Memory Monday - Happy Birthday to a special sister

Tomorrow is my sweet sista's birthday! Happy 34th Sarah! You've come a long way baby. To commemorate this special day I thought I would take a trip down memory lane (not that I actually remember all of these photos mind you) - I will just note what does come to mind...

One of the first photos with just the two of us. Obviously it is 1977, and we were living on W Street. I recognize the outfit I am wearing from a few years previously. The couch is the one mom and dad were starting to purchase when I was first born. They still have it although it has been recovered. I see that Macy looks like Sarah.

I just like this one because you look so scrappy. You are in the kitchen on W Street. Your were just cute - probably 1978 since you are walking.

I like this one because again you are cute. It is probably summer 1979 since it is at the cottage and your hair is a little longer and you look to be about a year older then the previous photo. I like that it shows a bit of the cottage landscape behind you.

I like this one primarily because of the "knocky knees"/ droopy tights (isn't that what mom says you said?) Did you always have droopy clothing? Funny that we still have this dress too. You are in our back yard on W Street and you can see L & T's back yard as well as the Cr's house. Wasn't there talk of some animals buried in the back yard next door that made us refer to it as a pet cemetery? I remember not wanting to play back there very much. That and their very damp basement that smelled. But I digress. Date:?

Awww. My maid of honour. Blue is such a nice colour on you and I really like your hair then too. What a day. Hard to believe we are coming up on 13 years. I should add the photo of you with your scarf - FUN! Thanks again for all your support that day! Date: August 29, 1997

And here we are just recently at the outdoor Christmas Eve service. December 24, 2010. A new mom. Wearing mom's poncho and a distinctly Canadian hat. Are you trying to remind yourself that you are capable of withstanding the cold Canadian winters that you have left behind?

It was so fun to see you in this new role and to be able to visit when you were here.

So Happy Birthday sista! I hope you have a great birthday tomorrow (although it will probably BE tomorrow by the time I finish this lol!). So glad you are my sister!

Freak me out!!!

We had a really hard time getting Mitchell to bed last night. He was acting tired around 6:30 so I took him and gave him a bath and nursed him down. He got a second wind though and perked right up. I probably should have worked with him then but often it's just been easier to get him up and then try around 9ish when he is more tired. He had had a good afternoon nap anyway. So I started nursing him again around 8:30 and then tried to put him in bed. No go. This went on for a good 45 minutes but he just wouldn't transfer. I then put him in bed (totally rubbing his eyes) and laid on the floor beside him. Another 20-30 minutes at least. He was mad. He settled a bit and continued crying but would not lie down. Drew came in around 9:45 and took over. He got even madder! He finally settled around 10 after some patting, some holding and some shusshing. We went to bed around 12:30 after I had a shower. Not a peep. I woke up all of a sudden at 4:51am and realized he had not woken up! I got out the flashlight and yes he was fine. Pheww. Your mind can do crazy things. Thank you Lord. Of course in the process I woke him up so I took him into bed with me. I then had to wake him up at 6:45 to go downstairs. Go figure.

How can I repeat this process a little earlier in the evening and without the crying and without the panic?

Yesterday and Today wk 2 & 3 layouts

I finally uploaded my layouts to the Big Picture Classes site so I thought I'd share them here.

This was for the Yesterday and Today class - Week One's Introduction page. I thought I'd try the digital template. It came together so quickly (literally less than an hour)! Gotta love those tight red shorts and the lollipop!


I thought I'd also do a paper version and try some of Ali's technique's. I learned how to do the photo strip in PSE which I hadn't done before. It was also neat to use one of my old school photos - especially the big one. I never know what to do with 8x10's! That was a trip down memory lane. I'm so glad you got those books for us mom! I just wish I had a smaller family photo that included Mitchell too but I didn't feel like fiddling anymore and I wanted to use up some of the ones we had.

The final one is my first page of Christmas memories. I like how it turned out and can't wait to get some more on the go. I'm afraid we don't have too many Christmas photos of my childhood though. There will be quite a large gap until highschool. But some is better than none!

I'm really inspired by the design above. I can see doing layouts for the kids I babysat, the people who stayed with us over the years, extended family stories... It is so adaptable! The BPC gallery has shown me all sorts of variations. Fun fun fun!

