Almost the end, almost the new

This year has gone by so quickly! It's hard to believe we have just celebrated our 3rd year living in the United States. While I miss a lot of things about home, now it is mostly just the people. We have finally adjusted to the different climate, and are now feeling the cool weather. And I don't really miss the snow - the idea of it yes, but the thought of being cold and wet, not at all. The boys and I are home on our own, and debating how to spend our New Year's Eve. I think that we will just have to treat it as another day, go to bed as normal, and go on. We are missing our Papa Bear, but we can't have him home just now, so we will manage. Truly, it is just another day, and we can celebrate our new year / new hope / new challenges and beginnings when Daddy is home. We did have some unexpected fun - one of my bestest American girlfriends called us yesterday morning and invited me, the kids, and Valentino over for a scrappy sleepover. We had a great time, laughing, visiting with Michelle & Nicole, and scrapping. Only one bad thing happened - when Michelle was leaving for the night, Valentino got out, ran away, around the corner and onto busy Barker Cypress. I ran after him as I realized he wasn't just walking away. He went and sat right in the center of the road lane. One car was coming, and switched lanes, and Valentino seemed scared still - he didn't move, just looked at the oncoming lights. I ran and caught up to him, but was on the other side of a ditch from him. Michelle performed a gazelle like leap and got to the road, checked for cars and dashed to grab Valentino. If it wasn't for her and her do-it actions, I probably would have seen my dog killed in front of me. I owe her everything, and I am so grateful to her. Above and so beyond. We are home today, after much snuggling, more scrapping and chatting. I am grateful that we are all together, safe, warm, and able to love each other. I couldn't imagine what I would have done if I had to tell the boys something had happened to Valentino. But it all ended well, thanks to my wonderful friends. And to make the day end on such a sweet note today, Jessica gave me her BoBunny red purse that she won from Tracy at our last Pea retreat. Oh, it is lovely, and I loved it from the moment I saw it. It still had all the stuffing in it - she never used it at all. She is such an amazing person, and I love her, my crazy American :) One thing I can say this year has done for me, it has given me the time and opportunity to love my kids even more than I ever thought I could, again, to realize even more how much my husband is my best friend, and how much I value him and love him, how much I miss him when he is gone, and how not to ever take him for granted; to appreciate and and to truly enjoy and deepen friendships with some of the most amazing women that I am so grateful to have. I wish I could have seen my son for Christmas this year, but I do feel so happy that he was able to spend some time with Ed (2x) this year. I cannot wait for him to come in the spring. With a few difficult times, and some near misses (like our Valentino's incident) we are very, very lucky, and it has been a great year.

December 1st!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Well, actually, if you look in the stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Target, or Walmart, it's been looking like Christmas since before Halloween. Funny how you can shop for fall home decorating items, then go over an aisle, and Christmas is right there.... but it is CHRISTMAS season, and we're very excited in our house. We spent running time to 5 - count em - 5! different stores yesterday to get advent calendars for the kids. It must not be a big thing for people in the US - very difficult to find, but Target, our 5th and final stop, had them. We will let the kids take their first chocolate this afternoon, when Nicholas gets home from school. And I get to start my December daily today - yaay! This is a book I've put together to snapshot our December, as we are always soooo busy at this time of year, with parties, and get togethers, school things and friend things. It will be neat looking back on I know! The coffee's ready - that's my cue - later!

Paper Bag book, canvas cover

I've watched this on YouTube a few times, and I think this is what I need to make for my Pirate Retreat theme album. Love the canvas cover, handpainted and attached - all one piece.

The most amazing recycled scrappy organizer!

This was posted on a cafemom group by one of the crafty, crafty mommies! Who would have thought to use an old lampshade, stripped down to the frame! What an awesome idea. I am so impressed by the craftiness of some people, wow! This was too good to keep to myself, had to share, as she has been kind enough to :)

Spiderlicious!

