according.to.kim

Rounding up April 2012

1. READ

• Stolen Child by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Sophia)
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Sophia)

We dyed Easter eggs with Kool-Aid.

2. WATCHED & LISTENED

• TV
  • Game of Thrones (Neil)
  • Sparticus (Neil)
  • The Killing (N/K)
  • Top Chef Canada (N/K)
  • Bones (N/K)
  • American Pickers (N/K)
• DVDs/Movies
  • Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (all of us at the Galaxy) 
  • The Muppets (Neil and girls at the Rainbow)
  • The Hunger Games (Sophia and I saw this at the Cineplex Odeon) – we came to an agreement: if she's old enough to watch this movie, then she's old enough to shower on a regular basis and be responsible for doing a household chore (hand washing dishes - her choice!) – with no complaining.
  • Swiss Family Robinson – borrowed from the library (the girls liked it, but I would much prefer to see the Canadian version from my childhood!)
  • Animals United (rented for M's sleepover)
• Podcasts:
  • Interview with Storyteller, Donald Davis - very enjoyable!
  • Paperclipping Roundtable
  • The Digi Show

Sophia making an angelfood cake.

3. EVENTS & OUTINGS

• Sophia's school class had an ethnic potluck – at Sophia’s request, Neil made Irish stew and soda bread
• Ringette windups:
  • Madeline's team had pizza and created custom products at Bath Goddess
  • Sophia's team went rock climbing at the Science Centre – she absolutely LOVED rock (wall) climbing; it was her first time
• Laurel took Georgia for ice cream
• for Easter, we dyed Easter eggs with Kool-Aid; the Easter bunny brought treats (this year, he hid their baskets rather than individual treats – very surprising to the girls!); and we went to Avonlea for a delicious turkey dinner at Donna & Lou's; Laurel and Grandma Louise were there, too (while B was in Phoenix)
• Georgia attended one birthday party
• Sophia stayed overnight with a friend in Wilcox
• Madeline had a friend over for a sleepover
• Madeline had a sleepover at B's
• I attended 3 set-dancing classes – continued practicing Connemara and Antrim Square; learned the Kilfenora Plain set, and some two-hand dances
• we all went to Afghan Cuisine for lunch one day on the girls' Easter break
• we all went to a couple libraries one day and the girls borrowed a bunch of books
• at my work, we celebrated six months of Customer Self Serve (our platform launched October 21, 2011) with a potluck (I took Rice Krispies Treats) and activities (one was The Marshmallow Challenge)
• Madeline did a reading for the Easter liturgy at school; Georgia, Henry, and I attended
• the girls attended K4J and learned a very cool shaving cream paint technique that we used later to decorate baby clothing shapes for Andrea's baby shower
• I went to The Last Straw for my manager's birthday
• I went to a jewellery party at Ali and Darren's new place in White City
• the girls and I went to Cold Stone Creamery during their $2 sale (can't beat that!)
• Neil took Georgia and Henry to the Riders' Mini Camp
• we all attended Sophia's last piano recital where she played Cockles and Mussels
• the girls and I walked around the lake (Wascana)
• we all walked the Mini Marathon route
• 12 activities with Mom in 2012:
  • Georgia chose to walk the 3km QCM Mini Marathon route – we wore hats and mittens, and snacked on salt & vinegar Goldfish crackers
  • Madeline chose to go to ColdStone Creamery, and then to the Central Library
  • Sophia chose to go to the Science Centre (plus we picked up a treat (gummies) at Extra Foods)

I recommend French Vanilla with raspberries. Yum!

4. RECIPES TO REMEMBER

• Traditional Irish Soda Bread (Canadian Living)
• Rice Krispies Treats (microwave directions – always) 
• Skinny Buffalo Burger Quesadilla
• Really Good Pico De Gallo
• Chocolate Chip Oven Pancakes
• Neil's Chili (check out the picture we took!)
• Morning Glory Breakfast Bars

5. GIFTS

• Easter treats from both sets of grandparents (and the Easter bunny, of course!)

Madeline and Georgia in Wascana Centre.

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES

• 4 bike helmets (for the girls and me)
• running shoes for Sophia and Madeline
• Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera! (great deal at Best Buy)
• Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens with image stabilization – purchased with Aeroplan points (free!)
• John Greengo's Fundamentals of Digital Photography from CreativeLIVE (about 25 hours of video - amazing course; we've learned so much!)
  

Pizza Dough recipe posted last month.

7. HEALTH

• Georgia caught a cold, then Sophia; both coughed quite a bit for several days
• Georgia had another day in which she vomited several times after saying she had a headache :(
• Sophia had more cold or allergy symptoms (or both?)
• head and neck pain sent me to the chiropractor

Sophia at the Science Centre.

8. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• deep-cleaned Georgia and Madeline's room, Sophia's room, and the basement bathroom
• cleared my email inbox to ZERO!
• created a Blurb book – Volume 23 (Sept-Dec 2011)

Neil tried our new telephoto lens at the Riders' Mini Camp.

9. DISAPPOINTMENTS

• I can't think of anything :)

Piano recital and a clean room!

10. GOALS

• processed March photos
• backed up my computer
• cleared my collection basket 4/4 weeks
• tackled something in the basement - zilch
• worked on my email inbox and computer 4/4 weeks
• made 4 layouts; 3 paper, 1 digital (my goal was 6)
• took our monthly family photo

11. NOTEWORTHY

• I enjoyed my first bike ride in many years; looking forward to more!
• Neil went to two Mosaic committee meetings – we're running the children's program again this year
• the girls (and Neil) had a week off school for Easter; I worked four of those days
• we had our large ornamental tree in the back yard trimmed for the first time; I think they took about 1/3 of it off – looks great!
• online classes: started Design Challenges with Elizabeth Dillow (love it!); watched some of John Greengo's Fundamentals of Digital Photography during the live workshop, and much of it later via downloaded videos on my iPad - so awesome!
• Sophia, Georgia, and I had our hair cut at Shear Escape – hooray for online booking! And I love my cut; several inches off. The girls' cuts were more subtle.
• Sophia earned a spot at "Cities" in badminton
• Sophia made an angelfood cake from a mix and lemon glaze from scratch – delicious!
• Sophia participated in her school's Track & Field Day - 80m (2nd), 400m (2nd), relay (2nd), long jump (2nd) -- we think she's First Among The Untrained (the girl who wins every race has been training for years; no kidding)
• the temperature reached 27C one day - gorgeous!

Picture B&W: Seeing a pattern

I'm seeing patterns in everyday objects... one of the coffee cups I use at work and a quilted book bag made for Georgia by her grandmother (my mother-in-law).

Georgia's earring holder (and a pair she received from L&B for her birthday). I took about 70 shots trying to get this right!

I'm really enjoying this class. Sometimes I forget that I'm shooting for black and white, and sometimes it doesn't seem right to remove a vibrant colour (I love colour!), but I'm definitely starting to learn what does NOT translate to black and white -- and what does. :)

Picture B&W: The rhythm of repetition

I spent 90 minutes in Kal Tire after work yesterday waiting for the van. It took much longer than they expected. Thanks to my iPad, earbuds, and photography videos, I didn't feel like it was a waste of time. Plus, I had my camera with me. :)

Chain link fence at noon. I walked from my office to Kal Tire to pick up the van today. Lovely day for a stroll! (Too bad there are no sidewalks in the industrial area.)

Picture B&W: Shaping up

Candy buffet at Andrea's baby shower. (The girls were in heaven!) Processing: CoffeeShop Creamy Chocolate B&W.

Tea cups at Andrea's baby shower. Processing: CoffeeShop Creamy Chocolate B&W.

Keys - captured on the way to Weyburn for my Aunt Colleen's 60th birthday celebration. Instagram on iPad.

Picture B&W: Lining up

It's here! I'm excited about Picture Black & White with Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes. It was nice to have a break from photo prompts but I'm ready to do it again -- and I think every other day is going to be perfect. So far, so good!

For the first prompt, I just captured a few things I saw as I went about my day -- and I think that's how most of these B&W pictures will have to happen. We're pretty busy over the next two months and, as much as I'd love to, I won't have time to be hunting down the perfect shot each time!

My desk at work. Instagram on iPad.

I noticed this mess of lines while waiting for a train.

One quick shot before the service guy came to speak with me. No second chance!* Instagram on iPad.

*It's kind of embarrassing holding up an iPad in the middle of a tire shop, so I'm not sure I would have tried again anyway!

First flowers

We're enjoying our first blooms of the season: Pasque flowers we planted last year. We're also enjoying our new camera and learning more about photography through Fundamentals of Digital Photography with John Greengo at CreativeLIVE (excellent workshop!). Neil took these photos April 23 & 24.

The leg. photo series

I've walked around the QCM Mini Marathon route three times this spring and each time I've taken a photo of the leg (as in legislative; there's no way to abbreviate this and have the pronunciation obvious, is there?). The dates were March 19, April 9, and April 23 - three weeks and then two weeks apart. The first two were taken close to 7:00 pm, and the third at 8:00 pm so the light wasn't great. Also, there were so many motorcycles parked on the curb last evening, I couldn't stand exactly where I wanted to take this photo.

I'm planning to keep taking photos of this view. I think it'll be fun to see the flower beds come to life through the summer. The sky could be interesting, too. Incidentally, I took these photos with three different cameras: Canon Elph SD1000, Canon Rebel XT, and Canon Rebel T2i.

2012 goals update

In January, I posted My plans for 2012. I'm keeping track of my progress using a spreadsheet in Google Documents. I enjoy my rainbow of colours!

