We survived!

Yes we have survived yet another whirlwind christmas this year. John's family came up to celebrate with us since he had to work this year. Hadley really got into the whole gift thing also. On christmas eve Abigail was doubting the truth of Santa abd was testing my limits sayung how she knew it was John and I because that is what the kids say. Well it took her forever to fall asleep on christmas eve..about 12:30 ish...but once she awoke(early I might add...quarter to 6)she believed! She says to me..I know Santa is real because I stayed up all night and you or dad slept the whole time:) She was also excited to see a piece of Santa's suit which got caught on the fireplace and ripped off and a couple of his sleigh bells(which she wrote and asked Santa to leave her). I really hope the magic of christmas stays with her just a wee bit longer. The girls recieved tons of toys, with Ab's favourite being her Nintendo DS(which she has yet to put down) and it looks like Hadley's is one of Ab's gifts...her polly pocket car thing..lol...

On boxing day we went up to Upper Canada village to see the lights. I cannot believe how many people were there..wow...Ab was a wee bit bored, and Hadley was pissed that she could not go on the horse wagon rides...and of course they would pass us every few minutes. We then ventured out to shop on the 27th. Man there was some good deals...like 50% off everything in some clothing stores. Ab and I went back on Sat., but I really could not look that much then either. I found a new store I really love..urban behaviour...and of course everything was on sale...I am kicking myself for not geting more..oh well.

I am now stricken with a horrible cold, and I feel like death has come over me. I barely slept at all last night. Tonight is New Year's and we will be heading over to my sister's place. I doubt we will be there that long, with me having a cold and John having to work for 6 the next morning...it also looks like there will be heavy snow so he will have to leave at like 4:30 in the morning. I am hoping to get the girls to nap later this afternoon so that they can be in somewhat of a good mood.

Ok that is all I have for now..I will try and load up some photos of the holiday's soon enough. Once I feel a bit better.

once again I lack in updating....

So I am really horrible at trying to keep my blog updated. It just seems like such a pain to do when my internet is just so dang sloooooooooow! But there might be good news in this all. I had storm come over for a site survey yesterday, and we are good to go. Now it is just a wait to see when they can get here to install it. Crossing fingers and praying that it will be soon.

Now let me try and think what has gone on in the past month. John tried to give me a suprise party. Why I say try is because I had a bit of a clue as to it happening. The only thing I did not know was as to the day. Thankfully I grabbed a bath with Hadley earlier in the day on Friday, so at least I was cleran. I just did not have makeup and such done. It was a very nice dinner with my closest friends..I was sooo worried he was going to have a ton of people at it. I recieved some nice p.j.'s a bunch of lingerie, a gift certificate to the local spa, a nice mug and then some shirts, belt and necklace.

The day before my party I got my first black eye. I was trying to fix Hadley's crib and as I was looking at it, the side came down smack right on the side of my eye. Very painfull to say the least. Thankfully it did not hit my glasses, just missed them. My eye is still a bit sore, but any bruising and swelling has seemed to leave. I was very lucky that I was able to cover up with make-up and my glasses hid most of the damage. The only crappy thing is when I got together with my ya-ya's last weekend we did a quick phot shoot for a recent picture of the 5 of us. Now usually I will always have my eyes shut in pics, but have found with my new camera, this has not been happening as much. Well I get home and check out the photos of us girls, and well in most of the shoots there are eyes closed. Not both my eyes though, just my darn swollen one...grrr..I guess my eye was not as healed as I thought. Some of the pics would have been absolutely wonderful if it was not for that darn left eye of mine. Here is one of the pics that turned out somewhat o.k.

Now the main purpose of our get together was for a cookie exchange. I also wanted to do something nice and personal for each of the girls for christmas. SO after many of emails and retrieving pictures, I made up an altered clipboard for each of the girls, personalizing it as to how I see their "style". Here is what came out of that:

One more picture to show you in this entry is that of my family. We try and do a family photo every christmas, and this is this year`s. I think it turned out quite well.

So on a scrapping note, I will be published once again in the spring issue of Canadian scrapbooker magazine. They picked up a double layout of mine documenting Hadley`s first year. I was quite suprised to get this call back. I did not make the daisy d`s design team. I am a bit dissapointed, because I would have loved to be on it:( I am actually suprised at some of the designers chosen, not the greatest designs, but hey that could be just a bit of jealousy poking out of me...:) )

Ok I am done posting for now, because I have way too much stuff to get done for christmas. I still have to finish shopping and then get everything wrapped. I have started my to do list, so now I just have to go through it, and get some things done around this house.

ciao for now!

ughhh...

o.k. I am having a difficult time getting this post out. I had a bunch of things written and then I lost it...ughhhh!!!!!!!!





So I have been trying to post for the past week or so with no avail. I have been trying to get the house in order for the holidays. I spent 3 days last week getting the family/play room organized and cleaned, and believe it or not it is still looking pretty good. The girls are made to pick up their mess each night. John and I have almost gotten all our boxes unpacked. Hopefully by next week I will have the entire house put into place. I was hoping to paint Ab's room before Christmas, but I doubt that will truly happen. Things are getting super busy.

On the kid front, Hadley is growing into her own self. She is becoming very independent. At this very moment she has just peeled her very own clementine with no help from me....a tad bit messy, but hey how else will she learn. Her new saying is "go away" and she loves to cross her arms and go hmphh....with a great poty look also:) Abigail came home with her first report card for the year tonight. It was not to bad, about b average(I swear teachers do not like to give out A's too often) She has to learn to show more respect for other students...she definitely has to work on her anger management.Apparently she is not the only one who can have the attitude though. It seems to be a norm with her friends also....ahhh...the joys of them growing up...NOT.

On Saturday I had the chance of attending the Bon Jovi concert(thanks Stéph!!!) it was absolutely fabulous. The last concert I actually attended was Bon Jovi in 1993 when he came to Ottawa.

I did get some scrapping done about a week and half ago. Here is what came from that...I really do like this layout, and loved using daisy d's product!

Still do not have my new scanner hooked up yet, but I did use my new camera to take the photo! I am the new proud owner of a Nikon D40x. I am really liking it. I still have not had the chance to play with it too much yet, but hope to do some christmas shots of the girls soon.

Well this is all I can write for now, I have both girls asking for my attention. I hat when John works evenings...the girls seem to get so snakiy in the evening when he is gone. Here is hoping bedtime goes well.

I am sooooo MAD!!!!!!!!!!!

So my M.P. Mr. Pierre Lemieux set up a few passport clinis with in his riding, with the final one taking place today in Embrun. I thought great! I can get Hadley's passport done easily...yeah that is a joke. First I had to run into the city to get a guarantor, then we had to get Hadley's photo done. It took us to attempts and then on the second attempt at least 30 minutes to try and get a suitable photo. So I got all the necessary stuff done, and only had to go to the community centre in Embrun to get it done. I left early and was there about 9:20, the office opened at 10. Well of course there was a line up beginning out side of the doors. I waited for around 1 hour outside, in the freezing cold, and then another 30-40 mins inside the doors only to have the woman come and tell us she will not take any other applicants today. I am sure Mr. Lemieux will say it was a great success, but not mention how the couple of hundred people were turned away before 11 am. So now I am going to have to go downtown with Hadley and wait in line for a good 2 hours(since they will not allow me to do a child's application electronically, which in turn bumps you to the front of the line at the passport office) and try and keep her content..yeah good luck. I did write a nice little email to Pierre stating my disgust in this all.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O.K.

So Daisy D's is in the process of looking for their new Design team for 2008, and I thought what the hay..I will submit a few of my layouts. Well I recieved an email stating they would like to conside me as a finalist and to please submit my most favourite work and a altered project...WOW!!!!! I am so shocked...I sure hope I did not jinx this by mentioning, but I could not help but explode with the news:)

Finally....

I think I have successfully moved all content from my old blog over here. Unfortunately I had to put almost 2 years worth into one post, and of course my pics are not attached with it. I will keep my other blog active though if anybody cares to view old layouts and such. Eventually I will set up a gallery link and add all my work into that. Baby steps...the main thing is that I am finally here:)

old "blog" posts....just ignore;)

O.k.

So I have been one terrible blogger lately. So much has happened and I have not written one bit of it. I am in the process of moving my blog over to another server, and trying to wrap my brain on how I am going to move all 75..err make that 76...posts to my new site. It would not be soo bad if I was not on dial up...grrr...

Ok so update...In the beginning of Oct(11,12,13,14) I was off in Montréal at the Salon du Scrapbooking promoting ooh la la Designs products. That weekend turned out to be the weekend from hell. It was great till Saturday night. We discovered someone threw a brick through the van window and stole nothing but the wireless headphones for the van dvd player and also my mp3 player(not happy with that since I had pictures of the girls on there and some ooh la la files). I had around 50$ of new product I bought stolen from right under my feet at the show. And Gen had a new dress and shirt stolen(from the hotel room we think). All I can say is I was very happy to get home. Then 4 days later I was once agian off for the weekend. I had my scrap weekend with the girls at NCTI. It was a blast, and I actually got 5 layouts done..amazing for me:)

I am hoping the stress in my life will be simmering down for awhile. I finished the 4 scrapbooks I was commissioned to do(with the help of Mell...you are amazing girl!) and they are now out of my hands and in the owners...what a huge relief to be done that. John had the nerve to say I should do one a month, and I could make 10,000$ a year(at least) I told him to go where the sun does not shine;) I hope to finish doing all our decorating/repairs to the basement within the next few weeks...and then try and tackle painting Ab's room. It is disgusting looking right now!

Hadley is getting to be a little pro at the computer. Last week I set her up to play a sesame street game, and she was there for at least an hour plugging away. She is changing everyday. The things that she is saying now...she really imitates what Ab says(which is not always a good thing) She also likes to give a bit of 'tude:) . Now with all the christmas commercials on, everything in my house is "I want that...can you get me that for christmas" Gotta love the commer******m of it all...uch....

oh..the big news....I got a new camera...eeeekkkkkssss....I am the pround new owner of a Nikon D40x! I was a bit reluctant in getting a DSLR, but I am so glad I did. Just by using the automatic mode, this camera gives amazing photos! I can not wait to really play around with it.

Ok that is all for now, I want to try and work on moving things over, and then I will post photos and such pof my new work I have done.
8:32 AM - Nov. 6, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Terrible two's...
OMG..what is it with kids...as soon as they turn 2 they decide..hmmm..I am going to give mom and dad a hard time. I swear to god it was the day after Hadley turned 2 she decided to get a little bit of attitude! If she does not like anything she will start screaching at the top of her lungs. She will give you "the look" when she is not pleased with what you have done(I really have to snap a pic of that because it is quite cute..lol) and now she has decided to bite me in frustration. She has tried this twice now with me....where did she ever learn that one? I can understand the hitting, because she has a big sister who show's her that...but bitting? We had a little talk and she knows it is wrong...and I stearly told here this will never happen again...now let's see if the talk worked:) She is at such a modable age right now, and the worst part is Ab knows it. I will here Abigail say..."go do this to mommy" she just knows that Hadley will do whatever she tells her to do...arghh...

Now for Abigail....she is getting huge...we went the other week to buy her a skirt at Sears and I had to buy her a size 10 (insert astonished look here) the 8 fit...but for how long..kwim. All her clothes I bought at the end of the summer are too small. I actually went out and bought the same stuff in a medium(because it was such a great price) thinking she would wear it in the spring(since they were all capris) well I don't think she will get to them in the spring..she is wearing them now. Thank god I went and bought them all in medium also. Some of the sized small stuff never even got worn. I sure hope the clothes are somewhat in style when Hadley gets to that size. Yesterday Abigail competed in a cross country run for school. She had to run1.5km. She actually ran a nice part of it, she was near the end but not last :) I asked if she would do this next year and she said yes. I am glad she took a liking to it...I remeber hating to run as a kid(especially since I sucked so bad at it). I should make her a running partner and we should go out for a quick run every other day. I have rejoined weight watchers, and I think the only way I will shed these last 15 pounds or so is if I do a little more exercise(other then housework ;-) )
8:27 AM - Oct. 4, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Scrapping Frenzy................
ok...third time a charm right...this will be my third try at loading up some layouts that I have done in the past while. I am now making this short and sweet. The 2 layouts and the picture frame are using scenic route papers(loving them!!!!!!!) and the transparency frame, which I love, is using
ooh la la Designs rub ons.







On a baby growing up side note..I have been meaning to document about Haldey's very smooth transition from no more bottles for milk and straight to a cup. She did this about 3 or 4 days before her 2nd birthday...now it is trying to do the potty training...I think we will be waiting a wee bit for that..she is sooooo not interested. Also on a big girl note...she is starting to refuse her sippy cup...she wants a "big" girl cup. She drinks well from it, but also plays well from it;) Hadley is also loving to imitate everything her sister does...that can be a not so good thing.
2:30 PM - Oct. 2, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
All about scrapbooking....
that is what my weekend is looking to be:) There is a big online crop going on at just cre8 with some awesome challenges. I finished up a project last night which I was able to use as a demo for ooh la la Designs today. I spent the afternoon in gatineau at scrapbooking cafe demoing our products with Brigitte and Genviève. I hope to get a few more challenges completed tommorrow and perhaps even try out for their idol contest. I will let you all know if I join in, because then you can all go vote for me;). if you get a chance check the site out...totally worth it!
9:40 PM - Sep. 29, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Well...............
.....it is with sad news, I have to say I did not win the scrapping contest over at CCAS. Here are the layouts from the final challenge:

http://creativecraftsandstickers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=709

and it was heraldie who wont the coolest chick contest.

It was a fun contest which really pushed my limits and hey I won a couple of prizes..cannot wait to see what they are:)
10:34 AM - Sep. 24, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Week #6 layout
Well..here is my layout for the final round of the competition. Challenge was to do a layout of what you think cool is and have a handmade embellishment on it. I really racked my brain on this one and started several different layouts before this one. This competition has totally pushed my limits and this challenge was no different. I went for a "freestyle" look to my layout..not to sure if I achieved it..but hey at least I tried...especially since I really have never done before....ok so here it is....I will know Monday who won the competition.


TFL!
12:35 AM - Sep. 22, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
disturbing....
It is so disturbing as to how the world is changing from when I was a child. In school the only drill we had to worry about was the fire drills. Well in school now they have various colour coded drills beside the fire one. Take in point my dinner conversation with Ab tonight. I asked her what she did in school today and she said they had a code red drill. Now I know what one of these are from last year but it still scares me. So I play "dumb" and ask what a code red was and what she had to do in the drill. For all of you that do not know, a code red means an intruder in the school...or as my daughter calls it..a "killer". She says that they have to hide under their desks and lock the classroom door and cover the glass in the door. Of course things went further because apparently where her desk is with some others it is right near the door and they cannot hide under them because the "killer" can see them(her words) so herself and 2 others have to go hide behind a cupboard. Then if this happens outside they have to either run inside real quick if they are near a door or hide in the school yard somewhere if it is too much of a distance to the doors. It frightens me to know that young innocent children have to worry about such things, but unfortunately past incidents have proved that this must be done. No wonder there are so many stressed children in this world...it seems like their carefree childhood is being robbed from them.
8:10 PM - Sep. 19, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
...final round
well I have made it to the final round..it is myself and 3 other girls. This weeks challenge is tthe same for all of us. We have to do a layout pertaining to how we perceive the word cool, and we also have to have a hand drawn embellishment on it. I am having a hard time trying to come up with something.. hopefully by tommorrow I will have an idea or two:)

Hadley's b-day went well. It was a fairly quiet day which was nice....even with it being quiet, I am so tired today. She really has not grasped the whole gift opening yet, and she does not like being sung to. She did blow out the candle like a pro though:)
4:49 PM - Sep. 17, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
round#5
ok..here is my layout for round 5.. alittle out of my element..at least I think so:)



5:47 PM - Sep. 15, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
o.k. so I am in my scraproom feverishly working on my entry for this week(which btw is due tomorrow...and it is really out of my box..in my opinion..and I am LOVIN it) anyways I have the good ol crop a dile out punching a row of holes. Now this is where the warning comes in....do not..I repeat...DO NOT use your stomach as something to steady the tool with...it not only likes punching holes in your paper, but grabbing stomach fat and pinching it at it's other end. Now you would think I have learned my lesson from the first painful and unexpected pinch...but oh no...I go and do it several times after that.

