16 Sunday Dec 2012
Posted in Family
So D took the kids to have their pictures taken with Santa today and of course, he asked what they wanted for Christmas. M said a Lego friends treehouse (hint, hint Uncle Matthew) and G said “I want a light bulb. ”
And he was dead serious. 🙂
S.
24 Wednesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
2012 Yearlong Album, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats, googly eyes, Guns 'n' Roses, gymnastics, Halloween, Kiddies, kiddies, Paul Simon, swimming
listening… to a lot of Paul Simon’s Graceland, one of my top 3 favourite albums along with Cats: The Musical and Guns ‘n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction. (yeah,yeah, odd mix, whatever!)
counting… to 10. A lot. Like over and over and over…. The joys of a strong-minded and stubborn 5-year-old. Sigh.
finishing… mini Halloween pumpkins with the kiddies. L wanted a regular face with googly eyes, Mr. G wanted lots of googly eyes like a monster, and Miss M opted for markers. They’re pretty cute. 🙂
working… on the next Yearlong Album class and the November LO for it.
itching… to break into this fun project for the Paperie retreat!
thinking… about next year’s Yearlong Album and getting excited for the changes – it’s going to be lots of fun play time!
eager… to get the supplies I need for all the Orlando inspired classes I want to teach. They can’t get here fast enough!
happy… that we finally figured out how to make Mr. G enjoy gymnastics again. One teacher, 5 kids, the gym to themselves – he’s thrilled!
also happy… that Miss M loves swimming so much that she complains her lessons are too short – and she’s moving up to the next level after only 6 lessons!
What’s going on with you right now? And what are your favourite music albums – can they compete with the mish mash of mine? 🙂
S.
24 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in Family
Tags
Ali Edwards, Designer Digitals, Family, family portrait, Kiddies, kiddies, Studio Calico, Wood Veneer
The weather, though not at all fall-like, was gorgeous on Saturday so I dragged the family off to the park for a picnic and photos – I needed an undated one for the first page of Project Life! 🙂
Now, you know how Miss M feels about pictures, it’s a horrible, terrible thing I torture her with! So she was told that we need the picture and then we could go feed the ducks and play at the playground – the quicker the pictures, they longer the playing.
It didn’t work.
But I got some awesome out-takes (and one semi reasonable family picture!).
This is limp noodle M and G wondering why he has to behave if she doesn’t.
This might be my favourite one – M couldn’t look more pathetic, G is having the time of his life “drumming,” and D is already pretty PO’d at the whole situation! This one makes me laugh! 🙂
Now we’re getting to the point where G is getting fed up and M is *still* not cooperating.
This is another fave – see that sweet face on my boy? And M is glaring at the camera over her glasses – hilarious!
Now we’re getting somewhere – she’s trying really hard not to smile here! It’s only a matter of time, my friends, before I win!
Yes! One that will work and no one looks grumpy! I win! (insert big fist pump here)
On a side note – don’t you love that Ali Edwards/Designer Digitals overlay? I’m going to have to reprint the picture just like this for my PL album, I have it in there now just plain and it looks so boring!
And notice how there is no “S” on my picture? It’s the only letter I’m missing from my Studio Calico wood veneer letters so I’m trying to decide what to do there…. If anyone has an extra “S” it would save me some debating power! 🙂
Back tomorrow with a washi minibook tutorial – if I can get the paper I need!
S.
21 Friday Sep 2012
Friday! Yay! I have a crop to go to tonight and we have both adult and kiddie birthday parties this weekend – it’s going to be a fun one! Plus, the weather is still holding, knock on wood! 🙂
I don’t know why I haven’t posted this LO yet, it’s one I did for a LO tag back in August but since I didn’t post it then, it gives me some eye candy to post for you now!
Happy Together
This is one of my favourite pics from the trip M and I took to New Brunswick in July. She and P had the best time – I only wished we all lived a little closer to each other!
I used the August Paperie club kit for this – I loved the Dear Lizzy patterned papers and chipboard pieces, so fun! Of course, I had to add some wood veneer:
I love those little people. Really love them – I have 3 packs so that I never run out! 🙂
And I had to add some hidden journaling because, as per usual, I didn’t think about it until the LO was finished so it had to be tucked away!
A great Dina Wakley stencil and some Studio Calico Shine for the background and that was it. I love the neutral background and photo with the soft colours of the embellishments – not my norm but I think I’ll have to try it again!
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and the weather is good wherever you may be!
S.
03 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in Family, ScrapBook, Uncategorized
We finished dinner early a few nights ago and I dragged everyone out with me to the thrift store with the promise of ice cream after.
