It's 10:00pm on Christmas Day. The baby is sleeping, and my feet are up. I've yet to change out of my jammies or leave the house. We spent today with my brother and dad relaxing, eating, tinkering around the house and laughing.

I've edited and organized my picture folders, and burned some picture CD's. I thought since all that was done, I could update you a little on the goings-on around here.

We did manage to fix our floor fiasco in Denay's new bedroom. Trevor did the second coat on Tuesday and this morning we moved our little lady into her new girly room. I've uploaded some pictures I took Wednesday morning along with some pictures of what the room looked like during our first viewing before we bought it. The angles aren't the same but it gives you a good idea of what we were dealing with. Then try and picture the top half of the room blood red. That's what we started with.

There is still some decorating to be done but I will try and get some photos of all her furniture in there sometime soon.

I can't even describe how good it feels to have all the labour-intensive parts of this project done and have Denay settled. The room is quite a bit smaller than her other room but everything fits quite nicely. We are looking forward to a big girl bed and hand-me-down dresser (that was Trevor's Gramma's) coming over from the mainland to swap out with her crib and my old dresser.

We're breathing much easier around here!

:: Yummy Yummy Lipalicious ::

Okay, I'll going to buffer this email by saying that I am not being paid to blog about all of the product I've been endorsing! I just have so much on my "to blog about" list and I'm trying to get caught up.

While I was working in Edmonton with my SIL I couldn't help but notice her lips. Sure, that sounds weird, but not being a lipstick or lip color girl, I try to keep my eyes peeled for something that looks natural and looks good.

She let me try her C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint.

Let me tell you ladies, this stuff is seriously awesome. It's made with real peppermint oil and so it doesn't taste like petroleum and it makes your breath and mouth taste fresh. It's not sticky and it gives a slight natural tint with lots and shine. Not only that but it really works to moisturize and protect my lips and it never dries them out.

Shawna had offered to pick some up for me next time she made a trip south but it turned out that there was a B&B Work in the West Ed Mall (where they were making a trip) and she picked me up a few so I won't run out for a while!

Let me stress that I don't do lip gloss/tint/stick or anything but Burt's Bees Wax lip balm. I've used Mac's PlushGlass before but find it sticky and always used chapstick underneath.

To summarize, this stuff rocks!

FYI & Update

Hey all! Just thought I'd take a second here to do a couple things.

First thing, please make sure and check out my photography blog here.

Secondly, just an update on our floor refinishing project (because I know ya'll have been on the edge of your seats wondering how it's going). Long story short I put a coat of stain on last night and it looks horrid. By the looks of things we (meaning mostly me because I was in charge of the room perimeter) didn't get all of the previous varnish off so the stain didn't take and it just looks awful something fierce. So we're going to get in touch with the company that refinished our downstairs wood floors and see about hiring them to sand and we'll do the rest.

Sigh.

We're laying low today. Denay got super stuffed up last night and couldn't suck her thumb so she was very upset and hoarse and we're dealing with a snotty nose from the depths. But it gives me a day to be in my jammy's and clean and do laundry and read lots of books to Denay!

:: Alphabet Photography ::

This is by far one of the coolest, most unique things I have come across in a long, long time. I first stumbled upon this company when I was working with Cranberry Creek in Red Deer and fell in love. My big problem is that I have a really hard time making decisions sometimes so I didn't buy until a month later while I was in Calgary.

You can find their website here.

The website is extremely well done and I would encourage you to take a look around and especially check out the story behind the business.

Plus, at just $5 a photo they can make a great and very personal gift! I found my frame at Walmart for only $25.

I met the husband of the women who takes the photos and they are such wonderful people. There are even a few celebrities, including the PM of Canada, that own AP art.

Check it out!

:: Kicking Some Home Improvement Butt ::

We have lived in our house for over three-and-a-half years and our touch has been left of all but one of the spaces. I'll try and dig up what this room looked like when we first bought the house but you can see some remnants of the hideous four color border that has been the thorn in my existence. A couple years ago I had a serious lapse in judgement and painted the room blood red. Yeah, don't ask.

