A Lonely Wife, I Am Not!

Happy Monday everyone! Sorry for the radio silence last week. With the warm November weather, work got suddenly SUPER busy again and I needed to stay focused on work! The colder weather will bring a less busy work life but still slightly hectic till we finish year end! 

Despite the busy work week, I was REALLY looking forward to the weekend! It started out on Friday night at Paint Night! I was so excited for this session because I loved the poppies that were in the studio! After a long work week, I was going in exhausted but I enjoyed painting. It got to a point though that I was falling asleep sitting up and needed to head out. I was close to being finished and will hopefully get to at the night Paint Night! 

I was up early to get ready because we were heading out to grab a fast breakfast and get Sam's haircut! While I LOVE the morning out with my boys, I wish someone would teach me how to cut a little boys hair! It takes $20 ($23 with tip) for each haircut every 2 months! That's almost $140 every year! But he did great during his haircut and looked so handsome after! 

We were close to a Starbucks and I had a gift card so I got my first red cup of the year! Since having Sam I always use his name instead of my own. They never spell it wrong! :) 

We got home and got to work on the gardens, had lunch and Sam went down for a nap while Ry and I continued to work outside getting everything ready for winter! 

Ryan also went for a nap and he headed out shortly after supper to have a boys night at the hunt camp! After Sam went down for bed I had a ME night! I love my husband but I do enjoy an evening to myself! I did a face mask, practiced piano, watched a documentary, had dessert and knitted! I really enjoy that quiet time to myself where I can be a little bit selfish! 

When Daddy is away, Mommy dresses Sam in Toronto Maple Leaf PJS! 

Sam and I headed to church and then came back home where Ryan had arrived and my parents joined us for brunch. We all relaxed, Dad helped me with a little piano homework and Sam insisted and playing with Grampa! He was really into jamming out! 

The rest of Sunday was very relaxing. Remembrance Day service and getting ready for the week ahead! 

How was your weekend? 

xo 

Halloween 2015

Happy Monday everyone! We had such a great time as a family this weekend that it was hard to see Sunday end. But I just keep reminding myself of the fun that we had and that I know there will be other awesome weekends ahead! 

The great thing about this weekend was that on Saturday it was Halloween! So our whole weekend revolved around this spooky day. 

It all started on Friday! There was so excitement because not only was it the day before Halloween but it was also party day at daycare! I got some treats prepared for all of his daycare friends and a little "Witches Potion" ready for the amazing provider! 

When I dropped Sam off there was a sense of excitement with the upcoming party! Later in the day I received a text with a picture of Sam and his "Boonana"! 

I was so excited to pick him up and see how the party went! I was told he had a great day and he was in such a happy party mood all day! Here are some of this Halloween crafts! 

That night we had to run a couple of errands and Sam got to go on a short ride on the four wheeler with his Dad! Don't worry, I can walk faster than what Ryan drives when Sam is with him! ha ha! 

Saturday morning we were up early to have breakfast and run a few errands! We crossed a couple more gifts off the Christmas list. I have this fear of Ikea. I hate crowds but we were at the store right when the doors opened and I LOVED it. I loved looking around the displays and Sam loved the play area. Specifically this rocking "moose". We had trouble getting him off of it! ha ha! 

That afternoon while Sam was sleeping we got the final Halloween preparations done. This included finally carving our pumpkin! We attempted to do this with Sam but he was more interested in the knife so we had to wait. 

We woke Sam a little early in order for him to have a snack and then we all got dressed in our Halloween costume! We are pretty much big kids at heart and when Ryan suggested we go as Ghostbusters and Sam as Stay Puft, I was on board! We love having the opportunity to dress up with Sam and hope that he lets us for a few years! ha ha! We already started brainstorming for next year! 

Being that Sam is still so little, we stuck to mostly neighbors and family but this is the loot from 7 houses we did visit! Since I was little and lived a piece away from the village, Dad would drive us to neighbors houses to go trick-or-treating. Because these people wouldn't get many kids they went OVER BOARD with treats and I see this hasn't changed! ha ha! 

Sam went down to sleep with a thud! He was exhausted after a fun night of visits! Ryan and I settled in for a fun supper and a little spooky TV. 

Sunday morning we all slept in and then headed to church! We had a quick lunch with my parents and then both my boys went down for a long afternoon nap. While they snoozed I worked on a couple Christmas gifts, made food for the week and relaxed. 

