Organizing with a Friend

This week is just filled with schedules and organizing. This morning I woke up not wanting to stay home so I thought I would head into the church and start getting things ready for September's Awana Club and Sunday School. I thought I would call my dear friend who I think loves organizing as much as me and see if she would come and help. Her girls would play with mine and we could get some things done.
We all arrived at around 9am, we chatted for a while with Heather and then headed downstairs to tackle the office. It wasn't too bad but alot of things were out of place and things just needed to put back. Charlene just knew what to do and so did I...what a purger she is...if we don't use it, then we don't keep it...that was our motto...and boy did things gets done fast...oh you should of seen the organizing and the rubbermaids with all there lables on them...oh it was so exciting and fun.
By 11:00am we were done the office...now to tackle the classrooms. We set up a table and just gutted the classrooms...took everything out and just started to organize. We broke for lunch and enjoyed some yummy pizza. But we couldn't sit long b/c we were such on a roll and we wanted to get it done...After all the cleaning and sorting we came out with 4 class rooms with their own containers for glue, scissors, markers, crayons, pens, pencils and even a teachers supply container...they were all lined up and ready to be stock up into the classroom.
As we closed up the classrooms at 2pm, they all had the tables, chairs, clocks, and all thier supplies...how satisfying it was to have everything ready for September.

Thanks Charlene! Love Ya

Schedules & Routines

I know it has been awhile since I have written but with summer holidays and having the girls home it just isn't at the top of my list. But as our family vacation comes to an end it makes me start to think about September and the routines we being as school resumes.
I love schedules and routines...things just run so much smoother when there is something to follow and it just makes the day flow so much nicer...
Reading a friends blog last night I found a new blog to follow which is all about organizing...I was so excited I could hardly sleep...
Even though school hasn't started I have my Weekly schedule hanging on the fridge along with my daily time schedule which helps the girls know what happens nexts. This also helps them learn to tell time b/c I have put a picture of a clock with the time on it so they can match it to the clock on the wall.
Now that I think about it...my life is full of schedules/routines/and Lists....below are the ones I love and have around our house

Menu Plan
Weekly Schedule
Monthly Calander
Time Schedule
Morning Routine List
Night Time Routine

AHHH. I love being organized!

Have a great day!

My Sister's Wedding is coming soon

I never even thought about this until Brad pointed it out...MY BABY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED in one week.

I have been in weddings and attended many but to be your sisters wedding it is feeling a bit different.

Helping Meg with all the wedding plans is so much fun. I have had to realize it is HER wedding and not mine...we are two different people and do things differently. I am overly organized and plan everything down to the last minute...Meg, well she is very relaxed and organized in her own way. But everything for her wedding is coming together so well.

I have had so much fun putting together Meg & Mich's wedding program, picking music for the ceremony, picking out the dresses, finding decorations, and my favorite...the Slide show. I can't wait.

Things have been a little stressful at times...getting dresses altered, finding the equipment for the music and slide show and finding time to do it all...but now as the weekend has given time to complete the tasks on my list I am getting so excited for the wedding.

Julia and Jade are the flowergirls and are so excited to wear thier "princess" dresses.

This weekend is going to be so much fun with spending Thursday with Meg, Kate, Mom and Dad getting the hall ready and having a few drinks up at Killbear around the fire. Friday the rest of the family and wedding party come up and we settle into the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal and the main event on the beach!!! I can't wait!!!

JULIA the BALLERINA

Last night we were able to watchJulia in her 1st Ballet Recital. I was so proud of her. She worked so hard. Here are a few pictures of her amazing night.

Can't wait til next year! Jade will be joining her too!

Looking Ahead

May was such a busy month with so many things....

1. Dan and Jenna's Wedding
2. Amy and Corey's Wedding
3. BG Club wrapping up for another year
4. Sunday School coming to a close for the summer
5. Ballet for Julia
6. Kids Day at church
7. VBS gearing up
8. VBS fundraisers going on
9. Wedding Preparations for Meg
10. Oh and then there is the daily routine with the girls, Brad's work, family matters and then all the other things that go with when you are a stay at home mom.

But with all the hustle and bustle of May brings the month that welcomes in summer. When I became a mom, summer holidays were just nothing special. It was still days at home with the kids which is normal.