Back in January my mom bought Denay an adorable, girly poka-dot rug from Target and it's taken me this long to get my act together. The room Denay is in now has carpet and our spare room is the only one upstairs with wood floors so I've had it in the back of my mind to finish it so we can put her rug to good use on the wood floors. We bought primer and Trevor did that back in November (FYI-Benajmin Moore Paint RULES). Just before I left for Edmonton I finished the two coats of Misty Lilac paint. We were still left with the ugly painted border that was done so thick you could easily see the ridges under our new paint. We thought about beadboard but it was pricey and labour-intensive. The next best thing was a chair rail so last week after dinner we shipped off to Home Depot and came home with all the wood we needed. The next call was to my dad to ask if he would help me with all this tools and toys. So on Saturday he came for breakfast and we worked for six hours creating a three layer "custom" chair rail........

It goes without saying which the before and which is the after :) Yesterday I spent the bulk of my Sunday taping and then painting and painting and painting and managed to get it almost all done. Today was spent removing tape and doing touch-ups and then in the midst of our first snow storm I packed up Denay and it was off to Rona to rent a floor sander and to Home Depot for blinds. You can see best in the first collages the difference in the floors. Trev did a blitz when he got home from work and managed to get them sanded in just a couple hours. Then it was back to Rona to return the rental and buy everything else we need to stain and seal the floors.

Can you tell I am so tired of having an un-done, sloppy room in my house? We hope to have the floors stained and blinds hung before the weekend! Then we're going to move Denay into her new room.

As a side note, the wall color is much closer in person to the before picture than the after. On second it looks quite pink but it's a very soft lovely lilac purple and we plan to stain the floors a medium chestnut brown.

I can't even explain how satisfying it is to final have this project on it's way to being done! Can I get a holla from all those do-it-yourself mommas out there?!

~ Trimming The Tree ~

What do you do with a Christmas tree when you get it home? You decorate it of course!

It was so much fun with Denay being older this year and really being able to participate in all the activites. She was so proud of herself after each pine cone she put on the tree all by herself.
I saw on a fellow blogger friends FB status today that her young daughter saw the snow and yelled "bubbles". Denay did the exact same thing when she saw our snowfall today. Now she just says "no" for snow. She is quite taken with all the lights and calls them "riby" (pretty).

Her totally awesome Christmas present is in the closet upstairs and I can't wait for her to see it!

Hope all ya'lls Christmas preparation is going well!

| Picking The Perfect One |

One of the first things on my to-do list when I got back from Edmonton was to get a tree up in the house! I don't like getting one up too late because I like to get as much evergreen smell in my house as possible. We got another fresh cut local tree from a the same vendor as last year. Eventually we'd like to do the cut-yourself-from-a-farm route but this works great and we were very happy with our tree last year.

We made sure to get Denay's approval of course! Check back soon for pictures of the decorating process.

Smile, Your Normal.

I got this poem in an email for a momma friend of mine and I just had to share!

Have you ever asked yourself, “Do I Have ADHD?”

It’s a thought that crosses the minds of many stay-at-home moms. Why?

Because they think about the number of chores they need to do but don’t get to, or the projects they start but don’t finish, or the tasks they actually do but don’t do well.

“I don’t have a job. I’m home all day,” you may tell yourself. As such, you think you should be able to complete a simple task like sorting through the bags of hand-me-downs your neighbor dropped off. But you can’t get to it. Or you actually do start working through the clothes, but by day’s end your bedroom is filled with piles of clothing, which your kids then find and jump in. Since you now have to sort all over again, you herd the clothes into a large pile for dealing with on another day.

When your husband sees the mess and asks, “Why did you start sorting the clothes if you weren’t going to finish it?” or “What’s so hard about sorting clothes?” you either get really angry or you can’t answer, because you can’t think of a good reason why you didn’t finish the job. You hadn’t left the house all day, except to drive the three-year-old to and from preschool, and later to meet your kindergartner at the bus stop. You haven’t even made dinner, because you’ve been so busy sorting the clothes. What happened?