And it was a good trip! Here are my finds:
…an old book to cut up, a great kid’s book for colourful backgrounds, some sewing patterns, and a bonus silver serving dish.
I love the kid’s book – fun and colourful for collage backgrounds and small enough patterns to blend in. The patterns were a steal, $0.69 for two, I should have bought another package…
And this book:
…is awesome! It was printed in the 70’s so it’s got nice old yellowing pages with age and water spots and it has some fantastic pictures too. I apologize to anyone who loves Charles Dickens but I already have a collection of his works so I don’t feel bad at all. I could have gone with the copy of War and Peace but there were no pictures. I do, however, regret not buying the copy of Heidi – it had great color pictures in it. I think another trip is due to see if it’s still there!
And finally, I got this lovely piece:
…which I think is going to house my wood veneer shapes so I can easily rummage through them when needed.
As you can see from this picture:
…it’s time for some organization and cleaning in my scrap cave again which is why I picked up the dish when I saw it!
After my great luck, we headed out to Menchies for frozen yogurt and, if you follow me on Twitter, you would have already seen this tweet. Let’s just say that M was not impressed with mixing different yogurts, toppings, and sauces. Apparently, “It doesn’t look tasty anymore!” Let’s just say that we were very close to a total meltdown and I swore I’d never go back again. With the kiddies, that is!
All in all, it was an entertaining and productive night and I’ve already had a chance to use some of my goodies on a canvas. I’ll show that off later this week!
Hope you’re all enjoying the last long weekend of the summer – I know I’m not ready for it to be over yet!
S.
29 Wednesday Aug 2012
Posted in Family
Yesterday was a very exciting one for the kiddies – this face should say it all (even more so since you all know what she’s normally like about getting her picture taken!):
Could she be any happier? Can you tell why?
Yup. That’s a little ladybug on her arm! Isn’t it a neat colour? It was kind of brown with orange spots – very cool.
I have to give a ton of credit to that ladybug, it stuck around and allowed itself to be passed from child to child to child to… for at least half an hour. Seriously. Most patient ladybug ever!
As you can tell, the kiddies loved every second.
G was thrilled that it walked on him, as he laughed and said, “He tickle me!”
And Miss M was fascinated by how it would walk over her fingers to her other hand:
All in all, a fun and lucky adventure yesterday. And it dispelled those late afternoon crankies too! 🙂
S.
21 Tuesday Aug 2012
Posted in ScrapBook
Tags
It seems like this summer has been very uncrafty for me – who has the time? Especially since it’s actually been summer-like here this year and I’m taking full advantage!
That being said, I have a couple of LO’s to show you that were made before summer started!
Don’t you love his face? That was his “smile” expression for a while – cracks me up!
And just so she’s not left out:
Love that pic of her, wish I knew what was going through her head!
And don’t you love those flowers? The LO was done with a Studio Calico kit and those were made from the included stamp and Amy Tangerine Border stickers – love them!
Something I’ve noticed lately is that I almost always have hidden journalling. Don’t ask me why it took me this long to figure that out, I’m sure some of my friends are shaking their heads right now and thinking, “Umm, yeah!”
Not the swiftest here sometimes people!
So I guess my “signature design element” would be a toss-up between sanding the heck out of everything and hiding my writing. I don’t do it on purpose, it’s just that I don’t think about it until everything else is done and then I don’t want to add anything else. On the occasion I don’t do hidden journalling, my other trick is to write around the borders of the LO or pictures – it gives them a neat design element and gets the writing in there at the same time!
What are your signature design elements? Take a look back over your most recent LO’s and see if something pops out. I love to hear what you do all the time!
S.
20 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in Family
Yesterday was Pirate Day at Topsail Beach and though D took the kiddies last year while I was working, this was my first time experiencing it.
We were lucky enough to get there early and get parking at the beach thereby bypassing the hassle of walking or taking the shuttle – both a bit of a pain, especially at the end of the afternoon with two tired little ones!
The fun thing is that almost everyone dresses up! Of course, all the kiddies were fully decked out:
…but most adults wore a pirate hat, at least, and for those who were underdressed, Tim Hortons was there with free coffee, timbits, and pirate hats!
We were a little early, so had some time to wander around and take pictures:
Or not! 🙂
Well, we had time to do some exploring at least:
And to look out for the pirate ship:
Finally, it was time for a bit of fun! Ray Lake performed and the kiddies all had a blast! I have the best video of M dancing and trying to hula hoop without actually having a hoop on – funny!
I also finally got one of them to pose for me:
And they were happy to show off their red and green eye patches:
And then suddenly, there she was, with some very loud explosions of cannons!