Benjamin and I made it through all our letter and number flash cards in record time this morning, so we decided to make something crafty. With the use of some pipe cleaners, a hot glue gun, my cropadile, needle and thread, crayons, scissors and googlie eyes, we jazzed up some (free) little ketchup containers that we got from McDonald's and came up with these silly, spooky guys:

Benjamin's 8 legged, 10 eyed spider :)

and our little spider family. Cute, easy, cheap, and fun!

Hippo Birthday

Checking in at the Dollhouse today, this is their most recent color challenge. Just so happens that I needed to make a birthday card today for a very special little boy who is just turning 6 years old, and this fit in perfectly!

Per the Dollies:
http://designdollies.blogspot.com/
very first OCTOBER CHALLENGE! Here we go....

Red, Blue, Ivory and Brown


Here is my card that I made, with these colors in mind, and a sweet youthful punny sentiment!
I hope he loves it!

Fabulous Design Dollies challenge

I've been following them for quite some time, but have never completed a challenge of their's before. And the Design Dollies http://designdollies.blogspot.com have had some great challenges! I am proud to submit for them, a card that took a ton of time, thought, paper, and reconfiguring LOL! In the end, I'm very proud of this, and I think I will have a very hard time giving it away.

This is the challenge:

BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE and RED

Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, yes, if you have your idea formulated 100% in your head to start (and who does that?) I started off with one of my favorite stamps - from the Charlie Horse line over at Clear Dollar Stamps http://www.cleardollarstamps.com/ this stamp is Charliene in the Morning. I used Stampin Up paper, along with a page from DCWV Pocket Full of Posies stack. Ink is Close to My Heart clover green and star spangled blue. Markers were Creative Memories, die cuts done with my Spellbinders dies. The red accents were originally white, but with some love from Tattered Angels candy apple red glimmer mist, they became beautiful and vibrant. Bling from my stash and black embossing powder from Stampendous finish off the card. Wow, talk about name dropping! Whew!!

Here is my finished product:

Thank you Dollies, for such an awesome challenge. This is the prize up for grabs, in case anyone needs more reason to pop over and check out their blog:

Check them out, over at the Dollhouse:

Some Odd Girl contest

This is just too stinking cute! Pop on over to a sweet, crafty and inspiring page and enter the contest to win! All you have to do is enter your suggestion for naming this adorable little dude!

Post their blinkie on your blog page, and enter your suggestion, link it back to your page. Super simple!

September 11th, and celebrating new life

As I am sure most of the world is as well, I have thought a lot about September 11th, and the WTC tragedy. What a scary, uncontrollable shake to the entire world that day was. I remember watching tv in the morning - hubby called me over - and it was surreal to see. It's still to this day unfathomable to understand how human beings can do this to each other. I was working downtown in Calgary, at a law firm, on the 31st floor. All anyone could talk about was the attack. Because Calgary is a big oil center, it was told that if we were worried in any way about our safety, that we should leave for the day. I had Ed come and get me, there was no way I was able to concentrate. We spent the rest of the day watching tv, and listening to reports over and over. Such a sad, sad day. Unnecessary tragedy that took so many lives, and maimed so many more.

This afternoon was all about my friend Denise, her husband Doug, and their soon to arrive baby boy James. Surrounded by family and friends, and more baby gifts than I have ever seen, we celebrated the love of this amazing couple. There couldn't be better parents chosen. I was so honored to be invited, and of course became the unofficial 'official' picture taker. I have a ton of pics to upload, she will be very pleased.

My friend Shelly was so sweet, and watched the kids for me for 5 hours. When I got to her home to pick them up, all the boys were in the pool in the back yard - with Brian and Nicholas in their full clothes, Benjamin in shorts (that were not his) with a pamper that was sooooo full, absorbed to the absolute max - it was hilarious. Shelly was concerned I'd be upset, but really, they were having so much fun. And I got some adorable splashy pictures - Nicholas wrangling an inflatable alligator, and Benjamin doing his cannon balls off the ladder. The boys sure do love water!

