Getting Organized: Keeping the Keepsakes

I am so SO excited to be talking about keepsakes with the ladies at TBB today.  If you are hopping over from Dee's page, WELCOME!  I am so excited to talk about the memories that I am collecting for my kids.  Unfortunately since I have 2 boys, I am probably just saving them for myself, or their wives.  Whatevs, I am a fanatic about documenting my boys childhood.  Why do you think I have this blog in the first place?

Brace yourself, this is a long one.

This single shelving unit in our family room holds 99% our keepsakes.  

In particular, the middle shelf holds ALL the things that I would grab if there were ever a fire in this house.

1.  Yearly Family Album

Each year I put together a 12x12 Shuterfly book with my favorite photos of the year.  Each month I upload all the photos from our 'big' camera and the iPhone and choose my favorites to include in the book.  My aim is to have 4-6 pages per month. There are some months that I could fill 12 pages and others where I struggle to fill 2.  If I sit down and do it monthly it only takes an hour and the task seems less daunting than waiting until the end of the year to tackle it.

I keep it very simple.  I don't write any words in it, other than the month, as I would find that overwhelming and then would avoid doing it.  I also use the classic black format every year to be consistent to avoid messing around with different backgrounds that tend to be distracting anyway.

Because I update my book every month the first week of January I finished up December's photos and waited for a sale.  I ordered my book at 50% off and it just arrived this week!

2.  Blog Books

I started blogging when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Grady.  I knew I wanted to have a pregnancy blog and I never imagined that over 9 years later I would still be at it.  Check out my first post ever here.  I use blog to print to make my books.  Once the new year hits I start watching for sales and order the previous year's book.  Again, I've already ordered and received my 2016 Rsquared blog book, isn't it pretty?

What I like about Blog to Print is that after I input my blog address it takes about 5 minutes to finalize, other than writing the dedication to the boys. You can include or exclude comments, specific posts and table of contents.  It is super user friendy

3.  Photo Calendars

Each year I make 4 photo calendar, one for us and one for each of the grandparents.

In the past I've ordered the calendars from Shutterly but this year I tried Vista print which, for us Canadians, is much cheaper.  Between the foreign exchange and the shipping/duty costs the cost using Vistaprint was less than half the price and the quality was equally good.  The only thing I miss from Shutterfly was the ability to put pictures on the birthday square, though it makes for less work for me.

Like the photo albums, I do the calendar pictures each month.  I take my favorite pictures and save them in a 'calendar' foldder in my current year picture folder.  Speaking of which, I have a pictures folder on my computer and within that, I save all my photos by year, then my month.  So as long as I know the month a photo was taken it is pretty easy to find on the computer.  I assume that this is how most people organize their photos?  Again, by doing this monthly it isn't an overwhelming task and I am ready when the calendars go 50% off right before Christmas!

4. Sports and Class Photos

Growing up, my Mom started an album for each of us that had our yearly school photos and class pictures.  I wanted a way to recreate this for my own kids.  I also use these albums for sports photos that the kids receive each sports season. I like to keep them all in one place.  The kids actually like to flip through these ones every so often.

Dare I admit that I took the plastic off and put a picture in just before that photo was taken?  In my head I was thinking that I would put their graduation photo in the front, but kindergarten photos work just as well.  I also hate to admit that I didn't even know there was a plastic cover around the cover until I tried to change the photo.  I'll just say it looks much better with the picture and without the plastic!

5.  Mother's Day Book

A few years ago I started Mother's Day journals for my Mom, James' Mom and while I was at it I got one for myself for James to fil out.  Each year the kids draw me pictures and are now starting to write things.  James writes on a page as well.  It is in lieu of a Mother's Day card.  I love the idea and know that in years to come I will love reading what James and the kids wrote in the past.

Right now, we have 2 on our shelf since my Mom recently returned hers to me in preparation for Mother's Day this year.

6.  Newborn books

Everyone knows that when a baby is born everyone goes crazy taking unlimited photos of said baby and every person that comes to meet the baby.  I totally get it, babies are super cute!  Each of the kids have  a small photo album of all the pictures from the day they were born and for the first few days as we greeted our first visitors.

