Colin's Christmas Thank You

Another Christmas has come and gone, and once again, it was full of everything I love...topping the list being time spent with family and friends. It always amazes me how many gatherings we can pack in to only a few weeks, however am so thankful that we have so many wonderful people to celebrate with. Our stomachs are full (at least now that Jason and I are over the flu...ugh), some wonderful presents have been given and received and my new Christmas card clothes pin wreath (seen here) is overflowing with the faces of those who we are fortunate enough to know and love.

Colin was, not surprisingly, thoroughly spoiled this Christmas by our friends and family and he is loving his new toys. I, am loving his new clothes as well as some very special gifts that were under the tree just for me this year. It was pretty neat to watch him open each and every gift - equally excited and wanting to play with each one immediately. I can only imagine just how much more fun next year with him will be once he understands a little more and can really get into the Christmas spirit.

We are so grateful for all the amazingness that this year brought and if nothing else, want all our family and friends to know just how much we, and Colin appreciate every single one of them. Colin truly loves you all and therefore, sends his love and his thanks in his own, baby sign language way...

One, Two, Three.

Today, is Jason and my three year wedding anniversary. I know people say this all the time, and that I will probably be saying this after our 20th, 30th and 40th, but the past 3 years have flown by.

Jason and I met in the spring of 2007 and very quickly decided that we would spend our lives together. The timing of our meeting, I truly believe, was planned from the start. We had many opportunities where we could have met earlier, being that we have many mutual friends, however for one reason or another, it wasn't until a friends 30th birthday that our paths finally crossed. A few days after the party, came an invitation from Jason for a drink, which would now go down as our first official date. From that day, it took about 2 weeks for me to fall in love with him. It took about 2 weeks after that to decide that this was it for me. To be completely honest, I would have married him right then and there, 4 weeks after our first meeting. Instead we waited a little while, but not too long before sealing the deal and making our promises to each other in front of all our friends and family.

Timing has always had a way with us. The paths we took leading up to that first meeting took us many places, however I ultimately believe that they were all preparing us for each other. This year, for our anniversary, I decided to get Jason (and us, really), a bus roll graphic design piece highlighting the paths that our lives have taken which have ultimately led us here - to Clarence Rd. A local artist and graphic designer that I have really grown quite fond of, came up with the idea and sells them here. I sent her the list of places - streets, apartments, etc and she came up with this...


I am truly in love with it. I love the way it looks, especially in the spot we chose in our home, however even more so, I love what it represents. I love that we can look back and remember all the experiences we had individually, before we met and joined forces. I also love that although Clarence Rd is our squatting ground for now, something inside tells me that we won't be here forever and because of that, I am so excited to see what we can one day add to this list. At the end of the day, it just makes my heart happy to know that from Clarence Rd on, all the places we live will be together - and all the memories and experiences of this life of ours will be shared with my love and all the little loves that we are lucky enough to welcome into our family.

It has been a wonderful three years. Busy, but wonderful - just the way I like it.

Love you, J - you are my best friend and my whole world begins and end with you.

The wreaths of Clarence Rd

Ever since my Pinterest obsession started, an equal obsession with wreaths began as well and there is no better time than Christmas to start trying out some of the wreaths that I have been pinning over the course of the last few months.

I started with an extremely easy one...

This wreath now lives on the inside of the garage door and consists of a $3.99 wooden twig wreath I actually bought last year at Micheal's. After a quick spray with some white spray paint, and a bright red ribbon, it is simple, yet festive in its own way.

The second wreath was a bit more time consuming, yet much more functional at this time of year...


This wreath is made from a wire hanger (molded into a circle), wooden beads and plain old clothes pins - all sprayed white. Every year we are so lucky to have so many friends and family send us beuatiful cards with their beautiful faces. I always want to display them, however our fridge is stainless steal and therefore non-magnetic and our mantel is not quite installed yet. When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew it would be perfect and it really is! If anybody is intersted in making their own, a few suggestions:

- cut the hook part of the hanger off before trying to mold the hanger. I used a grinder and it did the trick quite easily.
- I couldn't find any beads that were big enough with holes already through the middle so I just bought plain wood beads from Micheal's and sprayed them.
- I sprayed all the pieces individually but realized after that it would have been easier to assemble everything and spray it once it was all set up. Would have been easier to ensure that it got a good coat everywhere.

The last wreath was an extremely easy, very quick craft that I put together this morning in about 10 minutes. Technically it is not a wreath per say, however it has the same feel.

I already had the pine cones from past years (in the past I just displayed them in a vase) however was looking for a new way to use them this year. Once again, Pinterest was the inspiration. I simply used the yarn that I had already purchased for gift wrapping this year and used my hot glue gun to attach the yarn to one end of the cone. This craft now hangs on the outside of our main bathroom door and adds the pop of red I was looking for in that hallway.

