New Year's Eve 2018

Today is December 31st, 2018.

It's New Year's Eve.

The kids have been home from school for just over a week. This week has been rather dreamy. First of all, we had Christmas. Always popular in this household. 

We haven't had to leave the house for anything, other than a few hockey and ringette ice times since the 25th. It's been a well deserved, and much needed break. 

Tonight is NYE 2018. 

Tomorrow will be the first day of 2019.

The kids still have another week off school, which is so awesome. It already feels like they've been home forever, so once they head back, I think we'll all feel really rested. Taking a break from the daily 6 am get up, is a real treat. 

I am SO far behind on my December Daily for this holiday season. But I'm plugging away at it. I'm done up to December 12th, so just about half way through. Once I finish the album, I will definitely share it here. It's something I love doing so much. I know a lot of people say they lose their momentum once Christmas has come an gone, but I know I'll get mine finished.

I haven't set any goals for 2019.

Yet.

I'm having a hard time settling down all the swirly, twirly thoughts in my head.

That might be a post for another time.

I posted this photo on IG already. I went through my feed, and picked out the 9 photos that were my very favourite.

For now, I'm wishing you a very Happy New Year, and all the best in 2019. 

PL2018 - Weeks 45 & 46

I have tried really hard for the past few months, to eliminate the word 'busy' from of my vocabulary.

Which is not always easy. Especially at this time of year.

Busy gets way too much recognition. Let's face it, we're all on the go. We have daytime commitments, night time commitments, weekend commitments.  I truly don't believe my kids are over extended, I'm sure some disagree. When you are involved in organized sports such as hockey and ringette, it's a 2 - 4 time a week commitment. Per child. The occasional night at home, is always a welcome treat. 

Last night was the first night, out of the past 10 nights, that we were actually home. 

And I must say, it was heavenly. We had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, salad for dinner. We watched the Polar Express. Ate snacks, enjoyed a few beverages. Marvelled at our twinkling Christmas tree. We really enjoyed our quiet night, spent together.

There's a lot of talk about self-care and the ability to say no. That's a hard one for me. Choosing what to say yes to and what to say no to.  I tend to say yes a lot. And when I do say no, I feel the need to rationalize, or explain myself. I think it's a tough one for a lot of people, to say no, and give no explanation. It's definitely something I'm working on.

On another subject, here are weeks 45 & 46 of my project life album:

Week 45: 

• Seriously, can not get enough of all the Christmas blankets in the stores right now, and I'm totally drawn to them. 
• Cozy infant of the fire.
• Madelyn has suddenly found 'music'. We downloaded apple music as a 3 month trial, and she has been absolutely delighted. She has her headphones on, the majority of the time these days. 
• Watching the Remembrance Day celebration in Ottawa. Not very many old time veterans remain. So thankful for their service. 

Week 46:

• Love, love, love watching Mason play hockey. I don't love the body checks and crashes into the boards, but everything else is awesome. 
• Lovely day for a dog walk.
• Barry and I went to see a movie on the 12th of November, the kids had school, but he had the day off work! We went and saw the Bohemiam Rhapsody. 
• Calgary Plebiscite to decide whether or not we should go ahead and put a bid in for the 2026 winter olympics. It was a no.
• Waiting our turn for family photos. There was a lot of complaining this morning. 
• Love, love, love watching Madelyn play ringette. She has gotten so fierce out on the ice. I'm attributing it to all the wrestling her and her brother/Dad have been doing. A noticeable change from last year. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Week 45: 

Calendar Card Stamps http://the-lilypad.com/store/2018-Calendar-Cards-Stamps.html

Currently Flair: https://the-lilypad.com/store/-currently-flairs.html

Simplify Journal Cards: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Simplify-Journal-Cards.html

Week 46:

Calendar Card Stamps: http://the-lilypad.com/store/2018-Calendar-Cards-Stamps.html

Overlays: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Magical-Photo-Overlays.html

Stitching:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/paper-piercing-stitch-holes-basic.html

PL2018 - Weeks 43 & 44

These two weeks take us into November. I'm pretty much caught up with this years Project Life album. Sometimes when it gets to this time of the year, I chose to make monthly layouts rather than weekly. 

