looking back and ahead

I realized yesterday that i started this blog January 1st, 2010. I needed a fresh start as my other blog was just not working for me, and i saw that a group of my online friends were all starting 365 blogs. Well i sure didn't make 365 entries(only 99), but i made it the 365 days! So i think that sure counts.

Then i started thinking about this past year and what all has happened during it, but because i have memory issues, i realized that i'd have to go back and look at some of my entries over the year to refresh.(note to self: come up with better, more descriptive blog titles..and blog more often!!!)

It's been a whirlwind year with getting engaged(dec 16/09), moving from my little apt with my girls to our townhouse together with mr.man, lots of little daytrips, getting a job, losing said job, lots of reviewing, learning how to win cool stuff!, new schools, losing pets/gaining pets, lots of family game nights in k-town, fun concerts/events, immersing myself in twitter!, and snowmageddon!(well and many more things).

I'm really hoping that this year is the year that i can get my act together. There are so many things that i want to do or get done! I feel as though my life is just slipping by and i just have no idea what i am doing!! I welcome you, 2011!! Please be good to us!

Merry Christmas!

(cute pic removed)


Wishing all my friends and readers a Very Merry Christmas!

Love,
Orangeheromama
(and family)

Christmas Goodies!

This year i decided to get back to my Christmas baking...I love baking goodies and sharing with neighbours. I found some really great Paula Deen giftboxes that are specifically for baked goods at Michaels and even better is that they were 50% off!(i bought a pkg of 2 boxes for $3.50!)
Here is a pic of a loaded up goodie box...

In it I have:
1) Lemon Blueberry cake(made in the snowflake wilton pan that i won!). This recipe is a new favourite and i can't wait to make it again!

2) Ginger cookies (and go-to recipe..love it!)

3) Peppermint Fudge (another new recipe..very easy..had some issues with softness but i worked it out in the end)

4) Cranberry Orange Cookies. I really wasn't sure that i was going to like these, 2 cups of cranberries seemed a tad much to me, especially when i am not that big of a cranberry fan..but alas these are very much a new FAVOURITE of mine!!

5) Shortbreads. These were from a box mix. BUT they were made by my 10 yr old daughter. She did a FANTASTIC job, they are VERY tasty! :)

6) Rice Krispie Squares. Self Explanatory. YUM.

What's New..

Here i am again with yet another catch-up..it's the holiday season. I'm sorry.
It's loaded with stuff from my mailbox and other assorted fun! :)

I'll start with this past tuesday i went and saw my grade 1 little orange perform in her first school 'production'. All the grade 1/2's(about 130!) performed 'The Nutcracker' for the Christmas concert..it was a good 45 mins of well produced and well chorerographed kiddie goodness. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this new school the girls are at. (little orange is the orangehead in the middle)


2) I absolutely ADORE the teacher that little orange has this year. She's really encouraged her, and brought her to LOVE coming to school(it was a tough battle, that lasted approx 43 school days..yikes!) So for christmas i decided that i would alter her a paintcan and fill it with teacher-y goodness(lots of cools stationary items that teachers NEED). I last made a can for Hero's JK teacher, and it's still on her desk!(and hero is in gr 5!)
So here's is Mrs.F's can(names obviously fuzzed)..


3) In the mail this week i received a 3 pk of Agoo Bamboo leggings that i won off Nugglemama's blog. Orange loves wearing these type things on her arms under tshirts, and on her legs so she can continue wearing her capri leggings. I love the patterns on these and they're well made too!


4) I also found between my door this week that the fedex man dropped me this GORGEOUS wilton snowflakes cake pan! This was very exciting for me as i had only won it 4 days prior and was not expecting it in time for Christmas. This is an awesome heavy cast aluminum non stick pan that i am very eager to make our neighbours some goodies in! I'm thinking lemon blueberry with a dusting of icing sugar..
*I won this pan from Jennifer at Mom Vs. The Boys.


