Monday, January 27, 2014

To Be Continued

Three years ago when I started writing this blog, I had envisioned a space to post my pictures and go on and on about my how much I loved my family and how cute my girls were without nauseating everyone on Facebook.  I wanted to exploit the small pleasures of daily life.  I wanted to write about the smell of freshly bathed babies, adventures in our backyard and all of life's little details.  



Things have changed in three years.  The girls are growing up.  Their world is getting bigger.  Their adventures are taking them beyond the confines of the backyard.  The lives in our family are getting busier and more complex.  And all the tiny moments are still happening all around us but I just don't get to writing about them as much as I once did or as much as I wish that I could.  



Things that I would like to write about are in my mind all the time. I make up stories in my thoughts about how snuggly Lexi is and how good her hugs make me feel and how soft her cheeks are.  And I write the words in my head of how proud I am of Callie, how she works so hard at her school work and the joy she brings me when she plunks away at the piano and reads me her storybooks. 

The words are there, the moments are abundant, but I don't always get the chance to put them in this space as much as I once did.





I've thought of giving up the blogger life many times.  Telling myself that I'm too busy, too tired, or that I have nothing new to say.



But something keeps bringing me back here.  Something is keeping me up tonight at 12:45am typing these words and posting these pictures of this weeks regular everyday things.  So I will continue on until that something changes.  So raise your glass...and here's to a scaled back, doing the best we can with what we've got, year number four of From the Heart.  Cheers.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

More of Januay.

We are over the mid-January hump and since our national pastime is to talk about the weather, here is our local, grade one, weather report...


I haven't been around my computer much lately.  I've been spending A LOT of time in the kitchen.  Since it is January, there has to be some kind of health challenge.  Last year it was pedometers.  This year it's "The Shred".  Did you know that nobody diets anymore?  All the cool kids do what's called "clean eating".  And since I'm a wanna be cool, hip, happening, mother of two, I decided to jump on this clean eating bandwagon.  For now anyway.  So basically this clean eating plan means that I spend my evenings cooking to prepare for the next days feed, I frequent the grocery store to buy fresh, salt free, sugar free, unprocessed, no pre packaged anything, and I spend the day trying to fit in meals every two hours in between work, day care drop off, preschool pick ups, gymnastics, piano, dance and skating lessons and of course, my own work out.  Its not forever.  It's labour intensive.  But I'm feeling up to the challenge.

So when I'm not cooking, eating or at the grocery store here's what we did for fun this past week...

 Our first outdoor skate...



A snowmobile ride, or two...


And friends over for a play date...






We've got lots of things happening in the upcoming weeks.  The next six weekends are booked.  One of those weekends includes a birthday party for the almost seven year old in our house.   So far we've had Bears, Pirates and Snowmen.  What could be next?  I'll give you a hint.  The streamers are Blue.  

Until then, enjoy this little video of the months of the year, Macarena style...

Friday, January 10, 2014

January.

 So you remember all those happy, glorious holiday posts over the last month?  Well they're all gone and what we're left with is January.  And let's face it.  There isn't anything too pretty about January.  I wonder if people who live in Florida get the January blahs or if its just us cold climaters?  Here's a little look at what getting back into routine looked like this week.

Monday morning... Little sister is still smiling but big sister just wants to cover her head.  That's a gourmet breakfast of Cheerios.  And it felt very dark.  My only rule over the holidays was that no one could get out of bed until it was daylight so the darkness was a little hard to take.  Oh, and of course it was -29 without the windchill.  Just to make returning to routine that much more enjoyable.



But as it turns out, we survived Monday and the rest of the week.  Just barely.  And I guess it's a good thing that children are back in school learning important things. Things more important than how to turn on Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse on Netflix.  Callie asked me today what the color of the Olympic rings were.  I could have guessed but we asked our best friend just to be sure.  She was learning about the Olympics at school this week and came home excited to tell me all about it.  She never would have learned that in the Dreamhouse.



And here's Callie teaching her sister the dance moves to the Macarena.  Which she also learned at school this week.  I'm guessing the teachers are getting creative with all these indoor recesses.



And me?  Well I fought off another stomach flu, I replaced my wine glass with lemon water and I made a date with my old pal Mr. Treadmill.  



 The joys of January.  Keep on keeping on.  That's all I've got to say.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Hopeful and Grateful

Last night we celebrated our 8th Anniversary and counted down to the New Year in our cozy living room. Candles were a blazin', drinks were a flowin', and snacks were a cookin'.  We haven't been at home for New Year's Eve for a couple of years.  It was  fun to watch the ball drop in New York and the bands play in Niagara Falls and play some games with the girls.  Just the four of us.  We watched old videos from when the girls were just babies. We looked back on the last eight Christmases.  If you think nothing changes just take a minute to click back.  Not a single photo was taken on a cell phone at our wedding.  No one tweeted, updated statuses, instagrammed or texted a single thing eight years ago on our night.  That's kinda hard to imagine unless you were there to experience it for yourself! We didn't watch our wedding video though. It's not digital.   Maybe next year.  If DVD is still around.

Watching those videos of my girls growing up gave me the warm, fuzzies.  Maybe because a new year was about to begin, maybe because it was our anniversary, or maybe it was the wine... whatever it was, it made me feel so lucky.  I have a good life.  We wish people a happy and healthy new year... and that's what I have.  On Christmas day when we drive to my mom's house for supper, I look in the windows of the houses that we pass and I wonder how the different people are celebrating.  I know that the holidays are not full of spirit and joy for all people.  That hard times, hardened hearts, and missing loved ones changes the game plan.  I know that I'm lucky and I'm beyond grateful for my family, my friends, all that we have and have worked for.  I hope to raise gracious children.  Children who don't feel the need to apologize for having a good life but have empathy and understanding for others and the realization that the line between fortune and misfortune is drawn in sand and can be washed away at anytime.  This is my hope as we begin a new year.  

Today I packed up Christmas and put it into Rubbermaid bins and put another year of memories into the storage room.  With the record breaking cold temperatures lately, we have barely left the house in a week. It's pretty much a dream come true...lazy jammie mornings, late Netflix nights, and all day snuggles.  I haven't taken a single photo with my real camera in a week.  So here it is, instagram style... 


Happy 2014 people.  Be hopeful and grateful and have a some fun!