Love Bugs

  

 The weather tonight was not pretty; a bit of a snowfall, followed by freezing rain left us with a mixture of mud and slush. "Mush". It was, however, the perfect weather for crafting. So, on the way home from work, I stopped by Dollarama to grab some odds and ends. I was able to score a haul of yucky-weather-craft-supplies for under five bucks!

 




Also used for this craft were toilet paper rolls! We have made it a habit to save these, paper towel rolls, kleenex boxes, and other would-be-garbage items for the purposes of crafting.

Before starting our crafts tonight, we had a super simple lesson on colours, matching coloured clothes pins to the corresponding colour block. Real ground-breaking stuff.

 Right when Ryan was on the verge of as much masked learning as a 2 year old can handle in one sitting, we moved on to the fun part -- the creation of our "love bugs".

I loved this find because Ryan could do most of the crafting herself. Sometimes with craft ideas I pick up from other blogs or Pinterest boards, I end up having to carry out most of the steps myself. I definitely suggest these "love bugs" for anyone who wants their child to actively participate in the crafting. You know, as opposed to when we are doing toddler themed crafts for the purpose of our own enjoyment. Don't judge, you know it happens.

The only step that I had to do myself was poking the hole in the back of "body" of the bug, so that I could stick the "antennae" through.





While crafting, Ryan used her colour matching to pick out the nose, antennae, and wings for our love bugs!








This would be the perfect Valentine's Day craft, and we may do them again closer to the holiday, using more pinks, reds and heart shaped decorations. One suggestion that I have for anyone looking to do this with their own littles is to find eyes and noses that have sticky backing. It will save you some time, and some sticky fingers! 

All in all, it was a fun way to spend the night indoors with our loveliest love bug of all! 

2017: Less is More

As I sit down to write this post, I am initially compelled to apologize and to state that, yes, I know, New Year Resolutions are cliche and overdone. I feel the need to express this, though, simply to negate the instinctive eye rolling from potential readers who just don't want to sit through yet another "New Year, New Me" article. And how sad is that?

How unfortunate that we, as a society, have become so unenthused with the idea of an individual who wants to better themselves or their lives in any way. I, personally, choose to support any resolutions or goals of my family members, friends, acquaintances or strangers. If you want to try to lose those last 15 pounds for the 12th consecutive year - yes! I applaud you. I will 'like' every filtered photo of your treadmill results that you share. If you have decided that this is your year to save more money, I salute you. I will gladly trade in out-for-dinner dates with made-at-home visits. If you want to spend less time on your phone - I won't even bring mine along with me the next time we plan to meet up.

The truth is, we only have so many trips around the sun, and for that reason, I say, make those resolutions. Make them and break them and make them again. Invest in yourself, make this year "your year" - whatever that even means to you! Disregard the eye rolls and pay no mind to the naysayers. Do not apologize for having goals or feeling the want or need to express them publicly, whether it be for accountability, support, or otherwise!

And so, here it is, unapologetically - my New Year Resolutions.

1. Live with Less.
This year, I want to live with less. It has been a long time coming, and I have slowly started to make changes within my own home and lifestyle that will assist me making this resolution attainable. One of the ways I will be kickstarting this particular resolution is by taking part in the 30 Day Minimalist Challenge for the month of January. We have placed a large storage box at our front door. On the first day of January, we placed one item inside. Today, the 2nd of January, we placed two. Tomorrow we will place three, and so on, until the month is through. This will allow us to rid our household of over 400 unnecessary items in the month of January alone!

I have also started a "Wants and Needs" board. Every time we run out of an item that we are in need of, it goes on the board. Every time we discuss something that would be helpful to have, or something that we would like to purchase, it goes on the board. So how, exactly, will this help with living with less? By sticking to the uncompromisable rule that if it's not on the board, we don't buy it. I can't believe how much money we spend (and more importantly, how much "stuff" we accumulate) whilst running daily errands, browsing online Mom-Swap sites or while out, simply because "it was on sale".


So, that is my main resolution. Of course there are little goals that I hope to accomplish throughout the year, like posting to my personal blog more regularly. Hey, look, I'm already off to a great start! And then of course, come March when we welcome our newest member into the family, I'm certain I will be determined to lose the baby weight .. and then some! You know, the usuals. But, for now - intentionally trying to live with less will be top of mind, for me. With less 'stuff' in our lives, it is my hope that there is then more room in our home, in our minds and in our lives for things of more importance.

2017: Less is more!