Ok warning done..off to finish my layout so that I can post it up here.
9:02 PM - Sep. 14, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
.....random musings
o.k. a few quick things to note, before they leave this head of mine.

I am really proud of Ab. She came home the other day that she has decided to try out for the cross country running team. I was in total awe..this coming from a girl who tired in soccer..lol. She said I doon't have to run fast, just long. So the first try out was yesterday. She found out how hard it really is. This morning she awoke to sore muscles but intends to do it again. I am really happy for this..she really needs a way to loose some of that energy of hers. She awoke this morning before my alarm went off. I woke up with her standing at my bed side all dressed and just looking at me. We had no fighting to get out the door. It was a beautiful morning. It would be really great if she gets on. If not, I do hope she tries out for other things!

I have made the dt over at http://www.tinascrapbooking.com/ . She is a LSS for me. I cannot wait to create some stuff for her. My sweet Mell also made the dt...it shall be fun with her aboard!

Hadley is becoming more of a monkey every day. I found out this morning she can get in and out of the tub as she ran her naked body into the kitchen as I was finishing up some baking. She is also climbing up on everything. I caught her up on the dining room table, Ab's desk and our bed(which is no easy feat since it is one of those super high ones). I soo cannot believe she is going to be 2 in a few days.
10:46 AM - Sep. 13, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
a couple of layouts..
well I have made it on to round 5 of the contest. Last week challenge for me was to do a monochromatic page. I stuck with the reds/pinks. On a side note, I will be changing out the photo since I ruined this one. I got glue on it and tried to take it away with a refular eraser(I lost my glue one) and it took the colour out of the photo...stupid I know:)


This weeks challenge is to scrap a layout documenting a day in my life...I will definitely have to sit and think about this one.

Now onto layout number 2. I can now show this since it has been revealed to it's new owner Stéphanie. My ya-ya's and I are exchanging photos with each other and seeing how everyone scraps them differently. Stéph's was the first to be done. I had a tough one with this since it was only a 4x6 photo, so I went and lifted myself..lol..mind you this one came out looking all it's own.


And on another side note..this should be the last of my crappy photo's of layouts. I went and bought a new scanner....all I need to do is hook it up...yippeeee!!!!!!!!!
4:20 PM - Sep. 10, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
nostalgia....
so, on Ab's first day of school she came home stating her gr.3 english teacher was Mrs. Jestin. I thought a moment and realized I had a Mrs. Jestin in grade 3. I asked if she was younger or older and she could not tell me. I went and found my old class picture and asked her if that was her teacher and she said no. Well I went to see her at the fair(the school goes to it in the morning) and sure enough it is the same Mrs. Jestin. Kinda cool that she has the same teacher as her mom did in gr.3:)
12:53 PM - Sep. 7, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
I survived!
Well we survived the dreaded first day of school. Neither girl wanted to sleep at all the night before, and did not fall asleep till well after midnight. Morning was a bit to get Ab up. Hadley did not take to well to Ab leaving on the bus. As soon as it started to drive, her lower lip started to drop and the tears weld up in her eyes. It was a big change for her not having Abigail around..and for me too...now I am needed more to come play with her(which has now been making it tough to clean house this week). So this was day three, and the hardest yet to get Ab out of bed and onto the bus, and yup...Hadley is still not adjusting to her big sister leaving. I thought this week was tough...next week will be the week of homework starting and only me home in the evening(John will be working evenings) to get it done, feed, clean and get the girls to bed in a span of 3 1/2 hours(not an easy task in this household)at least I will not be alone in the morning battle:)

Now a few things with ooh la la Designs. I will be at the scrapbooking cafe(Gatineau location) on Sat. Sept 29 doing demos with our products. Then on Oct. 12-13-14 we will be at the salon du scrapbooking in Montreal doing make and takes with our products. I will get the booth number out later on.

As for my scrapping competition, I have made it onto round #4. My challenge this week is to do a monochromatic page...it is actually becoming harder than I expected..hoping to work on it again today. BTW...I realize I spelled Pelee wrong in my last lo. I knew something looked wrong, and realized it the next day when I was not soo rushed..lol...
8:27 AM - Sep. 6, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
round #3
so I have made it on to round number 3 in the scrapping contest over at CCAS. My challenge this week was to use either ink or paint to distress and to sand my photos. This challenge was/is due by midnight tonight. Well I awoke this morning with still no layout done. I think that this was the quickest layout I have ever created. I must have finished in 30-40 mins due to sheer panic. I was not too sure what time we would be getting back home today from the city, so I decided I had to get it done before we left.so here it is:


I forgot to mention in my last post that I am finally starting to move into my scrap studio. The baseboards were put up Thursday, and I started to move some things in on Friday. We had to go to the store to get some screws and such for my shelves and such to go up. Hopefuly I will have them up by tommorrow, then I can move more things in. Then all that wil be left is my desk?island to be built. I cannot wait to create in my new room.
8:03 PM - Sep. 1, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
ooh la la...........................
Well the fall issue of Canadian scrapbooker is out and that means ooh la la is now beeing seen by many. We are featured on page 106. This is the scan of the page(thanks Tina :) )


I am still waiting to see the actual article in my hands...by tommorrow I will :)

I am also hoping to send out some news regarding ooh la la in the near fututre...stay tuned.


As for my scrapping, I have made it on to round 3. This week challenge for me is to distress my page with ink or paint and sand my photos...well this is so me...most of my pages have this...hopefully I will work on this in the next day or two.

ok so this was just a quick entry..I just wanted to gush over the article;)
9:25 AM - Aug. 29, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
round 2...
So everyone moved on to the next round of the scrapping competition. This weeks challenge for me was to use my ugliest paper in a layout. I really feel that this challenge truly is in the eye of the beholder. For what I feel is absolutely hidious could be nice in someone else's eyes. The paper I chose was something I ordered in a kit, and knew before I even received it that I loathed it. The only reason I ordered it was due to the fact that I wanted the stamps that came with it. The paper is made by A2Z essentials. I also choose a floral paper made by Urban Lily. I bought this paper a long time ago, and when I came across it I found it to be very overwhelming(large flowers covering the entire paper) and me thinking why on earth did I ever buy this. Well after finishing it I was quite impressed with myself, for I am really liking the "puke green" polka dot paper with flowers hand cut and pop dotted strategically. sorry but the pic is not the best..I hate not having my scanner anymore...and boy is it hard to find just a plain ol flatbed scanner. so here is the lo.....


As on to life side of things, Ab is pretty well ready for school, her supplies are packed, new clothes are hung up, and her first day outfit has been picked out and modelled:) She suprised me yesterday by saying she actually missed school, but then went on her smart @ss cracks..I miss being late for detention, falling asleep in class....etc...I swear I do not know where her comedic(if you want to call it that..lol..) side comes from.
9:30 AM - Aug. 23, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
I actually made a scrap page!!!
I cannot believe it. I actually made a scrap page just for myself! And, this is the first layout I did since my scrap getaway to Navcan(which by the way, all the things I made were either for ooh la la or someone else...lol). So what has made me scrap? On a whim I decided to join a scrapping elimination competition that will be running the next 6 weeks. People will be voting, which will decide who will go on in the competition. Even if I do not make it any further, it was still nice to be able to scrap. So here was my challenge, to cut out a pattern from pattern paper using and exacto knife, then ink it and use it on your layout. I hand drew the butterflies and cut them out. I also cut out the bird from some pattern paper and cut out the swirls.

I will find out Monday if I move on...crossing fingers.

ooh la la will be sending out its first order to France shortly...very excited about this!!!

So I went into MC to get my supplies for my upcoming class on the 27th. For this class I will be doing cards to showcase a variety of products and tools. What was I thinking..lol...cards are my arch enemy..LOL...I just find cards to be so blah.... I look on the web and see all the many different cards out there, and none of them jump out at me..I am sure they are beautiful....but I am so not a card girl. I have 3 done so far, and hope to get the rest done today. I will then post them for all to see..I am truly my worst critic for cards:)

On a memory note....Hadley is starting to get her 2nd set of molars in. She has her bottom left, and top right through. The others may be poking through now, but it is very hard to get a good look in her mouth..she just will not let you in. She is also still as social as ever. We went to the grocery store the other day, and as we are going through the doors she is waving and saying hi to everyone leaving...can you believe not one person said hi back though.....not a friendly day that is for sure:)
She is also climbing on everything lately..she is growing like a weed.

Talking about weeds...Abigail has shot up. She is growing so quickly...and once again the attitude is growing with her also...god help me...she is definitley giving me a run for my money..I so do not want to see her at a teenager. She is already pointed out how many years she has till she is one. Only 2 more weeks till she goes back to school. We more or less have everything(I think.I lost the supply list..oops) and now I just have to put her name on it all. She has a good chunk of her wardrobe bought, we just need to go out and get some long pants and such(grandma gave her some money, and we will go to La Senza girl to get some).

This past week has not seemed like summer at all! It was so cool out. It looks like fall will be visiting early this year:(

So in the past 2 weeks a bit has gone on. Before we went on holidays we had a lovely visit from the by law officers, stating we needed a fence around our pool..since it was a temporary one...the fence would cost more then the pool..lol...so John put up a bright orange snow fence now, and in the fall we are going to go look for a big above ground pool(then we will not need a fence, since it will be 4 feet high). We went done to Windsor for a visit...and what did it do..rain..lol..they were all thankful for it since it was months since they had a good one, but for us it sucked since that is what it seemed to do on all of our holidays. We did get to the beach though, and swam some in the pool, we also did some shopping and Abigail had the pleasure in seeing newborn kittens. The cat(who was a kitten last summer) had one kitten a few months ago, and that was what we were expecting to see. But then Ab said that the mom looked really fat, so I went out to look and we felt her belly and there was some movement. The next day we did not see her or her kitten around, and when Ab went looking the day after she found mom with her 6 new kittens. They were really sweet, I have never seen newborn kittens before. It did bring the question as to how they come about, and my good ol SIL had a little chuckle as she hears Ab ask the question..thanks Deb..lol...SO Ab was a bit upset the first day home, crying and stating she wanted to go back to grandmas's.
Oh on another little funny note, I ment to post this while down in Windsor....we were in the car driving and talking about what we hit while driving in the car(btw Mell, I had to tell your storey about the squirrell..it was so cute to hear your reaction and how much you love all animals big and small;) ), and I said how I hit my first bird while out east. My MIL then goes to say, yeah I hit a bird, then there was a pause, and ever so nonchelantly(sp?) states..oh yeah and a boy too...it was absolutely hilarious how it came out(not a funny situation of course..but you know what I mean).

9:28 AM - Aug. 19, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
10 years today......
I cannot believe how quickly time flies by. 10 years ago today John and I became husband and wife. WOW WOW WOW...this means I am really starting to get old...LOL...hmmm I wonder if this means we can open our little time chest. John had his grandfather make us a little chest, and all guest at the reception were able to take pictures and write sentiments in it. It was then locked up and stashed away for us to open it years later. I thought he first said we would do at 10 years, but I have a feeling he will now want to wait till something like 25. SO many things have happened throughout our journey....of course there were some bumps where we both wanted to kill each other, lol, but obviously we worked pass that(and hey..isnt that what marriage is all about, it would be pretty boring otherwise right?) but I must say the best part of it all is our 2 girls. John and the girls are truly my life and I am soo grateful to have them. I cannot wait to go through another decade with them...just hopefully it goes a little slower:)

So here is John and I 10 years ago in our youth, on our special day. I really need to get a picture of the 2 of us together in the next few days. We never get any pics of just the two of us.



Love you John!
xoxo
8:26 AM - Aug. 2, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
ooh la la Product in use!
Here is a layout I did 2 months back showcasing some ooh la la designs product. In this layout I used rub ons from the amour and s'exprimer. A huge thank you to Mell for scanning and stitching this for me. My scanner decided to die on me...well at least the power cord did(and those things are not cheap to replace..I might as well just get a new scanner..)

With this layout, I got to use alcohol inks and loved them! I coloured in the "croire" rub on which was first placed on the MME transparency frame, and then, I also changed the colour of the heidi swapp jewels which were just the clear colour.

O.k. on family news, soccer is all finished up. Abigail played her tournament Friday night and Saturday morning. Her team came in at third and was awarded the bronze medal. Abigail has learned the art of prank calling..lol..she was at her friends house sleeping over Saturday night and she has a phone in her room. So of course Abigail had to call home. We were not there so she left a crazy message. We were also fortunate to recieve a wake up call Sunday morning telling us all the great stuff she was doing...lol...she is definitely not getting a phone in her room anytime soon. Ab also lost 2 teeth in the past week. Both of her lower molars came out. The first one came out Thursday night and the tooth fairy came but forgot the tooth..LOL...so she had to come back for a visit Friday night to pick it up. Then just last night Abigail yanked out the other molar with the fairy coming with no problems:)

Not to much new with Hadley. She is calling everybody "Ma". I am mom to her, but John, Ab , grandma and so on is "maa" I have no clue why she is doing this. She can say dad and ab but just chooses not to..lol. She also says please, thanks, look, yes, no and other words I cannot think of right now. She is full of funny facial expressions and is mimicking everything Ab does(which at times are all the bad things..of course).

Well that is all for now, the house is beckoning to be cleaned(what else is new) before it gets hotter then Hades in here.
8:12 AM - Jul. 30, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
ooh la la Designs..going INTERNATIONAL
I am so pleased. We now have interest from stores in France, wanting to purchase our products. Now to only figure out the best way to ship out to them. Also a heads up, keep your eyes open for the Canadian Scrapbooker fall issue, ooh la la Designs will have a right up in it with some work showcasing our products.
1:31 PM - Jul. 21, 2007 - comments {4} - post comment
Caution..information overload..lol...trip details
First off I want to say how both my girls are in bed and it is 9:30...wow...ok well Hadley is now waking but still.

