Some cool things...

this weekend:

Got to crop with friends Friday night at my church.
Got to go to Holiday Hoopla at the the Shoppe and got some goodies there.
Participated in the online crop at MSS. I got 6 layouts done this weekend-- five with the upcoming December kit and this one, lifting Eva's leaf attack layout.



Found a new addiction here. Lots of fun for a good cause.
Took the kids to see Mr. Mark yesterday afternoon. It was a fundraiser for our Parent/Child Resource Centre, where we participate in their Stay & Play and Shake, Rattle & Roll programs.
Went as a family to the tree lighting uptown last night.
Got to relax this afternoon-- always nice!
Now, getting ready to head out to Alpha tonight, followed by coffee with a friend.

November online crop project

Here's my project for the November online crop at MSS-- Christmas tree ornaments, inspired by Martha Stewart Kids magazine.





Supplies needed:

• metal rimmed tags of different sizes,
• patterned paper
• wire (or jump/binder rings would work, too.)

Instructions:

• Cover the front and back of the tags with patterned paper,
• punch holes in them
• attach them together with wire.

Simple.

I used Basic Grey patterned paper and Making Memories tags that I had in my stash.

Double the pleasure...

Tonight, I am participating in not only one, but two scrapbooking crops.

One: is at my church. Anita called me a few weeks ago and suggested that we host monthly crops at Westside. We had a two day crop last January, but there's a lot more work involved with a two day crop. So, we decided on a low-key Friday night crop. Bring your own supplies. Bring your own snacks/beverages.

And two: My Scrap Shoppe is having a two day online crop starting tonight at 8pm. Come and check it out. There'll be lots of challenges (I love challenges-- they totally get me thinking about doing something different on a layout) and it's always a good time. (And I'll be posting my project tomorrow! ;) )


And so, to get in the mood, I created this layout this afternoon,



with new My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Scenic Route chipboard painted with Making Memories paint and Bazzill cardstock, which I'll post tonight as a challenge:

That was then, this is now: create a layout using pictures taken on different dates.
(I organized my pictures this week and founds these gems of Austin and Jonah, taken on September 2003-- look how cute they were!!-- and December 2006.)

Morden 125 Photography Challenge

In January, Tamara, a woman from my playgroup mentioned being a part of Morden's 125 Photography Challenge and explained it to me.

They asked 12 photographers from Morden to take photos on four days during the year (February 8, May 14, July 1 & September 24) and submit twelve of them for each day. Then from these 144 photos, they would chose their favourites and display them in the art gallery.

After I expressed interest in being a part of this, she told me that they were looking for more photographers, and I could participate if I wanted to.

So, I took pictures on these days and submitted them (only for winter and spring, because I wasn't very happy with my summer and fall ones.)

So last night was the opening night at the gallery. I hadn't heard if any of my pictures were chosen, so I was quite excited to see what they'd picked.

I was so thrilled to get there and see that out of the 35 or so pictures displayed, that they'd chosen three of mine:

I'd forgotten my camera (can you believe it?!), so Basil Holewka (one of the organizers of the challenge) took a couple of photos of me with the photo groupings, but I haven't gotten them from him yet.

Holiday preparations

Okay, I'm not quite ready to haul out the Christmas decorations yet, but I am starting to think about it.

With the redecorating of our living room this spring, I want to add some of the blue from my curtains into my decor:

*I found these ornaments at Kohl's when we were in Grand Forks a few weeks ago -- 50% off! (so, of course, I got two boxes!)



I have left over curtain material, that I want to use to make some new stockings for the kids, with white felt and brown trim that I found at Fabricland.

I bought some brown & white felt to make a new tree skirt that I want to trim with this.

I made some Christmas ornaments with Basic Grey's new Figgy Pudding line, but I can't post them until this weekend's Holiday Hoopla & online crop at MSS. (So, you'll have to come and check it out!)

And I want to make some more of these ornaments (from last year's Holiday Hoopla):



but with this paper & maybe some of the aforementioned Basic Grey Figgy Pudding.

And I'll make another set of these:



but again, with the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding. (Loving that paper!)

