Resolutions

According to an online dictionary, this is the definition of "resolution":

res-o-lu-tion = noun

1. a resolve or determination

2. the act of determining upon an action or course of action

3. firmness of purpose

Sounds OK, right? But partner it with New Year's and suddenly you have a scary proposition. A New Year's resolution connotes a cold turkey method of changing yourself. No wonder very few people keep their resolutions. They have set themselves up for failure before they even get started. Every January I would make resolutions for the New Year and I would forget about them by the end of January. Then I got smart and started to call them "goals" for the year. I make a list of the things that I would like to improve on or try and I give myself a whole year to work on them. This way I don't feel bad if I don't get it right in the first week or even the first month. Every few months I would go back and check on my list to see how much I've accomplished and to remind myself of the things I still want to do. 

On that note, here are my goals for 2008:

1. I want to move more. I am sedentary by nature, but I would like to change that. I'm not going to join a gym or force myself to work out. Instead I want to work it into my life, like go for more walks, go snowshoeing more, spend more time in the garden. And if I can work off some of the flab I've acquired after having four kids, then it's a bonus. 

2. I want to work on finding my voice. I tend to not ask for help or say anything when something bothers me. Then I end up keeping it all pent up inside and getting angry. Life is too short and I don't have the energy any more. My dreams become filled with scenarios of me yelling and screaming and I wake up feeling drained. 

3. Find something just for me. I don't know what that is yet. It doesn't have to be anything monumental, just something that is all mine. 

4.  "Me" time. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself. That is going to change. I'm going to carve out some time just for me to do the things that I want to do. I have projects that I can't complete because I keep getting interrupted every few minutes. I can't even keep my work spaces tidy because I'm lucky to get ten minutes to myself. This is going to be where finding my voice is going to come in handy. I will have to learn to tell Will when I need him to take care of things for me while I have some quiet time. 

5. I want to be better about keeping in touch with people. Friends and family are so important and I want to have them around me more even if it's just by having a short telephone call. 

So, watch out 2008! Here I come! 

Christmas Photos

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Solstice celebration! Here is just a highlight of our Christmas this year.

We opened our presents to each other at home on Christmas Eve. It was important that the kids get a break from opening presents. Besides, it's much more fun to spread Christmas out. The kids still got a visit from Santa and opened their stockings Christmas morning.

On Christmas day, we went over to Will's parent's house in the afternoon to open more presents. Jimmy, Sarah and the girls were there too and this year Kordon and Morgan were up from Utah. It was a full house with chaos and paper everywhere. It was wonderful!

Having a snuggle with Auntie Sarah.

A few years ago I started a tradition of taking a picture of the family with their favorite present. Kyla chose the cash register that she got from Jamie and Olivia, although it was a toss up between that and the CD player she got from Will and I. Moira chose her Barbie alarm clock and her pink camera. Will picked his boxed set of Futurama DVD's. As for me, my favorite was the gift certificate from Victoria's Secret. Their semi-annual sale starts in a couple of weeks. I can hardly wait!

Poll Results

Thanks for voting everyone! Here are the results:

What is your favorite part of Christmas?

2 votes for the food

2 votes for presents

1 vote for decorations 

3 votes for getting together with family and friends

Check out this week's new poll. 

Holiday Fun

OK, so I basically ripped off Sarah's last post on her blog, but it was a lot of fun and I wanted to share it with all of you. Happy holidays! 

If you want to find out what kind of holiday treat you are, click on the picture. 

 I am a computer dummy and couldn't make the following address into a link so copy and paste it into your browser to see Santa and his reindeer sing.

  http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf

Poll Results

We only got two votes this time and they were both for Holly Jolly Christmas. Does this mean that nobody liked the song selections I chose? I posted a new poll for this week. Check it out. 

Santa

Last night we went to see Santa at the mall. We waited for at least an hour, but the girls did really well. They didn't complain at all. I guess they knew better than to act up in front of The Big Guy. 