Our trip out to the east coast went fairly well. Lots of driving though, that we will not ever do again. There definitely was not a dull moment at al from the start till the end! We started by leaving the Monday morning, with our plan to tour around old Quebec city and then head out to Val Cartier. We dropped off the dog at the kennel and then make our way to Quebec. We just get through the tunnel in Montreal and then we get a call that the dog took off. ARGH!!! So we turn around and head back home to see if we can find her(our thoughts being she is either gone for good, we may get a call later on from a good samaritan or the worst, she is found on the road) Kyla was out seaching all the local roads and even went towards our place to see if Celia was there. We get back and John goes out to the far back field to search. I take the girls to McDonald's since it is close to 2 and then make my way back. I figure I will just take a quick look out back and follow the path partway in the field. I call Celia's name twice and then I start hearing the clanking of her collar, and all I can think is geeze my mind is really playing tricks...but then what do I see hoping through the long grass but some white and black. I could have killed her. I do not know why she did not come to John, she probably knew she was in trouble. So we get John back in and have Kyla make her way back. By 3 or so we were once again out on the road. We never did get to Quebec city since it was so late and we still had to set up the tent. Val Cariter was the best campsite ever! Clean, lots of amenities..I would defintiely go there again. Only problem was it was absolutely freezing. Abigail swore she saw frost the next morning and I believe her. We wake up to a cool morning but the sun shining. We were heading to the waterpark which is more or less part of the campsite. The place was great with lots of fun play areas for the kids. Only downfall was how cold it was. Water was pretty cold(nothing is heated) and the clouds were rolling in all day. This was the beginning of the crappy weather. We awoke to some raindrops Wed morning hitting the tent, so decided to get up and pack up quick before any rain started. We were on our way to New Brunswick. This was a very long drive, with not much happening. I only saw 1 deer on the side and then another that was just hit by a car(not too sure if the driver knew what hit him..he was trying to back up to see). We got into Moncton and picked up a few groceries and another blanket:) and headed to Hopewell Cape to get at our campsite. It was becoming dark and man were the bugs bad there! We tried to go out to the Marsh to see if we can see some moose, but I think it was too dark by the time we got there. We awoke in the morning to beautiful warm sun. But within 40 mins the clouds came in and the temp dropped and it started to rain. We headed over to the rocks and dealt with the light rain. Once we finished there and started to head into Moncton for the zoo, the skies opened and it started to pour. It was a unanimous desicion that we would not be tenting it in Shediac that night so we searched for a Hotel. We found a Super 8 that had a waterslide, and thiught that this could make up for the no zoo and such. These hotels are awesome. Nicely priced, very clean, most of them have indoor pools with the slides(with the pool being deepest a 4 feet..it was great for Hadley). Friday we headed out to PEI, we went through kensington and did a haunted house(was pretty lame) and Hadley was woken up by her stroller being shook so that just scared her for the rest of the house. Ab was pretty scared at first also, she was not to keen on the element of suprise..LOL. We then headed out to Cavendish and did nothing but shop at the boardwalk. We were going to do the old fashion picture thing, but the wait was way to long, so we thought we would try the Avonlea town and well 75$ for the family was just way to pricey for us, especially since we only had 2 hours till closing(I do not remeber it being that much) and Anne's house was just as pricey...tourist trap I tell you. We then headed to Montague to check into the hotel...what a dump this was...we had to walk in it with shoe son because the floor felt damp..yuck... not a pleasant place at all. We then had to go out and look for food, not many places open on a friday night at 8...go figure. So now it is Saturday morning, the day of the wedding. We get up and head out to the beach(overcast, temp about 17 and drizzle out) All and all it was not too bad. The water on the ocean side was not too cold, but it was full of jelly fish(which is weird, they usually go to the warmer water on the bayside) So we thought we would go chance the warmer waters of the bayside(across the road) and we wnded up seeing not a one jellyfish in the water, so we spent a good hour and half on that side, digging clams and searching for shells. The wedding in the afternoon was great. The sun came out(good thing since it was outdooor) and was nice and warm. It staye dout just long enough for the ceremony and then poured. The reception was good. The gilrs had a ball. Ab found some kids to play with and Hadley was in her glory once the music started, she was dancing non stop. The 2 of them stayed up till midnight. The next day we headed to Sam's parents house for a bbq. I am so glad we went. I sooo got my fill on lobster. They cooked up 125 pounds of the stuff...unfortunately I could only fill myself with 3 and some of them. I did not want to over do it since we were getting on the ferry, but I was also given some to go:) We were then off to Halifax to visit Sandra. It was a nice, but short visit. Next tile will be longer for sure!

Monday morning we headed out to Sydney. On the way we stopped at a highland village, and it was nice but small. We got into Sydney and get a room(only one left was a smoking...which stank, was disgustingly dirty and the fans did not work..This Delta was horrible!!!) So I dealt(not very well..lol) and then the next morning we headed out to Louisbourg. We were really dissappointed with the fort, we found Upper Canada to be better. We have decided that we will never have to go to Cape breton island again..lol. On our way home we decided to take a more direct route, then back tracking on the highway. Well out route turned out to be a dirt road which endde up having no utitlites on it, which means no civilization..lol...it got a little scary, but we kept on seeing cars, so it could not be that bad...lol. We finally made it off the island and stopped at a souvenir shop. The owner was a bit high strung to say the least, and I could not wait to get my butt out of there. As we are heading to the van John says oh..we have a flat..just great..and as we go to pump it up with the compressor, you could here the air spurting out and watch the tire go down..we ran something over as we went in the parking lot..or my theory..they slashed our tire to keep us there...LOL...so after some frustration and problems with the spare, we finally got the spare on. It is now about 6pm and we still had a good 4-5 hours to go to get to the NS and NB border. I ended up drivin(in the dark) to Amherst....and I saw not one set of eyes..lol..we arrived about 11 ish at a super 8.

So it is now Wed and we are heading home..our next stop is bangor maine.We first stop off in Moncton and do the zoo since it is nice and sunny out, get some lunch and then on the road again. We cross the border with no problems and get onto the interstate. We saw more cars on our dirt road journey in Cape Breton then on the several hour drive to Bangor. We arrived, checked in, got some food and tried to do some shopping but the mall was starting to close. Next morning is our last lag of the trip. We will be going through the rest of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont , New York and then up through Cornwall home. It was a nice scenic route but very long on the one lane road through all the towns and in the mountains. We stopped in Burlington for dinner at a Ponderosa(man have they changed) and then I had a woman all excited coming up to me if I was from t.v. and some show called across the fence or something. Apparently I look exactly like that woman..lol...I told John I should have said yes, just to make her day..lol... we then quickly shopped and then made our way home. Gas was nice and cheap..John ended up paying 2.97 a gallon which is a steal. We got Celia at around 10 or so and then was home shortly after. All and all it was a great trip, would have been nice if the rain was not there, and perhaps a bit warmer..but oh well...we managed.

Came home to see the girls are closing For Keepsakes, which now gives them more time to concentrate on ooh la la Designs. So I spent a bit of change to replenish some of my supplies. I will now have to be more organized and know what supplies I have on hand, since I will have to either run to the city or order online.
9:30 AM - Jul. 17, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
She SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, last night at soccer, Abigail scored her first goal! There was only a minute or so left of the game, she recieved a pass and kicked it straight into the goal. She was so excited. She ran to the side lines and gave me the biggest hug ever. I think that made her change her tune about soccer. She is really starting to pick up the game..she only has to learn to play her position more and watch where the ball is. Her position is usually right wing forward....I think that is the best position for her...she can become bored in defense(especially if the ball does not come to their end).

On a buisness note, our products for ooh la la Designs should be in today. Crossing fingers, so then we can fill orders and start selling the products. I am also busy starting to design some new products for a fall launch.
9:50 AM - Jun. 21, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
A few Ramblings
Well after discussing things, John realizes that it would be worth having storm put up a tower if it means we will have free internet. It is pricey, but may be worth it. I think it is just the intial shock of having to shell out more money. It has been a very expensive year, and we are only half way through it. With buying new furniture for both up and downstairs(and all the renovation costs for basement..thankfully insurance covered most), at least 7500 put into plumbing, expensive auto repair, and now the fact we need to buy a new ride on mower...it makes it feel like we are always putting out thousands apon thousands every month. Ok enough about money.....

So I am once again going to be teaching classes for multicrafts(a local wholesaler). I will teach classes to retailers to showcase how to use certain tools and products. I was given an offer way too good to pass up on. My first class will be on June 25th, doing this layout:


Now on another scrapping note, I did this layout mnths ago for an art challenge with my ya-ya's, but just never had a chance to resize it. Not my fave layout, but I did get it done.


Can I say how excited I am that the school year is almost done. Last night was the final night for homework...THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!....I think I hated it even more then Abigail did. Only 7 more mornings of getting Ab out of bed, ready for school and making a lunch. It is going to be so nice not having to rush in the morning.

Well I better go do some cleaning, so that I can get out in the afternoon to enjoy the sun:)
10:29 AM - Jun. 15, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Crashing down...real HARD!!!!!
...that is what happened to my hopes as they were earlier risen to the skies. This afternoon I got a call from storm asking if they can come over and set up our internet. I was giddy with delight to know that I will no longer have to deal with the ancient phone lines which carry in our internet presently. Especially after the past few days of things loading so slowly that certain web pages would not even load up(including my buisness stuff). So the guys come, get on the roof, and tell me my strength is too low. They were trying to take it off of someone else's tower the next road over. And they cannot go to the main tower in town, because the trees are blocking the view. Our only other option is begging the nearby farm to stick one on their silo(not too sure that they would go for that, they did not seem to cordial a few years back when John spoke with them)....or we put up a 50 foot tower so we can get a line of sight from the town tower. The only problem with that would be it would cost us 700-900$ for installation. On the plus side though, our installer said he would get our internet for free, since they would be using our tower to ping off to others. So in about a year and a half it would have paid itself off. The down side, John is not too keen on putting a tower up, especially for that money. I really do not see what other option we have. This slow speed dial up we have now is truly driving me insane! I am so pissed that bell will not even consider giving us better lines..especially since they are called out to our place at least 3 to 4 times a year so that they can fix our lines so that we even have service. Seriously...this brings me to tears. I hate when I have to send something through email for work which is several Mb large. It can take over 2 hours just to send out one email!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!! ok gripe over..for now, but I am sure I will be doing it once again real soon!
2:39 PM - Jun. 14, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
What a FABULOUS weekend!!!
I truly had a very nice relaxing weekend (even if there was lack of sleep in it). So I went to NCTI with 11 other women and spent the entire weekend scrapping. I arrived there at around 3 in the afternoon on Friday(after stopping at the LSS there in Cornwall first of course) and my weekend began from there. I started with a bit of scrapping, a nice swim and then more scrapping into the evening. I could not stop saying how happy I was to be there. It was so nice not having one child hanging off of any of my appendages with another repeatingly asking questions loudly within my ears. I love my kids and all, but man was it awesome not having to worry about anything or anyone except for myself. Not having to watch what I say, just incase little ears are listening in, laughing and joking with good friends......ahhhhhh.......... I managed to get one project and 3 layouts done. I guess I could have gotten a few more done, but then I would have not been able to make all those trips down to the bar to indulge in the most scrumptious flamable shots made by Steph...LOL. I loved being away, but it was also nice to come home once all done. Even with having a flat tire and having to find someone to change it for me early Sunday evening, I would not have changed a thing about the entire experience. I cannot wait to do this once again with the girls in the fall. I am hooked!

I love being part of such a great group of ladies!
7:40 PM - Jun. 5, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
psssttt.....here is my exciting news!
You will find what I am all excited about here!!!!!!

Will be available beginning of June.
9:07 PM - May. 25, 2007 - comments {5} - post comment
Sneak Peek
O.K.... so here is a little sneak peek in regards to my big exciting news! You will have to wait just a wee bit longer to hear what it is though:)







On a side note I am thoroughly peeved. I went to add minutes to my cell phone as I will be needing it for the next 2 days, and they frickin deactivated my account May 24!!!! If I would have put money on 9 hours ago I would be fine. Now they say I need to buy a new phone to reactivate since they are getting rid of digital ones. But for all of those that still have them and have active accounts, will recieve free upgrades. This really peeves me off!!!!!!!!

On a child note, Hadley can now go up and down the stairs by holding onto someones hands..she is just getting so big!

Well I am off to set up for scrapfest..have a great day!
10:32 AM - May. 25, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
A little slice of summer
Well today we are definitely getting a taste of summer. It is only 8:30am and the house feels quite warm. It is time for me to shed out of some clothes and into something cooler. They say it is suppose to be somewhere near 31 today and cooling down to 29 tommorrow..lol...that will make it quite warm setting up for the expo, hopefully they will have their air on. Last year it did not feel like it and you could feel the moisture in the air. Saturday is supose to be a bit cooler with temps around 24.

So today will be a bit of a busy day. It is John's birthday, he turns 36, and I really have nothing planned yet:( I was meaning to buy him some croc knee pads for gardening, but time passed and well they take 10-15 days just for shipping...perhaps a father's day gift.... I will run out later today and get some stuff for dinner, and perhaps pick up a nice cake(not too sure I want to attempt baking in the heat) I will alos try and have Hadley make a card for him. If she sits long enough for that..lol...now that the nice weather is here, she really does not want to be stuck inside.

I have to finish up some laundry so that Abigial can pack for brownie camp. Everything has to be ready to go tonight so that John can load it up in the car and they meet Hadley and I tommorrow in the city. I better make sure I have an empty card and fully charged battery with my camera. I also have to try and finish sewing badges onto Ab's camp blanket..man I did a horrible job...the fleece kapt on stretching as I put it through the machine, thus making the badges really crooked. Oh well, at least it will look like Ab did it...LOL.

I have a bit more stuff to finish on the computer and then hope to finish up all my errands and stuff in the morning so I can enjoy summer of the sun'd warmth this afternoon.

Stay tuned for some exciting news within the next few days;)
8:31 AM - May. 24, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
Brighter day
Well the stress has somewhat left my body, which is a huge relief. I do not mind some stress but when it overwheles you, it sucks. I was able to check off a few important things off my to do list, which makes me feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I realize I still have lots to do, but I have afew days to do it. From the moment I woke up untill about 2 this afternoon I was running all over the place with Hadley in tow.I still have some more running around to do this evening, and then hopefully I can relax somewhat tommorrow and perhaps do a little bit of gardening. I was even hoping to maybe do a little retail therapy on Sunday;)

I am trying to work on my 2 classes for the big crop in 3 weeks, & am I am not progressing too far on it....which is really starting to bother me. I really should have these done and up for display in the store and on the website.

I will also have to start thinking about what to pack for my scrapping weekend. I do have a few layouts that I really want to finish up and get out of the way, and I would also like to do an altered canvas for each of the girls, which was suppose to be done for christmas, but the flood pretty well put that to an abrupt stop. I just don't know though about those...could get messy.
4:28 PM - May. 18, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
STRESS.......BLAH!!!!!
O.k., so have I said how much I hate stress? I HATE stress!!!!!!! I was so stressed out by last night that I thought I was going to puke. I felt like I was a little girl again...the feeling I would get when I knew I did something wrong, and just waiting to be caught. The only thing is, the only thing wrong was that I was trying to tackle too much in one day. Trying to make deadlines and waiting last minute to get things done. Then to top it all off, both the girls were crazy last night. Neither one of them would touch their dinner, and they thought it would be agreat time to be extremely moody. Why is it they choose to be like that when one has very little patience left in their body? I swear I was like a boiling kettle ready to blow.

Morning has come, and I am feeling much better. I know things still have to get done, but the stress has seemed to lifted..well at least for the moment..talk with me later on..I still have lots to accomplish today..LOL.

I am quite excited to know that in just over 2 weeks I will be getting away for the weekend with a great bunch of gals, where one can relax and well scrap a little. The weekend is looking sweeter as every day passes. I will have to definitley do something nice for John so that he can have the same..maybe some uninterrupted gardening for an entire weekend(his type of relaxation).

Well I was commissioned to make a scrapbook for someone(well around 4 of them actually) It will be memorial albums for her daughter who past away this past December. They should be fairly simple format with not as much photos, but more paper memorabilia and such. There is no rush for a deadline, but I would like to have it out to her by the end of September. Now lets hope I get my scrapping room done soon so I can have a place to work on this. John got some drywall done last night...hoping he gets some more done tonight. Once the drywall is all done, then at least I can paint and a big part of things will be done. Then it will be laying the floor and making an island for me.

