One day only sale at Went North Creations!! Any ready made item is 40% off today. Use coupon code: onedayonly
Mittens, mukluks, bags, hair pieces..... Happy Shopping!
All items will be in the mail tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Playing Out
The wind died down and we bolted outside to enjoy the gorgeous day! Today it is -32C and the windchill is -40C. Earlier that windchill had been down to -44. A bit nippy!!
Staying inside all day with two energetic boys is enough to drive us completely mad. The only factor that keeps us indoors is the wind. I am thinking of buying goggles for the boys so that we could even get outside on the windy days.
Our gear for keeping the boys warm? Not expensive at all. They are both wearing Columbia jackets that we got for free at our free-cycle store here in Faro, $19 a pair snowpants from SuperStore (best snowpants ever!), toques that were made by our friend in Ross River, $24 boots from Walmart (they are both rated to -35C) and mittens and balaclava's from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Even those couple of items that we got from MEC aren't that expensive. Each pair of mittens was under $20 a pair and we just put a pair of $1 cotton mitts on under them. The balaclavas, actually called ninja-clava's were our most expensive item at nearly $30 each. At -40C, Cavan who is not even three yet, was able to be outside for 45 minutes before he was telling us his feet were cold. Next time I will throw a pair of my wool socks on him so he can last longer. It just goes to show you that you do not need the most expensive of gear on your kids up here. Just layer them smart and look for hand-me-downs!
Staying inside all day with two energetic boys is enough to drive us completely mad. The only factor that keeps us indoors is the wind. I am thinking of buying goggles for the boys so that we could even get outside on the windy days.
Our gear for keeping the boys warm? Not expensive at all. They are both wearing Columbia jackets that we got for free at our free-cycle store here in Faro, $19 a pair snowpants from SuperStore (best snowpants ever!), toques that were made by our friend in Ross River, $24 boots from Walmart (they are both rated to -35C) and mittens and balaclava's from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Even those couple of items that we got from MEC aren't that expensive. Each pair of mittens was under $20 a pair and we just put a pair of $1 cotton mitts on under them. The balaclavas, actually called ninja-clava's were our most expensive item at nearly $30 each. At -40C, Cavan who is not even three yet, was able to be outside for 45 minutes before he was telling us his feet were cold. Next time I will throw a pair of my wool socks on him so he can last longer. It just goes to show you that you do not need the most expensive of gear on your kids up here. Just layer them smart and look for hand-me-downs!
 |
| Hunter is the king of the snow hill! |
 |
| Toast warm under there! |
 |
| Cute frosty eye-lashes on Hunter. |
 |
| Monkey-man Cavan! |
 |
| Another gorgeous day in the Yukon. |
 |
| Matt pulling the kids on the sleigh. |
 |
| My turn to pull! This is one heck of a good workout. |
 |
| I am nice and warm under all my layers! |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Congratulations Jackie!
A fellow Faroite has just completed a huge project! Have you been following it?
Jackie Irvine set out with a lofty goal to paint 100 landscape paintings in 100 days. Well she has completed her project and I am in awe of her dedication.
If you haven't already, please go and check out her blog where she has posted each of her paintings as she has completed them. Her paintings show off the beauty of the Yukon, especially the areas around Faro.
Here is my favorite painting of the series and it is currently sitting in my kitchen window. Every time I look at it I smile and feel thankful for good friends.
Jackie's email is on the side of her blog if you are interested in purchasing any of her paintings.
Congratulations Jackie!
Jackie Irvine set out with a lofty goal to paint 100 landscape paintings in 100 days. Well she has completed her project and I am in awe of her dedication.
If you haven't already, please go and check out her blog where she has posted each of her paintings as she has completed them. Her paintings show off the beauty of the Yukon, especially the areas around Faro.
Here is my favorite painting of the series and it is currently sitting in my kitchen window. Every time I look at it I smile and feel thankful for good friends.
Jackie's email is on the side of her blog if you are interested in purchasing any of her paintings.
Congratulations Jackie!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
This week in sewing
My hands only had a short break from sewing over the holidays and now they have been right back at it. This last week I have completed two custom orders for mittens and also my first pair of earmuffs. I am pretty happy with my first try at earmuffs; I have enough supplies to make five more pairs so I know what I will be doing tomorrow!
I had quite the brain fart moment one evening this week. I wanted to make three pairs of baby mittens. I cut the leather, the fleece and then sat down on the sofa for an evening of sewing. Well, to make three pairs of baby mittens you need twelve pieces of leather (four for each pair of mittens). I had cut out six- enough for one and a half pairs of mittens! I had done the same with the fleece. Was definitely not thinking when I cut those out.
