Ramblings of a Stay-at-Home Mom

So apparently I never posted our (now starting) Annual Summer Bucket List. Oops. My bad. I started this list on June 1, which for me marks the beginning of summer, and started knocking things off almost right away! It's a short list at 20 items, but will keep us plenty busy enough during the summer months. I'll post what items were on the list below and mark them if they've been done already. Neufeld's 2015 Summer Bucket List 1) Go to the Zoo 2) Go to the Splash Park - DONE multiple times. I swear some weeks we live at the Splash Park. And the city just opened a new one within a short walk from the house (10 minutes maybe), and it's open all day long, every single day. For Free! 3) Berry Picking - Did this twice with the girls in one week. Picked about 7 gallons of fresh strawberries for ourselves and my MIL. And the girls had a blast. 4) See a movie with the kids - Me and my sister Sam took Violet to go see Inside Out at the local theatre. Violet loved it. 4) Ha...

Reading Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry. It’s a bit of an interesting read and is taking me a while to get through it, although I do get a fair number of interruptions while I’m reading during the day. Knitting a small multi-coloured blanket for Violet’s teddy bear. Apparently now that her and Dominique have their own knitted blankets, now her beloved Teddy Bear needs one as well. Watching quite a few documentaries on Netflix by BBC Earth. They also make good informational background noise while knitting. Cooking pizza for supper tonight. Homemade for the win! Scrapbooking Dominique’s 1st-year album. I’m almost done just have to order photos from her birthday and do the journaling that goes along with them. Going to work this weekend. Bleh. Loving that I took the girls strawberry picking twice this week and they loved it! Also, home grown strawberries win over store bough. Every. Single. Time. Re-Discovering my love for baby tomatoes. Especially if they’re grown in my little ...

Sorry about the lack of posting lately. Once Dominique's birthday passed, I fell off my regular journaling/blogging/memory keeping wagon hard. Still don't know why. And I feel bad about that for numerous reasons. I've still been taking photos, but not as much as before, although I am trying to get back into it. I'm starting up an editorial calendar for myself to keep my on track for blogging and journaling in general. I'm also working on a couple Project Life posts as well that will hopefully be up this week and next, seeing as I'm a couple weeks behind in my actual layouts and haven't posted anything since February. Oops. But all in all, the family is doing fine. Dominique is growing like a weed, finally popped a 7th tooth and is learning how to walk. Violet is talking constantly and learning more of her ABC's and numbers, as well as being a big help around the house. Me and Keith are doing great and both love the direction that we're going. Thanks ...

Reading Unsinkable by Abby Sunderland. I’ve been on a biography kick lately and loving it. Although I’m not intrigued by sailing (as this is what the books about), if it can capture my attention past the first 2 chapters, I’m in. Playing LittleBig Planet on the PS3 with the girls. I swear they love watching me play and get frustrated with some levels. Watching season 4 of Supernatural (finally!!), along with lots of VeggieTales with the girls. Trying to start carving out time for myself during the day/evening so that I can spend time with Keith after the girls are in bed. Cooking pizza buns for snacks. They don’t last long in this house! Eating homemade pizza for supper tonight. Texting my sister Sam about Supernatural. She’s way further along than I am (she’s on season 10) and likes to give me teasers about what’s coming up. Going to a Tupperware party this weekend. I’m not big on them, but my SIL is hosting it, so I’ll play the nice family member. Loving that the girls are wa...

Merry Christmas from me, Keith, Violet and Dominique! Wishing you and your family all the best in 2015!

  Reading lots of Robert Munch to Violet at bedtime. Current favourite is Paperbag Princess. Playing lots of peek-a-boo and hiding under the blankets with Dominique. Watching 3rd season of Once Upon A Time. Almost done. Trying to get more sleep at night. Still losing that battle (thank you Nique). Eating ultimate chocolate cupcakes. Yummy. Drinking more water today. Doing more clean up around the house and prepping for winter. Loving that Violet is almost talking in full sentences and can tell me what’s going on. Hating how tired I am lately. That’s what happens when I get only 5-6 hours of sleep a night due to having to get up to nurse Dominique. Discovering early mornings. I missed them and the quiet time that I get in between Keith leaving for work and when the girls get up for the day. Enjoying warm blankets and fleece sweatpants. Thinking of possibly a weekend away with Keith in February (crossing fingers that I can get Nique weaned before then). Listening (to) po...

Still going strong on the 30 Days of Thankful project. I'll admit, some days it's hard to come up with something to be thankful about, especially when a certain 7 month old baby is keeping you up half the night and you're functioning on half a brain if lucky. One more week to go after this. Day 17:  Thankful that I'm able to knit and make some stuff for my girls, even if it will take me a while to finish. In this case, I'm working on Dominique's rainbow blanket. Day 18:  Very thankful for an awesome friend that I have in Lisa. Violet adores her and she's a great friend to confide in about stuff and hang out with. Day 19:  Today (and always) I'm thankful for my Mom. She comes down a couple times a week to see me and the girls (she's not working right now as she's waiting for her hip replacement surgery in the new year) and the kids adore her. And steal all her food. Day 20:  Thankful for this little girl today. She's been keeping me up quite a...

