Day One - Document a Week in the Life

Stuff of Life/Scrapbook Idea of the Day

So Ali Edwards, my scrap idol, over on her blog has begun this one week challenge/project to document the everyday things you do for one week. Keep the camera at hand to capture the little things in life that we see daily but take for granted, the precious moments (not to be confused with those bizzare porcelain figurines) we forget so easily, the regular stuff that makes our life our life. So I began this morning. My first photo of the day and of the week was this one:

Inspired, eh? Well, it was a start, and I was still in my bathrobe at this point.

Remembering to take my camera with me everywhere and keep it near was challenge number one. I actually managed to get myself, the 3 kiddles, the diaper bag, my purse, camera, and very heavy bag of veggies out to Jackie's place by 8:45 this morning. We spent the morning making zucchini relish, and chatting about this and that. By the end of the morning we'd laughed, cried and run an enormous 48 cups of zucchini, plus peppers, and onions (thus the crying) though the food processor.

At 11 o'clock I popped the kids back in the car and zipped over to Miriam's preschool (we were late but, oh well). At which point I forgot my camera at Jackie's house. Which is in the country. Oops. Well, the lack of photos is true to my life. Sometimes things get left behind, and with God's help hopefully it'll never be one of the kids.

So back home to hang with Finny and Carmen, tidy up a bit, do not much of anything before picking Miriam up again. Carmen conked out on the ten minute drive home and I popped her in bed but nap time didn't take. Finnegan slept. So did I... not realizing nap time was not a part of Carmen's reality. I woke up in my reclining chair to Miriam about 3 inches from my face, smiling at me, telling me about something she'd just done or created. I'm not sure what - it was all foggy at that point. But the sound of my girl, who rarely cries for more than 20 seconds, screaming her head off upstairs in the bassinette cleared my head pretty quickly. Uh oh. Confession time. I have no idea how long she was crying. Could have been a while and based on the fact that it took me 20 minutes to calm her down, I felt pretty bad about it. So no nap. Makes for cheerful kids, eh?

Jim came home from work early and we had early supper - tacos, which are a crown pleaser around here! I went out to Jackie's to pick up my camera, and on the way home hit the local value village where I picked up this sweet deal Juicer for $9.99. It seriously looks like it's never been used. Woo hoo! It might even work! (Maybe I'll try it tomorrow)

Bathtime, brush teeth, bed. Carmen is upstairs having a hard time sleeping because she's so overtired. Happliy her thumb never leaves her and I'm praying she'll calm down eventually. For tonight I've got a reflection for my course, and a lecture to help Jim put together for Chem. Best of all, my day ends with one of these... a glacier/screamer which is a heavenly combination of soft serve icecream and coke slurpee. Yum! Thanks Jim!

'Til tomorrow!

Melanie

Ta da!

Scrapbook Idea of the Day Here it is! I've imagined this for a few months and finally stole the time to create my first scrapping video! It took some time, but I can see the process getting faster, so I am not dissuaded from doing more in the future... thus the "Episode 1" title! Please give me feedback. What did you like? What could improve? Any ideas? Requests? Ta da! Supplies Used: Fiskars Eurotrimmer (paper cutter) More to Adore Paper Packet from Close to My Heart Adhesive (yes, mine totally sucked - I didn't have a holder and was out of the good Tombow stuff so I tried to make do. More like make don't!) I later added flowers (Close to My Heart) with a brad in the centre of each (dollar store) and "Stickease" stickers (also CTMH) As well I sponged the edge of the 4 x 4 mat on the right page using Cocoa ink and wrote my journalling with the Cocoa marker (Both CTMH)

Cuba or Bust!

Stuff of Life I have to note this before I forget. There are so many laughable things that happen in our house each and every day. I really should be keeping better track. Anyways... This morning Miriam and Finnegan had my two nursing pillows out in the livingroom and had connected the crescents to form what they decided was their "boat." Such simple pleasures! So there they are sitting in their "boat" and when I asked where they were going in their boat Miriam said "We're going to Cuba" and I thought, 'I bet they're in the only boat that's actually going to Cuba. I'll bet all the Cubans heading the other way think my two are crazy!" Too silly! (We went to Cuba for vacation last year which is where Miriam gets this idea from. BTW we went by plane, not boat that time!) Spiritual Insight of the Day Last night as I drove home from scrapbooking at Tara's I was just overwhelmed by the need to pray for the lives of three women that I know. I won't go into detail, but I am so privileged to be close enough with them that they have shared the tough stuff of life with me. I sang along to the CD "Hungry" and just lifted them up to God and asked that despite the challenges in their lives He would be there with them and make His presence known. So if you're in a prayerful mood and want to add "those three women Melanie's been thinking about" to your prayer today, that would be great. And a prayer for me to love them and be salt and light in their lives would be great too. Thanks. Scrapbook Idea of the Day (Cue Jaws music) It's coming... it's almost here... get ready... is the anticipation killing you?

Sunshine and Roses... NOT!