We enjoyed some play time before supper and Sam must have worked up an appetite! He gobbled down his dinner and then I gave him a pudding that he received on Halloween night. He was in HEAVEN and gobbled it down!  

There was so much time spent with my boys and I had so much fun with them! It was a wonderful Halloween weekend! 

How was your Halloween? 

xo

Why I'm An Avid Meal Planner

Happy hump day ladies and gentlemen! Is it the weekend yet? Been a rough week and it's only Wednesday. But the big thing that gets me through the day, knowing that in a few short hours I get to see my boy! I get to wash away any stresses. Even if he doesn't notice I'm there to pick him up, just seeing him playing and happy turns my day around! 

I was getting frustrated in the Spring at the end of the day when it was time to put dinner on the table. Sam was in a very clingy stage where all he wanted was to be held after we got home. Being that Ryan would usually be home later, this made it impossible to have dinner on the table. Some nights, we had cereal for supper. 

It has gotten better though. Sam is happy to "help" me cook with his own bowl and spatula. It has taken A LONG time for me to perfect the after work chaos. Remember how I was super particular about planning my meals pre-Sam days? It has only gotten worse! 

There are a lot of reasons why I am avid meal planner but here are the things that are at the top of my list! 

1. Stress reliever

While some people may think trying to pre-plan the meals is more stressful, I find not having a plan worse. I would be having panic attacks if I had to figure out what was for supper at 5 pm.

2. Time Saver 

There is about 2 hours between the time we get home and the time Sam goes down to bed. I want to spend as much of that time soaking up time with my boys. I always know what is for supper for the week and usually cook/prepare the meal the night before or morning of. That way all I have to do is stick it in the oven to re-heat. 

3. Money Saver 

There is nothing that I love more then saving a little money! When planning a menu, I look at similar foods. For example, for one week on say Sunday, we will have a ham with scalloped potatoes. I know that we always have left over ham so for a meal that same week, I'll make Ham and Cheese sliders. 1 thing of meat, 2 meals! It's a huge money saver! Extra bonus, no food waste! 

4. Healthier 

There is no doubt that when you are in a crunch for something for supper, you turn to junk a lot of the time! Either in the form of fast food or processed food. It's easy, I get it. And occasionally we indulge in some quick meals as well. Do I take some cooking shortcuts? You bet! But I know that for the most part I know where our food is coming from and how it was made. I know that things have been properly cleaned and cooked. 

5. Yummier! 

Have you ever gone somewhere on vacation and started to crave some home cooked food? I have! There is just something so much more tasty about a dish that you've perfected to your taste buds with fresh ingredients. Tasting as you go so that it's just right. Serving it right from the stove and to your plate!

Really, the biggest reason why I meal plan...for my family and for all the reasons above. When there is no meal time stress, I am a happier and more attentive Mommy. It's part of the balance I need to be a successful working Mom. 

What does your meal plans look like? 

xo 

Happy Monday - And I'm A Dumpster Diver

Happy Monday everyone! I hope that you all had a great weekend! 

I had a great start to the weekend! A local artist hosted a Paint Night in her home. It was an awesome evening chatting and creating! At the end of the night we had our very own "masterpiece" to take home with us. I've seen these paint nights in the city but this was only 5 mins from my home (versus an hour)! Can't wait to for the next one! 

We had a nice quiet morning on Saturday. Playing, cleaning out the pool area and setting up Halloween decorations! 

I've officially reached dumpster diving status. Don't judge. I was on the road about a week ago visiting with golf course clients. On my way to one of the courses I was driving through a subdivision. It was clearly garbage day. At one of the houses with their garbage was this toy grocery cart. It looked practically new and I couldn't understand why they were throwing it out. I looked and there was a crack on the bottom and the handle was broken in 2. I loaded it up because I knew I could make it work! 

When Sam was down for his morning nap I grabbed some needle nose pliers and removed the handles. I then used duct tape to fix the crack. When Sam woke up it was like Christmas morning! He loaded up his toys and was pushing it around all morning! I am not ashamed to say that I got this for FREE on garbage day in the city because my boy was very entertained by it all weekend long! 

BIG plans that afternoon/evening! Jilly arrived for the first scary movie of the day, Jaws. I wasn't as scared as I expected to be. Sam woke up and we attempted some family pictures in the rain! You can't help but laugh about trying to take pictures with your 1.5 year old! It's like trying to wrangle a drunken octopus! But Jill was snapping away and from the few I saw on the camera, we'll have a few options for our Christmas card. 