2010 Intentions List

Now that we are well into 2011 and our first month of goal setting/ attaining is just about over, I thought I might review how I did last year. Here is my list and my One Little Word.

2010 Intentions – SIMPLIFY!!! (blue were completed, green were/ are in progress, black - well...)

TO READ
7 Habits of Highly Effective Families
5 Books I already own
Power of a Praying Parent
3 books from Gotta Dos-Wanna-Dos List
Simple Mom book Club 2010 reads - I've read two of the books and read along with the discussion. The other 2 looked innteresting but I totally forgot about the club. I need regular email reminders or something.

TO DO
De-clutter – at least 1 box/month
Eat at 5 new restaurants (Eat-in or Take out) Pie; Barrie Burger,
365 Blog Book
Family Mission Statement, Financial Goals and Post
Slides to photos

TO CREATE
52 layouts for the year
10 digital layouts
Complete at least 5 “started” projects - see this post

TO LEARN
Canon Info/ Photography I read the manual but I can't say that I have any clue how to go o manual or how to do videography yet.
Sillouette – use it for at least 10 layouts it's still in the box!
Digital classes x 2 I've learned a tonne from Ali Edwards and started a class with Jessica Sprague but I am still not through it
Complete 2 online classes - LSNED ( a blog post for every day), LOAD210, LOAD 1010

Well all I can say is LOL!!!! I don't know what happened but not a lot from this list that's for sure. When I discussed this with Drew he was surprisingly supportive and did point out that I did simplify in many ways (not that he could really how) . Of course the main thing to point out was that I had a baby. I guess that is a valid reason. However I think one of the main things that I did learn from this was that I often set my goals WAY TOO HIGH. What was I thinking? Don't get me wrong, I did do a lot of reading, a lot of learning and a lot of creating. I just wasn't specific to these goals. I think in the future I need to evaluate the purpose of my goals. Most of them are just ideas to finish up on things I've thought about. Many coincided with my Gotta Do's and Wanna Do's List (which hasn't been updated since August - yikes). I think bottom line is that I should have simplified BEFORE I wrote my list out. Oh well. I don't know that I can say that I have learned from this experience. I still think that I am just destined to be an overachiever - whether I actually achieve anything or not remains to be seen. I like lists. I like goals and I like to check things off those lists. Some lists are easier to do this to than others. Obviously for me SIMPLIFY is still a word that I need to work on. And trust me I'm trying.

10 months old already...

and here is where we stand (literally...)

• weighs 20 lbs 10 oz and is 74 cm long (Jan 20 - measurements show you have leveled off a little in your weight growth but are still okay - most likely the baby led weaning)
• I love (most of the time) how you bob when you eat
• you have done a few hand signals - I think 'eat', 'toilet' and 'all done'
• not so many of those cheesy grins these days although you are always happy
• scooting on the potty all around the house (occasionally tipping - yech!)
• pulling yourself up to a stand around the furniture
• still doing the worm type crawling and also the push-up style with your bottom in the air
• doctor visit on 20th where you were measured, weighed and you got a vaccination
• tooth #7 (Jan 20th)
• many EC successes, signalling, ~early~ mornings, and nakey butt time - so much so that your dad is wondering if you will ever want to wear pants. I'm sure you will!


• your daily routine starts around 6am with you kicking me in bed, I get you up and potty you. It is usually a success. We then go downstairs where I feed you and then give you some table food. We then get dressed and head off to school - driving or in the back pack mostly this month. In this last week I have preferred the stroller so that you can get a full nap in it. You have had a really rough week sleeping and we are working on you getting enough. It has been a struggle to get the stroller through the snow though. After you wake up you are pottied, fed and then we sit at the table for table food. Then we hang out doing chores, computer work or errands until Cierra gets home. We then help her with lunch prep and getting snack ready for all the kids. We then bundle up and head to the school to get the kids. We hang out there for 40 minutes playing outside and then walk home. You are usually asleep at this time and stay that way until 5ish when the kids start going home. I'll then get dinner started and kitchen clean-up going. You are usually wanting up and/ or to be fed. We sit down to eat around 6pm and you get more table food. You are such a messy eater! We will then clean you up and take you for a bath or to play with your siblings. I will often try to get you down for bed by bathing you, reading you a short story and then nursing you. You have been waking up though when I transfer and refusing to sleep. I will sometimes put you in to bed anyway but I can't handle you crying for more then 15 minutes although you have been known to fall asleep. Usually we end up getting you back up, getting the other kids into bed and then trying you again closer to 9pm. Yes we have set up some bad habits we know. When you finally go down I can usually be assured that you will sleep for 3 hours at which point I will feed you again, hopefully put you in your own bed and if not ours and then go to bed ourselves. That my boy, is your routine in a nutshell. Always changing and yet staying the same. Go figure.