I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet evening, maybe watching something on the dvr and scrapping a little bit. Oh, and a yummy, yummy cup of "Lee" tea to relax with. (Lee is my friend with angel wings.)

Friday Tidy

I've been able to get back to a normal schedule now, with us back home from Vancouver, and kiddo back in school. Hubby is again traveling for work, so it's me and the kids and pets. I love 7:30, when the boys go to bed, as I have some time to watch tv or a movie, read, or what I've been doing lately: scrapping and making a mess LOL! I've spent a good portion of last night and this afternoon cleaning up, and trying to find a way that will work to maintain order and still give me what I need for scrapping room. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Legally back

We are back from our whirlwind trip to Vancouver, where we had to go to get new Visas so we could stay in the country. Had our meeting on Wednesday morning of last week, and picked up the new visas with our passports Friday. Played happy tourists for the rest of the time, visiting Vancouver's Gastown, China Town, chinese gardens, Granville Island, Stanley Park and Canada Place. Loved walking along the seawall, taking the water taxi boats and finding unexpectedly beautiful and wonderful places. Oh, and not to mention filling up on Tim Horton's coffee and getting my Kraft Peanut butter. I really wish we'd had more time to stay (and more money!) but we had to hurry back, as Ed is again leaving. Just getting off the plane and settling at home, and tonight he is off to Pennsylvania for a week or two. Just me and the boys, and what a lazy time we'll have. Hopefully I can get us all into routine again, and watching the money to get us back on track. It's raining today, which is wonderful as I don't have to water the lawn, but we do have a flash flood warning in effect until 7pm tonight. I've read that we are on the 'dirty side' of a tropical storm, which may have hit hurricane status... maybe I'll watch the news today. And I know I'm going to scrap today!

School, day #2, hubby's bday, last day of vacation

We were up bright and early, the boys and I, anxiously awaiting the first morning bus ride. We met Alejandro at the bus stop, and one of the other moms with her kiddos, and we waited together. And waited. And waited. Finally, I called Shelly, and she said the kids at her stop were gone. Figured the new driver missed our street. Evelyn drove us to school, and we dropped the kids off at their classrooms. No worries, no tardies given this week.

Spent the day with my baby boy and my birthday husband. Yup, Ed's 39 today. I put on my facebook status last night that today I get to kiss a 39 year old man for the first time today ;) And it's true LOL!! He and Benjamin played Harry Potter on the wii for a while, then Ed ran on the treadmill and had his shower. We headed out around noon, first to Kohl's for Ed's birthday present - some yummy smelling Aqua di Gio cologne, and three white shirts. Found and tried out a new coffee place inside HEB - it is just a little coffee cart kind of thing, Minuti I think it's called. Delicioussssss. Loved my caramel macchiato. Ed had an iced chai cream. Went in search of "the" birthday cake and ended up with a deluxe coconut cream pie - Ed's pretty excited about it.

Came home, puttered around for a bit, then picked up the munchkin from the bus. Again, it was early, just like yesterday. When I spoke to the driver she said she hit her stop before ours at 7:28, and got to ours, waited 3-5 minutes then left... that's not possible, as Nicholas and I left the house at 7:31.... tomorrow we have to be earlier! This girl drives fast, and leaves fast!

Went to Kublai Khan for supper - our favorite make it, have them cook it place. Delicious as always. We all brought 1/2 our food home. Kiddos upstairs watching a movie, and we can too - the new one that came out today, with Jennifer Lopez - The Backup Plan... Then pie, then kiddos bedtime, then a show or two for us.

Awesome day. Thank you honey! Happy Birthday to you! We love you!

First Day of School!

