Last week I had to do one of the hardest things ever - break up with my daycare provider.
Anyone who knows me knows how much of a blessing Nikki has been to our family over the years. However, recently the opportunity arose to reduce our monthly daycare costs by almost $500/month. We couldn't say no.
It's such a tough thing to do especially since Nikki did nothing wrong. The kids love it there, and have always been loved and well cared for. I fretted and fretted over breaking the news. I am confident she will get new kids to watch quite quickly, however I also know a big chunk of their monthly income is from what we pay them. It was "you've done nothing wrong, but you're fired" and "It's me, not you - we're breaking up" all rolled into one. I'll admit I got teary when I told her.
She took it really well. I was just very honest with her, and she totally understands. That Saturday we were at a birthday party for two of her kids, and the family did not chase us away with shotguns, so I guess they took it well. Who knows, maybe they were looking to get rid of us and it was an answer to their prayers *grin*
However, we don't regret our decision. The kids will be attending the daycare run out of our church. I know the 2 ladies who run the place and they are so excited about the kids joining them. My Mom works in the same building, so Oma will be only one hall way away if the need ever arises.
I think Cordie will thrive there. Not that she's not loving Nikki's, but I think she's more wired to the routine a group daycare will provide. And love craft time, and story time and circle time etc...
Funny thing - we emailed the daycare to see about getting in. We had to apply for a variance to get Cordie in a few months before she turns 30 months old. Also we had to get Duncan into the out of school care. There is actually a waiting list 30 kids long into get into that program. However their policy is that people who have children in the full time daycare get priority. So we told them we were interested, and Duncan was at the top of the list for the next available spot. The very next day someone pulled their kid from the school care, and Duncan got the spot. The day after that, the lady called back again saying she changed her mind and they replied "sorry, it's already filled!". Oh, and there happened to be one spot left in the van going to his new school. Now we think that was the Lord having a helping hand a bit in our decision.
We expect Duncan might have a harder time adjusting than Cordie, but I think after a week or so he'll be loving it.
One of many things going on in our house right now!!!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
It's getting closer! Christmas!
The other day in the car Duncan asks how much longer until Christmas. We are sort of Christmas addicts in this house, watching Christmas specials throughout the year, singing Christmas songs, and looking forward to it coming around again next year. Okay... "we" is a bit of a loose term... Cordie doesn't really get it yet, and Bill just shakes his head sadly at us :)
Several years ago I stumbled upon a blog from Jennifer Tankersley to help me plan for Christmas - 100 Days to Christmas. Subscribe to the email and every day you receiving another tip in your inbox to hopefully help get yourself organized for Christmas. Last year I followed along again with my handy dandy Christmas binder.
This year Jennifer has released her 100 days plan into an e-book, and I am really happy to have the opportunity to review it for her. Jennifer realized some people might do a bit better having all the steps laid out for them in an easy reference. I actually prefer this as I quite like to skip a head a bit and get my head around what might be coming.
Several things I really do love about this e-book and plan:
1. A focus on handmade gifts. I'm a crafty person and I love to give hand made gifts every year I can (time permitting), and I think it is fantastic to encourage people to try it on for size.
2. Budgeting - a big focus is picking a budget, sticking to it, and acknowledging some tough economic times for many people.
3. Sundays are down time. It's time to spend time with your family and enjoy the fall and Christmas season!!
4. Focus on others - like a challenge to donate to the food bank and Goodwill.
5. Cleaning week! It's like Spring cleaning for Christmas.
Now, the book is American centered - which is totally fine and makes sense - that is who the book is written for. Previous years I just pick out what applies to me as a Canadian, and use the extra time that I don't need to spend getting ready for US Thanksgiving to catch up or just take a day off. I don't follow all the daily suggestions to a T, but you don't need to. The whole point is to help you get organized and enjoy Christmas for what it is.
To make it a bit easier the e-book also includes links to some very convenience calendars, charts, and lists through the ListPlanIt website.
