365

Last year I decided to be part of a 365, a photo a day project. I'm the only one I know that actually finished it to the end! It was a commitment for sure, and I don't judge the people that couldn't follow it through. I had a hard time especially in December, to stay on top of it. It isn't easy and requires a lot of time, not just taking the pictures, but the process of uploading, editing and choosing. What did I learn through the project? 1. I definitely prefer to shoot close up flowers and faces.

2. The more I know about my camera, the more I don't know. 3. Going manual gives you a lot more play with the photos, and helps them to stand out from any other generic photo. 4. It is hard to take photos in those dull months of the year where the weather is crap.

5. Taking that many photos results in a very full hard drive! 6. I am glad this is a hobby and not a job. 7. When you look at the album as a whole, you realize how much goes on in one year, the changes in looks (esp. the babies) and the changes in nature.

8. Sometimes simple things like a badminton net, a pendant or asparagus can make for a cool picture.

9. It helps to get at different angles to have your pictures look totally different. I went up above, down to the carpet, straight on, sideways, you name it.

10. You have to be in the right mood to take pictures, and sometimes forcing yourself to get that picture taken for the day just doesn't work. However, it was a good challenge to try to find something beautiful and try to present it artistically. There is always something when you look for it.

I am glad to be done and will take the next year off for sure! Greg bought me an even fancier camera which I now need to get to know. Thank you to all my faithful followers and people who would comment. It definitely helped to feel accountable to my facebook friends so I actually got something posted daily.

Eleven

The biggest of my boys is now eleven!!! I had so much fun watching him over the Christmas break as he played with his cousins, enjoyed his presents and glided down the ski hill on his board. That boy, he's growing up. He got to open some presents with the Davidson crew on the eve of his birthday. Then on his actual birthday, it was Sunday, so we went to church. Afterwards they were holding a "winter picnic" so we stayed for hotdogs and games and brought his cake there to enjoy with 30 of his church friends. After that party, he went with Greg to the big annual Davidson dinner at G's aunts. There was sledding behind a quad and much more fun to be had. Then his cousin Claire was picked up for a sleepover and they got to go up to Silver Star again to board again for the day! Lucky kid! I think he has had a wonderful birthday week.

Shea has been coughing up a storm (still) and if I think of it, he has been on/off sick for over a month. I am getting nervous with my job approaching as I will no longer be able to just keep him home. I've tried to keep him at home whenever possible over the holidays, and get him to bed on time, but nothing is really working. I guess it's just that time of his life where he has to build up his immunity. We've all been tired because all three boys are up coughing in the night. At least he's not feverish like last month, but it's still very exhausting for all of us. I'm hoping on this last week of holiday, that it will work its way out of his system so he won't catch the next bug lurking at the school! Since Shea and I skipped out on the Davidson party last night, I got started on the huge process of after-Christmas un-decorating, laundry, cleaning and sorting. I still have a ways to go, but this week should be enough time to get myself organized before crazy working/school schedules are back into play. I hope you're all enjoying this Christmas "break" and staying healthy!

Davidson Christmas

Every Christmas we celebrate with either G's family or mine. This year was the Davidson year. We were able to stay home this year and host the party at our place! We had a great time. Every minute is busy when there are 7 kids around, but everyone did well and had fun together. All the families took their turn to make meals and help me with clean up and it all went rather smoothly.

Here is my lovely in-law family... G's brother Glen and his girls...

G's sister Heather and her boys...

Greg himself with our crew...

And G's sweet parents who took us out on this lovely sleigh ride...

Thanks for everything, Davidson crew....and Happy New Year everyone!!

workin' it.

