Friday night deep thoughts...

Christmas came and went in the blink of an eye. And now here we are, December 29th - two more days and 2006 will be over. A new year is ahead and with it so many possibilities. But I am not a New Year's Resolution kind of gal. I think they are hokey. And I don't think they mean anything. Everyone is always so pumped to make a "change" for the new year - it is addictive. The thrill of the unknown... The hope that something better is waiting for you... Well, guess what? These things don't come about because of a "resolution" made at the stroke of midnight on December 31st. These things come about because you are committed to making them happen. And that can happen any day of the week or month or year!! I am not saying that I don't have goals for 2007. I do. These are a few:

1. We are going to Italy for the summer. That is something that can't happen overnight, nor can this happen by me just saying "we are going to Italy". I have been planning this since last August. I am very VERY excited to bring Marc and my children to my homeland. I am very VERY excited for the rest of my family to meet my amazing husband, some for the very first time, and my gorgeous children. And I am very VERY excited for Marc and my children to meet my other side. Marc already knows how totally in love I am with my three cousins I have here in South Surrey. They are the only 3 I have in Canada - my first cousins (I have a gagillion second and third cousins....). They are a part of me that I cannot live without. I held these three children the day they were born. I have been with them every step of the way. And yet, I feel the same way about my first cousins in Italy (all 9 of them), whom I have only met a few times in my life so far. That connection is there. I want to share it. This is a goal.

2. I want to be more literate in 2007. I need to start reading more. Books to fuel my mind and my soul. I feel I am lacking in both areas right now.

3. I want to pursue a new career. I am in a real rut at work. Corporate law is boring. There, I said it out loud!! Buying and selling cabs is taxing on my sanity and is sucking the life from me, bit by bit. Yet there is comfort in the box, so this one is going to need a lot of research and much soul searching. Again, not something that will happen overnight. Or even during the year of 2007. But it is in my mind. It has been for a long time now. Time to take it to the next step.

So whether or not you are a Resolution person, I wish for you all the joys and wonders and successes that life brings. I hope 2007 is very good to all of you!! Happy New Year!!

Another Pic

Here is another picture from Christmas.

This is my gorgeous sister Laura and my oh so very handsome cousin Anthony. You can soooo tell we are related!! We all have the same mouth area - smile/lips/chins. And we all have the same colour eyes and hair. Well, most of the time!! hee hee But aren't we totally HOT?!!! Oh ya!!

Ciao

Fun pics from Christmas Day

A few fun pics from Christmas day.

Isabella and Marc's niece Hannah with matching Barbie sunglasses, given to them by Marc's aunt and unlce in Winnipeg. Each year they send gifts for all our children. Soooo generous and so thoughtful!! We miss them so much. It really does suck to have family live so far away at Christmas time! But the girls loved the sunglasses (and the rest of the Barbie paraphenalia that arrived for them) and hammed it up.

Me and my sister and my three gorgeous cousins with my grandmother. She would not stop giving everyone the "Number 1" sign, so instead of fighting with her, we all joined in.

And finally my little family. Isabella is exhausted and it was time for her and papa to head home while Ethan and I stayed to party for a few (3 or so...) more hours. Good thing we only live 20 minutes away from my aunt and unlce's house!! But what is up with my jacket?? I swear, it looks like I weigh 500 lbs here... Sigh. I have lost so much weight that my new jacket is a size M from the Gap!! Y'all have NO idea what that means to me!! I have always worn size L or XL because of my chest. But not anymore!! And yet this picture does me no justice! You can't win....

Ciao all.

And just like that...

It is Christmas time!! Wow. Where has this week gone?? My friend Sue asked a question - are you REALLY ready for Christmas?? My answer - YES. I have been for weeks now. Literally. Gifts bought and wrapped and even the majority of them given out. Goodies baked. House decorated. Tree lit. Mantle done. Parties half done. Already feeling tired... But I am really looking forward to watching the children on Christmas morning. Isabella is at the perfect age to believe in the magic of it all. And Ethan, bless his heart, still wants to believe. Yesterday was his school concert and his class got an extra visit from Santa (Mrs. Chmilar - his teacher - sent Santa a note saying her class had been extra good and they all received chapter books from Santa!! How cool is that?!!), and Ethan was thrilled. It was very sweet. He is a good kid.

So, I wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and I leave you with this - more trees!! I *love* trees!! So very festive, don't you agree?!!

I am STRESSED

Wow, I never thought in a million years that my greatest worry would be Isabella potty training. Seriously. I am beyond stressed about this. She does NOT want to do it!! And I know she can. She even said to me that she can. But she does not WANT to!! And now I am at my wits end... She will not be bribed. She will not be forced. She will not be lead. She simply does not care. But I do. And my doctor has made things worse. In his opinion, there is something fundametally "wrong" with a child who is not potty trained by the time they are 4 yrs old. Isabella is 3 1/2 yrs old... Close enough to 4 if you ask me!! And now I am fixated on this stupid statement!! Ethan was trained at 2 yrs old. I woke up one day and decided it was time for him to use the toilet. I told him he was a big boy now and no longer needed diapers. He said okay, and by the end of the day he was trained. That was it. I set the timer for every 10 minutes and he went. And he never peed the bed at night or ever had a poo accident. NEVER!! I thought Isabella would just follow suite. No. Wrong. She has faught me every step of the way. And yesterday I had to go to work to escape her and leave her to Marc for the day. I could not take it anymore. Ya. So, that is my life right now. Wow, how glamourous. Have to say - I am REALLY very very glad that I don't have any more children. Don't want anymore after this.

