Another Month has Flown By

Not sure what happened to October but I do know the calendar has been flipped and it now reads November. We have completed the usual fall activities, Thanksgiving in Ottawa, full force into ice sports, the trip to Nauman's Pumpkin patch, selecting and making Halloween costumes, raking and playing in the leaves and carving pumpkins. Halloween has come and gone, with dangerous little morsels hanging around on every flat service. This does not help my cause but it will soon disappear once the novelty has worn off.

I am hurting today not because of my adventures on the ringette ice but rather the time change. The Ringette for Moms group meet last night for there Sunday night dose of laughter and fun. The 10 pm time slot was okay last week but this week was a killer with the time change. The 10 that really was 11 pm. I have to say that Anne & Jenn(the friendly, experienced leaders)are extremely patient with our inexperience. They must leave the arena and bust a gut at our truly bunny ways!

Besides Halloween on Saturday we had hockey, dance, and a birthday party. Avery was on cloud nine when she scored her first goal in the game. She went without a goal last year and was bound and determined to score in her first few games. She did it and I was proud. I was jumping up and down with tears in my eyes. Such a proud moment. I was so happy for her!

On this past Thursday night I celebrated with friends as 3 great women celebrated milestone birthdays. Happy Birthday Kristyn, Jannine & Cindy. Thanks Jane for hosting and to Amberlea for making the cake. As usual it was delicious. I didn't take my camera so I didn't get a picture - you will have to believe me that it was stunning. Here is a picture of the cards I made for the girls.



Meredith and her Waterloo Wildfire Stars played in their first game yesterday against Guelph. Unfortunately they ended up on the wrong side of the score but they had a great time. Mer even got an assist.

I will leave you with a few fall pictures from the past weeks.


Here are the girls on Halloween - Meredith was an owl and you can see what Avery dressed up as. Just for you Grandma!




Until next time - happy fall!

Catch Up Post

Well, the middle of September and things are moving at a great pace. So much has happened. Almost impossible to catch up but here are the highlights.
* Both of the kids are in school full time taking french immersion - Mer grade 1 and Avery grade 3. Both kids are settling well into the routine and both like their teachers.
* We started the school year with a new morning routine that is eliminating some of the stress. Thanks to my friend Marnie for her High 5 idea. What is it - before the kids come down stairs they need to get dressed, brush their teeth and wash their face, make their beds, put up the blinds and do a quick tidy of their room. It is amazing how this routine High 5 routine is getting done with ease and most of the arguments are eliminated. This also gives us time to practice music in the morning.
* Both kids started music again. Avery has switched to the violin and Mer is playing the piano. I love the discipline that music provides. I love that they can practice in the morning before school.
* Both kids are doing ice activities this year - Avery is playing hockey and starts this weekend. Meredith is playing ringette and has made the Bunny Major team - she has been on the ice 4 times already! Anyone with girls that is interested in an ice sport I would highly recommend Ringette. The Waterloo program is amazing with great coaches and they get to do power skating as part of the program. If the kids are under 8, the cost is only $175! Mer loves it.
* I am getting into the swing of being home by myself. I have high hopes for my self and super long to do lists - unfortunately not much has been stroked off! It will come. I have been playing some golf and that has been great. I have also ventured back to the gym doing some of the boot camp classes. I am claiming the last 2 weeks as my vacation time! I am starting ringette in a couple of weeks.
* Last week I was lucky enough to go and see U2 in Toronto. Truly an amazing concert. I loved the old stuff they sang. It was so cool to relive memories of Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, and Achtung Baby. They sang all the favourites - With or Without You, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Still Haven't Found what I am Looking For, One and many more. I loved it. The stage was incredible and we had great seats. Thanks BIZ and Phil. We had such a great time - limo, dinner, concert, after party at the CN Tower, loot bags. Thanks to Linds for babysitting.