Here's how I'm doing so far...

Daily:

1. Reply to email from OhLife.com -> CHECK. I'm finally in the habit of writing on a daily basis. Before this, I would sometimes let it go up to four days and then it was dreadful trying to remember that far back. Even two days was challenging. Daily is so much better!

Weekly:

1. Clear collection basket (mail, school papers, receipts, etc.) every weekend -> CHECK. I've done this for 14 weeks straight now, and I'm completely hooked on getting it done weekly. It's so much easier to tackle a small amount. I often wonder why I didn't do this before; I always knew I should, but couldn't make myself do it and then the pile would grow to a daunting 5 or 6-hour task. Never again! (Note: I've paid our bills on a weekly basis for years; these weren't neglected like the other papers.)
2. Clean up basement - clean/purge/organize one stack, box, or shelf per week -> NOT EVEN CLOSE. I've only done this twice in three months. Perhaps it's partly because I've been more focused on my email inbox, but I think it's also because I don't see much progress each time; it's all just the tip of the iceburg. And there's no immediate payoff like I have with the collection basket (i.e., doing it consistently means each session is brief). I'll just have to keep trying with this one. Or, change my plan to 4-hour sessions, so I can see some real progress each time. That might be more rewarding.
3. Clean up email inbox and computer files - 30 minutes per week -> CHECK. On April 20, I finished clearing my inbox from well over 800* messages to ZERO!!! (Plus, all new messages that arrived over the past three months; more than 2000 in my estimate.) And I didn't just sweep the old ones into an archive folder as recommended by Revive Your Inbox -- a free course I started when I was already down to about 50 messages. Nope; I did it the hard way. I dealt with each one (though some were tossed in batches) and I'm glad I did. This way, I know I haven't missed anything I needed or wanted to do, and most messages are deleted rather than sitting in a folder. Although I didn't follow that one instruction (because it was too late for me), I do recommend this course. The information is very useful and it will definitely help me stay in control of my email going forward.
   
   *I have to explain this number. The last time I emptied my inbox was in September 2010. The time between then and January 2012 is exactly the time I was developing and running Bite-sized Scrapbooking. BSS generated a lot of email and I always stayed on top of those messages, but then I was tapped when it came to the rest of my inbox. I couldn't keep up. Now, I have more free time and less email burn-out.

Monthly:

1. Back up computer to EHD (in addition to automatic Time Machine backups) -> CHECK. I've done this within the first week of each month this year.
2. Maintain photo organization (choose best, upload, print, share) -> CHECK. I was doing this consistently before, but now I'm trying to get it done within the first week so I can focus more on scrapbooking during the rest of the month.
3. Write and post roundup on my blog. -> CHECK. Although it's a bit time consuming, I'm very glad to be recording these details of our life. I'm trying to do this within the first week of each month, as well.
4. Do one-on-one activity with each of my girls -> CHECK. I love these dates with my girls, and I know they do, too. I highly recommed this!
5. Complete 6 layouts inspired by Twelve with Stacy Julian at BPC -> NOT QUITE. I made 1 in January, 3 in February, 6 in March, and only 2 so far in April; I'm not sure I'll get to six this month. While I haven't met my goals, I'm happy to have 12 layouts done! Plus, I have no shortage of layout ideas. I think I need to find a better time of day for scrapping. I used to be able to scrap late in the evening, but now I'm too tired at that time. Perhaps now that my inbox is clear, I could do something scrappy first thing in the morning.
6. Use at least one Simple Scrapper template in creating the layouts mentioned above -> NOT QUITE. I've only used one so far in 2012. I was thinking I'd use them as digital templates, but I should try using them as sketches instead. This year, I've been doing all types of layouts -- all digital, all paper, and hybrid -- and I'm finding that all digital is my least favourite. I don't mind the end result, but I don't enjoy the process as much. I like cutting and glueing, for real. :)
7. Take an informal family photo (5x12 - based on Tara Whitney's six-people-twelve-times project) -> CHECK. So far, so good. This takes a bit of planning and wrangling, and the photos aren't perfect, but I'm so happy to have them!

Other:

1. Create and promote BSS Bundle #2 (January) -> CHECK.
2. Pare down clothing for all five of us (February) -> NOT QUITE. We didn't tackle Neil's clothes, but I'll let it go for now. What we did do was a huge accomplishment!
3. Purge and reorganize kitchen (February) -> CHECK.
4. Finish taking weekly photos for Picture Inspiration with Tracey Clark at BPC (ends mid-February) -> CHECK.
5. Complete unfinished layouts (5) by the end of March -> NOT QUITE. I finished a couple of them.
6. Participate in Picture Black & White with Tracey Clark at BPC (30 photos in May and June) -> COMING SOON!
7. Clear 2004-2006 storage binders (distribute photos to category files, mini albums, photo albums, and cold storage) -> NOT YET. And I don't see this happening for quite some time. Perhaps I can look at these in the summer and/or fall.
8. Create Photos I Love album (year-long project in BPC class, Twelve) -> NOPE. I'm letting this one go. I would rather make other layouts right now, and it's challenging enough to get those done. I do want to create a Photos I Love album someday, but it won't be based on choosing a photo from each month.

