Christmas with us and guests

Christmas has come and gone. We had my parents up for a visit from Ontario for a couple weeks and it has flown bye. They stayed at my in-laws s we all had some space and it seemed to work great. We played literally hours of cards, and drank lots of tea and coffee. The kids got lots of cuddles in and climbing to on poor grandpa.

We all had the cold at one point over the holidays. So here is grandpa who was basically sick the whole time but certainly put on a brave face through it all. My daughter sure loves her grandpa and got tons of cuddles.

Here is our tree, a real tree. I do love the Christmas tree, and wish we could have it up all year. (I do not necessarily love the vacuuming everyday but hey I got a Dyson for my birthday so not such a chore to vacuum anymore.)Daddy worked nights Christmas Eve. So the kids had to wait until daddy got home at 8:30am to open anything. They were very patient. I think the kids loved the chocolates and candy canes they got in their stockings.
Okay obviously my daughter loved the princess activity/coloring book she got too.

My daughter got a cabbage patch doll for Christmas and I .... I mean she loves it. Ha ha. They are so cute and smell like baby powder.
My son got walkie talkies... not so clear and not a big hit but oh well.
He also got a playmobil castle with knights and that was a bit hit. He loves his castle and knights and swords, but his little sister wrecks it and mommy has to keep the little pieces up. AHHHH little sisters. It is a real challenge with toys and different ages of children.
My parents loved my in-laws tree, it is beautiful. So, they got a picture with the kids in front of it. It was a good Christmas and New Years celebration.

November and December: Lots of fun

November and December has been full of fun times. A good way to end the year for sure.

My sweet little niece (the one in the pink) came to visit so we had a baby party( I invited my friends with little babies over).
Around my house you can find a super hero and a princess from time to time. (and baskets of laundry to be put away too)
We had some friends stay a weekend. (aka I babysat my friends 2 little ones for a weekend) And by the way I could have four kids if my husband would let me! Maybe not 4 under four like this weekend was but four kids spread out for sure. Grandma and Grandpa Rice came for Christmas all the way from Ontario. My daughter sure loves her Grandpa.

And a one eyed pirate always has time for a quick cuddle with Grandma!
Here are my kids wrapped in love sent from afar! My sister and her family sent the kids these blankets of love, and they sure like them!

I turned 31 a couple of days after Christmas and I can see that what I have accomplished thus far in my life are great! I love my two beautiful children.

So, Merry Christmas to all! And to all the best in the New Year! I plan to have more of this in the New Year and become a better, and "smaller" person in the New year. What do you want for the New Year?

My little soccer boy!

My passion is soccer, and so it was very exciting that my son started playing soccer this year. He is sitting right next to the coach. I am the manager and help out at practices and when the coach is gone.
My son is the one in motion in the foreground. He is really getting the hang of it. He loves his new friends probably more then the sport and that is okay.
My daughter comes usually and just plays on her own or if I am running it she comes with me on the field and "plays soccer" a little while the kids practice or warm up.


This is what fills our Saturday and Sunday mornings lately.

Shed/Playhouse

Our little carpenters. They were all decked up with their safety goggles and "hard hats". Their tool belts were filled with real tools, a hammer, tape measure (not safe for children, Ethan cut his hand on it), pencil, gloves, ruler.


Helping daddy was great fun. This is as far as we got this year. Well we did put the wrap around. The kids loved helping. It is going to be a shed on the bottom with a playhouse up top. There will be stairs on the far side with a slide beside that, and on this side we will put out a beam with swings on it. We will finish it in the spring and this summer our backyard will be the place to be. My husband is a great daddy.

Halloween or as we say candy day!

My Princess and my knight. They sure love to dress up so Halloween was a big hit. Even though it snowed and the kids had to wear their snowsuits they still had fun. We finished the night with a visit to Grandpas and Grandmas. The kids ate some candy and played with their cousins. It was fun. I know this comes almost a month late, but had to post this anyways.

My castle has a Superhero, and a princess

Things around our house has been fun these days. The kids have really been enjoying dressing up and play make believe. I am just loving seeing them grow up and play with such great imagination. It has also been gloomy and rainy out as noted in my last post. We have been going for walks in the rain with our umbrella's and singing for Mr Sun to come out and play. So, the fun creativity is good for being stuck inside for the majority of the day. I guess it is inevitable since winter is around the corner and soon enough it will be to cold to play outside.

Winter seems not so gloomy this year since my daughter is older now and can be out in the cold longer. I am planning on getting on my cross country skis which I haven't been on in years. Also, I bought my 4 year old his own little pair. I'm thinking I am going to put my daughter in the back pack carrier during our outings. This is all in my effort to loss this weight and be healthier. I think I am doing the organic change well since my husband says to me the other day "you really are going green aren't you". So funny I thought, but also encouraging that he sees the changes I am making in our house and with our family.

