GRAB each moment as it comes......

As a parent...you don't get to sleep in any more...those lazy weekend mornings are over! There are times that I miss sleeping in till 10...slowly rolling out of bed, start the coffee...and  then sink into the couch, watching the Food Network or HGTV, sipping coffee and watch the hours melt away.

Now(flash forward a few years), if I have stayed up till midnight on a Friday or Saturday night(catching up on things that I couldn't do when the kids were awake), I am screwed come the morning...KIDS don't sleep in! Not till they HIT the TEENAGE years...and I don't think that I am ready for that(at least not yet).  This is what happened this past weekend. Both nights I was up late...knowing I would be tired the next day...I still stayed up!! Sunday morning I heard the familiar song of "Mommy....I wake! Mommy!" Alex is in the top bunk and still doesn't know how to get down. Cursing myself...I dragged myself out of bed and got him.......shortly after the other two were awake...and so the day began!

In the kitchen I began the routines of making coffee and grabbing the paper from the front door....it was then coming back with the paper that I noticed the SUNRISE!! The yellow painted kitchen was turning hues of pinks, purples and oranges.....it was something that I hadn't seen in a long time! Shortly after the skies clouded over and it was all gone....just a grey sky! Before the SUN disappeared and the sky darkened I took a picture. SUNRISES like these are too far 'n between in January.  I quickly told Katie to glance out the back window....she replied "BEAUTIFUL!"

It made me think...how many things do we miss out on in life? I saw this BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE and a few moments later it was GONE! Try to GRAB each moment as it comes....spend that extra time with your kids, family and friends....relish in it.....

Set your alarm, watch the SUNRISE....you'll be surprised how it sets the MOOD for YOUR DAY!!

From Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan.....anyone can do it!!

Just wanted to share with you what you can do...when you find something for FREE...a little elbow grease and imagination is all you need.....and the support of your FAMILY!! This is a SHORT BLOG...just wanted to let you know what I have been up too.......CHEERS!!

Found this FREE Dresser, no handles, no slides for the drawers............

Here is the SAME Dresser NOW....all pretty and in Living room!

Now this Dresser took awhile....I still need to do the slides for under each drawer...but for now...it can be DONE!! It has to be DONE...Hubby was getting tired of seeing this sitting in the kitchen...we had to arrange chairs around the kitchen table......it was a TIGHT FIT!! You see....I don't have a GARAGE...and since I live in CANADA(which I LOVE) it has been bitter cold.....its hard to sand/paint and PRETTIFY a piece of FURNITURE in the KITCHEN!! Did I mention that I LOVE my HUSBAND.....he has put up with a lot lately!!!

I LOVE finding pieces...tired pieces and giving them NEW LIFE!! It makes my HEART happy!!

I think we might need a BIGGER house soon!! Or perhaps I should have a STORE!! Fuel my passion into others.......just a thought!! I could sell baked goods on the side too....FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!

Flipping the HOUSE...EASIER than MOVING!!?? Right!?

We just had a few days of MILD temperatures...it was HEAVEN...but it gave me a FALSE SENSE that Spring is around the corner! Snow melted, the sun was out...we wore Hoodies and I started to plan what needed to be done this Spring.  The shed was going(tattered and old) and  a new shed would be bought and placed closer to the house, fix the pavement, patch the BALD spots on the lawn .....it was a GREAT FEELING.....new beginnings!! See this is what I meant about false sense that Spring is here...cause this morning I woke to CHILLY temperatures and light snow falling...rather a dusting, like icing sugar on a cake...mmm....which reminds me that I need to bake this afternoon.....

With the New Year...one plans for NEW CHANGES, whether with themselves, career, family life.....whatever it is, change is always WELCOMED in the NEW YEAR!!  I want to be a better person...that's one part of my New Year Resolution... another change is that I want my FAMILY to be HAPPY living in THEIR HOME!! IN a perfect world...we would move to a BIGGER house...a HOUSE where each child could have their OWN ROOM...their OWN SPACE where they could be HAPPY and ESCAPE anything that is bothering them....usually their siblings! But with today's economic outlook......I think, no, I KNOW that we will hunker down and make the best of what we have!! And I think we have SUCCEEDED!!

