One might assume that in my case my house is clean, or my laundry is completed but that is simply not the case. In fact since Becca started school I have felt so utterly disorganized, like I have less time than I did when I have three children home!

During our holidays, I took advantage of having a partner and redesigned the site. It took a painfully long time, as my design and coding skills were a little rusty. I am now sporting a new look (so come see, don’t stay in the rss reader!) and all up to date with fancy new functions that Wordpress has rolled out since my last redesign.

I am loving the new look and hope that you do as well. As usual, if you are using IE instead of the far superior Firefox this site is not quite as pretty to you as others. And if you really want to see it in its glory, see it on a Mac Please do not hesitate to contact me in comments or email if something is broken or looks funky.

Tomorrow our holiday is over … pfft all of us would love another week to spend together. Instead, J will disappear before most of us are out of bed, then the kids and I will prepare for our first day back.

How was your holiday?

I so needed this holiday. I am feeling so renewed and refreshed. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts with you in the new year!

This morning we took the children swimming and all had a blast! Cordi was adorable in her swimsuit and lasted over half an hour! Becca and Ethan had so much fun and stayed in the pool with J for an hour and a half!

Now all the children are sleeping softly in their beds. We are going to eat noodles (Japanese tradition!) and celebrate the New Year together.

May the New Year bring you much joy … thanks for making me and my creative thoughts part of your year and I look forward to reading more from you in the New Year!

Becca received a Play mobile stable equipped with horses, cats and girls to care for them all, a Barbie vet with a cat and horse, books and a ton of lego.

Ethan adores the construction builder set he received, along with John Deere diggers, books, and more lego.

Both older kids received a lightsaber from their baby sister (even J received one in his stocking!). There have been epic battles that everyone has enjoyed.

Cordelia received some toys she will enjoy once she is a little older, all courtesy of Kijiji (got to love second hand baby gear). I also made sure she had some soft teething toys to hang onto and chew on for the moment. She passed out in the middle of the unwrapping chaos!

J is enjoying the shop vac, hopefully will install the pull out garbage can soon and the books he received. For him, I scored a used set of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit as well as other works by Tolkien, published in the 70’s. J & I both have read through the series a few times so to have a classic set (published in the UK no less) to read is exciting. We look forward to catching differences *(yes we are nerds).

I was delightfully spoiled with a new custom made camera bag, a new doll (that I scored for a steal on Y!Japan), a coffee pot and grinder and the best sheets for our bed ever (thank you in-laws!) I so need to take some photos on the spoilage soon.

We all have been delighted to spend the holidays together. We hope to spend more quality time before J & Becca return to their respected schools.

How was your Christmas? Did you receive awesomeness?

Today was one of those magical days, filled with snowmen (even a snowcat), baked cookies, hot chocolate and time well spent together.

We had a snow storm last night that left us with just enough snow, of the sticky sort to roll some snowmen! Our neighbor had started before we headed out this morning and the kids had a blast playing with her. She has to be the coolest 12 year old ever! She always plays and entertains the kids with her amazing ideas.

Cordelia even came out, riding on my back. Hurray for babywearing! She was all comfy and cozy, giggling like crazy at the kids and the neighbor’s dog that came out to play. It was fun to be able to include her.

This afternoon, as I stitched like mad to finish up some Christmas presents we are delivering tomorrow to friends, J & Becca baked up some cookies for us to share. Ethan and Cordelia kept me company and I finally completed the handmade gifts. I hope the kids like them. I get so nervous! Hopefully before we head out tomorrow I can take some pictures (’cause you know I still have to wrap them!)

It was truly a great day.

Tomorrow we head to friends and J escapes to work for a few hours. I am so excited for Christmas this year. We have our three amazing children, each other, a great house and so so much love.

Are you ready for the holidays? Enjoying the time so far?

Can you believe it? Already! The girl is growing up way too fast for my liking. Thankfully she takes after her big sister and the tooth appeared without pain and suffering (unlike her older brother, he was tortured by teething!) It is the right tooth on the bottom that has broken threw but not up yet.

It is cold here. -20 C with the wind chill (and that so totally counts when walking to school!) I am so excited that today was the last day of school! YAY Christmas holidays.

