Needing more storage!

Do you have a goal for this week? 

Our house was built in 1903 and that usually means no storage. The girls don't have built in closets in their rooms and I have one narrow broom closet on the main floor - ACK! 

We live in the chaos of renovations and the last project Hubby completed was to support the old stairwell to the basement and extend the joists ... back 80 or so years ago when the stairs were put in, they just cut a hole in the floor - yikes! The joists are done, he has put down a sub floor and now passes the baton to me to turn the functional into pretty! There are nails to pull, cobwebs to remove, decades of grime to clean and paint to apply. I am determined to get it done this week, then I can move onto another project :-)

Do you find it hard to blog regularly? I sure do and I hope to change that this year!

I am a stay at home, home schooling Mom who lives in Saskatchewan Canada with a fabulous hubby, 4 and 5 year old daughters 

and 2 newly added Mini Dachshunds.

We are in the middle of 5 months of snow cover and I am dreaming of the day we can get the old motor home out of the backyard and get camping again!

 I love to sew, digi scrap, bake and have fun with my family.

I will be hopping as I get a chance and can't wait to meet you. Thanks for stopping by! 

Lost tooth

She lost her first tooth!

 I spent the week before New Years working on Aryanna's tooth fairy pillow and finished it with what I thought was lots of time to spare. New Years Eve we packed up to go to my parents' for the night, I checked the tooth and it seemed to have weeks to go ... this is our first loose tooth so I really had no idea ... so we left the pillow at home and went away for the night. Wouldn't you know it, the tooth came out on New Years Eve! Aryanna was thrilled and I was disappointed that I left that pillow at home.

She didn't seem too bothered that she had to wait a night and loves the pillow so much that it is still hanging in her room ... just waiting for the next tooth.

Ohhh, so long ,,,

Life just gets in the way and blogging goes on the back burner, but here I am trying to get back at it!

My hubby works in the RV industry and the shop is closed over Christmas and New Years, so I am just beginning a wonderful 10 days with him at home. Today, I plan to get into my much neglected sewing room and have some fun! Fleece pants for hubby, a tooth fairy pillow for Aryanna (her first loose tooth), a pj bag for Noelle and some sweaters for Jasmin. See how long it's been, you haven't even met Jasmin our Mini Dachshund puppy. She is almost 4 months old and a complete goof ball. 

 While I head off to create, I will leave you with a photo of the newest addition. 

Have a fantastic Boxing Day and I will see you soon!

All kinds of busy!

Last night, for the first time in years, I was able to spend some time crafting without children. What a luxury! I made this Easter topiary for my Mom, I spontaneously decided to make it one day when I was in the city shopping ... without a supplies list ... so, the pot is too small and it kept tipping over. I 
 compensated by stealing the base tray from a plant in the house and turning it over. I love it and I know she will too!

Now that crafting fun is done I get to move on to renovation fun. This weekend is our first big renovation of 2010 and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Last year we cut a hole in our floor, built new stairs to the basement and  put up a temporary pony wall for a railing. Last week we chose a paint color, the second from the left is Nutria from CIL and handy hubby built a platform to put over the stairwell hole. 

Then for a change of pace he decided to bust open the wall we thought might be hiding an original (1903) pocket door frame. BINGO! I am excited to get to that project soon

Last night, after the girls went to bed, the pony wall came off and the platform went down. Today I am repairing the wall along the left of the stairs, taking down some painted over wallpaper border, priming and maybe getting some Nurtia on the wall tomorrow morning. Then I leave and am taking the girls with me! Handy hubby will be installing the new/repurposed railing and it will be easier with curious and daring 3 and 5 years olds out of the way. We are going to spend Easter with my parents at their retirement house at the lake!

Getting ready to party!

About a year ago I became involved in my first Ultimate Blog Party and loved it. The party opened up a whole new world of blogging for me and I can't wait for the next one. If you haven't heard about it yet, wander on over to 5 minutes for Mom and look around, mark the date and get ready to meet some new people and maybe win a prize!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring on the Canadian Prairies ...

 

Join in the Wordless Wednesday fun at Miller Racing Family

Lovin Pawparazzi pets!

Last week my girls were playing with some friends who have Pawparazzi pets and they just fell in love with them. I am on the lookout for some, but until then ... here are a couple of givaways that I have entered and if you have young girls who love their pets you should enter too!

Organic Girl

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls

Where do I even begin?

It's one of those Mondays where I don't even know where to begin! It's a dirty Spring day outside so I am unmotivated inside. 

Nothing got done on the weekend because we were in the city all day on Saturday. Sunday I woke up with a migraine so we didn't go in to Church ... have you ever wondered about getting struck with lightening if you didn't go to church? Ah well, I came close yesterday. 