This is Grady

The first picture in Grady's album is the last one of James and I before we became parents.  Wow.

7.  Vacation Books

Each time we take a family vacation I make an 8x8 Shutterfly book.

Again, I don't do write ups or anything fancy.  I just put my favorite pictures in a book and group them together by day if possible.  I try to it as soon as possible after vacation, mostly because I love looking at pictures after vacation, and then I order it when there is a sale.  NEVER pay full price at Shutterfly.  Ever.

8.  Photo Albums x 3

Way back 9 years ago when Grady was born I didn't really know about Shutterfly or use electronics the way I do now. Heck, I didn't even get a smart phone with texting until after Cooper was born.  So... I was printing photos every month, similarly to what I do with Shutterfly except in hard copy.

I bought a 3 pack of Albums at Costco when Grady was born and started to fill it up over the year.  I decided that I would print 3 years of photos since I had 3 albums.  I bought another 3 pack when Cooper was born.

After the 3 years was up I knew that I needed a new way to store my pictures.  I didn't want to print them anymore so that is when I decided to use Shutterfly and transform it into a family album rather than a set for each kid.  Realistically, I have boys and they won't care about all these photos I have treasured so much....  I hope they prove me wrong.

I prefer the Shutterfly books because I can cram way more photos into it then I could in the one above.  As a bonus, if I ever need to find a picture to print it I can do so easily based on the year and month.

School File Folder

This is the one item that is not stored on that magic shelf.... As Grady was starting Kindergarten a friend sent me an article about how to organize all your kid's school stuff.  I read the article, loved it, and hurried out to buy 2 of these folder carriers from Target, before it closed.

Inside, you find a folder for each grade including preschool.  I am going to try and keep all 12 years in here.... report cards, school photos, and some of my favorite art and written pieces.  Realistically I will be more interested in revisiting these bins then the kids.  There is just some stuff you can't throw out.  Ever.

Tips for Keeping the Keepsakes

1.  Break it down into manageable tasks.  Don't wait until the end of the year to document something you could be doing as you go.   We are all busy people and trying to find 30 hours at the end of the year is much harder than finding 1.5 hours each month.  This is the biggest thing I did in keeping my mementos up to date.

2.  Start small.  Commit to one item, not 7.  Choose the one that is most important to you.  If I were to choose one of the items listed above, I would choose the family album.

3.  Never pay full price.  Ever.  Wait for a sale.  These items are not cheap so you may as well save yourself a few bucks.  Whether you get it a week later or 3 months later it doesn't really matter.

4.  Do it for yourself.  While I like to think I am doing it for my kids, I really have no idea if the kids are even going to be interested.  At the end of the day, I am motivated because I want to have these items as keespsakes, to revisit in 20 years when my kids are grown.  If the kids want to see them, I consider this a bonus.

Now that I have shared my secrets, what would YOU add to the list of things you like to keep and any tips you have to make it happen.

Hop back over to TBB to see what the other ladies are keeping!

five on friday

{one} I have been using Rodan + Fields skin products for just about 2 months and I love them.  I went from being a gal that used one facial wipe gal a day to take my makeup off and now I am using the Reverse regimen (a 4 step process!) 2 times a day.  I already purchased the Redefine regimen to use when I run out of Reverse.   The Reverse works on brown spots while the Redefine works on fines lines and pores.  I need work in both departments....  I finally decided that it is time to take charge of my skin and make changes that will hopefully keep my skin looking young longer.  That is the plan anyhow.

{two} My dental hygienist has been recommending a water pick for my teeth for years.  I always tell him that I won't use it.  What is that point of pretending that I had any intention of using one.  Then he started talking about gum recession blah blah blah and I remembered I am not a spring chicken anymore and along with my skin, I should be taking better care of my teeth.  I've been using it daily for about 6 weeks and it isn't so bad.  I've almost mastered not spraying the mirror with water.  Almost. It only take 45 seconds and hopefully they'll see a big improvement with my gums at my next appointment.