100 Days To Christmas is available on the Kindle for $4.99 through Amazon.com and Amazon.ca on August 25, 2011 - exactly 4 months until Christmas!
Check out the facebook page or on twitter
Several years ago I stumbled upon a blog from Jennifer Tankersley to help me plan for Christmas - 100 Days to Christmas. Subscribe to the email and every day you receiving another tip in your inbox to hopefully help get yourself organized for Christmas. Last year I followed along again with my handy dandy Christmas binder.
This year Jennifer has released her 100 days plan into an e-book, and I am really happy to have the opportunity to review it for her. Jennifer realized some people might do a bit better having all the steps laid out for them in an easy reference. I actually prefer this as I quite like to skip a head a bit and get my head around what might be coming.
Several things I really do love about this e-book and plan:
1. A focus on handmade gifts. I'm a crafty person and I love to give hand made gifts every year I can (time permitting), and I think it is fantastic to encourage people to try it on for size.
2. Budgeting - a big focus is picking a budget, sticking to it, and acknowledging some tough economic times for many people.
3. Sundays are down time. It's time to spend time with your family and enjoy the fall and Christmas season!!
4. Focus on others - like a challenge to donate to the food bank and Goodwill.
5. Cleaning week! It's like Spring cleaning for Christmas.
Now, the book is American centered - which is totally fine and makes sense - that is who the book is written for. Previous years I just pick out what applies to me as a Canadian, and use the extra time that I don't need to spend getting ready for US Thanksgiving to catch up or just take a day off. I don't follow all the daily suggestions to a T, but you don't need to. The whole point is to help you get organized and enjoy Christmas for what it is.
To make it a bit easier the e-book also includes links to some very convenience calendars, charts, and lists through the ListPlanIt website.
100 Days To Christmas is available on the Kindle for $4.99 through Amazon.com and Amazon.ca on August 25, 2011 - exactly 4 months until Christmas!
Check out the facebook page or on twitter
Monday, July 25, 2011
My gall bladder and I are at odds
Well because summer has just been so normal, we had to throw something into it to make it more exciting. I guess since we had no plans to go away...
A week ago Saturday I had horrible pain mid morning all from my chest into my back, and down into my abdomen. I thought at first it was really bad gas at first, but it didn't go away. For the next few days I had these attacks again, sometimes lasting a long time, and then I realized it might be my gall bladder. I remembered my Mom saying that anything with fat in it would set her off before she had hers out.
I made an appt to see the doctor on Saturday morning. On Wednesday night/early Thursday morning I had a really bad attack lasting about 2.5 hours. I was waiting until the family was up so Bill could bring me to the hospital. Well I decided to shower 1st, and it totally went away while I was showering. So I went to work. Then I got sick. Then I came home again.
Knowing it was likely my gall bladder I Googled it for some tips on how to manage it for a bit. So Friday I was fine. Saturday morning I went to my weigh in (down 25 lbs!!) and then to the doctor. He confirmed that yes it is likely my gall bladder and sent me for some blood work an an ultrasound.
I have managed to avoid any attacks again as of today, although I can certainly feel it. It sort of fells like someone is constantly punching me in the back.
Small amounts of fat can set it off so I am eating almost an entirely fat free diet. Yesterday I had some 2% milk in my tea and even that caused some pain. I can eat boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat free plain yoghurt, and fish for protein. I was already eating oatmeal and salads for lunch, so no big change in my diet there. Night time is the hardest. No alcohol (hard on the liver), no coffee (boo hoo!).
Today I got a call from the doctor that my liver levels are high, so the ultrasound has been bumped up to this Thursday morning. We might have surgery soon after that - we'll see. Unless I have an attack before that, in which case I'll be there even sooner!
Kind of crazy, but if we get this done with the laparoscopic surgery I should be good to go within a week or two again.
And that's it from our corner of the world!
