Art

One of my priorities for 2012 is for me to create more opportunities for Sophie to do art and for Fynn to have less TV time (ideally with books, but a colouring book works too).

His attention span for colouring is not particularly strong. Sophie enjoyed her new Junior Artist oil pastels. They are really inexpensive and can be purchased at an office supply store.

2012 Priorities

I am a fairly goal oriented person. I like to set my mind to do something, accomplish it, and tick it off my list. I found a good article here (linked through Karen’s site) that is helpful. I like things that I can look back on and feel good about accomplishing. My MBA, trip to NYC, Boston, and running a 10km are a few. So was ensuring that Fynn was baptized last year and that we made sure Sophie received piano lessons. It was not an easy year, but very rewarding.

So, here are my goals for each priority:

Family
1. Read to Fynn daily. Somehow this has gotten lost and he has fallen into the habit of wanting the TV on at night. Not a great habit at all.
2. Have a family walk or bike ride (when weather is warmer) once a week.
3. Do more art with Sophie. I bought her some pastels today for kids. I think she will really like them.
4. Volunteer once before the end of the school year at Sophie’s school. That doesn’t seem like much, but it is hard for me to get away from the office. I have read that parents who are involved with their kids schools have kids that do better in school.
5. Set weekly date nights with Vic. This is a priority and something we both committed to over the Christmas break.

Health
1. Exercise everyday. Even if it is just a walk. That is okay!
2. Find a trainer so I can add basic weight-training and strength exercises weekly
3. Drink at least two glasses of water a day. I know that is really low, but better than what I am doing now.
4. Get minimum 7hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends
5. Only 1-2 lattes per week (I am allowed a Tim’s each workday however)

Work
I have some work goals that I am working on formulating still, so I won’t post here.

Create/Art/Photography
1. Complete one scrapbook layout a month. I have really not done much scrapbooking since Fynn turned 1. Just some birthdays and milestones. I would like to do more of the everyday. A creative release is good for the soul.
2. Learn how to take some photos with my new micro lens . Enrol in a Shutter Sisters class.

Travel
1. Travel has become an important area of focus for Vic and I over the past few years. We are now officially “middle aged” and we are much more aware that we need to make opportunities for travel to happen rather than putting them off.
2. A trip for Vic and I to Amsterdam. We have started researching.
3. A fun family trip with my extended family to Disneyland in the fall.
4. A spring break trip to Vancouver Island.
5. A trip to Barkerville in the summer with our friends Bryan and Patti. The kids will love it.

Reading
1. Read a book every two weeks. Continue to request / order books from the library to ensure I am reading what I want and not leaving my selections to chance.

Learning
1. Take one class non work related locally. Don’t know what about yet.

Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
1. Continue to go out for breakfast on Fridays with Vic, Bryan and Patti
2. Make a coffee date with Kim (1 per quarter)
3. Leave comments on blogs I read once a week

Home
1. Work on (work in progress) making the front study/piano/sitting room homier. Art work, a carpet/rug
2. Locate and purchase a carpet/rug for our bedroom
3. Art for kids play area

Thoughts to Cultivate
Over Christmas, I created a major focus area on something I am going to improve on. Something that I will likely need to come back to again and again this coming year since it is my Achilles heel.
1. Let go of worry and rumination This is definitely the biggest issue for me. I used to be a big worrier. Now I would say that has flipped to rumination. I am always thinking back to bad events or things that did not go well, digging into the painful memory and making it worse. I have taken out a great book and am reading it now. It has already made a difference in how I think. I want to be very mindful about my triggers for rumination.
2. Slow down and be aware I tend to be an over-achiever which is great but because I am so task-oriented and accomplishment-focused, I often rush through things. I am focused on the end and I don’t enjoy the journey. I don’t slow down. I don’t take my time, explore, learn, as much as I could. So my plan this year is to slow down considerably. Take my time reading and thinking. If some things don’t get done, that’s ok. Since my word for this year is acceptance, this is something I plan to pay extra-attention to. I need to reduce the pressure on myself and ask for help more often. This is usually related to chores related to the kids.
3. Do not yell This one is self-explanatory. I literally feel sick when other people yell. Especially at my kids. I hate it in myself when I yell. It is mostly at Sophie and Fynn. This is a non negotiable. It will not happen.
4. Be patient. This one goes along with 2 and 3. I need to practice more patience. I don’t need to rush through everything. Fynn and Sophie are only 4 and 7. They are good, sweet children. They deserve my patience. So does my husband. And me, too, I deserve being patient with myself. I am patient with my coworkers, but I can’t seem to muster up the patience when I get home each night.
5. Embrace joy I want to seek joy. I want to quit worrying and ruminating and embrace life and joy and bring forth good things in my life. Joy, fun, laughter.
And there we are. I am sure more will come up. But these are some of what’s on my mind.
Here’s to hoping 2012 is great for all of us!