I had quite the brain fart moment one evening this week. I wanted to make three pairs of baby mittens. I cut the leather, the fleece and then sat down on the sofa for an evening of sewing. Well, to make three pairs of baby mittens you need twelve pieces of leather (four for each pair of mittens). I had cut out six- enough for one and a half pairs of mittens! I had done the same with the fleece. Was definitely not thinking when I cut those out.
 |
| Wolf fur mittens. Moose hide, rabbit trim and fleece lined. |
 |
| Beaver mittens. Moose hide, beaver trim and fleece lined. |
 |
| Ear muffs! Sheared beaver dyed red, red fleece inside. |
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
In all honesty
I follow an online forum for people who have had the same weight loss surgery as I have. I have been surprised at home many people choose not to share their choice to have surgery, even with close friends and family.
I am guessing they chose not to out of feelings of shame or embarrassment for turning to surgery to help get their lives back. There have been no lack of those feelings here either! My concern is that it will give people false hope about weight loss. I wouldn't want someone to think that I am doing this all on my own. Sure I could keep it a secret and when someone asks me how I have gotten the weight off I could reply with, "Oh, just changed my eating habits." But it just isn't honest and I know I couldn't do it.
I am guessing they chose not to out of feelings of shame or embarrassment for turning to surgery to help get their lives back. There have been no lack of those feelings here either! My concern is that it will give people false hope about weight loss. I wouldn't want someone to think that I am doing this all on my own. Sure I could keep it a secret and when someone asks me how I have gotten the weight off I could reply with, "Oh, just changed my eating habits." But it just isn't honest and I know I couldn't do it.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Boys and Buns
Bun making with boys:
 |
| Cavan helping to knead the dough. |
 |
| Whooops. Forgot to get him to wash his hands first!! Check out those marker coloured hands. Ah well, the dough needed some extra colour, right? |
 |
| Nice and squishy between the fingers. |
 |
| Big brother has to get in on the action. |
 |
| Hunter's expression here just cracks me up! |
 |
| Dough has risen and time to grease the pans. |
 |
| Punching it down is always the most fun. |
 |
| Delicious cinnamon buns rising. |
 | ||
| Fresh out of the oven and ready to feed our friends! The boys and I made four dozen cinnamon buns and four dozen buns. |
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Resolutions and Three Month Report
I am a goal setter by nature. There are to do lists that I have made up for the day, week and year. In my head I have goals that I have for the next decade. It all just comes with my personality and love of organization. I always work best when I have a goal in mind.
So my goals or resolutions for this year:
1. Do more crafting with Cavan. Our little wild-child loves to paint and colour and we find time to do it every day already. But it needed to be better organized. To help with this goal I have re-organized our dining room to make space for a shelving unit to hold all of the art supplies. Up until now they have been out in a wheeled storage tower, but it wouldn't hold much at a time. Now that it is all out and organized it will be easier to do each day.
2. Numeracy and literacy work with Hunter. Hunter loves school, but so far the only focus there has been getting into routines and there has not been much focus on numeracy and literacy. Matt and I believe in learning through play with young kids, and especially outdoor play. I need to work at adding to his skill set through play. We already know he has a love of numbers, counting, stacking and organizing so I will work to expand on that. I want to start working on sight words with him too. He has a fantastic memory and is recognizing words in the books that we read. This month I want to create a sight word wall that he can add words to. I love seeing his desire to learn and how quickly he takes in new knowledge!
3. Find more free time for Matt. Not for me, just for him! He works a lot and by the time he gets home I am tired and want a break so I pass the boys on to him. He is a fantastic dad and loves his boy time, but he needs some alone time too. Time to work on projects that can be difficult to do with spirited boys underfoot. I am not sure how I am going to do this one; perhaps I will just duct tape the boys to wall and then Matt and I can both work on our projects!
4. Expand my sewing skills and my business. This is an on-going resolution and has been for the last four years. I purchased some books on sewing techniques and a projects and would love to dive right into them. I made a good chunk of money from from sales over the last month, so I can easily replenish my supplies and get to work. I am debating on buying a fur sewing machine as well, but that might wait until spring. I am going to work at expanding my business through more free advertising and some different craft shows throughout the year.
5. And something random for the list: remember to water my house plants before they die. I love my plants, but am not great at taking care of them. Thank goodness they are hearty and most have done alright in the drought conditions in my house.
6. Last one. I saw this quote on facebook last week and I think I need to re-read it at least once a week to keep it in mind: Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.
And now on to my THREE MONTH REPORT!!
