these days....

it has been so cold here lately.
like waking up to minus 19 yesterday and we just couldn't get warm.
i turned the heat on everywhere - i hope i didn't spend a mint. oops!
finally we did warm up.

yesterday was just one of those day. you know the ones? where the tv is on all day long and everyone coasts from one room to another and actually being well behaved, playing nice together?
yesterday was that day.

i seem to have written myself a to-do list a mile-long and have been doing everything but what is on the list! i fixed coop's curtains from his room - they were driving me banana's. i was so excited to cross them off only to see that they had not made it on to the special guest list of things to be done. shoot!

i have decided to take this basement area under my wing and make it more functional. i want to use it more and be more comfortable in the space. i started here yesterday and have already carted out 3 big bags of garbage - bonus though is i found the pictures of the kids with their cousins that i have been looking for for a year. yes a year. why do i save so much stuff? wait, stop! don't answer that!

things i dream for this room - the back wall is aqua {yep you heard me! i hope the husband is on board with this.....}, there are two white floating shelves from the middle of the wall to the right, then there will be a photo/inspiration collage to the left. i would love a new table! - underneath the table cloth is my folding collapsible table that i used for the farmer's market and it bends in the middle when you press to hard - hopefully i can find something at a junk shop i can paint. i would love this bookshelf on the left wall, turned on it's side for a sewing table and i believe the shelves are high enough for my project life binders. i'm going to get some fabric for the window this weekend and i think it should be a yellow/white colour. right now it is stuffed with packing paper because on the opposite wall from my table is the computer table with all the husbands sound editing equipment and we didn't need looky-loo's peering in the little window and checking out all our swag.

aydan is still home from school and will be going back next monday. this holiday has been long! i love having her here but have really grown accustom to her going to school - does that make me a bad mom? it's been fun but i think she is ready to go back as well.

i told her to go and pick up some clothes to wear and this is what she came down in:

she always come down in something like this. she's hilarious! she has decided that she wants to be called fancy aydan after fancy nancy because she is dressed as fancy as her. love her.

highlight of lunch: coop's chicken piece was shaped like a heart. quite extraordinary really.

the boys made lego airplanes. they were everywhere.

in the afternoon big fluffy snowflakes started to fall. i love big fluffy snowflakes. love gazing out into a landscape of big fluffy snowflakes.

i discovered picnik and made this collage. i really like it and might gravitate there more often for things like this.

it warmed up a bit - enough for an evening skate - so we all went outside and enjoyed the rink.
wait - haven't i told you about the rink? friday i promise.

for dinner i wanted to have a green bean salad with toasted almonds alongside our leftover soup & i actually blanched and shocked the beans in cold water! i always want to do this but never go to the trouble because i find it confusing when making a big meal but since the meal was basically done i went for and it worked! it was really good. also i refreshed my baguette using a new technique i picked up from jamie oliver and i will share that with you friday. promise.

this morning we woke up to -8 so not too bad. also i had stuffed towels {very chic i know!} under the door jams and it seemed to keep the heat in. this weekend i am going to make some door and window snakes to keep this heat in - i'll tell you all about that on monday. i'm going to make this weekend a sewing one. quite excited about that.

for some reason i really needed this today.

i work at home - did you know that?
the upside: i get to spend the days with my kids.
the downside: i am constantly re-organizing and re-decorating my house in my head and stressing out about it.
i have already made my list for finnegan's market which opens the first saturday in may. i plan to go the first saturday of every month. i hope the husband is okay with that. i wish i knew about other junk shops in the area but that doesn't seem to be the vibe of this part of the world. they are nuts.
also we need a new rug and i have been on the internet trying to find a style that i like - harder than it looks. we need new drapes for the living rooms as well but i don't know what colours to go for because i don't know what to go for on the rug and we need a lamp there to (i would like a junk shop find that i could paint and make a shade for) and i don't know what to look for because there is no rug or curtains! what do you start with first?.....
and ta-da! that's how you get stressed out about it. the end.
i think i have an idea for the dining room - so maybe we should start there.

but what i need to do is...focus. there's that word again. i actually used it about 10 times yesterday and embraced it. off topic. focus. what i have to do is focus on one room at a time - get it done and move on. the problem is that all the rooms are almost there so i find myself creating mini-lists for them all and then getting worried and flustered. i need focus.

the living/dining i think will be my first points of focus .
after i paint the two walls downstairs and put away christmas.
yep. christmas is still up around here.
the garbage men don't come and get the trees till the 9th so i bought myself a little time.
i love holiday. the feeling of it. the twinkle lights.
especially the twinkle lights.

oh and the computer is not seeing the printer - so now i have to deal with that.
and aydan's crying over not getting the sparkly mask first.
my list has just gotten bigger. i better go.