thankful

10 - 10 - 10

(10th month) October 10, 2010

we FINALLY celebrated Kristian's and Kiara's birthdays with the Olsen family. and since it is right around the corner, we also also included Aidan in the party.

we kind of had our own version of the Thanksgiving celebration at the same time. minus the traditional turkey. i will eat turkey. whether or not it was due to having a turkey farmer in the family...we had turkey at every family dinner for every major holiday. sometimes there was a baked ham too. mashed potatoes and gravy. stuffing...for the record, my Aunt Ruth was the best stuffing maker - if you like stuffing. baked yams.

i cooked a turkey with all the fixings once in my life. i was given a free turkey at Christmas as a bonus at a job. i invited friends to come and eat with my room-mate and i. we even had apple pie. and everything tasted great! ha!!

it has become a tradition for us to be as non-traditional in the food department at holidays, i think.

rack of lamb at Christmas.

one of my amazing neighbours gave me a recipe for steak with a Mustard-Cognac sauce that is dreamy. we decided to cook it up for Kristians' family and the birthday parties. it is a bit of a time consuming sauce to prepare, and it nearly drove them crazy with the smells....but it is so worth the trouble. good enough that we didn't hear one complaint about not eating turkey!


i also warned Kris' family that i was wanting family photos.



being the photographer and a part of the portrait is not easy. photoshop will have to help me! there will be some pixel head surgery happening. i'm not sure if it would have made a difference if i was not in the photo. in the above photo i asked for goofy faces. it is actually one of my favourites! definitely shows our true colours.....



what a surprise this one was. i LOVE the blur here.



some of the best photos came with just the grands. (grandparents and grandkids)




i love the light coming in behind them. they are good posers too.



4 of the 5 goofballs. what a crew these ones make!



here is our lovely sis-in-law holding the newest Olsen. has that boy grown!



and now we rest. Aidan just can't seem to shake the fall cold he found at school. last year he was sick and missed school on his birthday. i really hope and pray it will be different this year! after losing TWO days in one week for just me being sick in bed...i don't relish the thought of possibly catching something else.

beauty

perfect day. much needed rejuvenation. with a treat like this sunset.

a sign of spring

we went out for a bike ride after supper yesterday. we were thrilled to view the fountain that had been missed over the winter!


everything is so brown and yucky. dust is everywhere. thankfully the snow is pretty much gone. that is important! as we went around our duck pond, i spotted a little rainbow. very cool.


my wish is for the wind to stop completely and instead have warm rain for a few days. we would gladly exchange the dust for some sprouts of green. even a walk in calm and soaking rain would be welcome. just leave out the wind. and the cold!

more smiles

this has seriously been the most amazing month!

there is some "gossip" about me. heehee

craft gossip. yup. go HERE.


it's been a long and busy couple of weeks. i am really looking forward to putting my feet up and watching a movie with the kids. or maybe even just sleeping while they watch the movie. either option sounds great. i have a hair appointment to look forward to. ahhhh pampering. one of these days i need to schedule a massage and then the hair appointment in the same evening. that would be bliss.


before i forget...i have decided that learning to take better photos is soooo worth it. again, i came across the most perfect photo moment and did not have my camera! murphy's law strikes again!! this morning there was a bit of hoar frost and light fog. clear skies. a completely visible full moon. even better were the colours with the sun just rising. i really hope i get another moment like that when i have my camera and the knowledge of how to do the photo justice to the real thing. a nice way to start the day don't you think?

good stuff

a few weeks ago i took over the kitchen table. for an entire day we did not eat at it. instead we had picnics in front of the fireplace. fortuntately it is not an everyday occurence, so no one complained. not that they dared!! haha



because i was creating this.....



i was selected to feature a project on the Making Memories blog today!!!
it was the biggest scrapbooking honor i've had up until now. it was like bringing home the gold medal at the olympics for me. huge! exciting! one of my dreams come true!!!!



i wrote up some brief instructions that also were posted at MM. however i took a few photos along the way and also wrote out some detailed instructions on my scrapbooking blog. go here if you want that info.


