I have a new.....

niece!!! She was born yesterday afternoon to my brother and sister in law. She is SOOOO (but I'm not biased at all!!! ;D) beautiful & I'm so excited to meet her next weekend.

My youngest daughter brought home a snail from the bus yard this week. He is still alive, but seems to sleep an awful lot. Does anyone out there know if that's normal?? He also likes to eat apple. Who knew that about a snail? I don't think that he has a name yet.

It's been dull and grey here the last couple of days. Blech. But, we have no snow and I'm grateful for that. I hate winter. Who knew that it could be 10 degrees Celsius at the end of November in Ontario??

I have NOT started Christmas shopping yet. I think I might try to do it all in one day. I'll let you know how it goes. I have NOT started decorating yet. It's not December. I am NOT listening to Christmas music yet. I'm still Bah Humbugging until Tuesday. No sense in getting over excited too far ahead. When school gets out for the break and I don't have to get up early to go to work, THEN I'll get excited!

I'll leave you with a (ironically) Christmas page created for 52 Sketches...52 Weeks. My oldest daughter and I sang together last year at church for the annual Candlelight service.


Have a great day!

Taking a Break.....

from applesauce making to post a couple of pictures. This is what my kitchen currently looks like :


And the HUGE pan of applesauce that is awaiting freezer bags:


Yum, my house smells so good today - good even though it's blah, dreary and raining today & there's going to be a LARGE mess to clean up later!

Gotta get back at it - Have a great day!

One Minute.....

to remember that freedom isn't free.

My prayers and thoughts are with those families whose loved ones will not be coming home and those who are missing family members who are posted overseas.

Thank you to all those who stand in the line of duty for me.

I am grateful.

Ok seriously.....

I need to get my act together!! Bad blogger, bad blogger!! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last!! But honestly, there really hasn't been too much to blog about.

My family has all been through the first colds (or was it a flu??) of the season. We're all on the mend, thanks to Vitamin C, echinacea and lots of extra rest.

It's done nothing but rain off and on here for weeks. I'm sick of it.

My husband and I have lost another grandparent - this time it was his Grandma. We knew her better than my Beppe. We are sad. I am realizing that life is short and time with family should be precious, so I am trying to make the best of every minute of every day.

This past weekend the kids and I drove up to visit my sister and her family in Timmins. By myself. That's right, just me - the only driver - and three kids. It's about 8 hours and 700 km north of where I am. This also includes driving on Highway 400 - something that I've never been comfortable with. I hate merging onto a high speed highway. But, I did it!!!!! So super proud of myself for sure, plus now that I know I can do it, I can do it more. While we were there I did a bit of scrappy shopping - bought some cute stamps and a new boarder punch....... hmmmm perhaps a card making day should be in the order??

Speaking of scrappy stuff, not too much of that has been going on in this house lately. And I'm ok with that. It's good to have a break once in awhile. But, I'll leave you with a couple of LO's recently done for 52 Sketches..52 Weeks.

Have a great day!