 I was sitting at my computer in my wonderful sewing/craft room when I heard some creaking then suddenly the shelf, that I have stacked with tubs of fabric, came crashing down on top of, and around, me! Months ago Handyman Hubby assured me that the shelf was secure, so I began stacking it with 9 tubs of fabric - ouch! I was able to postpone housework though, while I doctored my sore shoulders and back.

After a bit I was feeling better so we all went for a walk. On the way home I wiped out in some mud and sliced up my knee really good. Once I rested for a bit I got up and cleaned the bathroom, in the process my knee started bleeding again. Ouch!

So, here I am Monday morning with a weekend of chores piled up and all I want to do is paint. We live in a house, built in 1903, that needs a lot of work and we are doing it on one income and a very tight budget. We have a large yard and two years ago we built a new basement, moved the house over and demolished the old basement that was caving in. I love having a bright, big and new basement but there is so much work to do! Little by little I have been working through rooms repairing the cracks from the move and painting. The kitchen is done, including new paint on the cupboards. The sewing/craft room WAS done. The bathroom is done, although we want to change it again.
The plan for Easter weekend is the wall at the new basement stairwell. The old stairs did not meet code so last Spring we braced the floor, framed it, cut a big hole, built new stairs and put up an ugly temporary wall around the hole... without thinking that I would not be able to access the wall once the hole was cut. It's all being fixed Easter weekend ... wall repaired, paint and new railing. Actually, the new/reclaimed railing is right there propped up against the wall that is going to get done. I am still deciding if I want to leave it oak or paint it white... Until then, we have decided on a paint color for the wall, but today I want to paint a bit test area, so that over the next 10 days we can be really sure it's THE color we want for most of the main floor.

Hmmmm, where to start?

Keeping little hands busy

I don't think we will get to baking today but we sure got some good tree decorations made. I love taking a before photo of the crafting area, reminds me that we aren't always in chaos!
 

We made egg carton bells

 and popsicle stick trees. They all turned out wonderful and are proudly displayed on the tree ... now back to sewing ...

Nearly 8 months!

Oh my goodness, has it really been that long? Summer passed quickly for us with illness, visits to the ER and emergency surgery. I had not been feeling well since Easter and in September realized it was all due to an infection running rampant just underneath my skin ... it abscessed and I was rushed into surgery. Now I am recovering from pneumonia, likely came into contact with it when I was intubated for surgery. I am finally feeling better and what is one of the first things I do? Get back on my blog of course!

In the middle of the mess of sickness we also adopted 2 guinea pigs from a local rescue. We haven't had a pet in over 4 years and these girls are so cute ... we just had to get one more!

Today we plan to make some tree decorations and sugar cookies so you will hear from me very soon. It was good to chat again and I look forward to catching up on your blog too.

Way too long ...

I can't believe I was gone for so long - thanks for sticking around :)

What a month already! I was in the middle of preparing for Easter: sewing, crafting, baking, painting and cleaning when we got a last minute call from some of DH's family. An extended family member was in a nearby hospital in critical condition and a carload of family wanted to travel from a neighbor Province to come visit her. Of course they would be staying at our place. So, 10 days before Easter I am using up all my clean linens, baking and cooking to house this crazy bunch. It was a good time, I didn't know some of them really well and some had never met our girls so it was a good connecting time.

I then spent 3 days cleaning, baking and cooking again as my MIL and FIL were coming ... 2 days after that my SIL, BIL and their 2 little girls made it here for Easter weekend. It was an incredible weekend, my MIL and FIL have been working/living in SE Asia for 18 years and this is the first time we have all been able to be together for Easter. Easter Sunday we went into our nearby city for an outdoor scavenger hunt and enjoyed the warmer weather outside. Unfortunately they fly back to Indonesia in 15 days so this was also our farewell visit as a family ... we just said good-bye about an hour ago :(

I should probably get back to cleaning, the way this month is going someone will need a place to stay next week! ACK! That reminds me that my brother will be living with us for May and June while he is up here taking a course. I need to get his room ready and start preparing for that extra body, as well the occasional visit from his wife and their children ... What a month for family :)

Dreaming of Spring, living in Winter

I am just going to let these photos speak for themselves!

A sneak peek of colour ...

We are currently working on a kitchen reno. It wasn't planned to happen right now but my wonderful Father in Law kind of sent me a challenge (I can't pass up a good challenge) and then I came across Emily's post with a challenge (did I mention I love a good challenge?) to paint my kitchen cabinets BLACK! Oh my, DH has wanted black cabinets for quite some time now and I am often very cautious of, and hesitant to agree with, his colour choices. So, I found myself in a very dark dilemma - a reno challenge from dearest FIL, a black challenge from Emily and my husband's dream on one hand and on the other - just me ... here I am jumping in while hesitation threatens to pull me back ...

There's gonna be a party!!!

So, I am still new to blogging and this is my first party! I can't wait. I don't usually win door prizes and contests but with so much being given away I just had to get in on the fun!!!