Now that our tree has been purchased and decorated, and all our Christmas things are out, I am getting increasingly excited for the holidays. Colin is so much more interested this year than last and his tree etiquette is improving slowly. When you love your family, friends and extended family as much as we do around here, Christmas really is the best time of year as it combines all our favorite people with good food, great celebrations and ultimately what is most important - time together.

2 Years Today.

It has been two years since we said goodbye to my wonderful Grandpa. It seems like just yesterday, but in the same respect, feels like way too long since I heard his laugh, or got one of his tight hugs. My sister and I were talking about him yesterday when her four year old son asked who we were talking about. We told him that we were talking about Grandpa's Daddy. He asked what he was like and the best words I could use to explain Grandpa to a four year old was "he was a lot of fun". He was.

I miss him everyday but love that he and my Grandma are together again - just as they always were and were always meant to be.

Focal Point

It is tough to explain, but things have somewhat slowed down around here, all while staying busier than ever. That is an odd thing to say, I realize, however is seems the best way to describe our lives at the moment. As the snow has fallen and winter has come (although today we are getting a bit of a break from the cold), the routine of life has really set in. Work, coaching, and family time have all kind of molded into one, with the busy of the every day and the constant run around that we can only blame ourselves for. That being said, volleyball for Jason is over this weekend with provincials, and Christmas is coming oh so fast, bringing with it fun parties, gift giving and extra quality family time - all worth looking forward to.

Over the past few weeks, as the snow fell and temperatures dropped, we were able to tackle the next couple of steps to our never ending fireplace project. I like to watch the progression of toys in the following pictures - goes to show how much things change over the 1st year with a baby...

What started out as this (basically a fireplace plunked down in the living room - notice, basically no toys as Colin was only a few days old)


Became this... (notice the play mat and Bumbo - obviously a non-mobile child)

Became this a few weeks ago (toys were only put away because of the tools)


And now looks like this - all ready for stone...

The seat still needs to be mudded and then when funds and time allow we will be stoning the entire thing with a stacked stone of some sort. Over the next month or so we hope to actually select the stone and price it out so we know exactly what we are saving for. We will also install a mantel at some point too.

It is great to even get those steps completed as with every one, the fireplace gets closer and closer to the picture I have in my mind. It is definitely a focal point in our open concept home so it will be great to get it to the point where it gets the glory it deserves.

Now that winter is here, the true quiet of Clarence Road has sunk in once again. I was asked by someone the other day if sometimes it gets too quiet for my liking. I thought about it for awhile and realized that although it is quiet, its saving grace is the amazing friends we have only yards away from us. It is truly the perfect compromise of quiet and craziness - considering that there are many other little boys that come with our amazing friends. Although quiet, a visit is never far away and I never feel isolated or alone out here as I might if I didn't have next door and across the road :).

And the times where you do just want the quiet that winter often brings, Clarence Road does not disappoint there either. Nothing is as quiet as a fresh morning snow.

These past couple weeks I feel like things have really started to click for Colin too. He has picked up the signs for "please" and "more" and although he could wave before, he has now started doing it at the proper time. It is amazing how smart they really are and how much language they actually do understand, even though they cannot communicate very much on their own. I remember being awed by some of the instructions that my niece could comprehend around Colin's age and now feel the same way about my own kid. He definitely challenges me, each and every day as he pushes the limits and explores past the "no" that I try to authoritatively command, however for the most part he listens and learns. He definitely loves to be around other kids (especially his cousins), although I think my nephew liked it better when Colin wasn't quite so involved and in the way - especially when it is lego time :).

#2.

Yesterday, the day before I turned 29 years old, I finally heard the sweet sound of our next babies heartbeat. It was a great birthday present and made my heart smile and breathe.

For the past 2.5 months, ever since Jason and I found out we were expecting again, we were on edge, as this baby (just like Colin did as well) gave us a bit of a run. There were days where I did not think we would ever get to meet this one, but also days where I thought we just might get the chance. The unknowingness of it all was exhausting and therefore solidifying its existence with the soft beating of its heart yesterday, made my heart finally flutter with excitement and wonder.

We are expecting to meet our new little person in the middle of May. Some people may think we getting in over our heads, considering that Colin will only be 20 months at the time that our family will go from 3 to 4, and believe me, at times I think we are. That being said, I am fully aware and conscious to the fact that it is going to be a bit of a s#*@ show over here for awhile. There will be long days, laundry piled up, and tears all around I'm sure.

I guess I am just crazy enough to look forward to it all.

The slowest shark attack ever.

I guess this is how sharks look when they are still learning to walk...