Girls being girls

This morning Jaclyn and I painted our toes together while the boys were out. 

Girls being girls

Dance With Me

Last week we had our family Christmas photos taken and during one of our breaks the kids started to dance together. Our friends who were also our photographers managed to take these great pictures of the kids as they were dancing. 

Apparently dancing was hard work and Jaclyn was tired by the end of there dance and needed a little rest.

 

Dance With Me

Mereadesso Twitter Party !!

I wanted to share with all my readers about this great Twitter party that is happening this Tuesday December 7th between 7pm & 9pm. (EST)

My friends Tara and Shannon are hosting their first ever Twitter Party.

There will be $2,000 worth of premium skincare products to be won.

Keep reading for details. Open to Canada and the USA

 

Here is some information for those of you who are wondering what Mereadesso products are about.

When a former cosmetics executive grew weary of her own beauty regime, things could have gotten ugly. Instead, they got ridiculously good-looking.

Putting her degrees in chemistry and botany to good use, cosmetic aficionado Linda Stephenson developed a single-step skincare solution teeming with minerals, antioxidants, vitamins, enzymes and botanical extracts that were globally sourced for their purity and effectiveness.

Mereadesso Woman was born. And Linda rendered the beauty regime she helped create obsolete. Oops!

Join them for their 1st ever twitter party with $2,000 worth of skincare product prizes on Tuesday, December 7th between 7pm - 9pm (EST), sponsored by Mereadesso Woman! 
See the bottom of this post for the details!

Beauty need not be an ugly process.

One ingredient will not solve all your beauty needs and a cabinet full of skin products gets both cumbersome and confusing. That's why every bottle of Mereadesso is laden with countless minerals, vitamins and extracts to battle fine lines and wrinkles, even out skin tone and improve elasticity. Our formulas also eliminate the need to segregate by skin type, zone, time of day and, believe it or not, even gender:

The Mereadesso Woman line of skincare products is designed for the woman who understands that there is no one "magic ingredient" to solve her needs. She also does not have the time or desire to use 16 different products to achieve her goals.

Finally, it is possible to find the combination of ingredients that addresses all the needs of your skin. There are no toners, serums, day/night or 3am creams, or different formulas for different "skin types" in the Mereadesso Woman line, nor will there ever be. There is no confusion of what product to use, where or at what time.

Simplicity, ease, and effectiveness. One step, one product, for every woman.

Mereadesso has been featured in Elle Canada (July 2010), SavvyMom.ca (Lotion Emotion), and the Toronto Star (May 2010) to name a few and loved by such Celebrities like Tonya Lee Williams from The Young & The Restless.


Mereadesso Woman Twitter Party Details:

Date: Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Time: 7 pm - 9 pm EST

Where - Twitter Hashtag: #Mereadesso (make sure you spell it right, ME -- READ -- ESSO)

Prizes: $2,000 worth of Mereadesso Skincare Product

Host: @shasherslife (Shannon Jacobson-Mischuk, Founder of Shasher's Life, 38 year old avid user of this product and Mom of 4)

Co-Host: @tarasview (Tara Robertson, Founder of Tara's View of the World, Mom of 3 who turns 35 on Christmas Day and is also an avid user of this product)

Moderator: @mychaos (Tammi Roy, Founder of My Organized Chaos, Mom of 3)

Get a head start on your holiday wish list by entering to win the pre-party prize - a travel size package of Beautiful Body Balm, Face + Neck Cleanser & the exotic Face + Neck Toning Jel a $60 value from Mereadesso!

Enter to win the pre-party prize by:

* Filling out the Linky below to RSVP


* Tweeting out the details of the #Mereadesso party before the party

* Be sure to follow @shasherslife, @tarasview, @mychaos and of course Mereadesso's own Linda Stephenson on @Beautytruths throughout the evening for updates, prize information and contest details.

* Visit Mereadesso Woman's website or follow them on Facebook to familiarize yourself with this great company.  
Hint Hint: Some of the questions asked during the twitter party will be found on these two sites... you may want to bookmark them!



*** Here's a special code you can use until December 10th to receive FREE SHIPPING on any orders made through Mereadesso's online shop. It's another thank you for joining this wonderful twitter party - TWP710 ***

If you have any questions, feel free to contact my friend Tara at taradawnrobertson  {at} hotmail  [dot] com

PS. Don't forget to enter the Mereadesso Share & Win Contest:
Enter to win a $2500 Sears Travel Voucher from Mereadesso Woman HERE!! (open to Canada only)

Mereadesso Twitter Party !!

Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop!!!

The Wonderful Simply Stacie, My Wee View, Little Yayas and Stockpiling Moms is hosting a Holiday Gift Giveaway hop and I wanted to get involved with it too! There are over 200 blogs participating in this draw so you will have many chances to win!!

So I am giving away a $25 dollar gift card for Best Buy!! 