I'm not sure what I'll do through December yet... Once I start working on my December Daily album, the stories kind of start to duplicate themselves. Having said that, I include December in my PL book of course, because my mini albums are usually put away for the year. I pull them out at Christmas, but  I still want to remember the stories that happen, but maybe not in as much detail. 

• This was my second stint in exactly a week, as a chip runner for the casino. The week before was an emergency call out, from the Madelyn's school. It was also a 7 pm - 3 am shift... This was a daytime shift, but it was still just as slow. This time, I put my hours in for ringette.
• Such a great day for a walk, not a breath of wind. 
• Yummy treats.
• Doggie snuggles on the couch. 
• Pumpkin carving. 

For week 44, I decided to create a two page spread. This week fell on Halloween, which was the first Halloween, that I've been home by myself, since we had kids. 

Madelyn's class went on a two night, 3 day trip to Drumheller, staying overnight in the Tyrrell Museum, sleeping with the dinosaurs. Such an awesome program, they actually got to be mini palaeontologists for a few days. Madelyn was totally bummed that she would be missing the candy collection portion of Halloween, but reluctantly decided to go on the trip. 

We decorated pumpkins on Sunday, while watching Jurassic World with Chris Pratt. We'd been told beforehand, that the kids would be watching the latest Jurassic Park movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, as a special treat, on Halloween. [They weren't given any candy, or even allowed to bring any, and we heard a lot about that atrocity...]

We actually had a Jurassic Park movie marathon, this same weekend, watching all the movies, as Madelyn had never seen any of them before. It was fun to watch them all in order again. When will people learn, dinosaurs and people just don't mix well together. But they keep opening the park...

Here's what the two pages look like together: 

Left side, close up:

• Treats for a Trex Halloween Party.
• Heading into school with 3 days worth of gear on her back.
• Pumpkins...
• The front porch. I didn't decorate inside the house this year but did decorate outside a bit. 
• Filter fun on Snapchat, while I was home alone. 

Right side, close up:

• Madelyn all dolled up for the fashion show. Again, she talked this year about how nervous she was, but she got up on stage and rocked it. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

http://the-lilypad.com/store/2018-Calendar-Cards-Stamps.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Enamel-Pins.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Artsy.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Journal-Cards.html

December Daily Days 2 & 3

Happy December! One thing about this month, is comes whether you're ready for it or not. 

We are well on our way, I have the first 3 days of my album put together. I changed day 2 up slightly. I still used the same number card and journal card, but on my main 4x6 card, rather than 2 small photos, I added one photo and another journal card to capture my story of the day.

I have to admit, I'm feeling a little bit lost with my December Daily album this year... My kids aren't little kids anymore. I'm not sure what stories I need to try and capture, and I'm also being mindful of their wishes for me to be a bit more private... 

That was bound to happen, with 16 and 13. I'm doing my best to honour everyone involved. 

Here are days 2 & 3: 

A few years ago, Ali Edwards had given the embrace the mess word art away for free.

I had downloaded it, but didn't find a spot in that years album to use it. Last night, as I was looking around my messy house, I remembered it. I had an a-ha moment. The house is a fright. We're still missing a ceiling in our family room. We're hosting Christmas eve, and I'm feeling overwhelmed by the state of things... 

I'm keeping it real. Things will get tidied and put away. Decorations will all get put out. Baking will get done. Cards will get sent. And Christmas Day arrives, just like December, whether you're ready for it or not. 

So I'm embracing the mess. Embracing the hustle. Embracing the busy of the season, and I'm going to do my very best to not get overwhelmed and let it get to me. 

Hello December, we're on our way!

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Home-for-the-Holidays-Journal-Cards-1.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Home-for-the-Holidays-Journal-Cards-2.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/December-Days-No-4-Numbers.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Home-for-the-Holidays-Elements.html