on patrol

he's helping to keep the world safe- helping kids cross the street.

and although it looks like we might go to school in the night time,

it was morning, and the mornings are actually getting lighter.

thank goodness!

( I thought this would be a fun photo of the day-so I ran out and took some pictures of him.

I think he was a bit embarrassed, but that's what mom's are for, right?)

good cold fun

yep, we had quite a bit of snow.
and it was mighty cold.
but now, it is warming up.
and the snow is melting a bit.
and then it is freezing at night.
making the roads very icy.

some good times were had last week building a quincy.

then it got a hole in the roof.

not good. a certain boy was not happy, but he handled it well, and didn't get angry.

the snow was kind of nice-it is so pretty when everything is clean and white.

but now, the roads are brown from the sand,

and the snow plowed up from the roads and shoveled from the driveways is all brown too, and it's not so pretty any more.

kind of like in the fall- after the pretty colored leaves all fall, and everything is just dead and brown. not so nice.

good thing spring will come.

someday.

but not soon enough for me!

some people's kids!

on Thursday it was Maggie's turn to take snack to kindergarten.
and I vollunteer in her classroom once a month, so I signed up for her snack day!
when thinking about what to take- we decided on popcorn.
delicious.
and Maggie loves it with extra flavors added, but I didn't have any,
but earlier on when we were at my sister's house she had made popcorn and added some candy cane sprinkles especially for popcorn.
it was yummy.
and I had a pack of candycanes left over, so we blended them up small,
and sprinkled it on the popcorn.
and we taste tested it.
alot.
and it was good. then, when the kids were sitting eating,
I was shocked when over half the kids said "I don't care for this"-
(that is what they are supposed to say instead of - I don't like this)
and threw it away.
silly kids.
I think there were only 5 or so who actually ate it all.
some ate some of it,
and the rest threw it away.
the gall.
sheesh.
silly kids. don't know a good snack when they see it.

(I am trying to change my header, but can't remember how to do it right. I will figure it out soon. I hope!)

finally

I bought a crochet hat pattern on etsy a long time ago.
finally the other night I sat down and made it.
it was so fast, and so cute-
I don't know what I was waiting for!


I see many of these in my etsy shop in the future.
love it!

deal...or no deal?

during the christmas break, the kids and I headed out east to visit some fun family members.

while there- I always need to check out their Salvation Army store.

and I always find something fun .

this time I found this fun red chair- (this picture was from the site where you can buy them- that isn't my kid. just fyi.)

Maggie has one or two in her kindergarten class room, so I had seen them before, and thought they were pretty fun.

I found them online- $70. yikes.

I paid $5.

what a great deal. - that is what I told Cory.

then he said- it's not a deal if you don't need it.

hmmm. so very true.

but I think every one needs an awesome red rocker chair.

right?

deal. I say.

true north

living up here, in the north, in Canada-
is silly.
it is cold.
and we had tons of snow.
and now it is cold, and the roads are bad,
and it is supposed to snow some more tomorrow!
yikes.


but- one of the good things- we have a really long driveway, so we pile it all up in the yard,
so if the kids want to do some sledding, they can just head out the back door!
(it's not too big of a hill, but good for little kids. and when they get bored back there, they head out to our front yard which is on a bit of a slope!)
great for this lazy mom, who doesn't want to go out in the cold any more than she has to!

I buy hot chocolate in bulk,
and we drink it by the gallon when the weather is like this!
p.s.- if you are close to a bulk barn, try their peppermint hot chocolate. yummm!

lately...

watching:borrowed season 1 from my fantastic sis. in law. wishing I had convinced her to let me take 2 and 3 as well, as I will be finishing 1 shortly.

knitting these-wraps. seem to be big this month. I have a bit of yarn for them. bought a huge batch of yarn online, but sadly it is coming from Turkey, and will take about 2 months to get here. yikes.

reading:
I picked up the first 2 and the 4th of the series at a thrift store- read the first two really fast, but don't want to read the 4th until I read the 3rd- but it is never in at our library.

great reads. It is now in Jed's pile of books to read. I think he will really like them.

eating- tons of junk.

diet- or more appropriately - eating changes start on Monday- so I am trying to get rid of all the sugar and crap. eating it is probably not the best idea. but oh, so delish.

and that is what I have been doing lately.

tuesday night

Tuesday-
right after school, we head out
to take Sadie to Showbiz kids.
she sings, and she loves it.
back in November the group did a show at an old folks home.
such a great idea.
this is Sadie doing her solo-
jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers...



so great that she is gaining confidence in herself-
singing in front of a group is a big deal!

definitely worth the drive!
(thanks miss Dixie!)

hello 2011

Cory and I spent last night chaperoning at the youth dance. our ward was in charge of the whole dealio, and I must say, it was pretty fun.

my goal for the night was to embarrass ben, and I think I accomplished that quite nicely!

they had a fun photo booth there- with props and stuff. such a fun idea!

so, new year, new resolutions right?