{three} Also on the recommendation of my hygienist, I bought the Aria Fitbit scale.  When my mom stayed here in December she complained that my scale was terrible.  I can understand that since I used it while I was losing weight almost 20 years ago.  It was time to be replaced.  I had always been nervous to replace my scale because it may tell me I weighted 5 pounds more than the old one.  Or on the brighter side it may tell me that I lost a few pounds.  It sounds ridiculous, I know, but it is the truth, ha!  Wouldn't you know it, the new scale told me the same weight as the old one.  I love that it also gives you your body fat %.  I know it probably isn't that precise, but I like having an idea.   And if you ever decide to weigh yourself at my house, you should know that it automatically sends an update to my phone....

{four} The temperature in my office is out of control.  Some days, like yesterday, I came into my office and could hear the cold air blowing out of the vent before I walked in.  Some afternoons, the sun is shining so bright in my office that I wish I could downgrade to shorts and a tee.  I just can't win.  This winter, the cold draft blowing down is enough to drive me mad... or drive me to go online to purchase a blanket scarf you can use to warm yourself up when your office is like an ice cube.  Can't wait for it to arrive.

{five}  Anyone else excited to have Grey's and Scandal back with new episodes???  I haven't watched them yet but I guarantee that it is my top priority for tonight!  I can't even remember what happened on either show as Scandal hasn't been on since May.  I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday let alone on a show that I last watched 8 months ago!  Does anyone else hate how the recaps at the beginning are too short?  Why can't they show us more than 30 seconds of the last episode so I don't spend the next 30 minutes googling what I forgot....

Have a great weekend!

New Year Styled: Pub Attire

I'm linking up with the blended blog today for the weekly style link up.

I know I talked about my not enjoying fashion posts lately, and after I put it out there, I figured I would force myself to just try one again.  With the bad iPhone photos and all.

Last Friday my friend was celebrating her birthday and booked a few tables at a local pub.  Can I admit that I don't know what to wear out to a bar?  I have my casual wear, my work wear, and my active wear, but my wardrobe seems to be lacking bar wear.  Here is what I wore:

This is the perfect example of my terrible iPhone photos.  This one is courtesy of my 5 year old son.  If I ask James to take the photo he may take a better photo but I would have to call him 10 times and wait 30 minutes.  While Coopers photos may be slightly blurry, he comes immediately when I ask. I pull out a chair so that he is at my level and he takes a photo.  So despite it not being perfect, it is better than the alternative!

Let's take a closer look...

Let's start with the lipstick, I'm wearing the Gorg Kylie lipstick.  I haven't worn it many times since it isn't really work appropriate. I loved it.  Dare I also admit that I did NOT take my makeup off at the end of the night since I had a few too many beer and just slid into bed?  When I woke up in the morning... the lipstick was still on in full force.  Gotta love Kylie's staying power!

I love this sweater from Aritzia, it has huge slits up the side that adds a little bit of flare to an otherwise ordinary black sweater.  The one thing that I struggle with is the lack of jewellery.  The cowl neck makes it difficult to wear a necklace.  I am such an accessory gal that with a lack of necklace I have to wear giant earrings that happened to be covered by my hair.

Let's also talk about the jeans.  I am loving lighter colored jeans.  They feel springy to me and trust me, I am ready for spring. These particular AG jeans that I scored on sale on Black Friday are also high waisted.  

I used to think that high waited jeans were equivalent to 'mom jeans' but I can't believe how wrong I was.  They hold everything in, are super comfy, and don't show your underwear when you bend over.  #classyjeans.  The problem is, I can't wear them to work since they have a full whole in the knee.  I'd also like to add that as a short person, finding a pair of jeans where the hole is actually at our knee is difficult.  #shortpersonproblem.

Moving on to the shoes....

I love these booties.  I scored them on super sale and love the Sam Edelman animal print. I do wear them to work, but they are bold.  When you work in a corporate environment where your superiors where full suits in black or grey, my animal print heels are considered out there.  I'll take any opportunity to wear them and a night on the town seemed perfect.

