november and beyond!

The last few weeks have brought much excitement and busyness to our lives. 

Halloween, oh Halloween, how I love you and hate you all at once. Making costumes, getting kids to their respective Halloween celebrations (preschool, Beavers),dealing with the aftermath of too much candy, and the excitement. Let's just say, it is not my most favourite holiday, yet I love to feel the excitement that the kids have for it. I love to see what limits they have for scary things (we keep things pretty tame and more on the sweet and magical side). I love to watch them venture out into the night, fully aware that this is a special ritual of going up to neighbours houses and getting treats. All in all, I do enjoy parts of it ... but I am happy to see that it is over. 

We had my mom come over for a week to visit us and it was nice to be able to share our lives with her for a bit. I enjoyed showing her around our new town and taking her to the bay of Fundy. We also had some fun meals out and a coffee date/Starbucks date. I know that it was special for her, which was what I was hoping for. 

We are now full force into November and all the fun that comes with it. Katia's birthday is just a few weeks away, and I am busy planning the party for it. I am trying to keep it on the small side, but as always, things start to trickle along and get bigger than expected. Noah wanted to have a friend come to the party, which then meant adding more children to the mix ... but at the end of the day, I want the kids to be happy and to have a special time. 

This year Katia wants a mermaid party and I am excited about the possibilities that this theme will bring. We have plans to do some fun crafts and maybe a few games. I'm looking forward to see how it all turns out, and mostly, to celebrate our artsy, creative, sweet little girl, who will be turning 4! 

In other news, I am plugging away at getting ready for the holidays. I've been making my lists and am happy to be ticking items off those lists. Christmas cards, shopping (online shopping is amazing when you are 34 weeks pregnant), our Christmas book Advent, freezer meals, baking .... I'm getting along and am happy that I won't be stressing out about it in a month's time. 

The days lately seem to be moving along so quickly. It feels like just yesterday we were starting the school year and getting ourselves situated here, and now we are well into November, with the holidays are just around the corner. Just the other day, Winslow and I had a hospital tour of the labour and delivery ward, it's  hard to believe that soon we will welcome a new family member into our lives. And while life seems to be moving at warp speed, I also am trying to be in the moment in my day to day life. I'm trying to be present when doing the everyday things, like cooking a nice meal. I try to slow it down, by lighting candles at dinner, or setting up a nice bath for myself. I know that by being more present in my daily actions, I will find more joy and happiness in my life. Hopefully I will find more patience too. 

xox

ps. iphone pics, not as great quality.