Girl Power

When I was growing up, it was all about hanging out with the boys. It was getting dirty in the back creek and playing flashlight tag until that final final call from Mom to come in. My wardrobe was jeans, t-shirt and a baseball cap. For the longest time it was the Champion baseball cap.

I cannot tell you the amount of times someone mistook me for a boy. I mean, even if my hair was a little longer than usual, chances are it was tucked up underneath my hat.

I picked leggo over barbies. I liked girl stuff, but there was no doubt about it, I was a Tom Boy.

Why I am surprised to find my daughter doing the same, I am not sure. She has always been determined, and stubborn - so I guess the Tom Boy quality came from me too. She will still put on a dress or skirt, then follow her brother into the woods and come out dirtier than any of the others that were there.

If she gets a hand me down from her idol Braydon, it's cool cuz it's a boy thing. Her best buddies at school don't go by the names Jane, Sally or Sue - it's Jacob, Jamie and Spencer. For the record, my two first best friends weren't Jane or Sally either, they were Sean and Christian.

So my tough little Princess I guess is a whole lot more like me than I thought. I still prefer a pair of jean and shirt over my skirts, but I love my heels and jewlery too. She'll get it. She'll be that perfect girl - running around playing ball with the boys in a skirt.

Before and After

Crazy hair before

Not so crazy after (well he is still crazy, but his hair has been tamed)

Some B Time

Today was a professional development day for Braydon. Since I was still owed some time from Christmas break, I decided a date day was in order.

We started the day by registering Kaylee for kindergarten. How she is that old I have no idea!!

Anyhow, he got to pick and the Aquarium was his choice. We saw all the regulars, but this time I noticed he spent more time learning things about the areas. He continued to teach me things as we went through and we had a great morning.

What is a date day without at fancy meal? Well if the choice is up to a six year old (at least mine) this meal comes from McDonalds! We headed home to eat our feast and then played some Wii together (where he continued to kick my butt).

He is now playing with his friend and we will go pick up KJ soon. She gets a special day Friday with me!

The Need to Create

There are days that I just have the need to create. There are nights that it is so strong I actually get out of bed to let myself get my creative energy out on something (usually paper and glue). I have always had this urge and as the years go by, the urge seems to be stronger. Chris keeps asking if the scrapping phase will go away anytime soon, and I laugh. He knows it's here to stay.

Today is one of those need to create days. It actually started last night when I was playing play doh with the kids. Play doh is just as fun at 37 as it is 7. It's nice that it's one of those forms where there aren't any "rules" (although I did request that they don't mix the colours totally all together) and everyone can play. Kaylee got two awesome play-doh sets for Christmas with every cutter / shaper / roller one could need. It's also one of those outlets that everyone gets to do their own thing, or make something together. It's a bit messy, but so worth it (BTW, I made a very beautiful sun yesterday).

Aside from pulling off two pages today, I was also creative in the kitchen. I made a chocolate cheesecake and am about to go make dinner for our friend Jim which includes mushroom peppercorn steak, potatoes, and stuffed tomatoes. Mmmm.

Well the creativeness also leaves a mess - and since our cleaner came yesterday (can I say how much I LOVED coming home to a clean house) I need to keep up and keep it tidy. And I think I will take my camera with me on the dog walk to see what other creative things I can do today.

Getting Use from Things

I wanted a scanner / printer for Christmas because I have all these old photos that I wanted to do something with them. Not that I don't like scrapping pics of my own kids........but hey, I was a cute baby too!! I did this one for a challenge with Creative Scrappers and since red is my favorite colour, I thought it was best to throw a little in there too.

Speaking of things to use, let's see if I use what I bought today - a new vacuum. We went with a good one, hopefully one that will help Chris' health. It's a Dyson animal -which has extra filters and a truely good brush to get pet hair out of carpet and couches. Not that I have had a ton of experience with multiple vacumms, I have to say that without a doubt, this picked up fur like I have never seen before.

Now.....I guess the real trick is turning it on and using it!!

Time Together

This weekend, everyone got some time. Myself included (well, as I write this, it's some of my "me" time).

Friday I had to work in the morning. Sometimes it just is that way. But the afternoon was filled with a little scrapping, a dog walk, some errands and stuff. Stuff always fills time. Friday night I got to play Wii with the kids (where Braydon continued to kick my butt and KJ continued to cheer on her favorite family member - Braydon), but hey, I'm getting better at baseball!