We relaxed for a bit, gave Sam supper and he went to bed. We warmed up some pizza and wings and then watched Silence of the Lambs. Freaky but since I have seen it, I wasn't AS scared. 

Last movie, Pet Cemetery! By far one of the scariest movies I have seen! If you ever see it on TV, just turn cartoons on instead! ha ha! But it was fun and now I am really excited for Halloween. 

Sunday my boys were having a snuggle and I couldn't help but take a picture. Sam is ALL about Dada right now!  

Another thing he is into, building things! He loves his blocks but it doesn't stop there. He even uses his food and makes towers. This is banana tower from Sunday. Ha ha! 

We all headed to church, had a quick lunch and both my boys had a nap. While they were sleeping I was busy in the kitchen getting 20 lbs of potatoes ready for my church Harvest Supper! One of our biggest fundraisers of the year! 

Ryan headed off early with the potatoes and to help serve. I stayed and let Sam sleep a little longer. When he woke up we headed to the hall for a bite to eat. While Ryan continued to serve I let Sam play! Thank goodness for Molly and her toys there! She proclaimed at the end of the night that Sam would "only speak to her". Ha ha! Love our church family.  

It was a great weekend with a combination of busy and low key! 

How was your weekend? 

xo 

How I Started Planning For Christmas MONTHS Ago!

Happy Friday everyone! I am extra excited for the next two weekends in October. There are such some really fun Fall activities happening before October wraps up. 

Even though I am still really enjoying Fall, there is something that is in the back of my mind, Christmas! 

Yes, I love Christmas but I did find it a little stressful last year. I kind of kept the majority of my planning till right at the end. I kept saying, "there's lots of time". But right when I was ready to dive into the decorating, shopping and cooking...Sam went through some growth spurts and no body was getting any sleep. 

I remember feeling very overwhelmed last year as I tried to make everything like it use to be pre-Sam days. Things last year just took a little longer with a grumpy baby and tired Mama! But I managed to get it all done and we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas together. But the problem with being so busy during that Holiday time? It's hard to sit back and enjoy that time. It feels as though it goes quicker when there is a blur of things to get done. That is why I promised myself that next year would be different! 

It all started when I was seeing friends post on Facebook about how many months till Christmas. On August 25, just a few months till Christmas and I wanted to start right then! So I did. 

The first thing I did was open up an empty word document and write down a list of everyone there is to shop for and any ideas if I had any. This included EVERYONE! Tucker, Sam, Ryan, extended friends and family and I even had a section for potlucks and donations. 

The next thing I did was set a budget. Ryan and I sat down and discussed what we wanted to spend this year. This was a grand total that would included stocking stuffers! Once we had that number finalized it was time to break it down into how much to designate for each person on our "to shop for" list. This makes it A LOT easier to get ideas rolling so that we make sure what we want to purchase is within the allotted budget. When we would think of something for a certain person that met the budget, I would jot it down beside their name in the spreadsheet. 

Have you ever noticed that when you scramble to buy a last minute gift(s) for someone before Christmas you usually spend more? You are desperately wandering around wondering what to get someone and settle on something you weren't sure of that may be outside your budget. Pre-planning for each person takes the guess work out of it! 

We had our list done around the end of September and then it was time to get to work! Some of the items are homemade and we've been slowly working on those when we have time. 

But then there are some things that aren't homemade. And those items have to be purchased. We decided this year rather than going on one giant "Christmas shopping" trip, we would buy 1-2 gifts a week. It has been going really well and we have successfully gotten lot's of items crossed off the list! There will be no panic buying this year! I can stay at home and leisurely wrap in front of the TV watching a cheesy Christmas movie while everyone else fights the crowds! 

Have you started preparing for Christmas yet? 

xo 

A Few Things I Am Loving This October

Happy Monday! I hope that you are all enjoying your week! 

Life has been a little overwhelming lately. I am especially in awe of the fact that 6 months has gone by since Sam turned 1 in April. It feels as though that time has passed by at warp speed. 

You can feel the end of the season approaching at work. When the cold weather strikes (like Monday) every one hits the panic button and work has to get done THIS SECOND in fear that snow is about to fly! 

I am treading through the chaos with warm Fall thoughts. Because even in this busy time, I can't help but reflect on some of the good that happens this time of year. 

