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. 

School Starts and December Daily Thoughts

Well, we've got the first week school under our belts.

First day of school photos, taken 5 1/2 hours apart.

First day as a Grade 8 student. Madelyn leaves the house at 7:05 this year, which hurts. It's a smidge earlier than least year. School times and bus pick up times have changed. We made it though. She got up 4 mornings, without too much fuss. She even let me do her hair.

This one lucked out, he didn't have to be at school until 1:50. What's the point even? But he got to have one last sleep in, waking up well rested and ready to start school the first day of Grade 11.  Grade 11... That has happened shockingly fast. And that hair... Crazy boy definitely has the hockey flow going this year.

We've also been eased back into our schedule rather slowly. Just school this week, with no commitments in the evenings. We didn't have our first ice time until Friday night. In the past, we hit the ground running, the first day of school. So this was very appreciated. We will now be on the ice until March.

Last year, on the first day of school it was hot. 30 degrees Celsius. This year, it was not. I think the high was 13 degrees. It was chilly, rainy, windy and cold.

It warmed up by Thursday and Friday [the photo below was taken Thursday morning, it's of the Peace Bridge downtown] but the damage has been done. Trees are changing colours and the leaves are dropping like dead flies.

I want to love this time of year, I really do. But I know what comes after fall... The colours are lovely, and it's so pretty, but once the leaves are gone, the snow comes. My entire backyard was full of snow back in April. So much snow, I thought it would never all melt. And people, I don't have to tell you, that was only 5 months ago...

So the idea of snowfall and shovelling, well it doesn't really appeal.

Speaking of snow, Ali Edwards December Daily is all the rage and trending currently. Kits went on sale Wednesday. I LOVE Ali. She has been such a huge inspiration to me over the years. I realize that this is her business, her bread and butter. It just seems like her prices are always creeping up.

Initially, you bought the December Daily kit. The first time I did that, it included an album, page protectors and all the papers, journal cards, embellishments etc.

Then it was changed up, and you could buy all the pieces separately. You could choose between different albums, main kits, mini kits, embellishments, it became quite the ordeal.  Why would I not automatically want an album to house everything? It seemed strange to me, that the album didn't come included. [And if you remember, last year, my album fiasco, I thought I'd ordered one, but somewhere along the way, de-selected it during the ordering process] Last year, the December Daily seemed rather crazed. Only 'limited amounts of this and that'. Only so many albums. Stock was not being replenished. I got caught right up in it, and it was stressful.

This year, I watched a bit warily, as the December Daily hype started to build up toward the end of August. Again with the limited product available. Again with the mark the date and time of release on your calendar. Now you were to 'refresh' your screen lots, in case something became available, after another customer 'accidentally removed it from their cart' [I joke]

But here's the thing. 6x8 albums this year are selling for $24.99 each. Yes, it includes page protectors, but that seems really steep to me.

Plus, international shipping is a $15 flat rate. So that becomes $40 for me to just order an album. And that's $40 in US prices. So, like Heather Land says, "I ain't don it". I'm out.

This year, I'm going to create my own December Daily album. I have several album options. I will plan on preparing it before hand, like I have in the past. I have enough left over DD supplies from past years, that I'll be able to add a bit of flair here and there.

What I've realized, is the most important thing, is to get the stories down. It really doesn't matter what I use to do that, as long as I do that.

I'm already looking forward to this year album and stories.

Around here... August 2018

It's been a very long time, since I've posted anything other than storytelling/scrapbook projects. I used to use this blog as more of a tool to document daily life. Then I started doing project life. Blogging about our every day seemed a bit redundant, when I was posting weekly layouts of it. I thought I would take a moment to document what's happening "Around here' at this point in time:  

Around here… We are smack dab in the midst of some renovations. We’ve completed our plumbing project [insert trumpets here]  which has been on the horizon for quite some time.  It feels amazing to have one less worry that we’ll come home and slosh through water somewhere in our house. [Not an exaggeration, speaking from experience] 

Around here… We no longer have a ceiling in our family room. It’s gone. All gone. And I’m feeling a mixture of shell-shocked and overwhelmed. Everything in our house is currently covered with a thin layer of fine white drywall dust, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. 

