I am so happy...

I just got home from the school. I brought them the Cricut. They didn't know that it also had two cartridges, and a mat, and all that good stuff. Kathy was so excited that she was giddy! And even Nathan looked a little intrigued. I was so glad that I could do something for the school that my kids will attend. The school that gave me my start. The school that gives so much back to the community as a whole. So, for all of my friends who think I am crazy for not selling it on ebay, or giving it to them... sorry, but this felt so much better...

10 Randoms... why I had a great time at Crop 4 Kids yesterday.

This photo is of all of the prizes that I came home with. Yep...

1. Duh. i won the cricut expression. How much better could it get?

2. I already have an expression, so I am donating said expression to my school. (feels so good to be able to do that).

3. I was worried that I wouldn't like who I was assigned to sit with. I met two of the nicest ladies yesterday. Serena and Liana. If you are out there. I really enjoyed my day with you. I was very lucky to meet you.

4. I learned more about recycling from Rose than I think most recyclers in the world know put together. And not just recycling. That girl can repurpose anything.... I mean anything. And if you ever need brown ink; she is the gal to go to... ;)

5. Jennifer and Mary ran an amazing event. There wasn't a prize on the door prize table that I wouldn't have been happy winning, the food was yummy, the raffles were very cool, and did I mention that I won the Cricut?? just checking. ;)

6. One of the furnaces in the gymnasium quit working, and we were all freezing, but Crystal from Pantry let me borrow her vest, and I ended up buying some very yummy soup for lunch. And then the heat came back on, and we were almost too warm!

7. You know when you meet someone and just click?? I think that happened yesterday with Jennifer. Who knows if it happened for her, but I think she is an amazing woman, a hard-worker, and solves injustices in the world, one paper pack at a time...

8. I won first place in a layout contest... hence more than just the Expression in the picture.

9. I found the most perfect paper for the layout I did of my Grammie. It was beyond perfect. And it was in Pantry's store there. (I'll post the pic later)

10. They raised a ton of money for the Children's Hospital. And I hope my kids never need to be there, but if they do, I know they will receive excellent care.

So there you have it.... I was happy for so many more reasons than just winning the big prize...!

layouts 74 & 75

These are two of the layouts that I did yesterday at the Crop 4 Kids. I used MME on the spoon fed one. I can't get over how much I love their new paper. It is gorgeous. And I love that Haley brought in all the new stuff. She is such an enabler.... ;)

So, old stuff: eyelet, ribbon, ghost star, thickers. Yay me.

This Bright Lights Big City is another layout for my sister's China album. The enlargement is of Shanghai. The other smaller photos are other night shots during their trip.

Old stuff??? only the paper. oooops. but isn't the riff raff city scene so perfect for this??

TFL

Finished....

(sorry the photo is dark....)

thanks for all of the input. The vote was unanimous... no tree... so no tree it is....

I finished this yesterday at the Crop 4 Kids in Calgary. I am pretty happy with it, but I don't think the layout does the photo justice. Not that I am trying to compete with nature. No contest there.....

So, another one is done, and in the album. I will also post what I accomplished yesterday!

help.....

Without tree

with tree, but no sparkly on it....

I love riff raff stuff. The laser cuts are sooo cute... but I don't know if I am supposed to leave it raw... or leave it off the layout altogether.....

If I keep it on... I don't know if I should make it sparkly too...... help.

Layout 72....

I did this last night while watching my Daisy Chain cricut cartridge climb higher and higher on ebay..... It only took about 30 minutes! Gotta love a quick and cute layout! What took the longest was the hand stitching, and I only did that because I didn't want to pull out my sewing machine again.... What was I thinking?
Anyways... everything on this layout is old. The paper, flowers, buttons, bling... everything. Gotta love that too.

TFL!

imagination.... I wish I had one like hers.

Avery has an amazingly creative imagination. She believes that she is Lightning McQueen. She also believes that Cohen is Mr. The King. She role plays as a race car for huge chunks of the day, but today, she turned into that little girl who imagines her family. Today, Mr. The King wasn't a racing competitor... Mr. The King was her husband. I went out into the playroom because I heard her singing a lullaby to what I thought was her dolls. But it was to Cohen. She had him tucked under a blanket, and laying on a large floor pillow, and was singing to him.