Would you believe that I had a big ol' interview at the hospital yesterday!? My first interview in over a decade. To say I was nervous is an understatement! I was interviewed by two ladies who were more than forgiving of my mom-brain though, thank goodness! I applied for a full time temporary (mat leave) position in the rehab. therapy department. Full time! I would never have applied if it wasn't a temporary thing. I view it as free training course back into the workforce. It would be a jump into the deep end of my field and I'd hopefully not drown, but it would pick me up to speed again. Then once the seven month position would end, I could fill in as a casual, or PT position as I saw fit. I doubt FT will be easy, and I'll also need to pay for childcare after school and on pro D days. That said, I think it would be worthwhile, so ahead I went with the interview process and with a little urging by my friend who is a physio there. EEk! My mind has been full to the brim thinking through all the scenarios of being a full time mom and employee. Of balancing it all and not having time to do the things I've been able to lately. How tired will I be? How confident will I be on the job? What will it be like to earn my own money? How will my kids do in childcare? What will I do with the kids during spring and summer breaks? I am a little stressed out, but trying to rely on God to give clear direction...ie. if I'm accepted for the position, that it's meant-to-be! Definitely a new chapter. Then this morning I got the call (the day after the interview) that I GOT THE JOB!! I was accepted and start on January 7th!! I am squealing over here in excitement and yet also very nervous!! I really am in awe that despite my lack of experience, that I was hired! I really thought my "career" days were over at this point, and if I had hopes of a "real" job, that I'd have to go back to school. I really view this as a gift and a super opportunity that was handed to me. So I feel blessed and honored and hope I can live up to my potential.

Another birthday has come and gone. For the first time ever, we didn't have a big party at my place with all the kiddos, but had a quiet fondue at my parents with my bro and his wife. The kids slept over at the inlaws and so we had a super quiet sleep-in the next day. That night, we went out for dinner with our kids to my fav Mexican place and had cake at my inlaws. The boys have been taking turns being sick with fevers and colds, so it has been pretty mellow around here. But I had a wonderful birthday, and was spoiled rotten. Thanks for all the sweet comments on Facebook, cards and presents in the mail. I've been trying my hardest to make more things than usual for Christmas. I can't say too much on here, or I'll give away all my secrets to my family! but it is keeping me busy. I think it takes much more time and energy to make something, but hopefully that'll make it special! The bigger boys do know that I knit them each a pair of slippers, and they were so excited. I think it's precious. Just over 3 weeks til Christmas!!?!

Runner

I've been running at the rink for a whole year now...does that mean I can officially call myself a "runner"?? I go through bouts of thinking that it's not a big deal...ie. when I talk to my friends who run an hour every morning, or just finished a marathon. And then there are others who tell me they just made it through 5 km in under an hour. It takes me 28 minutes to do 4.5km and then I walk a bit at the beginning and end to make it 5km. I go at least twice a week. I find it so much easier than it was a year ago, and my joints are feeling stronger, especially my knees. I was going to calculate how many km I've run if I averaged 10km a week....hmmmm....lots. I'll do the math later.

I got spoiled with our gorgeous fall and started running outdoors. Now the frost is out and I have to be back inside, but at least there is somewhere to go that is free. I was dodging hockey pucks yesterday afternoon, but typically it is quiet at the rink. The scale hasn't budged for me much lately, but I'm still down the 8 that I had lost over the year. I think I am gaining more muscle still and need to work on eating less. :P I've been in a great water running class as well that ends tomorrow. Then it'll be on to something new. Speaking of running...time to run get the kids!