  

Around here… We’re a week away from the start of school. Although the kids are trying to protest the start of school, I’m finally ready to get everyone back into some sort of routine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking forward to early mornings, or the craziness that will ensue once school, hockey and ringette start, but I’m ready for a little bit of structure. 

Around here... We've had the worst smoke haze laying across the city for the past few weeks. It's been awful, it makes you not even want to go outside and breath it in. We did have a camping trip to the mountains booked, and we went through with it. In spite of the smoke, we had a good time. 

Around here… This week I’ve given both kids a 2 hour limit per day on screens and video games. They are NOT happy about it, but it’s something I should have implemented and insisted happen, two months ago. 

Around here… My heart just walked out the door. Mason is getting in a car with his driving friend. Another teenager… Oy. Being on the ‘parent side’ of things is hard. No one warns you how you’ll literally feel sick to your stomach when this scenario arises, when you’re snuggling your brand new baby…

Around here…I have been reading like crazy. My last trip the library was epic. So many awesome titles. I’m currently reading The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar, and really enjoying it. 

Around here… Tomatoes on our counter, that we have grown ourselves! So looking forward to enjoying toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch, in the days to come. 

Around here…Preparing my heart for the onslaught of ice times and rink visits that I know await us as we roll into September. This year we get a bit of reprieve though, as Mad doesn’t start the evaluation process on the very first day of school. 

Around here… Figuring out Mad’s new bus stop schedule and trying to figure out where she gets on and off the school bus. The maps come out, but they’re ‘generalized’ not specific. So the first day is a bit of a guess…

Around here… Enjoying making home made burrito bowls and egg roll in a bowl. Barry and I are over the moon about them, and I would put them on constant rotation if I could. The kids, not quite as crazy about them, but too bad, so sad, it’s not all about them… 

Around here…The furnace has come on the last couple of mornings. There is a chill in the air, and the leaves are all beginning to change a bit. I mourn the end of summer, because let’s face it, it’s awesome. But I do love fall. The colours. The crisp air. Crunchy leaves. And, let’s not forget, Pumpkin Spice Lattes…

Around here…This month I was a guest Creative Member for Paislee Press. Felt lucky to have been given the opportunity to create with Liz’s beautiful product. Here are my creations:

Around here…We watched the series Alone, season 5, as a family. We all could hardly wait for it to be on each week. We all had an idea who we thought would be victorious, and we were all wrong. I could never do something like that. My over-active imagination would have me high-tailing it out of there, night one. These people are so competent, and courageous. It's been fun to watch this together this summer.  

Around here…I can’t read anything without my readers on. I have them on every floor. I have them in the car. I have them in my purse. Unbeknownst to me, I sometimes have on two pairs at a time. [Sorry Mum, that I mocked you years ago. I get it now] 

That's a wrap of August's Around here. Maybe I'll be more mindful and be able to do one of these each month. 

Halloween 2016

Halloween was on a Monday this year. Bummer.

We had the smallest amount of kids we've ever had, come to our house, only 27. Needless to say, we had left overs. For the first time though, I didn't run out and buy more candy 'just in case'.

It was a nice mild night. I'm not sure why our numbers dwindled so much...

Mason had a hockey practice, so he didn't go out. Though he did go to a friends house after hockey, under the premise that he was helping to hand out candy. 

For the first time ever, Madelyn went out with a friend. Her uncle came and took them out. It might have been her best haul of candy yet. 

Here are a few photos:

We carved pumpkins on Sunday night. I did the mummy pumpkin on the far right. Love how it turned out. Madelyn carved the 'gentleman walrus' on the far left. Mason got his done quickly, easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. He tried to get out of doing one at all, but his mean mum wouldn't let him. Barry's is the 3rd from the left.