The song went something like this... (to the tune of Lullaby & Good Night)

"close your eyes. Go to sleep. You are tired and sleepy. Close your eyes, close your eyes. Layyyyy down on the floor."

then she started to sing about a spoon...... Whatever.

she is currently reading him a bedtime story, and when that is done, she just informed me that they are going on a holiday.

Ahhhh the life......

And another one done, and another one done.....

or something like that... you know the song... oh wait... I think it is, "And another one's gone, and another one's gone. Another one bites the dust."

Whatever. I have another kit done! Now... what I should really be doing are the write-up, cutting and layout instructions, and supply lists... but nope.. instead, here I blog...

This is done mostly with Bo Bunny paper, and some other cool stuff. I busted out the ole sewing machine too. I forgot how much I like stitching on my pages... I love it. So this is geared towards a baking or cooking layout, but would sooo work with a little baby page too. "Home cooked", and "Family Favorite" are some of the cardstock stickers... Wouldn't that be kind of sweet???

in other news, my sister asked me to be her photographer for her wedding. I was dreading the question, but last week she said that she remembered how much I didn't enjoy my sister Nicole's wedding because I was the photographer, so she wasn't going to ask. Then today, she asked. And today, i said yes.... I agreed to only to only do the formals.... but if you know me, you know i will also be taking a ton of candids. Whatever. she is the only one left to get married. I will have a great time with her and her wedding party. i am more excited to take engagement pictures for them. She said they hadn't planned on it, but i found some really inspiring pictures online today, and her and Rob are perfect for them..... so.... if she wants my professional experience for her wedding, she has to let me "practice" on them for engagements pics!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope to have more to add this week. Grant is finally home, and that means that I have a little time to myself.. I hope to spend some of that scrapbooking.

10 Random things that made me so very happy this past week.

1. My sister Janelle got engaged! I am so very excited for her and Rob. It has been a long time in the making, with some bumps along the way, but things have worked out for the best, and I have a wedding to go to in six (gulp) months!

2. I found out that my cousin and his wife are expecting and are due in September! I am very excited for them. They will be wonderful parents.

3. For the last two weeks, Avery has LOVED dance class. She has listened, and actually danced, and made me very, very proud.

4. Catherine came through big time, and got a copy of Twilight for me, which meant that the girls could come over and we could have a drool-fest.

5. Grant is on his way home! he should be here by supper. It is painful to count the sleeps when he leaves. 15 sleeps is way too long.

6. Catherine is going to sell SU!, and that is a huge relief for me, because I didn't really want to do it anymore, but I also didn't want to leave people in a lurch without a demonstrator (how tragic...) and now I don't have to worry.

7. There wasn't a mouse in my house. Or at least that is what I was told..... I hope she was right. I know I heard something......

8. Avery has started reading. The other night she just picked up a Dick and Jane book and began sounding out the words. Reading! Crazy.

9. Up until this morning, i actually thought spring was in the air! 17 degrees, t-shirts, and I was even wearing shoes with no socks! Ah spring.... and then the snow began to fall last night. I guess the good thing is that the snow covers up all the gross, dirty browness.

10. I think we are all finally healthy. Finallly. Knock on wood......

So there you have it. Another 10 Randoms done.

Have a great week!

Layout #73

I bought this kit from Stampin' Up! when then new catty came out, but only because I thought it was cute. I had no real plan for it. Then I bought Cohen the frog rain boots. Then Avery wanted ones that matched Cohen's. Then it started to melt.... And that is when it all came together.

The majority of this layout is SU! stuff, but I did dig into my scraps for the MME purple patterned paper, and the eyelets are old. So I did use up some more of my stash... and that is really what it is all about...

TFL

Where did we go wrong?

I thought it would be best to wait a day to cool off before I talked about my day subbing yesterday. I don't think I have completely cooled off, but I think that I can voice my opinion without going overboard. This has everything to do with the way kids are behaving, which I really think is modelled after the way that adults are behaving.... When did it become okay to talk to people in the rude and belligerent way we do?

Remember when you were in school, and you had respect for your teachers? You might have disliked one or two, or all of them, for that matter, but you still showed them respect to their face. You might talk with your friends about how annoying, or demanding, or insensitive they were, but neverto their face. You would work in class, finish your homework (for the most part), and would never dream of talking back. Remember those days? I do. I remember going to school, and knowing there were consequences for bad behavior. Teachers and administrators actually had tools at their disposal that they could use to reprimand or punish students. Remember the strap? Don't get me wrong.... I am not advocating for the return of the strap in schools, but I do think there needs to be something that makes the kids think twice before they act out. Or what about getting in trouble at school. You knew you were in for it when you got home. Parents stood behind teachers and schools. Parents didn't accuse the teacher of instigating, or defend their child's abhorrent behavior. Parents believed and trusted the teachers. I miss those days. And I miss them more and more when I go back into the classroom.