For a gal that is rusty in the pub wear department, I think I nailed it!  HA!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Night Well Spent

Last night I had the unusual experience of spending the entire night with just Cooper.  Grady's team got tickets to the Hitmen game as a part of their win and I asked for 3 tickets for the boys of the family.  Last time I went to the hockey game with the team there was only 2 Moms and all Dads.  The Moms all stayed home and enjoyed quiet time and that was exactly what I planned for myself this time around.

When it came time to leave, Cooper didn't want to go.  It wasn't his team so I didn't push the issue.  I simply told him that if he stayed home that he would NOT be spending the whole time on the computer which I am sure he was scheming when he asked to stay home.

So, James and Grady left and Cooper and I set the timer for his first 30 minutes of electronics while I went to shower and paint my nails.  That was the one thing I really wanted to do while James was out since he will not let me paint my nails when he is home.  He hates the smell.

During the four hours that the other 2 were out, Cooper and I did a crystal science kit they got for Christmas, ate supper together, cleaned his room and organized his books, played win lose or draw and finally the big win of the night, had a nerf gun fight.

He had so much fun that when the timer went off we kept playing.  We started out shooting the cups as targets and they would fly off the chair.  Then Cooper wanted to make videos.  If you recall, my younger son wants to be a youtuber and I'm calling this his practice run. Password is nerf.

What I realized from this night with Cooper was that I don't spend enough time with my kids one on one.  We do every thing together as a family of 4 or sometimes it is just me and the kids.  I realized that I rarely take just one kid out or spend time at home alone with them.  I feel like I've been missing out on years of special nights like the one I had with Cooper.  There was no fighting, no yelling, no bad words, it was just the two of us doing things together.  I know that the kids will not want to hang around with me forever so I really cherish these special moments. No, I didn't get to have the long bath that I planned, but I did get to paint my nails and used my time very wisely during the time that Cooper was watching TV.  At the end of the day I am happier having spent the evening with Cooper than I would have been without him.

I hope that Grady and I will have a similar night together sooner than later.

five on friday

{one} I had every intention of writing a post mid week and I just had nothing to say. I know, shocking.  I've been busy at work this month as I expected and tired in the evening when I would usually work on a post.  I need to get my writing mojo back!

{two}  Speaking of blogging, I am struggling with fashion posts. Don't get me wrong, I still love fashion, I just feel funny blogging about it. Heck, I'm no expert and the quality of my iPhone photos are crap, so I just don't feel like doing them.  I miss it though.

{three}  Mother nature has finally given us some great winter weather which is great other than the fact that our rink is currently sitting under a puddle of water.  Also, as the snow melts and gets dirty I can't wear my new Uggs that I purchased after the zipper on my other winter boot broke.

{four}   I am usually really good about going for monthly massages.  I don't have back problems per se, but I am being preventative since I have a desk job and mostly bad posture.  Each time I see a new person (which is often!) they comment how tight my shoulders and neck are and ask if I get headaches.  Luckily, the answer is no.  For one reason or another, I've had to cancel the last 4 appointments and I really want a massage.  This Monday will be my first one off in the new year and I booked a morning appointment where the kids are at school and James is at work and I'm going to enjoy every single second.

{five} Today, I don't have a '5' other than I am so happy that today is Friday. In my world that means jean day at the office, fancy latte day with the coworkers, and lunch with a friend.  Not a bad way to end the work week.

Happy Friday!

Esso Minor Hockey Week Champions!

We won, we won, WE WON!!  Introducing the Esso Minor Hockey Week Novice 2 South Champions.....

Grady is the goalie, front and center with the biggest smile on his face.  This little goalie, the one who volunteered to be in net on the biggest game of they year and nearly giving his parents an anxiety attack, got a shut out.  A shut out!  I was one proud mama, not only because Grady did a good job in net but proud of the whole team.  The entire team played their little hearts out.  They played a great offensive game scoring 8 goals on the other team and the defense protected their goalie well which contributed to minimal shots on net and a shut out for Grady.  

