Isobel's Tooth

Isobel lost a tooth today.



It’s the 9th one she’s lost so far, but what’s special about it is that it’s the first one that has come out without the aid of the dentist. We were at Grandma’s house and she was enjoying a Turtle after her dinner and **POP** she spit it out into her hand.

Other than that, we had a quiet weekend. The girls slept over at a friends house on Friday night so Dave and I went out for dinner and then to a movie. It was a nice change. The girls were exhausted on Saturday so we hung out around the house, raking leaves and such. Today they were still exhausted, so they watched a movie in the morning then enjoyed The Nutcracker and Christmas decorating at their Grandma’s house. I love weekends like this without anything specific to do. We just get to hang around the house and be together.

On another note, this is the wine I’ve been drinking:



I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the fact that it’s a screw top. I’m not a connoisseur of fine wines by any means and I like to be able to get it open easily and quickly. I pick my wines mostly by their label. So does my mother in law. She bought this one for me to try next:



Do you think she’s trying to tell me something?

Isobel, Isobel, Isobel

It’s all about Isobel today.

She really is a character. This is her bedroom door:



I don’t know how it got this way. Well, I do know how it got this way, I guess what I don’t know is how she managed to convince Dave and I that it was okay to plaster her door with random stickers. We’re both usually so anal about those kinds of things. The stickers on here range from Hannah Montana stickers, to the ones the dentist sticks on her shirt after fluoride to remind me she can’t eat, to the ones you always forget to peel off your new clothes the first time you wear them. We’ll definitely have to replace this door before we sell this house.

Here’s a note I found from Isobel to Meredith in Meredith’s room one day:



Apparently, Isobel wanted to read and play some Nintendo. At least she remembered to say I love you.

Crafts? Apparently Not Today

Today I tried to make this advent calendar. Why does it look so easy here? I will admit I’ve been procrastinating painting all those little boxes. I had no trouble shopping for the stuff to go inside them, but painting them was another story. I got the boxes out today and figured I’d just do it. Well, it quickly became obvious the boxes were going to need at least 2 coats of paint (maybe more). Plus, those little boxes are not easy to paint. I did half of one and had paint all over my hands. So, I quit. I put the paint away, threw all the boxes in the garbage and asked Dave to pick up 2 lovely Cadbury Advent Calendars while he was out. Am I a quitter? Hell, yes. Especially when I have so many other things to do that are so much more enjoyable.

Next, I decided Meredith and I would make a button tree. I’ve been searching for weeks for more Christmas coloured buttons but decided I would just use up my stash and see how it went. Here’s our tree:





Can you believe there are 200 buttons and pins on that? And it’s not even close to being done! I do have a few more buttons to put on (we ran out of pins), but I think I’ll have to put it away and hope I manage to collect some more buttons between now and next Christmas.

Today is just not my day for crafting. I’m going to finish my book now.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

This is the view I woke up to yesterday morning.



Snow, glorious snow. I know I am in the minority but I do love this time of year. The red cheeks, the cold hands, the hot chocolate! It’s the perfect time of year to snuggle up indoors by the fire with a cup of something warm and a good book or a movie. It is a great time to indulge in an afternoon of scrapbooking or a Christmas craft. And now that I have my Christmas shopping all done, I can do that!

Here’s a page I did earlier this year in one of my many Jessica Sprague classes:

I’m off for a walk. Enjoy the weather, if you’re in a snowy climate. It’s here and it’s not going anywhere. Better to embrace it than to fight it. It’s not a fight you will win.

Stories in Hand

I am taking this Stories in Hand class with Jessica Sprague and while I really haven’t managed to get much of the work done so far, it has made me think. There are so many things that happen on a daily basis that are worthy of remembering but so few of them are remembered. So few, get recorded. They are ordinary moments that happen everyday and often are not really memorable the same way Christmas or milestone birthdays are memorable but rather because of their extraordinary ordinariness. I know for me, when I think back to my childhood there are all kinds of details I just don’t know. What did I do after school? What did we do on the weekends? Or in the evenings after homework and dinner were over? I know they aren’t big things but as a mother I’d like for my children to know this stuff. To know what our life is like now. To know how much I love them and how much my life depends on them. To know how perfect I feel they are. I know there will come a time in the not too distant future when we may not get along as well as we do now, and I need to know that they will be able to look back and know that they are loved. Whatever they do, however they behave, they will always hold my heart in their hands. The stories need to be recorded. In a notebook, in a blog, in a scrapbook, anywhere really. It’s not important where they reside just that they have a home.

Messes, Christmas Lights and Some Calendar Pages

The girls were tired yesterday and we just hung around the house. They played in the leaves and cleaned their bedrooms, but other than that, they hung out in the house. They built a city out of dominos and glass beads (I wish I had a photo of that), and watched a movie in the basement. I took advantage of that and worked on my blog and did a little scrapbooking. I really didn’t realize how long they were down there. This is the sight that greeted me when I did go down after they’d gone to bed.

It’s funny. A sight like this would have made me angry a couple of years ago, but today, it just makes me happy. I love to see them being creative and playing with their toys. They don’t have the time for that as much these days between homework and their various electronic distractions.


Don’t worry, though. They cleaned it up today. But then, of course, they had friends over and messed it up again. Oh well, I tried.


While we were inside busy playing, Dave was outside doing this:

I know it’s early but I know if we wait it will be cold and miserable. Better to get it done now. Easy for me to say, I didn’t have to do it.

I haven't had the time to do many digital pages lately. I did these little calendars for my fridge recently. All supplies by Jessica Sprague including the template.

Halloween And A Perfect Fall Day

This was the first year Meredith did not trick or treat with us. A true sign that she is getting older! Before we left Isobel decorated the front door with these little notes. She loves her little notes.

The costumes this year were both homemade. Isobel went as a fairy princess but most people thought she was a bride.



It’s so good to see my bridal veil being put to such good use. Meredith wore it one year when she was a princess bride and it also gets worn often around the house. I wish I was so uninhibited that I could wander around the house wearing a bridal veil!

Meredith dressed up as a cat in a tree.



She saw the idea in a magazine a long time ago and never faltered. It was a beautifully mild night with lots of leaves and crisp fall air. A very perfectly spooky Halloween.

The girls frolicked in the leaves today. We have a lot of them.



Lots and lots and lots of them. I like them and the girls like them but I don’t think Dave does. He’s the one that has to rake them all up.





Isn’t this tree beautiful? It’s in our front yard.



This one is in our neighbour’s front yard.



I love this time of year with all the leaves changing colour and the coolness in the air. Today is a perfect fall day.