Not all kids are bad. In fact, on the whole, I would say more often than not, they are generally pretty well behaved. They act up once in a while. Test their boundaries, skip a class here and there... minor stuff. But, there are those kids out there, the ones that make you feel like you should never have kids of your own... or if you do, to try as hard as you can to ensure that they don't end up like the ones you just faced.

I had a grade nine boy yell in my face yesterday.... He literally yelled in my face. And that was after he had talked to me like I was unable of understanding directions, and after he did nothing for his first class with me, despite me giving him plenty of things to write about. He yelled in my face because I asked him to stay out of the teacher's desk. If I was the parent of that kid... I would be humilated. I would be appalled that my child would think that the best course of action is to turn to an adult and yell in their face. I would wonder where in my parenting I had failed. I would beg the forgiveness of the teacher. I would insist that my child offer a sincere apology. This boy's mom said that I shouldn't have told him to get out of the teacher's desk. I was just a substitute, after all. What authority did I have?

Are you kidding me?

When did parents hop on that pendulum and swing so far away from what they were taught as children? Why would they do this? Are they so desperate to ensure that their kids will "love" them, that they won't even give another adult the benefit of the doubt? I pray that the way I am raising my children doesn't result in this behavior. I pray that I don't have children who grow up with this sense of entitlement, with no respect for the people around them, with no regard for rules and structure. I pray that my children are well behaved, polite, rule following students. Is that too much to ask?

Sorry for the venting.... but seriously...

10 Randoms... How to Survive when you and your kids are sick...

We have not been well lately. Avery has been coughing up a lung all week, and Cohen has a nose like a faucet. And unfortunately, I have succommed to the illness. I feel like I have been hit by a truck. My teeth hurt. That is how sick I am....

So this is how I have been surviving the weekend. (I really can't wait for Grant to come home...)

1. Tissue with lotion. It has to have lotion. Whoever invented tissue with lotion was a genius.

2. Tylenol..... I must have this. My teeth hurt so badly. They ache, and my jaw hurts, and my brain hurts. Not to mention my whole body feels like I lost a wrestling match. (especially since I don't wrestle....)

3. Chicken Soup - homemade is better. obviously. But I am too sick to make it, and I am also feeling crappy and don't have the energy to go to town and buy some. so I won't have any. But if I did... it would make me feel better.

4. Cool mist humidifier - it must be cool mist. Especially because I think Cohen is borderline croupy.... I bought a new one the other day. It humidifies up to 1300 sq ft. It has made a huge difference at night. There is very little coughing during the night which I am attributing to the cool mist. (that hint is for you Little Miss Haley)

5. Canada Dry. It has to be Canada Dry. My husband likes Schwepps. I don't. I like Canada Dry.

6. Avery wants a Snuggie. I would be happy with just plain blankets to keep my comfy. But she wants a Snuggie. Quite badly.... whatever.

7. Cough Syrup. I know that they say that it doesn't help. But I had to do something for Avery. She was coughing until she pukes. So she got to have some.

8. Mmmmmmm tea. A little tension tamer mixed with throat formula, and then honey. Lots and lots of honey. Mmmmmm.

9. The phone. I can't leave the house. I don't have the energy. But I always have the energy to call someone. Even though all of my friends were scrapbooking yesterday, I made sure I stayed in contact with them. I wouldn't want to miss the fun, after all...

10. That ever elusive creature... sleep. I almost got four hours in a row last night before Cohen started puking in his bed. It was awesome.

Mini Album #2!

This is the second mini album that I have posted this week. I made it while the kids were eating supper. It is Avery out in the puddles today.

I have had this mini album kit for months.... I bought it from Haley because I thought it was cute, and have done nothing with it, because I had nothing to do with it. I think these pictures of Avery are perfect for it. I also love how quickly it came together. I was in the house by 4:30 with the kids, and, by 7:30 I am posting a mini album I made of the afternoon! How cool is that.

so.... I didn't get to go scrapbooking today, but I did get to scrapbook. And spend time with my kids, watch an amazing curling game this afternoon, and now.... get my kids ready for bed. All in all, not a bad Saturday if you ask me.

