Goodbye 2009

I cannot believe how fast the year has flown. It seems like just yesterday we were marvelling at our daughter rolling over on her own... and then crawling, and walking, starting her first solid foods, weaning, babbling incoherently about something very interesting (I'm sure... but I have no idea what it is yet)... time just flew! We went on a road trip (where I lost all my pics... sniff sniff), got a new camera and had so much fun with that, started Project 365... I got pregnant again, and am now experiencing the little one moving like crazy! Crafts, housework, swim lessons, playing peek-a-boo... this year has been a full one!

And I'm looking forward to what this next year will bring!

And so, thanks to all my readers for joining me in the last year! I hope you all had a fabulous 2009 and that we will all ring in the 2010 year together with smiles!

God Bless you all! :)

101 Update

I finally did a few more things in my 101 list! I'm so happy! I've been checking it periodically to make sure I do them. I forgot for so long!

#16 - Have a sleepover in front of the TV.
Done! We decided to 'camp out' in front of the Christmas lights and the TV fireplace station after the kiddo was in bed on Christmas Eve night. I usually don't have any trouble sleeping on the floor (I mean DIRECTLY on the floor) but for some reason... I forgot I was pregnant and that I cannot sleep on my back anymore. Sigh. So, at about 3am we went upstairs and sought sleep in our own bed. We did stay for half the night though... I figure that counts. :)

#59 - Put up Dining room curtain
Technically, the plan was to make it myself... but I didn't. Instead, I have to show you what I DID do. The blind we got on sale at Menards for $50... and I love it. The curtain rod... I can't remember what we paid for it but it was from Walmart. It's been like this for ages now. Anyway, I got 2 curtain panels from Jysk for $6 each. Talk about a great price! And so, I put them up... and I am so amazed at the difference a couple of curtains can make in a room! Here's some proof...

Before...

After! I think the transformation is incredible! Oh, and those ENJOY letters? Got them at Jysk for $4! I like them there... they may stay there awhile instead of going up on one of my walls.

As if that wasn't enough (of course not), I also got a set of curtains for $20 and a rod for $6 at Jysk, and decided it was time to change the blind in our living room. I have to say, the color is so nice! It makes the walls look a little softer than before.

Before...

After! These would look stunning at Christmas! I just need to shorten them a bit as they are a little long. Or raise the bar. But I think my hubby would be upset if I suggested he do that (haha). Anyway... no more 'bachelor' look, haha. Now to do the rest of that room!

Edit: tee hee, I think this curtain looks a little like the Canada Flag... hahaha.

Oh, I have so many plans for the next month! You should see my list... it's crazy! I've already priced out the baseboards and trim I need to finish up the main floor that no longer has baseboard or trim (and hasn't for many years now... so tired of that look) and figure it will cost $60... plus time for me to paint them. I may decide to change the door to the office first though. Then I will have less work for me later. Then there's decor (putting up things I already have... how great is that! I don't have to buy it first, haha), organizing, etc etc. What is it about January that gets me in the mood to organize? Or is it nesting? Perhaps both?

On to tackling the list! 58 down... 43 to go!

Project 365

Day 209 - Dec 27
I thought I added this one last post... but I guess I didn't! We had a gathering, and Baby M was getting tired... but she's still sooo cute walking around in that lil dress of hers (yes, I'm getting as much wear out of this thing as I can. I think it is her third or fourth time wearing it already).


Day 210 - Dec 28
Shopping with Aunty J. M is tired again. Yup... wouldn't nap in the car.

Day 211 - Dec 29

Playing with her new 'digital' camera. I wanted to get a shot of her taking my picture... but alas, no such luck!

Day 212 - Dec 30

We were running errands, and I saw this tank where we were parked. Couldn't resist. Glad I always have my camera on me!

Christmas 2009

Wow. I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went! It's already the 29th!! What happened!?

