It's official!

January 10th has come and gone!  I officially started my home daycare on Monday.  It's been so much fun!  I have 2 little ones, plus Baby home all day and then Monkey gets off the bus in the afternoons.  I've wanted this for a long time, but now that it's here, it's even better than I had hoped.  Sure, there is crying and some small toddler 'fights' to deal with, but I get to lay on the floor and sort blocks and colour all day!  I get to bake and cook all the time - ALL. THE. TIME.  I have time during the day to keep my kitchen clean and make grocery lists and even get some laundry done while the little ones nap.

The best part?  I'm home for my girls.  I'm home but also paying my portion of the bills!  It's a wonderful thing.  Goodnight all!

*hugs*

January 10th

I have been working my little tushie off!  January 10th is the beginning of something great!!
Oh yeah, and I quit my job.

:P

Come on 2011!!

Photo Roulette Friday - __(9)

This week for photo roulette we get to pick the folder!  Then it is the th photo in that folder that gets submitted.  I couldn't pick just one.  LOL  The 9th photo in some of my folders were just too great, and so very random from one another, not to share (but the first one will be my entry).  So here we go:

This is the hot air balloon that Mr. Penguin and I rode in for our 1st anniversary back in 2008 - before it was inflated.  It was about 5am in this shot and the team was about to turn on the burners for the hot air.  This ranks as one of the best experiences of my life to date.

I hate winter.  I hate snow.  This is the amount of snow we received in March 2008.  The trucks started filling the mall parking lots with snow as there was no where else to put it.  I was SO ready for spring/summer that year!

This is my wonderful man walking his step-daughter to the Peggy's Cove lighthouse for the first time.  She's so little here!

This is baby at the sugar bush this year.  I love the colours.

This is one of my shots from our first trip to Kingston.  The reflections are from the building across the water.

Want to link up?  Head on over to Mischief and Laughs.

The Happiness Project

I got my book from Amazon.ca today!  The Happiness Project is something I will be starting on January 1st, 2011.  I had purchased it last Saturday at Chapters, but having found it for HALF the cost on Amazon, I returned it and ordered a new one.  I also bought 2 more copies of it and shipped them to my BFF and Mom (and Dad - but they'll share a copy) as they want to start it with me!  I am so excited!! 


If you haven't heard about it, check out the website here.  I am slowly starting my lists and prep work involved.  Just getting half way through the book has made me realize that I do a lot of things not because *I* like them, but because they are supposed to be things I'm supposed to like.

No more.

2011 is going to be a very hard year for me.  I am about to challenge my comfort zones and push myself to take the leaps I've been avoiding (such as going to university or college, choosing a career I WANT, not just something I'm good at, and clearing my home of crap to make room for my family's memories and adventures).  I will be continuing with my health goals from previous posts as well as adding more.


Want to join us on January 1st, 2011?  We're located on Facebook here.

New Book

I started reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin today. Such an interesting read. It goes right along with my 101/1001 list, but on a grander scale.

I will be subscribing to the blog and modifying some of my 101/1001 list to reflect the tasks she completed that I want to complete in my own life.

I recommend.
*hugs*

ETA: I will be starting my own Happiness Project to be tied into my 101/1001 list.  Some things I will change on my list, others I will incorporate into my life on top of my list.  I am so excited for this journey!  I will have more to share once I sort my thoughts.

Lot# 170

We survived our first family trip camping!  I can't wait to go again next year.  I think we'll even stay on the same lot we had.  It was close to the washrooms/showers, had a water pump on site and was somewhat private from the road.  And the park wasn't far from home either - about 2 hours.

Relaxing.

We went with friends and our little ones.  The babies seemed to have fun.  Baby was interested in getting into everything and wanted to explore more of the site, but until she can walk she couldn't really do so.

Waving at her friend.

It drizzled a bit and we had some winds, but overall it was good weather.  A little cooler, but that just made for better snuggling time!

Hammock snuggles.

The mornings were so peaceful...

Our tents.

There were interesting things to be seen...

MUSHROOM! MUSHROOM! (no snakes...)

And baby napped REALLY well!  Her sleeping bag was great and she actually slept in it with it zipped all the way up the second night.  It was adorable - but unfortunately too dark for a photo. She napped so soundly for her last nap, that us taking down the tent around her didn't even wake her up!

