What a Zoo!

Ever since the koalas arrived at the Calgary Zoo we have been promising Avery a trip to see them. I told her that when Daddy got home from work, we would go. Well, the day he got home, the begging began. So yesterday was the first day that we had nothing scheduled or planned, and the weather was warmer than it had been in weeks, so off we went. (Doesn't Grant look pleased??!!)

Going to the zoo in the winter is a brilliant idea. There was no one there. We didn't have to rush, or hunt for a place to eat lunch. There were no crowds in front of the animals. We could just stand and watch all day. And it was nice. Other times we have gone I have always felt that I could only let the kids take a peek so that others could do the same, but not yesterday. They had free reign of the African Savannah exhibit. But the highlight was the koalas. We lucked out and they were actually moving around and eating. Something that they don't do often as the lucky buggers sleep for 20-22 hours a day. Can you imagine! So I got a couple of pretty decent pictures of them, and other animals too. It was a great trip!

More Weekend Layouts

Here are a few more layouts from last weekend. The first is kind of hard to read because the title is on a transparency, so the title isn't just "colored", but, "Mom, Cohen colored on me!" So, not offensive.... Old stuff? all of it! Paper, brads, chipboard stickers, chipboard letters, chipboard arrows, buttons! All of it. Wahoo!

I don't really like this "The White Stuff" one. It isn't really how I scrapbook anymore. It has too many pictures for my liking, but how do you not include them all?? So, it is wicked paper, cute embellishments, and not so awesome layout. Old stuff? the felt snowflakes and the rhinestone brads.

My issue of Canadian Scrapbooker arrived in the mail yesterday. This is the one that I have a layout in. It is kind of cool to see something that you created in print; in something other than your own albums. Grant looked at it and said, "I really don't think that is one of your best layouts." Was that a compliment? Anyhoo, I am kind of excited, and I think I might submit some more now....

TFL!

Layouts 64, and 65

So here are a couple of layouts that I completed this weekend. The photos aren't that great, but you get the idea. Anna had these wicked 5x7 playing cards by Heidi Swapp that she got at Haley's store forever ago and had never used. I loved them and wanted them and didn't know they even existed.... but I think the idea of them is pretty cool. So, the best part. Everything is old! paper, flowers, brads, ribbon, Anna's card.... everything!

This second layout is of the Terra Cotta Warriors in China. My sister was there this summer, and I offered to scrapbook her trip. What else is a gal to do when she is relatively caught up. The 12x18 photo is so clear and perfect for this layout. I really like this one, and I hope she does too. There is nothing old on this layout. I had to buy alphabet stickers, and paper, and I took the game spinner from Haley... but, oh, wait! The eyelets are old! Yay!

10 Randoms..... A day late, but only to make Jesse and Haley look good.....

So the weekend was great. Not a lot of layouts done, but lots of talking, and laughing, and eating, and eating.... It doesn't get much better than that.
So here is my list of things that are just a reflection on the weekend that was...

1. It doesn't matter how many layouts you accomplish. What matters is that you are getting to have a little "me" time, you are having adult conversation, and laughing at everything and nothing in particular.

2. The weekend seemed a little too quiet without Tara there hurling insults at me. Everyone thought that. Not just me, btw.

3. Knocking on a closed bathroom door is polite. Listening to see if anyone answers from the other side is politer.

4. Don't fight the little blue pills. They will make you halucinate.

5. Jesse is a really good singer. At least that is what she tells me. (And if she wasn't as good as she tells me she is, then I won't have to ask others to play their music..... wait a second...)

6. I am very happy for my friend Christie and her growing family.

7. Going to bed early (1:30) is NOT a bad thing. Not that 1:30 is early... but it is for me.

8. It is amazing how a break doesn't feel like one minutes after you get home, and the kids are already on you for supper, snack, bath, etc.

9. There is the potential for me to move out of the PBF position because Christie willingly gave up the BFF position to me. And sometimes you need to talk to someone that many times a day......

10. I love going there, but I think one can only eat Taco Salad so many times in a year. Don't get me wrong. I love beef, but I don't love it four meals worth.....

So, that is it. Another Bloomin' Inn weekend has come and gone. It was great, I got a few things done, and will post them later. For now, i need to go and get a little caught up on laundry and get ready for my Epicure party tomorrow.

One More Sleep!!

In one more sleep I will be off to the Bloomin' Inn just outside of Pincher Creek. I really can't wait. I know that I will have a ton of fun. I am going with some awesome girls, and I know that there will be hours of laughter, and giggling, and snickering, and gufawing (okay... that was a little overboard....)
anyhoo, I am a little bummed that Tara isn't able to join us. She is one of the original crew and is always fun to be around. I have huge aspirations to get at least six hours of uninterupted sleep this weekend. Should be good.
I will post what I accomplish on Monday!
Have a great weekend!