10 good reasons to rearrange your furniture

I told my hubby that I would write a blog post today about "10 good reasons to rearrange furniture". So here I am. If you're like me, and came from a household where moving furniture around was a monthly occurrence, then you understand why it is a GOOD thing. And if not...let me tell you why it IS! 1. It makes you feel like you've moved, without all the pain, stress and packing. Liam even proved this point tonight when he walked into his room and said (with joy, might I add), "Is this even my room? What did you do with my other room?" 2. It gives you a good reason to clean behind those dressers and beds that normally don't get touched with a vacuum. I don't know about you, but I don't pull my dresser away from the wall to vacuum behind it every week. No. I also was able to wash the grease stained wall beside the bed, which is only seen if you're laying in the bed and therefore missed. 3. In the process, you find so many things that you thought were gone forever. The picture that slid behind the bed, the lego piece that you needed to finish that special model. You get the idea. 4. It is good exercise. Moving 200 books out of a bookshelf and back into it later, while moving the beds, dressers, etc. and vacuuming/dusting/washing can all bring you a nice healthy sweat. 5. It gives you a new outlook. Having your bed closer to the wall or the window, or in a completely different direction, gives you the opportunity to see things that you never had seen before! 6. It keeps life interesting. I find houses can get boring, and especially boring to clean if things are always in the same position. Fumbling around in your bedroom the first few weeks after you change it up, and even tripping over the bed makes life more exciting! 7. It helps you to find the perfect position/place for things. How do you really know the first time that you move into a place, if the bed should really be on the right wall or the left wall? Maybe it was meant to be on the back wall? Who really knows unless you move it around. 8. Like moving, it helps you to sort through everything and decide if things are really where they should be. Or are they even necessary for that room at all? Many things get taken up to the bedrooms that don't really belong there. They can be put back in the game shelf or the boot room, and the room becomes less cluttered, as it should be. 9. If you want to really mix it up, it can give you a chance to put different children together and establish space (when needed), or togetherness (as needed). When I was growing up, I shared with my brother for awhile, then with my sister, then had my own room for awhile, and each experience was really a good thing. 10. And lastly...it brings life back to a room that was previously old. It now looks new, exciting and clean. It has changed, and therefore so have you! Some rooms are really hard to rearrange. I have a long skinny living room, and I have yet to find an alternate way to arrange it. I have done small things like move in and out small tables, the Christmas tree, instruments and decorations though. I also try to change my family photos, and I'm adding party decorations to my ceiling fan every month! I moved my queen bed around when I was renovating my room, but Greg didn't like it much, and it really does look best on the one wall, so we're kinda stuck with it there. I still change the dressers/bookshelves/decor around to make it interesting for myself! I would love to rearrange my family room, but it has a three doors and a wood stove in it, so it is very limiting. If I had the money, I'd take out the sliding door and put in a window, and remove the wood stove completely...but renovations...that's a whole other post for another day.

I had apples coming out of my ears this week! I picked them on Monday, and then the rest of the week, I've been drying them, making applesauce to freeze and can, and then making pie.

I still aim to make danish apple bars with the last remaining few. Phew. Salsa on Monday. Other than the hours spent making a mess in the kitchen, I did get some work done with mom, my 2 runs and one water running class in, took school photos of Pam's kids and I went with Liam's class to the pumpkin patch...

However, I still feel so far behind in almost everything! Keeping up with the usual stuff plus adding in all this extra fun has made for some busy busy days! Fun, but busy. What are you up to?

Thanksgiving family pics

Nutshell

Life is full, and good right now.  I figured since I was enjoying myself, I should let you know about it.
As you know, all three kids are in school for the first time.  I was curious what this year would look like as I haven't ever had this much time to myself.
The house isn't as clean as I thought it would be, ha ha....perhaps a little more organized, but not so clean.  My meals are planned out and bought for the week.  I do more baking.  I've been able to volunteer at the school more often (twice this week).  I've been able to work out and joined a water running class at the pool.  I just started working for my mom on Tuesdays (she does housecleaning).  I've been able to sort through some old toys and sell them on a local Facebook site.  We've started up knitting nights again, so I'm starting up some new projects.   I'm still teaching SS and will help with a photo directory at church soon.  So with that and the normal cleaning, laundry and shopping, the hours FLY!  And I'm enjoying it.  I know it won't be like this forever, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
 After school hours are busy with the boys of course, doing homework, sorting through their bags and millions of papers, visiting with friends, and making snacks.  We haven't rushed into any sort of organized sports yet, so we're not running around to the rink or pool.  I think the boys will do snowboarding this winter and I'll just take them to the rink and pool on our own time.  With Riley adjusting to the larger work load in middle school, and Shea being gone all day at kindergarten, I figure some downtime is a good thing.

(cuz you need time to dress up!)
And so...ya, if you've wondered what I do all day while the kids are school...there it is in a nutshell.

Liam boy

Attempting our own school photos again.  Frustrated that I still haven't solved my lighting issues with over exposure/ dark eyes...You'd think I'd have this figured out by now!!!  What is your fav?

Toofy

We had a gorgeous long weekend here in Salmon Arm.  I unfortunately was coming down with a whopper of a cold on Wednesday night.  It hit me hard by Friday and I was pretty much a sneezy, stuffed up basket case the rest of the weekend.  I felt bad as Evan was staying with us for three nights while Riley took his place with the Engel clan and went camping!  I wasn't up for leaving the house, and let's just say we did a lot of Lego and paper airplanes to pass the time!

