Procrastinating....

I am supposed to be marking reflections tonight, but I'm so not motivated....Instead I thought I would update what's going on in our household these days!

So let's go way back...to Halloween. This is the first year that N really understood what was going on...and he loved every second of it. We had to deal with the "stinky" comments for the next month due to his choice of costumes, but he looked SOOO cute.

November is all a blur...birthdays, work, and just life in general... We did add 2 members to our family...Sandy and Hermy - the hermit crabs. M wants to be a vet when she grows up, and since there are allergies in our home, this seemed like the best alternative. I have to endure many comments about how I have crabs, but so far it's been worth it!

And now December. We're off to a busy start. We celebrate 2 family birthdays in December, and N's was first. He had a soccer themed party (hence the shorts & t-shirt in December)

And I attempted to make a soccer ball out of timbits (at the request of N) but it is next to impossible to stack timbits without gluing them together! I settled on arranging white and chocolate timbits to resemble the pattern of a soccer ball - you'll have to use some imagination!

Now I'm working at Christmas cards...I love doing a photo shoot with the kids. I might not get the best shot, but their personalities definitely shine through!

Next on the list...Christmas baking. If anyone has a great cookie recipe (no nuts, please!) I'd love to try it out :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving weekend has flown by and I haven't really taken the time to reflect on what I am truly thankful for.

M,on the other hand, has spent most of today working on a drawing of what she is thankful for..which includes, Halloween, Easter dinner with the extended family (cats included!), the park, school, Christmas...and the list keeps going as I write this post.

So what am I thankful for...

1) My family. I often underappreciate my husband and kids as I am too busy trying to get life organized. But I am so thankful to have them around to make me laugh, make me think..and even make me crazy sometimes!

2) My friends. I find that it's hard to keep in touch with everyone who has impacted my life, but I am truly thankful that my friends stand by me. It's often said that friends are the family you choose, and I totally agree with that!!

3)My team mates - they have encouraged me in my work endeavours with Norwex and Epicure, and have become good friends too!

4)My health. A few scares over the past years have made me want to work at keeping my health. And all test results have come back negative, so I am very thankful to be healthy!

and 5)Starbucks - I know that this is a bit sad, but a nice warm drink has brought me lots of comfort over the past year!! And lots of great conversation over a nice warm drink!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Growing pains...

School is now in full swing, but I still feel like we're adjusting to the fall routine. M is having a more difficult time adjusting to school this fall, and we haven't figured out why...she loves her teacher and she loves learning, but she hasn't connected with her classmates yet and often says she plays by herself or she doesn't have any fun.

As the overprotective mother in me surfaces, I wonder if something has happened on the playground or if someone has said something mean in the class. I want to put a bubble around her so I can keep the twinkle in her eye shining brightly or keep her home with me to protect her from the world. I know this is not realistic and that I need to teach her how to be happy by herself, but I find this really difficult! I'm sure I went through these growing pains as a child too...but thank goodness I don't remember them!!

Another summer...

Where does the time go!!! It seems like just yesterday that I was struggling with the decision of what I wanted to do when M went back to school...and now she's back and I have a goal set for my business for the next year!

So what were we up to this summer?

Strawberry picking!!! (N may have sampled a few!)

Lots of fun at local splash pads and the beach

A visit to the Toronto zoo

Hanging out with cousins

Lots of gardening and attempts at preserving foods

T and I headed to NYC for a mini-vacation

And I went to Winnipeg for the 10th Anniversary Conference for Norwex.

A great summer overall!

And now M starts SK...she has grown up soooo much!
My beautiful little girl

First day walk to school

I anticipate great things for this fall season and I look forward to sharing them with you!

Decisions, decisions...

I have been relatively happy as a stay-at home mom...yes, there are days I'm ready to throw in the towel. But mostly I'm glad to be around to watch my kids grow up and participate in day-to-day activities.

I am glad that I added Norwex to the mix of things I'm doing, because it's nice to be out with adults once in a while...and the little extra money I make is good too!

But in the last few weeks, I have been questioning whether I am meant to do Norwex full-time... I have been lucky to have had a steady stream of shows. Enough to keep busy, but not swamped. And then in the last few weeks it seems like all of my shows are getting cancelled. I know the weather is nice, and let's be real....who would want to sit inside listening to a talk on cleaning products when it's so nice outside :) An aside - I try not to make it boring! And there is always great food! While cancellations aren't a bad thing, it means that I don't get new bookings - the life line of home party sales. And I am not a pushy person, so then how do I get more bookings to make this sustainable?

I do enjoy this job and feel passionate about teaching people about how to protect themselves and the environment from all sorts of nasty chemicals. So I know I can find answers to my questions if this is the route I choose...

Then in the last 2 days, I have been 1)offered a job with a company that I do some contract work for and 2) emailed a job posting for a job that I've considered in the past. I know I could do both jobs..but do I want to? Or I am thinking about it b/c I'm the type of person who likes new challenges but will be bored in a year from now...

So now I am trying to decide what to do...I am thankful for the opportunities, but I don't know what's going to be best for me and my family. How to decide....

I tried...

So a while back, I was going to come up with a great source of coupons and make some meal plans for as cheaply as possible. And I wanted to stay organic as much as possible.

Well, I tried. I really did! I checked out several on-line coupon sources and even joined a "coupon train". And while I accumulated lots of coupons, I discovered that I don't really use the products that have coupons attached.

For example, I don't buy any cleaning products anymore, so that removes about 1/3 of the available coupons. I try not to buy prepackaged food, so most of the Kraft and Cash for Kids coupons go unused.

I did find some organic coupons..Stonyfield Organic has a downloadable coupon (but it's only good for one use) and Earthbound Organic sends weekly email coupons and some by mail. Unfortunately, they are both American companies, so I'm a bit torn about that.

But now that summer is approaching, I have a share at my cousin's CSA and am very excited to get fresh, local, organic produce. I also discovered that we have a local organic grain place, Oak Manor Farms. I am also planning on attending a workshop on the 100-mile diet in our area, so I hope to find a good source of organic meat, milk and eggs.

So back to the drawing board...I'll try to post recipes and costs once I get my sources figured out!

In the meantime, if anyone needs some coupons, let me know!

ScrapFest 2009

This weekend was ScrapFest at the Aud in Kitchener. I sometimes hate to admit that I've gone...there are some strange people at these things!

As part of the admission, you are entered into a grand prize draw. And guess what...I won!!! What are the chances! I think there is well over $200 of product in the grand prize...I was so excited when I found out!

But besides winning the grand prize, I really did have a good time. I learned some new tricks to create some beautiful layouts..but ones that don't require tonnes of work. We took home some great "make-n-takes" and maybe a few more kits :)

A great show for anyone interested in paper crafting!