One more old layout,

before a million new ones appear after the weekend!!!! At least I hope I get something accomplished. I don't have a ton to do, so if I only get a little done, I am cool with that. I stopped at the scrapbook stores in Sylvan Lake and at the ScrapYard in Calgary today on my way home, and got some super cute stuff for the weekend. I have turned into a mini album aholic. I LOVE to make them. I don't ever finish them, but I love to make them. So this weekend, I am going to try to complete at least one, and maybe even two mini albums! And I think I am going to make one with the new Teresa Collins stuff I got today. It is wicked cute......... Can't wait.

Anyhoo, this layout is one that I did last summer of Avery and Grant two summers ago. this was taken at our lake on her first boat ride day. I love how happy Grant looks looking into Avery's face. It doesn't get much better than that.

TFL.

10 Randoms a day late....

I am going scrapbooking at the Bloomin' Inn this Friday, and I really can't wait. Not because I have a ton of scrapbooking to do, but because I am looking forward to a break.

So this week, I am doing my 10 Randoms about the things that I can't wait for!

1. A whole weekend of adult conversation. and adult laughs, and more adult conversation.

2. getting my peanut butter fix. I always take a jar of PB with me and eat it straight out of the jar. I love peanut butter.

3. Taco salad and lasagne. (I am kidding for those who know what I am talking about ;)

4. Hanging out with four girls I really like scrapbooking with! Anna, Shannon, Haley and Christie.

5. Getting to know Jesse better.

6. Meeting Haley's SIL. I am sure I will love her too. How can you not love someone who scrapbooks!

7. did I mention the peanut butter????

8. uninterupted sleep. (not tons of sleep, but uniterrupted sleep)

9. Driving to Pincher, and not having to listen to My Little Pony, or the John Deere movie, or Finding Nemo for the millionth time. And likely cranking my music and singing along off key.

10. Scrapbooking. Obviously.

I really am looking forward to this weekend. I am a little bummed that I didn't get to go scrapbook shopping with all the gals beforehand, but I am currently at my parent's house, and they are all meeting in Calgary today. Oh well. I have my layouts planned for the most part anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!

In honor of Valentine's Day....

I thought i would post yet another layout, but this time, of something love related. this is my sister and her husband on their wedding day (Obviously). I took their pictures and I also made them a wedding album. What was I thinking??? ;) Needless to say, after scrapbooking an entire album for them, i was les than inspired to do even a single layout for myself, so this didn't get done until this year, and they will be married for three this summer.

I was in a really craft knifey kind of mood with this layout. the flower at the bottom was cut out and then covered in glossy accents. I also cut out the flowers that are tucked behind the photo mat. I really really love my craft knife. I never used to use one, but with all of the beautiful patterned paper that exists these days, I find it really hard to cover up, so instead, I cut out the patterns and use it for embellishments. What a cheap way to scrapbook!

TFL and Happy Valentine's Day.

More oldies.. (61, 62)

Here are a couple more layouts that I have done in the past while at the Bloomin' Inn in Pincher Creek. The Same Same one was done last February when Haley joined us for the first time, and the Wii Box on Boxing Day was done last November. I am going there again next weekend, and really really really can't wait to get away. I am at my wit's end with my daughter. If she wasn't three I would swear she was PMSing. She is crying one minute, screaming the next, yawning the next, dancing the next. She broke my heart on Monday night when she told me that she thought she was boring at dance class and that all of the other girls were better dancers than her. BROKE MY HEART! She is three!! I can't believe that would start already.

Anyhoo, two more layouts posted in an effort to motivate Haley to post more of hers....

TFL.

They Wear Their Sunglasses

at night. So they can, so they can, see the light that's right before their eyes.......

sorry for anyone not born in the mid 70's, or who isn't Canadian. A little Corey Hart never hurt anyone.
In fact, my grade six boyfriend bought me that TAPE when we were dating (which means walking home together because we lived in the same neighborhood...) i am sure it means something more sinister now.

Anyhoo, I digress. I was cleaning out the console in my Hoeta (Tahoe) today and found a ton of Avery's sunglasses from last year. I brought them in to see what still fit her and what needed to go to Annika. Well, Cohen wanted in on the action, hence the pink glasses. And Avery did her own, hence the upsidedownness of hers.....
but at least I have a title for the page already!!!!

some older layouts... (59, 60)

Haley told me that I can't scrapbook until we go to the Bloomin' Inn next weekend. She is right. I don't have a ton to do, and I if I did some here, I would really have very little to do there. So, instead of maintaining a boring blog...she said I could post some older ones..... That said, I am not sure that the Our Happy Family one will count.....I designed the layout as a kit for MNC, but I have also added photos to it..... so, I think it counts. I am sure there will be some feedback from my non-supporters..... ;)

10 Randoms - What I Love About Grant

Grant left for work yesterday. Yet another two weeks without him. It is ridiculously difficult, and I admire any single parent who can make it work. I am not sure that I can. Anyway, in honor of his departure, I wanted to spend a little time thinking about him, and how important he is to me.