A week ago Saturday I had horrible pain mid morning all from my chest into my back, and down into my abdomen. I thought at first it was really bad gas at first, but it didn't go away. For the next few days I had these attacks again, sometimes lasting a long time, and then I realized it might be my gall bladder. I remembered my Mom saying that anything with fat in it would set her off before she had hers out.
I made an appt to see the doctor on Saturday morning. On Wednesday night/early Thursday morning I had a really bad attack lasting about 2.5 hours. I was waiting until the family was up so Bill could bring me to the hospital. Well I decided to shower 1st, and it totally went away while I was showering. So I went to work. Then I got sick. Then I came home again.
Knowing it was likely my gall bladder I Googled it for some tips on how to manage it for a bit. So Friday I was fine. Saturday morning I went to my weigh in (down 25 lbs!!) and then to the doctor. He confirmed that yes it is likely my gall bladder and sent me for some blood work an an ultrasound.
I have managed to avoid any attacks again as of today, although I can certainly feel it. It sort of fells like someone is constantly punching me in the back.
Small amounts of fat can set it off so I am eating almost an entirely fat free diet. Yesterday I had some 2% milk in my tea and even that caused some pain. I can eat boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat free plain yoghurt, and fish for protein. I was already eating oatmeal and salads for lunch, so no big change in my diet there. Night time is the hardest. No alcohol (hard on the liver), no coffee (boo hoo!).
Today I got a call from the doctor that my liver levels are high, so the ultrasound has been bumped up to this Thursday morning. We might have surgery soon after that - we'll see. Unless I have an attack before that, in which case I'll be there even sooner!
Kind of crazy, but if we get this done with the laparoscopic surgery I should be good to go within a week or two again.
And that's it from our corner of the world!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Happy House Anniversary!
It's been one year since we moved into this house! Crazy! One year! On many levels it is hard to believe it has been that long, and on several other levels it feels like it has been a lot longer. We're just so happy here.
When we bought this place one of the things we liked was that it was a bit older and we would not have to worry about being a little hard on it- denting walls or other such things. We put in a 3rd bathroom, revamped my sewing room (moved a door, put up a wall, took down part of another), put down new floors in Bill's room, my room and as gift from my brother, through the whole entry hall. Bill finally got around to painting the downstairs bathroom on Friday (yeah, it took us a year).
We love, love, love the back yard. The kids do too. They are out there every day the weather allows them. The previous owners left a sandbox and a play house, and we have two climbers, and a water table. So there is lots to do out there. Duncan loves to play baseball out there, and anything else that involves running and hiding and lots of giggling. Our garden is doing okay... Mom came and took a look yesterday and gave me some advice on it, so I'll need to get some of that taken care of.
What would I change? Well our deck still needs a revamping. The plywood underneath is a bit soft, and in my happy little world I would like to make it a bit bigger, which we might do at some point. The kitchen needs the most help. We've been trying to score some cabinets off of Craigslist, but every time we find what we're looking for (just a bank of cabinets up and down, about 3-4 doors long) in our price range (free - $200) they are snatched up so quick we can't get our hands on them. Eventually I see renovating the whole thing, opening up the wall and making it a great room. But by my guess that would cost upwards of $20,000, so we'll be waiting on that one a while.
But we love it here. We feel blessed to have this home, and have no plans any time soon to look anywhere else. Happy Anniversary House!!
When we bought this place one of the things we liked was that it was a bit older and we would not have to worry about being a little hard on it- denting walls or other such things. We put in a 3rd bathroom, revamped my sewing room (moved a door, put up a wall, took down part of another), put down new floors in Bill's room, my room and as gift from my brother, through the whole entry hall. Bill finally got around to painting the downstairs bathroom on Friday (yeah, it took us a year).
We love, love, love the back yard. The kids do too. They are out there every day the weather allows them. The previous owners left a sandbox and a play house, and we have two climbers, and a water table. So there is lots to do out there. Duncan loves to play baseball out there, and anything else that involves running and hiding and lots of giggling. Our garden is doing okay... Mom came and took a look yesterday and gave me some advice on it, so I'll need to get some of that taken care of.