And it was a smooth morning! Maybe the key is making lunch the night before, setting the clothes out the night before, and making sure there are several alarms set. We had very smooth sailing this morning, with plenty of time. We drove Nicholas to school, had lots of time for photos and hugs. We even left before the final bell as he was settling into his coloring at his desk with his classmates. He was excited, and said he loves school. Such a huge difference! I could see it in the kindergartener's faces - that look that we had last year, the nervous and scared little faces. None of that for us this year, Nicholas is a big boy, in Grade one now, and what a difference. Benjamin was sad to leave his brother, and shouted from the doorway, "I love you Nick - a - yus!" and waved and waved as we left. I'm very glad Ed is home from work today, as he is helping Benjamin tremendously with his separation anxiety from his brother. Getting all the laundry done, and have freshly baked cookies for an after school snack, so we can sit and hear all about his first day. Hope it was great!

Nicholas was home before I even went out to meet the bus! His driver was super quick, and he was home early - on the first day of school even! He had a great day, and was very chatty, his baby blues were full of sparkle. He had his oatmeal cookies happily and talked about his day. Such a huge difference from last year. Made curry for supper, and he chattered all through dinner, then went to bed easily. We could get used to this.

Crop weekend again!

Every month our CafeMom group does an online crop, and even though our last month's was just over not that long ago, we are working on August (early this month due to school starting.) Here is a challenge I did that was hosted by my fellow group owner, who wanted to see 'everyday love' between members of the family. I popped my memory card from my camera to my computer, thinking I'd have to do some searching, and I found the perfect picture right away! Benjamin and Nicholas snuggling (and hamming it up) while they were watching tv together upstairs. The do fight and argue, and get on each other's nerves, but they are serious about loving each other too.

Happy Friday the 13th

This has always been a good day for me! This morning I looked forward to see what would come my way.

We were busy today, fueling up the car, hitting Target, the bank machine, Kohl's (school clothes), Walmart (groceries) then relaxing with a treat of lunch and dessert at McD's (the kids' choice.) Funny, when I was fueling up, right at the start of our outting, I couldn't get the hood to open - it popped up when I pulled the release, but the little plastic pull didn't come out, so it wouldn't release from the front latch. Called VW, and will have to go in Tuesday morning to get some help (they were too busy). At least we got all our errands done, paid all our bills (woohoo!!) and have a little money to spare (gotta love that!) Bunco tonight with my neighborhood girlfriends (yaay!) as Shelly's family is babysitting (she's playing too!)

All in all, a pretty great 13th, even with the hood thingy. Maybe I'll win at bunco... who knows? LOL!! Doesn't matter, I'm just very grateful that I get to go.

No scrapping in the works today! Hopefully tomorrow!

Awesome card!

I made this card for a friend for her birthday, adding a little chocolate treat to it.
Then I found this card (below) which is the same concept, but a double card! I think I must try it. I must, I must!

By MaileLei4U

Crazy Kid!

I'm going to let the layout and the journaling tell this story - - this happened yesterday.

When you are on your own....

..... you scrap! Or at least that's the way in our house. I am home with one kiddo, as the other is out with his best friend and the momma - they are heading to the school where Nicholas is going to show them around, then they are having a picnic - ghasp!! - outside! (It is amazingly hot, yet again today.) Then this evening, the momma is taking them to the gym with her, so they can play while she works out. Benjamin and I are being home bodies, and that's just fine. It's giving me the chance to be a little crafty:

The first card was for a sketch challenge, hosted my my lovely cafe mom group co-owner. She made a beautiful card that we were to copy. Love this design!

The layout of my sweet goofy grinning boy I did this morning - - that's actual machine stitching too! I pulled out the old sewing machine and dusted it off - got it threaded the first time around too!

The last card is for my LMN O Pea card swap that is coming up this weekend. I actually got it done early! I was feeling the pressure, so I couldn't just let it sit. Maybe I should be smart and start working on the September ones, just to be safe!

Snack time for little man, and some snuggle time while we watch a cartoon. :)

Sometimes round is the way to go!