*this year I want to attempt the photo a day thing again. I did pretty well with it in 2009, but our computer died, and I never did get my pictures off of it to get them printed and into a book. this year I will do it monthly, so I won't get so behind.

*this year I want to make a real budget, stick with it, and get out of some debt.

such a grown up thing to do, I think. It is time.

*go down a size or two- or maybe three in my clothing! which means eating less sugar and chocolate, and exercising more. but that is okay. I can do this! maybe.

*you know when you shop, and you get that little thing at the bottom of your receipt that if you do a little survey, you could win some money? I want to do all of those that I can, see if I win anything!

*and of course do some cleaning and organizing. get rid of junk. buy less junk- which will work nicely with the whole budgeting thing. win win right?

it's going to be good. this 2011 year. lets do it!

Merry Christmas!

seasons greetings

last week we had some nasty weather,

snowing and blowing-

it was pretty yucky out,

but it sure made my candy cane decoration look neat!

christmas dresses

every year I make the girls Christmas dresses.
so far they have been the same, and I will continue making them matching dresses until they complain!
this is Maggie's dress this year-
front-


and back-

sadie's is the same idea, but she asked for long sleeves,

and silly me- I measured her arm from the shoulder where sleeves usually start,

and cut out the pieces, sewed them on, and once she tried on her dress I realized that I should have measured from her neck instead- so she ended up with 3/4 inch sleeves. but she said that's okay.

I meant to take a picture of them in their dresses on Sunday, but they changed out of them too quickly.

if I didn't tell you, you would never know that they were made out of a bed sheet, right?

shh. it will be our little secret!

they're home!

and we are so happy!

(and from their stories, I think they are happy to be back where there are normal toilets, and roads with no hills, and not so many crazy drivers!)

-they were gone for 18 months serving a mission for our church in the Phillipines!

this is it

the last 2 wedding pictures I will share. I just finally learned how to install actions, so I was having some fun playing! there is no end to the fun I can have with pictures now!

for joanne and kayli and amy

working a bit more on the wedding pictures- from almost a month ago-
it is about time!
Kayli- here they are, looking forward! and this one is for Joanne- you silly picture wrecker!
(those are her fingers!)

still a bunch to be done.

hopefully soon!

making a list..

how come the days till christmas are getting shorter,

but my to do list is getting longer?

-finish sadie's christmas dress

- make Cory a wise man costume for tomorrows ward party

-wrap presents

- buy presents

-find out what one kid really wants so I can figure out what to get him

and on and on!

must get busy!

tis the season

for birthdays!

my twins (born 4 years apart) had their birthday on Saturday.

last week we had a little party for Sadie.
w

we had mini oreos, mini ritz crackers with cheese, made mini clay cupcakes,

and I had to make a little banner for the cake!

Maggie was right there during it all,

and sweet Sadie let her help-

even help blow out the candles.

what a great sister and a great girl.

love you Sadie!

happy mail

so, one of my most favorite things about christmas,

besides the lights,

the treats, the presents,

is getting christmas cards in the mail- but especially christmas cards with pictures.

over the past few years I have tried to be creative with my picture cards,

but I have found shutterfly- and they have such fantastic christmas cards!

here are a few that I really like-

this one would be great with a certain picture I have in mind- this one- so cute, and I could write a personal message on the inside! love.
stinking adorable-
so simple, and so very cute.
these are just a few of the fantastic christmas photo cards they have! check out some more here.
picking my favorite one will not be easy, that's for sure!
but they don't just have christmas cards-
they have super cute baby announcements too!

and after christmas, when the presents are open, and you need to send out some thank you cards- well, wowsa- they have those too! so fantastic!

they must have a great team of graphic artistsworking for them. the ideas, the cuteness. so super!
I need to get on the ball, get some super cute cards made, and get them out in the mail!
christmas cards are such a fun part of christmas,
and these- well, way fun!

life lessons

Maggie has been in swimming lessons for the past couple of weeks.
swimming is an important life skill.
I love that for the first few lessons she was the only one in her class-
private lessons for public lesson price- you have to love that!
-but now there is another boy in her class.
but anyway,
this morning she told me-



it's all worth it.
important lessons have been learned!

last week

the flu hit a few of us.
Sadie had it Monday-
she camped out on this chair, snuggled in and spent the day. then most of the week was flu free, until Jack had it over night, but was fine the next day.
But Ben- well, he came home from school on Friday, grabbed a bucket and headed down stairs. I think I saw him for a total of 1 hour all weekend. poor guy.
but I was happy to see him well, and off to school this morning.
here's hoping that was the last of it. we shall see!