Here are the girls getting all gussied up for their meeting with Santa.

Sitting with Santa

Kyla started to cry as soon as it was time to meet Santa. Once she got off his knee she was fine and was waving good-bye to him. 

Baking Cookies

The other day we made gingerbread cookies. It was a real group effort!

Moira was our baker.

Kyla was our Quality Control girl, trying cookie after cookie to make sure they met up to her standards. 

Suki was part of the clean up crew. She patiently waited for Kyla to drop even the tiniest morsel and she was on it in a flash. 

Liam was the supervisor, sitting in his seat watching us. 

Contest

I just finished putting in my entry for a Christmas ornament contest through Creating Keepsakes. I usually don't participate in scrapbooking contests or challenges, but I was already making my own ornaments so I thought that I might as well post them on their website and see if I could actually win. If you want to check them out go to www.creatingkeepsakes.com and click on the "gallery" link. At the moment I'm still on the first page, but I'm sure that won't last long. I can't believe all the stuff people post on the gallery. Anyway, I have 4 posts and if you look for "designer: robynjt", that will be me. I will find out on Wednesday morning. Wish me luck!

First Laugh

Liam laughed for the first time yesterday. It was a good hearty laugh. It was a joy to hear. 

Christmas Tree

We decorated our Christmas tree this evening. Moira, Kyla and I decorated it while Will and Liam watched. I think Kyla put one decoration on and then she lost interest. I love the smell of a real tree. Every year the kids get a new ornament and this year Liam got his first one. I made the kids' this year instead of buying them. It was fun. 

Create Your Own Post

(This is for you, Erica!)

We had a good "conversation" on the Respect Part II post so I thought it would be fun to try it again, but this time I will leave it up to you. What would YOU like to talk about? Husbands, kids, life? Is there something that you want to gripe about? Well, here is your chance. This is a safe blog. I am selective on who I allow to read it so feel free to let 'er rip and know that it will go no further. 

Have some fun!

Poll Results

Thanks to all of you who participated in my poll. We had one vote for Rudolph (that was me) and three for the Grinch. I wonder if the Grinch would be pleased that he got so many votes or if it would only make him crankier. 

Check out my new poll for this week. 

Love to you all!

This Week's Updates

We had to do a little tough love last Saturday and take Kyla's crib down. After a week she was still wanting to sleep in it and not her bed. The first couple of nights Will and I stayed with her until she fell asleep, but slowly we starting sitting with her less and less. Now we sit with her for just a few minutes and she is fine. She stays in her bed and can fall asleep on her own. I think she had gotten so used to sleeping in her crib that she didn't want to sleep anywhere else. She loves her bed and always wants me to sit with her on it and she likes to get dressed on it. It's a novelty for her that she can get on and off of it on her own. 

Since we've been trying to get her to transition to her bed we haven't been pushing the potty training. We still suggest it, but if she refuses we don't push the issue. One thing at a time. 

As for Moira, she is still experiencing the "snotty sixes". When she's not in a mood, she really is a lovely girl to be around. I love to see her being kind to her sister. Kyla adores her when she's in a good mood. 

Will and Liam

Will was being cheeky so I told him that I was going to put this photo on the blog. 

Here is our cat Lucy. She wanted to have her picture taken too. 

My handsome boy!

Our House

Here are a couple of photos of the front of our house. I'm sad to say that we are only one of about five houses in our whole neighbourhood that have lights up. Where is your spirit, people?! We've already taken one drive through other neighbourhoods to see their lights. Some people really go all out. It's fun to see, but I like how ours isn't over done. It looks cozy and intimate. I love going out and coming home to see the lights on our house. I thought it would be so fun to get a couple of the lighted reindeer that move their heads and leave them outside for the girls on Christmas morning, telling them that Santa had left two of his reindeer for them. But we don't have any place to store them for the rest of the year. 

Holiday Wishes

Respect, part II

I really need to feel the love, everyone! I'm having a frustrating day. 