What would I change? Well our deck still needs a revamping. The plywood underneath is a bit soft, and in my happy little world I would like to make it a bit bigger, which we might do at some point. The kitchen needs the most help. We've been trying to score some cabinets off of Craigslist, but every time we find what we're looking for (just a bank of cabinets up and down, about 3-4 doors long) in our price range (free - $200) they are snatched up so quick we can't get our hands on them. Eventually I see renovating the whole thing, opening up the wall and making it a great room. But by my guess that would cost upwards of $20,000, so we'll be waiting on that one a while.
But we love it here. We feel blessed to have this home, and have no plans any time soon to look anywhere else. Happy Anniversary House!!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Quilt Shop Hop Weekend
My goodness, has it honestly been almost a month? Oh well - hello!
This past Thursday and Friday the little escape I've been waiting for finally happened with Theresa and Ronnie. It was time for the yearly Washington Quilt Shop Hop and I haven't been in 3 years due to life happening (you know having babies, moving houses, etc...) I was determined to go this year whether I was on my own or now. I'm glad I was not on my own though!
We all took Thursday and Friday off work and headed off on Thursday morning. I had some fun making the girls some quilted tote bags for the shop hop, something my friend Lisa did for me a few years back. I did a bit of advance planning and progammed in all the shops to my GPS before we headed out.
No problems at the border, and down through Lynden first, then down to Bellingham. We stopped in Anacores for 2 shops and some lunch. Anacortes ended up being dangerous because I spent a good bit of money in one of those shops.
We had 11 shops to get to altogether and were done by 4:30 - pretty good for a days ride, and it was not rushed at all.
The thing I need to mention is that with typical Carole timing, I was sick. I thought I had just caught my Mom's cold at first but I now think it was strep b/c my throat hurt so bad and I hurt everywhere and me neck hurt... so I was pretty pathetic at the end there. Advil was my friend!
We had a reservation at Tulalip resort. I love it there! Oh I can't wait to go back and I hope one time I can go spend 2 nights. 1st order of business was heading down to the pool. I soaked in the hot tub for about half an hour and that helped a lot with the aches. We went up, got cleaned up and then headed out for dinner. We opted for the buffet, and although none of us ate our fille as one might at a buffet we all agreed that with dinner, pop, dessert etc... the price was not bad and the food was good. I just wasn't hungry! Probably a good thing.
We decided to go up to the room before coming back down, and had some drinks. I was actually not feeling too bad by then so we did some gambling - I spent $40 and won $76+ so I was happy. We did a bit of dancing which was also a hoot.
Next morning after breakfast and check out we went to the Premium Outlet Mall. Oh heaven! We could have spent a lot more time (and money!) there! I think if we ever decide to do this again we'll go to the mall the 1st day and quilt shops the next.
Crossing the border was the best ever - drove right up. No problems getting across. We were home just after 5.
It was great spending some time with the girls and getting away. Although I look forward to that little get away with Bill in the future. We've been there together before and really enjoy the hotel.
Actually, 2 weeks ago we spent the night in Vancouver to go see Wicked. I made the huge mistake of booking through Hotwire. We got a room at a 4 star hotel and it was the biggest let down ever. More like a Hotel 6 than a 4 star hotel. I complained to both the hotel and Hotwire that I paid for a 4 star hotel room and got more like a 2 and hotwire said well they use us to fill rooms, and the hotel said well the next time you book with us.... Um, we're not booking with you again. Duh. I know other people have had good success with hotwire, but we will never do that again. I'm not mentioning the hotel name b/c I have a feeling hotwire would get at me about that. But it won't stop me from thumbing my nose at them and the massive waste of money it ended up being.
Wicked was fun, although not what we expected. We enjoyed the Lion King more. Although Defying Gravity was an amazing song.
This past Thursday and Friday the little escape I've been waiting for finally happened with Theresa and Ronnie. It was time for the yearly Washington Quilt Shop Hop and I haven't been in 3 years due to life happening (you know having babies, moving houses, etc...) I was determined to go this year whether I was on my own or now. I'm glad I was not on my own though!
