Monday, January 31, 2011

My word: Focus

I've never chosen a word. I first heard of this "word" choosing on Ali Edward's Blog but could never come up with one. At first I thought I had to be "original" and couldn't think of one as literally hundreds (maybe even THOUSANDS) of people comment with their 'word'. This word is chosen for your reflection of the year - one word, to reflect the year ahead. ONE word. *ONLY* one. So very difficult for me. I'm a multi-tasker and by that I mean a do a lot of things, but never really get any one thing done (or at least done well!) Always too much on the go as I try to cram unrealistic amounts into a day that always and forever will only have 24 hrs. I read the other day (can't remember where, I must have been multi-tasking!) that a busy life doesn't mean a full life. Hello. There's an A-HA moment!
So one night while sharing my sleeping hours nursing Matthew, I began thinking and pondering my word. And then I heard my word:
FOCUS.
Ooooh, this is good for me. Focus.
For me this means to slow down. Throw away the long to-do list *gasp*.... grab the to-do list again, need that - but SHORTEN it! Have you ever stopped and looked at your to-do list and thought "Really? Do I REALLY need to do ALL this?" Probably not. Life would probably more or less stay the same if not everything had a nice solid line through it. I need to remind myself of this - REGULARLY!
Focus on what's important.
God.
Family.
Friendships.
Adventures.
The days are flying by so quickly they seem to blur into each other. I want to stay focused on today. How can I love, trust and serve God, TODAY? How can I make a difference in the life of my children, TODAY? How can I reach out and be an encouragement to others around me, TODAY?
Focus on the moments before me, and live in those moments.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Project For Life (PFL) WEEK ONE

My box arrived!! It arrived when I was so sick, so I kept it all packaged up until I was feeling myself again so I could savor & enjoy :)
This kit is perfect for me - everything is there ready & waiting for me. I hope to take the next few days and get caught up. I've been taking my photos, making some journaling notes so now that I have it all together - I get to sit and put it together.
My corner punch broke on me *gasp*, so I will order another one and then go back and round my corners on the photos I think.
So.... here is page one. Sorry about the photo quality. Lighting in our house STINKS! So I had to use a flash which as you know distorts things a bit and adds nasty glares, but this will at least give you an idea! :)
Hopefully if you click on the photos they'll enlarge for you so you can see it a bit closer-up :)
Left side
Right side.
Hoping to create some more today.....
Happy weekend to you!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Guess who's 5 months already :)

Well technically yesterday, I just didn't get on to post :)
He's still all smiles and is now blowing raspberries, grabbing at whatever he can and has found his feet & toes. The kids think it's pretty cute when he's in the tub sucking his little toes! :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Dinner for the...

No, not the Shmucks! :)
My son's teacher (when he was in school) who just had her first baby - a little boy named Ryerson. Today we worked together, packed up a meal for them and delivered it. The kids were all great in helping put this care package together. Megan made her delicious banana bread and AMAZING brownies and helped me this morning with making the pastry and the meat pie filling for the Cheeseburger Pie. The other kids entertained Matthew so we could get it down (that is SUCH a help!) as well as did some clean up and dishes. Of course we had to add a little ribbon and design paper ;)
Seeing as we were creating anyway, we made a number of pastry disks for the freezer, and a couple pies for ourselves for dinner. I let the Megan & Joshua decorate these ones, Sarah was busy folding laundry (yay!!)
Megan's (white pie plate on the left) had grape clusters and leaves with berries. Joshua cut out the first letter of their name, so a J, S & M :)
Perhaps not a a lot of bookwork today, but some great lifeskills & memories :)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

CLICK, CLICK

Sharing with you our Christmas thank-you cards. Yes, I make my kids write thank-you cards. Basically my "rule".... or "edict thinking" .... is....
If the person is not present when you open the gift, they need a special form of thanks. And well for me, what's better than a paper hug!
I'm happy to say they all made it out in the mail :) WHEW.
Good thing too as this week the NASTY cold/flu bug hit our home...a-a-choo!
Yes, we're still getting over it. Lots of coughing, sneezing, blowing, achy, shivering going on here. Needless to say we've been hunkering down, trying to stay warm in these -30 temperatures.
I've been busy the last couple of weeks taking my photos for the day. I have forgotten a couple of times but I'm not going to fret about it. Somedays might just be words while other days have two photos; that's what I love about it - FLEXIBILITY! Oh, how I need that in my life at this stage!
Unfortunately my printer is malfunctioning to the point of sheer frustration so I've ordered my prints online. Now I wait. *sigh* Why is waiting always so hard? SO, when they arrive and I have them, I'll share with you my first week :) I got the Project for Life kit in the mail and after finally feeling a wee bit better I cracked it opened and got it all put together, YAY! Little issue with the binder, but fantabulous customer service and they are sending me out a new one!
Life. Is. Good.


Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Project for Life

OK. I'm doing it. Didn't think I would. But... I am :) Thank-you Tania! (one of the most inspirational people I know!)
Have you heard of Project for Life by Becky Higgins?
Well I was thinking it would be overwhelming, too much.... then I watched THIS VIDEO and I thought.... I can do that. Take a picture everyday? Don't I do that already? Actually PRINT them off, add a little journalling and put it in an album - what a novel idea! :)
So... stay tuned.
And let me know if you're doing this project - we can share ideas. I've been looking at lots of blogs and videos to get some inspiration & ideas :)
Here's a little video clip of David (hubby) singing to Matthew. He always sings this song to Matthew, but for some reason today Matthew thought it was pretty funny!
oh, and video is horrible as it's taken with a lame camera :( But it's still darling!

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Happy New Year

Welcome 2011.
2011, wow. First time I've "written" that. New year, new goals, new perspectives... new. Love it. I'm still working on my "hopes" for 2011 and some highlights from 2010. One thing I want to do more of is journaling and documenting our life, so you may see that more on my blog now as it's a great way to go back and remember (or find useful journaling for scrapbook pages when I'm *behind*... or simply working backwards!)
This was our SIMPLE Christmas card this year. Had to be simple. I'm amazed how much time a baby requires in a day and just how little I actually get done - I think that's the part I forgot about it the most. I wake up with a list of things to do and go to bed with the very same list!
You know what though.... I don't really mind. I am savoring this special time. I *do* remember how very quickly they grow up and so those midnight snuggles and morning smiles - *bliss*
There will ALWAYS be dirty dishes, a messy floor, and "hot spots" throughout my house, I'll clean them up.... eventually!
Actually, you'll hear me spouting some FLYlady in the next while as I've decided to get back on my FLYlady routines to bring a little order to this {somewhat} chaotic, but happy, little home.
School starts again tomorrow - I wonder how that will go?
Kraft & Read Red cardstock (SU) and snippets of both SU and Basic Grey design paper. Linen thread, Fiskars border punch, SU rounder punch, clear stickles, copic markers, paper piercing tools, and buttons.
Done.