Little miss had all sorts of ideas, of what she wanted to be. But, as usual, we waited until the last possible moment to put ideas and costumes together. We came up with the idea of a veterinarian, and as luck would have it, even found scrubs with paw print on it. [Many thanks to Ama, who promised she was headed to Value Village any way... ]

All the stars aligned this year. Not only did Madelyn get to go out trick or treating with a  friend, but she got to collect her loot in a pillow case. She finally wore me down this year, and I muttered "I don't care what you take" under my breath. Elated, she grabbed a pillow case, and they set off.

So grateful when we have a Halloween with no wind or snow. We totally lucked out this year.

October, here we go...

Well...

I'm making progress. Sorta. With my new computer. Except I've just about been in tears on several occasions, because my kids 'do something' and I can't figure out how to 'un-do' what they've done. They probably know more than I do at this point. But I'm fighting them on it all the same. 

I'm learning about 'finder' and folders. [Finder is your best friend on a mac, so it seems]

I'm googling so much stuff... Some of it makes sense, some of it doesn't.

Now we're officially into October.

I seem to be in a bit of state, as the harsh realization that my 'baby' is in her last year of elementary school. At the same time, my first born is in his last year of Junior High School.

What the.... Seriously. When and how did this happen?

Our first order of business for October, what to be for Halloween.

For the first time ever, Mad asked if she could go out trick or treating with friends. A total bummer that Halloween falls on a Monday night this year. Also, a total bummer for her Uncle, who has taken her out all these years. But when she asked, I said ABSOLUTELY! My only request, make plans known with friends ahead of time. Please let's not be figuring out the logistics of this, on the 31st.

Aside from the costume, and the candy grab itself, we have the yearly Halloween Hop to plan for. I think Mason might have done this for the first time in Grade 2... I kept this on the down low, because really, a dance... For elementary school kids? Come on. Grade 6 kids help in the concession, with all proceeds going towards their Grade 6 farewell. It seems unbelievable that my 2nd kid is going to be taking on a concession shift.

I also gave Mad free reign over the weekend, to decorate the house. Let's face it, pinterest makes all of us feel a little unworthy. Or is that just me? So, I just let her decorate. And she's done a pretty good job. In a few weeks, it'll all be packed back into boxes.

Pinterest makes me want to be super mom... I want to bake. I want to craft. I want to spookify our house. Knowing that this is our last year of elementary school, i know there are so many things that I'll probably have to 'un-pin' soon. Many things that she'll consider 'too childish'. But the days rush on, the weeks rush by, and gosh, it's really hard to fit everything I want to in.

This upcoming weekend is Thanksgiving. Plus, Mad's in a ringette tourney. We have ringette games as well as practices. Mason is in an exhibition game, as well as practices. Try to squeeze in some time with family in there.  We have turkey to eat for heaven's sake! It's going to be a busy weekend. It's hard to find the time to craft. To bake. To create. Sometimes, I just want my downtime to be sitting on the couch, under a cozy blanket, with a nice hot cuppa tea.

I always get so optimistic about the upcoming seasons, and then they seem to bulldoze me over like a freight train.

First on and most important on the list. Decide on a costume, and get that together.

Then make skull and cross bone ice cubes. Ice cubes go in lots of things. Especially adult bevies.

I'm all about the baby steps. And adult bevies.

Baby Steps Forward and 2016 Week in the Life

***Warning, this post is picture heavy.

I've made some progress. Tiny little baby steps. But for me, a huge victory.

I figured out how to get photos from my iPhone onto our Mac. Yay me... [I'm sure any and all Mac users out there are thinking.... Whaaaaat? It's sooooooo easy!] We have a convoluted history, and many different apple products, all under different user names. To a non-technical person [ME] it's terribly confusing. Mason keeps telling us, to MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AT APPLE for heaven's sake... FIX IT! I'm convinced that if we do go in, they'll confiscate all of our devices.  If we're lucky, maybe give us back an old fashioned flip phone, and tell us to give our heads a shake.

I'm sure I could have easily transferred photos by simply plugging my iPhone into my Mac.  But I have a secret. Shhhhh... Come close, I'll tell you what it is. Closer... I haven't updated my phone for months. MONTHS. It sends me a friendly reminder almost every day. Which I politely decline, by hitting the button that says Remind Me Later... And the poor phone does remind me. Daily. But I just keep ignoring it.