I am a SAHM of 2 adorable preschool girls (2 and 4) and will begin homeschooling kindergarten this fall YIKES! We live in Canada, in a small town right in the middle of the Prairies and love the quiet of rural life. We have been here 4 years, moving from the downtown center of a major Canadian city - what a lifestyle change but it allows me to stay home and for that we are forever grateful. I love to read (Christian fiction is a favorite, along with John Grisham), shop (when I get into the city), scrapbook, quilt, sew and make cute hair accessories for the girls!

I should let you get to your next blog :-) Have a great party!

My first three choices for prizes are:
1. USC 16, a $50 gift certificate to Kristen's Custom Creations provided by Kristen of Kristen's Custom Creations
2. USC 28, a $25 gift certificate to Bliss Living provided by Bliss Living
3. USC 17, sterling silver earrings from Ice.com provided by Sure Baby Blog

These all look like wonderful prizes and I can't wait to spend the time over the next few days visiting everyone's blogs.

The rest of my choices are all from the USC category: 11, 47, 567, 10, 21, 25, 32, 42, 43, 45, 46, 52, 70, 6, 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, 14, 15, 23, 26, 30, 34, 40, 44, 48, 51, 57, 58, 62, 64, 65

Good luck to everyone and have fun!

Ahhhh, the first day of spring. While some of you have beautiful spring flowers popping up, I am still dreaming of the day all the snow is gone ... The days are getting longer though and today we are supposed to get above freezing so the end is in sight.

I woke up to a gorgeous Hoar Frost this morning, it's one of my favorite winter sights and I just wanted to share with you some photos from out my front door.

A new website!!!

Can you believe it YCMT is starting up a new website - You Can Quilt This. You have to go to their blog to find out more about this new site and enter the contest! I can't wait. I have just entered into both worlds of YCMT and quilting, this will bring two of my good friends together!

Fabric giveaway!

You have to run over and check out M & M Studio. They have a fantastic fabric givaway going on. I have fallen in love with a number of the fabrics in her store, the colors are great!

The messes they make

One day I will be through this pre-schooler stage and I will laugh - right?

What a couple of mischief makers I am raising. Last Wednesday was a crazy day and in the midst of it I found that my 2 year old had gotten into the bathroom and destroyed it. I couldn't blog about it earlier because it was such a bad day and the thought of that bathroom mess almost sent me into a fetal position rock and sob!

Well, then yesterday's disaster happened and since it was a little less hair-pulling and a little more funny I had to tell you all about it. In the end I couldn't share one without the other.

I was talking to DH on his way home from work yesterday, heard an unusual noise in the basement and peeked down. To my horror, this is the sight that met my eyes

I know my children and I know better that to leave a feather/down pillow with a nickel sized hole awaiting repair anywhere that they may conceivabley come across it! There is a good explanation for the feathers though. According to my 4 year old they were "playing winter", I guess little downy feathers make great faux snow. What baffles me is that we live in the Canadian Prairies, we have had snow cover for 4 1/2 months now with at least one more to go before we see the grass - couldn't they play "spring"?

We got the toys all put away and this was what was left. I had to empty the vacuum 3 times before it was all cleaned up.

Can't remember what it was ...

When DH left for work this morning he asked me to do 2 things today and I can't remember the second one for the life of me. This has spurred me on the the Becoming an Effective Wife Challenge. I know that when I am more in control of my day and start it right, my mind is clearer and much more organized.In our house mornings are the best time of day, the girls are rested and easy to entertain and my patience is fresh and ready for a new day. Since mornings are so peaceful (that's quite relative in this house) I tend to slide through that part of the day and then scramble once afternoon hits. I am going to organize my day better and will begin today. Here is my plan for the week taken from Homemaker's Haven Challenge

1. Begin my day with God's word. My girls often get up during the 5am hour so to purposefully get up before them is not likely to happen. I will plan in time with God during the 8am hour, after DH is off to work, the girls are ready for their day and occupied and I have woken up :-)

2. Complete my morning routine. I have already outlined the chores I want to do each weekday, I just don't think of doing them until the afternoon. I will do them in the morning for the next 21 days and get a head start on my day. There will be some flexibility here because we live in the country and have a number of medical appointments in the city over the next 2 weeks, so some days (like this Thursday and Friday) my morning routine will not be chores but getting to appointments and keeping the girls occupied in waiting rooms.

3. Plan a project for the week. We are starting to give the kitchen a makeover and so far have only chosen the paint color. This week I will get all the wall repairs done and remove old wallpaper. We moved our old house to a new foundation last summer so there are a number of substantial cracks in the walls, so this will be a big job but one I am excited about! Chatting at the Sky has inspired and spurred me on with her wonderful black cabinets! I know this would be DH's dream, I have been reluctant but seeing it done I just love the look. Maybe that will be my project next week :-)

4. End my day with a work-out and lazy time with DH!

I look forward to seeing the changes this plan brings!