Riley arrived home safe and sound last night, dirty and completely wasted.  I am so happy he has such a super aunt and uncle who will take him for us from time to time.  My boys are lucky to have good cousins too!
We just went to Kamloops the other day to meet up with their Davidson cousins, and are soon going WAY up north to visit the ones in Vanderhoof!  Road trip!

Just as we were about to leave for school this morning, Shea decided to bite some Lego with his already loose tooth, and voila...look what happened!

The kid isn't even 5 1/2, and he's lost his first tooth!  My other boys were 7 before they lost theirs, so this is crazy!  He looks older now and talks funny with his little gap!  He's showing everyone at school and is quite excited.  sigh.

I have chocolate zucchini cake in the oven, which is smelling quite lovely.  I need to do a lot more baking to keep up with the three school lunches a day!
I got my grocery shopping done for the week and here's the menu:
Monday:  5 spice turkey and lettuce wraps with brown rice.
Tuesday:  Spaghetti and sausages (rather than meatballs), Jamie Oliver style
Wednesday:  Autumn Soup and baking powder biscuits
Thursday:  Sweet and Sour Pork, Jamie Oliver recipe again
Friday:  undecided as we meet up with Engels, but possibly Corn chowder or Waffles.
Yumm.

Have a great week!

Three new recipes.

I've been able to fit in more things these days besides just "boy-stuff".  I got to the doctor, the dentist, the rink for running, out with the girls, shopping, etc.  The days are actually flying by.
One thing I have enjoyed, is being able to try out new recipes that I had pinned ages ago. 
This week I made:

Beef and Broccoli
It was meant to go in the crock pot, but I was running around town and forgot it would need 6-8 hours in the crock pot, so I did most of it like a stir fry and it spent just over an hour in the crock pot.  I also added mushrooms.  It was a big hit.  All three of my boys ate it all and asked for more.  Yum. 

I also made:

Mini chicken pot pies
My hope would be that the boys would love these and eat them in their lunches.  I won two of the three over, so yay!  They were a little fussy to make and I thought the bisquick was too runny and kept adjusting it, but otherwise they are great!  Tasty, filling, and containing lots of meat and cheese.  I doubled it, so have plenty in the freezers for their lunches. 

Then today I tried:

Whole wheat dinner rolls
I have never made whole wheat buns before, and have never used glass other than for cinnamon buns.  The blog has great pictures and a tutorial if you're new to baking buns.  I slightly under baked them, but otherwise they turned out great.  Another item to add to the freezer for lunches.  (Those are my buns in the picture.)

Anyway, three down, more to go.  It makes life more interesting when you're not eating the same.ol.thing. day in and out!

FAiR WiNNinGs

So we had a wonderful sunny weekend at the fair.  G's brother and family, along with parents and cousins, joined us at the parade in the morning.  The highlight, other than watching Ava and Shea jump up and down at any coming float with candy, was seeing GG (Greg's grandma) riding her seniors home bus with all her roomies.  We saw her right away, though we didn't know she would be in the parade! and she saw us all making a scene and yelling GG!  it was quite the sight.
The boys didn't place anything for their lego and pottery entries, but we enjoyed seeing their work displayed.  I was encouraged to let them expand their contributions next year and for myself as well. One of my knitter friends entered some of her knitting, and I realized I could have as well!   It's all for fun, but something that can be thought about and worked on throughout the year.  I placed 2nd for my echinachea photo.  I tried to look through the other entries, and of those that won, but found it really varied and sometimes the subject of the photo was really cool, but the quality of photo was crappy.  Of course there were a handful that were beautiful and inspiring.  I love that exhibit, so it is fun to be part of it.
Riley entered the live LEGO competition on Sunday, and won!  We brought his lego to the fair and the kids were told that the theme was, "Your favorite thing at the fair".  So Riley got to work building bumper cars and another Super Spinner spaceship ride, and it earned him first place fair and square.  He was thrilled as he's never won anything before, and was so excited to win a lego game.

So now we're back to the daily grind of early mornings (out the door at 7:30am for R and 8am for the rest of us).  I finally got back to the rink for my run and it felt good to get back at it.  Shea was done Kindergarten at 11:30am today, but will actually be there for lunch tomorrow, so my time alone is getting increasingly longer.  This week is already packed full!