making some love

I had some fun playing for a few minutes... i got the idea from here where you can download your own copy. I wanted to play with the idea a bit more and here is what I came up with.

And on another tangent..

Fun!

More Christmas memories

Here are the next few photos that I have of our early Christmas days.

There isn't a lot to say about them other then commenting on how old we are are and how we look at the time. I can gather a few limited details from each photo that you will see below.

I currently have our family now do the customary "in front of the tree photos" and I am now seeing how maybe we will want to include a little more in the photo in the future. No offense mom - glad to have them! Part of the appeal is to see the changes in us as people over the years so this definitely captures that but it is also cool to gather details about the time from other things in the photo. Let's see what we can do with these!

Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: ? I can't tell if this is the earliest of these photos or if #3 is. late 1970's/ early 1980's

Where: Our house on W Street

What/ Why: I just love looking at the clothes we wore and seeing the expression on our faces. Do you think we wanted to be there? And poor Sarah looks a little stunned.

Who: Grandma and Grandpa, Mom, Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: ? late 1970's? early 1980's?

Where: House on W Street

What/ Why: customary photo by the tree. Grandma and Grandpa rotated their time between their 3 kids each Christmas and this year was obviously our turn. With dad a pastor, we weren't able to travel at Christmas time so our relatives came to us when they could. Look how fashionable my hair was! And pearls! I really like this family photo. Dad must have been taking it. Other things to note: You can see Chimo in the back ground, the pantry entrance with the bulletin board, and the shelf with the encyclopedias where the phone was. You can see our old tv with the bunny ears (it was a while before we had cable). You can see one of Grandma's paintings on the wall. You can see evidence of mom's creativity with the macrame lamp stand and the dried flowers in the pottery vase.

Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: late 1970's early 1980's

Where: House on W Street

What/ Why: Another photo by the tree. I love the outfit I'm wearing- another made by mom. We look happier in this photo - glad to be in it.

There you have it. Not a lot of details but they bring back memories none-the-less. I will have to look back and see what things were going on those years in our family. Perhaps then I can comment more on Christmas. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I think our next Christmas photos jump to high school unless I can find some more.

That's when I started documenting more in my life.

Today...

Today...started out as any other day - but you were dry! (and then you went potty! Yey!)
Today...your daddy took you downstairs to get Cierra off to school and I got an extra 30 minutes in bed
Today...your brother and sister had a PA day from school and were joined by 3 kids for daycare
Today...you did not sleep except while in my arms ( about an hour?)
Today...you were still in a remarkably good mood
Today...you had 3 potty misses (one a poop) =( but several hits =)
Today...you were drooling a lot - are you getting ANOTHER tooth?
Today...your bottom is really sore (again, maybe teething?) and you totally resisted diapers
Today...you were pulling yourself up whenever and wherever you could
Today...you pivoted and moved your foot while holding on standing (first time)
Today...your brother and sister loved spending so much time with you
Today...you wanted nothing but to be held all afternoon
Today...you grabbed at the potty and then went when I put you on (first time you signalled in this way)
Today...you wouldn't let me get any cleaning done
Today...you took over an hour and a half to fall asleep at bedtime
Today...you were not yourself
But you were still an angel
And tomorrow is a new day.