So today at lunch I had to tell my kids to eat up their cheese sandwiches. They were just eating their broccoli, cucumbers and dip. I mean this is a great problem to have. My kids prefer raw vegetables and I try and make these part of their meals as much as possible. They also love yogurt, and fruit. Of course my kids are not perfect and their are days when they barely eat anything.

My kids are really good at playing together on their own. And I am really not sure what to get either of them for Christmas. My son asked his dad today for a telescope for Christmas and I am not really sure where that came from. He is really loving his hot wheels cars, and says he likes outer space and knights. I'm not sure what to get him for knights toys, and would love any suggestions if anyone has any. He is going to be a knight for Halloween. My daughter is still young and seems happy to play with whatever her brother is playing with, and of course she loves dolls. She has lots of dolls, I think she is going to get some doll accessories like a bed, carriage. As Christmas approaches I am going to get the Operation Christmas boxes for each of the kids to fill for some other child. I want them to start understanding at a young age that Christmas is about giving and celebrating the love of God through helping the poor.

I am now sitting here thinking of Christmas. My parents are coming up to celebrate it with us which is great since we haven't been together in 4 years for Christmas. However I think of the rest of my family and wished we lived closer. My mom had a fall and has been in a lot of pain. I wish we could just come over and bring her flowers and hugs. My nephews are playing hockey and I wish I could go watch them play. My nieces and little nephew are going through a pile of stuff with their parents getting divorced and I wish I could be there for them. My Nana and Uncle Peter and getting older and are both in senior homes. I wish we could go visit them and brighten their days. So, my family are on my mind lots these days.

My husband's family are up in this area of the country, some closer then others. We welcomed a new little niece in the summer, and are looking forward to another new niece or nephew in January. The kids can see one set of Grandparents on a fairly regular basis which is great. I am remembering to count my blessings and my husband's family really are a major part of our blessings. More blessings are our friends up here. I am just looking for a small group bible study for our family to go to. We love our church and I am hoping to be able to connect with some other families in the church to grow together with.

So,this post has been a goulash of information. My little superhero and princess and currently watching Nemo and chilling on the couch. I am learning to live each day through the good and the bad with an optimistic perspective. In this castle with my superhero/knight and my princess how could I not see things as if I were in a fairy tale. I am loving my castle and my little inhabitants, and even thought the King can be grumbly most days I am trying to be his encourager and the best Queen I can be.

The sky is grey and my kids are the glowing lights

I have been feeling grey, as the sky has been so grey lately. I'm trying to remember to take my vitamin D. Winter is most certainly upon us. It is also Thanksgiving weekend but my husband works shift and is working over it. I am missing my family back in Ontario and wishing I could be there. Don't get me wrong I am happy here, I have a great husband, friends and my husbands family are here and are great. I just wonder what it would be like to live closer to my family, and my nieces and nephews. I have missed them growing up and that makes me sad. It makes me sad that my kids do not really know their cousins there.

On a positive not we have had a great summer and fall. The kids are growing up so fast, and I feel like the days with them are flying away. My son will be starting kindergarten next year. People have asked my why I am not putting him in preschool. And I am very glad for my choice to keep him home this year. He has been learning things with me, and I have really been enjoying watching him learn new things. Also he has been playing so well with his little sister. I also love it that she has him around still so she can learn how to share, and how to compromise and play what someone else wants to. They are really good friends. I wasn't ever close with my siblings growing up so it is a real blessing to see my kids be best friends. I am trying to instil in them they have to think about each others feelings and what the other one wants to do or play. I think raising children who can care about thing and people other then themselves does the whole society a benefit.

Anyways, through all the grey skies shines my beautiful children. So for this Thanksgiving I say that I am thankful for them. It really is a blessing and such an honor to be a mother. I am thankful for my husband who I love so much and who gave me these beautiful children. He always makes me laugh and I just have fun with me. He is currently building a shed/playhouse in the backyard. The kids are so excited and say that daddy is building them a castle. I have some cute pictures but can't get them loaded so I'll ask my techy husband tonight to help me. The kids have their own carpenter gear and are soooo cute in it. Also, they are into dressup lately, my house is usually a castle with a knight and a princess in it. Or a scene of mr incredible and a princess, or a dance studio with the ballerina duo. ha ha I love my kids.

Hope all of you can see your glowing lights through the grey clouds!