I have 13 cards I need to have made for a swap next weekend, and it's not like me to procrastinate and wait until the last moment. Even though it's a week away, I'm feeling the pressure. I stayed up late last night to get one set done, and this is what I came up with. It's not completely finished, I think I'll do a little faux stitching, but not sure on if there will be much more than that. Love the little squirrel, from the Create a Critter cricut cartridge.

Now to get going on the next design....

I have found my peace... and am in a scrappier place

All is good today. Kiddos are being wonderful (I know, amazing right?) and I am able to scrap and just enjoy the day. We are all having a jammie day, doing what we all love most: I'm just finishing some cards, and about to scrap a layout, Nicholas is watching Netflix cartoons, and Benjamin is playing Lego Batman. Not the most educational of days, but we are enjoying the stress free, relaxing feeling it brings. It is amazingly hot out again, and Edward is still away working, so we are just chillaxing :)

Here's what I've been working on the last couple days:

*layout I just finished this morning. I love, love, love this page - - the chipboard frame is sprayed with homemade glimmer mist, in SU! Tangerine Tango, CTMH clover meadow, and a Tattered Angels blue skies. Love it! And the kiddos are so sweet. Nicholas gave me the silly bandz, so this is the perfect way to keep them and the memory.

*cards I did for a cafe mom challenge, but I ummm... didn't read all the directions (they were supposed to be done with a pink emphasis... oh well!)

*This layout I did a day or two ago, about Valentino and his joy at going to the bus stop every morning. Nicholas is a very smart boy for 6 years old - - he gets to the bus stop and seeks out one of the two girls, and he passes the leash to them. They of course, think he's the sweetest thing for sharing his puppy with them.

My kingdom for some peace!

I know people would say, enjoy this moment, as the kids grow so fast. Yes, I agree, they do. My husband is working out of town and the kids are driving me a little bonkers, so I would love just a little peace and quiet. I'm sad to say that on some days, I really, really look forward to bedtime, which incidentally is in about 15 minutes. Thank goodness! I always miss my husband, but today, just a little more, as I would love a break.

While the cat's away...

The mouse will be sad, 'cause she missed the cat. But she will also scrapbook.

Today is day one of our July online crop in the group that I took ownership of. I'm nervous that people will be bored with it, or that they just won't participate. Today I was busy scrapping for challenges, I hope other members are too. Along with the previous post for today, of the Bunny Boy page, I did do a couple other things:


This card is for my 'unusual celebration' card - - it is in honor of rubber duckies everywhere LOL!! A requirement was using the corrugated cardboard somewhere on a card or layout. I really love this stamp set. Charlie Horse is just so sweet!

I have been trying hard to finish off Nicholas' kindergarten scrapbook, as he will be starting Grade One in just 3 short weeks. A lot of my work for the next few posts will be from his book. This one is for a cnc challenge too, a Red, White & Blue(or green) page.

This is from the Spring party at WCE that was held just before spring break. Nicholas loves the pics of him with his buddies, and that it is all about him.

I'm sure I'm not quite done scrapping for the night, but I am going to take a little tv break. More to post tomorrow.

Scrapping the Bunny Boy

This is for a challenge to make an entire scrapbook layout with just your scraps, and your scraps have to make up the foundation for your page. Above is the scraps, and below is the page foundation:

after cutting out 36 2" squares, here's my finished layout:

for the flowers, I stamped them on some of these lighter scrap pieces, then used my cuttlebug to cut them out, then glimmer misted to give shine.

I bought the spellbinders dies that have the matching stamps (Leslie & I got these at CKC earlier this month.) Haven't quite got the hang of them perfectly yet, but they are pretty.

I love this layout, and how sweet Nicholas looks. Still my little small boy, so happy and so proud running home to show his artwork and goodies from school. Too soon, he'll have things just shoved in his backpack that he will forget to show us, or that he will just throw away. But for now, he's still excited, proud and eager. I love you my little Bunny Boy!