Today I...was glad to get an extra 30 minutes in bed after the previous nights happenings
Today I...was getting frustrated at the interuptions, the change in routine, the lack of sleep on your part
Today I...got caught up on some blog reading while you stood at my lap
Today I...was feeling guilty about the dishes piling up and the floor being dirty
Today I...laughed seeing you at the window while the kids played outside
Today I...was reminded about how fragile life is and how easily loss can occur
Today I...was glad to hold you as I reflected
Today I...was glad when you finally got to sleep. You need it
Today I...made up for the earlier lack of cleaning after you finally got to sleep
Today I...have so much to be thankful for
Today I...am blessed

3 hours - seriously?

So for some reason I just clued in that our dishwasher (the one we purchased a few months ago) takes 3 hours to do a cycle!!! Is it just me or does that seem weird? I'm pretty sure our old one didn't take nearly that long. So I'm asking Drew - could we have known that beforehand? Was the manual on display at the store? Uhh no. But perhaps we should have done a consumer report before purchasing. Let me tell you. Short story? We are not impressed with this dishwasher. Long story? Even though we bought it at Wise Buy it was definitely not a wise buy. Let me count the ways:
1. When we lean up against the counter we turn it on. It happens at least once a day. Very annoying because if you don't realize right away, it fills with some water and then you have to drain it or it gets smelly (see #3)
2. The decals on the front (that tell you where the power button and controls are) rubbed off within a month. Thankfully with some pressure to the powers that be, the panel was replaced.
3. It smells! I will admit that we have some weird shaped dishes and so I regularly do at least 2 loads of dishes by hand. That means our dishwasher then goes on maybe two or three times a week? So I'm assuming that the stuff sitting in there starts to smell. That or the residue that happens to sit in the water (see #1) starts to decay??? But I have never experienced that with any other dishwasher and we would have used it the same amount. But really, it sometimes smells really bad.
4. In trying to save money and the environment we usually don't turn on the dishwasher until after 9. With the delay start timer system however, it still starts running some water when you start it. I don't get it but often I just think never mind - I'll just turn it on after 9 manually. Yeah right. How many times have I forgotten? Too many.
5. It doesn't seem to dry them all that well and there is no heat dry option.
6. Did I mention that a cycle is 3 hours long?

Otherwise I do like the set up of the rack inside. I have found it cleans well enough - we do still have some that don't come perfectly clean but that could be the time factor (see #3).

So yeah - think carefully before you purchase a Samsung something or other dishwasher. Maybe do a consumer report. I'd check the model # but it the cycle is still running.

January Good Food Box

Again I picked up my Good Food Box yesterday and this is what I got. All for $10!

• 10 lbs potatoes (although I still have 10 lbs from last month)
• 2 lbs carrots
• 1 cabbage (Yikes - I still have last months too!)
• 1 red pepper
• 2 lbs onions
• 2 macintosh apples
• 2 oranges
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 beets?

...looks like I need to do some recipe hunting...

Childhood Memories

The following are the childhood memory photos I've chosen for Week 3 of Yesterday and Today... and all that I can remember. Let me know if I am incorrect or if you have more details.

Who: Alison and Sarah.

When: 1977? (Sarah 2 years?).

Where: cottage patio.

What/ Why: I love this photo because it screams 1970's to me and is one of the few photos of the cottage when we were young. We went to the cottage every summer for my entire childhood - a time to see our relatives, relax away from the phone and do things as a family. I love Sarah in her droopy underwear and me in my flip flops still looking prissy (which seems to have been my nature). I love that it shows us just hanging out, playing with things that were t the cottage. I still have that umbrella which is was my Nan's and I love that. We just got rid of one of the turquoise chairs this year because it was rotten. I love that the cottage was turquoise and that we have a photo of it. I love that it shows the patio which is no longer there since we've added on.

Who: Mom, Alison and Sean.

When: mid 1975-6 (I'm about 4?).

Where: Grandma and Grandpa's front lawn.

What/ Why: We have visited TBay every summer for as long as I can remember. We visit both sides of our family and then spend time at each of their cottages. Our first stop was always Grandpa and Grandma's as they were the first off the highway. They would be waiting for us in their lawn chairs on the front patio with their tea. This photo reminds me of mom talking about Sean's Paddington shirt. This wasn't the shirt with the "little howol in the middel of the tay-shirt" but it brings back fond memories just the same. I also see the red convertible with the white leather seats in the driveway which I believe we only drove in a few times before it was sold. Mom has fond memories of driving in it. This photo reminds me of spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's before heading out to the cottage. Running over the patio stones. Playing amongst the birch trees. Visiting with the neighbours we only saw once a year. Good times.