For your 1st entry all you have to do is Follow this Blog (via Goggle Friend Connect on the right side)

Extra Entries

Follow me on Twitter

Tweet about this Giveaway

Blog about this Giveaway


*Remember to leave a comment telling me what you did and your email.
*Winner will be chosen by Random.org

This giveaway is Closed!
Winner has been contacted and will have 48 hours to respond.
Winner chosen by Random.org




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Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop!!!

Last Diaper

Well its only a few months later then I had initially planned but at least it's happening.

 Tonight Jaclyn is wearing her last diaper. 

I start toilet training in the morning!

 Saying goodbye to this stage for me is a sad and happy time. 

Sad because it means that my children are no longer babies.

Happy because it means I don't have to change anymore diapers! And because my children are learning to have more independence (this is also a little sad). 

It's times like this when my children are going through another development stage that I am thankful that I take so many pictures of them. I love going back and remembering what they were like as younger children/babies and seeing how far they have come.  It makes me more excited to see what kind of a people they will be when they grow up.

Now back to toilet training, I have to tell you that I am super excited that we are starting this tomorrow. 

Both Jaclyn, mommy and daddy are ready to be done with diapers!

David is also excited for Jaclyn to be out of diapers and wearing underwear. 

I think that David has felt like Jaclyn was left behind because she was still in diapers when the rest of us wear underwear. 

For instance tonight when I took David into the bathroom for his night pee, he said to me "mommy, I'm glad that Jaclyn will be wearing underwear tomorrow and not diapers, because then she can be just like you and me and daddy"

 And then earlier when David was saying goodnight to Jaclyn he told her "Jackie, when you have to go pee or poo on the toilet you tell me and I will help you in the bathroom and call mommy for you, OK". Jaclyn responded with "OK David, thanks"

I have a feeling that toilet training Jaclyn is going to be a bit of a family ordeal.

Last Diaper

snow, snow, snow!

This is what I woke up to this morning and it is still snowing

View from my front window

 My front entry way

 My backyard

I know that it is cold and it means that we all have to wear more layers of clothes and that the roads are not always the best for traveling but I love snow.

I love the way that it looks and how it brightens up the trees! I also love that sometime I get snowed in, its a great reason to stay home and play with my kids or catch up on some reading with a cozy blanket and cup of hot tea!

snow, snow, snow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just love Christmas!!

I start to play Christmas music on November 1st and then we decorate our house sometime in the last two weeks of November.

Both of my kids love Christmas as well and they start to ask when we can decorate our house even before they hear Christmas music, and even more after they have seen the first snow fall. David has asked us everyday for the last few weeks if today is the day that we will decorate for Christmas.

I am happy that are kids have had such good memories with Christmas and that they get excited about doing things like putting up decorations. This afternoon, after what seemed like the longest wait for my kids, we brought out the decorations. David got home from school and we decorated our tree and our house together as a family.

 My little girl after the tree was up.

 Our Tree

I asked David if I could take his picture with the tree and this is the pose he gave me.

 The kids watching a Winnie the Pooh Christmas movie after decorating.

This week I should be able to finish up my Christmas shopping and start on my Christmas baking. It is amazing how putting up a tree and decorations really feels like the Christmas season has fully come.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Book Review: Then sings my soul

 Is there a festive season of the year that is complete without one of your favorite hymns? Not only do hymns connect you to great memories, but they also reveal the faith of those who lived throughout history. As Robert Morgan explored the stories behind some of the best-loved hymns, he found fascinating accounts of tribulations, triumphs, struggles, and hope - ordinary people who connected with God in amazing ways, sharing their experiences through song.  Taken of the back of the cover of Then Sings My Soul

A lot of people sing songs without paying attention to the words. I have always been someone who likes to know the words of the song I am listening to or singing. The book Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan takes singing a song one step further by telling the stories of how and why a song was written and who the author was who wrote the music. This book covers 150 Christmas, Easter and many other favorite hymns.

The layout of this book is where one side has the song lyrics and music and the following page(s) tells the story. Personally I love the way the this book is written, when I am reading a story I can go to the song and read the words as well which makes the story almost more personal for me. When I was growing up I heard a lot of older hymns and I have really enjoyed reading the history of the songs.

For instance, the song Great is thy faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm was given new depth of meaning after hearing of the life of the author.  Having had a life of up's and downs which included sickness, job issues and other troubles, Chisholm discovered faith at age 27, and through the next years began to discover the truths of the bible in scripture.  This was written after reading through lamentations, and though it is not in any way part of a hugely dramatic event, it showed the steady work and faith of someone growing in their faith through many up's and downs.

Although this book is not incredible, it certainly helps to bring added meaning to many songs that we sing, and I would recommend it to any who have a desire to think about what we sing in Church.

I am a member of Thomas Nelson Publishers Book Sneeze program. Thomas Nelson provided me with a free copy if this book in exchange for my review of this book and I am not required to provide a favorable review.

Book Review: Then sings my soul

Potlucks

I love it when our church gets together for potlucks! Just last week we had one of the life groups in our church over for a potluck. It was wonderful getting to know some of the people in our church a little bit better and sharing a meal together.