From the latest work event:

For one, I started piano lessons again! I was born into a musical family and have always loved to sing. I knew how to read music and could play a little on piano just through the theory I had learnt. Last Fall, I decided to take an Adult piano class on a whim. I am SO glad I did! I whipped through book 1 and I am now on lesson book 2 learning much harder pieces. It is my "mommy night out" every week! 

My boy still loves to "help" me play! Beautiful duet! 

So I am a complete girl when it comes to movies! I hate action movies and I especially hate scary movies! I just am a huge chicken and I get scared really easily! But I suck it up for one night and have a "Scary Movie Marathon" with my bestie Jill in order to get in the spirit of Halloween. I have to admit, after watching a series of freaky movies, I need to sleep with a light on for about 1 week but it is totally worth it! I am actually still scared from one particular movie marathon that included The Shinning. I can still hear the "Here's Johnny"! AHHHH! 

The part that I am looking forward to? The pizza party supper and snacks! The rest of the time I hide behind the blankets at scary parts! #truth 

But it does get me in the spirit for Halloween and this year I am SO looking forward to Halloween. I LOVE that it is on a Saturday this year. For now, Ryan and I chose Sam's costume for him and because we are big kids ourselves, we are dressing up again! It was a little harder to come up with a family costume again this year but we did and they are ready to go for next week! 

The plan is to let Sam have his normal nap. Have a quick supper when he wakes up and then hit the road. Sam is too young to "trick-or-treat" so for now it's just a little tour to visit a few family members and friends. Being that it's on a Saturday, and we will be getting an early start, we are hoping to be back early enough to put Sam to bed, have a fun supper (consisting of wings, cheese sticks and other) and watch a scary Netflix movie (or maybe a Disney movie depending on how scared I am after Scary Movie Marathon). 

Other things I am looking forward to: 

Paint night 

Pumpkin carving 

Making Halloween treat bags 

Love this month! 

How is your October been? 

XO

Cold October Weekend - First Snow Fall, Yuck!

Happy Monday everyone! Apparently this is one of the coldest October 19th's in Canadian weather history, blah! While I am actually slightly looking forward to winter, there is one thing that is already getting on my nerves, dressing Sam up for the cold weather! 

Every time we go outside it is now a battle to put the coat, hat and boots on him! When he get's it in his head that he wants to go outside to play, he wants to go NOW! No waiting to get dressed up to head out the door. I already miss the warm summer days where Sam can just go outside in a t-shirt and barefoot. 

Regardless of the cold weather this weekend, we had a lot of fun! It started out with a quiet movie night on Friday! Unpacking groceries, pizza for supper, a drive to pick up a piece of farm equipment with my boys and then a movie on Netflix after Sam went to bed. 

Saturday morning I was up early so that I could get things ready for the day ahead! I made a pot of soup so Sam and the babysitter could enjoy for supper that night and then chocolate chip cookies for a snack on car rally! 

Oh and it started to snow as we were getting ready! I cringed but my husband cheered and ran outside with Sam in his bare feet! Weirdo! ha ha! 

This was year 2 with our team of ourselves and friends Josh and Amanda! We were looking forward to a fun and challenging day ahead! The babysitter arrived, we kissed Sam goodbye and we were on our way! It was a very challenging year and we had to quit "trying" so hard because the last thing you want to do is get first place! That means that you have to plan the car rally for the next year! We had lots of laughs that day and a feast of snack foods! 

Thankfully, we didn't win! 5th place, which is perfect! Not too low and high enough that we are proud of how good we did. Can't wait for next year! 

On Sunday we were up early and off to church and then my parents stopped in for leftover soup for lunch and a little visit. 

We attempted to put Sam down for an early nap being that we had somewhere to be early afternoon. Sam had other plans and proceeded to lay in his crib talking and singing for 60 minutes! Eventually, we just got him and headed off to celebrate Sophie's 2nd birthday! 

It was lots of fun at the birthday party! There were lots of kids around Sam's age but being that he was tired about 1.5 hours into the party he was started to get grumpy! Thankfully, my MIL was there and took him outside for a little one-on-one play time! It was a nice break, thank you Bev! Right when we were about to leave we asked Sam and Sophie to give eachother a hug and they actually did! Sam wrapped his arms around her and everything! I have never seen him hug another kid before! 

We picked up a pizza on the way home because I was too tired to cook anything! But it was a nice treat! We finished off the weekend with play time and relaxing! 

How was your weekend? 

xo