This afternoon a certain person who shall remain nameless informed me that my house was full of crap and she wanted to send a mutual acquaintance over while I wasn't home to throw everything out. Nice, huh? This coming from a person who has held on to stuff for 37 years and has old catalogues from at least 5 years ago. This person also has a large house and an outbuilding filled with everything imaginable. I guess I shouldn't feel so insulted but I am. You don't tell people things like that. This person also snapped at Moira for saying that she thought meat was yucky. She said, "You've never even tried it!" I wanted to remind her of an evening several years ago when her spouse was shoving turkey down Moira's throat even though my wishes over the matter were very clear. 

What happened to respect anyway? I was very glad that Moira was noticed for her respect at school, but, quite frankly, she shows very little of it at home. I love her to death, but she can really be a little snot. Sometimes I feel like a horrible parent for having to lose my temper and nag all the time. Moira just doesn't listen to what we have to say. I've tried being nice, I've tried punishment and I've plain just repeated myself over and over. She doesn't get it. 

I think it's society. People show very little respect to anyone. What happened to social graces like RSVP'ing when  it's requested or saying thank you? Those are two of my pet peeves when they are ignored. It seems like those things have gone down the toilet. If somebody says that we are busier these days I will deck them. People will always make time for the things that are important to them and social graces should be important enough. They are to me. Are my standards too high? 

Respect

This morning Moira got a citizenship award at school. November's citizenship topic was respect. She got an award and a pin plus a gift certificate to a pizza place. She was very proud of herself as were Will and I.

Curly Locks

Curly locks, curly locks

Will you be mine?

You shall not wash the dishes nor yet feed the swine,

But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam

And feed upon strawberries, sugar and cream. 

Punked Out

Here is Liam's mohawk. The girls think it's hilarious when they make his hair stand up.

Kyla's New Bed

We got Kyla a new bed on Saturday. We drove up to Council, which is two hours away, to get it. We had nothing else to do and it was a nice day for a drive. So far Kyla hasn't slept in it. We just about got her to tonight, but then she announced she was done and so we put her back in her crib. I guess it was a good thing that we left it up in her room. I'm sure it will take a few days for her to get used to having a bed to sleep in. Moira had no problem transitioning, but Kyla needs more time. 

Playing silly beggars!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know that it's not a holiday for most of you who read my blog, but who says you need to have a special day just to count all of the great things in your life?  Take time everyday to be grateful for what you have. 

This year I am grateful for so many things. Here are just a few:

my family

my friends

a car that works

food in my fridge

my pets

I'm also grateful for the things that I don't have like large amounts of debt and negative people in my life. 

I hope you all have a lot to be thankful for and that you take the time to acknowledge them. 

On a more cynical note, tomorrow marks the beginning of the Christmas season. And that means shopping. This morning I pulled out the largest newspaper of the year, filled with lots and lots of ads to tempt people to get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) to spend, spend, spend. Some department stores are advertising that they will open at 4am. I even heard that our mall is going to open at 1am, although not all of the stores will be open. There will be special sales until noon only and prizes to the first few customers in the store. I have to admit that I am tempted to get up and go shopping at 4am just to see if people really get up that early hoping for a great bargain. I guess if people get excited about Christmas through shopping then maybe it's not such a bad thing. Personally shopping doesn't do it for me. I would rather show people that I care for them on a regular basis, not just one time a year through lots of stuff. That's just me, I guess.

There is one more thing that I am grateful for - ME!

The First Snow

Let it Snow!

Let it Snow!

Let it Snow!

We woke up to snow this morning. It wasn't a lot - just enough to barely cover the grass. I was surprised to see it. I've discovered that it's a great alarm clock. When I went to get Moira up this morning for school, I told her it had snowed and she jumped up and out of bed in a real hurry. Usually it's such an ordeal to get her up every morning. 

The snow didn't last long. Even by the time I took these photos at 10 am, the snow was already starting to melt. By 1:00 the snow was gone and the sun was shining. It was pretty while it lasted.