Somehow we ended up with a free pay per view movie, so Chris and I got our education on Hitler via Tom Cruise. It was a good film, but a little deep, but good. Redeemed Tom a bit for me (the whole couch jumping on Oprah really lost me).

Saturday was a mix of things. We finally got our Christmas visit with the Knibbs. It's hard finding time that two busy families can get together - but always good to see friends. Chris had baseball stuff followed by softball stuff. It's January, but it must mean ball season is close by.

Saturday night was date night. I won hockey tickets from work, so we got to go see the Penguins and the Canucks play. Even better, we won 6-2. Even better, Mom and Dad had a sleepover withthe kids which meant we didn't have to run home.

Unfortunately I had to work today, but that's life. When I got home I spent time colouring with Kaylee while Braydon and Chris built leggo. Braydon joined in on the creative stuff, and was so proud of himself when he completed a word circle project. All this followed by a roast beef dinner and then bath for the kids.

I did manage to clean out my bathroom closet. It was full of stuff as it was a place to stuff stuff. I emptied a full garbage bag and could still get rid of more if I knew where to put it! While the scale sucked this week (blame it on bloating) I at least still ate well, and was healthy about cleaning clutter. One week at a time right?

The me time is now. It's 10:30 Sunday night and I am alone in my living room. It's peaceful, but I am watching American Idol (oh how I love my PVR) from earlier in the week. I have a little snack and no one is calling my name.

Health Revisited

So I sit here with a glass of red wine after a very busy day. Red wine because it's high in iron, and that apparently may be an issue of mine. My blood test results for my thyroid were normal, which surprised me (and my mom). So I said to my doc "so I'm cold, tired and can't loose weight cuz I am 37? Is that it?" Since I'm not really a complainer, he knew I wasn't happy with a nothing result. I'm still loosing my hair, I'm still cold, I'm still tired, and while I did loose weight last week, well - if I am being honest, the only answer to that is to keep being healthy daily - so let's remove that. Plus, I'm more snappy than usual - which I was hoping to blame on my thyroid. I guess I have to blame myself.

However, I am being sent back to review my iron, which may or may not cause some of that. And my doc said that if it comes back neg and I'm not satisfied, to book a longer appointment to figure stuff out. Which means really look at my life, figure out what is making me crazy and deal with it.

I already know - and am working on my plan. Good thing I picked health as a word.

First, we have found a house cleaner. I cannot tell you how excited I am. I have to say that this is one of the largest stresses in my life because when I get home, I want to play with the kids not clean the floor. Hopefully this will help.

Secondly, looks like work is going to continue for Chris. While they cannot guarentee this, it's nice to know that it looks good and we can continue "normal" life.

Third - I am planning a me night each week. Where I go somewhere in the house and cannot be bothered unless my first aid skills are required (and I'm looking for more than a tummy ache). It could be to nap, to read, to do yoga, to watch cheezy TV, to cuddle with my dog. It will not be for being a wife, a mother, or even a scrapper. Yes, it's even a break from scrapping. It's me quiet time.

Ok, just writing this out is helpful. Oh ya, I am also scheduling tasks and chores for the rest of my family. This too should help on balancing out the playing field. Those kids are old enough for labour, so I shall put them to work!

PS - I do have to be thankful for a husband who knows that I had one of those days and suggests (wisely) that we pick up sushi instead of me cooking. Smart man.

Missing

Missing teeth! Braydon lost yet another tooth today, that is two in three days. At this rate, the tooth fairy is going to go broke.

He just smiles ear to ear and says he looks like a hockey player. That's my Canadian boy! And while it's cool to see him so excited, all I can see is my baby growing up. :(

3,2,1

Ahhh, a new day. Can I explain how much I love antibiotics? So what is with the numbers.

3
That is how many pounds I lost last week!! Yipee. Off to a good start. Honestly all I did was eat breakfast, not snack on crap, and watch overall what I was eating. Hopefully this is just the start and next week will make me a loser again.

2
That is how many days I lost to strep throat. I cannot remember being that sick, at least it's been a long time. It knocked me out for two days. Like out out. Slept through the day on both Thursday and Friday. Today I feel semi normal, and I am sure that tomorrow I will be much much better.