Wishful Spring-king!

I love how nice the last couple of days have been. Compared to early in the week, it is downright balmy. Still only in the single digits, but nice enough for me to go outside in just a hoody!

I took the kids out today to jump around in the puddles in the driveway. The nice thing about the warm weather is that the snow starts to melt. The crappy thing about the nice weather is that the snow starts to melt. I hate the brown, slushy, muddy, wet mess that is early spring. I don't like needing to wash my Tahoe on a daily basis, and hate the footprints my dog tracks in. Therefore, I have decided to not wash my floor until summer. Nice, huh?

Anyhoo, the kids had a great time. They jumped and splashed and ran around the yard, and I ran after them with camera in hand.

The best part? Avery's "outfit" matches this mini album kit I have that i had no idea what to do with. Maybe tonight I will get to scrapbook after all!

The second best part? If I had gone to the Okotoks Scrapbook Convention today, I wouldn't have had this time with my kids.....

Layout for Mom

My Mom's best friend is retiring from work this week, and at the hospital, whenever someone retires, they give them a 12 x 12 album. Everyone on staff makes a page of their family. This is a great idea for people who dabble in the craft, but for those who don't, it can be a little intimidating. So, I have made the last four layouts that my mom has needed to take with her for the album. She always asks for them to be kept simple, so as not to outshine anything that is made by non-scrapbookers. So I keep them relatively plain.

I am loving weaving these days. I don't know why, but I just like the look of it with paper. This page was done completely out of scraps. I was pretty pleased with how I managed to find a bunch of scrap paper that coordinated in some way or another. I also used old flowers, and eyelets! So, simple, and I used all old stuff. Now I just wish I was scrapbooking tomorrow with the rest of my friends in Okotoks.

TFL

Mini Album Mania

what is it about mini albums? I love them. I really do. I love to make them. I love to look at other peoples', and I love the creativity that goes into them. So, of course, this is what I have been doing lately. Making them. This one had a plan. I planned on putting my gingerbread house pictures in it. But I have several that are completed, but with no purpose or direction. Am I the only one? Please tell me that there are other people out there who make minis and then never use them again..... please.

10 Randoms..... about the Brier.

I love curling. I always have. I love to curl, watch, and drink. What a perfect sport! So this past weekend, Tara and i went to four draws on the opening weekend of the Brier in Calgary. It was great! It is so different to watch it live. I haven't been to a Brier since the last time it was in Calgary, and I forgot the energy and friendliness of curling fans. So here are my 10 favorite things about this past weekend.

1. Wandering around the Patch with chairs... just looking for a table.
2. Meeting the "oldest gay guy in the world". (I don't know if he is gay.... but he was old.)
3. The lady at the table across from us who loved Stompin' Tom Connors. (we decided it was because she looked like Stompin' Tom Connors.
4. The Ontario Bleacher Creature. This man was Ontario's biggest fan. And I think he has been alive since Ontario became a province... But he would run up and down the Saddledome stairs with his flag. And the crowd would all silently pray that he wouldn't die.
5. 9 drinks on Saturday afternoon. Yep. 9. Look what happens when you let two SAHM moms out in public without children and hubbys......
6. Getting up close and personal with John Morris. He kind of is a jerk. But a hot one.
7. The impromtu exercise routine that the crazy people from Ontario behind us bust into in the 7th end. I am serious. She was stretching and twisting, and bouncing..... weird.
8. Totally getting shut down by Kirk Heuser from CTV. Who cares if I am from only an hour away. Albertans are people too Kirk...
9. Not being able to find the people who you knew were there.... but continuing to run into the same people you don't know....
10. Did I mention John Morris?? Okay, fine. Um......the whole weekend was amazing. I loved every minute of it. So I am going to stop there. There are too many other funny things that happened that just aren't funny for anyone other than Tara and I.....

Thanks for stopping.

Layouts 70 & 71

I just realized that it has been a while since i last updated my blog, so I will add a couple more recent layouts. One was done while in Pincher, and the other i copied off of Tara. I did a little adjusting to it to make it my own... but still copied. Whatever.

this "O Christmas Tree" layout is from this Christmas in Rimbey. I really don't like scrapbooking Christmas because I am kind of anal about color and matchy matchy stuff. However, things are looking up because over the last few years, Christmas paper isn't just red and green anymore. Thank goodness! (I HATE red.) so this layout was done with the My Mind's Eye Be Merry line. I love the new My Mind's Eye stuff. I have a ton of it at my house, and i can guarantee that I will not let any of this stuff go to waste. I really love it. So despite the paper being new, I did use old stuff.... the chipboard letters, the chipboard star, the paper covering the star, the bling on the star and trees, the bling throughout the tree, and the liquid applique on the "snowbanks"...

