It's Tuesday and I'm clean! Ok, I know that's random and that nobody really wants to know that I took a shower and now have nice, clean hair. On a not so happy note, today I'm reminded of just how fragile life is. My friend Dave lost his wife 6 months ago and his pain just tears at my heart. I know what it's like to lose someone that you thought you'd have a lifetime with and it's one of the hardest things to survive. I'm also so sorry to hear that Kath's mother has died. I never had the opportunity to meet her, but when I was in Canada, Kath gave me a blanket that her mom had crocheted. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm going to treasure it. I have it on my couch right now and will have to take a picture of it to show all of you.

Now, since it's Tuesday, I'm supposed to be tackling something, huh? Well, I think I'm going to work on finishing up my Christmas newsletter. It's something I can do sitting right here while I wait for a return phone call. It seems there was some sort of a mixup with Ben's insurance and I'm working on getting it sorted out again. We have an upcoming doctor's appointment to have him evaluated for hamstring lengthening surgery and we need to have all of his insurances in order before then.

So, that's my tackle. What are all of you tackling today? How are your holiday plans/preparations coming along? Let me know!

Welcome back to another Monday here at Crafts By Katie. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling a lot better. Not perfect, but a lot better. I'm hoping that by the end of the week, I'll be back to full strength and getting lots done. There's always tons to be done. I spent part of the weekend working on some holiday plans. I'm going to have to make some of the things that normally I would buy because the money just isn't there this year. For the first time ever, I've considered asking that those who sponsor a family for the holidays to sponsor my boys. I hate that I'm just not sure how I'm going to get them anything for Christmas this year.

But, I'm not going to focus on that right now. I'm going to focus on what I can do and what I can do is plan our menu for the next couple of weeks. I think that I mentioned last week that I really want to work on losing weight. In the past, I did a "bastardized" version of Weight Watchers and it really seemed to work for me so I'm going to try that again. Luckily for me, I do own a few of their cookbooks which should help make this a lot easier. For the next two weeks, I'm going to use their 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook.

Monday- Whatever sounds good (nothing thawed)
Tuesday- Taco Chicken (6 pts)
Wednesday- Horseradish Hamburgers (9 pts)
Thursday- Speedy Chicken Cacciatore (8 pts)
Friday- Turkey BBQ Sandwiches (7 pts)
Saturday- Wagon Wheel Pasta w/ Salsa Chicken (8 pts)
Sunday- Taco Chicken Tortilla Wraps (6 pts)


So there you have it, my menu plan for this week. Next week will be the same cookbook. I'm going to be doing a lot of grocery shopping on Friday.

Oh how I would love to say that today I'm going to finish being sick! Sadly, I know that's not the case but being sick hasn't been all bad. I've taken the opportunity to work on things towards Christmas, work on cleaning out my email (never ending project there!) and to make a solid decision to work towards losing some weight. I've said for a long time that I was going to do it but this time I'm really looking into what I need to do and working towards doing it.

So, the question remains...what am I finishing this week? Well, I'm going to finish up telling y'all about part of my trip to Canada. We'll consider this hmm...Part II of III? Ready? Are you? C'mon..are you? *grins*

Like I said before, we drove to Canada on Friday after the boys Halloween parties at their school. We didn't get there until probably 10:30 on Friday night but our wonderful friends Rob & nickle were up and waiting for us. In fact, nickle was busy working on Rob's costume for the party we were all going to the next night. We had a great time sitting around and talking and munching pizza and talking and sitting around and ...ok, you get the point. I think it was something like 3am before we crawled into bed. Then, we were all up by 7 the next morning!

Why? Well, because Rob was part of the board of the group that was putting on the Artisan Faire and we all went to help setup and get everything ready. I know that we could have slept in, but we totally didn't mind helping out. We love getting the extra time with our friends and I think I'm just a helper by nature.

I just have to say right now that the Artisan Faire was incredible! Every table had something new that I was going ooooh and ahhh over. I had three that were particularly yay, but I'm only going to tell you about one of them here. The other two I'm hoping to do reviews for later and need to speak to the shop owners about it. I promise that I'll get on that as soon as I can. Now...the one I want to tell you about...if you're on a diet, you might not want to read anymore.

This table was right next to Rob's and so I got to sit and stare and drool over her things for way too long. What is it? Do you really want to know? It was DEE-Lectibles! She had the most delicious looking cookies and brownies. Oh how I lusted after those brownies. She even had these cookies, that tasted kind of like ginger snaps, but looked like rulers! I'd love to see about getting enough of those to hand out at the kids' end of the school year parties. Now, I do have to mention that not only were here things totally delicious looking and tasting, her prices were wonderful too!

Ok, I know that I sound as if I'm gushing but seriously, if you'd tasted her things you'd totally agree with me. I know that some of you live in Canada and maybe even in the part that's over there by Toronto and St. Catherines. Dee doesn't have a website yet, but she agreed to let me give you all her email address, so please do contact her if you're in the market for deliciousness. And just to tempt y'all, I'm putting up these pictures so you can go mmm, awww and wow! Did I mention that if I ever get married again, I'm going to beg her to make the cake? I wonder how much it costs to import a wedding cake...
Ok, now that you are totally drooling and in awe, drop Dee an email at sexy_cook@hotmail.com. Trust me, you won't regret working with her and you will love, love, love her things.

