Kyla

Just a couple of photo collages from some of the wedding events we've been attending for Kyla's wedding coming up in January!

The Bridal Shower

The Stagette

Sandy's big 3-0

34 days until Mexico! I can't believe how fast it is coming. I remember being pregnant thinking about this trip and how it would be, it seems so surreal that it is almost, FINALLY, here! That being said we are getting closer to Christmas and my birthday too! We celebrated Sandy's 30th this weekend and had a great party to mark the milestone birthday. We had about 30 people to our place for the party. I LOVE hosting such events since it gives me an excuse to cook, decorate and socialize, all my favorite things! Friday night the girls came over to help me decorate and after they left I spent a few more hours cleaning. Well when I woke up Saturday morning I was surprised to find EVERY single one of the forty balloons I had filled with helium had deflated. I was not impressed. Anyway I had a quick pitstop to make before I continued getting things ready. Al had a sleep over at Grandma's so that Mommy and Daddy could have a night off parenting duty (which made hosting a party alot easier). After I dropped him off and got him settled at Grandmas I went to pick up Sandy's surprise birthday cake, which I think turned out great! It was really tasty too!

Next I had to finish the decorations and get food ready! We had everyone over around 7:00 and we didn't end up shutting things down until around 2:00. I was definitely tired Sunday morning but all in all it was a great night! And now onto Christmas! These next few weeks are going to be very busy!

Baking Baking Baking

Well back to pinterest again but this time for recipes! I've been baking baking baking these days! Which I will admit is making my weight-loss goals a little challenging! But regardless here are the tasty treats I've been creating:

The nutella cookies turned out a little drier than I had anticipated and are probably my least favourite of all the things I have made this week. The cookie dough balls (with no raw egg) are delicious but they too are lacking a bit of moisture. Still tasty though! The mint chocolate chip cookies are divine! These bad boys are really testing me this week! They are just so delicious! Sugar cookies, always a classic. I think we had more fun decorating than actually eating them. And lastly the rolo cookies, I die! They are a little bit of heaven packed into a cookie! Just so yummy! If you are looking for a cookie to knock the socks off friends of family, this is your go to cookie!

Christmas is Coming

Christmas Cards have arrived! I can't wait to get them out, they are too cute this year. We used pictures from our family photo session with Jessica at Vintage Duck Photography and I put together the cards through iphoto on my mac. I forced Sandy into helping me stuff envelopes, while I labelled! I am happy to report I am almost finished Christmas shopping. Thank goodness because I'd really like to bake and relax and enjoy my Christmas time. Next on the agenda, getting ready for Sandy's 30th birthday. In a week and a half we will be celebrating his big 3-0 and I have quite the party planned. The best part, a custom cake. I can't wait to see how it turns out! After that shindig it will be on to Mom-Daughter dinner, Christmas party's, baking and gingerbread decorating, Christmas, and my birthday. And only a few days later we will be jetting off to Mexico. It is all happening so fast!

I've been looking into activities for Al and I to do, come January. We really enjoyed strollercize and swimming lessons the past few months but we will be trying a few new things after Christmas. There are so many fun classes to choose from but at the risk of over-stimulating my baby I will have to narrow it down. Right now we are deciding between a gymnastics program, a baby class (songs and actions), strollercize,and Salsa mama class. We will have to see what ends up happening!

On top of all that I am training for Sinister 7, an ultramarathon that my "friend" suggested we try. I use the term loosely as I think this is going to be very challenging. I am definitely kidding and I think it will be a great experience but it is going to mean some serious training. I have already worked my way up to 10km which is a great accomplishment, but I will have to continue pushing as my leg of the race is 16 km itself! Running, combined with bootcamp and strollercize, I have definitely been getting closer to my pre-baby weight goal. I am down 51 lbs in 4 months, and I only have 6 lbs left! I am definitely feeling ready to rock a bikini in Mexico! 

Anyway I am up way too late, for the third night in a row. Time to catch some Z's because Al will be up before I know it!

Sweet Dreams all

DIY

My latest addiction... Pinterest, has been keeping me busy lately. Not only just on the website, but also trying all of the DIY projects I come across on there.  Nothing I create seems to turn out quite the way it looks on Pinterest but still think my creations are cute. So I though I'd share a few with you. 

Mid-Line Photo Wall

Olive Oil  Photo Jars

Wreaths

Scrabble Frame

30 Sucks

Birthday Number

Im not quite finished the Mid-Line Photo Wall. There are a ton of frames to fill and I am still deciding what pictures to use. I was not sure if I wanted to stick with black and white photos but now seeing the almost finished product Im glad I stuck with no color. We also made our midline a bit larger than the example on pinterest but I really love how it turned out. It filled a main feature wall in our house that we have left blank for over a year now! And I used 2 tubs of frames that were sitting in our basement collecting dust!

The Olive Oil Photo Jars didn't turn out too terribly but I think I would probably use Photos where the subjects are smaller, next time around. When the subjects are too large in the photo the oil distorts them a bit, making them look like  images in the circus mirrors.

The Wreaths I would say turned out bang on! Finally a pinterest success!

I am super excited about the Scrabble Frame. It is a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law (pretty sure she doesn't check out the blog... I hope) She is a huge scrabble fanatic so I think she love it. The frame is a shadow box from Micheal's that I used a 40% off coupon for (ended up being $19.00) and the scrabble tile I ordered off Amazon for $12.00. All in all a really cute gift under $40.00

The 30 Sucks and Birthday Number are both for Sandy's birthday coming up in a week and a half. I loved the 30 sucks because it was so cute. I also really liked the idea of the birthday number, I accidently forgot to turn all the pictures black and white but I really liked how it turned out! I used all dirtbike photo's of him to keep with our dirtbike/checkered flag theme for his 30th Birthday Party!

I've been having lots of fun doing these projects, and I am sure there will be more to come! Next item of business, trying a few recipes off pinterest. Yum Yum! Anyway today we are pre-making a bunch of meals to get us through the busy Christmas season! Between family pictures, Christmas party's, gift shopping, working out, packing and so on and so on, we are going to be very busy for the next 35 days. We leave for Mexico on January 4 and it is going to come faster than I can imagine!  I still would like to share some of our family photo's and some updates on my mission pre-baby body but I will save that all for next blog update! Happy Holiday Season all!