Anyway, I have a lot to share about Christmas this year. It was wonderful. Baby M had a great time visiting so many people, but I think she is thrilled that today, finally, she is able to stay home with mommy.

Now, on to the pictures!

Baby M with Grandpa. Christmas Eve lunch was spent over at their place. It was a good time!

Unwrapping a rolling pin... she favored that one for a long time. Funny how the simplest things bring such joy!

Grandma loved her picture frame from Baby M!

M enjoyed unwrapping things almost as much as daddy did. I don't think I actually unwrapped anything as I was too busy handling the camera.

Wow, we got a lot of stuff from Hubby's family! Baby M got the most, of course... (ABC foam mat, pencil table and chair set, jeans, 'digital camera', 'laptop', tractor book, doll, singing lamb, bath toys, rolling pin, and we got gift certificates, a sweater, a floor mat, chocolates, a gift basket with gold charger plates and chocolates, and ornaments).

I had some fun on Christmas Eve with Baby M's teddies... she already snagged one from the bottom step. :)

That evening we opened our own stockings to each other. Baby M got the two teddies I made her, an ornament (actually, I put all our gingerbread ornaments into the stockings, hee hee), and some little things that she got in goody bags at birthday parties (is that cheating?). My husband got a Transformers toy... a little Optimus. Really little. And the Star Wars ornament I made him. I also made him some coupons for back rubs... he's been really sore lately. He got me Wii Fit Plus and a little Mario candy dispenser. Real cute.

Christmas morning breakfast. I didn't have to do hardly anything with it that morning either... made it the night before.

We enjoyed opening our own gifts at home after eating. I didn't take pics, but we did video it all. I read the Christmas story... which Baby M didn't seem to find interesting after awhile. She did want to hold the family Bible though! And then we opened our gifts. Baby M loved her blocks, and the Tinkerbell bowl and plate I got from Dollarama. The book that baaa'd was great too. She really loved the organizer I made her. Her eyes lit up as I pulled the blanket off of it, and she set to work putting her blocks into the nearest basket. SOOO cute. I got my husband the first season of Transformers (the OLD series... no joke) and two Star Wars books, as well as made him a John Deere/Star Wars T-shirt. He loved it! He got me a Bamboo writer! I'm so happy! I haven't tried it out yet (does that sound bad? I've been so busy) but I can't wait to attempt drawing with this thing on the Gimp program! It's supposed to be awesome! I've looked at them before and just couldn't justify getting one! Look out... I'm gonna be drawing on the computer before you know it!

We went to my parents house for the rest of the day. Thankfully we had already loaded all the gifts into the van a couple of days earlier as it was windy and snowy that day. I love snow...

Baby M was finally figuring out the unwrapping part of gifts. It was fun to watch her go... but she needed someone to start them for her.

The two girls got 'cell phone's' in their stockings... and both of them sat and played with them together for awhile. They make all sorts of noises. Those are M's fave toys... the noisy ones. Nope... no headaches yet (hee hee).

She got pj's, an outfit and onesie, some shoes and sandals, an elephant (she's got quite the collection of elephants now), bath-soap-making-toy of sorts, a strawberry frame, the phone, and I'm sure there was more. I just cannot remember. We got a few fun things too. A flax seed pack for warming or cooling on the back, a milkshake mixer (this will be perfect when I make a 'bar' of sorts eventually...), a digital picture frame, Lego (for my hubs... yeah, he loves the stuff), a camera case, a set of really pretty cards for making, and a bunch of cute lil things for the purse or wallet. I was glad to find a home for everything!

Dad wanted to don his Santa outfit for pics with the grandchildren. Aren't they so cute?

Here are the two girls!

The girls had a ball playing together. It is so nice to see them having so much fun! The rocking chair they are both on was mine as a kid. I love when toys survive to the next generation! I want to make toys like that for our kids.