The girls are growing constantly. Abigiail is having one huge spurt. I need to go get her all new summer shorts and bathing suits. It seems she has jumped from a 6/6x to a 8...where did that come from...lol. And it appears I have yet another nudist on my hands..lol. Hadley has come to the conclusion that she does not want to wear any clothes. She is constantly stripping out of them.I have yet to find an article of clothing that she cannot escape from...my little hoodini! I have to keep on telling Abigail to get clothes on trying to remind her that "monkey see monkey do". I am even having a hard time putting a diaper on Hadley now also. She fights me big time when I try and put one on her...but she shows no inclination of wanting to be potty trained. She will go sit on her potty when Abigail goes to the washroom..but she will not sit long. Ahhh the joy's of toddlerhood:)
8:51 AM - May. 17, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
Mixed Media Class
O.k so it has been a few weeks since I took this class. but I finally just got my photos uploaded to the computer. I absolutely enjoyed this class and hope to make artwork soon. I went out and bought all my paint and have some canvases here at home just waiting to be transformed. Here is the large canvas which I did in the class:



and here are some close ups showing some of the dimension:



So it has been pretty super busy around here. We have put things on hold inside and started doing some stuff outside. John had last week off and we spent it out doing all the gardening work. The front walkway is all done with flowers planted and mulch laid. I started to weed out a garden by the treehouse and hopefully finish that in the next week or so. We have over half of the veggie garden done...earliest ever for us...and John has a big chunk of the weeding done in the side gardens with mulch laid. We had a garage sale on Saturday, and were quite suprised at the turn out considering where we are. I made about 100 dollars for the day....still have a ton of junk though to get rid of:(

The next month is going to be pretty hectic. Nothing huge planned for this weekend, but the next is the scrapbook expo, then the weekend after is the girls weekend away scrapping, and then the next after that will be the Forkeepsakes mega crop(still need to prepare my classes for that).

I am trying to plan out our trip to PEI at the nd of June beginning of July, I have been commisisoned by someone to create a scrapbook about her late daughter and other stuff tucked within. I totally forgot I have a meeting today at 1:30, so I will have to get the girls fed(Ab is home sick), quickly clean up and then get them down for naps..well Hadley for sure, and just make sure Abigail is quietly resting. I also want to work on some web design sometime this afternoon...we will see how that goes.
11:11 AM - May. 14, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
A real quick update
So Last week I posted how Ab had a snow day to a storm that hit us. Well by Friday(April 20th) it was shorts weather. You know you live in Canada when.....

The weekend was absolutely beautiful. We spent most of it outside. Abigail barely had a foot inside all weekend, and Hadley was close to following in her footsteps. They were definitely loving being able to play outside after being couped up in the winter. Hadley absolutely loves playing in the treehouse with all the kitchen stuff. Actually I think this was the longest Abigail played in it also since it was built. They more or less spent an entire afternoon up there on the weekend.

Hadley absolutely loves the park. She got to go twice last week. Once it comes in view she starts giggling and covering her mouth in excitement. On her second time at the park she discovered that she could climb all over the smaller equipment with no fear. She alsoo loves the swings. I thought she was almost going to fall asleep in it(hmm..maybe she spent a bit too long in her baby swing..lol).

The past week and half have been super busy, and life does not look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. I will be taking an art class this friday night..cannot wait! Hoping to work on getting the basement done some more this weekend..should be raining Sat. I think, so that should keep John inside:)
1:44 PM - Apr. 25, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
O.k...what is up?????
So it is April 16th, and school buses are cancelled due to snow. Who would have thought that this would be happening. And it is not a nice snow, it is very wet and heavy and will be turning to rain in the afternoon. I guess the school board did not want to take any chances after what happenned in December. On the news they are saying that power lines are down in nearby towns. Let's hope ours stay up and we stay with power. If not John will be booting it back home in time to get the generator up and running. I have no clue how to hook it up(nor strength to move it) and the water is steady now due to all the rain/snow.

The weekend was a not so nice one. Hadley is once again sick. She was up most of Saturday night. She will cough so much that she will make herself puke. I swear she has not been herself since March. This is getting ridiculous! When she is sick she does not sleep, nor allow us to get anything done. I mean do not get me wrong, it is nice to cuddle with your child, but when it is every waking moment...well then things get frustrating. She did sleep through the night last night, and I am not hearing any screams, so I am hoping to take that as a good sign. Let's hope this cold is on it's way out the door...fingers crossed!

So I am really hoping to do some creating today. I have a few projects that need to get done as quickly as I can. I only wish I had my scraproom for it. I know I have said it before, but I absolutely hate working in the dining room...constantly searching for products through boxes hidden everywhere. Makes one feel pretty uncreative(hmmm..is that even a word..lol)

Well the troops are up so I must go start the day...let's hope they help me out and give me some time to myself.
8:23 AM - Apr. 16, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
It's Friday...wooohoooo!!!!!!!!!
Friday is finally here..thank god....I swear it can become really draining getting Ab up and out of the door in the mornings. Thankfully though this week we did not have any real big fights. She was a bit slow getting out of bed this morning. The fact that we heard her still stirring in her room at 10 pm last night might have a bit to due with that. Once again we had the "coolness" arguement. I told her to put her rubber boots on since it is raining and wet out, and I get but mom that is not cool. FYI she did go to school with her boots on:) SO I am started to slowly move out all the boxes and stuff from the office last night. There are still tons to go, but I figure if I work on it all through the day and maybe by tommorrow morning with the help of John, we will have it mostly cleared out. Then the task of fixing all the walls(drywall) wiring lights and fixing ceiling can commence. I would really like to get that room finished by beginning of May. I really need a scrap studio back up and running. I HATE rifling through boxes to find supplies. I guess I better get my butt in gear and find some examples of scrap islands so John has an idea as to what to build.

Now to point out a new internet addiction of mine...FACEBOOK....this is great. I have connected with friends from over 16/17 years ago. This is really picking up with people in just the past week or so. And with people I mean people inmy age bracket..lol. I think this beagan with the very young 20 somethings, and now everyone is jumping aboard. it is a great way to keep in touch with everyone. I even had John on there searching for awhile...mind you he is yet to really find any one he went with school on there yet(well....he is a bit older...LMAO...might take them a bit longer to jump on board..hehehehe.)

Oh...one other point I ment to make. So when I was emptying the office I was putting away photo albums on the new shelves. I looked through one of the albums I got from my grandparents from when I was a baby(which I must scan in because they are all polaroids and starting to crack) and if you did not know any better, you would think the were picks of Hadley. Only big difference would be my brown eyes to her blue ones. There was a definite striking resemblance. I will have to post once I get my scanner up and running again.
8:43 AM - Apr. 13, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
Ugh....
What a week and some I tell ya! All last week Hadley was sick ..puking and all...which made it utterly impossible to clean house and prepare for Ab's birthday. I did manage to get things somewhat clean and the birthday did happen with little problems. The biggest problem was some of the guest list. Some of these girls were too old for their own good. Ab officially has a black list of who cannot can over..LOL...some of the stuff that came out of their mouths astonished me. What 7/8 year old would know who the pussy cat dolls were...by name! I mean yeah they may sing the songs from hearing them on the radio, but to know each girl and to go on the computer and to be able to "dress" them up. Some were 8 going on 16 I tell you. Ab could only take so much of the more "vocal" girls also. She suprised me by sitting quietly with a few other girls playing (these will be the girls allowed over...LOL) Anyways I do believe kids are growing up way to fast for their own good these days. Easter went well. Ab was up at the ungodly hour of 6 ish to find all the eggs. We told her she had to wait for Hadley and she actually lasted till about 7:30 before she went in and woke Had. John and his Dad put up fans in the girls room and wired stuff in so I can have one in our room also(that is once I buy one). On Monday we went to the museum of Nature for Ab's b-day. It was horrible. They have half the building open from renovations, and the other half will be done in 2009. Definitley not worth the price we paid to get in. We then had a late lunch at lonestars where they did the b-day thing for Ab. The only thing is we were the only people in the room....LOL. So the daily grind started back yesterday and all went well, till I get a call from the school stating Ab had lice...Well crap...this sucks. So off we go washing everything in site, running off to buy a super expensive shampoo. Go through the entire process of washing and combing. And what do I see.....NOTHING! I so should have went through AB's hair before we did everything. The nurse (or whatever she is) saw little scabs all through her head from scratching and assumed she had it. Plus she went to school with unwashed hair that day, so there was more dry skin then usual. It is all her excema(which was really bad this winter..bothering her all winter). Ab is quite dissapointed though, because she wanted to spend another day unsupervised(what is up with that???) in the library. Apparetnly that was where everyone was sent who was told they had it. I had to explain to her that they would be sending her home today not to the library if they thought she still had it. So we will see what today brings.
8:36 AM - Apr. 11, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Busy, Busy, Busy.....
Well it has been a bit chaotic around here to say the least. We have been feverishly trying to get things finished in the basement for this weekend, when everyone will be here. The furniture finally arrived last week with a few hiccups. They brought in the couch and said it will not get down there, and said if I got a loveseat, well then it could. My response.."oh no..it is going down there, I have waited too long for it"...so I told them to leave it there and we would get it down. I then asked where the other couch was and they said what other couch....grrrrr...sure enough it was in the wharehouse of the store. SO once they left John took off some of the door jam, and then we maneuvered the couch down with a few twists and turns. When they called me back to say the other couch was and what to do with it, I said bring it here please so it can go down with the other one, they were shocked to know we got it down. So by the afternoon on Tuesday we have gotten our furniture. So that night we went out and bought the"finishing" touches...curtains,blinds, baskets and 3 end tables. I am really pleased as to how the room is turning out. Of course it will not have all the final decorative items in there untill later since they are all packed away. Oh can I say how I hate assembling furniture! I am just finishing up our last shelves and hope to get them done today. We did two tower shelf/drawers for either side of the t.v., console table, 2 armoires for toys, 3 end tables and 2 floor to ceiling shelves. Of course I will have a few more things to go together once we work on the office/scraproom. I was really hoping to have my stairs painted and stained ready for a carpet runner, put I do not think that will happen..my goal by friday is to have the carpet fully off. I am really hoping to get lots done today..yesterday was a total right off. In the middle of the night Hadley threw up everywhere, so yesterday she still had a fever and was clingy all day, so I really had no chance of getting anything done. I really hope she feels better today. I need to get a pinata made, along with the felt loot bags for Ab's party on Sat. Well hopefully I will get some pics up soon of all the changes, for now it is time to get everyone off to school/work and hope to get a few things done before Had wakes up!
7:24 AM - Apr. 3, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Almost there!!!
Well I almost have a family room/play room once again. The floors were finished this morning, and John is just putting around all the quarter round. I spent my day putting together furniture, and tonight we will be doing the same(still have one more armoire and 2 shelves to build). I called and they will be delivering my furniture sometime between 9 and noon tommorrow. We will actually be able to sit downstairs tommorrow...whoohooo. There are a few touch ups to the fireplace and then I have to put some wax on it, and then more or less all that we will have to do is move things back in and put those homey touches back on the walls. Hopefully be the end of the weekend we will have the floor down in the hallway and the stairs painted and stained waiting for a carpet runner. Then all that will be left is our office/my scraproom. I cannot wait to the day when this is all done...just in time for the warm weather when we will not want to spend our time inside...ha! So I really should get Ab's invites done and sent out soon, especially since it will be on easter weekend...god knows who will be around.

Hadley had her 18 month check up this past Friday. She weighed in at 23 1/2 pounds and was 30 some odd inches long. She rec'd the last of her shots that she needed until school age. Of course she screamed....apparently I was like that when I was a kid...at least so my mom says:)

Well better go get dinner served so that more work can get finished.
5:52 PM - Mar. 26, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Slowly, getting back to reality....
Well it has been a few days since I last posted. The household has been in a bit of turmoil(and still is). March break was a complete bust with us all getting sick, Ab at the start and then the rest of us at the end. We are still off a bit. No interest in eating what so ever...that is a good thing for me, cuz I dropped 5 pounds..only thing is I am sure once my appetite does come back so will the weight. Hadley has not been sleeping these past few days. yesterday she woke up at 6:30 am and then more or less did not go to sleep till 8pm. In the afternoon she would nap if she was being held, but not for long. I really hate when she gets sick. Oh and is she ever clingy. I love my baby girl but man..mommy neeeds a moment to herself. I had so much that needed to get done and she was just not letting it happen. Very stressful day yesterday! This morning she woke up clingy again(very hard to get Ab off to school when I have a child attacehed to my neck..lol) but she seems to be a bit better now. John had to go see his eye spe******t this morning so it is just the two of us. I am hoping she will go down for a nap so that I can start painting. My furniture is in(they wanted to deliver it Tues) and we told them they can deliver on the 27th(Tues) so I really need to get the main part of the basement done asap! The fireplace is all done, and John finished all the lighting last night, so now it is paint and then floors. I just realized there is only 2 weeks till Ab's bday, and I was suppose to order supplies from the states, now I am not too sure if they will even get here in time....argh! Me thinks I better do that today. She is having a tropical theme with the lei's and palm trees ...etc....

Well I better go do some cleaning..it looks like a freakin bomb went off upstairs. In the past week and a half nothing has gotten done.....omg..it just clued into me it is Thurs....where the heck did the days go????

Oh one more thing....can I get a hoot....hooot...for my girl Katie. She has made it to the top 15 for Making Memories idol. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with this round....
9:10 AM - Mar. 22, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Tag..I am it!
Well...I was not able to hide away from this nasty bug that has hit the house. Ab is still running a low grade fever with a cold and now Hadley has it also. I tell you us mom's should really get an award for all we do. It is one thing to be sick and have to take care of your children, but when I am sick and the two girls are also....this really sucks. Nobody slept at all through last night, and the slightest movement hurt my body. Heck even my hair on my legs hurts..lol...So this morning I was just a wreck and thought I was going to freeze to death and puke everywhere. John finally got home from work at about 1....where by that time I finally got Hadley asleep and myself cuddled into bed. He has now taken the girls out to dinner and shopping for a birthday present(Ab has a party SUN) He said it is suppose to storm tommorrow so he did not want to go out then. So he packed the girls up(I am really hoping a bit of fresh air helps them) and I immediately slipped into the bath....a stinky..black one..ughh. Ever since the plumbers changed the pump and heater we have had nothing but black water and sticky odors. I quickly checked onlie..and it is a bacteria from the iron, and what we should do is poor some bleach into the well(it consists a bit more then that, but I had no patients to read). Well I am trying to get a little soup in me in hopes that this makes me a bit better. I am sitting here at the computer..so that is a good thing. About an hour ago, I could not even sit. Here is hoping Hadley will sleep somewhat tonight, and we all rid of this by weekends end.
5:47 PM - Mar. 16, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
Creative day!
Well I actually got to scrap both a paper and digi lo. The paper one for a special challenge(stay tuned) that should have been done days ago, and then a digi lo that I played with this evening. A very simple lo, but I really like how it turned out. I say simple ayout..yet it took quite a while to put together...ugh.... so this is it


I just wanted to put out a quick shut out to Katie, for making it to the top 25 MM idol...woohoo girl! I cannot wait to see your next entry for the next round!!! I am rootin for you girl.

So looks like Ab might have broke her fever this afternoon. It was so funny..just before lunch Ab and Hadley went into her room to play. Then several minutes later only Hadley comes strolling out from the bedroom. I ask her where her sister is and she points to the room. Well I go in and look and there is Ab fast asleep in bed. She slept to past 3. She really needed the rest. The unfortunate thing though is I think Had may be getting it now. I took her temp and she had a low grade fever. So I gave her tylenol right away, hoping to nip it in the bud. Hopefully all will be well for Saturday so that we can go to the museum or something....Ab's March break has been pretty much of a bust so far:(
11:50 PM - Mar. 14, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
My Scrapping of the day...
O.k.. here is a fairly quick digi layout that I got to play with today. I am soo bad in knowing where all elements came from. There is some rhonna farrer and shabby princess stuff.

