Day 31 of 365

Moo and Baa game I've been playing with my class. It's been a real hit. It's by Haba. I like how well made and easy to play it is. They like how fun it is.

Day 30 of 365

My birthday present. Can't wait to try it out tomorrow morning!

Day 29 of 365

Since today is my birthday, I took some self portraits. I hate being in front of the camera, but I really am trying to learn to take better pictures and part of recording memories for my children is recording memories of their parents. So, here I am, on my 36th birthday. I hope my children appreciate the effort this took some day, lol.

Day 28 of 365

Since the month is almost over, I thought I would show our calendar page for this month.

Day 27 of 365

Another matchy day - same pants and Mini Boden hotchpotch shirts.

Day 26 of 365

The view outside right now. Here comes the snow.

Day 25 of 365

Someone recently made a comment about my girls dressing alike that made it sound like I was doing them a disservice in continuing to buy them matching outfits. I was a little upset about it at first I am new to this whole sibling thing. I never had any, so having children of my own is my only experience with the sibling relationship.

Then I realized, my girls like to dress alike. They get excited when they have the same outfits. They often choose to wear matching clothes on their own. They occasionally get upset when they don't have matching outfits. This does not mean they always want to match - of course not. They are very independent and have their own unique styles. Molly much prefers dresses and Kiera prefers pants. They both can agree on skirts and longer swing style tops. So, they have clothes that reflect their tastes, clothes other people buy them, clothes I buy them that they hate, and some clothes that match each other.

I think they look adorable in matching outfits. They think they look adorable in matching outfits. At the end of the day, that's all that matters. Look at those faces, do they look upset?

Day 24 of 365

My snow bulletin board at work. My class stamped the snowflakes on the blue paper.

Day 23 of 365

Last night Uncle Greg came back from his trip to Florida. The kids were so excited to break into their gift - a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. This contains 20 flavors: Banana, Black Pepper, Blueberry, Bogies, Candyfloss, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dirt, Earthworm, Earwax, Grass, Green Apple, Marshmallow, Rotten Egg, Sausage, Sherbet Lemon, Soap, Tutti-Frutti, Vomit, and Watermelon. Tasty!

Day 22 of 365

Today's craft project was making beaded salad servers. Super easy and quick, but I really like them. They are just a wee bit hippy and so very me. I am looking forward to making a salad now - I'm thinking lunch!

Day 21 of 365

My old time sweetie.

Day 20 of 365

My pretty model girl. I just adore this kid. She never fails to tell me like it is. I didn't know the answer to one of her questions today. Let's be honest, she wanted me to watch her play a computer game, and I lost interest... So, when I got the question wrong she said, "No, Mom, that's not right. You need to pay attention!"

Day 19 of 365

Okay, not that interested in picture taking today. Hopefully I am not coming down with whatever my middle child has. So, today you get a boring photo with a bit of old time editing.

Day 18 of 365

I am a big fan of letting my kids choose their own clothes - especially on stay home days. Stripes are pretty. Stripes in combination with other stripes, can be pretty or scary. Fortunately, for my little angel, she can pull it off in the name of cuteness. At least the colors are very similar...

Day 17 of 365

Today I got home late after a day of in-service training, and nothing was appealing me to take a picture of so I decided to tackle something I intensely dislike doing. I took some self-portraits. I really don't like to be the subject of pictures. I'd much rather be behind the camera. So, going out of my comfort zone was todays project.

Day 16 of 365

This is one of my favorite pages that I scrapbooked this weekend. I had such a great time and got so much accomplished. 75 pages completed. Whoo-hoo! Hobby House Retreat is definitely an awesome place to visit. Amy is phenomenal, and the food was awesome - coming from someone as picky as me, that is a definite compliment.

Day 15 of 365

It's a beautiful day for a day of scrapbooking!

Day 14 of 365

A lovely icy day. I really can't complain, since we haven't had much snow yet this winter. And it sure is pretty.