There were six kids here that were older then David and Jaclyn and they loved having older children wanting to play with them and in their bedrooms. 

At the end of the night, when most of the families were getting ready to go home, our kids were a bit overwhelmed and over tired. To give them a bit of a mellow time we ended up setting the kids up on our bed to have a little quiet time while watching Little Bear. They were so cute we had to take some pictures.
 

Potlucks

My New Hair!

This afternoon I went and had my hair cut and colored. I haven't colored my hair since before Jaclyn was born and for the last year Chris has been cutting my hair. 

So as you can imagine I was a little nervous about how my hair would turn out. 

Before

After

What do you think?

My New Hair!

bed time

My family was asking about Jaclyn's hair and how curly it is now. I thought that this was a good picture to show some of her curl.

I took this picture after the kids decided one night at bedtime that they were going to sleep in our bed.

I just love the faces they make while they are "sleeping"

bed time

Woody is that you?

Somehow I don't think that the creators of Toy Story thought that Woody the cowboy doll would be dressed in a diaper, baby bonnet and baby bib wrapped in a pink blanket.

And yet here he is... 

Jaclyn and her baby Woody doll.

Woody is that you?

a girl and her hair

Jaclyn wakes up every morning with an idea about what she wants done with her hair. She will come up to me and say "pretty hair". Our conversation will then go something like this:

Mom (me): How would you like your hair done?

Jaclyn: umm....with a pony.

Mom (me): one or two?

Jaclyn: two, then its beautiful!

Mom (me): OK.

She will then run to the bathroom and stand on her step stool and wait for me to style her hair. Then she will declare "I am so beautiful".

There are times that her hair has clips and ponytails or just hair clips. One thing that is always the same is that she announces to the whole house (or whoever is listening) that she is beautiful and waits for someone else to complement her.

One thing this girl has is lots of self confidence.

I told her I wanted a picture of her hair and these are some of the faces that she gave me.

a girl and her hair

Ice Cream shop

As I didn't have Internet for a good portion of the summer I am going to be writing about some of the adventures that our family had this summer.

My birthday was in August and my kids really wanted to do something for me to celebrate as a family. Chris managed to convince them that a birthday party or cake would not be the best idea this year. So instead we went to this cute little ice cream shop that is only open for a few months of the year. It's really cute!

One other thing I should say is that I was really sick for my birthday. The day before I went to the doctor and found out that I had as the doctor put it "bad strep throat and tonsillitis". I felt horrible and all I wanted to do was sleep but my kids really wanted to do something for me so we went out for ice cream. My kids had a great time and really enjoyed the whole day. Through out the day both my kids would randomly say happy birthday or they would sing the happy birthday song to me.

I sure love my kids they can make me smile even when I felt so gross.

Ice Cream shop

Bathroom Playtime

This is how my husband found our kids yesterday afternoon. I love how anywhere can be a great play area when you use your imagination!

They played in the bathtub for almost an hour, it was very quiet around here during that time.

Bathroom Playtime

Cozy Circle Time

This summer we stayed at a house that had one of those circle chairs that you sink into. Both of my kids thought that it was a really cool chair. Here are some pictures that I took one of the times that they weren't fighting over who got to sit in the chair that time. 

All cozy watching Veggie Tales together.

Cozy Circle Time

David's First Day of School

I know I am a couple of weeks late, but I still don't have Internet at my house. Soon....very soon I will again.

I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up. It feels like David was just a baby and now he is in school.

Now I know its only pre-school but its still school and its still time that he is away from me during the day.

Both Chris and I have always wanted to have our kids in a French program at school. Chris was in French immersion for nine years of his schooling and sees the benefits as an adult with learning and understanding other languages and we wanted to give our kids a chance to learn a second language and what better time to learn then in school. In fact we have enrolled David in a full French school.

He loves school so much!

His favorite class so far is craft time and he really likes to play with his friends in his class. 

I tried to take some pictures of David on his first  day of school and these are the only ones he would let me take. As soon as I pulled out my camera he said "Mom, what are you doing with the camera? I have to go to school and I don't have time for you to take my picture, they are going to be waiting for me. Let's go!"

So I quickly took three pictures and then we were in the car on the way to school.

Here is David holding his lunch kit that he picked out by himself.

Batman is his new favorite superhero. If you ask him what Batman does he will tell you that Batman saves people from bad guys.

David's First Day of School

summer crazyness

Wow, so I have had a really busy summer and have not been around a computer very much.

Oh, how I have missed blogging, I really do enjoy it, sometime I even dream about what I want to write about....I know kinda silly. Anyways our life is calming down a little bit now and I will be able to write more and post more pictures of my kids again. But first I want to share a little about what our little family has been up too.

Here is just a few of the things that we have been up to these last few months; visiting family and friends, packing, traveling, new job (for my husband), moving and now we are in the middle of getting settled in our new town!  All of these things I will be blogging about at a later date. 

Mostly this post is to say that I am still around, I have just been really busy. I will try over the next few days and weeks to share some of our family summer adventures.

summer crazyness