The team we played was the other Novice 2 team from our association. They are the kids our kids go to school with and have played on the same team on in prior years.  We are friendly with the other team, both the kids and the parents.   They are a good team.  In an ideal world, the 2 teams should be exactly equal as they were chosen with that purpose.  This was the 4th time we've played them.  They had beat us twice and we had beat them once.  The games had been intense and close, nail biter to the last minute.  We went into this game prepared to fight.  We expected it to an even game right until the end, but overall we dominated  and came out ahead 8-0.   I still feel like they are one of the best teams, whether we had a good game or they had a bad game, or a combination of both, we ended up the top team on that particular day, resulting in the gold.  We could play them again and they could beat us again.  Strange how sports work that way. 

Going into the game, the excitement and nervousness levels were equally high.  After Grady confirmed that he was in fact playing goalie he spent every spare moment practicing,  on the backyard rink, on the local community rink, and even at a practice that he was invited to with a friends team.  He couldn't have been more prepared.  He felt pretty prepared until about 15 min before the game started when he told James that he thought he was going to throw up.  If that doesn't show that his feelings of nervousness were at an all time high, I don't know what does!  He told me the next day that he just pretended that it was just a normal game instead of the final game so he wouldn't feel as nervous. Smart kid.

This next picture was taken right after the buzzer when and they were officially the champions!  The team started charging the goalie.  Thankfully, they no longer pile on top of the goalie, they just pat him on the head and do a group hug.

Sometimes I wonder if Grady volunteered to be goalie just so be could be first in line for the hand shake with the other team.  The goalie always get to be first in line and Grady does his best to be second every game.  Every single game.

You can't really tell, but this is his coach putting the gold medal around his neck.  His goalie jersey is #1.

Here they are skating to get off the ice after they all had their medals.  Grady, of course, is in the front again.  He needs to be the first for everything.

This may have been my favorite part of the game... three of Grady's friends and their families came to watch the game.  They stood outside the door as Grady's team came off the ice to congratulate him (you can see I just meet them fist pumping Grady) and the rest of the team as they came off the ice.  What a great bunch of friends he has!

After the game I slowly made my way to the dressing room not knowing that all the parents were in there starting the celebrations.  When I walked in I heard him shout 'there's Mom!'.  I looked over and saw that he was wearing the heart and hustle hard hat on his head.  I rushed over to congratulate him and tell him how proud I was of him and what good game he played.  If know Grady, you know that when he gets nervous or embarrassed his tongue starts moving around in his mouth like crazy.  Let me tell you that his tongue was busy as I chatted with him.

A fake smile just like his Dad.  It needs some work.

I just love this little dude's passion for the sport.  Three years ago, he begged us to play hockey.  We had him pegged for a soccer player like his Dad, but he insisted on playing hockey like his new friends at school.  Who are we to tell him what to enjoy?  We registered for hockey the next season and haven't looked back.  It is obvious that he loves the sport and watching him play a sport he enjoys is so rewarding.  I never imagined that I would be such a full fledged hockey mom, but 100% hockey Mom I have become.

Did I mention that I pulled a muscle in my forearm while ringing my cowbell with full force?  #notevenlying

A weekend that won't be soon be forgotten by the team or the parents.  Go Wolves!

five on friday

{one} Esso Minor Hockey week is under full swing this. It is a week long tournament that every hockey team in Novice and up takes part in.  It is a traditional bracket layout rather than round robin so after the first game when you lose you are out.  Grady's team is off to the finals tomorrow which I was super excited about until I learned that he was going to be the goalie.  Grady is tickled pink but I think I will be stressing until the moment the game ends.  We will likely be playing the other team in our association which we know is just as good as us, but hopefully not better.  The game could go either way.  Wish us luck... Go Wolves!

{two} During the week we made a trip across town to see some of Grady's friends play one of their Esso tournament games and in return the 2 friends came to watch Grady's game a few days later. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by other parents that support our child. Grady has made some excellent friendships that I hope will last through out school and beyond.  Heck, I met my BFF on the first day of Kindergarten  and I still like her most of the time!