What happened is that instead of accomplishing a big task, you’ve performed dozens of tiny, uninspiring, seemingly meaningless tasks and chores and errands, each of which took a little bit of time but, when added together, consumed the entire day.

For instance, imagine you’re at your computer, trying to pay bills online while your toddler is entertaining herself nearby with toys. About five minutes into the banking your child approaches you with a runny nose:

* You get up from your chair to get a tissue.
* You return to your child and wipe her nose.
* You see that your child’s shirt is messy, as are your fingers.
* You remove the child’s shirt.
* You go to the kitchen sink to wash your hands.
* The sink has dishes in it, so you rinse the dishes to put them in the dishwasher.
* But the dishwasher is full of clean dishes. So you empty the dishwasher and then fill it with dishes from the sink.
* You tell your child to play with her toys while you go upstairs and get her another shirt.
* On the way, you toss the shirt into the laundry room.
* Passing the bathroom, you realize you actually need to use the bathroom. You do, and you use up the toilet paper.
* You go to the hall closet and get more toilet paper.
* You return to the bathroom to replace the roll.
* The bathroom trash is full, so you grab the bag and replace it with another.
* You go to your child’s room to find a new shirt.
* While there, you see that a sippy cup, full of milk, is in her bed, and that she’s left a wet overnight diaper on the floor.
* You put the diaper in the trash bag you’re carrying. (Wow, that was efficient!)
* You make your daughter’s bed and gather the sippy cup.
* On the way back downstairs you pass the laundry room and realize you should do a load of wash.
* You open the washing machine to discover there’s a wet load inside.
* You start to put those wet clothes into the dryer but the dryer is full.
* You pull the clean clothes out of the dryer and put them in a basket.
* You put the wet clothes in the dryer.
* You put the dirty clothes in the washing machine and start a wash.
* Since you don’t have time now to sort the clean clothes, you leave the basket of clean laundry on top of the dryer.
* Back in the kitchen, you put the sippy cup into the dishwasher.
* You try to shove the bathroom trash into the kitchen garbage but the pail is full.
* You take the all the trash to the garbage cans in the garage.
* You come back into the house and put another bag in the kitchen trash container.
* You find your child.
* Her nose is running again, she has gotten into the bills and papers you were working with, she needs a diaper change and it’s lunchtime.


How much time did it take to wipe that child’s nose? Fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? A half hour?

Imagine variations on this scenario playing out dozens of times a day. Imagine that same scene, except with additional offspring in the house. You’re not incompetent, and you don’t have ADHD. You have children!

:: Time-Saver Alert ::

So I have a confession to make.

I am meticulous when it comes to housework. I have a great appreciation for a tidy, organized and very clean home.

However, I hate cleaning my floors. And I don't mean vacuuming, I very much enjoy that actually. It's applying a liquid of some sort and slopping it around to remove dirt stuck to the floor.

So, frankly, I just never do it.

Near the end of October I got my SIL Shawna's birthday/Christmas list and right near the top she had asked for a steam mop.

Long story, short it got me thinking how I might just actually clean my floors if I didn't have to get out a mop and bucket and chemicals to do it. Turns out a steam mop with great reviews was on sale for $25 off at London Drugs (which just opened in town a little while ago).

So I am now the proud owner of a SteamTek Steam Mop.

This mop is fabulous! It makes getting my hardwood and tile floors clean and sanitized without chemicals a total jiff. I feel so much better, having a little one around, that I'm using as few unnatural products in the home as possible. To make things even better, it's great for rugs and carpet and I've also used it to steam my mattress and pillows.

It's one way that I can make cleaning quick and easy and I'm all for it!

Near the end of November Trevor, Denay, my dad and myself drove down to Victoria for the annual Santa Claus parade. We were very close to cancelling last minute because we'd had a very busy day and it was rainy and cold here. But just before we hit the outskirts of Victoria, the roads were dry and the sky was clear!