Anyway, boxing day was fun too. We decided to stay in the area and went shopping at the local stores for deals. I didn't find the coffee table I wanted at Superstore... sigh. They apparently sold out as the door opened. I did get a lot of great stuff at Liquidation world for $10. Lots of little craft items, yarn (I can learn to knit now! Except... I need the needles first), a Christmas countdown calendar and other decor, all sorts of stuff for Christmas shoe boxes next year, and some little decorative boxes for candy to give out another time. I also got two great baskets from Canadian Tire for $10 after tax... and we had a $10 certificate too! FREE! We visited with my sis in law as well for the evening. It was a great time.

The 27th brought another gathering. More fun! Baby M refused to eat lunch, which was a bit upsetting. She did the same on the 26th. She ate a lot the previous two days, so I didn't try to let it worry me. I managed to take down the tree later that evening... needed something productive to do, and I was just ITCHING to get the Christmas decor down and fresh new decor up! I've had years where I left the stuff up until it was almost February (I HATE taking it down for some reason) and I did NOT want that this year. I vowed to have it all down by the new year. First time EVER!

Yesterday, against my better judgement (ha ha), I went shopping in the city with my sis in law. Spent $125. Got great deals (lots of home decor items... I cannot WAIT to show you in pics once I've got it all up). Baby M didn't eat lunch again. She had a big breakfast though. She seems to be regressing a bit. Now all she wants to eat is the baby food stuffs. Applesauce, her cereal, and actual baby food. That is what she got for snack/supper that evening... a jar of baby food. Won't even eat toast very easily. I'm getting a little worried. She seems fine otherwise though. Except, of course, her movements are sort of similar to what they were when she was 5 or 6 months old... due to not wanting to eat any solids.

Today... finally a day at home... after FIVE days away. This is not a normal thing for me (or the munchkin). Baby M is on her second nap today. She needs them. Poor thing. Perhaps she'll feel better soon. I hope she isn't sick with anything... she has a bit of a runny nose, but that's to be expected this time of year. Otherwise, she isn't lethargic or anything...

I did manage to get a lot done today. The rest of the decorations came down yesterday, and today I spent cleaning the house rather thoroughly, and did 2 loads of laundry. I made a list of the stuff I want to get done in the next few weeks (what is it with me and lists?) that has mostly to do with home decor. I want my main floor to look spectacular! And none of it requires shopping (except buying baseboards, trim, and wood for a project I wish to build). I have most of the stuff already, and just want to get it UP!

So... that is my week in a nutshell.... a rather LARGE nutshell... ha ha. Sorry if it was boring to you... it's been a busy and exciting few days for me!

Handmade Christmas 2009

I am linking up with The Snail's Trail's Handmade Holidays! Go check out other bloggers and what they've done to make their own things for the holidays.



So, This Christmas I decided I wasn't going to buy ANY gifts (ok, not true, I did buy about $10 of stuff for my daughter... but that was months ago already). Making them was much more fun (and cost effective).

For my husband... a T-shirt. I already had the paper for it, so I was happy to find the shirts on sale at Micheal's!

And I couldn't forget the Star Wars Ornament Tradition. This is one of the Rebel ships... from the newer movies... cannot remember it's name right now. A cruiser of some kind (bah! Bad memory). Again, made it using sculpey clay, and it's only about an inch and a half long... maybe two.

My sis got a book.

This one was fun... a candle with a wax paper 'sleeve'. I tried to get the wax to melt onto the candle, but it wouldn't work. Turns out, I had the cheap stuff and needed something with a substantial amount of wax on it. Ah well. It still looks sharp. This was for my sis-in-law. (All you do to make this is draw your image on tracing paper, flip the paper backwards, trace that onto your wax paper, and then flip your wax paper after cutting to size so that the ink is towards the candle. If you have better wax paper than I do, just use your stove or an embossing tool to heat the wax off of the wax paper and onto the candle... you can use stamps too).

Both the parents got frames... with their grand-daughter's photo in them. I love these! Now I wanna buy myself a bunch of frames and print a load of pics to put into them!