Overall, I think I'm doing pretty well. The next two months will likely challenge my goals even further as I participate in Picture Black & White. At least I'll be blogging more often!

Happy Easter!

The girls enjoyed decorating Easter eggs yesterday using Kool-Aid, a permanent marker, and elastic bands. Thanks to Shauna for getting us a variety of Kool-Aid flavours in Texas! We didn't follow these instructions close enough to get a rainbow of colours. Perhaps we'll try that next year as we have another full set of Kool-Aid packages. I'd also love to try natural dyes (see my Easter board for three sources).

Rounding up March 2012

It may not appear so, but I do think March was less busy, or more relaxing, than the previous three months.

***

1. READ

• Phineas and Ferb: Journey to Mars by Ellie O'Ryan (read to Georgia and Madeline)
• Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet by Jane O'Connor (read to Georgia and Madeline)
• Stone Rabbit: BC Mambo by Erik Craddock (Madeline)
• Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Sophia)

Georgia making brownies, and Madeline in her last game of the season.

2. WATCHED & LISTENED

• TV (Neil and Kim):
  • Game of Thrones (Neil)
  • Top Chef Canada
  • Top Chef Texas
  • Hell on Wheels
  • The Finder
  • Storage Wars
  • You've Gotta Eat Here
  • Brad Meltzer's Decoded (Mount Rushmore, Devil's Graveyard, and the Vatican)
• Podcasts (Kim): 
  • The Digi Show
  • Paperclipping Roundtable
  • This American Life: Retraction (retraction of the only other episode of This American Life I've listened to: Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory)
• DVDs/movies:
  • The Secret Garden (Kim & Georgia)

Madeline and Sophia performing at Spring Free From Racism.

3. EVENTS & OUTINGS

• Madeline and Sophia's ringette games and playoffs
• I took the the girls to Zippity Zoom Toys because Georgia had a gift card to spend (if you need any toys, or fake moustaches, this is a good store)
• Neil took our girls and Bronwyn to the Science Centre
• Georgia attended one birthday party (and many playdates)
• I attended five Irish set dancing classes - learned the Sliabh Luachra set and Circle Waltz; started learning the Plain set; continued practicing Connemara and Antrim Square.
• Sophia and Madeline danced at:
  • their school - in costume (March 16)
  • Irish Club Mini Ceili - informally (March 16)
  • retirement home - in costume (March 17)
  • Irish Club St. Patrick's Day Dinner - informally (March 18)
  • Spring Free From Racism - in costume (March 25)
• we all enjoyed the Irish Club Mini Ceili at St. Luke's Hall and St. Patrick's Day Dinner at Queensbury - lots of fun dancing at both - set dancing (me), step dancing - reels and jigs (Sophia and Madeline), Walls of Limerick (the older girls and me), and waltzes - Circle Waltz and "broom dance" (all three girls and me)
• the girls were delighted to participate in the First Annual Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, March 21
• Spring Free From Racism - we went twice; first for the girls' performance and later (after Sophia's ringette game) to watch other groups. We ate fantastic Filipino noodles, Mexican tostadas, Ukranian perogies...
• we enjoyed a meal from Smokin' Okies at L&B's house
• we had dinner at Pasta Prima with Laurel, Bronwyn, Donna, and Lou - the four girls loved sitting at their own table
• we celebrated Donna's birthday with dinner and cake at L&B's house
• Neil went to the new Irish pub (The Knotted Thistle) with some friends who are also on the Irish pavilion committee for Mosaic
• Sophia and Madeline stayed overnight at L&B's
• 12 activities with Mom in 2012:
  • Georgia chose to make brownies with frosting (we also played a game of Junior Scrabble and watched The Secret Garden on other days - I love these times with just the two of us)
  • Madeline chose to walk the 3 km QCM Mini Marathon route - it was quite chilly that evening but we enjoyed our walk together
  • Sophia chose ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and a visit to Chapters (just to look) - we saw Laurel and Bronwyn there, too

On our way home from a ringette game at Emerald Park.

