEAUTIFUL!) house to us. They felt that they would be so happy to see another family, namely us, in their house while they’re gone (if they come back is not yet decided) and we were overjoyed at the offer of moving into a place much nicer/bigger than the house we were in. Both families had a peace about it, and it’s been great so far. More than great actually. We hope to not move again until we’re ready to buy a house, but who knows if we’ll be ready before the family who owns our house moves back. (If they do, who knows) In saying all this, what I’m getting at is that when we’re ready to buy a house of our own, I want it to be fairly permanent. Like, unless we sense God’s calling we wouldn’t even think of moving anywhere else. I moved about 10 times as a kid, and I’m just sick of moving. It isn’t easy on children either. So I browse these magazines, visit showhomes every now and then, and pay attention to little details of every house I go to. I want to make sure that the house we buy has all the little features that are important to me (within reason, of course). I always manage to like the biggest houses best. Surprising, no?? We went for a drive tonight, just to get out and do something with our new extra hour of sunlight, and where do we go when we want to go for a drive? Looking at houses, and land. There are a LOT, and I mean a LOT of new houses going up in and around my city. We were driving through a subdivision with houses were average in size, with a double attached garage on the front, and most of them were built over the garage, like with a bonus room or whatever. Width wise, the houses were fairly narrow – not out much wider than the garage itself. I found myself thinking these houses looked small.

MyKidsMom: These houses look small to me. Is that bad??

MyKidsDad: Uhmm??

MyKidsMom: I just mean that I know realistically, that these houses are average in size, but to me they seem small. Are my tastes getting too high? Am I going to be left unsatisfied?? I think I need to get my standards lowered again.

MyKidsDad: Ok.

MyKidsMom: Well, maybe they just look small because the lots are so small. And they are so squished together. Seriously, if there were a big fire, the whole block would light up. This must be a fire hazard.

MyKidsDad: Yeah, I hate how close together they are. And the yards are really small too.

MyKidsMom: Well, if you look, they actually aren’t much wider then the garage. Maybe that’s why they look so small. Maybe they are kind of small. I mean, they aren’t very deep, and they aren’t very wide…yeah. Maybe they are kind of small.

MyKidsDad: They’re not really that small.

Maybe I need to put the homeplan magazines down for a little while. At least until we’re a bit closer to buying time.

Well, The Boy wanted to fall asleep in our bed tonight (which is weird, he’s NEVER done that before) so I better go move him to his own bed before he falls off and starts screaming and wakes up Lil’ Miss. I shall fall asleep and have house dreams. :P

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