1. His love for me is unfaltering, undeniable, and unconditional. I am very difficult to live with. I know that. He knows that. But he still sticks with me.

2. His commitment to our family is constant. He loves our kids with more love than I thought was possible. And he is dedicated to providing them with things he missed out on as a child.

3. He will buy me flowers for no reason at all; just because he saw some.

4. He does laundry (sort of. he puts it in the washer and dryer; but doesn't fold!)

5. He does more than his fair share around the house, in addition to working in the shop or the field. He will come in and help with supper, bath the kids, or empty the dishwasher, because I hate emptying the dishwasher.

6. I love that when he leaves me a voicemail he always says, "Hey, it's me." Like I don't know his voice after 14 years!

7. He will bring me home a slurpee when he is in town. and without me asking him to.

8. This is so shallow, but he has a cute butt. That is what I noticed about him the night I met him.

9. As much as it frustrates me, he is helpful and giving to a fault. He can't say no to anyone. He is always changing the oil in his uncle's car, or taking a friend somewhere to pick up a truck, or is delivering something that involves him going 30 minutes out of his way, or is helping a neighbor with their farm machinery, or.... I could go on forever.

10. He will do anything in his power to make sure that I get a chance to scrapbook. He changed his work rotation so that I could go to the Bloomin' Inn in a few weeks. He takes the kids to his mom's so I can work in peace and quiet, he asks to look at my albums when he comes home, just to see what I accomplished when he was gone. He loves what he does, and wants to make sure that I experience the same in my own life.

When I met him, I had no idea that I was getting such an amazing, loving, and giving man. I just thought he was cute. He is everything that I had dreamed of as a little girl, and more than I deserve.

Out of the mouths of babes......

So i was scheduled to sub yesterday for the morning in Champion, and I ended up getting to stay all day! I got to spend the afternoon with the Kindergarten kids. What a riot. They really struggled with my name. you know how hard Collis is to say.... so about half way through the day, they figured it was easier to call me Ms. Carwash. Carwash, Collis... close. Anyhoo, at the end of the day, they fill in their agendas, and draw a picture of what they liked the best about the day. Well, one little girl said that she liked having Ms. Carwash there as her teacher and wanted to draw me. I told her to make sure to draw me tall and skinny. She looked me up and down, hesitated, and then said, "You aren't skinny."



Ouch.

Girls' Night

I didn't send Avery to dance tonight. She was way too cranky to send out in public. Wayyyy too cranky. So instead, we ate a leisurely supper, and then Grant took Cohen out to the shop for a little "guy time". So what's a gal to do???? Manis and pedis of course! Avery wanted to do something that girls do if the boys got to do something that boys do, so I offered to paint her toenails. Well, in return, she offered to paint mine..... Thank goodness it is winter and I won't be donning flip flops any time soon. At least she kept it all in the general toenail area........

10 Randoms... a day late.

So I have already not been able to keep up with the 10 Randoms Sunday..... I guess I forgot that yesterday was Sunday...
So today I am going to make a list of 10 wickedly random tidbits....

1. I bit my nails. I hate that I do, but I do.
2. I obsess over my weight, and money, every single day of my life. I am surprised I don't have an ulcer yet.
3. I really, really, really miss eating peanut butter for breakfast every day.
4. I love meat. But only beef and chicken, and sometimes pork (but rarely). I would never make it as a vegetarian... Never.
5. I drink a Pepsi every day. Just one, but every day.
6. My favorite, favorite, favorite show is The Office. I wish I worked in a place like Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
7. I miss my Grammie Collis terribly. I don't think a day goes by that she doesn't cross my mind. I wish I would have told her how much she meant to me when she was alive. I know it sounds cliche-ish, but it is true.
8. My albums are my most prized possession.
9. A teeny, tiny part of me regrets having kids when we did. I guess I didn't realize HOW much of a committment they were. Sometimes I wish I could have travelled more, taught overseas, and done whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.....
10. That said, every day, one, or both does something to make me smile, laugh, or love them even more. Next to Grant, they are what I love most in the whole wide world.....


Okay. So a day late, but done.
Yay!

It's A BOY!!!!

My friends Sean and Catherine had a baby boy this morning. I am so happy for them! They have two older daughters, and now a little boy to complete the family. I am pretty sure Catherine is glad it is all over with. She went in on Saturday to be induced, and had it this (Monday) morning. Poor girl......So in their honor, I am posting a kit I designed last night all about boys, and the havoc they wreak! I had so much fun doing this layout. It came together really quickly. Sometimes I struggle with a layout so much that I will leave it be for a week or so. But the scrapbook stars were aligned last night or something, because this took only about an hour to put together!

This second kit is for all the dog lovers out there. You know who you are! Red and black and white are sooooo not my colors, but I kind of like how this turned out!

TFL!

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