Project Overload

It's been a long time since I've posted it seems... and 9 days since I posted my project 365 photos, so here is a bit of overload...

Day 173 - Nov 21
M is all ready to go. I'm thinking of just calling her Little M now, since she doesn't really suit 'Baby' anymore... sniff.


I had to include this one too... even though it isn't technically a 365 pic... well, sort of. We were van shopping at one of the dealerships and she was just so cute playing with the toys...

Day 174 - Nov 22

Here is a card I made for my Dad's birthday. I love how it opens at the scalloped edge.

Day 175 - Nov 23

Getting rid of the branches cut from the trees that are far too close to the house... close enough to be considered a hazard. There was one tree that leaned right over the house... no branches on the other side... and it was looking like it was starting to rot near the middle of the trunk. Not good.

Day 176 - Nov 24

Laundry day. Little M loves watching the washing machine.

Day 177 - Nov 25

One of my fave little decorations.

Day 178 - Nov 26

Snow! Not really a lot, and it all melted by the next day, but we haven't seen the white stuff since my last project 365 photo with it in there... back in October... in fact, we've had RAIN! This is unheard of in my area! (well, OK, I guess not anymore)

And I couldn't resist this one either... a cat from my friends house. Isn't he sweet?

Day 179 - Nov 27

More car shopping, different dealership... and I think we may have a winner... Oh, and Little M LOVES those bead wire toys. Perhaps I should make one....

Another one from that day (sigh). Isn't she so cute, reading her book upside down at the very top of the stairs?

Day 180 - Nov 28

My dad's Fury. My bro is working on it for him. He knows about it now, so I can post about it. I think they may end up working on it together some days. What a nice Father-Son project!

Day 181 - Nov 29

The decor at the church. I sang this morning with my aunt, mom, sis, and cousin. It was lovely. And we got snow again last night... which I think is all melted again by this evening. Sigh.

Sorry I haven't posted much else. Things are super busy here right now... vehicle shopping (we found out on Thursday, a whole two weeks after the accident, that the car will in fact be written off, we don't have to pay any more of the lease, and we need to find a new vehicle. We are looking at one now), making Christmas presents (taking longer than I hoped), etc. I will probably post more on Wednesday (since I'm sure I'll have time by then). Hope you all are having a fantastic end-of-the-month, and had a fantastic weekend! :)

Christmas Decor!

I'm including my project 365 photos for yesterday and today in here as well... just because I can ;)

So, I finally managed to finish up my decorating... for now. Yesterday I worked hard at getting up my green garland, the tree, and then the lights on them both. This is harder than it sounds. Why? Because I use old lights. The one strand took me about 1/2 hour to get all working again, and I have a strand I was using for 'old-but-still-working' light bulbs for this strand, so they continue to burn out as I'm fixing them (ha). I am so glad I have a bulb tester. Anyway, I have a total of 300 lights on the tree, which is more than it has ever had before (there were only 100 on it last year due to one of the strands of 100 dying on me during the previous year, and me forgetting and not purchasing new until this year... whew). I like how it turned out.

This is my project 365 photo for yesterday, day 171. I love all the little white lights, and I love how there are little holes in the frame that I can pop those little lights through! :)

Here is the tree in all it's lit-up glory. No decor, just lights. SO nice with more lights!!!

The munchkin loves the lights on the tree. She saw them after her nap yesterday and wouldn't stop giggling. So cute. She likes to finger them. I have to watch her though... hopefully she won't try to pull on them. She has attempted pulling on the decorations, since there are so many and she LOVES the glass balls...

And this is my project 365 photo for today, day 172... unless I take another one later of something we may do this evening in the city... since it is my birthday and my husband wants to treat me. Anyway, the decorations are all up now, and the tree doesn't look nearly so... open? empty? I don't know. I know we've used it for 7 years now, and I think I'd like a nice 8ft one for next year. Depends on the boxing day sale prices, of course! ;)

This is something I've been doing for ages now. I love all the red balls in the crystal bowl... so pretty.