Reading nothing this week, except the usual blogs. I just don’t have the concentration this week to read much else. Playing Plants vs. Zombies on the phone with Violet. Watching 3rd season of Once Upon A Time on Netflix. Almost done and then I have to find something else to watch while I knit. Trying to get more sleep as Nique hasn’t been sleeping very well lately. Cooking the usual recipes this week. Eating way too much sugar. Drinking way too much caffeine. Doing lots of knitting on Dominique’s rainbow blanket. And now Violet wants one as well. Loving how much Violet’s vocabulary has expanded. Hating the sleepless nights that me and Dominique are having. I blame either teething or growth spurt. Discovering how much solid food Dominique is eating, besides breastfeeding. It’s insane! Enjoying the quiet time that me and Keith have been having in the evenings after the kids go to bed. It’s nice to be able to unwind together. Thinking of how we’re going to manage/schedule the C...

Reading Eat, Pray Love. I’ve read it before, and have loved it. Playing the “what new food to give Dominique” game. So far….EVERYTHING!! Watching Once Upon A Time on Netflix. Going into 3rd season and still liking it. Trying to cut back on a lot of stuff. Eating freshly made chocolate chip cookies. Drinking lots of tea (still). Also trying to drink more water as well, but tea is more flavourful. Doing lots of catch-up journaling. Loving the amount of help that I’m getting from Violet with everything. Best part is that it’s all voluntary. Discovering how much Dominique loves her Jolly Jumper. I think it’s my sanity saver again! Enjoying my quiet time in the mornings. Finishing Violet’s knitted striped blanket. Starting Dominique’s knitted  rainbow blanket.

So to go from one big project to another (and another in December), I'm taking part in Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful.  Although our Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, I figured this would be a good project to take on. What are my plans for this once it's done? A digital book. Much easier as I already have the words and photos here. I'll try to post every Monday, but bear with me if it's not up in time. Been a bit sleep deprived lately. Day 1;  Very grateful for these 2 girls every day. Even if they do drive me batty. Day 2:  Always thankful for Keith. He works hard, makes sure that we're taken care of and loves to spend time with his kids. Day 3:  Very thankful for Violet's help this morning. I was switching laundry around this morning before changing Dominique's diaper and Violet went in there and changed Nique's diaper all by herself! Such an awesome little helper. Day 4:  Thankful for Violet's love of reading. I was getting her ready f...

Reading The Fault in our Stars (trying to read it again. Didn’t finish it the first time). Playing Super Mario on the Wii for the girls. Nique loves it almost as much as Violet does! Watching The 100 and Once Upon A Time on Netflix, Trying to get rid of this stupid cold that has taken residence in our house. Cooking more new recipes, thanks to Pinterest. Eating more fruits and veggies, trying to get Violet more interested in veggies. Drinking lots of tea (hot and iced). Scrapping my Project Life from this year into digital books. Doing lots of photo and digital backups. Fell behind a bit. Loving the help that Violet has been giving me in the last week. She has proven to be quite the big sister and helper. Hating that I have to move my Mom to a new house, again. The house she moved into last week had too many problems, so she went and found a new one. Moving commences on Saturday. Discovering that I can indeed run on 4-5 hours of sleep for the past couple nights (thank you N...

Last day of Week in the Life 2014! While I'm glad to see it end, I'm also sad to see it end. It's been interesting to see what our daily life is like when I have to document it and see what changes I can make from here on out.  Some people have asked me what I plan on doing with this project once it's completed. I have thought about doing it in a physical Project Life album, but have decided to go with a digital album instead and have already started working on it.  Today was also a bit of a slightly stressful day. Something to do with a 3 year-old not putting on her listening ears when she woke up in the morning. Luckily we are both understanding of each other and she came up to me saying "I'm sorry" in the afternoon. Always learning for the both of us. Anyway, onto the photos (which were all done on the iPhone today). Saturdays are for Violet putting cookie cutters on my hands as bracelets. Saturdays are for doing loads of laundry. This Saturday in parti...

2nd last day of documenting Week in the Life. Again, on the downside of taking photos and notes today, but it was a bit of a busy day. But I'm OK with that. Just a part of life right now. Fridays are for starting the day off with Hot Chocolate to battle a sinus cold. Fridays are for Violet deciding to peel her own orange for breakfast. This Friday in particular was for finding frost on the ground. Fridays are for grocery shopping. This Friday was for making Pipe Cleaning Spiders with Violet. Fridays are for Slow Cooker meals.  Fridays are for munching and trying to catch up on journaling. Fridays are for playing on the Wii. Also, happy baby in the exersaucer. This Friday was for Violet dressing up as Princess Aurora for Halloween. Friday evenings are for time spent together after the kids go to bed.