Just can't take it anymore

The boys are so fortunate - they share a room because they choose to, and I think that's so sweet. So we've taken the empty bedroom, and turned it into their toy room. Sounds wonderful, right? Ummm.... it was for a while... then this happened:









I can't believe we have a room like this in our home. We've been closing the door to it for the last week or two, but now... the crap has extended too far out and the door won't close. This is my chore for today. And of course, I'm making it a scrappy challenge too. These are the 'before' pics... I will post the organized 'after' pics too, then I'm going to do a layout about it :) But of course LOL!!

New Owner moving in

My friend Angie and I have taken over ownership of the Cafe Mom group Crop N Chat from our other friend Kellie. It's basically an online scrapbook group that posts challenges and layout ideas, and tries to bring out the best in creativity and friendship from each other. A lot of the things I post from now on will be drawn on challenges from our group.

... like... this little card! Love this cricut cartridge, it's called Create a Critter. Anyone who knows me knows I love raccoons, and this little one is just so adorable.

Something wicked this way comes!

I had a very cool opportunity presented to me yesterday. Super cool. Awesome. A little scary. But wicked! Can't tell exactly what it is, but all things will be revealed by week's end. One little hint: it's scrappy related. Duh! LOL!! With me, of course it's scrappy related! Okay, one other little hint: it starts with O.... that's all I can say! Don't want to spill the beans! Knock over the apple cart! Give away the milk for free... or whatever that saying is! Woohoo! Can't wait to tell!

Happy Canada Day!

Considering we are the only people in our neighborhood that would be celebrating this day, we are making it a red and white day. What we wear, and what we eat for supper! (Could be challenging...) Red Thai curry and white rice maybe? LOL!! I'm in the mood to scrapbook Canada stuff, so I dug through my pics and found these gorgeous ones of the kids, wearing the Team Canada Olympic shirts that Ed brought them back from his last trip up:

Future Scientist

Nicholas has taken quite an interest in dinosaurs, volcanoes and rocks. We found an excavation kit at the bookstore, and he just loved it! Of course, even though I slept through most of the dig (he opened it up and got started VERY early one morning) Daddy was kind enough to run for the camera so I could see, and of course, have pictures to scrapbook:

Shoe Frog!

Thomas would very much get a kick out of this page. I was talking to him on the phone when I discovered this frog in Benjamin's shoe and screamed. Thomas laughed, Ed laughed, I tossed the shoe, and the poor frog, I can only imagine he was wondering what on earth was going on! I'd been watching him the night before, never honestly thinking he'd hide out in Ben's shoe, but yup, there he was. Ed was kind enough to come out and transplant him into the garden so I could get Benjamin ready to go. Silly frog! :)

Hanging with the kids today...

Nothing on our agenda but the normal daily house stuff. We're still smarting a little from our weekend over-do at the pool, with our red sore shoulders and backs. Even with the sunblock. We may be getting our FREE trampoline today - Ed just called to say that he may be able to pick it up tonight and Ray will give him a hand disassembling and (hopefully!) putting together. The kids are so excited (me too!) Now it's just figuring out where we'd like to put it. Maybe I'll get upstairs to get a little something crafty done; I've got these die cut cards to make, and I'm partially done, but the design isn't totally clear in my mind yet. It's coming, but slowly. Happy Wednesday! :)

Summer's here!

The boys are both home all day, and we're well into summer. We hit the pool this weekend, for 2 hours and had a blast. So much so, we're still feeling it. Even though we slathered with the sunblock, we still all got burned. The kids not as much as me, but they did too. And hubby (who opted out of sunblock) is hurting the most of all. Having both boys all day long is more difficult... Nicholas wants something to do all the time! I'm pretty tired (and yes, sometimes, I will admit, irritated!!) by the time hubby comes home, so I truly appreciate all the time he gives me to scrap!