This "Fa La La La La La La Ka-ching" was inspired by an episode of the office. Dwight was ripping people off by selling them the "it" toy at a ridiculously inflated price. I thought it was a perfect title to show all that the kids got for Christmas. They got a whole lot more, which makes me wonder.... what happened to the recession????

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend... I will be at the Tim Horton's Brier oggling John Morris, so I won't be blogging for a few days. and if you never hear from me again, he whisked me away somewhere........ ahhh.

10 Random.......Names...

So last night Joanne had some name generator app on her iPhone and her and Haley were having too much fun figuring out what their names were, so I had some fun today, and my list of 10 Randoms are a list of names if I were that type of person...
So here goes

Pro Wrestler - Outlaw Peacemaker
Soap Opera Star - Tiffany Huntington
Superhero - The Amphibious Enigma
Stripper - Jenna Glittertight
Presidential Code Name - Hawkeye
Leprechaun - Bonzi O'Grady
Jedi - Colki Rorim
Vampire - Rosalind Arnauld
Pirate Name - No-Neck Jezebel

and my all time favorite... If I were a child of Sarah Palin, my name would be...

Rake Trinket Palin!

Girls' Night Out!

I had a lot of fun at the Girls' Night Out at Sheep River Scrapbook Co. last night. I have never been to an all night crop at Haley's store before, and I made it work this time. She is certainly the hostess with the mostest! She served us fancy drinks with cool straws and umbrellas, taught a great make and take class, and even arranged to have some cute little eye candy deliver our pizza! How great is that?? I didn't accomplish a lot, but I also didn't set out to. I worked on a mini album for about five hours, that has no purpose or direction (as most of my mini albums also lack these, I wasn't discouraged), designed a kit for MNC, and got almost a whole layout about Grant and I done. And, there was still time for singing and "Single Ladies" dancing. Unfortunately (or not, depending on who you are), the photos of Haley and I performing to Beyonce's Single Ladies video are not flattering, or in focus, so you will just have to use your imagination!

Haley and her cute little Flames fan, Miles. What a grin!

Tara, Lyndsey and myself taking a much needed break and enjoying a daiquiri.

The gals from my table!

And the piece de resistance......the woman I buy my scrapbook supplies from, and payback for the Clip-it-Up dress photo from Blairmore........

New Kit!

so while I was at Girls' Night Out at Haley's store last night, I managed to get a kit put together. It is a simple camping layout that will also work for hunting and fishing pictures as the stickers that will come in the kit also have a lot of hunting and fishing themes. I really like the camouflage paper that is in this layout. Despite what my SIL says, I love camo. I think that she thinks that because I don't agree with the war in Iraq, I must not like camo..... kind of a stretch. Whatever. Anyhoo, this was fun to do because I am not a camper. (I am actually high maintenance, if you can believe it!) But I was sitting with Tara, who has become a bit of an outdoorsy gal in the last few years, and she was very helpful.... So this is what evolved last night.

TFL

Layouts for Jani (68 & 69)

so here are a few more layouts I finished for my sister's China album. The Good Fortune one is a Monday Night Class kit, and it is perfect for this trip. She is going to journal about how she and Rob had the good fortune to be able to go on this trip, and to have it paid for them! (At least, I think she is going to journal....she'd better, after all the cutting and adhering I am doing for her!) I laughed at her the other day because she was getting overwhelmed just picking out pictures for me to scrapbook! She couldn't understand how to group them, what to pick, what to write about. She isn't cut out for this scrapbooking stuff. Good thing I am caught up enough to do this for her. And I am enjoying it. I think that I can scrapbook faster when it isn't my own album. It isn't that I care less about her album than I do mine, but I know that she isn't going to go over it all with a fine tooth comb and look for errors. so there is no stress because there are no expectations. Now... how do I apply that same thing to my own pages??

The Made in China is a catchy little title from Haley.... Haley who doesn't insist on a title came up with a pretty decent one! This is their trip to the Great Wall. Janelle says that you can't fathom how huge it is until you start to walk it. Then you start to think how much manpower went into such a project. Amazing.