We all took Thursday and Friday off work and headed off on Thursday morning. I had some fun making the girls some quilted tote bags for the shop hop, something my friend Lisa did for me a few years back. I did a bit of advance planning and progammed in all the shops to my GPS before we headed out.
No problems at the border, and down through Lynden first, then down to Bellingham. We stopped in Anacores for 2 shops and some lunch. Anacortes ended up being dangerous because I spent a good bit of money in one of those shops.
We had 11 shops to get to altogether and were done by 4:30 - pretty good for a days ride, and it was not rushed at all.
The thing I need to mention is that with typical Carole timing, I was sick. I thought I had just caught my Mom's cold at first but I now think it was strep b/c my throat hurt so bad and I hurt everywhere and me neck hurt... so I was pretty pathetic at the end there. Advil was my friend!
We had a reservation at Tulalip resort. I love it there! Oh I can't wait to go back and I hope one time I can go spend 2 nights. 1st order of business was heading down to the pool. I soaked in the hot tub for about half an hour and that helped a lot with the aches. We went up, got cleaned up and then headed out for dinner. We opted for the buffet, and although none of us ate our fille as one might at a buffet we all agreed that with dinner, pop, dessert etc... the price was not bad and the food was good. I just wasn't hungry! Probably a good thing.
We decided to go up to the room before coming back down, and had some drinks. I was actually not feeling too bad by then so we did some gambling - I spent $40 and won $76+ so I was happy. We did a bit of dancing which was also a hoot.
Next morning after breakfast and check out we went to the Premium Outlet Mall. Oh heaven! We could have spent a lot more time (and money!) there! I think if we ever decide to do this again we'll go to the mall the 1st day and quilt shops the next.
Crossing the border was the best ever - drove right up. No problems getting across. We were home just after 5.
It was great spending some time with the girls and getting away. Although I look forward to that little get away with Bill in the future. We've been there together before and really enjoy the hotel.
Actually, 2 weeks ago we spent the night in Vancouver to go see Wicked. I made the huge mistake of booking through Hotwire. We got a room at a 4 star hotel and it was the biggest let down ever. More like a Hotel 6 than a 4 star hotel. I complained to both the hotel and Hotwire that I paid for a 4 star hotel room and got more like a 2 and hotwire said well they use us to fill rooms, and the hotel said well the next time you book with us.... Um, we're not booking with you again. Duh. I know other people have had good success with hotwire, but we will never do that again. I'm not mentioning the hotel name b/c I have a feeling hotwire would get at me about that. But it won't stop me from thumbing my nose at them and the massive waste of money it ended up being.
Wicked was fun, although not what we expected. We enjoyed the Lion King more. Although Defying Gravity was an amazing song.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Blogging? What's that?
Wow, work and real life gets in the way of writing blog posts. What's funny is that I write them in my head all the time, but I don't get the chance to put them down so I can share them with you.
So, how are you doing today? Thanks for coming by. It is another cold, early March day... oh...wait... it's almost the end of May. Easy to get confused. It is only 11C out! (about 52F for my American friends). They showed the other day on the news the hottest May temp was back in 2005 and it was like 27 degrees. I totally remember that really hot May! I remember us melting away in our town house, and it was that day that we decided to go and buy our 1st big screen tv from Costco. It is still used in the rec room. Funny how we remember these things.
We did get our vegetable garden planted this week though, so that's awesome. We're keeping it simple to begin and we'll see how it goes. At least with all the rain I don't need to remember to water the plants. *grin*
Weight loss - down 20.8!! I'm thrilled with my progress. Slow but steady.