And here you can see the table with the runner I made, the stockings I made, etc. Oh, and I made the tree skirt out of the same fabric as that runner... and a dress for a Christmas angel I crafted is also from that same fabric... nice and matchy, dontcha think?

So, here I sit, happy to have gotten a few things on my Christmas to-do list finished. Now I have a lot of other things to do on my list. Like lots of baking (which I'll save till closer to the day), gift making and wrapping... making cards. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm thinking of decreasing the list a little...

Only problem is... Christmas only lasts one day. Sigh.

P.S. Only 35 days!

A Giveaway!

A friend of mine is giving away a Christmas Book called The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren. Head on over to Montessori Moments to enter!

Place Title Here... Or Not.

First, I want to wish my dad a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :)
Anyway, I'm tired, so here is some more project 365 love (since I'm a bit behind... oops haha)!


Day 166 - Nov 14
My daughter... making her silly face... again... just like usual when she sees a camera! hahaha
Day 167 - Nov 15
All buckled in and raring to go. We like to call her our giant pink marshmallow in this getup.

Day 168 - Nov 16

The wreath I put up that day.

Day 169 - Nov 17

Many many little socks... I got a lot of socks from someone... along with a lot of clothes... and I don't put the wee socks into the dryer (loses elasticity, and kids tend to pull them off easily enough already).

Day 170 - Nov 18

My lil munchkin staring at the birds at the local pet store. This was after our chiropractic appointment, which was after her swim lesson. I was surprised at how awake she still seemed.

Get Ready...

Christmas is coming! Less than 40 days!

So, this week I've decided to focus on getting a few things ready for one of my favorite holidays! I adore Christmas! The snow, the lights, the festivities, the joy, the songs, the cookies... most of all the feeling of joy from knowing what God did for us so many years ago. It is a wonderful season!

One of the things I find myself getting into every year around this time is crafts. Crafts and baking. There is something about Christmas... when I was a kid my siblings and I would get psyched up with only a few weeks left, and we could always be found at the table making something Christmas related out of paper or pine cones... clay... anything we could get our hands on. We'd make all sorts of nativity related paper ornaments, string them with yarn, and hang them all over the tree. Mom and dad would keep them all, but we'd insist on not putting them up the following year, and just make new ones. Then we'd get out our toys and place them around the tree, playing near the lights, watching them sparkle, and dance around to Christmas music. We had a little house my dad found us, and these animal sets (you know the Calico Critters sets? I had the mouse family and my brother had the fox family) that we would decorate for Christmas. We'd make a little tree, little fireplace, little decorations, etc, and decorate that little house for all those critters to sleep in... adding presents on Christmas eve like 'Santa' (which we never believed in, but it was always fun to pretend). We even had a Bible for the Daddy mouse to read to the kids.

Anyway, with not much time left before the 'crunch' of the season, I've been trying to get myself going on a few projects myself. Basically, I've been making lists and looking at craft ideas in order to figure out what I should make. Not much luck yet. I figured out I need to make a boatload of cards... and I do mean a LOT. And if I do photo cards again, the number is still terribly high. I don't think I'll be bothering with envelopes except for those that get them mailed. Which means looking for my address book again, haha.

Another thing I like to do before the holidays is plan out the types of cookies/goodies I wish to bake. I like to try a few new recipes each year, and it's a lot of fun as long as I have all the ingredients. So, I look through my books/online, pick the items I want to make, and write out the 'grocery list', including amounts for one or two recipes of each item. I also put them in order of the item I wish to make, just in case I find that one of the ingredients is either too expensive for my tastes, or not in stock at the store. Then I know which ones I can 'eliminate' from my list. I've figured I'd like to make at least 8 recipes this year. I'm not sure exactly what as of yet, but I know the regular White Christmas Cookies will make it in there, as well as a batch of buns/cinnamon buns. I'm also hoping to make some candy again, like perhaps peanut brittle, toffee, or homemade caramels/chocolate caramels. We'll see. I've made them before, but they take a LOT of time stirring on the stove, so that may depend on my daughter and my husband... I'll be sure to post the recipes of the items on my cooking blog when I've decided on them (and made them, so I can post pics as well).