4. RECIPES TO REMEMBER (mostly tried-and-true faves)

• Taco Seasoning Mix
• Grilled Pizza Dough (Alton Brown, Good Eats Vol. 3)
• Brownies (Company's Coming, 150 Squares p. 134)
• Cilantro-lime butter (on steak)
• Overnight Oatmeal
• "Prairie" Irish Stew (made with bison instead of lamb - The Big Book of Soups & Stews)
• Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread – we've made this a few times and suggest using 5 cups of flour rather than 6
• burgers with apple-smoked cheddar and Classic Red Barbecue Sauce (Weber's Charcoal Grilling)

5. GIFTS

• Justice dance shorts (Sophia), ladybug pillow pet (Madeline), and Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet book (Georgia) from Bronwyn - from her trip to Texas
• cute P.S. from Aeropostale clothes from Donna & Lou - brought back from Texas

One of the monster bookmarks we made. S gave this one to her teacher.

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES

• refurbished Epson Artisan 725 printer (because my beloved PictureMate Pal quit working and this was a less expensive, more versatile replacement for printing photos) - I'm glad to have a scanner again!
• Picture Inspiration necklace (for participants of Tracey Clark's year-long class at BPC)  

7. HEALTH

• my lips were (and still are) severely chapped and painful, so I stopped wearing lipstick completely (which is a big deal because it's my favourite makeup!)
• Georgia was sick to her stomach for a few hours one morning; luckily, she recovered completely before we went to Spring Free and two ringette games - strange

Wascana Lake, taken on a walk with Madeline (March 19).

8. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• created a new website for my genealogy information (because the site I've had for 15 years will disappear when its hosting is discontinued at the end of April)
• pulled all Girl Guides photos out of large binders and put them into their own smaller theme album
• filed our income taxes, and of course it took longer than I had hoped - glad to have a refund on the way

Georgia's first bike ride of the year (March 31).

9. DISAPPOINTMENTS

• my new (refurb) printer was defective - but Epson replaced it free of charge with next-day pick up and delivery - great service!
• Georgia's iPod Touch fell out of her pocket at the Hamilton arena and the screen cracked all over. She cried and cried and cried. We were all sad for her, and wishing we had done a number of things to prevent it. Fortunately (and amazingly), the iPod still works fine.
• losing my tasks from Google Calendar and not being able to put them back - seriously bummed about this!

Sophia's activity - Cold Stone Creamery and Chapters.

10. GOALS

• processed February photos
• backed up my computer
• cleared my collection basket 4/4 weeks
• tackled something in the basement 2/4 weeks - better!
• worked on my email inbox and computer 4/4 weeks
• made 6 layouts; 5 paper/1 digital - reached my goal!
• took our monthly family photo

11. NOTEWORTHY

• I finally used a discount coupon I had purchased in March 2011 for two hours of housecleaning; the result was nice, but it sure didn't last long enough. :-|
• I registered all three girls in swimming lessons (July) and the QCM Mini Marathon (September)
• I had a stressful month at work (it's better now)
• Sophia's ringette team won another league game
• Sophia started playing centre regularly (the last five or six games)
• Donna and Lou came home from Texas about three weeks early to help Laurel and Bronwyn while they recovered from their car accident
• online classes: enjoying Twelve; won a spot in Design Challenges; registered for Picture Black & White - really looking forward to both of these! (May will be challenging, though)
• on St. Patrick's Day, CTV filmed some of my set-dancing class so I was on the news briefly
• Sophia started playing badminton
• Georgia lost her left top incisor at school (now missing both - cute!)
• I received a new BlackBerry phone for work (major difference from my old one)
• the girls and I made several cute monster bookmarks
• Neil and I took Georgia on her first bike ride of the year - still with training wheels, but we'll get her riding on two wheels soon!
• there was basically no snow left at the end of March, and we had a thunderstorm - very unusual!

Eight years!

Images from Spell with Flickr

I've been blogging for eight years now!

This morning I enjoyed taking a look back at the past eight Aprils. A quick scroll through these archives shows how much things have changed (or not) -- and the children have grown.

April 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

I'm so glad to have these memories captured. And now I'm feeling inspired to take and share more photos! (I've been slacking off lately, haven't I?)

Scrap & learn

Friday morning, I made this layout to enter to win a spot in Design Challenges with Elizabeth Dillow at BPC -- and I won! I had already enrolled in this class, so winning my registration fee was a nice bonus for my scrapbooking budget.

The challenge was to design a layout inspired by these pictures on Pinterest (from this board):

For some reason, I zeroed in on the garden photo rather than the bedrooms. I think it's because the photos I wanted to use had a lot of green in them. The wooden frame was my inspiration for the frame around the photos and the orange-framed label bottom right. I also chose the brown and orange colours (plus green in the photos) based on the image.

After posting my layout at BPC, I was very bothered by my original choice of background paper. I realized the busy random pattern doesn't work for me, so I changed it. It was an easy change. I'm so much happier with this layout now!

If something is really bugging me on a layout, I have to change it! It'll drive me crazy otherwise. When that happens, I usually learn something about my own style. In this case, I learned that busy random patterns are not my style, and/or I don't know how to use them properly. Either way, I'm happy to know this so I can avoid it in the future.

