embracing the cliche.

happy new year to you all.

can we talk for a minute? i mean really talk? or maybe can you just listen? thanks.

so i have been thinking for a while of what i want this blog to be. yes i love to compose a story, sound all witty and knock your socks of with use of a thesaurus. i have gone this way because i read other sites and they are so captivating when they write like this. draw you in - invite you into their story with such composure and whimsy. and yes i do have a knack for it and i love to challenge myself to tell a story in such a way that i give the impression that i know what i am talking about. but the thing is- that's just not me. that's not the girl you meet and think "wow i want to be her friend." - contrary to what you may think i don't talk like that in real life.

this being said i want to start off 2012 by adopting a new voice for this space of mine - my voice. i want to jump into talking to you as if you are in front of me. pick up our conversation where we left off. recount a story to you as if you just called me up on the phone and i had to let you in on what is going on around here. the theme will stay the same - food, crafts, life, kids, adventures, laughter, tears - but the tone will be more conversational - more of a real-life beat. also the husband has commented some weeks that he would love to have the life we have in the blog - void of all the messes of real life. what really happens around this town.
so i want to show that.
some of it.
most of it.
but - sorry - not all of it.
some of it is just for us.

you understand don't you?

i feel good about this.
i am happy with this.

now let's talk 2012. as with the start of every new year there are resolutions. everyone makes them and everyone breaks them. i try to not make them because i feel like you don't need a date to change something - if you want to change it you do, whenever.

i remember watching the biggest loser and one of the contestants saying how she always said "i'll start on monday - the diet starts then" then monday came and went and no diet. that really did make me think that if want something to change you change, no matter when.

the classic is new year's day when everyone makes there resolutions and "tries" to stick to them. i don't think i have ever made a resolution. after all this talk, though, i think i may have to change my tune. we took a family photo on new year's eve and i can't believe how unbelievably fat my face was!!! is!!! i know i need to exercise more {well exercise} and i know i love to show off my cooking and baking for you and of course someone has to eat it but i really didn't expect it to creep up on me and onto my face like that.

so world, hear me yell...i am making a resolution! i am going to lose those 15 {probably 20 now} extra pounds i have been carrying around. i am making a stand right here and hopefully i don't make up a list of excuses {which is probable} and i lose this weight. there - soapbox rant done.

also with the new year comes with picking my inspirational word for the year. this year i have chosen focus. and way at the back is my little word dare. i am hoping this year to focus. this word has been screaming at my from the mountain top since i can remember and this year i am going to embrace it and focus. focus on my kids, my husband, myself, this house, possibly a career - i don't know what but i am going to focus. also i want to dare myself. dare myself to get out of my comfort zone and do something. anything. double-dog dare myself to love more, learn more and be more.

for today though i am going to relish in the comfort of my house.

today i made coffee with our new coffee maker {how do appliance know to break when you have blown the budget on christmas presents and need replacing?}. i got us this beauty.

yesterday didn't go as planned and we ended up staying home. so....i cleaned out the pantry and re-organized it. makes me much more comfortable. {amazingly enough that is organized!!}

this is what the backyard looks like today - minus 16 and sun is shining.

and i have created my to-do list for this week.
kind of full and i hope i pull it off.

speaking of this i should go and knock a few things off it.

oh and last night i made this yummy yummy quiche!! smoked salmon and cream cheese - so good! using half egg whites + half whole eggs and skim milk, but an all-butter crust of course!

how is your week going? are you making any resolutions? tackling any big jobs?

talk to you soon!

good bye 2011...hello 2012!

on the last day of the year this year we had a blast.

we had some friends over.
we skated and skated and skated.

we had a fire rinkside with hot chocolate with marshmallows and roasted hot dogs.

we savoured the time outside till our toes told us it was time to trek in.

inside we ate scallops.

and had champagne.

and played rabbids on the kinect till the clock struck 10pm. that's when we told the kids it was new years - we all yelled happy new years at the top of our lungs - them we tucked them in to bed and wish them safe travels as they coasted the sea shores in their dreams, fought pirates and swam with mermaids.

