Grace's First Quilt - January 2013

I am so happy to teach my daughter, Grace, how to sew.
She began her first quilt in early January and took to sewing like she was meant  for it.

I have a sewing desk and table set up in the back of our living room - a convenient spot to work.

I put some masking tape on my machine so she could follow the line easily for sewing.
Grace is a quick learner so her quilt came together quite smoothly.

About half-way through... it is so cozy.

Here she is holding up her quilt... almost finished!  She did ALL of the
sewing up to this point.  We ran out of flannel so the plan is to add strips of
fleece along the sides.  She did a fantastic job!

Here it is - all finished and ready for our drive to Florida!  Grace will have
this nice, cozy quilt to cuddle with on our vacation.  I am so proud of her - and
so excited to plan her next quilt.  I love to sew and want to teach my girls a
love of sewing as well.  I have always been creative and crafty and now I can
share my love of homemade/handmade with her.
Watch out Joanne's Fabric Store, here we come!!!

Being Real For Myself

 

Tis the season for making New Year's resolutions... and then having them go by the wayside.  I feel like my 35 things for my 35th birthday (previous blog post) was my way of making resolutions so as we begin another year, I am focussing on just a few things:  the first thing is my health.  I do want to lose a few pounds but more importantly, I want to gain some body health.  I love to be active, especially with my kids.  Winter time is perfect for us as a family to enjoy some outdoor fun together (whether it is in the snow or the sunny south) and I love to be able to keep up with them easily.  In the past I have enjoyed running on my road.  It gives me peace and the feeling of accomplishment.  I just feel good when I run. 

 

Not only am I trying to be more active but I need to focus on some of my eating habits.  Usually when I try to lose some weight, I step on that darn scale and become even more frustrated.  THIS TIME I AM GOING TO AVOID MY SCALE.  A friend of mine explains that a weigh scale only measures the gravity's pull on our bodies... it has nothing to do with us as a person - how great we really are; how strong we are; how resilient we are; if we are a good friend, parent, daughter, or how creative we are, how smart we are, how loving we are!  So right now I have decided to focus on BEING REAL and freeing my body and mind from my own negative thoughts.  I will focus on becoming healthier, more active and loving myself! 

 

 

Our First Family Ski Day

Yesterday we enjoyed our very first family ski day!  I was so happy with how it went.  I have always thought that we should have activities to do together AS A FAMILY and skiing just seems like a great way to spend the day together.  We both enjoyed skiing when we were younger; Ian was a avid skier and I was more of a casual skier... in it for the social part!  Once we had our babies though, we certainly didn't make it a priority but as time went by, we often talked about if we should get our family into skiing once they were older.  Yesterday was our first chance trying it out and we had fun!

Alex and Grace took to it like little experts!  I was so proud of them - listening to our instructor-friend (who was amazing!) and doing everything she asked them to do.  Very quickly they were going down the bunny hill with no problem and Grace was ready to take on a bigger hill after lunch.  Alex is not a thrill-seeker by any stretch of the imagination and was perfectly content staying on the bunny hill, flying down it and having so much fun.  Jean was spending lots of time with Ian slowly going down the hill but mostly enjoying the carpet ride up the hill!  We took Grace up the chair lift (a bit of anxiety for mommy) and then down the hill (it was just beautiful with all of the snow) and she wanted to do it again.  Lillian took her up again and Grace had huge improvements the second time around.  We stayed the whole day... almost right until closing time and everyone was happy and tired.

I can't wait to do it again!

Hold On Tight

This New Year has started off quietly.  After a very busy Christmas time (and I mean VERY busy with wonderful family gatherings, parties, and just plain travelling around) we came home on January 1st and relaxed.  The only little issue is that the kids are looking for some routine and school is still days away.  Despite priding myself on my organization skills (or at least trying really hard to be organized), I am not very good at routine.  I plan my week and then change it if something pops into my head that I should do.  When the kids are at home with me, I rarely have meals and snacks at the same time, we don't do the same thing at the same time and bedtime is always different.  I've always wanted to have more routines but I haven't been able to pull it off!  Hence I look forward to school returning... it seems like they haven't been in a school routine for so long because of the record snow days we had before the Christmas break even began.  I'm going to try my best to enjoy these last few days of their holiday but I'm really craving some "me" time again.

Ian and I have always spent time at the beginning of a new year talking about our goals and dreams for the upcoming year.  We haven't done this yet - partly due to Ian feeling under the weather and partly because I'm in a funk right now.  Some emotional issues have reared their ugly head in our life that mainly have to do with some of our loved ones and it is hard to feel motivated when others are dealing with so much heartbreak.  I feel so thankful for what we have and just want to hold on tight.  Looking forward to the future and planning is just not in my immediate radar right now.