Also, I'll be sure to pay better attention to the "direction" of the photos. I should have placed the photos on the left side of this layout so Georgia is looking into the page rather than out. I'm usually more aware of this, but for some reason I didn't pay attention this time. Perhaps it's because the contest deadline was looming! (This isn't an easy change, so I'll leave it alone. Thank goodness for the middle right photo!)

10 random thoughts & updates

Ringette ended on March 25 for both Sophia and Madeline. Both girls enjoyed the season even though their teams were at the bottom of the standings (in both divisions, Petite and Novice). Now they're looking forward to wind-ups with their teams. Madeline's team is going to make bath products at Bath Goddess, while Sophia's team is going to use the rock-climbing wall at the Science Centre. We parents enjoy ringette, too, so we weren't particularily anxious for the season to end, but will appreciate the free time on our calendar!

Sophia started playing badminton this week. Both Neil and I liked badminton very much when we were young.

The girls brought their report cards home on Tuesday. They're all doing very well. (Sophia just needs to put a little more work into long division. I found this game for her to practice, and she likes it: Snork's Long Division.)

I've been doing some scrapbooking. Hooray! This morning, I completed my ninth layout of 2012 (4 digital and 5 paper). Now I need to produce another one by Saturday night to reach my goal of six layouts in March.

I'm planning to file our income taxes tomorrow, start to finish. I hope I can do it in under 5 hours. I know it's taken longer in the past, but I'm counting on TurboTax to have saved a bunch of my data from last year.

I can't believe we have NO snow left at the end of March. At this time last year -- after a winter of unusually high snowfall -- we still had a huge amount of snow (see a photo from March 29, 2011). I like this year much better!

I registered all three girls for the QCM Mini Marathon in September. Madeline and I have already walked the 3 km route, and we're planning to walk it as a family on a weekly basis over the next five months.

I registered all three girls for swimming lessons at the university during the last two weeks of July. They'll be in levels 1, 4, and 6.

My current Irish set-dancing class concludes this Saturday, March 31. I was able to attend seven of the eight classes. I really enjoy it and have decided to participate in the next 8-week session -- Thursday evenings beginning April 12 at the Polish Club, I think. Who would like to join me?! (I have also agreed to do some set-dancing on stage at Mosaic!)

I'm fascinated by these genealogy indexing projects. I had no idea that anyone could help index data from old records. Digital images of the 1940 U.S. Census will be released to the public on April 2, 2012. Cool!

Gooey what?

I'm so happy to have made this layout! So many things pulled together in one place. This is the epitome of scrapbooking for me -- photos from different times brought together to make connections you wouldn't experience looking through a typical chronological photo album. It was a fun topic to explore, too. I enjoyed learning even more about geoducks -- just for the heck of it! There are lots of interesting geoduck videos on YouTube, and this episode of Dirty Jobs: Geoducks with Mike Rowe was quite entertaining.

Besides geoducks, this layout features pictures of each our girls on their first St. Patrick's Day (2001, 2003, and 2006). It's pure coincidence that I happened to complete the layout today! I started it two weeks ago.

Here's the journaling:

In July 1996, Neil and I visited Grandma Byrns at her home on Puget Sound. We saw water squirting up through holes in the beach, and learned it was coming from geoducks. We had never heard of such a thing!

The geoduck (pronounced "GOO-ee-duck") is a mollusk native to the Pacific Northwest. It is the largest burrowing clam in the world, weighing in at anywhere from 1-3 pounds at maturity. Life expectancy is well over 100 years.

My Aunt Chris gave us this tiny Geoducks t-shirt when Sophia was born. Aunt Chris enjoys thrifting and this item was certainly a second-hand treasure!

Each of the girls wore this t-shirt when they were babies – and all three wore it on their first St. Patrick's Day.

Thanks to Wikipedia, we think this t-shirt may have come from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington – where the geoduck is their official mascot. Go, Geoducks go!

The pull-out on the 6x12 side is The Geoduck Fight Song. I couldn't resist including it. And doesn't Sophia look like she's ready to fight?! :)

New genealogy website

I've just finished creating a new website for my genealogy pages, because my old website -- which I started 15 years ago(!) -- will be removed from the web in about six weeks.

The new address is: www.kimbyrns.ca/genealogy

I've put a link to this site, as well as our favourite recipes, in the left sidebar under my picture.

Spain, Portugal, and Morocco

Neil and I traveled to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco from January 24 to March 2, 2000. On that trip, we also visited Gibraltar, Andorra, and France briefly. Here's a small sample of our photos -- transferred from my pre-blog website which will disappear in a couple months. (I wish I had the original scans (i.e., larger files) of these photos; they seem to have disappeared. Perhaps I'll re-scan them someday.)