We knew, unless we won the LOTTERY.....that Hubby's MAN CAVE would never formalize in the Laundry Room.....lol....so I gave up control(which is hard for me....) and gave the Family Room in the basement to Hubby!! I think he is HAPPY...its slowly turning into the "CAVE"...how do I know this, well while he was watching Bat Man(I think...) my arm was vibrating to the Bass...all along I was upstairs in the Living Room trying to watch Sliding Doors...!! He is turning that ROOM into his own.....I know that he is HAPPY! And so is Josh...he got to spend QUALITY TIME ALONE with his Dad!!

My NICHE....where I HOPE to be MORE Creative!

During the emptying out of the Family Room, I moved, with great success, the computer to the bedroom....its all set up by the window. I feel more creative!! As I sit here I type and glance out the window at the neighbours...for instance someone must be having issues with their cable...the "cable guy" is out there and literally scratching his head at the cable box! I have created my own little niche and even bought a Fern Foxtail...its the little things that can change and create a new room...and its done on a budget! All we are doing is moving things about, from room to room...nothing says that an object must stay in its current room....move things, give them new life...its amazing what you can do on NO money or VERY little money. Go through your HOME, sort and organize things, move things .......buy a plant, PLANTS are full of LIFE and GREENERY.....plants can change a room's outlook....FLOWERS, buy flowers!! Their SCENT can fill a room and give you a sense WELL BEING!

My NEW Friend...I chat daily to her!

We also switched BEDROOMS... again....the KIDS that is!! Katie was becoming MISERABLE by sharing her NEW ROOM with Alex......but then Josh didn't want to give up his new room...sigh....the issues with having THREE CHILDREN and not enough bedrooms. HAPPILY I got her back into her OLD ROOM, and I persuaded Josh to go back to his! Although with Josh, I told him that he could have the bottom bunk and we would make the bedroom a THIRD CLASS STATE ROOM...like on the Titanic! He agreed EAGERLY! He is now back in his room and awaiting for Spring(I think) to paint his room...we will chose colours that were on the Titanic and get new bedding(Third Class Blankets)!! I think I would make a GOOD politician!!

In the end, its all about making due with what you have....and we did, we spent very little...moved things about, gave new life to old objects, bought plants and created little niches for everyone to enjoy!!! I truly believe that it takes time to make a HOME.....furnish it with LOVELY objects...for me its hand me downs and items that I have found( Kijiji, garage sales, estate sales, second hand stores...) and crafted them to show their beauty in my HOME.......anyone can do it!!

I just need a SOUND BARRIER between the BASEMENT and the MAIN FLOOR!!

Its like saying GOOD BYE to a DEAR, DEAR FRIEND! Pathetic I know!!

Hubby and I have been saying it for awhile.....we suggest it, casually.....but never thinking that we are actually going to do it!  BUT after looking at accounts and trying to think where to save...what do we need and what do we NOT need.......it had to be DONE! With my 2013 New Year Rant and after watching a certain show...full of energy and positivity on where to save money and how to get ahead!! I got this IDEA(again)...and told Hubby later that day when he came HOME.  He simply replied, "do you want me to do it now?"

Eeek....where my main thoughts, he actually wants to do it...no second guessing, just flat out, "lets do it!" We don't always use it...but its nice to know that its there...in  case of emergency...bored emergency....something to pass the hours away during dreary winter!! Somehow I put him off...."do it after the weekend...(I pleaded...)." He DID it yesterday...he made the call!!! Come February 7th I'll be going through detox and so will the children...who will have it worse? The KIDS or ME!? We are cutting the CABLE.........((I know, I can hear the shrills of horror now...NO cable...))

Cable is like some Family.....you don't talk to them that much, but they are there for you....when you really need them! In all honesty....there are not too many shows that I truly ENJOY...I have my FAVOURITES and I can get them on the INTERNET! Like many shows all together, you can get everything on the INTERNET....so why are we paying close to $100 every month??? Just to watch it on a BIGGER SCREEN in HD! ((nodding head YES!!)) Then you have repeats and dull shows...... I call them the reality shows....I cant stand them....!!  With that being said, its the kids that mostly watch their shows on both TV's......and those can be seen on the INTERNET! But why do I feel like I am loosing a DEAR FRIEND!!?? Cable was just always there...when in need...when bored....when sick.....it was and is ENTERTAINMENT!!  But I have to keep telling myself that I can get EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET!!! Right!? My new mantra....."I get everything on the Internet!!"