Who: Alison and Tasha H.
When: 1984 . I was in grade ____.
Where: C Elementary School.
What/ Why: I played the Artful Dodger in our school production of Oliver. Tasha played Oliver. Scott L is also in the picture. I love to sing and was in a number of our church productions too. Our 4th grade teacher was also the choir director at church so we had a lot of musical exposure. I love this picture because it shows how I put my pants on backwards - notice where the patch is? It should be on my bottom. I loved this play as well as the movie and watched it numerous times. I still sometimes sing along. Oliver, Oliver, never before has a boy wanted more...



Who: Alison and either Boo or Sparky.
When: early 1980's? I look to be 7 or 8 years of age.
Where: the back room in our house on C St.
What/ why: On 2 occasions we found abandoned baby squirrels on our front lawn. We kept them in a hamster cage in the back room and fed them hamster food and milk. They were friendly enough to hold although their nails were scratchy. We enjoyed watching them grow until they were big enough to eventually let them go back to nature. one of them ended up being hit by a car shortly after being freed but one (we assume and hope) went on to a full life.
Other points: why was I living in the back room? See my Raggedy Ann comforter and Aunt Elsie's red and black quilt. Sometimes we had sleepovers back there and maybe I just wanted to be close to this "baby"...


Who: Grandpa S, Alison and Sean.
When: mid 1970's (we are 4 or 5 years of age?).
Where: driving across the lake to Grandma and Grandpa's cottage on ____ Lake.
What/ Why: Every year when get to TBay we'd stay for a while at Grandpa and Grandma's cottage. Their cottage didn't have land access so we'd drive down this steep hill, park the car, give a special car honk and wait for someone to come and pick us up. The water had a steep drop off so we didn't usually swim. We'd skip rocks and run around while my parents unpacked the car. Pretty soon we'd hear and then see the boat and the excitement would grow. Once we were loaded up Grandpa would let us Sean and I drive the boat (assuming it was still light - often it wasn't). During our visit we'd get our cool shades and our life jackets on and go all around the lake. It wasn't an overly fast boat but we had a blast. It was always something to look forward to!




Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah.
When: 1980's (I look maybe 10 or 11 years old?).
Where: H cottage driveway.
What/ Why: Our cousins Rob and Jim always have really cool toys that we would never really have. (Remember Star Wars, Atari, movies etc.) This particular year they had a go-cart that we were allowed to use. It was so cool. The water was really low that year so mom and dad let us drive around the road to the beach where we could do spin-outs and fast racing. It was neat that we could all be involved in an activity we all enjoyed. Such fun!

Who: n/a.

When: 1984 (I was 12).

Where: my bedroom on C street.

What/ Why: I've always been a list/ documenting type person and I can see that it started early. This is a photo of all of the things I got for Christmas. This was the year that I was in Oliver at school so I got the soundtrack. I got another Cabbage Patch pet and a photo album that I put all of the documents in. I was taking piano at the time so I got a piano book. My mom made some dolls for me (Yes I was still into dolls). I can also see that I got some organizing containers, some paper and other little things. I sill still arrange things into a display so that I can get pictures for documenting purposes. A little showing of my type A personality I suppose...

So there we have a few of the memories that go with the few photos I have of my childhood. I'm sure that more will follow. What I like about Ali's class, and this particular week's layout is that the format can be used over and over and over. The wheels are turning...

Christmas Memories 1972, 1973 and 1974

For quite a while now I've been wanting to go back and do a Christmas album - documenting the basics of what happened each year. As I've mentioned, I'm a list kind of girl and I like to have all of my "historic details" all neat and tidy. Right now they are no where near that. I came across these photos and in combination with Ali Edwards Yesterday & Today class, I have found a format that I think will lend itself quite well to this project. So here goes. Now I just need the details. Jump in in the comments if you can add any other details or mine are wrong.

