Spencer's Critters

I tried out Smilebox online and this is what I came up with! Just testing the waters of digital scrapbooking. Does anybody have any suggestions for digital scrapbooking? I don't want to pay the monthly fee for this, so what I can do with it is limited.

Customize your own picture collage

To Be Organized

Lists, books on Time Management, blogs on Organizing your Home ... these things are wonderful; however, actually following through with all of their tips is difficult.

When I was getting married, I remember telling a lady (about the age of my mother) that I can't wait to get all of my gifts organized in my new apartment. She laughed. She told me that it will never happen. Hey, I had only known this lady for a month or so - how could she say this to me. And dang it all, she was right. I never got my apartment organized - there was always "that one room".

When we moved into our first house less than a year later, I got organized - we had so much space in our 600 square foot house (not including the finished basement) that everything had a spot. Then more things came in and needed a spot ... and then there was "that one room" again. Eventually that room became the baby's room and that was the end of any feeling of being organized. The 600 square feet in the basement got the brunt of the overflow.

Then a few years later we moved into our current home - more than double the size - heavenly. Finally, I was organized. I had space for everything and lots of extra room. I knew it would always be this way - spacious and tidy. I felt like I had all this extra time to just live my life because I wasn't burdened by all the stuff around me.

Five and a half years later, 20 pounds heavier, and I've never felt more overwhelmed by STUFF. I wake up feeling overwhelmed, I keep losing things, I keep dreaming of how I can restore order to my home and I keep wasting my time looking for blogs or books or articles in magazines to offer me a wise tip that I never considered before.

Now I'm going to take the advise of an amazing woman I met many years ago and start having some quiet time every night, I am going to start working in small bits to get rid of items I don't need and find permanent homes for those I want to keep. I will see my progress (hopefully daily) and will start to feel a little more at peace and little less anxious.

I didn't make a New Year's resolution, but this is my early February thought. Wish me luck!

Today

Some time ago I read a blog (wish I could remember whose blog it was) where a woman chose a new word each month to summarize something she will focus on that month (some pick a word for the year). Many people added comments of what their word would be. I had thought a lot about that and came up with many different words: listen, discipline, health, discipline, love, discipline (this can cover so many areas of my life you know), creativity ... In the end I didn't chose discipline (good thing because I would have failed miserably). I also thought that since I am not very disciplined, it would take me more than a month to remember to focus on my word regularly, so I chose a word for the year.

My word for 2010 is TODAY

I had major (somewhat unexpected) surgery in January so I took each day as it came. I didn't have to think too much about it to stay on track. I put my faith in God and knew that worrying would be pointless, although that didn't stop me from thinking about all the possible outcomes. I had the opportunity to be "pink-slipped" waiting for surgery from Tuesday until Sunday. I just kept thinking that maybe TODAY would be the day that would get me on the path to healing.


This week I have been given the opportunityy to remember that I am supposed to be focusing on TODAY. Now that I am feeling much better and am really planning my return to work, I have been thinking about all the things I should do over the next two weeks that I had wanted to get accomplished before I was sick (knowing that I won't even get to half of them). I am also wondering how everything will go as I return to work. I have gotten into a nice routine over the past few weeks and am enjoying all this time to dawdle around and be pokey about everything I do. I forget what it's like to have to leave the house every morning and return at the end of the day to get supper started. I have been able to keep up with my laundry, plan my meals and spend great quality time with Spencer after he gets off the bus. I'm hoping to keep up with the laundry & meals, but I will sooo miss getting Spencer from the bus.

I have 2 more weeks to enjoy this after-school time with Spencer before I go back to work (we are both off together for March Break), so for each of those TODAY's, I will soak it all up!


TODAY: The day that includes the present moment (as opposed to yesterday or tomorrow)

Getting Ready for 2010

I have been off work since the end of October with some medical issues. I am starting to feel better now (although I still have one more test to go for, which is next Tuesday), so I have been trying to do a few things that make me feel good.

Last year I received a small desk calendar that uses a CD case as the base. The pictures of fish on the calendar were nice and it was a calendar to advertise a business, but this year I decided to make my own calendar inserts for it, so I got creative!! Here is what I came up with.

I just set up a table format in WordPerfect (still refusing to transfer everything to Word) and typed up the calendar sheets for each month. Each month's sheet can be slipped into place without disturbing the background. I am hoping to paint my computer/spare room a wet cement colour, so I thought the purple would go nice in here!