Now I've got myself into the position, where all the photos on my PC are no longer accessible, and I've got over 2500 photos on my phone. Yes, you read right, 2500 pictures, ON MY PHONE.

Perhaps, you can now understand my hesitation... I don't want to lose anything.  So of course, I'm apprehensive to plug my phone into the computer. What if, I plugged in my phone into the Mac and it forces me to update, and I lose all my photos. That would suck. Royally.

I finally had a few hours this afternoon, and started googling things. Then I got brave, and tried a few things. Then I actually used this Mac [that we've had since January] for something other than checking out pinterest... So, I've now got a bunch of photos downloaded, and at least feel like I'm one baby step closer to getting back on track.

I'm obviously going to need to download a new version of PSE, but I'm one its-bitsy step closer. I'm at least headed in the right direction.

I'm sharing the mini album I created for this years Week in the Life, back in May.

I think I mentioned, in a previous post, that this was the first time in many years that I had little desire to play along with a week in the life. My DSLR had been [and still is] acting up on me. I hated the idea of taking a bunch of photos and then losing them, or not being able to access them. So, for the first time ever, I played along with a week in the life, using nothing but my iPhone.

I have seen a few scrapbook gals using a simple 4x4 format. Specifically, I'd seen this one from Stephanie Bryan. It super simple. It's super easy. It was right up my alley.

I knew I would regret not documenting our week. I also knew I didn't want to go to a ton of work.

This is the end result. There is still the repetitive nature I love. Each day has two 4x4 sized photos, one at the beginning of the day, the other signifying the end of the day. Sandwiched between those are multiple 2x2 sized photos, in a 4x4 page protector. I have journaled a few sentences for each day, pertaining to the 2x2 photos. I did this during one of my 'sleepless nights'. That however, is a post for another time, sadly it happens on more occasions than I appreciate. I put the photo portion of this little album together between the hours of 1 and and 5 am, and sent it off to Costco to be printed. I'm glad I did that, or they too would be sitting on our PC.

I'm super happy with how it turned out. [On another sleepless night, I updated the kids school albums for grades 5 and 8. Sadly I didn't send them to Costco... Grrr...] #somadatmyself

Here is this years Week in the Life, short and sweet, and filled with a smattering of memories.

Years from now, I might look back and wish I'd included more 'tidbits'. That I'd been more informative. Journaled more. More this. More that. However, I did it. I played along. I took photos. I documented our week, in the simplest manner. I don't regret this format at all. In fact, maybe I've even taken away something from it...

Let's face it, a picture takes you right back...

Random Rambles and PL2016 Week 23

I'm not computer savvy. 

My computer is still dead. 

I may have quietly drank myself to the point of numbness, every single day, for the first week after said 'computer' went caput... [Is that even a word?]

Please don't judge... I did what I knew at the time... When I know better, I'll do better...

Then we were off camping for a week. No need for a computer in the woods. 

We came home smelling like campfire, and my sweetie quickly got into the role of Best Man, which lasted for what seemed, the entire long weekend.  Barry definitely had other fish to fry. Fixing a computer that he uses maybe 3 times a year, wasn't on his radar. The wedding was over and his duties, finally, came to an end.  

Kids then headed back to school, Grades 6 and 9 respectively. Once we had the first days of school under our belts, and the first ringette practice taken care of,  I casually mentioned, "Perhaps we could take steps to have someone look at our dead computer..." 

"Oh yeah...." was his response. 

I'm no longer drinking heavily. That stopped abruptly on September 6th. [Along with snacking...] One has to start off the school year with a level head you know. 

I've come to terms with the fact that I have lost stuff between January and August of 2016. Maybe I'll get it back. Maybe I won't. Thankfully, because Barry got me a new iPhone 6 for Christmas, I have all the pictures I've taken since our trip to Mexico back in April. So there are good things too. 

All of this wouldn't matter so much, but I love my photos. They are what I would grab from a burning building. Well, photos and my kids. Wait, photos, kids, photos, little dog, jewelry, passports, pictures on walls... You get my drift. 

