Serious Play

Celebrating 14

So, due to our renos, we are having to be a little creative. Knowing I wasn't able to bake a cake, the sweet lady that I work with made Ashley a mini cake. We had no idea which box the candles are in, so Jessica made a few out of cardboard. We did try to light them, but it was not successful.

On the weekend, we celebrated again with Ashley. My parents were visiting from the farm and my sister and her family came along with us to go bowling. Some fun pics follow...

Some have form...some, not so much!
 

My sister is going to love me for this one! But honestly, her face has the same expression in all the pics, so I didn't have much choice!

 Thank you to all who celebrated our 14 year old Ashley with us these past few days! I know she feels important and very loved.

 

Preparing for December 2009

So, December is almost here! For the first time ever, I think, I am ready for December to start! I have my Ali Edwards December Daily album prepared and ready to go. You can take a peek here and here! 

I have taken the Jessica Sprague online class called Holidays in Hand (which is over now). She gave us journal prompts for all 31 days of December which I plan to use alongside my December Daily album. I gathered up the prompt pages and decorated a mini clipboard to hold them all together. It looks like this...

The plan is to start now with some of the journal writing from the prompts to try and get a few days ahead on the thinking. I am not sure yet, if I will make the journaling the topic of the day in my December Daily album, or if it will just be an aside. I will have to wait and see what works. I am guessing that if it is a busy activity day, then the journaling from the prompts will take a backseat, but if it is an ordinary-ish day, then I will make the journaling the focus.

I am even ready with my Advent Calendar (bought from Starbucks a few years ago)! This, my girls will attest to, is often at least one week behind. Usually, we are already into December before I even realize it and then have to go pick up the treats to fill the Advent Calendar. Not this year...

 
It is already set up and ready to go! This Advent has little drawers with numbers. Inside each drawer is a different treat for my girls. After taking out the treat, you flip the drawer around and it slowly reveals a Christmas image, complete with a star at the top on the 24th. This is a favorite tradition in our home. It is currently sitting under my Family Picture Wall (my dad made the letters for me...the M fell off the wall and needs some repairs!). Even though it is not sitting in the traditional spot (due to our renos) we will still create memories that surround our little Advent Calendar this year!

How about you? Are you ready for December?

Deep Thoughts

So, I am taking an online class from Ali Edwards called Yesterday & Today. I always learn so much from her. More than any other scrapbooker, I connect with her style of simplicity. Her class is jam-packed with good advice and inspirational ways of approaching scrapbooking. I like that.

Each week, Ali gives us a focus. This particular week was about telling a story that maybe is hard to tell. Sometimes in our lives there are difficult moments and we are not likely to make a scrapbook page about the down and out days, but Ali challenged me on this one! She says that these moments make us real. Life is not perfect, but the tough stories are the ones that make us grow. How we handle the situation or make the best of it tells a powerful story. 

For the first time, I wrote down the story in this LO. It was a tough one.  Sadness does flood me when I recall this event, but I do not harbor any hard feelings over the event. In fact, it does feel better to get it out and deal with my feelings.

In this next LO Ali challenged us to write a story that has no photos. At first I thought that strange. Isn't scrapbooking all about the photos? Isn't a picture worth a thousand words? Doesn't every LO center around a photo or two (or three)?

Wow! this came out so large! It really is a 6x12 page.

Amazingly, there is a place for LOs without photos! I discovered that by having to tell a story in this way I am forced to move away from just recounting an event, and to get into feelings. I can't say that I have ever told a story about myself like this. Perhaps I should do it more often! Someday my girls will appreciate getting inside my head. I know I didn't fully appreciate my mom until I had my own girls. It wasn't because I didn't like my mom, I just wasn't in that headspace to understand or even consider how my mom thought of the world. (Love you, Mom!)

There are others in this class too. Here is a peek at another blogger/scrapbooker and her take on the same assignments!

Blessings.