Sound sleeper.

Overall a great family experience.  I cannot wait to take Monkey next year for a few days!  I love creating memories for my babies.  And for me and Mr. Penguin too.

<3

*hugs*

Raw(e) - Yellow

This week:

YELLOW

 

Head on over to Sailor & Company to link up to Raw(e)

Have FUN!

Remember:

Straight out of the camera shots ONLY.

Link up to your ONE photo so that people

can find it easily and you can win!

 

 

#86

I ended up crossing something off my list tonight!  Kind of funny actually.  My brother and his girlfriend just moved into their new apartment yesterday and we happened to go there for a visit tonight.  They served up hotdogs, my parents brought chips and pop and I brought the kids.  We all sat on a blanket and had a picnic in the middle of the living room.

It counts!

#86 - Go on a picnic

Preparations

We're going camping!  It's my second time out and will be baby's first.  Mr. Penguin is fully trained in search and rescue tactics and survival - so we don't count him.  Today me and the girls went out to pick up some things for the trip.  Monkey won't be able to join us as she will be at her father's place, but she was excited to get things ready and plan for our future family trips.

I bought the CUTEST little sleeping bag today for baby!  It's so small!  But should last her until about age 3.  Then I picked up some pants, a long sleeved shirt and hat at Mountain Equipment Coop.  She's all ready to go!

*hugs*

Deck it to me!

I'm currently relaxing on our swing drinking my morning tea and watching my babies play. Life is peaceful and wonderful.

My thoughts last night involved thinking I might attempt to add onto our deck next year. I have a book with simple deck plans and how to expand and create different levels, and it uses basic tools that we currently have in my workshop. Now the plans themselves are a little scary, but I only looked at them briefly, so I think it could be done. It would definitely be an awesome project to take on with Mr. Penguin!! I'll see what he thinks.

*hugs*


- Sent from my iPod.

How many is TOO many?!

I'm getting my nephew on Saturday for a few hours -- he's 3.  No problem!!  I only have 2 kids under the age of 5 of my own and no husband around. 

I may be insane.

But it's a good insane!  We'll have hot dogs outside in the kiddie pool for lunch (with a fruit cup and milk to round off the food groups) and a nap in the afternoon and lots of running around and screaming and enjoying the sunny weather.  It'll be great and the kids will love it.  I will crawl into bed at 8pm spent, but it'll totally be worth it.

At the 'ancient' age of 28, I never want another kid of my own -- I'm done.  However that does not mean that some kids aren't cute or that I can't enjoy entertaining them.  I just don't want to push any more of them out of my nether regions.

Bring on Saturday.  I'm ready.

*hugs*

Take action.

After yesterday's ramblings I'm moving forward.

I've created my 101/1001 list and am creating the life I want bit by bit.  I'll trip, I'll fall...but I will get back up.
What do you want for yourself?

*hugs*

Interest.

The interest rate is WHAT?!?!

Yeah.  We're having a boatload of fun over here at the Penguin household.  Woo.  As we calculate our debt, add up the amounts and discover how much we're being raped in interest charges...we realize how much better life will be when we learn to live without all this credit.

Some day I hope to be living fully within our means.  No credit cards, no interest charges, no more worries.  The habits we have are learned from an early age.  I'm watching our parents...and I'm thinking we need to break this habit or we're never going to get out of debt.  I don't want to pass this on to our girls.  I want them to be patient and appreciate things.  I want them to work hard and know that getting where you want to be takes hard work.

I want to learn to work hard for myself and for what I want.  I want to fully appreciate what I have already in this life, not what I want tomorrow or next week -- to love and be happy where I am.  So here we go with the stark truth.  There is no more hiding from it or pretending it doesn't exist.  Our time has come to face our mistakes and learn from them.

This is for you, my darling babies.  xo

*hugs*

On our way to debt-free.

Money. 

It's not talked about as much as it should be.  People in general are in debt -- and think it's normal.  I'm tired of it.  I'm the worst offender between Mr. Penguin and me and it is about to stop.  We're starting a plan and we're starting it NOW.

Join us -- you can do it too.