Any way, I had uploaded a few weeks to the Lily Pad prior to computer failure. I then thought, maybe I can get those photos from that website onto my blog... And by George, I did it...

So without further adieu, here's week 23: 

This was the week of outdoor school. They were gone 2 full nights, and slept in Teepee's. Too say that Madelyn was excited would be an understatement. A quick group shot of the walking ladies. 10 out of 14 is a pretty good turnout. Madelyn painting a mug for her Dad for Father's Day. The little garden bed at the front of the house was beautiful with lilies/iris' this spring. Yet ANOTHER trip to the Vet with Miss Libby. A photo of us pulling our new tent trailer home. A family bike ride through fish creek park, on a day that couldn't have been nicer. 

So there you have it!!

All digital product used was from Sahlin Studio.

Reflections - Journal Cards and Elements as well as 3x4 Photo templates.   

In Limbo

I'm currently in limbo.

My PC died. Literally died. I had just finished a few layouts, and suddenly the screen on the computer went wonky, and then the computer shut itself off...

Oy.

I was sick to my stomach about it for 3 days. I still am, but those first three days, those were the worst. You may recall me talking about a new Mac computer we bought, back in January. We had supposedly 'migrated' all our stuff from the PC to the Mac, but as you might expect, there were problems. Do things ever run smoothly in the technical world?

The issues never got fully resolved. We never saw the final migration totally completed.

We saved all our data onto an external hard drive, so I have everything up until January. Supposedly.
[By the way, I'm using finger quotes when I say "supposedly"]

I'm not very computer literate. I get nervous about anything that doesn't go exactly the way it's supposed to. I suppose that goes back to all the years of calling the IT desk for help at work. I never dreamed of solving things myself. Always a nice young man came up and solved things for me...  So, I have the external hard drive, and 'supposedly' all the information on there. [Seriously, fingers crossed]

After a while, we had two computers to choose from. And I always chose the PC of course, it's what I know/knew. I still used PSE, which worked perfectly fine. Why worry about downloading that onto a new computer and learning the new ins and outs of PSE on a Mac? Plus, none of my photos came over during the migration, so even if I had the new program, how did I get to my pictures? It's becoming clear to me by the way, that at least one of my kids should get into 'computer stuff', so they can help their dear old Mum...

So, nothing changed, in how I used our PC computer. I continued on, quite merrily, doing what I've always done.

Sometime, the CD burner on the PC quit working. I'm going to say February-ish. Don't know why, but accessing the CD Burner was no longer an option. Did I just date myself there? By using the words CD Burner in a sentence? Again, that's what I had, and it's whats I knew/know. Please don't judge me.

However, I have all my photos burned onto CD's. Except the photos since Jan-Aug, because, I couldn't...

In the grand scheme of things... I have 10 years worth of photos burned onto CD's, so to say I don't have the last 7 months of photos backed up... Well, it sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Plus, I've kept up to date with printing off my project life photos, so I think I have up to week 24 printed off... But that's where it ends. Week 24 was back to the first week of June... So I have the paper copy of that, but not the digital copies...

The worst part, is I haven't printed off a digital copy of my regular scrapbook layouts since last summer. From 8x8 up to 12x12. It's too expensive in Canada to print them off [a 12x12 size runs $5.99 per page. Per. Page] So, I tend to save them up until I have a significant amount, and send them to be printed in the states. But there again, the Canadian dollar is just terrible right now. The last time I sent photos to be printed, I sent them to Persnickety, I was really displeased with what came back to me...  And I had to pay in US $$ to be disappointed. So I've been a bit gun shy about sending my stuff there, hence the reason I have over a years worth of layouts, that didn't get printed off... Eeks.

So, I'm hoping I can get those layouts back.

Speaking of layouts, I also do a school album for the the kids. I had just finished the pages for Mad's Gr 5 year and Mace's Gr 8 year also. But didn't send them to Costco... Bummer. If I'd at least done that, I could get to those photos... So those are stuck on the computer also.