There are a bunch more... I described how to make them in separate posts (on the 17th... so they are considered 'old' already, haha). Oh, and the first pic includes two organizing projects. Both for me! Hee hee, even found time to make my own things for myself for Christmas. :)











Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! :)

Project 365

Day 203 - Dec 21
ok, actually, this was taken on the 22nd. It's of our super tiny bathroom. The door is right by the wall (it is literally 5feet by 4.5 feet). I'm wondering how to make it look bigger.


Day 204 - Dec 22
The snow and ice is so pretty!

Day 205 - Dec 23

I was working on a project on the comp for my husband... and Baby M turned the thing off on me... TWICE! This was my solution! HA!

Day 206 - Dec 24

Baby M playing with her new 'laptop' on her new table and chairs set! Got them both from her Grandparents.

Day 207 - Dec 25

Baby M on Grandpa Santa's lap.

Day 208 - Dec 26

All full of toys... and feeling like there's less of them instead of a LOT more! I love organizers!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas as I sit in my chair
Counting all the blessings that I can see there.

I look over my list, many check marks I see
'Not a thing has been missed', I've noted with glee.

The cookies are baked, the meals are all planned,
Ingredients purchased, already on hand.

The gifts are all done and wrapped up with care
handmade by yours truly, just can't wait to share.

The stockings are hung, they are handmade as well,
the few gifts within them have made them look swell.

The carols are playing, the fireplace cracks
It's just the TV, meaning I can relax.

The gingerbread ornaments leave a nice scent
Making them myself means less money spent.

The gifts for tomorrow are packed in the van
And so we can go without needing a hand.

The dishes are done, the sink is all clean,
the laundry is finished, the house is pristine,

The decor is up, it makes me want to sing...
I'm just hoping my daughter won't break anything.

The cards are delivered, the goodies are too,
There are meals in the deep freeze for the next day or two.

I love a handmade Christmas, so pleasant it is
to skip all the shopping and "holiday bliss".

The people, they scurry, they shuffle and fall
that last minute shopping isn't worth it at all.

I'd rather sit here, watching the lights on my tree
knowing this Christmas will be stress free!

Remembering the one who started the season,
Christ in the manger, there is no better reason
to lift up our voices in a song of cheer
and spread the good news to those far and near.

There was no Christmas dinner or play in the snow,
No cookies or shopping or tree all aglow,

The world's greatest gift wasn't wrapped in fine paper

He wore swaddling clothes and was placed in a manger

He came to this earth as a Saviour to all

as long as we listen and follow His call.

And so, as I sit and reflect on these things,
Merry Christmas to all, and the joy that it brings!

Merry Christmas!

Floorplan Changes

Remember my previous post? The one about redoing our floor plan? Well, I've changed the files to jpegs so that I could post them all here (I do not have a pdf writer for some reason).

If you need to see it a bit better, click the image to get a larger one.

First of all, our current floor plan on our main floor (I am not including the upstairs... that is already finished).

Looks nice and big, right? Well, the spare room is not used at all right now. It's practically empty. The doors all in one space by the entrance does not make for a useful entryway. And the living room has no windows. The patio door in there leads into the workshop. There was a patio there at one point, but previous owners turned that into a hot tub room, so no outside light comes in from there anymore. It's the darkest room in the house. Serious. The stairs you see have basement stairs directly underneath them, and there is a door to the basement in the entrance area as well. You get the idea. Therefore, 6 doors in that little area alone... to the office, the spare room, the outside, the basement, the closet, and the bathroom. There is a step down into the spare room and living room. These rooms do not have basement under them, or a floor above them, so they are 'taller' rooms than any in the rest of the house.

On to the 'plan'.