Of course, I don't have this calendar displayed in my home yet - apparently it's bad luck to switch the year until THE DAY, and we could certainly use some good luck around here! I don't really believe in all that, but it does sit in the back of my mind.

No Beauty This Spring

We purchased this home on June 24, 2005, so we missed seeing our crabapple tree bloom that year. In 2006 and 2007, the tree bloomed and the winds blew and took the blossoms away as quickly as they came. After the blossoms are gone, the tree is not very attractive. Last year I got outside with my camera to take a few pictures so we could remember how beautiful the tree can be, and I am so glad I did.

This year, a few little blossoms came out, then we had frost. That was the end of the blossoms for our tree this year. I am very disappointed that I didn't get to sit in my livingroom window and enjoy my beautiful tree. I am hoping for a better display next year.

Where Did My Baby Go???

Before Spencer's first birthday, I watched a show on Oprah about how parents track their children's milestones through life. The one lady on the show had pictures of her daughter, starting on her first birthday, wearing one of her daddy's dress shirts to show how much she's grown each year. I thought this was a great idea, but with my son, I decided to use a neck tie instead. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one of my husband's favorite ties (which I have since found), so we bought a tie specifically for this purpose (FYI: not hubby's favorite hockey team).

Spencer has just celebrated his 7th birthday a couple weeks ago, and I cannot believe how mature he looks now, especially after looking back through his pictures. Why do our babies grow up so quickly??

So here's a look at how my little "buglet" has grown!!

Of course the first picture is him, one day old, not quite ready to wear a neck tie yet. He looks so quiet and peaceful, which is exactly how he was as a baby!

On his first birthday (left), he was oblivious of the neck tie. He had just woke from his nap to find balloons floating around the kitchen. He just kept trying to catch them, which made taking the picture a bit difficult since he wouldn't stay still. By his first birthday, he'd had a month of practice being on his feet!

By his second birthday (right), he was overly interested in the tie and I had to snap several pictures before I got one where he wasn't trying to pull it off or wrap it around his neck. That was a test of my patience for sure!




For his third birthday (left), he was very co-operative in getting his picture taken, which was a bit unlike him at that time. He was in the midst of realizing that he had the power to not always do what Mommy & Daddy wanted him to do. Thankfully (I think) he's a people pleaser and he realized that he prefers to have harmony in his life instead of defiance. He still speaks his mind and tries to get his way, but he also knows that some things are not debatable.

On his fifth birthday (left), he was thinking this whole tie thing was a bit lame. He entertained me while I took his picture, but he was ready to get on to other things. There's a lot of playing to do when you're five!

So here we are now. My baby is 7!! He was excited this year to get his picture taken. We had his 7th birthday party at our local bowling alley with five of his friends. They had a load of fun bowling for an hour, eating lunch together and enjoying cake, and more cake ... It was great watching how much these boys have learned to play together, take turns, consider each other's feelings and cheer each other on when frame after frame, no pins were knocked down by some of the boys.

Spencer is wanting to be more independant now and I'm not loving that. I know I should, but I'm not ready yet! Maybe we can start letting him make his own peanut butter sandwich. That's a good starting point, right? I can still see right where he is, and it's just a butter knife, after all!

Lists

Lists can be fun, and I always make mine fun. I have a list for today and posting on my blog is NOT on my list. However, it will be now, with a stroke through it to show that I have done it. My problem is that I make lists and get sidetracked, which means that I don't get everything done on my list. To make myself feel more accomplished, I add the other things that I did so I don't feel like a failure.

My list:
1. Call Lee-Ann (I have done this and left a message. I really want to connect with her and haven't been able to). Lee-Ann, please call back!

2. Make peanut butter rice krispie squares and cut them in heart shapes.

3. Laundry (gotta get started on this).

4. Clean the house ... this will never be done.

5. Measure for carpets for the bedrooms.

6. Come up with something different for supper tonight using ground beef (since I'm home today and can put some time into it - oh, I'm thinking stuffed shells - yummy - Shaun loves those).

7. Make Valentine cards for Shaun & Spencer and get their gifts ready before they get home today.

There are lots of other things I want to accomplish today, but lets face it. I will get sidetracked and work on some of those things not on my list and will probably not even start on #4 above!! Who cleans their house on a vacation day from work anyway?

Happy Friday everybody. Oh, if anybody loves lists, check out this super simple list maker website: http://printablechecklist.org/