stuff

- the pit of despair is now empty.

all the mess has just been relocated to a smaller space.

-Maggies soon to be bedroom is in the process of being painted. it still needs one more coat.

(it looks white, but it is really a light pink. I maybe should have gone a shade darker.)

-we are officially on spring break now.

- it snowed hard on Thursday. of course.

- four of the kids are in swim lessons over the break. I will be making at least two trips to the pool daily. so much fun.

-Sadie still claims she will not be attending her lesson. she does not want to go in the deep end.

we will see about that!

the pit of dispair

I am attempting to clean out my craft room

so that Maggie can have her own room.

it isn't going too well.

I think it is getting messier and messier.

I am trying to do some work each day in there.

today I moved a chair down to its new location.

at this rate she might have her own room when she is 12.

but that might be pushing it!

Maggie (and Ben)

well- an update on Ben-

he is home- came home on Friday.

but is laid low with a sore throat and stuffed up nose.

he is definitely on the mend,

and I am hoping he will be back to school soon,

so I can have the house to myself again!

and yesterday my baby turned 7.

wow! time flies.

we had dinner and cake with my family on Sunday,

we are postponing her family birthday dinner until Saturday when everyone will be home,

and we are having a small party with friends on Friday evening.

a week full of birthday fun!

lucky girl.

hanging

so,

Ben is hanging out at the Stollery,

nurses and doctors are constantly visiting him.

he gets to eat popcicles, and drink juices, and watch whatever he wants on his own personal tv.

he has ITP. I couldn't tell you what that stands for even though I have been told many times. I should really write it down- it basically is

weird red spots on his legs.

from very, very low platelets in his blood. hopefully he will get more soon.

I am going to visit him shortly,

and taking him some homework.

that might make him happy.

but probably not.

he is doing fine. he has his phone handy. a book to read. a cute gown to wear.

what more could he want?

oh, maybe some more platelets. lets get going on that!

silly teenagers

so,

you know when you see crazy things,

like teenagers out in the middle of winter

with shorts on,

for example.

ya,

well,

this past weekend,

one of mine

was one of the crazies.

he did say his legs weren't cold

but his face was.

nice.

a bit of a close up.

yep,

silly teenager

in shorts

shovelling on a cold day.

nice.

my girls

my silly, sweet,

messy room making,

adorable, crazy girls.

wise words by Maggie

"you know the Justin Bieber song that says 'I will never say never'?

well, he says never in it.

so what's the point?"

haha.

I love that girl.

take 1 of 7/12

back at the beginning of the year,

one of my goals was to take a picture

of all of us every month-

this was January's try-

the first 7 letter word we could come up with was awesome,

so we grabbed some glow sticks and wrote it.

too bad I don't grasp the concept of writing letters backwards!

then I got it, but Ben decided to draw a man instead.

then I was trying to figure out the settings on my camera in the dark,

and then everyone had lost any interest.

but I think it is definitely worth another try-

it was AWESOME.

winter

this picture was taken a while ago.
the very day the snow blew in and the cold winds came,
and the following week was so very cold.
now it is nice again.
winter weather swings.
just like this girl's mood swings.
and she's not even a teenager yet.
yikes.

I wonder..

would it be wrong of me

to make a little camisole

for this barbie to wear

under her very low cut dress?

I am just glad it was on one of

the higher shelves

so my sweet little girl

wouldn't see it.

really?

why can't barbies have longer skirts/dresses,

and dresses with sleeves.

just wondering.

although I am impressed with her sleeves and

the length of her dress.

just needs a little something to cover up the girls.

just saying.

baby....

it's cold outside!

gone are the unseasonably warm temperatures,

we are back to the normal- -30 degrees.

hot chocolate and a fire in the fireplace are in order for today!

birthdays from the past

so very exciting!

we had three birthdays in December,

I am not sure why one got missed.

sorry Sadie!

Ben is now 16. yikes!

Jack is 14- got his learners licence, but I still need to tell the tale on that one.

and Sadie is 10.

good times!

new year

for new years,

I always make resolutions.

a fresh start,

a new beginning.

one of them - I was thinking- is to blog more,

blog better. and yet,

I hadn't blogged yet.

sad. so here I am.

*my friend was trying to convince me I should run a marathon this year.

um- no thanks,

but I am making it a goal to run a 10k in September-

and actually RUN the whole way.

now that is a big goal. (for me, anyways)

*to do some scrapbooking.

- Cory will like that one.

*I am not sure about doing a picture a day- I did it last year (for most days)

and it gets to be kind of not fun most days-

but I am thinking of doing a 7/12 project-

take a picture of my whole family (the 7)

every month (the 12.)

not sure what I would do with all those- make a fun book maybe- with highlights of each month?- ooh, the wheels are spinning. hmmm. will have to think on that.

*clean out my craft room and make it into Maggies room. - I have a whole year, right? it might take that long.

*get my etsy shop stocked up with all the stuff I have stashed in that messy craft room,

and make those things I have imagined in my head, and get them into the shop- and sell more stuff in this shop,

or get a real job, because I really want to take a fantastic vacation- still deciding if it will just be Cory and I, or the whole family- and I really want to get out of debt, so I should probably contribute to the cause!

*generally keep my house cleaner, and make it super cute. big plans in store for that-

but trying to do it on the cheap, because I am trying to get out of debt.

* I am trying - just for January- to not spend any excess money- just food and necessities.

(although I did spend $0.50 at a thrift store yesterday on three adorable little bowls, but I don't think that really counts.)

*and to really not start any brand new projects that require more supplies, but to use up the stuff I have- in my messy craft room. I have some quilts in mind- but I should not need to buy anything except some batting.