The closets in between the living room and new bedroom will have to be changed a bit if I want to keep a utility closet of sorts. The tiny one would be for that. If we decided to turn the bedroom into a Master, the closets would all be 'turned' towards the bedroom instead of having a living room closet (because there are enough living room storage options available anyway). There would be only 4 doors in the entrance area... the bathroom, outside, closet, and basement... which makes WAY more sense. The living room area would make sense as a living room since it is the brightest in the house and has the deck off of it. The office door would be in the kitchen/dining room area, which is the busiest area of the house, and it wouldn't feel so separated (like it does right now). This room could also be turned into a bedroom if absolutely necessary, and the office space could be moved into the 'closet' in the living room, or into the basement even if we wished. But... I like it as an office. I also did a little rearranging in the kitchen, basically just changing the island we currently have (or... I guess it's more of a peninsula) so that it contains storage (right now it is sort of like a table) and the cabinets it is attached to into a set of deep drawers that roll out for pots and pans (like at Ikea... sigh).

Another thing I was thinking we could do is change the current wall unit... which is the oldest most annoying thing ever (you can only have paperback books on that thing... DVDs stick out 1.5 inches, as do larger books, and even videocassettes that have the 'larger' cover... our TV is on the floor, and there is a portion where you can see through to the dining room, which I don't mind, but it is so dated). I would just turn it into a half wall, or maybe a 'bar' table of sorts (so that the hallway below isn't so exposed). I would hang candles from the ceiling... sigh. I would also make it thicker and turn it into storage of sorts. Perhaps a low bookshelf, or something with sliding doors that would allow access to coloring books, games, puzzles and the like. I only show it at 6" thick right now, but I may change that eventually.

Next up is the basement. This basement is NOT the same size as the rest of the house because it is much older. The house was built in the 70s or 80s. The basement I believe was built in the 40s. I'm not completely sure (nobody really is), but it was already here when they put the house on. The stairs in the top left corner line up with the steps on the main floor... only where the top was the north end of the main floor, the top here is actually the south end of the basement. Turned you around enough yet?

Currently, the only 'finished' space is... well... none of it. The bedroom that is there is not to code as there are NO windows in it. The closet holds the electrical panel. I love my huge pantry, but that is where the love ends. The rest of the basement... over half... is a utility room. Seriously. Complete. waste. of. space.

My first idea utilizes the floor the way it is. There is a sump hole in the top right corner that is a bit annoying. My way to cover that up would be to have a rollover closet item that could pop out of the closet if we needed to access it at all (which is close to never at this point). This new bedroom would have a nice sized closet and a window. It's not the biggest room, 9feet by 10, but it isn't tiny either... especially considering the rest of the basement is basically this person's 'zone'. A closet would be located at the base of the stairs, and the utilities would all be moved from 'spread across the one wall' to the small area at the end of the room (found out that this is totally doable... just take the pipes and reroute them north instead of south... even the way they are right now makes no sense since they start in the middle of the basement). The thin wall you see would be movable... because I'd like to have a finished looking laundry, and a movable wall would allow that look to be achieved while still giving access to the utilities. The big space you see to the bottom left would be a den of sorts... bookshelves, TV, couches, etc. I would shrink the pantry a bit as well, since the back wall is all that has shelves on it anyway. I was thinking I could rearrange the walls to come right up to that post and make the door to the bedroom on a 'corner', but it was difficult to show in excel, so I figured this did a good enough job of showing what I want anyway. Oh... and I didn't add the deep freeze. I think that would just go by the staircase, or perhaps we'd adjust the pantry a bit and have it in there.

The second idea is much the same.

The only difference here is that IF we could re-pour the concrete and IF money allows, I would like to move the sump hole to be next to the pump (why is it on the opposite side of the house anyway?). I also changed the washer and dryer over to the one wall instead, to get a different look at that room. I like it better. I can put a countertop all along that wall (since my washer and dryer are front load) and cabinets up on top too! Ooh... so excited! I wanna do this right away!

There you have it... a not so short description of the changes I wish to make on the house. Of course, if they never happen, that is fine too. We'll make do. But I think it would make things so much nicer if they could! Especially that basement! Having a usable basement would make me so happy! Now to find the money...