As for decorating... I haven't started yet. I wish to, mainly because I am having a hard time even planning anything out due to the lack of snow on the ground. The weather has been crazy lately... still above zero Celsius here in Canada... which is odd. Usually we're fighting with mitts and scarves already, but not this year. So, I kind of want to get some decor up to help me feel the season. Like maybe some garland, or the wreath. I'm not ready to tackle the tree yet.

Any of you end up having to put everything up on your own? And take it down on your own? And yet still have the rules that you can't put it up or take it down until a certain date? Yeah... :)

Maybe I'll turn on a Christmas CD and watch my husband roll his eyes when he walks in for lunch... hahahahaha!

Deer Car...

Deer and Vehicles do not mix. Why? NOBODY WINS!

Last night I had a run-in with a deer. At first I thought it was a dog, but the impact was considerably more than I am sure a dog would give (plus, I have not yet seen dogs on the side of the road, thank goodness). I'm not sure what caused this deer to careen across the highway right in front of my car... perhaps he/she had a death wish? Maybe it was a daredevil... perhaps it freaked out seeing 8 headlights heading towards the same spot, four from either side, and panicked. Or, perhaps it saw my car and figured it could use a fur coat for the winter... either way, we collided, and neither of us came out unscathed.



Anyway, it went like this. I was on my way home from a baby shower, everything was Honky Dory, life was good, it was dark outside, I could see the yard light for our farm and started to slow down already. Then... out came the brown blur. I remember saying "WHOA", braking like crazy and hoping the thing wouldn't come through the windshield (since the car isn't terribly high). Anyway, the car swerved after the thing gave my car a good kick for hitting it and taking a fur souvenir without asking. Baby M started crying in the back seat, and all I could do was try to console her while pulling onto the shoulder and putting the car in neutral (after trying to give her gas and hearing her tremble... not to mention the smell of coolant leak). I was so close to home in fact, I was able to coast all the way into my normal parking spot. Not bad, eh?


Don't worry, we are both fine. Hubby was outside when I pulled up and helped me remove our child, who was much better after having come to a stop. I've already filed a claim and we've removed everything that was in the vehicle as well. Baby M started running around the house, happy as a clam, the second I put her down, so I'm sure she is fine. I have a small, but persistent, headache... probably more from tensing up than anything else. Don't worry, we'll both be visiting a chiropractor soon enough.

This car eats deer for breakfast... but then it goes into a coma and, although it starts, it won't drive.

Notice the lovely fur remnants. I still don't think either the car or the deer had anything to gain... just a lot to lose... like the fur in the grill and the pieces of headlight on the road.

The drivers side has almost no damage. The air bag didn't go off, and since nobody was sitting in the passenger seat, that one didn't either. It did look rather funny coasting home seeing the hood like that. And I can't help but wonder what the other drivers thought... there were two cars oncoming, and one or two behind me. I swerved quite a bit (still staying between the lines, though, as I had slowed enough). The car behind me slowed down as though it was following me until I turned into my driveway... probably to see if I was alright.

Ah, my poor car. You've served me well these last... 3 1/2 years. Alas, you will not drive unless you are fixed up, and since you are leased, I don't see that happening. At least the engine got an impromptu breezeway! :)

I don't think I'll be going too many places in the next week or so, until we get a new vehicle. Mainly because I don't wish to drive the truck. Also, we may need to get a new car seat (although they say it may be fine for us to keep the one we have. If we get a new one, it has to be similar and we need to bring in the receipt to be reimbursed for it). Sigh.

I'm making this my project 365 photo for today, day 165... unless I take another pic later that I prefer.

I'm actually OK with the whole ordeal. I have a lot to praise God for.

1. Both the munchkin and I are fine.

2. I was right near the house so I didn't even need to call anyone to get me home. Plus, there was less impact due to my having started slowing down already.