My last project

My mom's birthday is next Wednesday. But tomorrow I am hosting her birthday dinner. This is her gift - a set of antique tags made from vintage family photos. There are 9 in all. I just posted a few. These are of my grandfather (my mom's father) when he was in WW2. This first pic is his enlistment pic the Italian army took. The second one is of him in uniform with two companions, taken in Poland I believe... Some others are of my grandmother and my uncle when he was just 4 or 5 years old; my mom and my uncle when they were tiny tots; and my dad with his brothers and sisters and his parents. Very cool. This was a fun project.

Have a great Saturday everyone! I am going to relax today. I am going to make a batch of sugar cookies and watch a movie and just take it slow. Wow. What a concept!! Enjoy!!

And here they are...

My trees! Okay, these were totally addicting. I could not stop. Super fun project for anyone looking to do something in the evenings when they can't sit still. Or is that just me?? I always have to do something. I never just sit. Never.

Happy day all!! I am off to get ready for my firm Christams luncheon and Secret Santa exchange. Should be interesting... Maybe... Let's see how well these people really know me. This should be good for a laugh!

PS - My White Trees

For you gals that have inquired about my white trees - I made them. Sorry. They were my Christmas project from 3 years ago. I was at this glamorous Christmas fair in White Rock (hosted by Romancing the Home) and I saw these trees. They were something like $25 a piece, so I thought I could make them. I came home and sketched them out and then brought the pattern to my father in law. He cut the trees and bases for me and assembled them. I brought them home and painted them and sanded them and antiqued them. Voila!! My little forest! I made 11 that year, but now I only have 7. I am sure I gave some to my mom and my sister... Pretty sure. Anway, that is the story of my trees. Oh, and the rusty bells are just that - rusty sleigh bells. Found them at an anitque store years and years ago.

Thanks for asking!!!

Life is Crazy

I am really feeling the Christmas "rush" this year! We are over booked/over scheduled already, and Christmas is still two weeks away. I feel behind.... We have had power outages/computer viruses/non working internet for the past 3 days. Finally these things have been settled. Kind of... Ethan's school was closed today because they still had no power as of this morning. Yesterday I had to pick him up early because they lost power shortly after 1pm. I seriously thought the wind was going to pick up Isabella and blow her down the field!! It was nasty. I really have never been blown back by wind. It was a very bizarre sensation... Now I am just praying that this storm we are supposed to have passes us by. I have cab deals to close tomorrow and really need to get to work. Plus Isabella has her Christmas concert tomorrow night, and I spent the day making and decorating gingerbread men for this!! Plus her class is doing Secret Santa and I have that all prepared. And I have to get my Secret Santa gift to work tomorrow to add it in to the pile so that on Thursday when we are doing our firm luncheon my gift will be there. Then Ethan starts his Christmas festivities with his class... Marc is at his second Christmas dinner tonight. It is all too much at once. And for a control freak like me, this is no good.

On the upside, I have finished my forest of chubby linen trees and I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome!! 17 trees in all. Insane. 14 are sitting on my mantle along with the wooden trees I made years ago. It really looks good - very rustic/natural. I am pleased. I have taken pictures, but they are still on the camera. I will get around to posting some day....

I am off to bed. I have a busy day tomorrow. Night all.

Finally Finished

Well, I got it in my head this past week that I was going to make another project. It is finished!! I will post pics of my new "forest" very soon!!

PS: I am TOTALLY crazy!! I really need to seek some professional help!!

Deck the Halls...

It has begun. More to come....

Super Saturday it was

I taught my glass ball class yesterday - 94 ornaments made. It was quite a sight to behold. And at the end, all those ornaments lined up - they all looked gorgeous!! Congrats to all those gals who braved making 6 or 12 ornaments. I know they are a bit of a pain in the beginning, but the end result makes up for it!! My most successful class to date I think. I have taught for 4 yrs now for Langley, and this one was by far my most favourite. And I already have an idea for next year's class!! Me and my big mouth... It is a curse. Seriously. My mind is never at rest. And when I see an idea, I can take it even further. One idea for me can generate 10 more. And that is what happened. I came across these oh so adorable stuffed material christmas trees. And so that is the idea I am going to present for next year. Oh the possibilities... You can lengthen or shorten the trees. Make them skinny or fat. Material options galour... Sew on buttons. Or teeny ornaments... I had the idea to use dark green felt for the bottom and jute for the tree. Then sew on a few antique buttons. How totally cute would a "forest" of those trees be?!!! I think I will try next week to make up a few. Can't hurt!! And so it begins....

Today I am decorating the house. Marc put up the tree for me yesterday while I was out. So after church I am going to string it with the 1000 lights we have, and fluff it and primp it and then let the kids decorate it. Love the tree. And I have "officially" gotten rid of everything old that I had for decorations. Soooo, I guess this week I will be going out and looking around and seeing what I like to decorate the interior of my house in. I do have these funky white antiqued wooden trees that my FIL made for me two years ago. They look really cute all clustered on a shelf. Another mini forest. I seem to have an obssession with trees... There is this amazing store in old Cloverdale called "In the Company of Friends". This woman imports THE most gorgeous items! I was there a few weeks ago looking around to get some inspiration. She had these huge jingle bells that she had painted antique white and rusty red. Then she had placed them in a basket. I loved the idea! So I think I will be heading out to see her this week and buying up those balls so they can go on the gigantic platter I have that sits on my island in the kitchen. Plus she had these snowmen that were made from wood and had grapevine twigs for arms. Very rustic looking but a cluster of them would be super adorable!! Ideas are there. Just need to see what strikes my fancy.

Have a wonderful day all!!