Getting Ready for 2010

I have been off work since the end of October with some medical issues. I am starting to feel better now (although I still have one more test to go for, which is next Tuesday), so I have been trying to do a few things that make me feel good.

Last year I received a small desk calendar that uses a CD case as the base. The pictures of fish on the calendar were nice and it was a calendar to advertise a business, but this year I decided to make my own calendar inserts for it, so I got creative!! Here is what I came up with.

I just set up a table format in WordPerfect (still refusing to transfer everything to Word) and typed up the calendar sheets for each month. Each month's sheet can be slipped into place without disturbing the background. I am hoping to paint my computer/spare room a wet cement colour, so I thought the purple would go nice in here!

Of course, I don't have this calendar displayed in my home yet - apparently it's bad luck to switch the year until THE DAY, and we could certainly use some good luck around here! I don't really believe in all that, but it does sit in the back of my mind.

No Beauty This Spring

We purchased this home on June 24, 2005, so we missed seeing our crabapple tree bloom that year. In 2006 and 2007, the tree bloomed and the winds blew and took the blossoms away as quickly as they came. After the blossoms are gone, the tree is not very attractive. Last year I got outside with my camera to take a few pictures so we could remember how beautiful the tree can be, and I am so glad I did.

This year, a few little blossoms came out, then we had frost. That was the end of the blossoms for our tree this year. I am very disappointed that I didn't get to sit in my livingroom window and enjoy my beautiful tree. I am hoping for a better display next year.

Where Did My Baby Go???

Before Spencer's first birthday, I watched a show on Oprah about how parents track their children's milestones through life. The one lady on the show had pictures of her daughter, starting on her first birthday, wearing one of her daddy's dress shirts to show how much she's grown each year. I thought this was a great idea, but with my son, I decided to use a neck tie instead. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one of my husband's favorite ties (which I have since found), so we bought a tie specifically for this purpose (FYI: not hubby's favorite hockey team).

Spencer has just celebrated his 7th birthday a couple weeks ago, and I cannot believe how mature he looks now, especially after looking back through his pictures. Why do our babies grow up so quickly??

So here's a look at how my little "buglet" has grown!!

Of course the first picture is him, one day old, not quite ready to wear a neck tie yet. He looks so quiet and peaceful, which is exactly how he was as a baby!

On his first birthday (left), he was oblivious of the neck tie. He had just woke from his nap to find balloons floating around the kitchen. He just kept trying to catch them, which made taking the picture a bit difficult since he wouldn't stay still. By his first birthday, he'd had a month of practice being on his feet!

By his second birthday (right), he was overly interested in the tie and I had to snap several pictures before I got one where he wasn't trying to pull it off or wrap it around his neck. That was a test of my patience for sure!




For his third birthday (left), he was very co-operative in getting his picture taken, which was a bit unlike him at that time. He was in the midst of realizing that he had the power to not always do what Mommy & Daddy wanted him to do. Thankfully (I think) he's a people pleaser and he realized that he prefers to have harmony in his life instead of defiance. He still speaks his mind and tries to get his way, but he also knows that some things are not debatable.

On his fifth birthday (left), he was thinking this whole tie thing was a bit lame. He entertained me while I took his picture, but he was ready to get on to other things. There's a lot of playing to do when you're five!

So here we are now. My baby is 7!! He was excited this year to get his picture taken. We had his 7th birthday party at our local bowling alley with five of his friends. They had a load of fun bowling for an hour, eating lunch together and enjoying cake, and more cake ... It was great watching how much these boys have learned to play together, take turns, consider each other's feelings and cheer each other on when frame after frame, no pins were knocked down by some of the boys.

Spencer is wanting to be more independant now and I'm not loving that. I know I should, but I'm not ready yet! Maybe we can start letting him make his own peanut butter sandwich. That's a good starting point, right? I can still see right where he is, and it's just a butter knife, after all!

Lists

Lists can be fun, and I always make mine fun. I have a list for today and posting on my blog is NOT on my list. However, it will be now, with a stroke through it to show that I have done it. My problem is that I make lists and get sidetracked, which means that I don't get everything done on my list. To make myself feel more accomplished, I add the other things that I did so I don't feel like a failure.

My list:
1. Call Lee-Ann (I have done this and left a message. I really want to connect with her and haven't been able to). Lee-Ann, please call back!

2. Make peanut butter rice krispie squares and cut them in heart shapes.

3. Laundry (gotta get started on this).

4. Clean the house ... this will never be done.

5. Measure for carpets for the bedrooms.

6. Come up with something different for supper tonight using ground beef (since I'm home today and can put some time into it - oh, I'm thinking stuffed shells - yummy - Shaun loves those).

7. Make Valentine cards for Shaun & Spencer and get their gifts ready before they get home today.

There are lots of other things I want to accomplish today, but lets face it. I will get sidetracked and work on some of those things not on my list and will probably not even start on #4 above!! Who cleans their house on a vacation day from work anyway?

Happy Friday everybody. Oh, if anybody loves lists, check out this super simple list maker website: http://printablechecklist.org/

Trying to Fly!

Happy New Year, or rather, Happy February 1st!! One whole month from 2009 is gone already. Where did it go?

Do any of you fly with Flylady (http://www.flylady.com)? I am really wanting to follow her routines, but time just goes by so fast and I just can't seem to keep up with it all. I'm not sure if I'm a procrastinator, if I'm lazy or what my issue is. I'm thinking a bit of both of those things combined result in me not keeping an organized house like I would like. Thankfully my husband, who works shift work, can be persuaded to hang out with the vaccuum cleaner now and then. Thanks to him & Spencer, my house is clean ... and redecorated (I think some things will find their way back to where they were originally - sorry Shaun). Now I just have to keep up with it, again. Wish me luck!