Where does the time go?

I just can't seem to keep this blog up to date! You would think that I have tons to talk about but I don't. Life just seems to take hold and before you know it, it's December.

I'm working on my layouts with my Novemeber kit from The Scrapping Nook! I love the paper we were given this month. I would love to post a peek but I haven't taken a photo of the one layout I have completed thus far.

November brought some changes on the scrapping front for me. After one glorious year designing for an amazing company, they decided that they were not going forward into 2008 with a design team. I was extremely sad that I wouldn't be a part of the team anymore but Cosmo Cricket and the people behind it are wonderful. I was so honoured to be a part of the team and will value the friendships I have made as a result of being on such a close knit team. Thanks Cosmo!

Wendy at Gel-a-tins brought out some amazing new Holiday stamps and I'm still in the process of making my Christmas cards as we sit here today (insert embarassed face here). Both sets of stamps are a build-your-own set and very versatile! I love the Holiday postage one. So vintage looking! I hear that Wendy has some awesome stuff up her sleeve for CHA winter as well! Can't wait for those designs. Creativity will be oozing I'm sure!

I took my first exam for the Web Design certificate I'm enrolled in at the local college here. I'm loving the program so far. I'm learning all kinds of things I didn't know before. Before I know it I will be a web design goddess! :) It was so weird walking through the halls of the college on the night of my exam. At 35, I feel young but man did I feel old walking those halls. My mom said that people probably just thought I was a teacher. Thanks mom!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Steel City Safari here in Hamilton. It was an amazing show put on by the Reptile store and a bunch of other community zoos and conservation organizations. There were amazing educational segments and the opportunity to get up close and personal with many animals. The kids had a blast. Grace was the usual dare devil and couldn't hold enough of the snakes and birds. These photos are her holding a couple of the snakes. She wasn't afraid one bit. In the photo with the funny face, Grace was told to make a face like she is afraid. Can you believe it? That snake was on her head! Simon wouldn't even touch the snakes. He did however touch the shells of the turtles (when they weren't looking). *snicker*



Christmas is in full swing here. I put the trees up on the weekend of the Toronto Santa Claus parade. That is my tradition. I love the trees so much so I try to optimize the length of time that they are up at our house. Now that we are in the new house I have room for both trees. One is actually in our bedroom since we have this really nice arched window in it and it looks so pretty from the front of the house at night. I will take some photos and post at a later date (Read: don't hold your breath).

I'm so thankful that my friend Patti's husband Ron made it through his surgery fine and is home now on the road to recovery. You are doing an amazing job my friend. What an amazing nurse you turned out to be! You had absolutely no need to doubt yourself and your abilities! The patience of a saint I tell you...that handbasket is going to be empty for quite a while! ;)

I am T-I-R-E-D

Why can't I sleep past 3:30 am lately? This past week there I am, wide awake staring at the ceiling at 3:30. Why?? I guess I have a bunc of stuff on my mind. I can't think of any other explanation unless it's that arched window in our bedroom! It's the only thing about our new house that I don't love. If I had the choice, it wouldn't be there. We are having a hard time finding a covering for it. Of course I sleep on the side of the bed where at 6am, the sun shines directly on my face. I have also noticed lately, that at, oh around 3:30, the moon is also shining on my face! I have a mask but I never sleep as well with it on. I guess I will have to give it another try. Keep your fingers crossed that I will find some suitable covering for it soon!

Grace started school this past week. Her first week in the new school and in grade one. It seemed to go well. It's her first time riding a bus to school. I was worried that she would be to afraid to get on the bus all alone, to a school that she has never been to, and to a class full of kids she didn't know. Boy was I wrong! She hardly had time for a kiss goodbye! She ran over to that bus, got on, and waved happily from the window. I guess it was mom that was too afraid!

There was only one story from the past week that broke my heart. She said that she asked some kids to play with her at recess and they said no. She said that she spent the rest of the recess standing by herself by a tree. I cried when I heard that. The next day she took a skipping rope to school and the report was that she played with Mackenzie at recess. So we are getting there! New kid in the new school syndrome. Grace is so sociable so I'm sure it won't be long until she wants to invite her whole class over for a play date!

Simon starts school this week. We will see how that goes. I found out last week that he is still on the waiting list for speech therapy in Hamilton. We waited 8 months to get in at Erinoak in Burlington. We were told that there wouldn't be a wait here since we already waited so long in Burlington. I guess they were wrong. The thing that bothers me is, that it was one of the deciding factors about whether or not we should move. Since we thought there was no wait we figured it would be okay. Another tearful day for me on Friday. I'm so embarassed to say that I actually broke down and cried on the phone with the speech therapist intake coordinator. Simon is so resistant to speech therapy at home with us. He needs that one on one with the therapist. I know we will get there...it's just such a long road and I'd rather get back on it sooner than later.

Here is a picture of Grace on her first day of school. Love that missing tooth! Just as Murphy's law works. My battery died on the camera after the second shot! Bad mommy not checking the battery level the night before!

The Funny Things Kids Say

So the kids come home from daycare the other day and Grace has this little piece of paper with her writing on every little bit of the paper. I ask her what it says. She says, "It's a list of what Simon and I want to be when we grow up". I ask her to read it to me. This is what it said.

"I want to be a horse back rider or a nurse (I happen to be a nurse), and Simon wants to be a Chef, a Wrestler or a Giver of Flowers."

Then she goes on to ask me where she will be able to find a horse for riding. I tell her a farm and she seems happy with that. I ask Simon what a "giver of flowers" does and he replies, "I give flowers to you, daddy and Grace". Just like that. Very matter of fact.

I love these kids! :)

Happy Days

We have had quite a few happy days lately. The stress has decreased significantly around here. We sold our house in only 2 days and finalized all the details of our new house. We got 99% of our asking price and are extremely happy. I still can't believe that we bought our dream house. The house that we will hopefully grow old in (until we can't climb the stairs anymore).

We have been to the new house weekly since we bought it and have spent long periods of time inside and imagining what it is going to be like when we finally move in. The big move date is July 24th which makes me a bit nervous as I won't get home from CHA summer until the 23rd most likely! Eek!! Just thinking about it makes me a bit nervous but I'm so happy that we will be moved in with a month of summer left. The kids will get a chance to make some friends before school starts in September.

Here are some photos of the new house. The outside, two shots of our kitchen, and the great room (minus the carpet). Ignore the mess...I haven't dusted for a while! :P

Simon turned four March 31st which somehow got lost in my blog posts along the way. I can't believe that my baby is 4. What on earth have we been doing that four years has gone by so quickly? After our rough start with Simon, he has grown into quite the young boy and SO happy all the time too. We are incredibly blessed to have two wonderful children.

Just to keep with tradition, Simon made sure to have a nice fall the day before his birthday and had a nice upper lip abrasion to show for all of his photos. I think I should do a layout of my poor battered children on their birthdays. I have a ton of photos that show the evidence. I'm totally going to do that!

Grace started soccer on Monday. She was SO excited! She loves soccer. I think it is her favourite. Unlike Ballet. She is counting down the days until the end of ballet. I guess we won't be signing her up for it next year. I must admit that I was surprised that my tom-girl wanted to sign up for it in the first place. Soccer is much more her style.

Not much else... it has been nice to just relax a bit after the whirlwind house selling. I promise I will try my hardest to keep up my posts in the future! I swear mom! :)