Christmas time is here again!

Just like every other year, we run around finding just the right gift for the right person. 

The hustle & bustle is just enough to make a sane person, well, insane. But we actually got done remarkably early, thank goodness. I just have a little baking to do & food prep for the turkey dinner with the hubbies fam jam.

We have the usual traditions & made some new traditions this year. 

A new one is the person who picks the winning team & closest score for the CFL grey cup game gets to pick out the Christmas tree!  Noah was the winner this year,  to which he was very thrilled for, he LOVES Christmas!  

Lovely tree

Baking is another tradition, and I've made a few things. I made something that I failed at last year. 

It's called sponge toffee or sea foam candy. Or Crunchy Bar. It was D-lish. 

Dipped it and gave some away to my family!  

I made some yummy homemade turtles, sugar cookies, whipped short bread & tarts too, but didn't get a picture!  

The last two years I haven't really been very excited for Christmas.  This year, I'm so excited.  Mostly cause we will be all together, giving thoughtful gifts & celebrating the real reason for Christmas!  

Our traditions will continue tomorrow, Christmas Eve, we will have pizza, go to church for the candlelight service, and then drive around to look at lights. We will come home and open a present, which is usually PJs. Maybe watch a movie or play a game & antisipate what the next day will bring us under the tree & in our stocking!  I'm so excited!  

I pray you & your family will have a blessed & memorable Christmas.  That Gods blessing will be with you wherever you may go to celebrate the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ!! 

Merry Christmas from our little family to you & yours!!  God Bless!

Well, that was fun...

NOT. 

OY.  I survived, we survived. And I have realized that as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE kids, I'm not cut out for full time child care. Part time is way better for me & my family!  

It was a long year.  Full time for two one year olds. And part time (full time summer) for a 5 yr old. We were blessed to have had the opportunity, for sure. And I truly believe it has helped my kids, tremendously.  They have grown up with very little opportunity to be around very little kids. And didn't have nearly as many babysitting jobs as I did as a teenager. But this last year has opened many opportunities for the kids. Emm has a part time in home child care job for 3 kids, one of which has been diagnosed with autism. Alexa has a weekly babysitting job and it just right for her at this moment in her life. 

AND, we are officially done with paper delivery at 5:30 every morning. That ended in May of this year. Phew!  The Leader Post made some changes, which I've since heard has been a poor choice, and they were expecting the carriers to pick up the papers at a central location & then still have them to be delivered by 7am. No way was I letting my 16 yr old daughter going out at 5am to a location where who knows who would be there!?  Right!!?  But, Noah & Breanna picked up a flyer route, which is just 3 days a week and not by 7am!!  So everyone is making money. Except me now....

Life seems busy and we don't have very many extracurricular activities. But the calendar seems to fill up fast. 

Christmas is less than a month away. 

New Year's Eve is always exciting, our oldest will be 17 this yr. This could have been her last year of school. That would have been cray cray. But we held her back a year. As much as I sometimes wish she was in grade 12 with all the other 1997 babies, I am glad she has another year before she's graduated. Ok, I'm gonna stop talking about this now, I'm getting nauseous!!

A little update from our family!   I wanna try to write more than 2 or 3 blog posts a year, but I wanna know who my audience is....who are you??  Tell me below in the comments section!!  

January

Has come & gone. It was an eventful month!

We did some traveling & had a sleepover at my moms!  It was so much fun!!  I can't wait to go again! 

  

My boy turned 14!!  He got a punching bag for his birthday. 

Super Bowl food was eaten while we watched the commercials err, the game. Ya. 

Snuggling

Green smoothies!!  I need to do more of these, I felt sooo good when I drank these last year!!

Some baking was devoured.  

A little bit if a warm spell, to enjoy some of this. 

Coffee. 

Curling. 

Okay, the last few were February. But I'm kinda caught up ish. 

HAPPY February. Soon to be March! 

 

BEFORE & AFTER & during {Fireplace photos}

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the way it turned out!!!!  Still a few more things to do!  That corner will change too!  It's still a work in progress, but I'm happy with the stage it's at now! Our living room felt huge before, well it feels even bigger now!  

It's been a while

The title used over and over by many at-home mom bloggers. I've been busy (exuse #1). As I'm sure I mentioned, I started child care for a 5 yr old boy. That's going fine. I am sure I also mentioned that I was looking for one more. Well I got one more & then another & also oodles, well probably not oodles, but a few more inquiries. I could probably start a lucrative business. If I wanted. But I don't, yet. My kids come first, always have, over work outside (inside) the home. 

So far he's been a good addition!  Fits right in! And the babies are loved 

Busy, but loved. 

Thanksgiving & Christmas have come & gone. We even celebrated my oldests 16th birthday 2 days ago!  Hard to believe I'm old enough to have a 16 year old, I know. But once you realize I was 12 when I had her, you'll see how I can really not be old enough to have a 16 yr old. Haha. And if you believe that, then you don't know me.  But seriously, she's a precious gift from God & we are very thankful He gave her to us to raise here on this earth. What an amazing responsibility.  But God doesn't give you more than you can handle right? 

As I sit here in the quiet after having a week off of responsibilities, and at the start of a new year I am realizing all there is to be thankful for!  Yes, I've had bad days, and angry days and sad days. But have so much to be thankful for.  Our health is the first one. We are all healthy & one thing I am thankful for, is the knowing how to eat healthy too!  We may stumble & fall a few times, but I feel thankful knowing that it happens & we can not make it a habit. I struggle on a daily basis with food. I felt so good last year when I was eating much healthier, not drinking coffee, doing green smoothies. I want to get back there. I know I can, it's just a matter of flipping a switch right? I wish it was that easy. 

I always have so much going on in my head, I had to write a list to get it all out. I'm sure I didn't get it all, but most of what consumes my thoughts, besides the usual, what should I make for supper today thoughts.  Do you have the same problems? Things consuming your mind daily that 'worry' you or 'stress' you?  How do you deal with it? 

We've had some fun, expensive things happen in our livingroom. 

We had installed a natural gas fireplace into the old wood burning hole. It has been quite the project from start to finish, one that we never had one single hand in (except the destruction of the faux brick facade, which was fun by the way, and very helpful in relieving the pent up aggression I had after losing my dad so suddenly). It's turning out so fabulously, much nicer & a lot faster than if hubby & I took on the reno!  We plan on putting the tv up there & creating more space in our livingroom!  I'm so excited, and trying to be patient waiting on people to come & finish up the little things that need to be done before we can install the tv mount & then the tv.  I'll post a before & after when it is all finally finished! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE & ALL!  

Do something new this year, learn to Love more, and God Bless You!