I have an all day crop this weekend with my Peas, and we have two card swaps that I am participating in. This card is for the "scallop" group - only requirements are to use a scallop (of course!) and two embellies (ribbon and button). Cute, simple, and love the color combo.

A day with our fingers crossed

Yesterday, hubby left work early, off to DPS in Rosenberg. He's been so patient with the motorcycle in the garage; he won't drive it until he's all legal. The office was very busy, so he stood in line, stood in line, for about 1/2 hour. As he moved up about half of the way, then he noticed on a sign on the wall that payment is cash or cheque only. Sigh. So this morning he is off to try again, chequebook in hand. Hopefully he is successful. Yesterday just wasn't meant to be. We had a big thunder & lightning storm too. I'm always surprised and a little uneasy, I'll admit, about how much lightning happens here. With luck on his side, hubby will be home soon with his license, he'll grab his backpack, and ride off to work on his new bike. That will totally make his day. After I check today's weather forecast of course.

The kids were all interested in this little black slug at the bus stop this morning. First time I can recall seeing a real one. Nicholas didn't touch it like the other kids, but he was watching. Don't blame ya pal, Sluggie left a slime trail as he moved. Ewwwwww.... He was still a little wary of things - he'd slept with us last night because he had a dream that disturbed him - that we had birds all over inside the house and they pooped on everything. That grossed him out so much he needed to be with us.

Today, today... hmmm... Think I can scrapbook! All the laundry was done yesterday, and everyone is on the road to healthy (last week was rough!) so I'm going to play in my scrappy room, see what I can come up with. More than a couple CM challenges that I want to get to!

The day before Mother's Day!

Who knew that the day before Mother's Day, I would be getting the 'World's Greatest Wife Award' from my husband. Yes, I agreed this week that my husband could buy a motorcycle for his birthday (in August). He came home yesterday with this amazing deal on a brand new 2009 Shadow that he is dying to go see... so that is where we're off to today. I can only hope it goes as planned, because he really deserves it. He does everything for us, and supports me in all that I do.

Last night I finished a lovely layout for a challenge of mine in an online group. I used the new Crate paper that came in a monthly kit that I've just subscribed to (from Scrapbook Circle.) I have to say, all the cutting around the little circles/stems took a long time! But I love this layout:


Time to finish my coffee, have a shower, get the kiddos ready, and off we go to the bike shop. Hope I can contain hubby, he's so happy, I think he may explode. :P

Tons of scrappiness!

Well, I can't believe how quickly this week has gone! Just last weekend, from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon, I was at a scrapbook retreat with 28 or so other women. What a blast! We scrapped until the wee hours, hardly slept, laughed until it hurt, ate our weight in deliciousness, and got a ton of scrapping done. Oh - and for the first time in my life, I made a grown woman pee her pants LOL!! (It involves a long story, some talk of scary movies, and a little sneaking into her cabin and literally scaring the pee out of her at 2am.) She was such a good sport! I'll post some pics over the weekend; first have to attend to some of the 'life' stuff that I neglected this week (like paying bills!)

Pretty. Simple. Pretty darn simple.

This is a Valerie Salmon post, and I love this layout! Simple, pretty, and pretty darn simple to do quickly! I'll have to give this one a try, I can see this taking, oh, under 15 minutes, providing I don't try to overthink it!