La Rambla - Barcelona, Spain

Roman amphitheatre - Tarragona, Spain

La Alhambra - Granada, Spain | La Mezquita - Cordoba, Spain

Looking down one side of Gibraltar

Supper in the Djemma El Efna - Marrakech, Morocco

Entrance to the Kasbah - Rabat, Morocco

On a carriage ride - Sevilla, Spain

Sherry - Jerez de la Frontera, Spain | A dolmen near Evora, Portugal

Chapel of Bones - Faro, Portugal

Dona Ana Beach - Lagos, Portugal

Torre de Belem - Lisbon, Portugal

The Rio Douro and Porto, Portugal

Church with azulejo tiles - Porto, Portugal | La Seu Vella (Old Cathedral) - Lleida, Spain

Building in the Plaza Mayor - Madrid Spain

Neil skiing in Andorra

Cats in Portbou, Spain

Large painting by Salvador Dali at the Teatre-Museu Dali - Figueres, Spain

Kim relaxing in Barcelona, Spain | Temple de la Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain

Mercat Sant Josep/La Boqueria market - Barcelona, Spain

Goethe-Haus - Frankfurt, Germany

Cheers!

Rounding up February 2012

February was pretty crazy. Another long roundup ahead! (I'm sure March will be slightly less busy. Fingers crossed.)

***

1. READ

• Dear Canada: A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall, Milorie, Saskatchewan, 1926 (Sophia)
• Dear Canada: That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1912 (Sophia)
• Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Madeline)

View of the South Saskatchewan River from Grandma's suite.

2. WATCHED & LISTENED

• TV (Neil and Kim):
  • Brad Meltzer's Decoded (Billy the Kid, UFOs, and 2012 end-of-the-world prophecies – scary!!!)
  • Mythbusters
  • Pawn Stars
  • Storage Wars
  • The Finder (from the creator of Bones)
  • Top Chef Texas
  • Hell on Wheels
  • You've Gotta Eat Here
• Podcasts (Kim):
  • This American Life: Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory (very thought provoking)
  • The Digi Show
  • Paperclipping Roundtable
• DVDs/movies (the girls):
  • Scooby Doo – to and from Saskatoon (perennial favourite)
  • Gnomeo and Juliet – we invited Madeline's team to watch a movie in our hotel room in Saskatoon (the movie belonged to a teammate)
• YouTube: S**t Saskatchewanians Say (posted Feb 1 and surpassed 500K views this weekend - Mar 3-4)

3. EVENTS & OUTINGS

• 2 ringette tournaments:
  • Regina, Feb 3-4: Madeline (Spitfires; U10) and Sophia (Ice Angelz; U12)
    
    • 4 games each day – exhausting!
    • Madeline went to Ricky's for dinner with her team
    • Sophia (and Neil) went to Humpty's for breakfast with her team
  • Saskatoon, Feb 10-11: Madeline (Spitfires)
    • Mom and Dad came to M's first game and took Dash home with them - thanks!
    • the girls enjoyed swimming twice
    • visited (Great) Grandma Byrns at her Parkville suite
    • excellent complimentary breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express
    • we also ate at Subway, Chianti, Grandma Lee's, and Fuddruckers – yum!

• Sophia attended one birthday party
• Georgia attended three birthday parties
• we went skating at the flooded park near our house (while Georgia was skating at a birthday party)
• school field trips:
  • Georgia – Royal Saskatchewan Museum
  • Madeline – Science Centre & IMAX
  • Sophia – Provincial Court, Court of Queen's Bench, and Court of Appeal

• lunch at Applebee's with Mom/Grandma B
• I attended two Irish set dancing classes – learned Antrim Square and reviewed Connemara (learned in January)
• during our kitchen upheaval, we ate Domino's pizza, Extreme Pita, A&W, and Opa (yikes; very bad month for eating out/take out!)
• I attended a farewell at Bushwakker for a former Irish-dancing classmate who moved to Newfoundland
• Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Science Centre (my first time; third time for the girls and Neil – our family membership made this much more affordable)
• 12 Activities with Mom in 2012:
  • Georgia chose DQ and Urban Barn (as M had done in January)
  • Madeline chose tea and a treat at Le Macaron (conveniently, right after her hair cut at DAM Hair Company)
  • Sophia chose outdoor skating but it had snowed too much, so we went to DQ and Urban Barn (now she knows what the other two saw)

Madeline has the ring.

4. RECIPES TO REMEMBER

• Epicure's Chocolate Syrup (we enjoy it on ice cream)
• Pastitsio Pie (Canadian Living's Best: Pasta) (Neil uses ricotta cheese in place of cottage cheese)
• No-Fuss Stroganoff same recipe as >(Company's Coming Select Series: Ground Beef) (Neil omits mushrooms; adds celery, carrots, and peas; and uses Cream of Celery in place of Cream of Chicken soup)

Sophia's team celebrating a win.