haircuts for the new year

Both Sophie and Fynn had their hair cut to today. Sophie's was getting really unruly due to the length it had gotten to.

On top of a new haircut, she also lost her top front tooth.

She is really looking grown up!

Peace

Our day started at about 7:50am when the kids came down to our bedroom. I had told them that they could open the 1 present that was under the little tree in Sophie's room. The present was a little craft from my aunt. It kept the kids busy for a bit.

The rest of the day was really nice. We opened the presents one at a time. The pile was fairly small under the tree, but just enough to feel exciting for the kids.

Sophie loved her Barbie's camper and Fynn with his Hot Wheels track.

I enjoyed the quiet of a day where we had no real obligations. Since we had our turkey dinner yesterday we didn't have that extra work today. We had a nice breakfast of french toast, some cheese and crackers for lunch, and then pizza for dinner.

We relaxed, went for a run (Vic), walk (me) and the kids had lots of play time. Without company, it is very quiet. A nice way to spend the day.

Christmas Eve

Today we took a walk down the nature trail in Salmon Arm with the kids to help them burn off some pre-Christmas excitement.

Later we had our turkey dinner - yum! Vic did a great job of pulling it off.
We had pumpkin pie from the Shuswap Pie Company.

We then went to Christmas Eve service at church. We watched a movie after that -- The Little Fokkers. Very funny but a little too PG in some spots.

The kids were very wound up but hit the hay about 10:30.

Merry Christmas!

2012 art work

Source: google.com via Naoph on Pinterest

Needing a mental break from all things Christmas tonight, I started thinking about artwork. I would love to own a piece of original art. We have a painting that one of Vic's clients did for him and it is in our spare bedroom.

We saw this painting at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. It glows in a beautiful way. It is by the artist Childe Hassam. I would love to have this in our study / piano room. Hassam was an impressionist painter. This particular piece is titled Boston Common at Twilight.

Star Kids Ski Lessons

We took our second trip of the ski season up to Silver Star today. Sophie and Fynn each took in a 2.5 hour lesson.

Observations/feedback from their instructors:
- Fynn was very "positive" and showed some resilience in wanting to get back up when he had fallen,etc.

- Sophie needs be challenged on some blue runs. She is managing just fine on green now. She is not quite ready for ski poles yet, either. She also did the chair lift once and seemed okay with that.

Vic and I had about an hour and a half to do a few runs before we had to pick them up from their lessons. It was just right. My feet were getting really cold. We are both thinking that some of these will be a good investment.

Tummy Troubles

Sophie has had some tummy troubles the past few days. She had been complaining of a sore tummy which seemed to be getting progressively worse. I made a mental note to have her checked out by our doctor this week. However on Saturday night she woke up at around 1am complaining of a sore tummy. Not wanting to take chances (I always worry about appendicitis) I took her to the ER. She was checked out by the ER doctor who said she was likely constipated. She was given a glycerin suppository (which she did not like) and we were then released to go home. About an hour after we got home she woke up again, this time with diarrhea and vomiting. It was a big mess, and Vic and I spent the better part of 4:00-5:00am cleaning up. Sunday was uneventful. Sunday night I put her to bed and about 10:30pm she woke again complaining of a stomach ache. Thinking for sure something must be wrong; we went back to the ER. The same doctor was on. This time he took a blood sample, since in appendicitis the white blood cell count is usually high. He also ordered an x-ray of her stomach. He called me over to look at the x-ray.