After 10 long short (depending on how you look at it) years...I have three kids in school!  For six whole hours of the day, they are in the care of their dear teachers, and I will use every one of those hours to catch up on the last 10 years of my life!  The full effect of six hours to myself has not yet hit as Shea is in the gradual entry for kindergarten.  This time next week though, I already have a road trip planned with my "knotty knitters" to scope out a knitting shop in another town.  I have an overdue dentist appointment, doctors appointment, a few canning sessions and apple picking occasions on the horizon as well.  I could easily fill my days up with just cleaning from the last two months of sand that was tracked into my house!  I have home projects, coffee dates, workouts, devotions, crafts, organizing etc. that have been put off "forever" that I can't wait to get to.  I'm sure the hours will fly.  

Riley is in middle school this year.  It is the first time that he has merged with two of his french immersion cousins into the same school, so they get to walk together.  He has a huge locker and is finding his way around the school with all these big kids!  There are over 500 students, and when I went there today to get the tour, I felt...
a) suddenly very OLD, and
b) like Riley is WAY too young to be there already!
Wow.  I really hope he has a good year.  So far so good and he likes his main teacher.  Phew.  I was nervous about that one.
Liam is in a class with the same teacher Riley had for grade three.  She wasn't our favorite for the academic side of things, but is super sweet, quiet spoken and positive.  Liam will have an easy year with her but I'm hoping will still remain motivated to grow more.  He has all his friends with him from last year and seems to be a much more confident boy than in years past.  I hope he learns to share his ideas and speak up when he gets the opportunity, as that is his biggest obstacle in school.
Shea just started kindergarten for an hour today.  He has the same teacher that Liam had for K as well.  She will be perfect for him, and runs a tight ship with her 25 years experience as a K teacher in that school.  He is in with at least 5 kids from his previous preschool class, so he had buddies right away and had no fear at all.  This baby brother was so ready to break free and join the others in school, that it makes me so happy for him more than upset that he's leaving me!

But ya, so that puts us in a whole new phase of our life, and it is a busy one.  I know this year will fly by and will be full of new things for all of us.

Tail end of summer

August has been busy, and here we are at the end of it!
We took our holidays and went camping at Glen Echo for three nights and then to Penticton for two nights.  Then we were at the Roots and Blues for the entire weekend which felt like camping as well!   I am slowly recovering and getting my house back in order.  We have had company and family visiting so we've still been out and about but enjoying the summer while it lasts.

I suddenly realized that my photos for the fair need to be in today! so I rushed down and got them done into 8x10's and here they are....

They needed to have mats on them, and stiff backing, and those cost more than getting them enlarged, so I kept to just the six...2 color, three plants, and 1 people category.

The boys have had so much fun at the beach, and with cousins...I don't think they are ready for summer to end!  We have done some back to school shopping and I guess it's fair to say that Shea is the most excited about his new school things...esp. his MEC backpack that he carries everywhere!

 Anyway...lots to do!!  check out summer photos on facebook!

 

Early in the spring, I planted a package of icelandic poppies. I think that's what they were called. Rather than the traditional red poppies, these ones were pastel shades of pink and orangey. So pretty. Well it turned out that they all came up either bright yellow or orange. No pastels. Until today. Today out popped my first pastel poppy that is sort of an orangey/pink.

I love it.

And with some heart bokeh....

Jammin'

Last week, at 10:40pm, the phone rang and my SIL's sister Marie called to tell me she was going strawberry picking in the morning! I said, ok sure, I'd join her and Pam at 7 the next morning to pick berries. The picking was great, and in an hour we had over 100 pounds of strawberries.

We took our kids to daycamp and then went to work at Marie's house, making strawberry rhubarb freezer jam.

(Pam cooking up the rhubarb.)

(Me, hard at work!)

(Hours later, the very last strawberry...with Marie!)

The fruit of our labor! From lunch time on, we had all 11 kids with us, but they did pretty well playing on their own. Marie was helping to feed them and clean up, and Pam and I plugged on. We finished up by about 4pm. My freezer is full of the yummy stuff! and 18 bags of just the berries for smoothies etc.!! So begins the food production season! (Thanks for including me, Pam and Marie! And thanks for the pictures, Pam!)