Friday, December 27, 2019

10 End of Year Questions

Hello, lovelies and Holidays-- I say that until I begin to say Happy New Year, ha!! Hope you all are having a wonderful season filled with joy and fun! 

2020 is coming soon!!! Here's a look at a little inward Q& A as we reflect on the past year. Thanks to Dara who got these questions from the 10 things to tell you podcast  

1. What was the best part of the year?
The best part of my year was the cruise we took with some family to celebrate my dad's birthday... It came after a pretty stressful couple weeks when A had a health scare and we weren't sure if we could make the cruise. So happy it all worked out and by then we were ready for a vacay! We had an awesome time and needed my family, the sunshine and beach time. As a bonus, we also made it to Universal as well for a couple days. 

2. What worked and what didn’t work?
Summer camps-- my kids will repeat their Girls Rock camp until they age out of it, ha! Conversely, they did a YouTube production design/Lego robotics camp and I felt they were on screens a whole, whole lot. They do enough screen time at home, don't need to pay for them to do it as well. 

3. What were the best conversations you had this year?
One of my friends told me "not to put myself in that space." It was eye opening. We really do that to ourselves lots as women and we have to be strong enough to change that! 

4. What was a discovery you made this year?
That if you and your family are healthy, physically and mentally, that's the most important thing of all. 

5. Who was the most influential to you this year?
The guy who created Headspace. I love the guided meditations. It's a journey and I love it. 

6. What was the best entertainment you consumed this year?
I loved The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo. It was so heart wrenching and well written. 
I also love A Million Little Things and This is Us. Oh and our family became The Masked Singer fanatics in 2019. Love, love, love it!!

7. Who or what are you letting go of?
Things that bring me down or stress me out. Negative energy is not a good thing, friends. 

8. What behaviors do you want to change?
I'd like to have more self control- with chips/cookies(!), with my patience with my kids, with screen time.... 

9. Where did my beliefs shift?
I would say that recognising how important peace of mind and how gradually I  can actually achieve this was a big aha for me! 

10. Who do you want to be in the next year?
At the risk of sounding cliche, I want to be a good person and the kind of person my children respect and admire. 

What about you? Do any of these resonate with you? 


Monday, December 23, 2019

Merry Everything!

From my family to yours, have a most wonderful holiday season! I hope that the magic of the season fills every corner of your heart and home with joy, sparkle and laughter. 

I know that this season isn't always the easiest season for everyone. Some people are dealing with personal losses, illnesses, grieving for someone they lost, job transitions or other unfortunate changes in circumstances. I say a special prayer for peace and strength for you at this time of year. 

Our family wishes you loves, joy, smiles and blessings today, tomorrow and always!






Friday, December 20, 2019

Creative Christmas Food

Just a few days more days 'til the big day. In the season of all this festive fun, here are a few of my favourite, super easy Christmas themed treats.

1- I love, love, love a good veggie tray to squeeze those greens in any which way I can. There are so many fun ones out there. Here are a few that my mother in law and I have made. The trick is to put some greenery in there as well.

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2- A boccocini olive wreath is always my staple at a holiday party. Mixed olives (be sure you get some red antipasto as well), boccocini and rosemary is all you need. A good one for vegetarians as well.


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3- My kids help me make these simple grinch hats. Once again, all about the getting the fruit into those kiddos.... and the mini marshmallows are not unwelcome either ;-)



4- These little reindeer are another easy ones for the kiddos to help with.. #childlabour . These are laughing cow cheeses, pretzels, chocolate chips and a teeny tiny m&m.



5- Someone made this spinach dip tree at a party last year and I copied it. It's basically pizza dough, spinach, cheeses and spices. And if you're smart like me, you find a cream cheese spinach dip and just us that instead, ha! #winning. Here's a how to




There are so many pretty ones out there. What are your favourite Christmas themed foods? Any (easy) ones to share?


Have a festive, fun weekend!!


Linking up with Andrea.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

What's Up Wednesday- December 2019

Exactly one week until Christmas and we are totally stoked. I didn't know if there would be a What's Up Wednesday next week because Christmas so I decided to do it today.





                                     



What we're eating this week?
Lots of soups, salad, lean protein followed by cookies, popcorn and chocolate. Tis' the season, friends and gluttony is a real thing. Ha!!


What I'm reminiscing about
Not a whole lot. It's all about the present and this beautiful life we live. 

What I'm loving
All the giving. My girls did their second annual neighbourhood drive and once again collected so much food for our local food banks from our neighbours. Some of our family heard about it as well and generously contributed to the cause. 


We dropped it off at the police station this time.


Quite the haul, eh?!



We also got a special mention on the police twitter account

The girls and I also did some stockings for our own age groups. These go to shelters and other organisations in need. When my awesome aunt found out we were doing this, she matched it so instead of three stockings, we funded six. 