But with Julia and Jade in school, ballet practice, BG CLUB, church meeting and all I am now looking forward to taking a break from the routines.

June is still busy but that is what I am use too and kind of live off of but the schedule kind of goes a little more low key...

Here are a few things I am looking forward to this summer.

1. No early mornings
2. VBS at Hillside
3. More BBQs with friends
4. Walks with the family in the evenings
5. Family Vacation to Brockville and Ottawa
6. Camping Trips with Wendy and the girls
7. and so much more that is not planned yet.

God is so Good and has blessed me with so much. I am so thankful we are able to enjoy it all.

A Great Weekend

What a great weekend! Brad and I were able to attend his cousin's wedding. The girls headed to my parents place for the night so we wouldn't have to worry about babysitters driving home late and then us being able to stay out as late as we wanted.

The wedding was a little bit different. Every wedding I have been at has always been a dutch CRC wedding...the structure of the whole day is always the same. This one was very different. It started at 5pm at the Banquet Hall. The reception began right after it. There was no music until the brides maids came down...no ushers, no unity candle...I don't even think it was a minister that married them but just an officiator...What i realized though is something that I kind of took for granted. The wedding ceremony had no mention of God. All the weddings I go to have that foundation. As nice as the wedding was, it kind of felt empty...no hope. Knowing that we have God part of our marriage gives us a foundation and something we can build our marriage on and a true example of what marriage is. I feel so blessed to have this.

It was such great time being at the table with his cousins and Wendy & Chris.. Our table was labled as the "Present Table". The table to my left was filled with all the young cousins in thier teens and early 20s. Our table was filled with 30something adults with kids under the age of 13. But my right was the table filled with all the parents...or what we labled "our future". Having a night with family, great food, great conversation. We laughed a lot and enjoyed each others company.

I love my life, my husband, my family, Brad's family and everything God has blessed me with.

Daily Struggles

As I sit down this afternoon to blog I realize that today has been a pretty good day. But in the last week things seem to be clouding my mind and covering the things I can be thankful for. Trying to figure sort through all my thoughts and make sense of them sometimes can be overwhelming. But here they are as best as I can describe them.

1)My weight...I know, have and always will struggled with this issue. 75% of the time is really dosen't bother me and I don't think of it.I joined WW and have stuck to it this time and am very happy with the results. But on those bad days...I am so ready to throw the towel in and head to the Bulk Barn and buy everything sweet and sit in my room and indulge. I hate having to watch my wieght. This isn't fun or even fair. Do I want to be skinny? No not really. I don't think I will ever be but I do want to be healthy. I am not trying to reach that "skinny" wieght but I just want to reach a size where am healthy and it is managable...I get so down on my self when I give in to my cravings and feel like I am such a failure but then I look at what I have lost and mark it off as a bad day, go to bed and wake up ready to start again.
2) JULIA...boy is she ever like me. Right now we are struggling with the issue of TEETH. SHe needs a lot of work. She dosen't like the dentist but who really does. She hit her dentist when he went to put cotton gause in her mouth. She cries, sweats and hypervenalates...I feel so sorry for her...but it has to be done...she need one molar pulled and a few filled but with out x-rays they don't realy know so they we have schduled her at RVH to be put to sleep and the work to be done then. Every time I talk about it she cry and runs away...it is so heart breaking. She also has two loose teeth that should be out but she is scared to pull them out so they are starting to hurt and so it is a stuggle to brush her teeth...no one ever told me how heartbreaking being a mom could be I feel so helpless with this, not being able to take this pain and fear away from her....
3) JADE...Toilet Training, My last one to train! I really don't remember training Julia b/c I was pregnant with Jade and Wendy helped me out alot. So Jade goes to preschool for 2.5 hours and goes to it in underwear...and she stays dry but when I bring her home she likes to stay in the underwear but she will not tell me when she needs to go ...so that means I am always on edge and always have to have her around to watch her...then she really doesn't play well, I don't get anything done and then she ends up getting upset at me b/c I keep bugging her. The way I see it when she is ready she will tell me when she has to go and really...it doesn't bother me that she is in pull ups b/c she is still my "Baby"...but still it does stress me but I think it might be my problem b/c I am lazy in really buckling down and training her

Well, I think I am going to leave it at this right now...I do have more stuff that is wieghing heavy on my mind but maybe tomorrow.