3. The deer was small.

4. God kept me from panicking. I remember thinking that I felt considerably more calm than I would have ever imagined from something like that.

5. We needed to look for a different vehicle soon anyway as the lease on this one was up the same month I'm due to have our second child. And we were hoping for a van (or something similar at least). So, this is sort of a blessing in disguise. God knows what He is doing.

6. It happened when on my way home instead of on my way out. That is very important to me for some reason.

7. I was planning on cleaning the car thoroughly today... and now I don't have to! :)

So there you have it... my not-so-little blurb about my not-so-fun ordeal last night! Perhaps I will go have a soak in the tub while the munchkin is taking her nap.

Edit: As for the deer, I am not sure if it lived or not. It is not on the side of the road, there was no blood on the car or the side of the road, and I did see it just keep on running, so I don't know. To be honest, I'd rather it die quickly than suffer from a major injury, which it may have. Or maybe they have deer chiropracters?

Sugar Babies

Tis the week for baking... I am not sure why!

Anyway, on Tuesday I decided to bake some cinnamon biscuit rolls for a friend who had a baby in the last month. My husband was going into that town and dropped them off for me. I love baking for people, I'm just not so sure why I don't do it more often.


Then, on Wednesday was a gathering... a really late Thanksgiving gathering (remember, we're in Canada... Thanksgiving is usually October). So, since I had fondant left from Baby M's birthday, I decided to use some of it up (spent so much time making it, I had better use it up!) on this cake. And since there was a baby shower the next day (for the above person), I wanted to make a cake for that too (instead of the cookies I do for baby showers every time I go... for the last 4 years... that would be about 6 times already I think). And so... I used up the rest of the fondant (which keeps in the fridge for 3 months... which makes me happy).

Cake for the gathering.

Cake for the shower.

Sugar Baby.

And of course, I couldn't leave out pics from the shower itself.

There you have it... a busy last couple of days... lots of sugar (although I didn't eat much of it. In total, I've eaten one piece of cake from the spotted one, and the baby cake didn't even get cut into yet. And no, the baby is not plastic. It is also made of fondant). Sugar is good... as long as most of it stays outside my belly. :)

Oh... and I have yet another story to post for later. Yup... but I'll make you all wait for that one. Mainly because I'm real tired and want to go to bed now. Yawn.

Quick project 365

Day 162 - Nov 10
'I sleepin just a little!'


Day 163 - Nov 11
One of the cakes I made for the next day... a baby shower.

Day 164 - Nov 12

The precious bundle at the shower.

Nature 'Hike'

Well, I've finally done something on my 101 in 1001 list... it's been a couple of months... sadly. But I'm still on track, with 46 items left and more than 460 days to do them! Not bad for having forgotten all about it in the last two months. Anyway, this one marks off #5... go for a nature walk.

Oh, and notice the photos? I got a new camera on Saturday... finally! It's the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS. I'm thrilled with it! It has a 10x zoom (a step up from my 3x zoom of earlier) and is 10mega pixels (up from 4). It also only uses 2 AA's instead of 4, has a screen 3x the size of our old one, and a flip flash (so I don't have to always click a button to turn it off). It takes pics way faster too. So, I've also decided to do something else with my pics before I upload them onto blogger... mainly make them about 1/6th of their original size, and add a watermark. What do you think?

When we arrived at the park we found my aunt and cousin there. She took these two pics for me! Yippee for family shots!

There you have it. Pics from our little walk... and I do mean little. We were at the park for a total of 1hour and 20minutes... and I'd say about 45 minutes of that was our walk (when you meet others you know, you have to chat a little bit, right? Not to mention that Baby M made a surprise in her diaper for us after our walk, and then we noticed more people we knew after cleaning that up).

Oh, and walking on sandy paths in a bush with hills, waterlogged areas that require walking over using logs, and other such things? Not as easy when pregnant. Granted, a lot easier at 15 weeks than 35, but still not as easy. I can't believe how quick I run out of breath!