I just spent the last 3 weeks working in our downtown office. It was really good to see many old friends there and it was funny b/c it felt like I had never left, but oh boy did the commute kill me! I have become quite used to my cushy 10-15 minute commute now, getting up at 6, not leaving until well after 7, home before 5. Working downtown I was up at 5, gone by 6, traveling basically 3 hours a day... I was exhausted. I don't know how I did that for 12 years. Mind you, the train is nice - my daily sudoku, reading books, checking email and such on my iphone. But I couldn't go back to it! They were happy to have me though, and it certainly won't hurt me for having been willing to do so. And hey, the company paid for transportation.
I should probably update on the kids and all (they are good), but I'll save that for another time. See you soon! (or not).
So, how are you doing today? Thanks for coming by. It is another cold, early March day... oh...wait... it's almost the end of May. Easy to get confused. It is only 11C out! (about 52F for my American friends). They showed the other day on the news the hottest May temp was back in 2005 and it was like 27 degrees. I totally remember that really hot May! I remember us melting away in our town house, and it was that day that we decided to go and buy our 1st big screen tv from Costco. It is still used in the rec room. Funny how we remember these things.
We did get our vegetable garden planted this week though, so that's awesome. We're keeping it simple to begin and we'll see how it goes. At least with all the rain I don't need to remember to water the plants. *grin*
Weight loss - down 20.8!! I'm thrilled with my progress. Slow but steady.
I just spent the last 3 weeks working in our downtown office. It was really good to see many old friends there and it was funny b/c it felt like I had never left, but oh boy did the commute kill me! I have become quite used to my cushy 10-15 minute commute now, getting up at 6, not leaving until well after 7, home before 5. Working downtown I was up at 5, gone by 6, traveling basically 3 hours a day... I was exhausted. I don't know how I did that for 12 years. Mind you, the train is nice - my daily sudoku, reading books, checking email and such on my iphone. But I couldn't go back to it! They were happy to have me though, and it certainly won't hurt me for having been willing to do so. And hey, the company paid for transportation.
I should probably update on the kids and all (they are good), but I'll save that for another time. See you soon! (or not).
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Quilters Blog Festival
I am writing this post to participate in Amy's Creative Side's Bloggers Quilt Festival.
I have not had a lot of time to be doing quilting lately. I think a full time job and two small children get in the way of that some times, but I am still sticking with my quilting, and have recently completed several baby quilts.
But I wanted to share this quilt. This is, by far, not the best quilt I have ever made. It is one of the 1st ones I ever made out of the Washington Quilt Shop Hop 2004 blocks. That was the shop hop that made me want to learn how to quilt, when I innocently tagged along with my friend Lisa to check out a few quilt shops. Little did I know.
I ended up making this quilt for my Oma, which she loved. She had me hang it on the wall of her kitchen/dining room, right where everyone could see it. And for a woman as crafty as she was, that meant a lot to me.
What I like about this quilt is that it taught me a lot of different techniques that I had to learn to finish the blocks. So is it perfect? Nope. Are the colours perfect? Nope! But it was one of my biggest labours of love, and inspired me to keep learning more and more.
Thanks to Amy for organizing this. There is a lot of beautiful stuff out there! I'll share some pictures of my more recent quilts soon.
I have not had a lot of time to be doing quilting lately. I think a full time job and two small children get in the way of that some times, but I am still sticking with my quilting, and have recently completed several baby quilts.
But I wanted to share this quilt. This is, by far, not the best quilt I have ever made. It is one of the 1st ones I ever made out of the Washington Quilt Shop Hop 2004 blocks. That was the shop hop that made me want to learn how to quilt, when I innocently tagged along with my friend Lisa to check out a few quilt shops. Little did I know.
I ended up making this quilt for my Oma, which she loved. She had me hang it on the wall of her kitchen/dining room, right where everyone could see it. And for a woman as crafty as she was, that meant a lot to me.
What I like about this quilt is that it taught me a lot of different techniques that I had to learn to finish the blocks. So is it perfect? Nope. Are the colours perfect? Nope! But it was one of my biggest labours of love, and inspired me to keep learning more and more.
Thanks to Amy for organizing this. There is a lot of beautiful stuff out there! I'll share some pictures of my more recent quilts soon.
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