Denay would have nothing of her stroller or someones lap, despite the chilly wind. She wanted to sit on the curb like a big girl.

We went last year when she was not even five months old and hope and plan to make this a special family tradition every Christmas season.

I couldn't have imagined, almost a year and a half ago, that I would such a smart, keen, hilarious and perfect little daughter.

Thursday was Denay's 17-month birthday and what a girl she is. She learns new words every day and is constantly amazing me with how observant and aware she is.

*click to enlarge*

She is the most helpful little girl I've ever seen. Always trying to help me with putting things in the garbage, putting her laundry in the hamper or loading laundry into the wash machine. A day doesn't go by where she doesn't notice me doing something and then try and help by lifting or moving something or passing me something or cleaning up a mess she made.

She knows lots of different animals and has funny versions of the noises they make. Doggies say "fffff" or woof and birdies say "twee twee" or tweet tweet. She is still a book fiend and her newest favourite is Dr. Suess's "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" that I probably read at least three times a day.

We're still a little slow in the tooth department but she does have a couple coming through right now. We certainly make up for that in the hair department though! I can't get enough of it.

It appears that our diligent and mostly consistent discipline and training are really shaping her into an obedient and thoughtful baby girl. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband who is willing to give as much energy into teaching and instructing as I am and am humbled at how God is working through us to guide us in the raising of our Nay-nay.

Denay, you are my one and only Sunshine.

*Sigh*
I guess it goes without saying that I'm a wee bit behind in my blogging.
I got back from my last stint with Cranberry Creek in Edmonton on Sunday and have been focusing on laying low and spending time at home with Denay (who is now 10 months old, I might add) and making up for all the time I was gone.
I feel almost too far behind to catch up but this is just a shout out to anyone that may actually still stop by here every once and a while, that I haven't forgotten you!
It's only two short weeks until Jesus' birthday and with our gorgeous tree up and decorated, I couldn't be more ready.
"See" you soon......

:: State Of Emergency ::

Some of you may have heard on the news about the flooding we are having in town. We pass this gas station on the way to church and last night when we were driving around survey's the chaos, the water in that same spot was was a couple feet deep

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/bc-flooding/#clip237803

Never seen anything like this in the 15 years that I've been here!

It was Thursday afternoon that they declared a State of Emergency but it looks like, weather permitting, things are looking up.

{ In My Next Life }

As if seeing New Moon wasn't enough, tonight my bestie and I are going to see the one and only Terri Clark in concert at the local theater. The coolest thing about tonight is that it is a Vancouver Island Exclusive. Meaning she's only playing here on the island.I think she's completely fabulous and am really looking forward to our evening. I'll be sure to try and get a couple good shots and post them for you! We're also going to the Santa Claus parade this afternoon with Denay so stay tuned for pictures from that as well!

Happy Weekend!

:: New Moon Mania ::

Thursday night was a day that I had been waiting for since the summer when I first read the Twilight series. Ask anybody that knows me well and they will tell you I simply do not read romance/fantasy books, ever. The only reason I ended up with Twilight in my hands was because I was desperate to have something to read for the rest of our holiday and borrowed it from a friend. Long story short I was quickly hooked and could barely wait for New Moon to come out. I had started re-reading Twilight a couple weeks ago and finished in time to pick up New Moon and refresh myself. I also borrowed the Twilight movie from my friend Megan (to the left of me in the picture) and watched it not once, but twice this past week.

We were lucky enough to get tickets for the sneak preview! Megan called me on Tuesday morning and asked if I wanted a "Team Edward" shirt. I asked her if she was getting one and with a laugh we both decided we would do it.

I left early on Thursday evening to give myself lots of time to get there in the torrential down pour and also to get a few errands done. I arrived at the theater at 7:00 and met Megan and her group of co-workers in line. Apparently one of the girls had paid her teenage brother to get in line at 1:00 in the afternoon to hold a good spot in line for us and thanks to him we were the second group in line.