Ugh! I'm still not better! Ok, I'm better, but I'm not well. I just feel totally drained and as of last night, I was still running a low grade fever. For someone who planned on getting so much done this week, this is totally frustrating. It's 1:13 in the afternoon and I really want a nap. For me today, I might take a nap. We'll see.

But, my Time for Me thing is totally a mom thing. I'm going to brag on my children. Last Monday (November 2nd) was parent-teacher conferences at their school. This is the first time I've been able to attend in the past 2 years and I was glad to be able to do it. We got to the school a few minutes early and tracked down the book fair. The boys both enjoy reading and I thought it would be a good reward for them if they each got a new book. Just before Roger's scheduled meeting, we headed down the hall to his classroom. Peter, Donna and the boys were already there and Peter didn't look happy to see us at all, but too bad. I'm mom too.

So, Roger's meeting - Roger is in 3rd grade now and has Mr. Willard as his teacher. We love Mr. Willard. He's funny and engaging and clearly loves to teach and yet nobody gets away with anything in his classroom. His students are the kind that come back year after year and keep in touch. He teases Roger saying Oh no, it's time for the bad meeting..or saying he's a horrible..oh wait, great kid. Roger had all A's and 1 B+. He was 2% away from Principal's list as he repeatedly has told me. He's doing great in Science and Social Studies where a lot of other kids are struggling. He's one of the few kids who hasn't gotten in trouble and Mr. Willard said he was a model for the other kids in the classroom. The whole meeting lasted 5 minutes because there were no concerns!

Ben's Meeting - Ben is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Stephens as the teacher. She seems nice but more formal. It could be because in the 4th grade, they start preparing the kids for middle school. Ben had something like 4 A's, a B and only one C. I'm so excited for him. Up until now he's really been a C average student and to see him really working and pulling higher grades thrills me. We're never quite sure where his capabilities lie and he's showing us just what he can do. His behavior is good and people love him.

I'm so proud of both of my boys and reliving those moments and how proud I am of them has put a huge smile on my face. What are you going to do to put a huge smile on your face today?

Ok, I hadn't planned on blogging more than once today, but I just read something that makes me so sad that I just had to write about it. About a year ago or so, I found this wonderful new blog called Use Your Stash and I loved it! They had great challenges and were just really wonderful women. Well, today, for the first time since the move, I thought I'd pop in there and maybe it would motivate me to get through the wall boxes so I could start crafting again. Much to my dismay, there's a post saying that this will be their last month! What? Noooooo! nonononono!

Alright, I know that stomping my feet and throwing a fit won't do me a lick of good, but I really loved this blog and I hate when I find something wonderful just to have to vanish. For any of you who used/loved/visited their blog in the past, please go on over and give these wonderful women some love. I'm sure that it wasn't an easy decision for them to close down. Plus, if you need further incentive, Kimmie is giving away some of her crafting things and for a comment, you get an entry. She's a hugely generous soul.

Woo! Look at me, two posts on two days in a row again! Ok, so maybe that only impresses me but once my routines get broken, it can take me a while to bounce back and I'm proud of me for jumping right back in.

So, have any of you gone over to Sunday Shutterbugs and checked out their pictures for this week? I was just over there and they're pretty cool, I have to say. Their theme for this week is Flags but since I wasn't home last Wednesday to post for that one, I wanted to do both this week. Now, I'm going to confess right up front that I didn't take either of these pictures in the past two weeks. I know that's kinda breaking the rules, but I'm sure the girls won't mind. The Fall picture (which was last week's challenge) is actually from maybe umm..2 weeks ago? Not that long ago, really..The Flags picture, I will admit to taking back in August, I think it was. I'd love to go take a flag picture today, but I'm still on don't go out and about duty until we're sure I'm not contagious.

Wow..it's been over a week since I posted. Did you think I got katienapped in Canada and they wouldn't let me come home? Nope, I didn't get nearly that lucky. I did have an incredible time there though and will be posting about that very soon. This is going to be a pretty short post because well, because I brought home more than TimBits from Canada. It seems I also brought home a case of Strep Throat! Eww, Owww and Ugh! I got to the doctor's yesterday and got my medicines and luckily am feeling better but it's going to be a bit before 'm totally back up to full strength.

But, keep your eyes open. I have tons of great things to write about from the past week or so. There's the trip to Canada and I just have to brag about Parent-Teacher Conferences. I wouldn't be a mom if I didn't, eh?

Ok, but until then, I have a pretty "simple" tackle for today. I'm going to tackle strep and since that doesn't leave me much energy for anything else, I think I'll also work on clearing off our dvr. (shhh..don't tell, but that means I'll be laying on the couch watching tv today). I might even work on my Christmas card list. Have a great day all!