6:37 PM - Mar. 13, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Poor Ab.....
Well, last night Ab started to get sick. She was asleep by 7 last night, battling a sore stomach and fever. She woke up today with a fever and complaining that her body felt like a "bowling ball"...meaning all heavy. Unfortunately she had to miss her first aid course today. She was pretty upset about it, hopefully she will be able to do it next year. Apparently they only do the courses on March break. The good thing is they are refunding my money. I am really hoping Hadley does not get this. Hadley seems fine today from the cut and bump from yesterday. The bleeding finally subsided yesterday afternoon (that is the one bad thing with cuts on the head..they bleed..lots....even when the cut is not deep). Suprisingly she really does not have too much of a bruise..just the little cut.

Basement is slowly getting there. The bedroom floor is done(with a few hiccups...)and all it needs is the quarter round installed, and then we can move the furniture in. I moved alot of the stuff back into the laundry room..and hope to do a bit more today. My dining room is slowly emptying out..yeaaaa...only thing left is my scrapping supplies(they will be here a bit longer :( ).

I am really wanting to scrap today..I might sit down and do a digi page to scratch thhe scrapping itch I have:)
12:08 PM - Mar. 13, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Always something happening...
Well we got to sleep in a little longer today. Hadley woke up at about 8 this morning, and we had to wake up Abigail at 10 or she would still be sleeping. Apparently at the sleepover all the kids had about 3 hours total sleep, and Ab did not go to bed till 10 last night. I am actually suprised she stayed up that long with such little sleep. She will definitely have to go to bed early tonight since she has her first aid course tommorrow. I have to have her ther by before 9am.

So Hadley had once again another accident. She went and banged her head on the hearth of the fireplace. I hate having the t.v. where it is, because the two of them gravitate to that little corner, and when it becomes cluttered with all their stuff they trip. I kept on saying it would only be time until someone did this. The cut does not look too deep, but I am sure she wil have quite the goose egg. I bandadged her up and gave her a dose of tylenol. She has now gone to sleep(it was her usual nap time..I tried to keep her up as long as I could), I will just have to keep a close eye on her since she did bang her head.

So how do you have a husband and wife almost kill one another......have them lay laminate flooring together..lol. John and I started to do the spare bedroom floor, and there were some touchy moments, but we almost have it finished. We just have about a row that needs to be finished(they planks have to be ripped pon the table saw) and the room will be done. Then all that needs to be put down is the corner round. I will try and paint that up today. The laundry room is more or less finished and I will start moving stuff back into it, and I am going to try and grout the slate around the fireplace. Things are starting to come around. The big task will be getting all the painting done in the family/play room..and then of course the flooring for it.

Well I better go get some things done wi\hile I can. Abigail is already telling me she is bored....ahhh the joys of March break..lol.
11:38 AM - Mar. 12, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
Family of CROCS!
Well we went shopping last night for a birthday present for one of Ab's friend, and I decided I wanted to run into the shoe store to see if they sold crocs in Hadley's size. I was quite suprised to see that they did. We bought here a shiny green crocs that match her sister's and Dad's(well John's are fakes at the moment, but I am sure we will get him a pair by the summer). Hadley's are a bit different though, because they have new disney ones out this season. They are two toned..the shoe is green and the strap is yellow...and the holes are shaped like the mouse ears. While there we also bought something I vowed I never would....JIBBETZ...they are little decorative things to pop into the holes of the shoes. They are kind of cute, but way too expensive. $2.99 for one or $9.99 for 4. We ended up getting 8 of them. Hadley has a tinkerbelle and ariel, Abigail has the cars symbol, "mator" the tow truck from cars, sally from cars and a skull and cross bones(how girly huh...lol) I have a gecko and John a Jasmine. I tried to get pics of Hadley in her new shoes, but she would not stand still quick enough, as soon as I tell her wait, stop, she goes a running. I will try later and get a family shot of all our shoes and new "bling" for them.

So Abigiail is off to her first "slumber party" for her friends Megan's birthday. I am so worried that she will have tons of fun and ask to do this for hers. Her mom must be nuts taking on this. Sounds like there will be at least 4 girls there and then there are her other 3 kids(all boys)...it will be interesting.

Hoping to get some things moved back into the laundry room today and maybe start priming the family/play room today so that we can start painting soon. I imagine my furniture will be in by next weekend. I so can't wait to get my basement back!!
9:28 AM - Mar. 10, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment
Soooooo NOT scrap related
O.k. So I really need to vent, I am just so frustrated. So John was told yesterday that he had next week off. Well I get out of the shower today with a message on the phone saying he now has to work and will take the week after that off...I will add that Ab's March break is next week. So this to you must sound silly, but let's rewind some. For starter's he work with an absolute idiot who will say anything to get out of working. They were expecting baby #3 (which they had early Thurs) and he was wanting to take 2 weeks off...may I add he had no more time off. So anyways to get a picture of what he does at work.......

it snows and he just cannot make it into work....mind you John has no problems coming in and he lives the same distance.
He had a big presentation to do and did not do one up. He took John's from over a year ago, which was really outdate, and just put the presentation date on it. Well he does not show up at work for it and John had to do it(how bad does that look on him) And guess what....I saw him that morning at the gas station. He did get to work 2 hrs after me seeing him. His excuse...his wife was having contractions and they went to the hospital...ummm she does it from home with a midwife, and she was near her due date so it was not like she was going into preterm labour. And suprisingly she had no other problems till she delivered(2 wks later)
took time to go to all of his wifes appointments, and he went over the time that was allowed...is she so incapable...this is her third..I do think she would know what to do. I understand one or two appointments..but all of them. COME ON NOW!
They had a meeting on Wed and John gets a call to go in because his car broke and he was getting it towed...What the &^*^* John gets in a freakin accident and then goes to work. I find this sneaky since this is the day his wife goes into labour....makes you go hmmmmm.
It seems he does things like this all the time with no reprimand. J says his manager is upset..well how about he do something...like come on now. So onto today....the guy at work just assumed he will be taking 2 weeks off for the birth of his child...even though he used up all his holidays for the year. How dumb can a person be...uhhh hello..you had 7-8 months to know to save some holidays for this..but oh no..mind you he was able to find lots of time to take off for hunting this fall.

So I guess the manager was only going to give him this thurs, fri and Mon off and expect him in work on the Tues. John felt bad and told him he would trade weeks and let him take off next week to be home with the new baby. His response was..well it was known I would be not in next week and several days after that so why are you offering this. So once the manager heard John offered to switch weeks, the manager said that is how it will be. And you know what...John will get not one freaking THANK YOU from this guy at all. He feels he is entitled to all of this and John should have his time off pushed back because of it. I can bet my bottom dollar on this.

I am so tired of this all. This guy is affecting our homelife, stressing both myself and John out. I so want to march into the manager's office and shake him...asking why he will not do anything about this. FYI this is manager number 3 who has seen this guys lazy ways...and who like the other's is letting him keep on doing it. It bugs me so much that John tries to go by the books and takes pride in his work with no recognition at all. If there is a pat on the back it is for the "team". What team????? Truly there was only a team of one since he was the one who ends up finishing the projects.

Ok vent done for now....and thanks Mell for listening since I have a dh who did not want to while he was at work....grrrrrrr.


On a good point....here is a pic of the group of ya-ya's and lady bugs at last weekends ForKeepsakes Crop.

FYI ...I nabbed this phot from Marlene's blog(I was finally able to get onto and so happy to read up on it)

The crop went well with a few people taking my classes. But the best part was to be able to just get together with everyone!
1:29 PM - Mar. 9, 2007 - comments {4} - post comment
The battle begins....
for wearing snowpants that is. For about the past month Abigial is refusing to put on her snowpants to go to school, and insists on bringing them. She is adamant in saying they are too small... It first began with her coming home every night with them off of her, and now this morning she tried to leave without them. She quickly ran out the door when I was not looking, which made me quite suspicious. When I went to see why she darted, I see her without snowpants on(which is normal) but I dod not even see her carrying them. I look down the basement stairs to see them lying halfway down the stairs. Now I totaly understand the fight of the sbowpants, for I too went through the same thing with my mom when I was a kid. The thing is I do not remeber doing this in grade 2 with her. More like 4 or 5...I guess being a walker made the snowpants more a neccessity. The teachers will not even make sure they have them on. So every afternoon recess she goes out "sans" snowpants. I swear they are growing up way too quick these days, and aging me WAY to fast!!!!

O.k. so I was tagged by my yaya Rachel on her blog. I am not too sure how this goes since this is a first for me but here it goes......

1. What is your occupation?Better question is what is not my occupation..lol.With being a SAHM you are a jack of all trades. I am a trained/liscenced registered nurse though2. What was the last thing you ate?cheesecake and rasberries(last night)3. Can you drive a stick shift?Yes...I have to4. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?PInk
5. Last person you spoke to on the phone?either Brigitte or John(can't remember it was yesterday)
6. How old are you today?317. Favorite drink?Alcoholic: martini's(any kind..lol) or a margarita
Non-Alcholic:water & coffee
8. What is your favorite sport to watch?biathalon9.. Have you ever dyed your hair?when have I not:)
10. Pets?1 dog 1 cat11. Favorite food?indian or thai or anything seafood12. What was the last movie you watched?Miami Vice(yuck) and school for scoundrels(funny)
13. Favorite day of the year?birthday:)
14. What do you do to vent anger?keep it inside to boil and then I burst..lol
15. What was your favorite toy as a child?I don't recall
16. What is your favorite, fall or spring?spring
17. Hugs or kisses?both18. Cherries or Blueberries?both
19. Do you want your friends to email you back when you send funny things in the mail to them?No I do not send any
20. Who is most likely to respond?nobody since I do not send
21. Who is least likely to respond?same as above
22. Living arrangements?One husband, 2 kids
23. When was the last time you cried and at what?last week at a sad show on tv
24. What is on the floor of your closet?Carpet25. What did you do last night?watched t.v
26. Favorite smells?body shop exotica oil, my body wash from body shop, the girls hair after shampooing with theri yummy shampoo, John with his cologne
27. What inspires you?Life28. What are you afraid of?suffering29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?spicy(with cheese:) )30. Favorite dog breed?BC31. Number of keys on your key ring?232. How many years at your current job?8(since Ab was born)
33. Favorite day of the week?Saturdays34. How many provinces have you lived in?TWO ...BC and ON
35. Favorite holiday?xmas36. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machineryrode a motorcycle
37. What color are your socks right now?don't have any on38. What are you listening to right now?curious george.. kids cbc
8:18 AM - Mar. 7, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Save me...please!!!!!!!
Can I say I HATE snowdays!!!!! Well it is 10:30 and I have oficially lost my mind! I woke up at 5am to give John stuff before he left for work and I layed awake in bed just dreding the thought of a snow day..lol.. then at about 6 Ab comes in my room complaining that she could not sleep with all the noise at her window(Ice pellets were really beating the house) and they were giving her a headache. I told her to crawl into bed with me and go to sleep. Well that lasted..oh...5 mins. She said she could not sleep and wanted breakfast....What the ^%$@!*@^! On any other school day I cannot drag her butt out of bed...and today she was wide awake and demanding..GRRRRR!!! So because she was awake she only felt it right that her sister should be up too. I do nto know how many times I have heard I am bored, and it is not even lunch. Everything I suggest she does not want to do and all I hear is I don't have anyone to play with. Make matters worse I am trying to get all my classes prepared for tommorrow...and as I am prepackaging everything I realize I do not have enough of certain embellishments....arghh....so a digging through my personal stash I go looking for substitutes...fortunately I have found things that will work. Serves me right to waiting last minute to get things ready. So I finally got Ab settled watching a movie and drwing a picture for her great grandma, and I put Hadley down for a nap. I am hoping to maybe get some stuff picked out to take to the crop for myself to do and touch up my very noticeable roots and grey hairs. I so should have made an appointment with the hair dresser, I just have not had any time...hopefully the store bought hair dye will not be too bad...crossing fingers. Well I am hoping John will come home earlier today and beat the snow(it is still ice pellets out there) but I am doubting it, since he is the only one there today(a whole other issue there.....) oh well we will see.

Here is a layout I did for the March Make & Take class at my lss..I really miss having my scanner hooked up to scan:(

10:38 AM - Mar. 2, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Insanity, I tell you.......
For the past 2 mornings I have awoken minutes before John's alarm would go off. What time is that you ask....around 4:30 am. Grrrr..so I wake up go to the washroom, go back and lie in bed as I wait and listen for the commencing of the beeps. Then I fall back to sleep and have a heck of a time getting up at 7 because I just get back into a deep sleep and then hear that darn alarm again. Yesterday I was trying to justify the early waking to something good, since it gave me the chance to view the moon at all it's glory. It was sitting along the horizon, incredibly huge and the brightest orange.....and NO..it was not the sun..LOL. Unless the sun decided to rise in the west. Last summer we saw the moon like that when it was coming out in the evening. It looks beautiful. So I was thinking..yeah there was a reason to be awoken at that ungodly hour.....well until this morning happened. Hopefully tommorrow my body will let me stay asleep until 7...since John will not be going in on the early shift.

I am so wanting to scrap today, but probably will not have the chance. My house is an absolute disaster zone, and is really starting to get to me. I am so fed up with having toys all strewn across my living room floor. I cannot wait till the play room is done and then the toys can be all over down there instead of up here. It would be an absolute embarrasment if anyone walked into my home right now. So even though I am super busy, I think I will try and make the place somewhat presentable..perhaps try and hide some of those toys....Oh...whoever made polly pockets needs to be shot. Those things are horrible. Both Hadley and Abigail insist on emptying the entire box of them all over the floor. And then the cat comes around and decides these make great toys to play with..they fly across the floor so easily. I bet my new vaccum will suck up those things real easy...LOL.

So the new spring issue of Canadian Scrapbooker is out. I am very curious to see how my lo looks in it. Brigitte said that they had some green dotted box printed across it, and she had to ask if that was something I put there....If anything, I will see it at the crop this weekend. I am actualy wondering if they will give me a comp issue, when they send my lo back. Well I better get my butt in gear and get some cleaning done and neccessary packing for my classes this saturday.
7:57 AM - Feb. 28, 2007 - comments {4} - post comment
Is she trying to tell me something???
So Abigail got back from her brownie sleepover Saturday night and was totaly stoked. She had a great time and wanted to tell and show us all she did. They did activities which earned them about 5 badges. She was given a camp poncho blanket with her name embroidered on it, and she was also given a nice pink mesh bag to hold things(I think it is meant for her camp dishes). Well with one of her crafts she did, it was a "family" totem pole with each family member on it. She had herself and Hadley on it(i forget what they were doing)...and well she had mom on it working at the computer..lol...I swear I am not on it that much. Plus she had her dad watching t.v. and she called him a couch potatoe....well he barely ever gets to watch his shows...so her perceptions of us can't be that credible..LOL.