Spiritual Insight of the Day Okay, so I know "Not" is totally uncool and dates me since it was around in the late 80's. But I'm okay with that. I never once implied that I might believe myself to be cool! I have hit serious spiritual doldrums right now. For those of you who don't know the doldrums are these areas of the ocean where sailors used to sail through and get stuck for days and weeks because the winds just disappeared and there was no wind in their sails and they weren't going anywhere. Places to avoid when you're living in the 1600's and you haven't got enough food (and beer) on board to keep the crew happy and the rats are running around and the disease infested place gets filthier and filthier and everyone is just miserable and trapped until the wind picks up again. Okay, my doldrums are not so bad as that. We haven't had mice in our house since last fall (that was an ordeal) and the disease level is low (well, high if my hypochondriac microbiologist husband has his input) and we have enough food and beer to keep the crew (i.e. kids) happy... okay so we don't actually give them beer but on occasion it has crossed my mind to give the boy sedatives so he'll sleep past 6 a.m. I'm kidding. Do not call social services. I don't know what it is that has me feeling so blue. Could be some late post partum. God knows I've been through that before. I just have been feeling lately that I want a clean slate. Like I could have a big "Do Over" for the past few months. I'm all itchy to move out of our house which we love and built to our specifications but I somehow think that a new house will magically be easier to tidy and maintain. You see? I know my thoughts are completely illogical, and yet there is this voice in my head (figuratively, not literally. I haven't heard from that other voice for years now...;) that says these thoughts have merit. So I'm going to pray now that God will just keep my feet stepping one in front of the other until I have it in me to pick up the pace once again. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, or in my case ties a rope around my waist and drags me along for a while. Fortunately God is much gentler than I am and doesn't do that but I'd be happy even with that right now! Off to bed. It's far too late and I need sleep badly!

It Could've Been Me

Stuff of Life... and death Read a blog today of a woman with two kids killed in a car accident. She was a blogger and a scrappbooker and mother and creator and woman living life day to day like me. Okay, yeah, I'm a bit depressed by it. Makes me think about what I'm doing and why. I did the technological reset last week with our media blackout, but I think I've got to do more. Not sure what. Pondering. Seeking wisdom. I've seriously got to read my bible more often. Going to go hug my kids now and play Bunny Hop with them. Over and Out.

I... hic... have... hic... the hiccups...hic!

Stuff of Life Well, we're getting into a good routine around here, and it's nice that autumn (my favourite season!) has arrived after some very hot summer days! I have spent the last two days in the garden during Carmen's morning nap while Miriam and Finnegan play in the "rock box" (no we're not too poor to afford sand - we chose rocks over sand because apparently it has a better crush factor when kids fall off swings, and also we thought the neighbourhood cats wouldn't have a hey-day filling it with feces. So much for that idea) I've pulled weeds out of some neglected areas of the garden like the back which is not only tricky to get at but which also is home to some BIG spiders. They look like daddy long legs, but their bodies are more like jagged ovals and even though they run away when I move the leaves they look to have HUGE fangs... at least I think those are fangs. Anyways, you can never be too cautious where spiders and moths are concerned. The point is, gardening would be a lot more fun if it was a bug-free experience. I digress. My plants are doing really well for the most part. This was my experiemental year where I just packed them in and let them fight for blossom glory. Now I have an idea of what is strong and hearty (bee-balm, creeping jenny, lupin) and what is not (bell flowers, clematis, and shasta daisy, surprisingly). I also now realize that when the plant guide says the diameter of growth is 3 feet, it actually means 3 feet. Some of my plants will need to be moved around, but I'm not sure if I should do it now or wait until spring. All in all, though, a very successful garden. And my harvest will be plentiful as well! Beets and Zucchini top the list, with some beans and herbs close behind. I was disappointed in my carrots, which granted I planted late. But I pulled one out last week and it was about as long as my pinky finger and not even close to as wide. Pathetic. Oh well, better luck next year! Miriam loves preschool and is doing so well with piano lessons through Music for Young Children. Finnegan started kindermusik and according to Oma, who takes him, he is VERY shy. He'll do what's asked of him, such as getting a set of bells or a shaker egg, but while the other kids move and dance and sing with the instruments our boy pretty much just holds them and stares at the overwhelming mass of little people around him. It'll take time, but apparently the other parents think he is SO CUTE! Carmen has figured out how to roll and gets around a bit now. Only problem with that is her spit up which was previously confined to her play mat now gets pretty much all over the place. Oh well... we'll get rid of the carpet in favour of hardwood once the kids are old enough not to play with hotwheels on the floor! Jim is enjoying teaching (20 hours a week) but not so much the prep work behind it (40+ hours a week). We are both finishing every day pretty much exhausted. If you are reading this and are a pray-er, you could keep us in mind. We need some relief from this life of constant busyness - and I thought the Ph.D. was bad. This is about 10 times worse... either that or my memory is failing me which is also likely! That's all for now. Working on my first video blog. Should be cool! (If you're a scrapbooker)

Ooooh... Pretty...

Just a brief post to show off a totally cool little project I did last week. 3x3 inch cards (12 in all, two of each shown here) with a nifty little box to hold them in! Doesn't my lighting just make it look fantastic? Yay me!