Goodbye 13

So, my baby girl turns 14 today! Hard to believe that some time ago I was cradling her in my arms begging her not to grow up too fast. She is taller than me now, has a bigger shoe size and has outgrown the length of her bed!

Last night we went out for supper at her choice of restaurant, Milestones. We had a lovely dinner in a cozy atmosphere and great conversation. My husband and I bought her the Julia Child Art of French Cooking cookbook because Ashley loves to cook. She said to me three times last night how she cannot wait for the kitchen reno to be complete because she wants to get started cooking again! I also wanted to get her the movie Julie & Julia. We saw it as a family this summer and Ashley really connected with the story. Unfortunately it does not become available until next week! So, I promised Ashley that we will pick it up as soon as it comes out!

Jessica searched for the perfect gift for her sister. It was heartwarming to hear her say things like, "I don't want to get her just anything. It needs to be special, something that has meaning for Ashley." So we brainstormed the things that Ashley likes and what we have heard her talk about lately. Jess ended up buying her a plaid shirt, some red nail polish and a keychain with a peace symbol on it. All very good choices for Ashley. Sisterly love rocks!

 This page is so Ashley, all rainbows and happiness. Bless you, Babe in your 14th year!

I am also anticipating Christmas this year. I have been rethinking what I want to celebrate over the holidays and I was challenged by this thinking, this packaging, and this. Can't wait! How 'bout you?

Turning Point

So, this past weekend was the turning point. We have finished the destruction (which went way further that we thought it would have to) and we rounded the corner today. We are now entering the fun stage of the reno. This is the part where we see progress. All those months of planning and picking colors and ordering supplies all comes together now, when the pieces start to fall into place.

Today, the drywall went up! I didn't think I would ever get this excited about drywall, but to me, it means we've turned the corner. I came home today and stood in my bare, white, drywalled kitchen and I smiled a big smile. It means we are almost finished with the dust and particles of wood and bits and pieces that have been tracked all throughout my house. It means I can paint. It means the tile gets laid soon, then cabinets, then countertop and backsplash tile...

I must admit, I resisted the bay window at first. I saw it as a needless extra expense. I would have been happy with just a regular flat window. I must say, though, that it is looking nice and I am already forming a vision of nestling in front of the window with a good book. My husband made a good call on this one. Way to go, Honey!

Now the debate is...should we make a built-in window seat? or finish the floor and leave it as an extension of the floor?

 My kitchen is getting more inviting every day. I can already envision the cabinets (which have been sitting in the garage for 2 weeks!) and granite countertop!

I am crossing my fingers for it to be complete by Christmas. I am not holding my breath, though, at this point. The timelines are already pushed back from the original plan. I probably will not be able to decorate much, or do much baking as we lead up to Christmas. 

However, I am not going to let this spoil the celebration of Christmas...it just means that we will have to be more creative!

My Birthday Ring

Patterned Paper: mterasawa-everydayinspiration-dec21 (DesignerDigitals), KPertiet_WingedEpoxies-2 (DesignerDigitals)

So, I love my girls. I love surprises. I love sterling silver jewelry. 

What really made this special for me was the fact that my daughter sought out something that she knew I would really like. She knows my love of sterling silver. She knows my love of rings. She knows my love of Etsy. She knows my love of small packages coming in the mail. Not only that, but she paid for it with her own money, no one told her to buy me a gift. She had to get the PayPal account number from my husband. She had to do it all without me knowing! All of this combined made it a special gift for me. I do not surprise easily...and she did it! Thanks, Babe!

Gratitude

So, I got a surprise today. One of the ladies that I work with has heard me talk about our kitchen renovations for the past weeks. She actually asks me for updates! She is so sweet. Anyway, today she was not at school (she is part-time) and near the end of the day I received a phone call from her. She asked me if I would mind running out to the parking lot for a moment...she had cooked me a microwaveable supper since my kitchen was out of order! Her daughter was dropping it off for me on her way home from work! I was flabbergasted! No one has ever cooked a meal for me and my family like that.