Going green, doing the job right

I like to believe that in life I strive to do the job right. I have had a hard go over the last 4 years learning on this ever changing job of motherhood. It does not come with a guide, or a "list of duties", or a how to manuel. But when I break down what I have been doing and what my job is it is to watch out for the health and welfare of my husband and kids. Okay I will break it down for you all. I dress them with laundered 'clean' clothes, I feed them with 'nutritional' food, I keep the place they live in 'clean', I make sure they are well rested in a safe environment. I also teach them about God, do a lot of budgetting, and bill paying and organizing... I am not going to list everything. My point is that I have a job that I have been only partially doing right. The clothes have been laundered with chemicals and irritating phosphates, the food has been processed or full of pesticides and hormones, the house cleaned with dangereous chemicals. I have seen the error of my ways and am trying to better life for us.

I have been on a journey over the last couple months to a healthier me. This has lead me to my natural path doctor, who has been a true blessing to me, and my body. All these positive results have directed me to really see where I have been going wrong and how to change. Sure I have been thinking for a while that we have to take care of our environment, and to be cautious of processed foods. However it hasn't been to recently that I have truly grasped the severity of it all. What’s On My Food? :: Pesticides On Food is a great site for learning about the harmful things in our food. My healthy friend put me onto this site and I am learning from her and the priorities they make in their family.

As I said earlier I have been trying to do my job right but have been failing unknowingly. I have been living as an uneducated person who puts priorities on the wrong things and does not see the dangers under my own roof. I am on the journey to green cleaning products, organic produce and meat, and natural materials. The latter is a major undertaking and am mostly starting with the cleaning products and food.

So, you ask me how am I changing these. First, I am researching the best cleaning products and am leaning towards lemons, vinegar and baking soda. Secondly, I am buying mostly organic produce, and am going to check out the local farm next week to hopefully get some corn, carrots and potatoes. I have some been using some organic chickens from a farmer around here, but am looking into some other organic farms with both beef and poutry. ( I have some numbers to call) Thirdly and most importantly I am placing this as a priority in our lives, budget and mindset.

That is that for me. I need to sleep, rest and keep thinking green, natural, health for my family.

The Journey

Why are we as a human race such beings of defeatism? I mean the goals we strive for seem to get lost in the mundane self defeating actions that occur in an instant. I find that as I move to make the mental decision to be more astute about my healthy living choices, that I inherently throw road blocks ahead of my self. It can be seen through out history, and retrospectively in my own life, time and time again. Maybe it is the goal itself that clouds ones perspective of the journey. Anyone can see how war is the result of one person’s goal to rule, their way. The journey there leaves bodies and desolated land in it wake. The goal is ultimately lost in those self defeating actions that time and time again seem to overthrow all else. As a human race we are unique in this animal kingdom of earth that we do not seem to learn and adapt. Throughout history there is a plethora of examples to learn from, yet we are still choosing to look at a goal and not the journey. It would do us all good to think about the process, to literally take our head out of our ass and look at how everything effects everything else in the world around us. So funny because I have certainly had my head in my ass for the last couple of years that is why I write that. To be so lost in self.

All this to say that I have finally come to the realization that I am on a journey. I need to not get lost in the goal of 80lbs to lose. I have been definitely self sabotaging with my late nights (early mornings no choice with child A+B), lack of exercise, and occasional ice cream indulgences. I did a liver cleanse which I found went well, except for the yeast infection I got at the end. Two weeks of a limited diet, and drinking smoothies with powder cleanse aid. When I came off I found I didn't really like some things; white bread, ketchup. However instead of taking things slow and reintroducing things while observing the reactions, I have just been eating crap here and there. I mean why? I did all that work for two weeks, and have landed myself right back into the problem eating of having something I am intolerant to, milk, or fatty (or both) and feel guilty and end up just letting my values slip.

I believe this will be a journey of weight loss, but I believe even more that it will be a journey of self discovery. I said it before and I say it again I believe a lot of the things in life that either defeat us or empower us along the way are first developed in ones mind. Negative talk, or thought is the greatest form of self defeatism. I know I need to become a encourager, to myself first and then those around me. If we are to learn from our mistakes, if we are to become better we must make that mental decision to take care on the journey. For if we get lost on the journey we will never reach the goal.

My favorite hymn through all the struggles and joys of life is Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in his marvelous face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

For me this means that if we live in this grace, and give to others the grace we have received this journey is doable.

New Vacuum give away

My Organized chaos http://www.myorganizedchaos.net/2009/08/dyson-vacumn-with-giveaway.html is having a Dyson vacuum giveaway. I really need this vacuum, since I feel like my carpet is never fully clean. Check out this blog it is a great realistic view on things, and it has awesome giveaways too.