:: Team Edward :: Keep in mind that the youngest lady in this group was me at 25 :)

They let us in at 9:00ish and at 10:00 the lights went down and the screaming started. I was really worried that silly teenagers would scream during the movie and ruin it for me but surprisingly that didn't happen.

By the time the last scene rolled around, I could hardly breathe and then, it was over. Black screen and gasping all around the theater.

We had a ridiculously good time laughing and acting like we were a lot younger than we are!

The movie? Loved it......of course the book was way better but they followed the story line really well and even quoted the book verbatim a handful of times.

Not going to lie, I'll probably watch it in the theater again ;)

:: Birthdays and Parties and Desserts, Oh My! ::

A couple weekends ago the family jumped a boat to the mainland to celebrate, well, a lot of birthdays!

Saturday night was P&S's celebration. We enjoyed a ridiculously good roast beef dinner complete with gravy, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and more! Then two different desserts and homemade ice cream. If any of ya'll don't know, this gal is a big fan of dessert :) Jacob and Denay were serenading us on the piano as well.....Trev was working the camera while I used S's for the cake shot. He's still learning!

Then Sunday was Cole's big 2nd birthday bash! It was farm themed and S* took it to the max! You can click the photos to enlarge......make sure to get a good look at the awesome cake in the lower right of this collage.

Presents and candles.

It's so fun watching Denay really start to interact with her cousins more and more!

On another note: sorry for the lack of quantity and interesting-ness (not a word, I know) on my blog as of late and for my serious lack of commenting as well! I honestly don't think I've ever had so many things going on at one time in my life and blogging has quite obviously taken the back seat. I've got one more week before I leave for back to back weekends of Cranberry Creek but I'll do my best to get you all updated before the madness begins again! Hope you're not getting too soggy *wink* with our above average rainfall. I don't want to start a panic, but if this keeps up, I think we're going to sink ;)

Handpainted and Perfect

During one of my breaks, I came across a booth full of signs. I had noticed people walking around with them and I fell in love. I made my way over and got to pick out the colors of the panel, the lettering and the decals. This is how it turned out......

I obviously don't have it hung yet but I can't wait to get it up! There's something to be said for unique, handcrafted stuff.

:: Lest We Forget ::

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scare heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, and saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

"They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We Will Remember Them."

I moved to tears a number of times as we took part in the Remembrance Day ceremony in town. So many husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and our world. Not only in the past, but in our present, young lives are being taken in the name of freedom and liberation.

I'll be really honest and say that it hurts me when people simply see this as another day off. If you are reading this then you are only separated by a member of our armed forces who has served overseas, and seen comrades fall, by one degree. I am the proud sister to a soldier.

It only takes half hour out of the day to take the time to respect those who gave us what we enjoy today, our freedom. Yet to some it seems irrelevant or pointless.

I would challenge you to take some time to look around at what we enjoy in the country, and let your heart break a little for the families that were broken for your freedom.

Lest, we forget.

Oh, How He Loves

I heard this song for the first time a couple weeks ago at the Praise 106.5 Praise Gathering at our church. Then I heard it again sung by David Crowder on the radio. While we were on the mainland this weekend for family birthdays, my SIL brought this video to my attention and it's just so powerful that I wanted to share.

{ Big Little Girl }

On the 31rst Trev put Denay in a little track suit with a tail on the pants and ears on the hood and took her to the Trunk or Treat event at our church and let her wander around before taking her to my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday.

While we were in Red Deer, Grammie bought Denay this adorable hand painted puzzle chair and as soon as she saw it she knew it was hers and it didn't take her long to figure out how to get in and out of it.

This wee girl has also discovered coloring. She doesn't quite get it yet but it's sure fun watching her figure it out.

It's hard to believe that she turned 16-months-old yesterday and before I know it she will be two! I continue to be grateful that I am able to be home with her and raise her and watch her change and grow. She's becoming increasingly more independent and insists on feeding herself most of the time now.

What a delight she is to me.