Well, as you can imagine, I was blessed. This woman took time out of her day to think of me and choose to do something not only helpful, but gracious. My prayers are that she will be blessed right back, two-fold! 

And you can bet that I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for some way that I can bless her in the future! Who can you bless today?

 

Temporary Kitchen

So, I came home from work to find this...

Yes, this is my kitchen. And then I found this...

My laundry room is ripped out! Now, this is a good thing. It needs to be upgraded. We had ordered a new washer/dryer and it finally arrived, so my husband installed it. Since our kitchen is being ripped out too, we needed to build a temporary kitchen and Sean thought the laundry room could be the answer. He really is brilliant! 

The plan was to cut out the kitchen sink and move the cabinet and all down to the laundry room. But, upon dismantling it, Sean realized that it just wasn't worth it. So we were off to IKEA to buy a new cabinet, followed by Rona for a new countertop. Now, renovating the laundry room was not part of the renovation at this time, but because we need it functioning as a kitchen for a few weeks we needed to do it right. I sure am glad that Sean can do the work!

After installing the new cabinet, countertop and sink, Sean brought the dishwasher and microwave down. This is all set up beside my new stackable washer/dryer.

...and voila! a temporary kitchen. The only trouble now, is a lack of available outlets. Before leaving for work today, I had to plug in my slow cooker in my bedroom! And Ashley made cookies in the toaster oven last night!

Who knew we could be so creative? Actually, it is kinda like camping!

Remember

So, last week we celebrated Remembrance Day. Yes, I am late in posting this page. Remember, we are in the middle of renovations!

At my school (I am a teacher) we had a lovely Remembrance Day ceremony. One of the highlights was a slideshow of family members related to our school body. A few years ago, I submitted a picture of my grandfather in the war. He is so handsome in his suit. I remember when we would visit my grandparents house, my sister and I would sleep in a room in their house and up on the wall beside the bed was this same picture of my grandfather in his uniform and his hat askew on his head. I remember thinking back then...wow, he is so young. Did he know what he was getting into? Did he miss home? I know that he and my grandmother wrote letters back and forth, but was that enough? I know that when I came back from France and shared my travel pictures with my grandfather, his eyes welled up and his unspoken thoughts were obvious.

 My grandfather is gone now, and I wish I had asked a few more questions about his life and his experiences. So, when I saw his picture appear on that big screen on Remembrance Day, the tears stung my eyes. It is something about the uniform. It is something about his commitment. It is something about how he made a difference in his life.

My husband donned a suit on Remembrance Day. He is a firefighter. He wore his suit as a sign of respect for those who fought in the war. Seeing him in his suit makes me remember. It makes me remember my grandfather. I also remember how my husband fought his own battle to get on the fire department. After plumbing for 15 years, Sean decided to make a career change. He wanted to do something more significant. He wanted to make a difference. Entering the fire department at a later age in life was a bit of a battle. He had to prove himself physically able to compete with younger guys. He had to prove he could still study for tests. He had to prove he was a trustworthy, reliable and motivated person. He was commited to the process and my husband won the battle. He now can proudly wear the suit.

So, every time Sean wears his suit, I remember the battle, and I am proud of them both.

As of Today

So, things are rolling now. Our renovation is finally taking off! It has felt like forever since we started this reno. I came home from work on Friday and the work had commenced.

Now, I do not like mess, but this was a joy to see. Everything lately had been stalled. We were waiting for our cabinets to be built. We were waiting for the new washer/dryer to be delivered. We were waiting for the electrician to come and do some rewiring. But today it all came together - finally!

We worked all weekend, pulling out the old kitchen cabinets, tearing up the old tile on the kitchen floor, setting up a temporary kitchen in the laundry room, installing the new washer/dryer and managing the mess along the way. Stay tuned for posts this week about the progress.

My thoughts, right now, are being consumed by colors. We have a long feature wall that stretches through the living room and dining room. Up until now, it has been Tuscan Red, but it is time for a change. I really can't decide...should it become Aqua-Sphere, or Eye Catching?