missing in action

Life has a way of keeping one busy. Tonight i am out of commission! :)

This weekend started out rather busy. Saturday morning I was at Maelie's school at 9 am to help out with the wine & cheese and silent auction preparations. I wasn't actually going to the event itself, but I helped out from 9 am - 2 pm, then did some running around at Grand & Toys in Ottawa for work.
Sunday morning, I was at work at 9 am to prepare binders for our Directors meetings on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I worked all day, then by the evening I wanted to do a bit of home baking for them, as I always do! it just wouldn't be the same without it.

So i ended up making a 6 batch of muffins (didn't calculate the liquid correctly). Then I tried a new cookie recipe, chocolate & almond. very very good if I muct say so myself. Bill and Maelie don't like them as they have almonds.
So by 10 pm last night, I was pooped! I had to get up at 4:45 this morning to be at work by 6. Everything that could go wrong this morning actually did. Well not ALL but close enough. It all worked out in the long run though, but not without draining every single ounce of energy I had left.

So tonight, I am really exhausted. And i am doing NOTHING. I promise. well almost.
There are so many things to do before the holidays. I am going to take it very easy this year. I need time for myself, and time to just stay home and relax, and perhaps clean a bit! :)

Less than a month to Christmas... almost advent calendar time.

This year instead of buying adult gifts in my family, we are donating to family members who could use the extra cash. We simply seem to have everything we need and some people have so little. I just wish i could give so much more all the time. But i do know this is a way of draining oneself...

i promise pics are coming soon! :)

pictures don't do justice

well last night i worked on my chocolates Christmas creations for quite a while. The pictures I took don't really do them justice though. My workplace, where I am currently displaying them, looks like a winter wonderland!

Here are some pictures. I am currently setting my pricelist. I am hoping to actually make a bit of money to help out at Christmas... and not just break even or under as I usually do. It seems I am afraid to charge good prices. When you think about it though, I buy a lot of chocolate, buy a lot of packaging supplies, and spend a lot of time making them.







I am donating one item to Maelie's school for their auction this weekend. I am not sure which one yet. The sleigh with chocolates around it is HUGE. The picture doesn't show the actual size. I may donate that one because it just stands out well. The candy store is also cute. I have a lot that I didn't make yet.... can't do it all in one night!

I have a lot of different patterns for baggies. I fill them with 20 chocolates. They are great stocking stuffers.



I made a bunch of suckers and placed them on a sucker rack for now.



I have a lot more to make. Eventually I will have a whole catalogue full of samples. It makes it easier for people to order some. Now would be a good time to take a few days off here and there to just make some! At least I am starting early this year!

it's up!

I think this is the earliest our Christmas tree has been up. I snuck it upstairs while Maelie was in the bath Saturday evening. When she came out she immediately wanted to decorate it. We had to wait til Sunday because I had to pick up a new set of lights. This time,. we got 2 200 packs so it will light up nicely.



It hasn't changed this year. Maelie bunched up all the snowflake ornaments together. She has been doing that for years! Decorating on the same branch over and over... So I usually come by discreetly and spread out the ornaments so that they cover the tree! She usually notices and asks me why I moved them. We are all for tradition in this house! heheh




Our Christmas tree is completely mix and match. We have been collecting ornaments and making some year after year. It doesn't look like one of those trees in a magazine but it really works for us because each ornament has its own history. Maelie's favorite at the moment? Q-tip snowflakes we made last year.

Some people wonder why I wanted to put it up this early this year. Well I find that if I keep it to December, I am already so busy doing things that I don't have the opportunity to just enjoy it being there. Therefore Christmas tree = stress. By having it up now, it doesn't mean holiday time will not be hectic, it just means that I will have already enjoyed the tree.

Happy holidays!

new park

Who knew you could always find a new park with funky new toys just about anywhere in your neighborhood?

the boyfriends

Since you asked, I will let you know which kids are Maelie's boyfriends on the class picture. For those of you who didn't know, you can click on the class picture and it will get bigger, so then you can actually see the kids.

Theo, the first love, is the little boy in the back row right in the middle. He is wearing the blue shirt. The little boy to the right of him, Mathieu, is Maelie's good friend, but she has not considered marrying him yet.

The other potential husband is Sebastien. If you look at the middle row, he is the little boy in the white shirt right below Mathieu (who has the plaid shirt). He is kind of trying to look up in the picture. He is right on top of the little girl with the pig tails.

It is so funny for Maelie to talk about these little classmates.
Angelina and I are not friends anymore. She did this... or did that...
Heather is my friend. But she bosses me around. So she isn't my friend anymore (huh?)
and it goes on and on and on....!

Kath: I was wondering about what you mentioned. I keep looking at the little girls and try and see which one will she be friends with in 27 years! :)

ribbons & fudge

"ewww gross mom. peanut butter fudge is disgusting"
"try it Maelie... you may be surprised"

Results:



Please tell me I am not the only one who gets completely excited by a bunch of Christmas ribbons?

let me get this straight

"Mom, this girl in grade one would like to come back to kindergarten"

"oh really? who?"

"well she is the sister of my new boyfriend, Sebastian"

pause.

"oh, so what about Theo? is he still your boyfriend too?"

"well yes. I don't know which of the two i'm gonna marry"

"oh, how come?"

"well, Theo has a new girlfriend. you know, Heather. the one that bosses me around"

I guess that little Theo likes controlling women! Heather and Maelie really have strong personalities. And that little boy is so sweet and quiet.

Who knew kindergarten was so complicated!

Christmas is coming

Little by little... it's time to take out or winter stuff!
I find that if I wait until December to take it all out, I have no time to enjoy it. So Halloween night, off went the Halloween curtains and tablecloth and on went the winter ones....!




My internal Christmas clock is ticking. My goal for this year would be to enjoy making things to give. Edibles being the number one gift! :) It is hard in a commercial world to focus on simplicity for the holidays, but once again, I will try my best not to fall in the trap!

Back from our weekend away

For those of you who are curious to know, I survived one night without Maelie, and with no problems at all. I love going places. anywhere really. I am not afraid of driving anywhere, no fear of getting lost. Perhaps that is just part of me, part of my personality. I enjoy the adventure. I know I can't get permanently lost, so I just enjoy finding new places.

I didn't even take pictures in Montreal! How unlike me....

When we got to my moms though, I did take pictures of the new little additions to the house. (soon to find new homes however)





Three perfect little bundles of energy. My allergies went crazy with all this baby fur flying in the house. Two of the babies have really long hair, however one has a little bit shorter hair. One is the exact replica of his mama. The yellow one is a boy and the others are girls. They are really hard to resist...!

Maelie's swimming lessons

At Maelie's last swimming lesson, I took some pictures, but didn't have a chance to post them.



She really enjoys her classes. She tries really hard and even if she is afraid of something, she will do it to show the teacher she can... ! A people pleaser already... poor kid! :)

Leaving home

Well all of you out there, the time has come for me to spend ONE whole night away from my baby girl. Yes, you read that right, I am spending the night away from Maelie for the first time in her whole history!! I did have a choice to give a 2 day training to colleagues in Montreal. I was not forced into it at all. I have been debating it for at least 3 weeks now. Wondering if I should do this, wondering if i can handle it... I don't think I am quite ready. But I will do it. I am leaving after work tomorrow for Montreal. Bill is off for 2 days to tend to Maelie, drive her to school and stuff. Then on Thursday, we will joyfully be reunited at about suppertime! My mom will meet us in Montreal and she will spend Friday with Maelie just hanging out while I do my session in our Montreal office. We will then head back to my moms for the weekend to visit family.

I'll post when I return...