And then I saw this idea on Ali Edward's blog, which I absolutely loved. I described it to Austin at lunchtime, who wisely informed me that we already have an advent calendar. So, I might be shelving that idea (or tweaking it to update our existing calendar-- we'll see. ;) )

So, there's lots to do. But I feel like I made a good choice this morning, when I decided to go through the kids' rooms and get rid of stuff they don't play with/use anymore. I took four bags of stuff to the thrift (& our stroller-- Sage didn't want me to take the stroller (well, she didn't want me to take anything away, really) so I had to remind her that she's not a baby and doesn't need it anymore. That seemed to make it better. That and the fact that I let her take one stuffed animal back into the house. ;) )

And now, on to the basement.

Bad day turn around

I was having a bad day yesterday.

In the afternoon, Jonah and Sage wanted to write. Sage wrote on some post-it notes and Jonah took a 8.5x11" sheet of paper and drew extended "W"s all over the page and added a stick man at the end.

Then, he read it to me:

"I love you, Mom. You are beautiful and so pretty and so beautiful and you can cook and give me big hugs & kisses and wash dishes and do computer and scrapbook and pray with us in bed. You give us stories in our beds and you have a beautiful heart.”

Totally made my day!

Halloween & other stuff

Well, all in all, we had a good Halloween.

The day started off with the return of the cheetah.

Well, a cheetah with a twist. Jonah added a black cape and called himself Super Cheetah. I asked if he wanted me to make him more of a costume, so he'd have more fur and he said: "Mom, my fur is under my clothes!" LOL.

Then, Sage & I went for coffee at my friend, Val's house (well, she had milk and I had hot chocolate ;) ) to celebrate Anita's birthday. Just a nice morning spent visiting with friends (one of my favourite kinds!)

After lunch, we took Austin back to school and stayed for their costume parade.

(Austin is the handsome ninja in the middle.)

Sage was a mouse (and wanted me to address her as "Mousie.") She wore the costume that my mom made and that I wore when I was four. Love that!

Then, yesterday afternoon, I got an email from Scenic Route saying that they chose one of my layouts (again!) for their monthly contest. This time, for my prize, I picked some "goodies from their Roxbury line."

The October challenge was to create a layout with their Sumner line. I submitted three layouts and they chose this one:

And the kids wanted me to dress up this year to go trick or treating, so I picked a queen. Then, just for fun, I added some funky make-up and said that I was a Narnia warrior queen (but not a bad one!)

Carving Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins this evening.

The kids each chose a pumpkin and got to draw a face on it. (I stressed "happy faces.")

(I think Sage's is my favourite (don't tell the boys!) It just makes me smile everytime I look at it!)

Time

It’s been a fairly large focus for me this fall.

How do we spend our time? Within our family? As a family?
How do I spend my time? What’s important to me?

For us, fall has included taking both boys to school everyday. Picking them up for lunch and taking Austin back to school after lunch. (Except on Tuesdays when he has voluntary choir and eats at school.) Then we go and pick him up after school.

On Mondays, we have skating lessons after an early supper.
On Tuesdays, Jonah, Sage & I go to Stay & Play in the afternoon, from 2 to 3:30pm.
On Wednesdays, Sage & I go to Bible Study in the morning at church.
On Thursdays, we drop Austin off at piano lessons at 8:30am, take Jonah to school, go back for the rest of Austin’s lesson and then take him to school. Sage & I have been going to Shake, Rattle & Roll, which is now done, and playgroup will start every second week. And we have skating lessons after school.
Fridays are our free day, but might included coffee with a friend or running errands.

Add to this the job of taking care of a home (tidying up, laundry, etc.), meetings for R.O.X., helping Austin with spelling & dictée homework and practicing piano, devotions together in the evenings, connecting with friends and wanting to pursue my hobbies and interests …

I want to be productive and for my kids to be exposed to different activities that will be good for them, but I don’t want to be crazy busy.

So lately, it’s been about finding a balance that works for us.

Bye-bye cheetah...

Hello, crocodilian!





A friend of ours dropped off this costume on Saturday and Jonah has worn it every minute that we'll let him (I make him take it off for night, for church and for school!)