*and I am going to read the whole Book of Mormon. I am going to find a cute chart I can fill in as I go- it is always fun to color in blocks as you go, right?

alright, I am off, to go clean up the living room, then maybe work on some stuff for the etsy shop. or a quilt. or something awesome!

happy new year!

December in a nutshell

christmas morning,

and the aftermath!

we went from having no lights up for most of December, to beautiful lights two days before Christmas!

the awesome part is that Cory bought even more lights to put on the tree next year!

can't wait!

gingerbread houses at school- the grades 2 and 5 do them,

so next year will be Maggie's turn- finally!

and the concerts.

oh the concerts.

this of course was a picture at Jeds.

Jacks was the night before,

the girls school concert was the same time as Jeds-

I hit the afternoon dress rehearsal, and Cory got to see the evening show!

it was a crazy whirlwind of a month-

it passed by so quickly.

now- trying to clean, dejunk,

and get lots of sleep!

yay for Christmas vacation!

(sorry- I really need to figure out how to get the words next to the appropriate pictures.-

goal for next year, perhaps?!)

merry christmas!

hope yours is super sweet!

random kindness

last night for family home evening

I wanted to do some random acts of kindness with my kids.

so we headed to walmart-

with some quarters,

and taped them to the candy machines,

and wrote merry christmas on the tape.

i think my kids would be so happy to find that,

so hopefully we can make some other kids happy.

I thought we could put carts away for shoppers,

but it wasn't too busy when we were there-

most people coming out were just holding bags,

and there was a worker in the parking lot collecting carts, so we didn't do that.

but-

we did head to tim hortons, and bought some tim bits- we took one box to the fire station/ambulance place, but the doors were locked,

then right when we were wondering what to do,

an ambulance came and parked,

so the girls and I went and talked to the super sweet, (and cute) young EMT- he was so kind to us and grateful for the treats!

then we headed to the police station

that was also locked,

but we picked up the phone by the door,

and a nice police officer came and took our treats.

he was very kind to us too,

and seemed grateful.

it was a fun evening,

and hopefully we helped others find some joy!

it's hard

so very hard to get my thoughts from my head to my blog. (if only my mind could post automatically- wouldn't that be something!)

and pictures? well, that adds a whole new level of work.

seriously.?!

(it's not really hard, but obviously not a big priority for me, or else I would do it)

but there is so much that needs documented.

like our elf on the shelf-

I will introduce you soon. - he is a tricky little guy.

and Jacks attempts at getting his learners licence-

just guess how many times it took him!

he is at his first Church dance tonight!

how exciting.

wow- my second kid already at dances?

where did time go?

- or like hanging out at Shoppers Drug Mart with JB himself-

okay, just a cut out, but still fun, right?

(the ladies working there just said to go ahead and do it, tons of people do!)

I am always tempted to ask what they are going to do with him when they are done with him- maybe we could bring him home.

now that would be fun.

well, until the boys drew stuff on his face- mustache, devil horns- that would be inevitable!

maybe one day I will get up the courage to check into it!

I will never say never. (ha ha)

he came to town

the last saturday in November

was our city's annual Santa Claus parade.

it is such a fun tradition.

some of the shops and banks down town give out hot chocolate.

(some hot chocolate is better than others- but now we know where to go for the good stuff!)

candy is handed out-

lots and lots of candy canes, of course.

it isn't that great as far as parades go-

lots of cars and trucks with signs,

but hey,

it is cold here in the north!

Santa is always on the very last float,

of course!

it was a fun time.

(and Ben had a friend come along.)

and the kids just moaned when I made them stop by a window and take a picture with me.

but they humored me,

and I love them for it!

super saturday

yes,

it was weeks ago.

I have been awful about posting about it,

because- although I had my camera there,

I did not pull it out once,

so i have no pictures.

not one.

sad.

but I will tell you about it.

we did two wood crafts- one was the stacked wood with vinyl words- a girl in our ward cut them out,so it was very affordable!

then the wooden nativities. I do love them.

so simple and beautiful.

I have some more wood and paint, and am going to make up a few for presents to give away. I scoured Michaels for weeks, and had my sister scour other ones in the city to find enough heads for everyone!

yikes.

(I took this picture at a ladies house we were at for a RS meeting- she had her crafts still out, so I snapped a pic, so at least I have something to show!)

the one craft I did, that I love- was a string of lights, with strips of fabric tied on them.

it took all the day, and more work at home- but I love it. sadly I don't really have a place in my house to display it.- so for now it is wrapped on my tree- which I do like, but I did just do a small string of lights, so I am now thinking of doing more lights so that I can wrap it more than 2 times around my tree.

I had a hot chocolate bar set up- with three different kinds of hot chocolate-

regular,

candy cane,

and white (my favorite)

with whipped cream, candy canes, sprinkles, and cookies to go in it.- and marshmallows, and cherries, and caramel sauce- the works. so delish!

I wish I had taken a picture of the gym at the church. but I didn't. forgot all about my camera until the decorations were down.

I made paper chains with white paper, and fancy paper snowflakes,

and they were hanging all around.

super cheap, easy- I am all over that!

we also had a lightbulb ornament- painted like a reindeer (way too hard for me!)

gifts in a jar,

and cardboard 3D stars.

and a card making table

pretty simple,

but it was a nice day!

tv.

we cancelled our cable a while ago.

I was okay with that. we didn't have a pvr,

so I missed alot of the shows I would have watched in the evenings,

and there really isn't anything too great on in the day time.

but recently we signed up for netflix.

and I discovered this show.

I think someone I know on facebook mentioned it-

drop dead diva.

it is really cute!

if you have the means,

I highly recommend checking it out.

alright,

off to go watch an episode, or 2!