photos taken by The Rusk.
* We have been busy putting up local food. Between the last 2 weekends we did 2 bushels of tomatoes. We canned about 40 jars of tomatoes, made pizza sauce, salsa and pearsauce. I still need to finish up the zucchini relish. My plan for tomorrow. I wish we could preserve more of the local fresh produce.
* On the last week of the summer my mom took all the girls on a mystery road trip - 3 adults and 5 kids to Great Wolf Lodge. Oh my gosh we had fun.
* 09/09/09 we celebrated with friends and had a great dinner. I guess Biz started a tradition on 08/08/08. 12/12/12 is the date that Andy & I need to plan for - I have got some time. What a great tradition.
* What I haven't been doing is SCRAPBOOKING. Need to get back at it - I am missing it.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

That is the summer passing us by at a rapid pace. As much as I look forward to September and new routines I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by. We have had a blast this summer. So many cool activities and people and trips and food. It has been a good mixture of busy and relaxing, family and friends and beach and swimming. So much really that I can't even recap. I decided to take a break from blogging and try and be present. I am giving myself a B+. I am trying to be more relaxed, trying not to use the word NO as much, trying to let the kids be more independent. For the most part it has been successful.

We are in the throws of the local food produce and other yumminess - we are eating it all up. I am not as busy putting food away this year but enjoying it fresh.
The kids started camp today - 5 day Ringette camp and will do a 10 day power skating session in the afternoons. I think that should pretty much tire them out. I am taking up ringette this fall. I always wanted to play hockey and my friend Anne has started a Ringette for Moms program so I thought I would give it a try. If there is anyone out there with equipment that will fit and is willing to loan it to me I would love that. It sure is expensive to get suited up!

So everyone and their brother has been asking me what I am going to do in the fall now that both the kids will be in school full time. I guess in the opinions of others, things need to change. For me I want to take my time, eat up the alone time, complete lists and lists of projects and get myself healthy. That is going to be enough for me. For our household, we work way better if I am present in the home. I like it that way. I am not saying that I will never go back to the real work force but for now I am happy how things are working.

Enjoy life and hug someone you love. Thoughts and prayers going out to little Ella!

Scrappy Mess

Look what I have been doing a little bit this week. Look at this mess. This is what happens to me when I am creating and especially when I have been creating more than one project. Do you see that little square of empty work space. Crazy - I know.

The kids have been at Girls Rock Camp this week and having a ball. My friend Andrea runs the camp and she ROCKS! She has developed an awesome program for the girls. The week isn't even over and my kids are asking about next year. Keep it in mind for next year if you have girls.

Family Vacation

We are back from our family vacation to Camp Mac Mac. When I am there it feels great and I have great peace. It means so much to me and I am happy to say that my family feels the same. It was one week of relaxing, games, food, family fun, fishing and just being together. It is a place where I have so many memories. It is a place that I never want to leave and when I do it seems like it will be so long until I return. Do you have one of those places? The landscape is beautiful and I crave being around the rolling waves of the water. When I am there it feels as if nothing else exists except the big sky, large expanse of water and the rocky rugged terrain. This place is not for everyone, but it is for me. So long until next year.

The picture above is the sunset from last Thursday night. The water has waves that are big,rolling and quite fierce. The sky has so many different colours that is almost unbelievable. With all of this there is a peace. Amazing.

Time Flies

312 weeks
2 190 days
52 560 hours and
3 153 600 minutes ago this beautiful girl was born



Happy Birthday Mer!
(posted one day late)

Last Minute Of Course

I am always working at the last minute. The deadline for Karen's Win a Go Scrapping Retreat is tomorrow at 12 noon. I just finished my canvas. It is going to go in the girls newly decorated bedroom. Andy and I felt like we were on Trading Spaces this weekend. The girls left around 5:30 pm on Friday night and they came back at 3:00 p.m on Saturday. We had less than 24 hours to tape, paint, clean up, and build 2 desks, 2 dressers and 2 chairs from Ikea. I am happy to say that we got it done but both Andy & I are exhausted. The room looks great and the girls were so happy - it was worth it. I have some finishing touches to make and then I will post pictures. We went with Bird's Egg Blue accented with Red and White with a little green. I love the colours and the room looks like a room suited for girls that are growing up. Any Silhouette users out there that want to help me out cutting vinyl circles?

Thanks for the great contest Karen- I hope my name gets drawn. Cheer for me.