anyways...this is a major hilight for me right now. thanks to those that have encouraged me to be brave and step outside of my comfy little world. i'm not Becky Higgins or Donna Downey....but this is exciting for little ol' me!

help kids in need this Christmas

love this!





read more about OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD.

any box that would fit a pair of shoes will do. my kids enjoy doing this already. they get so blessed {aka spoiled} the rest of the year, it is great to return that blessing to others who are in need. they get to be little elves!!

the day after....

when i got that call on August 26, the date October 31 was mentioned as the last day of my teaching contract. i remember thinking, "ooooh, that will be interesting....last day....halloween..."

i'm still deciding if it is a good idea to have a party on your last day. lol.

so glad that i had one day to spend with the class and enjoy being with them. we dressed up. played. shared hugs and laughs. ate junk food. a fun morning.

i was surprised how attached i got to these darlings in such a short time. i am looking forward to not having to rush between the hours of 7am and 8am...pushing my kids to suddenly get dressed, eat, sit, walk, etc. then the rush to get home in time to take Aidan to playschool. hoping Kiara naps so i can catch up on any necessary school work. stay on top of housework so that the germs don't take over and cause problems. keep the fridge full to avoid eating out in order to keep all of us fed and healthy. make sure everyone has clean clothes and finding time to put the laundry away. and somewhere put in time to spend with everyone! {can't imagine being able to do these tasks and work a full-time schedule. i do know that i would for sure arrange for someone else to do the cleaning and purchase these prepared meals from a kitchen. }

September and October will always be busy months for us. 75% of our family has birthdays in these months {i am the only one who does not have a birthday during these months!} it is been challenging to work out a balance. for the kids i think it is important for them to celebrate this special day with their friends. but family also wants to have a part. this year we combined two birthdays and thanksgiving. and we are fortunate to combine two birthdays in September too. add in the mix of trying to finish up a garage and yard work before frost and snow and darkness make the task impossible. we really could have done without that this year. then i got a job! it did add to the busy-ness. BUT it ended up being a huge distraction for me too. i needed to get out and away from the house and family responsibilities for a short term. getting paid was a huge bonus! it is a shame that those same two months are also two busy months for educators. i found myself hoping that i could get the contract extended for just one more month. i'd have to alter my child care, but i think we would have found a good balance with everything too.

as i relax today i am reminded that there is no huge rush to get the laundry, cleaning and shopping done before Monday morning. we can rest and enjoy. even Halloween was good to have done yesterday. i turned the calendar page over today and sighed.

so my last day of work....

it was hard to keep the tears away.

one of the parents dropped off a dozen roses for me. sigh.

i feel priveleged to have met these kids and encouraged the parents in their parenting and educating.

i was fortunate to work with a great team. let me do my best job.

it was not always easy. some tough decisions. frustrations.

but even if i knew all of this beforehand....i'd say "yes" again! and Kristian, Aidan and Kiara would all agree too. i am so lucky.

we finished off the day with carving the last of the pumpkins and some trick-or-treating. {i'll post a photo or two! of the kids in costume later} Kris and i decided to take the kids out early together, then come back to pass out candy. we go around the block to the neighbors that we know. each year the number of houses increase! fun. we lost two mittens, and then found them again. the kids were so excited. the weather was nice too. after we did the block, i took the kids over to Halloween Alley and Kris ran home to pass out candy {by this time, more kids were out treating}. we have some friends that have their house on Halloween Alley. crazy numbers of people. they literally have to stay at their door for the duration of the evening...way to go Erin! one of the city fire trucks parked on the street, so the kids got to sit in another fire truck. this is the third time they have had this opportunity in the past four months and they get excited every time. so funny. we got home, the kids raced into their pj's. then they got to have a couple treats from their bags. Kris and i talked later about how happy they both were to dress up, walk, get goodies and then look through them later. we had no problems putting either of them to bed and both fell asleep in minutes.

in the past we have had "trickers" come later. not every year. if only we could predict. last night was a very quiet night. at least at our house! phew!!

well....i have some projects to complete for a couple of silent auctions. if you read my other blog you will know that i registered for an online Christmas class. since today is a day to enjoy...this is my treat! fortunately for me my little tricksters garnered some treats for their ol' mama to enjoy!!