mini envelope album with tags

Cool paper bag mini album with binding

Pre-birthday

I had figured, as we have for all of us the past oh, 14 years, that we'd be doing the weekend long celebration of my birthday that falls tomorrow. Well, we did go for dinner on Thursday night, to an awesome mongolian restaurant that even the kids love. Friday night we ordered chinese food, but really late, as hubby was doing yard work and Nicholas was spending his typical Friday night with his pal Alejandro. Saturday was a yucky day - I could feel a cold coming on, and I was so tired. With many, many interruptions, I finally got a nap in. Hubby had to work for a couple hours, so he was at the office. We did a zip out in the evening, first to Home Depot to get some planting things, then to La Centerra where we sampled the Cold Slab Creamery - oreo cookie ice cream for the boys, and waffle cones of very, very, very berry sweet cream ice cream for us. Sooo good! Worth the $18. Sat in the courtyard in the dark and watched the boys zinging around, working off the sugar rush they very quickly achieved. Today, it's been a rainy downcast kind of day, but the yard is looking super green. Hubby's been outside in the garage most of the day, and the boys are video-game addicted. Laundry for me (rather than the typical Monday), and something simple (but homemade) for supper. Not how I thought we'd spend the weekend, but I did get all my presents early :) The entire series of Sex and the City from hubby, and the new Lady Antebellum cd. Oh, and the biggest treat - Thomas called both yesterday and today, so I got caught up on all things kiddo. He didn't say Happy Birthday, it was just coincidence that he was calling, and that's totally fine! I always feel so much better after talking to him; confirmation that he is doing all right. Well, the machines are beeping at me, calling for my attention . To the laundry room I go! Happy Sunday!

Funny for today!

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,

Good grief, look how smart I am!

Must be where 'Smart Ass' came from!

Happy Thursday

Well, we've tabled the potty training for a week or two, or maybe four. Benjamin tells us he is scared to go on the potty, and forcing him will result in nothing good. So, back to our very mobile selves. Hung out with our pal E today, helped her hang some curtain rods, and had cookies and talked for a long time. Just a really good girlfriend talk, you know? Made a yummy supper; did the Easter dinner thing, just a couple days late. And you know, after a couple years adjusting it and perfecting, I can say that I make THE best scalloped potatoes. Yes I do! Picked up my new Close to my Heart catty tonight, so after a couple shows, and a little farmville action, I'll be zoned in on new scrappy goodies! So glad tomorrow is Friday! Not sure what we're doing yet, but whatever, it's Friday!!!

Things, they are a-changing!

We are on our first full day of potty training. With Benjamin throwing his diapers in the garbage yesterday, there's no going back. Even if it was easier. Even if I do have to clean up little puddles. He is willing, and I need to be too. And to keep my patience. He had a dry night, which I was so pleased with, but he's had 3 accidents this morning. Lucky we have lots of cutie Lightning McQueen underwear (and I'm doing laundry.) Wish us luck!

Happy Easter!

Our Easter didn't go exactly as planned, but it was a pretty great Sunday. We were going to have dinner at a friend's house, but we had a falling out on Friday, and we're all pretty upset about it. To save the day, hubby barbequed steaks and we had garlic mashed, green bean casserole and brussell sprouts (well, I had the brussell sprouts.) Yes, we are in the south now! LOL!! I had a two hour nap this aft, and it was pretty much a jammie day. Very lazy and laid back, with yummy coffee and the four of us vegging around the house. Oh, Benjamin has decided that today is the day he wants big boy underwear; he even threw his diapers in the garbage himself, so that is a huge step. Now we get to have a little Lightning McQueen bum running around the house, it's adorable. A couple oopses so far, but it'll come. I'm so proud (and relieved) that he's finally ready! It must have been all the chocolate eggs he ate this morning! They had a blast finding them out in the yard, and were nearly speechless when they saw the easter bunny had left "baby bunnies" for them as well. All in all, not a bad way to spend a holiday :) Sorry that the normal back-to-the-grind-Monday is right around the corner.

Scrapping right along!

I've been very lucky, and this past week, I've gotten a lot of scrapping done. My favorite online group had a crop that went from Wednesday to Sunday, and I finished 10 different challenges. I impressed myself. Here's some of what I'm happy to have finished:

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  Ta-da! Love this layout, I'll be using it again! And I was inspired by the tv show challenge too, hence "the apprentice" title.
  

Our new puppy, Valentino

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So, as you can see, it was a very productive weekend! And I have to thank my hubby, 'cause he looked after the boys for almost all of Saturday, and spent the day cleaning while I was in my jammies and scrapping.