5. GIFTS 

• flower bracelets and dancing hula doll from Grandma Byrns - from her trip to Hawaii
• sea-turtle keychains and Harry Potter jelly beans from Bronwyn - from her trip to Texas

I painted Madeline's nails blue-on-blue zebra stripes.

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES

• new eye glasses (frames and lenses) for Neil and Kim
• storage containers for kitchen
• hand towels for kitchen - replaced them all; they were awful (used for 12+ years)!

7. HEALTH

• some cold symptoms (most of us); nothing major
• bad cramps in my toes one evening
• left hip pain and lower back aches sent me to the chiropractor
• Neil and I had our eyes checked; we both have healthy eyes, and Neil just a slight change of prescription (mine hasn't changed in over two years)

These are the clothes we put away for later or donation.

8. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Madeline earned the title of Hardest Working Player in one of her games
• I completed a year of Picture Inspiration
• we cleaned and reorganized all three freezers (fridge freezer and two chest freezers) and the refrigerator
• Neil picked up and delivered bison meat for five customers and ourselves
• we purged the girls' clothing - removed about 250 items from current circulation, and didn't get anything "new" out for them - absolutely crazy
• following the Simplify 101 Organize Your Kitchen video workshop (which I had purchased in November, and highly recommend), we deep-cleaned and reorganized our kitchen and pantry spaces - HUGE project. Removed four large boxes of things for donation, plus lots of stuff went into the garbage and recycling – our kitchen is like new again!
• I completed (basically) my work for Bite-sized Scrapbooking (BSS Bundles continue to be available for purchase; three giveaways in Feb)
• I pulled all Irish dancing photos out of large chronological storage binders (photo albums) and put them into their own smaller theme album (about 300 pics) – love it!

9. DISAPPOINTMENTS

• didn't tackle even one stack, shelf, or box in our basement. AGAIN. I'm determined to do this in March.

10. GOALS

• processed January photos
• backed up my computer
• cleared my collection basket 4/4 weeks
• worked on my email inbox and computer 2/4 weeks
• made 3 scrapbook layouts; 2 digital/1 paper (my goal for February was 6)
• took our monthly family photo

11. NOTEWORTHY

• Sophia's team won a league game
• Madeline's team tied a league game and won a tournament game
• online classes: Ten Tips for Better Type, Twelve, and Picture Inspiration at BPC
• the mice are gone -- for sure this time!
• the kids had a week off school and I took the same week off work – fabulous!
• our freezers are full of bison meat again - hooray!
• Madeline had her hair cut quite short (still asymmetrical) – looks great!
• Madeline scored her first goal in ringette – she was SO determined!
• Georgia lost her top right incisor – super cute!
• very nice weather; just a few cold days
• L&B's car accident on February 28 - a police car responding to a 911 call hit them head on (squarely, in Laurel's lane) – they each have a broken collar bone and Laurel has a very injured foot (big toe was dislocated and ligaments torn) - we're thankful they're ALIVE; their 2010 Ford Edge performed extremely well.

PI 52/52: One chapter ends

This is it! The end of a great, year-long chapter called Picture Inspiration. I'm so glad I did this and stuck with it! I've learned so much. What's next? I'm looking forward to doing Picture Black & White in May and June (prompt every other day) with Tracey Clark at BPC. In the meantime, I'll enjoy a couple months off from photo prompts. It'll be strange at first!

P.S. I'm off work this week and the girls are off school. We've been working hard on projects around the house (mostly: purging kids' clothing and cleaning/reorganizing the kitchen).

PI 51/52: Our milestone

The final prompt for Picture Inspiration will arrive tomorrow. I've really enjoyed the prompts and community (at BPC) over the past year -- and having a new picture to post in this spot each week! Sometimes it seemed very challenging to get this done, but I managed to take a new photo almost every week (dipping into my archives only three or four times).

This picture surprises me. I was in a hurry, as usual. All I did was light a birthday candle, hold it up with my left hand, and take the picture with my right hand. My camera was on manual: f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 800. It was about 5:20 pm, and I was standing near the kitchen windows for light. The room wasn't dark! I focused on the flame and this is what I got. :)

Skating in the sun

We arrived home at 1:30 today from Madeline's ringette tournament in Saskatoon. We had an excellent weekend which involved great highway conditions, swimming, visiting my Grandma B, eating at Fuddruckers, going to a scrapbooking store, hanging out with nice people, and Madeline's team winning the last of their four games. The Spitfires have been playing super hard over the past month and they deserve it!

This afternoon, Georgia went to a birthday party where she was going skating in the birthday girl's backyard. The rest of us decided to take advantage of this gorgeous day, as well, so we went skating at an ice surface a couple blocks from our house. I enjoy putting on my skates once in awhile -- especially for some sunny outdoor skating.

We just had a few cold days (in the -20s), but it looks like our beautiful weather is back. High of -1 today and the forecast is looking great! Best. Winter. Ever. :)