For such an awesome sight, two eyes are needed – bye, bye eye patch! 🙂
They came ashore with their pirate booty and agreed to trade it, along with the mayor, for their lives and their skeleton friend who was hanging on shore. And the best part was that everyone got some gold coins!
All in all, a fun day and everyone was pretty tired by the time we got home. Another sign of a good day? They didn’t want to leave and are still wearing the pirate hats this morning!
S.
10 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in Family, Uncategorized
Tags
This is long overdue, like a month overdue, but here it is – our New Brunswick vacation! And to forewarn you, it has a *lot* of pictures!
Day 1:
I woke up M at 4:30 and brought her very confused self to the airport where she let out the big yell of excitement when she figured out where we were going, much to the amusement of everyone around us! After landing in Halifax, we got our car and drove for 3.5 hours to get to Quispamsis and our friends. M fell asleep 15 minutes before arriving and so P (her bestie) and C spent a few minutes peering in the car window waiting for her to wake up!
We quickly settled in and M insisted on trying out the pool, which turned out to be her favourite place to spend time over the week.
Thick as thieves…
Day 2:
We woke up and spent some lazy time at the house, then P insisted M see the “castle playground.” This one was amazing! It’s on the grounds of P’s school but is open to the public and is huge and awesome – lots of places to run and hide and get lost in. The kiddies loved it!
Running….
Follow me!
The afternoon was spent – where else? – in the pool!
Drifting….
Day 3:
Another lazy morning then we headed out to Cherry Brook Zoo. It’s a little one, the perfect size for our kiddies, and there were some fun animals, like Rory and Rosa:
Watching the zebras
The whole way through, M kept saying she only wanted to see the monkeys, which were the last animals, of course. When we finally got there, she took one look and went, “Huh.” Ha! 🙂
Day 4:
We did a little shopping in the morning, like 2 hours worth, then had a home day and another afternoon in the water!
Just like they never left each other…
Can you tell how much she loved it?
Water Baby!
Day 5:
We went to another playground on this morning, a fun one next to the open air pool, and while the kiddies had fun, P and C seemed a little off….
Climbing…
Unfortunately, M passed along Hand and Mouth to them 😦 We’re the worst houseguests ever. It has been unstoppable here in NL this summer and M had a fever the first couple of days after we arrived which she quickly shared with P and C.
Boo. R and C, I’m still sorry… 😦
All of that translated into M having the pool to herself that afternoon as the other two were much the worse for wear.
Puddle jumping alone…
Day 6:
The kiddies were still off, so we spent a quiet day at home and in the pool:
My little fish…
The really exciting thing is that M learned how to put her face underwater, blow bubbles, kick, and essentially, swim on her own!
P felt better in the afternoon and joined M for some chalking fun by the pool:
Best buddies
Day 7:
Our last day in Quispamsis. 😦
We spent the morning swimming, and C did all he could to make M laugh, a sound he loved (she has a full belly laugh!) and it all added up to one of my favourite pictures of the trip:
Colin and Molly having some fun!
And what’s the point of a pool if the owners can’t have a water fight once in a while? 🙂 I think C won, based on the face full of water R is getting in this pic!
Water fight!
We left right after lunch to drive to Amherst, NS, about an hour and a half from the airport and the place where my aunt and uncle live. We were spending the night there so the drive to the airport the next morning would be a little easier.
My aunt loves little girls, she has a couple of grand-daughters herself, and she and M had great fun at their tea party which was complete with real cupcakes!
Tea party with “Nana” Betty
My uncle looks just like my dad and when M saw him, she just stared! Once she warmed up, he became Poppy Ron and he was the only one who could read bedtime stories:
“Poppy” Ron reading bedtime stories
The next morning, our wonderful, lazy, perfect vacation was over and we headed to the airport.
It’s always nice to be home, but I could have definitely stayed a little longer – though I’m sure our hosts were more than ready to see the back of us!
Thanks, R and C, it was fabulous!
S.
08 Wednesday Aug 2012
Posted in Family
5 years ago today I woke up very early in the morning and thought, “I think I’m in labour.”
5 hours later, my baby girl was here.
She came with a head of black hair when I was expecting blond, and in a flurry of activity since she needed a forceps delivery. And because she came so fast and scared the life out of her father, he gave in and let me have the name I wanted, both first and last! 🙂
Molly Nora was a week early and a little 6lb 13oz bundle that changed our lives. She was perfect.
And though her stubborn streak can be very trying, she still is perfect.
HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, baby girl!
We love you, my baby, all the way to “planet Earth” and back, to “finian” and beyond, forever and ever.
S.
sarathings 