Its funny how much we rely on technology to pass the day....how many times are YOU on the INTERNET and watching TELEVISION!? Perhaps we have become addicted?? What happened to the olden days when kids PLAYED outside, you actually chatted with your dinner guests instead of scrolling through your phone to see the latest news on friends, walking and actually paying attention to your surroundings?? I am HAPPY to say that I don't have a CELL PHONE!! I have a HOME PHONE...remember those!?

If you take your monthly bills...which is the most expensive(don't say Rent/Mortgage...these are an necessity)??  Its TV/PHONE/INTERNET!! That's why we are cutting CABLE!! I can watch most of everything that I want on the INTERNET!! Plus.....we will have more time for each other....being creative, reading(which I already LOVE and DO) and just being a Family!! BUT with this all said...and I do believe what I just wrote....I still have this pang, a pang of loosing a dear, dear Friend!!!

I'll let you know how it goes......if YOU see someone lingering outside your WINDOW, it could be ME...needing a LITTLE TV FIX!!

2013!! New Year....time to get things RIGHT! RIGHT?

I think for all of us, there comes a YEAR...a YEAR that sticks with us and we still believe that its still that year.......for me, I feel like I am still in the early 2000's....BUT when I see that its 2013.....I think "what happened?? How did we get to 2013 already!?" I then start calculating dates...I've been with Hubby for NINE YEARS!? My KIDS are now 7, 5 and 3!!?? I am what AGE......???? It all goes by FAST! Too FAST! See what happens when you are having FUN!!

Hubby and I ended 2012 quietly...watching some TV after the kids were tucked in.....we giggled our way into 2013...uncontrollably at times... to the point where your sides ache and you cant breathe any more and the tears are flowing down your face...a REAL GOOD LAUGH!! And NO...we were not drunk...slightly tipsy...laughing like BEST FRIENDS....isn't that a GREAT WAY to bring in the New Year!? I think so!! I LOVE the relationship that we have......LOVERS and BEST FRIENDS!!  Are we all so LUCKY!?

So..its 2013! Its around this time of the year that SOME come up with NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS! Do you have any? I know eventually some will fail....that's what "experts" say when the gyms are FULL in January and EMPTY in March....if YOU are ONE to KEEP your RESOLUTION, all the POWER to you! How do you do it!? For me I want to BANISH all IDIOTS....which should be EASY, most of them are on Facebook....gotta LOVE and HATE Facebook...it does keep you connected with Friends/Family...but sometimes the IDIOTS creep through and finally you wonder, "why am I reading this GARBAGE from them...there is more to life...why am I letting them bother me....." finally I delete the person!! No complaints yet!

After all....this is what 2013 should be about!

Secondly.....I want to SAVE...which is hard on ONE INCOME, THREE KIDS, Mortgage etc etc etc...... which leads into STRETCHING things out. I WILL MAKE THINGS STRETCH to the point where I cant use it any more!! For example....last night I made a Roast Chicken Dinner...Hubby said it was the BEST that I ever made(wish I remembered exactly how I did it...I rarely follow directions...always a splash of this and that)...and for tonight, I took the leftovers and made SOUP...adding more of this and that...sprinkle here and there...handful of that and this!! AND it TASTES YUMMY!! There is enough WASTEFULNESS in this WORLD...we need to teach our CHILDREN!! And it all starts at HOME....

Thirdly.....I want to be MORE CREATIVE.....creative in REFURBISHING, Writing, Baking and Cooking....I don't feel fully satisfied UNLESS I have been CREATIVE for some part of the day! My kids keep me busy and I LOVE being a PARENT....but there are times that I need to be CREATIVE for ME!! That's usually when I get them INVOLVED with what I am doing.....and they LOVE it!!  More often its BAKING...hence the WOMANLY HIPS.....hmmm, maybe I should sneak in another Resolution...the GYM! But lets face it...I'm going to break that Resolution!!! I'll just walk more! To the store to buy the Baking ingredients! HA!

Lastly I just want to be HAPPY with the LIFE I have! We only get ONE...make it count!!
So...I am going to try to WRITE MORE BLOGS, recipes, stories, LOVE my KIDS and my HUBBY, plan for the FUTURE...save and make the DOLLAR STRETCH!! What are you going to do in 2013!? I know it will be a GREAT YEAR...I ended it LAUGHING the NIGHT away and then I awoke to a BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY MORNING!!!

January 1, 2013!! Great start to the YEAR!!