what you don’t have. We have been without cable TV for one week. The kids have not asked once to watch their TV shows. We do have a wii and we limit our son’s screen time to 30 minutes a day. I am shocked at how well this is working out and asking why we didn’t take the plunge sooner. Remember, this issue has been ongoing since the spring of 2011 and if I recall correctly, it was discussed earlier than that.

I am enjoying the peacefulness of our home without the noise of the TV. I am loving seeing my kids play more often and using their imaginations. Our DD was never much for the TV so I wasn’t worried about her but, for DS, the TV was a vortex that sucked him in. As for DH and I, well, we never watched TV anyways. After all day, the last thing I wanted to do at night was sit in front of the tube. I never caught on with all the reality tv shows which is nothing but over the top drama anyways. If I want entertainment, I would rather choose a movie or read a book.

Here are some shots taken from the past week of how much more peaceful our home has been.

Playing the Piano. Brother teaching Sister.

Playing Dress up.

Building a tin can battery operated robot with daddy.

Arts and Crafts

Just taking it easy which is so much easier to do without those hyper TV shows

playing with the play mat I made this past weekend.

sewing sock monsters and sock bunnies

Lots of time spent doing puzzles and playing board games.

I would have to say the ‘no cable TV’ goal for 2012 has been a success.

Check!

I am nearly finished the knitting the sweater too. Soon to be another ‘check’ on that 2012 wish list.

The snow has been falling lazily today and as night is coming upon us, it is getting a little heavier. It has been a quiet day here at home. We spent our day cuddled by the fire, reading and doing crafts. Today is my husband’s birthday and we have quietly prepared for his birthday dinner. My husband never asks for anything. He is so giving, loving, patient and most of all, supportive of our little family. I am so proud of him and honored to call him my husband and friend.

The kids proudly made him birthday cards, they helped me in the kitchen making a flourless black bean fudge cake and then all hands were on deck when it came time to knead the wholewheat pizza dough. Yes, we are having a pizza party. I opted for the non traditional birthday cake as Christmas was just last week and we ate way too much.

Daddy should be home any minute, Better go make some last minute preparations.

Happy Birthday to the love of my life.

It’s official, Christmas vacation is behind us. Hubby and I returned to work today. We had a wonderful relaxing holiday at home. Actually, I could’ve used another week of relaxing. As the year 2011 came to a close, I reflected on what changes I wanted to see in our household in the coming year. Some of them we even got an early kick start on.

Here they are:

1. Disconnect our Cable TV. (Hubby made the call on this and as of January 11, we will no longer have cable).
We toyed with this idea for a year. The kids are so much happier when they aren’t watching the tube and Hubby and I do not watch it at all and it is one bill that we can eliminate easily so it was a no brainer.

2. Hubby and I have put ourselves on a spending freeze for the year. We are only going to spend money on the kid’s programming, the vehicles and of course groceries. So, no books for me this year I’m afraid. I’m afraid there will not be any major overhauls in the home this year. I have a few sewing crafts that I want to do but, I will be reusing fabric scraps that I have laying about.

3. I will disconnect from Facebook for an entire month. This is another social media that I have been debating deleting. I will deactivate for the month and see how it goes. My concern is I have a ton of pictures on there that would need to go somewhere.

4. Learn how to knit. Well, I know how to knit…scarves…basic purl and knit stitch. I tackled this one over the holidays as knitting was on my list of things to do last year and it didn’t happen. I began knitting my daughter a sweater. I have the back done and I am now working on the arms. It is going well. I already have a second project in mind.

5. Wean our home off plastic. I want to rid our kitchen of plastic food storage containers and from using plastic storage bags. That’s a start.

6. Read a book from the classics. I read Anna Karenina last year and I must be honest, I was burnt out once I finished and I love to read. I can read 2 or more books in a week. So, I will tackle a classic again this winter that I have never read before. Being an English Literature major, I have read many.

Well, that’s it. Nothing mind blowing I know. But, I believe these are all for the better good for our family.

The New year will be soon upon us. We will be spending a quiet New Year’s eve at home with the kids. We had a very quiet Christmas and it gave me time to catch up on some of my reading, begin a knitting project and plenty of moments sitting by the fire enjoying a cup of tea and some cake.

It also gave me plenty of free time to reflect on how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. I love you all. To great friends, there aren’t many but the ones I do have, I cherish.

This will be my last blog post for the year 2011 and may I leave you with this-

“Life is not the breath you take but, the moments that take your breath away”

May 2012 bring you plenty of breath-taking moments. May you find time to pause, reflect and count your blessings.

All the best to you in 2012,

We woke up to a beautiful winter’s landscape. I think I was just as excited as the kids. Here are some snaps of my walk with Hurley this morning.

The view from my desk this morning.

The only other footprints spotted this morning besides Hurleys were those of Mr. Pheasant.

View from Front porch

There is something magical about a pre-Christmas Snow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

My heart is singing. We had such a wonderful weekend with family and friends. It started out with the family heading out to cut down a Christmas tree. We went to a friend’s place and trekked through the woods looking for our tree.

The weekend ended with us hosting Kenton’s work party. It was a wonderful time and lots of food was eaten. My intention is to relax for the next two weeks. We are having a quiet Christmas day dinner with just the four of us and just one other family over to help us bring in the New Year.

Here are some pics that I snapped from around the house this weekend.

Homemade elves and Santa climbing the tree

Handmade balls

Handmade stars

What was taking place in the kitchen this morning while I was preparing to make a Hearty Vegetarian Barley soup for tonight’s dinner.

I may not get back to my blog before Christmas rolls around so Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you have a fun filled and relaxing holiday. I’m sure I will.

xo

My little girl had her birthday party to celebrate her upcoming 4th birthday.

We made it simple, homemade gluten free play doh in pretty mason jars for the party favor.

Pin the tail on the pony (It was a pony themed party).

Some simple homemade decorations.

Handmade decorations and craft table

Plenty of food- fresh veggies and dip, fresh fruit, hummus, pita bread, gluten free nacho chips and of course, chocolate cake.

The kids ate of real plates and used real forks- less trash. I did use juice boxes which we recycled. I saw compostable drinking glasses but, pretty sure we do not have the facilities here to handle them.

This picture says it all. After everyone had gone home, my daughter turned to me and said, “Mama, that was the best party ever.”

One content little one. Happy Birthday my sweet girl.