I think it would be an understatement to say that he really likes it!

(Btw, a crocodialian is the family to which alligators, crocodiles and caymans belong. Since the costume has no lower jaw, we can't tell which one it is, so it's Crocky the Crocodilian.)

online crop & other treasures

My Scrap Shoppe is having an online crop this weekend. Lots of great challenges that you can check out here.
Here are the layouts that I made:

For my challenge "8 is enough"-- to use 8 items on your layout (not including photos):

For my challenge "Alter It" to alter chipboard on a layout:

For Marcy's challenge to include something blue, something off the page, initials and a heart on a layout:

For Marcy's challenge to include 5 patterned papers, a number, your handwriting, staples, chipboard and stitching on a layout:

For Marcy's challenge to scraplift someone from the Gallery. I lifted Eva's "Treasure" layout.

And for Liz's sketch challenge and Anita's "Odd Man Out" challenge to have one colour on the page that pops out (mine is the orange "he said" chipboard circle):

Our next door neighbour had an auction sale and Sage and I saw this little stool there and we both fell in love with it. Cameron bid on it for us and got it for $5.

I thought it would be perfect for sitting on for pictures, like this:

And yes, this is the new colour of my kitchen walls. I didn't go as dark as what I'd first planned, (Cameron already thinks it's too dark as it is!)

Update

Well, I survived the weekend.

The baby shower went well. Not a bad turnout and my game was a hit (I think!)

The Take-It-Home event was a success as well. Almost all of the grade ones attended with one or both parents.

Huge sigh of relief.

So, here's what I've been up to since.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to take the kids public skating. They loved showing off their skills and Sage loved skating with her Daddy.

Yesterday, I decided to paint my kitchen. I picked a dark olive colour called Eucalyptus Leaf. It's pretty dark, but I think it goes well with my light maple cabinets. I'm currently painting my shelving unit that sits under the phone (Windmere Cream) and once it's done, I'll take some pictures and post them. I want to hang some pictures of my kids along the wall, so these are my favourite from the past few months, which I just ordered from Walmart in 8x10.




(Man, I miss those curls!)

It's Friday

Wow. What a week this has been.

The biggest stresser for me this week has been the fact that I have two events on the weekend that I am in charge of organizing.

The first: a baby shower for someone at our church. So I've had to coordinate the food, collect money, make a card (not to self: finish card!), find a speaker, organize a game, get the room set up and decorated...

And the second: our first Take-It-Home event for our church. We want to start equipping parents to be the spirirtual leaders of their homes, so we're starting to have Take-It-Home Events, where the kids and parents are learning together and can hopefully "take it home" and implement what they're learning at home to impact their kids for Jesus. So for this I've had to redo a booklet we'll be working through, organize the supplies & make 21 felt Bible covers for the kids to decorate for their craft-time, write my talk and meet with another volunteer to plan who's going to say and do what. (Okay, the volunteer is my good friend, Val, so that wasn't stressful or anything, but it still takes up time.)

But, as always, God is faithful and gives me good things to balance out stress in my life. Some of the good things have included:

Connecting with Anita-- always a favourite for me!

Coffee with Val this morning.

My Scenic Route prize arrived on Wednesday:

I got 12 sheets of patterned paper, a sheet of die cuts, some alphabet stickers, word stickers and chipboard words. Nice!

We started skating last night. Austin, Jonah & Sage are all taking lessons this year.

They were all pretty excited, especially Sage.

I was a little worried because she fell down a lot, but she was smiling when she came off the ice and said she loved it! :)

I had a children's ministry meeting last night at Marlo's and she invited me to scrapbook with her afterward and I got these two layouts done:

Tinkertown mini-book

I took so many pictures when Mary & I went to Tinkertown with our kids in August that I filled my memory card! (Not the 2G one-- but my 256MB one!) Anyway with so many pictures, I decided to make a mini-book with them. Here it is:

I used Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper and alphabet stickers, a Bohemia transparency for the title page, some 7 gypsies tags, Basic Grey rub-ons, my Heidi Swapp acrylic stamps and my new label punch.

Thanks for looking!