Friday, December 14, 2012

Friday in real life...and a contest to win $500


It's Friday. Have a good one. And don't worry too much about your Christmas shopping. It will get done. It always does. (By the way, that little encouragement was just as much for me as for you -- I have barely bought a single present.)

Normally I would call this Insta-Friday, with the "insta" representing cell phone photos. But I am mixing cell phone and camera photos, because I am tired of the quality of my cell phone photos. Nope. No iPhone 5 over here. Not that I'm jealous.

I am including this photo of fruit to illustrate a story about kids...my kids. I sent pears and apples in their lunches yesterday. Mostly they came back untouched. So, I cut them up after school and put them out like this. They ate it all. Apparently they are too lazy to bite into a whole fruit.


This was my lunch yesterday. Not much in the house, so I sauteed some frozen veggies with Bragg's and garlic powder. I served it with a Sol mushroom and rice veggie burger topped with salsa. It was good but I was starving in about two hours.


It was my husband's birthday this week. I made a chocolate cake with a peanut butter icing. I bought some "Happy Birthday" templates from the dollar store. Cool idea. I'm not very patient though. This is how it turned out.


We fit in a visit to the tree farm last weekend in between basketball games. The question then became where do we put the tree. We have two couches in the family room now and we didn't want to take one out. So, we squeezed her in the kitchen.


When I say squeezed, I do mean squeezed. I like my Christmas tree as tall as possible, but we only have 8-foot ceilings. I cut down the middle branch at the top and the star is still tilted. Never mind our usual angel. She had no hope of fitting.


This is one of my favourite ornaments from childhood. We had a mouse in a matchbook too, but my sister took it. She claims that one was hers and this was mine. I disagree, but whatever.


This one is another childhood favourite that we made with my mom...a Raggedy Ann and Andy sun catcher ornament. I believe Andy's missing leg came later, ie. from my kids.


A modern addition to our ornament collection. It reminds me of the Halloween episode where Spongebob trimmed down his head and exposed his brains. That was so gross.


One of my husband's students gave him this countdown to Christmas clock. The kids love it. I'm ignoring it. It reminds me of what I haven't done yet...like making cookies, cleaning the house, shopping...


I got this card holder from the dollar store. Cute, eh? We had no cards when I got it, so my daughter quickly drew up one for each of us.


At school one year, she made this cute Nativity Scene from a clementine crate. We light it up with green lights at night.



Just thought I would give you a peek at my husband's favourite part of our house -- the music room! Those are just the acoustic guitars on the wall. There are a few electric ones around too. The piano is for him and the kids, although my daughter stopped taking lessons this year. She would not practice at all. My son does just enough to get by from week to week.

I love my house. It offers us shelter, warmth and comfort. We are blessed to have it. You know what I don't like about my house? Paying the mortgage. This contest could help.

Win Up to $500 Towards Your Mortgage, Car Insurance or Credit Card


If you are feeling the pinch financially this holiday season (and who isn't?), enter the 12 Days of Piggy in the City Contest from LowestRates.ca. You could win up to $500 towards your next mortgage payment, car insurance payment or credit card balance. 

Each day, from December 13th to 24th, a new picture will be posted on the contest Facebook page.  In the spirit of the  "Where's Waldo?" books, guess what Canadian landmark Piggy the piggy bank is standing in front of for your chance to win. The prize pool starts at $0 and increases by $1 with each additional entry until it reaches $500  so tell your friends to enter! 

The entrant with the most correct responses will win. If there is a tie, a winner will be selected through a draw. On Christmas Day, LowestRates.ca will announce a winner and donate $50 to a food bank in the winner's city or town.

LowestRates.ca provides Canadians with a fast and convenient way to save two of their most valuable assets – time and money. By using LowestRates.ca to search for mortgage, insurance and credit card offers, you could save thousands of dollars in just minutes. Based in Toronto, LowestRates.ca provides a free independent online service that helps consumers compare personal financial products offered by Canada’s leading financial institutions.

Enter the 12 Days of Piggy In The City Contest now, and see just how much of those history and geography lessons you actually remember!

*This is a sponsored post.


Linking up to An Aloha Affair and:


 life rearranged
Ohsoamelia

22 comments:

  1. My daughter is the same way needs the fruit cut up first.. lazy kids :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So funny...more work for us, but you gotta do it, right? You want them to get that fruit in. Veggies are another story! Sometimes it's impossible to get them to eat those...although they at least like salad now. :)

      Delete
  2. I always eat more fruits and veggies when they're cut up for me too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do too. I just need to find someone to do it! ;)

      Delete
  3. what a lovely kitchen dinning room!

    alyciamealy.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your tree looks great, I think a tree in the kitchen would actually be fun. I'm sometimes the same way with fruit, it can be messy whole but just a little nibble of a slice is always appealing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I like the tree in the kitchen, but I like to be able to see it from the couch when I'm sitting (not that that happens often enough!). I guess we are all alike with the fruit...and veggies. I definitely eat those more if they are washed and cut. :)

      Delete
  5. The tree looks lovely in the kitchen! We have, ahem, an abundance of trees around here :) The nativity is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Ruthie, Thanks! My girl and I just finished decorating a little fake tree for the kids, so I understand the multiple tree thing. I think the nativity is cute too, especially since she was like six or seven when she made it. :)

      Delete
  6. You have such a beautiful home!

    My daughter won't eat whole fruit at school either. I think she feels weird biting into an apple when all the other kids are munching candy bars. Annies fruit snacks have been our compromise from fresh fruit in the lunchbox a couple of days a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Julee!

      I can't believe the things kids bring in their lunches! My son tells me all about it, because he thinks I'm extreme. But I do give them treats...just not Coke and Gatorade for lunch.

      I gave them applesauce in a squeeze package last week for extra fruit. My son liked it. Not sure about the girl. ;)

      Delete
  7. I saw 500 dollars, then I saw the beautiful tree...and cake (wow!) Happy Birthday to your husband! Then I noticed the music room- too cool-! (I have -okay, had, all three of the albums you have hanging on the wall) :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too bad you can't enter for the $500. :( Thanks for the birthday wishes.

      Funny, I thought of you when I posted the photo of the music room. I figured you would like the albums! :)

      Delete
  8. I love your curtains! And I love getting peeks into homes!

    Templates for cakes...........SO CUTE! Love that idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I like funky curtains. ;) I like seeing other people's homes too! I think the template idea is great. I just need to practice. ;)

      Delete
  9. So pretty Jo!!!! I'm going to do a house tour post while all our decorations are up too {fingers crossed LOL}.
    Incidentally, I tagged you in a holiday themed post-- you can check it out here to play along!
    So adorable! Incidentally, I "tagged" you in a holiday themed post-- you can read it here!
    http://aclosetintellectual.blogspot.com/2012/12/monday-tag.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Tabetha! Can't wait to see your house tour..if you get to it! ;) Hard to fit everything in right about now, huh? Thanks for including me in the holiday fun. I will get to it asap!! :)

      Delete
  10. My kids always eat cut up fruits and veggies way better than the whole thing too! Love your Christmas tree! So pretty! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas! Angie xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Angie! I hope you have a fantastic Christmas too. :)

      Delete