Happy New Year!

Wow - I had no idea how long it had been since my last blog, until right now. 4 1/2 months is a VERY long time! Sorry! I don't have an excuse.....I guess I just don't think to write on here very often. My lack of posts certainly isn't for lack of cute remarks from my boys. Nor is it from lack of nothing to blog about. Life has been very busy for the past few months. Dylan started school and hockey in September. I never realized just how busy that would make our life. Once Darwin starts in a few years, I'm sure we'll be following a real tight schedule. It will be great if the boys can play on the same team. Hopefully we can make that work!

So in addition to school activities and hockey, the usual busy-ness also continues in our house. We've been doing more home renos (put in a backdoor, re-doing the whole entryway, etc), brewing beer and wine, lots of gardening and yardwork (including the installation of a 30' x 50' hockey rink this past week!), baking, and of course, watching the 2 little D's grow up at an alarmingly fast pace. It's wonderful to watch them grow into such individuals, but I do try to grab onto the few "baby" moments that are left. They'll always be my baby boys, even though they are proud to be "big boys".

With it being the start of a new year, I have been feeling the need to write my resolutions and thoughts somewhere. This blog has always been good for that, so here I am again! I've seen a lot of comments from people in the last few days talking about 2012 being the best year yet and how many are happy to see the end of 2011. I can't say that 2011 was a bad year for us. It wasn't as eventful as other years, but still full of many firsts. I think every year with children will be full of firsts. While I look forward to another year ahead of us, I'm not relieved to put 2011 behind us. I hope for many great things in the following year, but I'll also count my blessing from the last year, and from the many before that.

Anyway, my first resolution for 2012 is to let go of big expectations. I will take this year in stride, and be happy and grateful for whatever comes our way. I am so blessed, in so many ways, that I feel it almost greedy to wish for much more. I have a wonderful family, including two of the sweetest boys in the world. We live in a great family home, with our two quirky goldens (whom turn 8 and 9 this year - WOW!). We are lucky to have a lot of "things" in our house, and I am especially lucky to have a dream kitchen, filled with all the gadgets a chef and baker could want! The boys have a playroom that many kids can only dream about (mostly in part to our loving family, who generously spoiled them over the past few months - birthdays and Christmas included!). There are a few rooms in our house that could use a makeover, but all-in-all, our material possesions are grande and there is little more we need. And our non-material things are beyond what I ever could have dreamt of having in my life. I am a lucky woman, wife and mother!
RESOLUTION #1 - Be thankful for everything I have in my life, and not expect (much) more!

Here's resolution #2. It's something I always remind myself of, so not sure it's actually a resolution....I'm going to let it be on the list, though, as it's pretty important. ENJOY THE SMALL THINGS IN LIFE, and LIVE IN THE MOMENT. I think we are all guilty of living in the future, rather than the present. When you have a baby in the house, it's easy to constantly think about the next milestone or stage, rather than fully enjoy the one before your eyes. This continues as the child grows. Pretty soon your kids are 5 and 3 and you wonder where the time has gone. I want to hold onto every age and stage as tight as I can, and enjoy every second of it. It's great to dream about who and what the boys will grow into, but I also need to take time and enjoy them for who they are TODAY.
RESOLUTION #2 - Each small (and BIG) moment our family shares on a daily basis, needs to be enjoyed to the fullest, then tucked away to memory when the present becomes the past.

Alright, moving on to my smaller-scale resolutions, here's #3. While I am very good at recycling almost everything that can be recycled in our waste, I haven't been great with separating our organic (compost) waste as of lately. So, this week-end I changed around our recycle/garbage area to include a designated section for organics. So far we are off to a good start. We are fortuante to live in an area that has a great garbage/recycle system. Unlimited oragnic waste can be put out each week, in addition to unlimted recycling and one bag/can of garbage. I am pretty sure it's possible for us to have MORE recycle and organics than garbage, so that is my goal to achieve.
RESOLUTION #3 - Reduce our weekly waste, increase our weekly recyle/organic waste, and thus, lesson our family's environmental footprint.

Resolution #4 is short and sweet. Get back into practicing what I preach. My other blog is all about eating healthy. While I strive for a healthy diet for myself and my family, it's easy to fall off track and go in spurts of not-so-healthy-eating. I hope that we can get back on track, and stay there!
RESOLUTION #4 - cook and enjoy a healthy diet!

Finally, my last resolution. This one is pretty simple. It's about my other blog (that I just mentioned). I started that blog 10 months ago, with the intent of compiling 365 recipes in 365 days. I am a bit behind on it right now, but I am certain it's possible to finish.
RESOLUTION #5 - finish my other blog in 365!

Well, that's all for now. This is a long post. If anyone actually makes it through the whole thing, great. If not, that's okay, too. It feels good to write all this down and I'm glad I have a place to do it! Happy New Year!