5) The absolute creme de le creme for my week though has been winning this gorgeous thing..(i am in a sudden state of uber-caffeination though..which is scary! eep!) Thanks soooo much to @suzieswapper and her awesome super-speedy twitter contest!


6) i also received my copy of 'House Rules' by Jodi Picoult this week. I joined the National Book Club on Everything Mom and this was the book up for discussion for January. I am excited to join this little crew and think this is a great first book for me!(though i am a little nervous..) *thankyou Simon & Schuster for this freebie copy!!


7) And so here is where i admit why i have been so slack in my blogging lately..well on top of it being the Christmas season and the chaos that it brings..I have found myself sucked into the Stephanie Meyer world of vampires and werewolves..sigh. I ignored it sooo long..it would not tempt me..i enjoy cheezy girlie chick lit...but then a good friend came over for a movie night..and then we started discussing how much she REALLY wanted to watch 'Vampires Suck'..and how she needed a buddy to watch that with..and that buddy should be me..and that i really NEED to read the darn series already! lol. (that was how it went down..right T?? lol)
Well i finished Twilight in about 4ish days, watched the movie last night, and now I'm about 126 pages into New Moon already! I really shouldn't have avoided them..they're AMAZING!!!!


And now after all this sharing, i really must go. There is a roast that needs to get cooked, a house to clean, and the girls come home in an hour n a half! eek!

and Day 3..

Yup. Day frickin 3. We're at about 100cms! GAHHHH! *runs around screaming*

So you saw pics of day 1 and day 2 in yesterdays post..here is this morning and the beautiful blue sky n sunshine:















And now here is the same view that i have given for day 1 and 2..notice that bush(to the left of tree) is completely GONE now..yikes.


BUT there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This afternoon it was announced that they're reading to open the schools again(after 3 snowdays! unheard of!)tomorrow. You can finally drive without worrying that you're gonna die! I can finally make a run to my beloved Starbucks tomorrow! yahooooey!

Day 2 of snOMG.

I thought that i should document this snowmageddon that we're in the middle of right now..so here is yesterday afternoon around 4:30 maybe..















And NOW for today at approx 11am..


INSANITY eh?! It's a SNOW DAY here, no school for Orange and Hero or well any other kid in our district! We're wearing jammies and just chillin..(the girls have their jammies on under their snowsuits out in the snow)..
Stay tuned for further updates as we're still expecting another possible 50cms(2 ft)!! WTH?!

catch-up & snowmageddon!

I am trying to get myself over the most horrible case of "writers" block..i put the writers in quotes there cause well we all know i soooo ain't a writer! lol.
And as a friend told me 'if you ain't feelin' it, why try to fake it?!'..so i just didn't write. I had SO many things to write about too, but i kept getting all my ideas while driving, and then by the time i got home i was just too drained to care.
So I'm sitting here on my butt in cute little reindeer pj pants in the middle of bloody snowmageddon out there forcing myself to just get back into it already!!

So in my 'time off' we/I:
* celebrated American thanksgiving(nope, not american, just LOVE reasons to celebrate things!)
* celebrated my 31st birthday!(in which the man gave me my first Lululemon hoodie..which is insanely and absolutely wonderful!!! he calls me 'little turtle' when i wear it..teehee)
* i won some cool stuff from blogs..like today i found out that i won a monster factory monster!! this company absolutely floats my boat and i am absolutely dying to get the thing in the mail..i was FREAKING with excitement..and i think the man rolled his eyes at my insane-o enthusiasm! lol.
* managed to get ALMOST all the Christmas shopping done! (and all the kids stuff is wrapped!!! woot!)
* almost done all the Christmas decorating!!!
* and my friend convinced me that i really should stop fighting the twilight insanity and just read the darn books already! lol. I made it to page 7 before i fell asleep last night, but i was REALLY REALLY tired..i actually really enjoyed those first 7 pages, and that's kinda a rare thing!

and well a bunch of other stuff happened too..but my kids are going loco with this snowmageddon thing(we're expecting approx 50cm of snow!)..here's a pic of them shovelling about 1/2 hr ago..I gotta run!