1
Is how may lay outs I did today. Kaylee helped. I had plans for many more, but we ended up doing a bunch of different things this morning (really fun stuff like grocery shopping and vacuuming) and then this afternoon I actaully organized some of my scrap stuff. Still lots more to do, but I'm getting there. Actually purging out some papers that I don't / won't use, and trying to organize the bits and pieces. Always a challenge.

So in order for me to stay healthy, I am heading to bed early as it's "monday" for me tomorrow. Let's hope for an easy day and the antibiotics to continue to do their thing.

Irony

My word, health, is already testing it's limits.

I am sure I have strep throat. Chris has it, along with a chest infection. Kaylee has a staph infection. At least Braydon seems to be ok (although he was the first one sick).

Tomorrow I hope for antibiotics.

Happy Birthday Skrap n Chat

One year ago today, the little site that could, Skrap n' Chat came to be.

I cannot believe how fast the the time has gone, the friendships that have been created, the scrapbooking that has happened, the things that I have learned, all of it amazing.

So much has come from this site, and I am looking forward to see it's grown and changes over the next year. Thanks to all the ladies out there who make it happen, it's definately a team organization!

While I am at it......

I thought I would throw in my hat for the DT at Twisted Sketches. I love their stuff, and so many things can come from a great sketch. The time commitment is two LOs a month, and we all know I do more than that!

I will fess up, I used to think sketches were cheating. Then I figured out how much more you could do /add / play with and I was in love. It's so nice to have a platform in which to work from, and then make it your own.

This is Braydon on Christmas day, enjoying the goalie gear from Santa. He's a happy kid when playing hockey!!

It's also some of my last scenic route product. Actually, the papers and chipboard just arrived today, but since they no longer make it.....well it's going to be hard to part with it. While there are lots of other lines out there that I like, SR really was a perfect line for me. I will miss it.
Ii

Good Choices

After writing yesterdays blog, I psyched myself to get onto the scale. Let's just say my word was re-affirmed. But better to know where you came from, right? Ok so I made some better meal choices, and while some of it was hard, some of it was easy. Just gotta get back onto the good choices as a daily thing. And I know myself that if I see change, I want more change. So I guess I will visit that scale again next week. Let's all hope for good chance.

As for that "me" time stuff, I got some of that tonight too. I put everyone to bed, turned on some music and scrapped for two solid hours with no interruptions!!! Here is a sneak peak

Speaking of mental health, I must get some sleep. The one problem with my creativity, if it's full on I can't sleep.

Health

That is my word for 2010 - Health.

I have thought about it for a long time, I mean health isn't really a fun word, and I know that it actually is going to require a lot of work. I thought about a couple of different words to use, but always came back to this one.

It's described as a state of complete mental and physical well being. Complete - now that is daunting!!

So here is my breakdown. 2010 holds potentially three surgeries for me (knees, gall stones and bump on my foot). My knees (pick which one) need some TLC again. While we can do the surgery, there are some things that I can do to help them out while I wait. Strengthening them and getting some weight off. The foot thing and the gall stone thing - well those I just wait for.

That weight thing has been bugging me for a long time. I keep saying I will deal with it, and I never do. So no time like the present. I will not only eat healthier (really stop snacking, especially on crap), but I will move more too. Days like to today when the arthritis is so bad I can barely walk - well I will sit those out. But days that I can move, I will. I will also use our Wii fit weekly, and get the dog out more.

As for the mental part - well there is a lot of work to be done there too! Clutter drives me nuts, yet I am surrounded by it. Rushing out the door stresses me out - so preparing I will embrace. Cleaning I hate, but love the after results - so doing it more regularly will help there.

And the other mental part for me is to find some calmness. Not sure where this is going to come in, but I need some zone out stuff for me. I have my scrapbooking - which I love and will continue. But I need to either do something like yoga or away reading time, or all of it.

I don't have all the answers, but I do have my mission word. Lots more to come.

2010

Celebrating New Years Eve always seemed stressful when I was young. Where to go, what to wear, what to do. But we nailed it this year.

Spaghetti dinner, kids built sundaes, family game night with the wii, Chris and I watched a movie and had some Champaign at midnight.

Happy New Year