{three} After 5 weeks of having no regular child care, Jasmin is finally back from the Philippines and our lives return to normal.  We couldn't have gotten through it without the help of so many people.  My Mom, James' Mom, and our friends got us through the 5 weeks with little hassle.  This last week proved to be the most difficult with James' work hours changing and it didn't allow him to take the kids to school.  So... we ended up dropping our kids with the nanny across the street every single morning for a week. Cooper even got to have a 5 hour play date with his little buddy while I was at work.  These are the same friends that came to support Grady. Like I said we really are lucky.  I actually think the kids miss their morning play dates.  James and I not so much!

{four} We have been experiencing a bout of Winter here in the prairies.  While we aren't as cold as our neighbors to the east, it is still cold with wind chills in the -30s.  We are looking forward to a milder weekend as the Chinook rolls in.  I am registered for a Lagree class on Saturday that I hope to run to and from on Saturday morning before the game.   Fingers crossed that the forecast stays the same and brings us some warmer temps.

{five}  Have I mentioned that my current show of choice on Netflix is The Good Wife?  I like it, but I wouldn't say I love it.  Which is a good thing.  Once I become addicted to a show that is all I want to do. I watch on average one a day after the kids go to bed or while I run on the treadmill and that is more than enough without overtaking my life!

Have a great weekend and cross your fingers for a win this weekend for Grady's hockey team!

My thoughts on.... Wireless Headphones

This Christmas, my most favorite gift I received was a pair of Dr Dre Beats wireless headphones.  A gift I didn't even ask for.  My Mom hit it out of the park this year by buying me something I didn't even know I wanted!

This year I got many gifts to help me with my 1/2 marathon training.  I got a hip belt to hold my phone and keys when I run, a Garmin running watch to help me watch my pace while running longer distances, and these wireless earphones.  You see, I didn't think I had a need for wireless ones, the current pair I have that look identical to these except they attach to my phone seemed to work just fine.  I would just run holding my phone in my hand and the cord in the other so it didn't flip all over the place and get caught on my clothes.  I got used to it so I didn't even know that there was a better way to do it.  Boy, was I missing out.   

Now, I can put my phone in my hip belt and run hands free.  I have put together a fantastic play list with some great oldies so I don't have to change songs.  Dare I say I am looking forward to my training program??

The running side of the wireless earphones is reason enough to buy them, but what I didn't realize is how much I would use them around the house.

I don't know how it works at your house, but at my house, I rarely get the TV.  And by rarely, I mean never. I literally only get the TV when James isn't home and the kids are sleeping.  In the past year, Netflix has become my best friend.  I often sit on the couch beside James with the iPad or chrome book and watch Netflix with earphones in.  Until now, those earphones have been attached to the device which means I have to sit on the couch and be still while I watch.

Enter the new headphones.  Life. Changing.

Now, I prop the iPad on the counter and wear my wireless earphones, one ear in and one ear out so I can still hear the kids when they holler loud enough.  I can unload the dishwasher, prep dinner, fold laundry, go the the bathroom and roam the house while I watch listen to my show.

I think it is easy to tell that my thoughts on wireless earphones are all positive.  Something I needed and I didn't even know!  Nothing but good things to say about these bad boys!

Getting Organized: Scheduling

Today we are talking schedules.  Let me tell you, my schedule it so full it is overflowing.  Sometimes I am even surprised that I get everyone where they need to be week after week.  Between work, hockey, school, childcare, family commitments, parties, exercise schedules, blogging and vacations, I really needed a way to manage my schedule and make sure everyone got where they needed to go.

Unlike many of my blended blog friends, instead of using a paper planner, I use Google Calendar to manage my life.

I don't leave home without my phone, so I never leave home without my trusty calendar.  I update it on the go, at my appointments, at the rink, at work, where ever I may be.  If one day Google accidentally deleted my google account I would be effed.  Like royally effed.