It begins today.  I am printing statements as I type.  Mr. Penguin and I are pretty familiar with what we owe and the interest rates.  We just haven't been pro-active in getting rid of it -- for good.  I will be updating our stats for myself.  To put them out there to keep me motivated.  Feel free to browse, to laugh or just to take comfort that your situation may not be so bad.  ;)

3 years or less baby...let's do this.

*hugs*

Alice.

Mr. Penguin and I had a date night last night!  With 2 kids and a hectic schedule (soon to be more hectic), we don't get too many opportunities to date as much as we'd like to.  I'm thinking I need to find a reliable teenager in my neighborhood to start babysitting....ANYWAYS -- After putting baby penguin to bed and leaving her with the in-laws, we headed out for a late night showing of Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX 3D theatre.

Tim Burton is one WEIRD guy.   Don't get me wrong, the movie was amazing.  But seriously, that guy is special.  The things that he brought to life in that film came from a wacked out place in someone's noggin'.  Just saying.  That aside, I found the movie to be very beautiful.  The colours and scenery were lush and vibrant.  I think most scenes would make fantastic oil paintings.  I'd hang one in my house!  Maybe I should call Disney...

After movie snuggles, junk food and a drive in the middle of the night with some Tim Hortons coffee...I was one happy woman.  The handsome man with his arm around my waist all night didn't hurt things either.  ;)

*hugs*

Grocery shopping.

I think I could be admitted to a mental institute today.  I decided, on a SATURDAY, to take not one, but TWO kids to the grocery store. 

Yes I did. 

Why?  Well apparently I'm missing some sort of thrill in my life that involves navigating a cart in small aisles around half the city, most of who don't know how to be courteous or even seem to notice that they are rude and not the only people on the planet.

Take, for instance, the man I was caught behind in the canned aisle.  As well as the cleaning aisle, fruit aisle and also in the self check out aisle.  Seriously, I didn't follow him!  I purposely took an alternative route.  If he went left, I went right...but somehow I ended up behind him at every turn.  This man was in his own world.  Like outer space.  He had his son with him who could have been 10? 12? who was bored out of his tree.  And blocking the aisle so I couldn't get by -- but that's another issue. 

The Dad figure had a list - which I'm assuming was a grocery list - about 4 inches from his face at all times.  He'd stop to inspect cans, verify the list, check the can again, put it down, pick up another can...you get the idea.  Either he's really slow or his wife if VERY specific on what type of canned tuna he should bring home.  I managed to get away from him only to find him again in the cleaning aisle - doing the same actions with the laundry detergent.  Once I stumbled into the same line at the self checkout that he was in I knew karma was kicking my butt for something I've done recently.  He would pick up a bag, inspect it, enter the code manually, weigh it, check the screen, pick it up, verify again and THEN put it in his basket.  He had a full cart of groceries.

Yeah..........The self checkout was created for those who have few groceries, can work technology and so that people could be processed faster.  This guy was the opposite of all of that.  I wanted to cry.

I've learned my lesson.  Saturdays will never again be spent with both kids grocery shopping.  I don't care if we have to eat KD for each meal all weekend long - it'll be worth it.  You know what the worst part is?!  We don't even NEED anything.  It was all for routine stuff to fill the pantry and make sure I had all my veggies for the week to come -- no biggie.

I'm so glad I picked up those chocolate covered pretzels on my way out.  They helped ease my stress on the way home.

*hugs*

Goals.

I have quite a few goals for this year:

• To make my new job into something I will love and be proud of for years to come.
• To get healthier than I was raised and have become -- making exercise a daily occurrence for me and the family and good food the norm.
• To show my darling babies new things.
• To get out with Mr. Penguin and try at least 2 new things.
• To make our house into a warm and inviting sanctuary...and actually be able to find the floor in all of its rooms.
• To keep discovering who I am, what I love and what it means to be me -- which includes taking some sort of class.
• To continue learning about photography, how to edit photos and utilizing our camera to its full potential so I can continue with our plans for a side business.
• To be ready for Xmas...in October.
• To continue with my scrapbooks so that I can preserve our cherished memories for years to come.

........................and the list goes on and on.

For this coming month of March, I'd like to edit some of the photos I've taken.