What I can surmise:
- 1972
- my first Christmas (3 months old)
- dog Chimo
- Snow Lake, Manitoba

- dad's Hudson's bay colours sweater (purchased in TBay)

- mom's hippie days (hair down to waist)

- just started to buy chesterfield furniture for the house (cushions were the first purchase)

- 1973

- Second Christmas (15 months old)

- Snow Lake, Manitoba

- note the gifts - Fisher Price Pecky Penguin, Never Talk to Strangers book, Fisher Price Rub-a-dub-dub toy, wooden blocks, green squishy ball

- 1974

- 3rd Christmas (27 months old)

- Still in Snow Lake

- We received the rocking lion that [dad/ John] bought made with wood from the mine (dad since copied the lion for our kids a few years ago)

- Sean recently joined our family (he was 10 months at the time (in March '74); 20 months old here)

- mom and dad still have the wrought iron candle holder in the kitchen, piano in background; lampstand was found at the dump and repainted

- homemade felt stockings on chair

TFL!

He signaled again!

Mitchell definitely signaled potty again today and made the tsss sound!

We were in the basement and he waved his hand but his fingers were together (not like his hello/goodbye wave). I asked if he had to go potty, signed it myself and then he made a tsss sound! I took him upstairs talking about it. He had already gone poop but I certainly see this as progress. Too cool!

Today I am...

Today I am...walking to school with the kids and Mitchell on my back
Today I am... picking Cierra up from school because she has a cold
Today I am... botching a homemade loaf of bread - what is up with that?
Today I am... spot mopping the floor for the umpteenth time
Today I am... working on my Yesterday and Today layout
Today I am... trying to get Mitchell signed up for Universal Child benefits which I had forgotten to do when he was born
Today I am... emailing thanks for Scraphappy Mail I received yesterday
Today I am... glad the sun is shining even though it is FREEZING
Today I am... doing dishes for the third time
Today I am... picking up Mitchell's toys from the floor for the umpteenth time
Today I am... reading The Happiness Project and Infant Potty Training simultaneously
Today I am... listening to PRT #40 about scrapping about our work - I want Melissa to do this for P365!!!
Today I am... glad I am not coughing as much as yesterday
Today I am... making fish, corn, home fries and sweet peas for dinner.
Today I am... convincing the kids that play practice will be just as fun as creative design
Today I am... trying to get rogers on demand to work - unsuccessfully
Today I am... catching up on some Modern Family Season 1
Today I am... me, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a care provider, an acquaintance, a scrapbooker, a baker, a cleaner, a doer of things on my list.
Today I am... glad for inspiration from fellow scrappers who scrap about life.

Memory Monday - early to rise or early to bed?

I'm taking my cue from Katie the scrapbook lady for this Memory Monday. The discussion is early morning habits. And she is right - it is nice to have an idea of some of our daily habits down for memory sake.

I would definitely consider myself a night owl, not a morning person. I get it from my mother. Often you can see the light on in her office at 2 am in the morning. I could easily stay up well into the early hours of the morning too - as long as I am working on something. As it is it is usually at least midnight before I get to bed.

This week I am having a little trouble getting out of bed. Typically I like to be up at 6am to keep an eye on Cierra and get her going on time. Mitchell is getting up at about the same time so it has been working well. Except this week. He has been sleeping later. I like to get him up as soon as he stirs because it usually means he is ready for the potty. And there is nothing better than not cleaning a dirty diaper but rather a dirty potty. SO much easier. I can't hear him if I am not in the bedroom or right with the monitor though. Ideally, I like to get him up and go immediately down to the basement and do 3-10 minute exercise stints. I can do some quiet time and reading in those times too. Then I go up and check on Cierra in between each exercise stint. This hasn't worked this week. It did work well 2 weeks ago. Then I got sick in between and now here we are. I need to get back into that groove. It seems this is a bit of a pattern for me though. I tend to have variations of these patterns all year. I'll be honest though, any chance I can get to stay in my warm cozy bed I will take. Even though I know it will be to my detriment later on in the day.

I don't recall what my childhood habits were regarding sleep. I do know that for holidays my brother was always the first up and was quick to get my sister and I up to join him. I know that we enjoyed Saturday morning cartoons but I don't recall if it was at the crack of dawn or later!