Sunday we dropped the girls off at my parents off and did some shopping. We went to price carpet installation on the stairs, and I was horrified. It would have been well over 500$(because we are not in the city), which makes me think how the insurance guys thought they could install it for under 300$...hmmmm.... Well John checked out the stairs, and they have nice treads, so we decided to stain them to match the flooring and then run a decorative carpet runner down. The runner can be pricey, but I much rather do the work and know that it was not sloppy then pay a mere fortune to have cheap carpet installed. I found the shelves and console table at the Loblaws, but we could not buy it because we had the van full of groceries and everything already. So John went today and picked them up. I cannot wait to see how everything will come together once the work is done.
6:54 PM - Feb. 26, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
Lil toot!
So I submitted one of my layouts for an inspiration challenge with Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine. Well it was not choosen for the spring issue(that is o.k. because I already have a layout in the upcoming issue anyways) but it was requested to be used on their website. You can see the layout here
http://www.canadianscrapbooker.ca/contests/spring2007inspiration.html

*scroll down to the end..I am the last one*
3:15 PM - Feb. 23, 2007 - comments {5} - post comment
Progress!
Well I have now finished painting the spare room. Today I will start priming and painting the trim so that can be put around the room, and then the floor can be laid. Hopefully be weekends end the room will be almost completed. I am also hoping that we can finish tiling the laundry room floor so that I can move some of the boxes from upstairs back down there. I also went and picked up the paint for the play/family room, so I can slowly paint that room also. I am not too sure how much work will get done within the next week. I have lots to do, especially with the big crop happening next weekend for For Keepsakes. I have three classes to prepare for. I should actually pick up all my supplies for it sometime tommorrow.

Hadley really cracks me up. Whenever you ask her something, that wil definitely give you a yes answer, she will shake her head no. Shaking no, means yes to her..LOL. I guess it is just easier. She can shake it yes, I have seen it. I guess that is a good thing though....she never says no:)

Well not too much on the brain this am..so I guess that is all I have to say today...not very interesting huh.


8:24 AM - Feb. 23, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment
Anyone have some money to spare?????
O.k. so just got a call to make me even more stressed! It seems that John has gotten in an accident. There was a car sitting on the side of the road..but not fully all the way over. And he drove by it and clipped it. He thought he had enough room and could not go over anymore due to oncoming traffic. He took off their taillight..and told them he would pay for the damage. I think not! It was partly their fault for not being properly pulled over, out of the way from traffic(they should be paying for our damage) The crappy part....our car has the big damage. The entire side of the car has been damaged. I hate to know how much it will cost for body work to be done on the entire side of the car. And if we put it through insurance...how will they be liking another claim. This is not the time for this to happen, especially since we put all our available cash into rrsp's the other night. Arghhh!!!!

Abigail is all excited. She is going on a sleepover with brownie's on Friday. She has been wanting to pack since the weekend. I really have to try and find the air mattress downstairs...we were just going to buy another one, but after today's events, I think we should be trying and not spend money unneccesarily.

AHHHH LIFE!!!!

Ok off to declutter my bedroom and then paint the spare room once Had goes down to sleep.
9:12 AM - Feb. 21, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
What was I thinking???
Ok so this morning, the guys could not come and re-attach the fireplace due to emergency calls. So what do I decide to do....go into Value village when they are having their 50% off sale. It was freaking mad there. Everyone seems to be out for blood. As I sit and wait with my blinker on to pull into a space that someone is leaving, I slowly start to go and this old guy pulls right in. If I did not stop my vehicle he would have hit me. I layed on the horn and gave him an evil glare. I then get into the store and make my way through the aisles. Then the fun part..patiently waitig in the checkout as others just jump in the line in front, because someone was not close enough to the person in front of them...grrrr..that angered me... all the while I was trying to be as pleasant as can be, holding others spots and just being plain ol nice. Good things come to people her are kind...right??? Well I guess the good thing is, I got home and had a call saying one of the guys could come do our fireplace...yeah...so they are putting it together now. So then John can start framing it all back up. I went and bought furniture yesterday here in town. We got 2 couches, a chair, ottoman, futon and freezer for a little over 3400$. John felt like he got no deals from them, till we got home and I showed him prices of the exact same furniture at another store, where each piece was from $200 to $300 more. I think we did ok. So it should be ready in about 4 weeks if all goes well. So now I really have to get things moving in the basement. Hopefully this week I can get a bit done..we'll see.
3:53 PM - Feb. 19, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Snowflake Kingdom....
Here are a few pics from last night. Unfortunately they did not turn out too well with it being so dark and the camera giving me a hard time.







So I did not get as much done as I wanted to yesterday. I did get some of the trim and doors painted downstairs but not all of it...I will finish that today. We went to JYSK to look at some futons.but I think I will get the one from Sears. Still need to go into town to look at the furniture store.hoping to do that this afternoon. No scrapping..maybe tonight...we will see. Ok now off to paint.
9:38 AM - Feb. 18, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
I can get sick once again...
I finally went and got my OHIP renewed...15 months after it expired . Thank god for Mell, and her needing to redo hers also, or I would have not gotten that kick in the butt to go. So now I will not have to worry about it till 2010..when both mine & Hadley's expires. I just cannot believe how much Cornwall has changed over the years. It has really built up..I barely recognize parts of it.

So Hadley is officially addicted to her elmo dvd's. The past 2 days, she has watched it over and over. As soon as it is done, she is at the tv trying to restart it. And I swear I heard her say elmo to me as she is trying to get it to go. I really need to get the other dvd out of the van and try to find the few we had from downstairs.

Abigail has been a bit of a handful at times this week. You say things to her and it is in one ear and out the other. I am absolutley going mad from repeating myself . I sure hope this phase goes out the door soon. So true about ones goes around ...comes around. Remember the good 'ol phrase of..I hope when you have children they give you a hard time......well it happens..lol. At wits ends now with her..and she is only going on 8(but with attitude it is more like 16) ahhhh...kids.

So I hope to get to the furniture store with John so that he can look at the couches and we can decide on some furniture. He says he does not care..but if I were to go buy something, I am sure I would hear tons about it. I would like to get all the trim painted in the hallway, a coat of paint in the spare bedroom, and the tile done in the laundry room, so that I can start moving some of the stuff back into storage. I figure I will be lucky if half of that gets done...we will see.

I would also like to get a lo done that has been sitting around for the past 2 weeks. It is really starting to bug me. And then I also have to get the March class lo done for the lss. I think I will go look at some sketches to help me with this one...oo I also have to update the store calendar..I shall do that in the evening perhaps. One other thing I hoped to do this weekend, preferably tonight, was go to snowflake kingdom one more time. Winterlude is finishing up this weekend...and I figure the evening might be a little less hectic.
8:38 AM - Feb. 17, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Snow Day......
....not in my house though..lol. If you are reading this Mell...sorry you are hearing that I am one of those parents that turns a teachers quiet day around;) There is no way Ab is staying home with me. She will be bored out of her mind and have to stay quiet when Hadley sleeps...which she usually does not, and Hadley will need a good nap since she was up several times last night(I think she is starting to cut her 2 year molars...she has drool coming down the side of her mought constantly now). I was actually in the process of dragging Ab's butt out of bed to get her ready so she does not miss the bus. During this John calls me to say the buses were cancelled, where I proceed to say are you sure..positive. As he says what are you not watching the news..what appears on the screen but bus cancellations..grr..I was watching for the past 30 mins with not a word. So I tell him I will drop her off since I need to get some groceries and he can pick her up on his way home. SO I proceed to excitingly yell at Ab..do you want me to drive you to school...with a quick O.K. from her...hook, line and sinker....LOL....so I then tell her that buses are cancelled and she would be just playing all day, and she was all for it...pheww..... in all reality though, she would have a better time there playing then stuck upstairs in the living room at home. So in a few minutes I will get us all dressed and face the cold winds and blowing snow(it actually does not look too bad since it is usually always blowing out here...it is just a little cool with wind chill around -29) The bummer of this all though is Ab was suppose to go to Jacques Cartier Parc for the slides but the school cancelled due to weather for the rest of the week. We will definitely try and get there again..maybe Sunday.

As for basement reno's....the plumbing is done with a hefty bill. They tried to have me pay it but finally cleared it up that to have the bill sent straight to insurance..a good thing since it was 3600$ and some...a far cry from the 2500$ we were verbally quoted. I am sure we will be hearing back from the adjuster next week. I am almost dien painting the stairwell now...more or less the rest is up to John, since we need a ladder leaned up against the wall to get to the high parts, and there is no way I will be hanging off that stairing down at the bottom of the stairs. I would like to try and get some of the trim painted and then the next room to tackle will be the spare bedroom(once John gets the drywall all fixed..he keeps on adding these"little" jobs..saying well seince it is like this I should re do all of this.....this is why I wanted to get contractors in in the first place..because all of these "little" jobs seem to be a bit more then "little") Anywho...I am making it clear I want it all done by end of March...I do not want any undone projects...aka like the trim still left in my bathroom, or the fireplace which has been fro the past couple years:)

Hoping for a productive day we will see:)
8:01 AM - Feb. 14, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Miss "TUDE
Well it is official.....I now have 2 girls with an attitude. My gawd, Hadley can quickly pick up things from her older sister. If she has something that she should not, and we ask for it back, she starts a running. When we start chasing her, and she knows we are close to getting it, she will pitch it across the room. If she can't have it nobody can. And if we do something she does not like...man can she whine...and loud!!!! Oh did I mention how she can now get in the cupboards. This kid eats constantly. I have to have some sort of snack out for her always, or she is rooting through the cupboards or standing at the fridge begging to get in. I swear she must be going through some sort of growing spurt. She eats more then her sister.

As for basement reno's, I now have the heating guys in taking apart our fireplace so that John can replace the hearth. And apparently tommorrow the plumbers will be back in to change the hot water tank...which is good since it is leaking from every spot that it can. I have gotten one coat of paint on in the basement hallway. I was really fretting about the colour being too much of a yellow tone(it looked more beige on the chip) but after letting it dry overnight I am more ok with it. I really wish I went a bit light though, because when I do the stairway, it will seem darker. It does go well with the flooring though. I am hoping to get to the furniture store sometime this week and actually buy some furniture so that I can pick out a paint sample for the family/play room.


10:42 AM - Feb. 12, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
What a beautiful Morning!
I have awoken all refreshed from a great nights sleep and feel so much beter on this beautiful winter morning! I had a nice chat with my great friend Mell(what was to be a few minutes turned into an hour ...which tends to be usual for us..lol) last night....and that always perks me up. Plus she wanted to ask me to go SB shopping on Sunday at an lss that is having a 40% off sale. Now who could say no to that. I so need to get my butt in gear and get my scrap room done. The dining room really has nowhere else to hold all my new scrapping goodies:) . So on the agenda today is to go get some paint to do the spare room, maybe hallway and trim. Then I will paint, and try and get as much as I can get done today. I was also wanting to go look at a local flooring shop to see if they could carpet our stairs at a reasonable price.

So there were a few hiccups from yesterday..surprise, surprise. They did not change the water heater(which was one of the main reason's they were here) they just moved it to it's new place. And then when dh went to check it out,it apppeared to be leaking from both taps on the hot water tank. So he made a phone call, and hopefully we will see something happen on Monday...crossing fingers.

Oh on another scrapping note, Canadian scrapbooker mag has asked to showcase a lo I did for their spring inspiration challenge on their website. I am sure they are asking everyone who sent something in, but hey it is still nice recognition! I cannot remeber if I mentioned, I will also have a lo in the upcoming spring issue of Canadian scrapbooker magazine..I can't wait to see how it looks.

Ok so I am off to mop the laundry room floor(it is a mess from the work done in it yesterday) and then off to get supplies so I can work my butt off today. FYI..I am really digging doing an entery a day thing in here....lets see if it stays like this:)
8:26 AM - Feb. 10, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment
What a FREAKING week!!
Wow! Two enteries in one week I am on a roll. Too bad it is nothing too interesting, but more of a place to vent. I think stress has finally crept up on me and quietly enfolded my body. I really did not think I was that stressed, but my body has proved otherwise. Perhaps with being so busy, it did not allow me to recognize the onset of it all..blessing in disguise..perhaps. As the week comes to an end, I can feel myself starting to drag and become tired. Finally, we have the plumbers at our house doing the work, which is somewhat of a relief. We finally just got a response from insurance telling us to have the bill sent to them, mind you there was a bit of confusion from our adjuster as to what this plumbing was for....ahh hello..the emergency repairs that were stated to be done on Dec. 2/06...grrr. I have a sinking feeling in my gut that she will have a problem with some of the bill....what else is new. I want John to also send the furnace and boxes bill to her to get a cheque issued and then be done with them. At this point I will take all the money they gave us and be done with them...which I truly believe is what they have hoped for. I really do need to cleanse away some of this stress from myself, and by being done with them would be a great start. So on Monday we will have our furnace guy come in to take out the fireplace so that we can rebuild the platform/hearth. John has pretty much finished tearing down the wall unit he built...which smelled very musty...we will just replace it with a store bought unit. So I can only wonder haw musty it will be under the fireplace. I will get some paint and paint the spare bedroom this weekend...then it will be ready for the floor. I would also like to go out and get my furniture bought so that it will be delivered by the end of March(in time for Ab's b-day and easter). Hopefully be sometime next week we will also have the laundry room somewhat complete. I should also find some place to buy carpet for our stairs(mind you that will be almost last thing to get done). I think my goal today will be to get a list made of what needs to get done and the order of it.
Thank goodnes I will have some great relaxation in about a week, with some really great woman I am honoured to call my friends. The plan is to go to a Nordik spa where one goes from warm water to cool....I truly cannot wait!!!!

Ok so on scrapbooking note...I will no longer be on any online design teams. In the past 2 months both stores I was designing for has decided to shut their doors....maybe this is some unforeseen indication that I should be concentrating my scrapping ability elsewhere, and not botheing with dt's. In all reality, being on a dt takes up alot of ones time with not only creating the artwork, challenges & projects, but also having to have a significant presence on the message board. The free supplies was nice, but let's be honest...I do not have time to use all my supplies..especially since I do not have a scrp room to use it in.

Ok so I will bore no longer...and me thinks I will go try and scrap since I did get a box of goodies last night:)
10:08 AM - Feb. 9, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
a MONSTER has been created
Well just when I thought it was tough enough to fight with one child in who will get on the computer, I have yet more competition.....Hadley! She has decided she wants to play on the computer. Abigial had her sit up and watch as she played her Ages of Empire game a few days ago. Well last night Hadley decided she wanted to play on the computer and thought she would scream and pull a fit until she would get on. I was busy getting dinner ready, so Abigail caved in and decided that Hadley would like to play at the sesame street site online. Big mistake!!!!!! She loved it...well except for the long wait of loading pages due to this stupid dial up!!!! So this morning as I sit and have my coffee, Hadley starts dragging her booster seat across the floor. I ask where she thinks she is going with it, where she quickly lets go of the chair, runs over to the computer and points and grunts. We definitely have to go replace our computers from the flood so that all of us can be happy with our own little box of technology..lol....

Ok so how about I change the subject and talk about our insurance issues from the flood ...shudder....

So last week our adjuster informed us that they were just writing a cheque for our construction costs, and it would be up to us to pay the bills instead of them handling it. We were a bit stressed to hear that...I mean if I wanted to worry about all the construction I would have taken the money a month and half ago. And all during that week I was waiting to hear back from the contractor to finish the job he started(he came in for an hour tops and took some of the slate off the fireplace and that was it...then I heard nothing else). Ok so now we come to this past Monday. I go to check our email where we get a note from the contractor type people saying he talked with his manager and owner of the company, and they thought that since we took a settlement from the insurance(ummm..ok if that is what you call it...we had no choice..grrr) that it would be best that we went and hired our own contractors to get the work done....what the %&#*!!!!!! Thanks for tagging us along for 2 months with nothing yet done. I mean if I would have known this would happen, we could have started doing the work asap, and I would have had a basement finished by now. Instead I am cooped up- stairs with toys,boxes and a general mess for the past 2 months while my basement sits waiting. Do you think they could stress us out anymore?? We are just waiting for the cheques to clear and then insurance will be hearing a mouthful from us. The funny thing is the insurance got their way...they gave the money and we just rolled over and took it...we were just so tired of all the crap they threw our way...and I knew that is what they were hoping...just after 2 months of turmoil...you just want things to end and get the ball rolling. So now this weekend I will be picking out paint so that we can start to get that done, and try to get some shopping done(that will take forever to do). Ok rant over...lol...