Some of our family and us also decided that instead of exchanging presents this year, we would donate to causes special to us instead. We have been having fun with that. 

What we've been up to…
Local Christmas Fun.







What I'm dreading…
January and the cold but I'm going to try being optimistic about the upcoming cold weather and hygge. Let's see how successful I am!

What I'm working on
All the odds and ends before next week. This year, I got most of my shopping done in November and now last Saturday, I trudged out in the snow to get one last present for one very special person :-). 


What I'm excited about…
My kiddos being off from school. Next week's festivities and a few days away as well.


What I'm watching/reading…
All of the Hallmark movies and some Netflix ones as well. D jokes that I have the knack for picking the most morbid Christmas movies LOL... I'm looking at you Three Days of Christmas! Ha!

Oh and all the Christmas magazines (thank you Kindle for the freebies) and some Christmas books as well.

What I'm listening to..
All the Christmas music!!!!

What I'm wearing…
This fleece bomber from Zara as my winter coat. It's ridiculously warm, so soft and cozy.
Image 1 of FLEECE BOMBER from Zara

What I'm doing this weekend…
Time with family, a birthday party, brunch and maybe skating with friends, maybe a little shopping and a whole lot of Christmas cheer.

What I'm looking forward to next month? 
Hygge, a little trip and maybe a lil' birthday fun!


What else is new?
Gymnastics is done until Jan. Here's her 'graduation'


Family dinner out with two of my favourite things... a martini..


And crab!! Yummo! Oh and wine. Three of my faves. 


The girls had fun doing this chocolate house my friend gifted them from a local chocolatier..



We did our eggnog!


We headed to a Christmas party hosted by the family of the lady who sold us our home and their beautiful home and tree was a backdrop for a few covert pictures.

My next door neighbour and me.


And my little poser!




Have a wonderful Wednesday, loves!

 Linking up with  Shay and Shaeffer


Sarita.




Monday, December 16, 2019

Our Christmas Cookie Decorating Party

Happy Monday, friends! We hosted a cookie decorating party for the girls and their friends this weekend and here are some pictures of all the fun!!!This is the second year that we've done this for them and they all  love it. 


 I get these cookie kids at Homesense, split them apart and then buy some extra supplies at the Bulk Barn. Bam! Party!

My lighting was not cooperating this year. 




Some little nibbles for the kids and the parents who stayed. 


This little one is growing up before my eyes!!!


Ignore the large scissors on the table. Clearly, I wasn't in full-on blogging mode.






 A little old school pass the  parcel, building a fort and some old school party planning-pretend play (!?) finished off the fun. 



Such a simple holiday party for the little ones! 

Have a wonderful week before Christmas, friends!

Linking up with Tanya





Thursday, December 12, 2019

Christmas Confessions

Yay for Thursday- my fourth favourite day of the week!! I thought I'd do a round of Christmas confessions today just to mix it up a bit:

- In my mind, and I'm okay if you disagree with me, after Halloween is too early and as I'm not American, after Thanksgiving is too late. We usually begin our Christmassing either after Divali or Remembrance/Memorial Day.

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- I'm not the biggest eggnog fan. Like I'd never have an eggnog cake or latte or anything (ugggg) but my family is. So once or twice for the season, I'll have a (very spiked) drink with them and I wholeheartedly enjoy it. 

- We will probably never get a real tree. We love putting up our tree waaay to early and put too much work into it to get a real one. Also, my perfectionist pathology with anything less than a totally symmetrical tree and husband's bad back will not allow it anyways.

- Speaking of perfectionist pathology- when my kids put all of the same ornaments on one branch on one eye level, I'm okay to move them to more aesthetically pleasing locations.

- The recipe for hot buttered rum made me gag once. 

- D and I went to see the Nutcracker before we had kids. It was long. After we were done, he muttered, "Well that's two hours of my life, I'll never get back."

- I still say "Merry Christmas."

- Santa and elf threats are awesome. I use them very strategically. #parentoftheyear

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or I can do this...

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- I reuse Christmas ribbon like someone's granny even before it became cool to reuse stuff. I make nice bows and glue gun them to the package. I draw the line at reusing wrapping paper though- sorry mother-in-law :-).

- Speaking of my mother in law, she wraps the neatest most beautiful presents and it relaxes her. Let's just say the last couple years when she came to visit at Christmas time, wrapping was awesome!!

- When I'm in full on wrapping mode, my bedroom looks like a toddler rampage. Oh the mess!!!

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- I've never had figgy pudding and probably never will.

- I like my house sparkly and clean before I go to bed on Christmas Eve! Nobody wants Santa to see their dirty house and put them on the naughty list. 


And finally, just some Christmas funnies to make you chuckle!!

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Have a wonderful season, friends!!! Oh and Merry Christmas ;-)

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