 

This requires some more studying of Gimp on my part.  I'd like to make this shot into something amazing that I can frame for our office.  It just screams home to me and I want to have it where I can see it -- but looking its best of course.  ;)

And I also want to finish my Mom's Xmas gift in March -- the one for 2009 that I didn't have time to finish in time.  Oops.  I am finishing a half-stitch that she started when pregnant with me.  It was of a boy and girl praying.  She 'ruined' it (her words, not mine) and cut off the boy part she had started.  Funny enough that left the girl part -- and then she had me and kept it for 18 years.  LOL  I had to restart the stitch as I ran out of the original blue wool it came with.  So now I've updated the blue to a emerald teal-ish color and am hoping to frame it and give it to her.  I thought it would be something really meaningful and sentimental.

She probably won't even know where it came from.

Oh well.

It's still a gift!

Have a good hump day!

*hugs*

Balloon ride.

I came across our balloon ride photos this afternoon as I scoured my laptop for photos for my scrapbooks...

 

Mr. Penguin and I took a hot air balloon ride on what we call our Independence Day (ie - the day we both changed our lived for the better).  What an experience!  We were the only people (us and the 9 others on board) who got to see the sun that day -- it was cloudy in the city.  Amazing.

 

It was freeing and thrilling and wonderful...PERFECT for the occasion.   

These I am printing.

 Our Independence Day is still a few months off, but it got me thinking about what I'd like to share with my man this year.  We've talked about rafting -- that would be fun!  Last year I gave birth to our daughter...not exactly planned for the occasion, but it was an adventure of sorts!  We'll see what we can come up with.  

I believe trying new things and just experiencing what life has to offer as a couple brings an element of excitement to the relationship.  However I write this from my office on a Saturday in which we've done nothing but crawl out of bed, eat KD and then browse the web...so take it for what it's worth.

*hugs*

First trip home in 2010.

The Penguin family heads back East a couple times a year to our home town.  We look forward to each and every trip.  The first for 2010 is coming next month!  :)  It'll still be cold and probably still have snow...but we'll see OCEAN baby!  And that's all that matters in the end.

There is nothing like the smell of salt water.  *sniff!*

It's the last trip before I go back to work, so it's extra special.  Visiting friends, touring the sites, seeing some family...what a way to end my mat leave!  We're also bringing baby penguin to see the lighthouse for the first time.  It's a 'rite of passage' of sorts in the penguin household -- one me and Mr. Penguin treasure.

I think I'll be dancing a little bit more in the coming weeks...bring on March!

*hugs*

What...pools aren't romantic?!

Well, the penguin family went to the public pool today for a swim in the waves.  That's romance right there, I tell ya.  ;) Spending over an hour at home getting ready (finding bathing suits, packing all gear for an infant and a pre-schooler and then loading it all into the van), another 20 mins prepping to get into the pool and then -- after only an hour of swimming -- spending another 40 mins trying to shower, dress and leave. I need a vacation! Wait, I just had one, didn't I? :( There should be government funding to send Moms away on paid, all-inclusive vacations...or better yet, just build a government funded vacation spot that all Moms get sent to after month 6 so they don't lose their minds! Now we're talking!! I should research who to bring this to...I'm sure the Canadian government would be ALL over this! Oh one can dream.

You know, even after all that, today was fun. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves too. It was the baby penguin's first time in a pool. She did quite well! No crying, no fussing. She loved the warmer pool and liked lying on her back while I swooshed her around. And the pre-schooler monkey loved hopping waves with both me and Mr. Penguin. She didn't want to get out. It made the whole ordeal to get there totally worth it.

Now 'love day' isn't over. After I'm done emptying my thoughts out here I'm finishing the dishes (oh baby) and baking some cheesy beer bread -- sooooo good -- then I'm making a chocolate fondue for myself and the hubby to enjoy with our first bottle of wine since the birth of baby penguin! I'm not a drinker, but I miss those candlelight dinners with a nice glass of wine...just makes the evening extra special.

And as per usual I should get my card before bed...Mr. Penguin has always saved my cards to be the last thing of the day. Don't tell him, but I actually like it that way. Such a wonderful way to end the day...

*hugs*