What we saw was interesting: her intestine contained quite a bit of stool (poop) stuck in it. This was likely what was causing the stomach pain. It really was a bad case of constipation. Again, she was given a suppository which really didn’t do too much. They wanted to watch her so we slept on a gurney in the ER for about 2 hours. Finally at 2:30am, I woke up and asked the nurse if we could leave since it appeared that she wasn’t getting any worse. The doctor wanted us to come back at 7am to check her out before his shift was over. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, not a chance – I couldn’t imagine going back in a few hours. I was exhausted and I needed a bit of sleep so I could work today.

She has been drinking lots of water, eating fruit and drinking prune juice. So far, a bit of action has been happening – and her tummy doesn’t seem to be bothering her as much. We have an appointment with our family doctor tomorrow to have her checked out. We are both hoping for a quiet night with some sleep tonight. Needless to say, constipation is not a fun thing. She is going to start liking prune juice!

Home Alone

For $5 I picked up the DVD Home Alone. It is such a classic that has stood the test of time, so I think it will be a good one to have in our small DVD Christmas movie library. I was testing the kids on Home Alone trivia after dinner tonight. Incidentally the house where the movie was filmed is up for sale. I love that house.

Sophie's friend Maggie came over today, so I snapped a few photos.

The Nutcracker

Today was Sophie's last day of school before Christmas break. Her class had a little Christmas tea and made a Yule Log.

Her class had a secret Santa gift exchange and the kids were not supposed to buy gifts, but make or reuse something. Sophie had Cami's name, so we used some of my pink fabric stash and an iron on sparkly transfer and sewed up a pillow for her dolls. Cami clutch her new pillow all afternoon -- it was really cute.

I have always wanted to see the Nutcracker Ballet at Christmas. When I learned that it was coming to Vernon I bought the four of us tickets a couple of months ago. It was GREAT! We got all dressed up and went down to Vernon for dinner. The kids were entranced for two hours and Fynn was really good - he only got restless the last 10 minutes or so and even then he was still quite composed. Sophie wants to make it a Christmas tradition - which sounds perfect to me.

The Weekend Lens

We had a short trip to Vernon today to pick up a few things then back in time for Sophie's Dance Christmas program.

Fynn and Sophie's joyful expression is from watching their video message from Santa. Pretty cool.

Christmas Parties

Tonight was a double special evening: we were invited over to our friends Margaret and Pauls to help them celebrate their wedding (they got married in a small ceremony this afternoon).

Following a lovely reception at their home we headed out to my office Christmas party.

Sophie snapped our photo before we headed out the door. The kids had a blast with their sitter Dory who entertained them with crafts, colouring, stories and popcorn.

Christmas lights and Brownie Camp

Sophie had a great time at her Christmas Brownie camp. They did crafts, had hot chocolate and ate turkey dinner with popsicle sticks :)

Daddy and Fynn put up the Christmas lights this afternoon.
Later I took the kids to the SASCU (my work) Children's Christmas party.

Fynn has been feeling whiny and so emotional this weekend. Part of it is lack of sleep due to a couple of late nights. I am so ready for an early night with him tonight.

First trip of the season to Silver Star

Sophie was at her 2-night Brownie camp this weekend, and we got a babysitter for Fynn for a few hours so Vic and I could go up to Silver Star. It was the first ski day of the season. Good to check out our equipment, figure out what extra clothing layers we had forgotten (we both got cold towards the end) and re-familiarize ourselves with the mountain.

Fynn and I are having a relaxing afternoon. I've been thinking about how to incorporate more minimalist living into our Christmas preparations.

Each of the kids is getting two gifts (one from Santa and one from mom and dad) and their stockings. I generally limit the Christmas decorations to the tree and the mantle area. I think I will buy a nice pointsetta again this year and that should be good. I think resisting the temptation to buy more ornaments is key.