Day 13 of 365

Since I am leaving this weekend for my scrapbooking retreat weekend, I thought I would post a picture of my one bulletin board at work. This is in the book/cozy area. I have it decorated like a window that changes with the seasons. The sled, snowflakes and winter wording are all made with my Cricut. The house is the cutest scrapbook paper from October Afternoon in a theme called Modern Homemaker. This particular piece is called It's Suppertime - C'mon In! The back of the house is 5 rooms all decked out in 50's style furnishings and people. It is so cute. So much so, I had to get some more for a friend at work and for myself to scrapbook when we move.

Day 12 of 365

Pretty glass balls illuminated by the snow.

Day 11 of 365

Baby Ellie got a new headband similar to the ones the girls got. I like these because I can put any clip I want on them. Lots of fun. I wish I could find a solid white, black or brown doll one though. Not that I have a headband/ bow/clip problem at all though...

Day 10 of 365

I bought this outfit for Molly's doll Baby Ellie with Christmas money from my Aunt Kathleen. A few days after I decided on this outfit, I went shopping with my best shopping buddy, Kristie, and found this sweater for Molly. It is red and white with a red and white polka dot heart. I bought it a size big so I can definitely get two years out of it. I found her a denim skirt on clearance and a heart headband as well. And so made a lovely outfit to match her favorite doll.

Day 9 of 365

The girls and I took a couple of pictures today so I could get to try out my reflector. They weren't the most cooperative, but I did get these two pictures pretty easily.

Day 8 of 365

I love weekend snow. All the beauty, but we get to play in it and I don't have to drive in it. Perfection. The kids and I went outside and had a snowball fight, car cleaning, all around snow play fun. These cattails were just begging for someone to "picture them" as my youngest says. Now I'm off to snuggle under my blanket and listen to my girls sing karaoke. That's a perfect day.

Day 7 of 365

The first snow of winter. We got our first couple of inches for the year. Whoo-hoo. It wasn't enough to nees shoveled or anything, so that's what I call a perfect snowfall.

Day 6 of 365

A burning cinnamon candle is such a relaxing, homey scent. I am extremely picky about smells. I am not a huge fan of floral scents (unless they are extremely light), and really only like food scents. Particularly baking or coffee scents. And number one always has been and always will be cinnamon. Yankee Candle's Home Sweet Home is my version of perfection in a candle. This Cinnamon and Clove Buds one from Bath and Body Works was a really good second choice though. I recently got another Yankee Candle that will rival my cinnamon love though, Mocha Nut Latte. It makes me wish I had a Starbucks barista in my kitchen. Hmmmm, Christmas wish list....

Day 5 of 365

This morning Molly decided she wanted to wear Kiera's fake hair. She was all excited about it. She was so proud of herself. She kept shaking her head, stroking the fake hair and beads. Just loving it for about an hour this morning. Until we got to preschool. A few teachers and kids commented on how nice she looked. She quietly leaned into me and whispered, "Can you take it out? I don't want to wear it anymore." And that was the end of the fake hair. Good thing I got a picture before we left.

Day 4 of 365

Such a beautiful start to the day. A sky like this makes you believe anything is possible. And truly, my day did go much better than expected.

Day 3 of 365

Chaos. That is my life at times. Today was the first day back to work after being home since Christmas Eve. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but it felt like I was chasing my tail a bit. The usual. The life of a working mom with 3 kids and hobbies who likes to have some down time a day as well. Well, unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in each day. Mine fill up fast, and I tend to feel like I am treading water rather than actually getting ahead.

This weekend I changed that up a bit. I organized my scrapbooking things for my weekend retreat coming up. I put my new paper in color order, I weeded out scraps, I did some cricuting. And I took my ribbon box, my unbelievable disaster of a ribbon box with loose tangled ribbon everywhere, and turned it into the above picture. It's my little corner of organization in my chaotic life.

Day 2 of 365

The girls and I made a snowman out of styrofoam balls, a paper cup, some brads, toothpicks, a foam circle, black paint, glue, and ribbon.

Day 1 of 365

I thought we'd ring in the New Year right, with a nap. Or rather, a crash as my three year old conked out while playing with the iPod. Staying up until midnight to greet 2011 meant someone was a bit more tired than usual.