Here are a few reasons why I chose to run my life online instead of in a traditional paper agenda.

Email Reminders.  The single biggest pro for me is the email reminders that the calendar sends me.  I set every event up with an auto email reminder for 15 before.  I put all sorts of things in my calendar, laundry day, to do lists, grocery lists, reminders, phone dates, birthdays, absolutely everything.   Often I also set a reminder for the day before.  Yes, you can have multiple reminders.  For example, finding out I have a dentist appointment 15 minutes before I have to be there isn't going to help me.  I also need to know the day before so I can plan my day appropriately.  Once the email is sent, I leave it 'unread' until I do it.  A to do list in your email if you will.

It is free.  Signing up for and using an electronic costs absolutely nothing.  You don't have to buy one or add a reminder in your paper agenda to replace your old one!

Co-Scheduling.  I find having kids can really complicate things as you also have to consider your husband's plans as well as your own.  If I want to go for dinner with friends I have to make sure that James is home or I have to find, and pay, for childcare, which I prefer not to do unless I really want to go.  Using electronic

Different views.  I love that you can look at the day, week, or month but a simple click of the mouse or a click of a button.   On Sunday nights James and I sit down and look at the week and see any conflicts we may have.  Although I run the 'master' family schedule, he often forgets to tell me his commitments, so we need to sit and identify any child care gaps.  Each morning I glance through that day to see what is on the agenda just in case there is something our weekly discussion missed.

I can read it.  I am the first to admit that I have terrible handwriting.  I have no doubt that if I were to maintain a paper agenda that would often be trying to decipher what my writing says. Sad but true.

Connecting to sports calendars.  With the kids in multiple sports I can easily subscribe to the team calendar.  As the games are updated on the team website they automatically download into my google calendar.  This is one of the biggest pros for me.  The hockey schedule is different every single week and manually adding the practices and games could lead to human error of writing down the wrong time or entering it on the wrong day.  I have comfort in knowing that our hockey schedule downloads directly from the source.

I'm curious, what do YOU use to schedule your life?  Do you prefer a paper agenda or are you like me and choose an online version.  Convince me why a paper version is better.

Now that you have heard from me, head over to Sarah's blog to see what she uses to manage her life with 2 young kids.

We will be discussing the following ways to stay on top of things over the next few weeks.  While I won't claim to have tips on all of these items, the ladies at the Blended Blog will have some great tips to share.

five on friday

Today's five on friday is the five things I miss most about Christmas vacation.

{one}  No alarm.  By far, the thing I miss most is not getting up to an alarm.  I don't really get to sleep in per se, but at least I wake up of my own choosing or to Cooper's finger poking me in the arm or Grady climbing into bed.  That is a much better way to wake up than the radio blaring in my ear.  Yes, I still use an actual alarm clock.

{two} Being productive.  I miss getting ahead on house projects that there is just never time to do.  Over the holidays I organized our storage room that I could barely walk in to a week ago. I went through the pantry and got rid of everything that hasn't been eaten in months.  I got new towels for Christmas and went through all my old ones and donated 3 garbage bags full of towels.  I tried to organize our entrance so that there was room for all our winter gear as lord knows we are in full on Winter here.... If only I could motivate James to organize the office.  James, if you are reading this, PLEASE CLEAN THE OFFICE.

{three}  Enjoying a cocktail or three every night.  Whether it be a glass of wine or my favorite winter drink, hot chocolate and Bailey's, there was at least a drink a day.

{four}  Catching up with friends.  We had so many outings and dinners with other families and friends that were in town over the holidays or ones that we just don't always have time to see.  We had daytime play dates with the kids friends and our outdoor rink saw more action in 10 days then it did all last year leaving my kitchen looking like a hockey dressing room.

{five} Wearing leisure clothes every day. With all the eating comes stretchy pants.  I wore sweat pants, leggings, yoga pants and any other pant that has an elastic waist.  I was scared of trying to put on a pair of jeans after all the food and beverages I consumed.  Elastic pants for the win!  I also did not touch my makeup for the duration of the holiday other than a splash of power and lipstick of course!