During highschool I seem to recall getting up just to get to class. I don't think I was up early to do anything extra like exercise or early morning job.

When I was in university and home in between, I worked at a number of group homes for the 6-10am shift. I think that is the earliest I have ever had to get up on a regular basis. When I lived downtown and Drew was working out-of-town shift work I did go to the YMCA regularly before work. That would have been for about 6:30am regularly. I loved getting my exercise done and out of the way. And once I was up I was up. Before we had Mitchell I did get out the odd time to do early morning runs. I had to be careful to time it around Cierra's bathroom routine though and it didn't always work.

These days Drew and I seem to have a pretty good rhythm going for weekends. During the week he sleeps until after 7am unless he is going running. On the weekend, if he doesn't have a men's breakfast, he will usually take Mitchell and get up with him at 6amish and let me go back to sleep. I'll get up the other morning and let him sleep in on that day. The only thing that doesn't seem too fair, is that the kids seem to leave Drew alone on the days he "is up" and he still seems to get to doze anyway. Hmmm - what is wrong with this picture?

I find it easiest to get into my work/ hobby groove after the kids have gone to bed. I now need to work around Mitchell's feeding schedule but by far I get the most work done during his morning nap time and then immediately after he had gone to bed. I'd love to stay in bed late in the mornings but it just isn't possible right now. This means I have to get to bed at a decent time and for me that is before midnight. I am blessed however to be able to "function" with less then 6 hours of sleep each night (Mitchell is still feeding 1-2 times each night after I get into bed).

For now it is what it is and I know that it is only for a season. It won't be long before Mitchell will be up taking care of himself in the mornings too. For now I will take it as it is and enjoy it. Even if it means I don't get the regular exercise I should but instead get to enjoy my awesome bed. I'm willing to make the sacrifce. Trust me, it's hard but someone has to do it.

2011 curriculum

I've been mulling over my goals or resolutions for this year and came across a post by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. She instead discussed her goals as setting up her curriculum. It really resonated with me (and all that she had to say about overdoing the process lol!) . I tend to overdo theprocess, get a little ambitious and then burn out. There have been a few successful years where I had more attainable goals - and of course there are many that I am still working on. Anyway, I like the idea of a curriculum in terms of continuous learning as well and therefore here is my 'curriculum' for 2011:

One little word
My one little word this year is joy. I have been feeling like my family has been getting the short end of the stick with me lately and I want to show more joy. To them in particular. I also want to use it in the way to emphasize Jesus first; Others next and You last (as in me - last - which will be hard because I do tend to be quite selfish a lot.). I've got lots of little goals to help me along in this area but Ali's class at Big Picture Scrapbooking is already giving me excited heart flutterings.

Project 365
I am still contemplating this one. I love the outcome but I will admit that at times I am a little bored with the concept. Part of me wants to do the full binder version of Becky Higgins and include the daily pieces of life like receipts, scraps, drawings etc but I also know that if I don't keep up it will just get abandoned. The blog has helped me stay on top of this project even when I actually fall behind.

Yesterday Today
Another Ali Edwards class. All about getting down the memories from yesterday and today. If I had only one scrapbook album what stories would I want to tell? I don't have that album done and I want to. Stories of my childhood. Stories from my parents. Stories about what has made me the person I am today. Who I am and who I want to be. She can start me in the right direction.

LOAD February, May and October
Naturally. It's when I get my stuff done baby.

Memory Monday
Noting a memory from my past every (or some) Mondays on the blog. Again this follows Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Again getting those random memories down. Somewhere. Here. Maybe scrapbooked one day.

Monthly recaps
This has helped me so much in my memory keeping. I like lists and I like to know what we've done. It is all there in list format and then I can separate it into the various lists I have elsewhere.

6 people 12 times
Both Ali and Katie also mentioned this concept of Tara Whitney's - the goal to take a family photo each month. An admirable goal I think. Even attainable!

Other
Otherwise I hope to continue on with my Gotta Do's list and other unfinished projects, to do lists and limit the start of new projects. Generally take things a little slower (IF that is possible lol!)

There we go - in a nutshell! Now I must consider how I did last year! Ha!