Three months ago, to the day, I started my pre-surgery diet in preparation for my gastric sleeve gastrectomy surgery. I lost 11lbs prior to the surgery that I had on October 19th. As of this morning I have lost a total whopping 49.4lbs. Unbelievable! I have just under three weeks until my three month surgery anniversary and I am hoping to lose another 5-10lbs in that time. I will post pictures on the 19th of this month to show my progress.
Eating wasn't too bad over the holidays. Having this stomach restriction makes it easy to not overeat. I was still able to have some treats, but very small amounts. I am consuming between 800 and 1000 calories a day and still with a focus on protein. January will be a bit harder for me. Matt is going to be away almost the entire month working in Ross River. I tend to binge eat more when he is away. I will have to distract myself with outside play, sewing and friends so I don't try heading down that path.
My energy levels are still through the roof. While I haven't started exercising formally, I am outside every day pulling the boys on their sled, climbing snow hills and shoveling. I will have to start on my weight training soon though. The trainer that I met with in Seattle while down there for my surgery gave me an easy to use plan. I have the appropriate weights in the house and just need to set time aside a few times a week to give it a try.
I am also happy to report that I have recovered all of the weight loss and gain that I had in 2010. I lost 50lbs on my own in 2010, but then gained all but two pounds back by the middle of 2011. I am now into new territory with the start of the new year and I couldn't be happier.
Welcome 2012! It is going to be one heck of an exciting year!
So my goals or resolutions for this year:
1. Do more crafting with Cavan. Our little wild-child loves to paint and colour and we find time to do it every day already. But it needed to be better organized. To help with this goal I have re-organized our dining room to make space for a shelving unit to hold all of the art supplies. Up until now they have been out in a wheeled storage tower, but it wouldn't hold much at a time. Now that it is all out and organized it will be easier to do each day.
2. Numeracy and literacy work with Hunter. Hunter loves school, but so far the only focus there has been getting into routines and there has not been much focus on numeracy and literacy. Matt and I believe in learning through play with young kids, and especially outdoor play. I need to work at adding to his skill set through play. We already know he has a love of numbers, counting, stacking and organizing so I will work to expand on that. I want to start working on sight words with him too. He has a fantastic memory and is recognizing words in the books that we read. This month I want to create a sight word wall that he can add words to. I love seeing his desire to learn and how quickly he takes in new knowledge!
3. Find more free time for Matt. Not for me, just for him! He works a lot and by the time he gets home I am tired and want a break so I pass the boys on to him. He is a fantastic dad and loves his boy time, but he needs some alone time too. Time to work on projects that can be difficult to do with spirited boys underfoot. I am not sure how I am going to do this one; perhaps I will just duct tape the boys to wall and then Matt and I can both work on our projects!
4. Expand my sewing skills and my business. This is an on-going resolution and has been for the last four years. I purchased some books on sewing techniques and a projects and would love to dive right into them. I made a good chunk of money from from sales over the last month, so I can easily replenish my supplies and get to work. I am debating on buying a fur sewing machine as well, but that might wait until spring. I am going to work at expanding my business through more free advertising and some different craft shows throughout the year.
5. And something random for the list: remember to water my house plants before they die. I love my plants, but am not great at taking care of them. Thank goodness they are hearty and most have done alright in the drought conditions in my house.
6. Last one. I saw this quote on facebook last week and I think I need to re-read it at least once a week to keep it in mind: Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.
And now on to my THREE MONTH REPORT!!
Three months ago, to the day, I started my pre-surgery diet in preparation for my gastric sleeve gastrectomy surgery. I lost 11lbs prior to the surgery that I had on October 19th. As of this morning I have lost a total whopping 49.4lbs. Unbelievable! I have just under three weeks until my three month surgery anniversary and I am hoping to lose another 5-10lbs in that time. I will post pictures on the 19th of this month to show my progress.
Eating wasn't too bad over the holidays. Having this stomach restriction makes it easy to not overeat. I was still able to have some treats, but very small amounts. I am consuming between 800 and 1000 calories a day and still with a focus on protein. January will be a bit harder for me. Matt is going to be away almost the entire month working in Ross River. I tend to binge eat more when he is away. I will have to distract myself with outside play, sewing and friends so I don't try heading down that path.
My energy levels are still through the roof. While I haven't started exercising formally, I am outside every day pulling the boys on their sled, climbing snow hills and shoveling. I will have to start on my weight training soon though. The trainer that I met with in Seattle while down there for my surgery gave me an easy to use plan. I have the appropriate weights in the house and just need to set time aside a few times a week to give it a try.
I am also happy to report that I have recovered all of the weight loss and gain that I had in 2010. I lost 50lbs on my own in 2010, but then gained all but two pounds back by the middle of 2011. I am now into new territory with the start of the new year and I couldn't be happier.
Welcome 2012! It is going to be one heck of an exciting year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)