Any way... I'm not the only person this has happened to. It just totally sucks.

My last complaint is, this isn't high on Barry's radar... To have someone come in and pay them, to restore stuff on our PC. If that's even possible. He has a work computer, so doesn't think twice about the inconvenience I'm experiencing. I have commitments too, so I'm desperate to the this sorted out.

Just like that, the sick to my stomach feeling is back... It didn't go away after all.

I'm hoping that this issue gets solved.

Until then, it's going to be quiet on this front. Can't even post a photo here...

Our last month - Photo Heavy

Man oh man this past month has been crazy, busy.

After we got home from our ringette tournament in Medicine Hat, we were officially finished with both hockey and ringette. No more games. No more practices. No more ice times... The first couple of weeks, after being that busy for 7 months, is dreamy. And then you begin to miss your peeps... A lot of time is spent visiting and making friends with other parents. So, as glad as you are that your schedule is going to slow down, you're a little bit sad too. Our social life came to a screeching halt.

But we didn't have much time to be sad, because right after Easter, Easter Monday to be exact, we had an exchange student from France staying with us for just over a week. After we got over our nervous jitters, it was okay. But that first day... My word... Slightly stressful.  We aren't fluent in french and our student had limited english. Thank goodness for the iTranslate app.

How our everyday lives differed when our student was here. We basically never stopped going for 8 days. The school days were jam packed with outings and field trips, and every evening we had something going on, so the french/english kids could hang out.

I hope our student had a great experience. In the week he was here he saw: Banff, the Zoo, the Tyrrell Museum, and Heritage Park. Those were the class excursions. There was also a night at the Flying Squirrel, a Potluck with all participating host families, he went to Scouts with Mason one night, went Paint Balling, attended a bonfire, and we took a trip downtown, they rode bikes to Dairy Queen for ice cream. We tried to let him see and experience as much as possible.

Mason & Andrea with the skyline in the back. This was the day he arrived.

 Drumheller, Alberta

 Paintball shenanigans.

Riding bikes up to DQ.

Then, the weekend after he left, Barry and I were headed to Mexico, to see my friend get married.

Which was delightful. Seriously. Such a nice way to end off a really busy season. We might have to consider doing that on an annual basis. Some sort of treat for ourselves. A little get away to reconnect.

A mini bottle of champagne on the plane, compliments of the groom who preferred not to drink his. 

 

 I'm surprised they need to put this sign up, to ask guests to refrain from touching the iguanas...

 First night!

  Checking out the beach. A happy place for sure.

 Picture perfect.

 Pretty awesome view.

 Hanging out poolside.

 

  During the ceremony.

Congratulations to Carrie and Albert!   

We took a selfie, and then realized the bride and groom were in the background. 

A perfect end to the perfect day.

There's a cute story behind these little snakes. Madelyn has been on a huge sewing kick lately, and just creates things. These two little snakes are an example of that. She also snuck one into each of our bags, so that we would 'think about her' while we were away. So we took them around iwth us, and took photos of them in different places.  She was thrilled to learn her little snakes went on quite an adventure.

 Seriously... These iguanas are EVERYWHERE.

We could connect to wifi in the lobby. And man, that makes you realize how dependant you are on your technology. Each morning we had breakfast and headed to the lobby. Having said that, it's awesome to be able to chat with your kids and my M&D, when we're away.

If you follow me on IG, you'll know I was anticipating the 'all-inclusive' very much. Thrilled to get there and find my wristband worked. We did a ton of walking, because of the nature of the resort. Which was super. Because we really indulged on the eating and drinking aspect of this holiday. I'm a little bit surprised i didn't come home with green tinged skin. Let me say, those Mexican's know how to make guacamole. That was a must have each and every day.  When in Mexico, right?
 

We, or at least I, came home a few pounds heavier. With no regrets. Not a single one...

We came back home to some absolutely gorgeous temperatures. The day after we got back was in the high 20's. For real. In the middle of April. Our city is greening up before our eyes, and all the flowering trees are beginning to bloom...

Now, to keep up with the 10,000+ steps I'd been doing while away...