I knit a pair of Bella Mittens for Ms B, Becca’s teacher. I hope the mittens will keep her hands toasty! I am still in the process of knitting, sewing and the like for Christmas. I am so not leaving it this late next year.

Ethan has not been feeling well as of late. He is very clingy, sensitive and teeters on the edge of crying a lot. It is so not like him. I am hoping it will pass soon.

The kids are beyond excited for Christmas. I can hardly wait to have everyone home, celebrating the season together. Times seems so precious.

It however, all quickly approaching the big DAY! I am sadly disorganized. I am knitting, sewing wrapping, humming, cleaning, cooking, baking (hopefully soon) all in a frenzy. I call it Christmas High. It is fun and stressful.

I vow not to leave so much to the month of December.

I want to be able to sit back and enjoy the season with the kids rather than feeling frenzied.

This is Becca’s last week till her Christmas vacation starts. I can hardly wait to have her home! Two weeks of all of us being together, going for walks, reading, playing and enjoying each other. J will be able to take some time off too so it is an extra bonus.

Are you still creating presents for Christmas? Still shopping?

I adore pretty things. I want my personal world to be beautiful, crafted, creative to reflect my inner being. I want to create a home that not only reflects comfort, but simplicity and creativity. I do not need more, but I would like it to be pretty. I want to be able to go out and purchase items for our home, our inner sanctuary and make it our own.

Then the opposing side that screams simplicity. Consume less. Want for nothing. Save money. Do we *need* a new living room set? Bedroom suite? Dining room table? A big screen tv for the basement?

The simple answer is No.

We do not need a bigger Christmas tree. The children were absolutely overjoyed with the one we set up. The children do not care if the ornaments do not match or if the tree is a little scanty and leans to one side.

They would like us to have more outdoor decorations. However I explained that every year we will add a little more and in the years to come it will be what we envision it to be.

I have purchased the children’s gifts with care. Not spending much, but hoping the gifts they are to receive will fill them with joy. It is so hard not to get swept up in the moment, the commercialism, the push to GIVE MORE, BE MORE, BE BETTER PARENTS IF YOU SPEND MORE … the stores, the commercials, the world screams at us.

Yet I watch my children sprawled out on the floor, playing with what was their Dad’s Lego, many many moons before and I know that we have much more than anything sold in a store. We have each other.

ps I still would like pretty things. My struggle is to balance that want with being a stay at home mom and the paths that we have chosen. All good things come to those who wait … right?

How do you find the balance? Are you a spender or a saver?

We have started celebrating Advent with little activities each day, quietly anticipating Christmas. We set up our little tree that looks more and more pathetic each year. This little tree has come along for the ride with our family for 10 years! Someday we will upgrade to a bigger, fuller tree.

We are totally excited to attend our first school concert this week. Becca has been practicing daily, bringing out her guitar and belting out the songs they learned for the concert. It is so cute! She sings “Oh Canada” a lot too … with vigor and pride that cannot be surpassed!

Ethan had his eyes checked today. Becca’s strabimus (the reason she wears glasses, her eye turns in) *may* be hereditary so Ethan was screened early. His eyes are perfect and he was such a good boy with the testing and doctor!! He was absolutely unimpressed with getting his eyes dilated. They had given him some Bob the builder stickers and he kept muttering “Can’t see Bob! Can’t see Bob!”

Cordelia is growing and changing so quickly. She absolutely adores standing in her excersauser watching the kids play. She grabs toys, hair and everything she can grasp. She is constantly amazing me with her smiles, wit and development.

I still have so much to do to prepare for Christmas. Every year I vow to be more organized and every year I am so not. I am going out with a friend to go shopping this week so hopefully I can finish up. We are not even spending that much this year and I am still behind!

How are your Christmas preparations going?

This year we opted to take a self portrait of the family at a local park. It turned out good, although the lighting wasn’t ideal. I worked the lighting into the card design through Costco. Their printing is way inexpensive and had the cards ready in an hour! Totally happy with their service.

So want  exchange Christmas cards this year? Leave me a comment and I will email you for your address. If you have received a card in the past but have never met me in real life, still request to be added!