Oh...and I am still waiting for plumners to come since it was yet once again too cold for them to come out on Monday.
8:29 AM - Feb. 7, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
Be prepared ......long read ahead;)
O.k so I am now seeing a trend with me and these blog enteries. I am not entering ....lol. To defend myself, the month of December was super hectic. So lets start there with the begining of the month. December 1st came in with a bang. There was a forecast for ice rain, but buses were still running because the weather really did not start yet. So john came home from a night shift and went to get some sleep and I put Abigail on the bus for school. Not soon after she left, the ice rain began. John got up a bit after lunch so that we could head out to get groceries. By the time we headed out the ice was turining more to a very heavy wet snow with the winds getting quite strong. It was getting pretty nasty out. So as we are in the grocery store, the power cuts out. We quickly finish our shopping and as we check out it seemed like the power came back on. We quickly went over to Giant Tiger to make a real quick stop(since it was already 3:30 and Ab would be getting home soon). As we left the store at about 4 we noticed all the power to go out in town. We went to go down our road to get home to meet Ab and we were stopped by firemen saying our road was closed due to hydro poles falling down. They told us to go voer to the next road and try and make our way. Now we started getting worried a bit because we had to get home to meet the bus. We went to the next road over and they had route 400 shut down and told us to try route 500. This is when I was starting to loose it thinking we would not get home in time for Ab. We reach rt 500 and there was no one blocking it, so we take it. Once we get to our road they had it blocked off and they told us no you canot go down, but we then said that is our house right there. We also asked about Abigail's bus and they said they waved several buses by and told them to go to the Giant tiger lot. John quickly dropped Hadley and I off and went to the Giant Tiger to see if he could find Abigail. I tried calling the bus company with no respnse. I quickly got a hold of the school and they said no buses returned but would call if she was returned to school. So no one was at the giant tiger, so John went straigt to the school. I was starting to panic since I had no idea where Abigail was and it was close to 5 by this point. The worst part was too that the bus driver was just new so I do not think she knew of all the procedures(or if they even had any in place for that matter) At this point Hadley was starting to get pretty hungry, so I went though our groceries and tried to get something for her to eat. John was still at the school waiting to see if they could find Ab. At about 6:30 I happened to look out the kitchen window and see a bus at route 500. I leave Hadley sitting in her high chair, grab a flash light and some shoes and go running down the road to see if it could be Ab. I quickly ask the firefighters if there was a child on that bus, and they said yes. I reply with that could be my daughter..he goes to look and thankfully it was her. She came off the bus running to me in tears saying she thought she would never see us again. Apparetly the bus was just driving around all that time. I quickly call John telling him I got her and to come home. Can you believe Abigail was the only one in the entire school that could not get home. I was pissed to say the least. So this entire time we are looking for Abigail, the ground water is pouring in the sump hole and without the pumps working due to power out, there was nowhere for the water to go but in the basement. BY 7pm ish the entire basement was flooded. I quickly gave Dad a call and asked him to see if he could buy us a generator in the city. He was able to get the last one in the south end of the city. Dad nd Joe got out to our place(not easily with the roads closed) at about 9:30 and we had it hooked up to the pumps by about 10. At this point everything was ruined, and it was just to try and dry everything out. John got onto the phone with insurance right away to start a claim.Power came back on Saturday evening. Sunday was the start of goign through all the damage. Dad came and picked up the girls so John and I could get some work done. We then went and picked up the girls and went out for my birthday since the Saturday was a bust. Oh and at this point I have lost my voice. We got the water sucked out Monday with them tearing out the carpet also. Our adjuster came out later in the afternoon and gave us the go ahead to get rid of stuff and itemizing. The dumpster came on the Tuesday and we spent the entire week filling it full. Ok now jump to toady(Jan 18) Our house is still in disarray, we are waiting for them to come do construction(they say next week...we will see) we were suppose to get all our plumbing done yesterday, but it was too cold, so I do not know when they will be coming. We have laid our ceramic tile down in the laundry room and paiinted, and we also bought our laminate floors to lay. We are now at a stand still till they come in and do their work. I am hoping to see a check today, and then we will be having to hand in receipts to get the rest of the money, and we will also need to get a check for the work we have opted to do. I really thought I would have everything done by the end of the month, but looks like it will be much longer. Oh and we had a flood about a week and a half ago. Thank god nothing was really damaged too much and we cleaned it up asap. So this is the madness we must deal with now.

O.k now rewind a bit. Through all of this chaos we got all our christmas stuff done and were off to Windsor. Of course I got sick with a nasty cold 2 days before we were to leave and felt like total crap. Christmas was nice and really not too hectic. Hadley was not into the present unwrapping as much as I thought she would be...next year she will fully be into it for sure. We stayed at Debs house, and by the end Hadley was not sleeping her best and Ab started geting the cold. We woke up the Friday morning with Abigail telling me that Hadley was sick in her bed..I hate the smell of sour milk..blechh.For the next few days, Hadley was sick with a fever and awful chest cold and NOT sleeping at ALL. Man is that tough to deal with now. She is finally back to herself and sleeping wonderfully once again..woohhooo...Ab is back at school and getting back into the daily grind. Today she gets to go skating withthe school, so she was pretty excited.

In the begining of December I was offered a position as a design team member at http://www.cactusscraps.com/

Here are some of my designs for Jan.



This week I am trying to get some work done for classes that I will be doing at the forkeepsakes crop
www.forkeepsakes.ca/crop.htm

And I am also trying to wrap my mind around adobe illustrator ...man I really wish I took some sort of graphic design classes in college...this self teaching is hard.

Ok well I have inputed way to much for one entry, so I will end now, and truly try and update more regularly!
9:58 AM - Jan. 18, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment
She walks!!!!!
Well, Hadley has finally taken her first steps with no assistance of someone or a piece of furniture. On Saturday morning(Nov. 18) when playing she had no choice to walk beacuse the toy she was playing with was too big to hold with one hand to either crawl or walk with the furniture. So she picked it up with both hands and then just walked over to her chair, as John and I watched. She is a little unsteady on her feet, but I figure by the end of the week she should be cruising. She is doing it more and more over the past two days. I am going to try and see if I can upload the video of her taking some steps onto her(not sure if I can do this..but will look into it.)

Besides the big walking milestone, not too much has happened. Got some well deserved housecleaning done, with still ots more to do. On a very sad note...my friend Mellisa's brother in law died tragically at work this past Wed. He has left his wife who is 26 and 3 children aged 5, 3 and 9 months. I do not even know him, and it struck me hard. It is just so scary to know things like this can happen. I went over to Mel's house on friday night and helped whip up a bunch of layouts to fill a scrapbook so that she could give it to her SIL. She phoned to tell me that it was very well recieved and that her sil was very happy to have this keepsake.

Well I wil be going and try to get some projects done for some upcoming classes....I have been putting these off for way to long now.
7:04 PM - Nov. 19, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
third time a charm...right....
ok I am going to give this a try once again and hopefully get a new entry in. I actually tried to yesterday but as I hit enter, I did not realize the internet disconnected and I lost everything I wrote...grrr(this also happened the time before and I just said screw it...thus the non existent enteries lately)....so technically I have not been that bad of a blogger or bad mommy for that matter, for not keeping up with recording milestone events nor the everyday events for that matter. Ok so here goes a run down of everything that has happened lately.

Hadley:

Well she almost now has a full mouth of teeth. She has about She has 4 front and her molars on the bottom fully through, and her incisors now cut through and just needing to pop up the rest of the way. She alsso has the 4 upper front fully through, with her molars and inscisors now cut through also, and just waiting to pop out more. At her 1 year check up the dr said that I could be now introducing more of the table food to her with all the teeth she has now. I just chuckled and said she has been eating like that since the summer. There is nothing she really will not eat. She truly hated the baby food, and just more or less refused it from the start. She weighed 18 lbs at the check up, but I would say she is more to be now 20...she is getting heavy. As for walking..sigh...she is still refusing. I guess she figures she can just get around quicker by crawling. She started standding on her own from a squat the weekend of Oct. 13-14-15(of course that was the weekend John and I were gone to Mtl.....made grandma excited to see though...that is a good thing) Ahe is also cruising along all the furniture and with her push toys. She will also walk with someone holding her hands(I have now managed to have her hold onto just one hand) but still refusing doing it by herself. well we had to take her to the hospital for the first time ever on the sunday evening of Oct.21. She went and decided to touch the glass of the propane fireplace downstairs and burnt her right hand. I ran her hand under cold water for a half an hour or so and then decided to go to the hospital to get something for the pain..tylenol was just not cutting it. I have never heard her cry so much in her entire year as I heard her cry for that little bit o f the evening. all they did was put plysporin on her hand and wrap it in gauze. They gave me codeine to administer(which I found strange..you think they would have done that) and enough to last the night(she never needed anymore)As soon as she got that she was her happy little self once again and quickly went to sleep on our way home. I only wish they would have given it to her before wrapping her hand, to make things less painful....at least that is what I would have done if I were the RN. I was then told to make an appointment with our dr to have him look at it on the Tues. He had a look, popped all the blisters and debrided some of the dead skin and then wrapped it once again. We went back a few times to check on the progress, and it healed quite well by the end of the month. So now hopefully we will not have any more visits to the ER anytime soon...crossing fingers.

Abigail:

Well for Abigail she has started grade 2 with no big bumps along the way yet. I saw her teacher yesterday and she told me how Abigail has such a huge imagination and great ideas. She just has to learn to listen and do other peoples ideas. She also has to learn how to sit still and listen to what is being asked of her..man I hope she masters that soon. The teacher also said how she went and talked about her project of sharks to the class for like 15 mins(this was before she even had to do her presentation...that put a smile on my face) She is constantly testing our authority these days and seeing how foar she can push us. I sure hope she gets out of that phase soon. I sure hope she does a complete 180 before she hits the teens or I will have a head of white hair. She is so smart...and knows it some times..if only she used it for all good...lol. Besided that not too much more going on. She started brownies a few weeks ago and just loving it. She is also growing real quick, she is definitely getting to be that big girl now:( Sure makes me feel old real quick.

Now as for the family in general. Things have been just nuts this fall. I went away the end of August to Toronto to work at CHA. I enjoyed myself and it was nice to get away from the kids, but I sure did miss John and the girls. I have been busy doing alot of design work in that time with my lss a local wholesaler and CCAS. Things have slowed down in that sense since the wholesaler has hired on someone who will work for much less(I am ok with thet, since I did not have the time for it) and my term at CCAS is coming to an end :( I really enjoyed working for Jen, and hope to get the opportunity again sometime. Still working with the lss strong and loving it. So on to our business....Hadley turned one on Sept 16...I so lacked in the party department on that one...but we all had fun none the less. Tasha and Joe got married on the 23 so we were out of town in Lachute for that. All went well with no big glitches. I have been attending a few crops lately. Tracy(from california) came up for the weekend just to crop with us Ottawa gals...that was an awesome weekend. Oh John and I went to MTL to help the girls at Forkeepsakes with a scrapbook show. It was nice even if we were working. I think John and I will have to do again, but with no work:) Then just this past weekend I taught classes at the fall crop that Forkeepsakes held. On another scrapping note, I was hired on by in my minds eye online as a design team member. And I also took the plunge and submitted to the Maya Road dt. Well I shall now go and feed the little one. I will try and update with some pics..and Deb if you are reading I saw your request for a pic of the girls..I am hoping to get some good shots of them together later this week(they will not sit still for me lately to get any pictures)

11:34 AM - Nov. 8, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
She Climbs!!!
So John quickly mentioned that on Saturday he found Hadley trying to climb up the stairs a few steps. Well on Monday as I sit at the computer, Hadley quickly snuck away and as the dog somehow opened the french doors to get in, Hadley made her escape. Within a few seconds I could hear her talking loudly, and it had an echo to it, so I immediately thought she was in the hall. I run out quickly to see her one step up from the top of the stairs. I did not even hear her climbing it....she's goood:) She is now pulling heerself up onto everything..I am sure she will be trying to walk on her own quite shortly. Well that cat went in and got fixed on this past Wed(the 16th). I explained to Ab saying that with the operation he will not be wanting to get out as much...well that explanation backfired. That Thursday I ran out to the store, and wwhen I came home Abigail quickly tells me.Mom..that operation on Jack did not work..why I ask...well he escaped twice on us. Ever since the darn cat has been fixed he wants nothing more then to get out..and man is he quick..I sure hope this dies down soon. So when we took him to the vet, I quickly sat Hadley on the huge scale and she topped in at 18 pounds. I really thought she would have weighed more. The way she can pack the food in....I thought she would have been at least 20 lbs. Well today I hope to go through all of Ab's clothes to get ready for school..it seems the summer has just flown by...which is a good thing though since Ab really needs to get back so that she has everyone to play with. Well had is crying to get to her nap, hopefully I did not forget anything.
8:59 AM - Aug. 23, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
Yet once again I am behind....
.....in adding new entries online here. This will have to be a short and sweet entry as I can hear Hadley upstairs playing within her crib. Well on the teeth front, she now almost has 8 in total. There are four teeth up top and 2 fully through in the bottom, with another two partly through. As of last Friday August 11th, I am done with breast feeding. Hadley now takes nothing but the bottle, and has seemed to ween over with no problems. I think by the end there it was more of a comfort thing then actually getting anything to drink. She is also starting to sleep much better through the night, and has actually slept through several nights without awaking at all. We went camping from the 4th til the 9th, and she did absolutely fabulous. She slept better in the trailer, then she did when we were up in the cottage..go figure. Hadley has been able to pull herself up on us, but as of yesterday(aug.14) she can now pull herself up on furniture all by herself. She also loves to try to walk with someone holding onto her hands. She really has not tried to walk around the furniture yet, but I am sure she will in no time. Things are pretty hectic around here with trying to get things ready for Tasha's shower. Then come next week we will have to focus on getting ready for back to school(I cannot believe the summer is almost over) and think about what we will do for Hadley's birthday.I cannot believe the year has gone by.. I really do not remember Abigail's first year whizzing by so fast. It still feels like yesterday that Hadley was a newborn. And look at Ab now...she is going into grade 2...my god...soon she will not be our litle girl..mind you her attitude these days is showing that of a teenager...where do they learn this stuff. I must make an eye appointment for Abigail...looks like she will be getting some glasses(I was really hoping we could not go dsown this road yet..but it appears she has inherited her fathers eyesight) She is having some big problems seeing the tv and says to me, that once in school if she is put in the back she will have problems seeing the board. She has found a pair of my old glasses and says when she puts them on the "squiggles" go away on the tv and she can see. ok I am sure there are more things I should be documenting, but the brain will just not allow me to think yet. I will definitely try and update more..mind you I think until the end of September everything is going to be pretty chaotic around here..there is so much that needs to get done or going on .
8:25 AM - Aug. 15, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
This one is for you Deb! ;)
O.k. so it has been more or less been a month and a half since I updated, and a certain person just reminded me of this last night (I wont't mention who, Deb...lol) Anyways I had such great intentions of keeping up with this blog and keeping track of all the great milestones that Hadley will be reaching, in hopes of one day marking them in some sort of baby book. Man am I ever lacking with her, at least with Abigail I kept track for her first year.