we cozied up and watched dick clark and bruce springsteen ring in the new year. it was wonderful. small. simple.

the first day of the year had a slightly different tone. it was pajama day. when i asked aydan at 12:30 if we should change or just stay in our pajamas, she thought for a minute then decided for us that today should be a pajama day. i didn't challenge her. i embraced it. i loved it.

we stayed home in our pajama's and did pajama type things. we ate eggs benedict. with the roasted ham from friday night. with poached eggs done in the water...you heard me. first time doing it. the best.

mario cart wars were going all morning {thank you auntie kim}.

the husband built the rod hockey table the kids got for christmas {thank you auntie tracy and uncle richard}. after hearing a few grumbles and grunts travel down the stairs we were off and playing. a round robin started up and coop wiped the floor with them all.

the usual rhythm of this day includes tearing down all signs of christmas, no matter what. but this year seems to have a different vibe to it and i have decided that christmas can hang around a few more days. i am totally okay with that. maybe because i felt christmas came and left so fast this year. i am not ready to see it go but will say goodbye little by little throughout the week. but for today it's staying put.

i made this soup because i had a ham bone and have never done it and it was awesome! complete with a make your own sandwich bar - just that kind of day.

it was also a cinnamon bun kind of day. and of course there had to be a kitchen fort.

 

wrapped it up with a screening of home alone 2 which had the kids in hysterics and me saying "you know you really can't do that in real life" more than once. then off to bed where they each got a story. this is my favorite time and each time we do it i dread the day they are too cool for me - for us. but for tonight i will take it, soak it up and hope that the rest of 2012 is as delicious as the first day has been.

dear diary: taking it all in.

sitting here the night before new year's eve i'm struck with a little sadness that all holiday will be packed away on january 1st for a long winter's sleep so for right now i'm going to take it all in. soak it up.

as we sit here - us four - tucking into big steaming bowls of homemade soup, melted cheese bagels, one with eggs in a basket and the other with pb&j and a bowl of coleslaw, i revel in the simple things; comfy clothes, slippers, laughter, love. we shared a lively game of "guess who i am" and were visited by two lollipop superheros. we told jokes and planned an evening of watching a new treasure to us - fantasia 2000.

family time. the best time.

new talents were shared. beds almost broken. giggles.

cooper. aydan. my partner in crime. {heart}. a symphony of new toy sounds, amazement a chorus of "mommy watch me" drift through the house. wack a mole cards were produced and a tournament ensued.

i am thinking back to our wonderfully small merry merry christmas. of the gifts, the company, the food, the spirit. how dreams of an outdoor rink and christmas day skate came true. how a bucket of dinosaurs made it into the hands of a four year old boy and how a little girl no longer has to ride a boy's bike. there was also a treasure under the tree for me, courtesy of my sister and fiancee, which has not left my side and i have been dreaming of the culinary creations i will produce with it at my fingertips.

as i sit here i am also struck with the organizing plan i have for the basement when the decorations go back into hibernation. the full scale attack on that room. to get it to the point of a quick scan rather than an all day dig. a purging of the un-necessary and the un-used. to get more space to put more needless things we must have - the vicious cycle. wishing the outside temperature was a little higher as to get the ability to declare war on the garage as well. although not to high as to melt the rink that was so tiredly slaved over. sitting by the fire, drink in hand, watching the action - one of my top christmas day ever.

what will 2011 bring us? i am hoping for a lot but expecting not so much. i would like to re-invent myself and the path this blog may take me. i want to figure out how to balance everything i dream to do on top of everything that must get done. i want to focus more on my kids and remembering their moments. i want to lose 15 pounds. i want to spend more alone time with my husband. i want to organize. more time for cuddles, walks in the rain and finger painting. less time for tv and more for adventures.

for tonight i am going to enjoy my family, cuddle, eat chocolate and stare at the twinkle lights. and anticipate what the new year may bring us.

happy new year to you and yours.