We've been back at work/school for almost a week and I am already looking forward to no alarm clock tomorrow morning...

December in Numbers

Today is my last day of Christmas vacation. Some years I feel ready to go back to work.  They kids and husband are driving me crazy and I just want to sit at my desk in peace and quiet and drink my coffee.  This year I don't feel ready to go back to work.  I have enjoyed my time at home with my family.  Going back to work to kick off the busiest month of the year doesn't help either....

So today, on my last day of vacation I am linking up with Dee to review the final month of 2016 in numbers.

We went to the Flames skill competition with 6 of the kids friends.  We thought it started at 11 am and it actually started at 1:30.  oops.  The good news is we got great seats.  For a bunch of hockey loving boys they got to see all their favorite flames up close and personal without helmets. It was pretty exciting even for the adults!

We attended my Christmas party for the 2nd year in a row.  We took almost 10 photo booth photos but the one with James is always my favorite.  While it looks like I am wearing contacts, I opted to just not wear my glasses. I have a -1.75 in one eye and lower in the other.  My astigmatism prevents me from wearing contacts comfortably.  I like the way I look without glasses, I wish I could do it more often.

The kids played in 2 hockey tournaments hosted by their respective teams, on the same weekend.  That meant 7 games, lots of driving and even more cheering.  In one of those games Grady got the hard hat for hardest working player.  He was playing defence (his not so favorite position) and had a great game.  So proud of my hockey players!

The same weekend that the kids had all the hockey, we also had tickets to stage west to see Twas the night before Christmas.  We all went in feeling like the Grinch. Grady had to miss a game to go and we were already losing as we walked through the doors.  There was a great Christmas brunch where the kids at 32 pieces of bacon. I on the the other hand enjoyed 3 cups of coffee!  The show was absolutely phenomenal.  I could probably list 47 reasons why this show was worth seeing.  My favorite part of the show was when Santa puts on his headphones and starts dancing to shake it off while he delivers presents.  My kids are still singing run run Rudolph.  You can bet I will try and make it back next year!

My favorite thing about the Christmas season is Christmas cards. I love going to the mail box and getting a card rather than a bill.... This year I ordered 70 cards and I was a touch short. Who knew I had so many friends. I also learned I need a new card holder. My current Pinterest homemade holder is too small. I must be making new friends :)

Back in October, my Mom texted me and asked if I thought Cooper would like a Hatchimal for his birthday.  I said YES and that maybe she should get one for Grady as well and give them out for Christmas.  In the end she bought 5 for all the grand kids!  We opened ours 5 days early while my mom was still here so she could see how they worked.  Cooper's started to hatch right away and Grady's needed a little spine adjustment to get it going....  They weren't as easy to operate as we thought they would be.

Cooper is not a morning person.  He likes hockey, but not enough to get up at 6:41 and go to the rink.  His brother on the other hand.....  This particular day I woke him up and he didn't want to go.  AT this point I was up, dressed, teeth brushed, and ready to go.  If I was up, he was going to be to.  I tried to enforce that when you are part of a team you have to go to the practices even when you don't want to.  I dragged him to the rink and he refused to get on the ice.  #fail

Mother nature threw us some very chilly weather in December.  We are talking -30 with wind chill or colder.  While this isn't unusual weather for Calgary, it lasted for 2 weeks which is VERY unusual.  It was the longest cold snap in something like 20 years.  At least one of my kids was willing to dress for the weather. Cooper compromised and agreed to zip his jacket up.... Oy.

Thankfully the weather let up just in time for our 1st family ski trip.  We headed to Panarama with 9 other friends and hit the slopes for 2 days and 3 nights. We had so much fun we hope to do it again next year!

Finally, we rung in 2017 with our 5 friends who happen to live across the street.  The kids made it up to 12am for the first time ever and we quickly left right after the champagne was consumed.  A great start to the new year!

December was a wonderful month full of family, friends, sledding, skating, and hot chocolate. It will be a hard month to beat.   Back to work tomorrow....