So lets see where do I start...Hadley's two bottom teeth came in just after mother's day weekend(I think I might have said that already, but if not now it is finally documented).
Hadley's first words have been dada, jack, come here, I believe she has said Ab, the big kicker was when we went to McDonald's after strawberry picking(june 24) she was listening to Ab say McDonald's over and over again, and then she blurted it out several times clear as day. She did manage to say Mama once while we were here in Cottam.
She use to make a clicking sound to call over the cat and dog, but since the end of June she jusat makes the come here motion with her hand, expecting the animals to just see that. She waves bye and night night constantly. Last week(around July 5/6) she sat up all by herself and now does this constantly. Last night she almost stood up by herself as she climbed all over me. This past week she has really started to walk with the help of others, I imagine in not time she will be walking all on her own. She now has her two top teeth in(as of last week) and the other 2 top ones are pretty well cut through.

Ok now that some of those milestones have been recorded, I will quickly update on other things that have happened. We had Hadley's baptism on June 18th(father's day) and it all went well. She was so quiet and well behaved during it all, even with it being so warm in the church that day. Then on the Monday(june 19) Abigial came home complaining she was not feeling too well. I spotted some pots on her, and Deb said that they looked like chicken pox. Well by Tues morning they were all over. it appears some of the kids on the bus passed them on to Ab. She missed the last week of school(track and field included) and made it back just for the last 2 days(play day and bbq) I think the older they get, the whinier they get..lol. She refused to take anything for it, but sure cried about how awful a "disease" that it was. So school gets out, we pack up and head out to Cottam for holidays. reunion goes well we come into July, and what do I spot on Hadley on the Wed(July 5) chicken pox. I really thought she might have dodged the bullet, but sure enough, more or less 2 weeks from when Ab came down with it, Hadley starts. She has been such a trooper. She was really hit with it bad. Her worst day was this past Sat..we think the heat really brought it out that day..but now this morning it does look like most of them are being scabbed over. We have been keeping her medicated with tylenol and benadryl which I think has helped. The only time she is having a rough go at it seems to be at night. But really she tends to not sleep as well when not in her own bed anyways.

On a scrapbook note, I have been given a spot on the dt for an online store based out of Markham (http://www.creativecraftsandstickers.com/) and the summer issue of scrapboooks and cards toady came out with my layout in it, and it looks pretty good.

Ok that is all for now, I will do a better update later ( I promise Deb..really) when I have more time and not Abigail hounding at me to do things "right now".
9:00 AM - Jul. 10, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
And now, we are six!
Well on Thursday night we added yet another addition to our family. His name is Jack. A sandy/orange tabby, which is absolutely adorabe...and oh so small. So far things have been going pretty well with everyone adjusting. Hadley just loves to go after him, she just has to learn to be more gentle and not pull the darn thing with it's legs. Celia has taken the new kitten extremely well and is even playing with him. It is so weird how she is so frightened of cats in everyone else's home, but bring one into ours and she is ok with it.I think she will have a run for her money when the kitten gets to be a bit bigger and have little or no fear. As for Ab she is being very responsible..but don't tell her I said that..lol...She has been making sure he is fed and uses the litter box and such. Thursday night was pretty funny, we were woken up around 4 am to Abigail pleading for us to take the cat. He awoke, and decided that it was time to play..with her hair...so this is where I made the point, see how hard it is to be a mom and get woken up during the night. She says he keps her up at night because he wants to play, but every time I go in to check on them during the night, little Jack is curled tightly up to her purring away.

We thought Abigail might have had chicken pox on Wed., it turned out to be mosquito bites all over her. Apparently the day before they were really bad outside..and swarming everywhere during recess.

Well I did my first gig for multicrafts on Wed also. I taught a class to a bunch of retailers, showcasing some of their products. It looks like this might be a monthly thing now. I teach my next class middle of June showcasing the sweet pea studio line from K&Co.

I should also learn in a few days if I made a dt position or not on an online store located in Markham. I miss being on one.

Hadley is starting to voice words...she said bye earlier this week and seemed to say Hi Ya to Abigail one morning also. She is also starting to bite during feedings..not too sure how long I will be able to handle that....we'll see.

Well I better run, I have tons of updateing to do on my LSS website.
8:57 PM - May. 20, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment


1:33 PM - May. 5, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
She's crawling!
well...sort of. Hadley is pulling herself across the floor like a mad woman now. She has been doing the commando style crawl with the rolling for a bit now, but just this past Sunday(Apr 30) she started to pull herslf on her tummy across the floor. And now just of yesterday she is real quick! She is across the room in no time. I really have to keep my eye on her. I do believe it is time to pick up everything..and not just at floor level, she is reaching for beyond. Besides that not much more new things happening with my Had's. Her tooth is still slowly trying to pop through. On the other hand, Abigail's front teeth are finally coming throughand I am sure it will be no time that they are fully here.

Not much else I have to say at the moment(I did have a ton..and now I forget it all...hopefully I will get to this blog and write more detail soon)

I submitted a punch of lo's for the cantata baby call and was unloved:( I really thought I had a chance with that call...oh well. I am now trying to do the new ck call of doing a 2 pager with 4x6 pics..very tricky!

Anyways I will leave you with one of my unloved lo's. I absolutely adore this pic.
1:21 PM - May. 5, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
Where does the time go?
Well, I had all good intentions in logging a few more entries in here before now. It just seems like there was no time to sit down and let my thoughts out.

Ab celebrated her 7th birthday last weekend. Grandma Gibbs made her way down for the event on Friday, and then the fetivities began Saturday afternoon. Abigail had 4 other girls over(suppose to be 5, but Kylie woke up with the flu) for a princess party. All the girls were dressed up, including mommy. We played pin the lips on the frog and jasmine says..that was enough for games...at this age everyone wants to go first, and everyone wants to win...with my child be the #1 competitor of all...my how she hates to loose, I really do hope she gets over that soon. We then did some crafts of making a crown, jwewllery box and beaded necklace and bracelet. That left little time for presents and cake. The two hours just flew by. I am glad we only did 2 hours though...3 would just be too much with 5 active girls.lol. John seemed a little down that are baby is now 7...she is growing way too fast, and picking up way too much at school(and not the good stuff..my how kids have changed over the years)

On the Sunday (Ab's actual b-day) we went out to Billlings bridge to go see the reptile exhibits. It was mostly all snakes...yuck. Ab had a blue tongued skink mere inches from her...and all she wanted to do was grab it's head. She also was intrigued in te large boa...she kept on grabbing it..mommy even touched it. I don't mind the big snakes as much..it is those quick little ones, that puts the fear into me, and make my body shudder at the mere sight of them. Ab went snap happy with her digital..which reminds me, I must download those pics. We then went into zellers quick, to let Ab spend her gift card from grandma...polly pockets and a sun visor hat was purchased. Daddy gave her a "credit" card for her birthday(a princess gift card from walmart..no cash on it) so that she can buy special things when she is with him. Well she had to use it, so she bought us all dinner at local heroes..she was just so proud to have that card.

On Monday, Ab had her pic up on Achannel for her birthday...we had to watch that several times over...the pic looked awesome on the tv. Grandma just left yesterday, so we had a nice visit with her. Hadley started to sit up all by herself without toppling over this week(I will say Tues the 11th) and still no teeth through...those big blisters still swollen...I swear they will be full teeth once they break through.

I rec'd an answer back from cantata books saying they could not take my other lo I submitted(since the one they wanted was spoken for already) and told me to submit to their newest call. I was pretty bummed out, but hey they did want my work to start with so that is a good thing. Who knows, maybe they will want another layout of mine in the future..I will not stress over it though..that is for sure.

Well it is Easter weekend, and it seems like we will have a somewhat quiet one. We are going to a play tonight at Brigette's curch(I so hope the girls behave) and then we will go to mom and dad's on Monday for supper(well I will go out for the day, since john will be working)

Well I have tons of stuff to get done around here...hopefully I will get another entery in this weekend.
8:42 AM - Apr. 14, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
How quickly they grow!
It seems like I am needing to get to my blog almost daily to document something new in the life of Hadley. I just cannot believe how quickly she is growing. Today she has now started clapping her hands to the part in the song of "If you are happy and you know it". She even waits until the part when you say "clap your hands" it is just sooo darn cute. I truly do not remeber time slipping by this fast when Abigail was this age. I guess with life being so busy with the two of them now, you really don't have to many spare seconds to take it in. Hadley seems to no longer be my little baby..she is geting to be my big girl, along with her super big sister. I am already missing those "newborn" days, even though those first few weeks were really tough on me physically. I never thought I would ever heal from those painful feedings. it is amazing how well a body can bounce back. I would do it again in a heatbeat. The first time was tough, perhaps being at such a young age and going into unfamiliar waters did not help matters...now after all that experience, and a few more years on me I eel I can do it again and again. Mind you ask me if I would at the 3 am feeding tonight(or shall I say morning) and I might have a different view (lol) . I must admit I am starting to feel the fatigue set in(not bad considering she is 6 1/2 months now) and during those early morning feedings I think of how she would be sleeping through the night if she was on formula. I just can't seem to want to give up the breastfeeding though.....not just yet.....this might be the last time I will be able to do it, and I just don't know if I could give it up. I want to hold on to this closenes that the two of us can only share, just a bit longer. I didn't get to have this with Ab, and I really did miss that closenss once she weaned herself entirely.

Well on another note, Ab's party is just 4 days away, and I have so much to do. The house is a disaster, cake preparations have to be done, and there are some games and crafts to get organized. I am also still waiting for 2 parents to cal and let me know if their children will be coming. ab says that they were, but you just never know. This is normal though for those last minute calls, I should be use to it by now...I just like to know though...so I can get everything ready ahead of time.

ok well it is late and John is snoring away on the couch..it is time to try and rouse him enough to get him up to bed...he is once again on early shift, which means he has to beout the door by 5 am, which also means it is up to me to get Ab out the door (which is a huge feat in itself).


10:54 PM - Apr. 3, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
welll..I was fooled....
but fooled a few also. I awoke this morning with no thoughts of April fools in my head. I got up, changed Hadley, let the dog out and made some well needed coffee. We then headed downstairs for her to play and me to check online quick. I go to check out Rhonna Farrer's blog to see the new quote of the day for her challenge, and what do I see...."I am sorry, but I have to shut this blog down" ...dissappointment washed over me. Ever since stumbling onto her blog earlier this week, I have loved to view it daily..she is very inspiring. Well good thing I went to scroll down a bit, and DOH...what a fool I was..she got me good. So with that, I was inspired to play a few pranks of my own. Hadley and I run quickly into Abigail's room yeling "Get up quick, the bus is outside waiting for you, she is honking her horn..your late, your late" well I never saw Ab get out of bed that fast in my life. If only she was that quick when there really was school. Then my next victim was my mother. I called her up, hinting to her that I could be pregnant..when it registered, you heard a bit of glee enter her voice and her saying "your pregnant.....really" then the joke was revealed with her stating I should have known.

After reading Rhonna F's blog and the challenge she was hosting I thought I would do the same on the scrapping buddies forum. So today was the day 1 of our 21 day challenge. The challenge consists of two parts...
1) to create or change a habit within that 21 days

and

2) create an artistic journal with daily quotes which you can take cue from(I am doing a format along the lines of a BOM style...we'll see how that goes)

So I did up the front of my journal and did most of my page for day 1(just a bit more of journalling left) and then I would like to do up a title page. This is going o.k. but I find I am doing my work very linear and precise..I am having a hard time of just letting my creativity flow. perhaps by the end of this challenge things will change. Journalling is also a little bit tough, I am really not one for it, and find it very dificult to have the words make sense..kwim.
On the creating a habit I choose to try and incorporate some type of physical activity daily in hopes to strenghten my body. Now that I am eating more healthy and becoming much more aware of my diet, the activity part just seemed like the right next step. And I did do some this evening.....1 day down...20 to go.

Hadley is starting to sit up by herself now. I sat her on the floor and she held up herself just fine. Someone still has to be around her though, because she has not yet grasped the fact of rolling to the floor gently from sitting.
well I am getting tired and we still have a movie to watch so this will be it for now....oh one more thing, my sister asked me to be her maid of honour in her wedding this Sept. so it now looks like thigs will be a bit busy for the next few months. Ok all done..time to go.

8:40 PM - Apr. 1, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
Where to start.....
I have so much running through this head of mine that I want to get out in words, but I just do not know where to start. Unfortunately my brain is just as disorganized as my house is. Well I can start off by saying that my hubbie rocks. He came home Tuesday from work with a gift for me(mind you he made me wait till late that night). He bought me the graphire 3 from Wacom, so that I will now have greater control in my photo editing. I cannot wait to try this out...hopefully during the weekend we will be able to hook it up and load it on the computer.

Abigail still thinks it is more like summer then spring out. Today she went to school wearing a pair of jean capris, and wanting to wear sandals..but I had to put the foot down somewhere. At least it should get up to 15 today. It is just the darn mornings that are freezing with having temps around 1 degree. Everyday this past week, Ab has been out playing and getting into all things spring..aka MUD. If she keeps this up, it is going to be pure torture to try and get her to do her homework everynight. There is so litle time in the evening to get it done, and there is just so much of it. I am not even looking forward to soccer(which will be starting in about a month) She has that twice a week. We just have enough time to feed the family, get her changed into her uniform and out the door. Then by the time we get home it is time for bed...now tell me, where are we suppose to find the time to get homework done in there. Perhaps it would be easier if she got home before 4:30 in the afternoon. Oh..Ab also got on this cleaning kick the other day. She woke up in the morning and asked if she can do chores everyday after school..helloooo...who is this girl in front of me and where is my daughter. I said sure..that would make life a little easier for me. Mind you her cleaning is lining everything up on shelves, dressers, etc.. to display everything. She just finished redoing her bathroom where there are at least 5 toothbrushes, a few bottles of shampoo, and at least one decorative soap all sitting out prominently for all to see. She is my Ab:)

Still waiting for Hadley's tooth to come in. I swear once it breaks through, she will have the entire tooth out. It is a huge bump on her gums now. She is rolling everywhere now, and slowly trying to lift up her bum when she is on her stomach. Oh and she is loving Abigail's barbies, she seems to always have at least one in her hand.

Last night was my sixth weight watchers meeting, and I came out with a smile ear to ear. This weigh in showed that I lost 4.5 pounds from last week. I am now at a total of 8.5 pounds. Now if I could just incoporate more exercise into my day. Once thay get the trail cleaned off, I hope to rollerblade at least every other day. I told myself if I did well this week I was going to treat myself(dairy queen was looking good) but now as I see that great progress I just want to do even better..so DQ just might have to wait.

So I was looking at all the magazine calls coming up, and one stuck out and had me pondering as I lay in bed, trying to fall asleep. It was the subject of Life's Lessons. It made me think as to what I have learned and in turn made me think of what events in my life has changed, or made me see who the person I am. I will try and write a bit in my next entery about this. I think I am going to try and do a layout for this call. What a great BOM prompt..now all I need to do is start a book of me..lol..

Well till next time..toootles


8:09 AM - Mar. 30, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
And the spring comes slowly up this way. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Finally it is really beginning to feel like mother nature has brought the season of spring apon us. I awoke to hearing a happy baby playing in her crib and the beautiful sun shining it's warmth down on us. No more need to bundle Abigail all up with her winter gear as she heads out for the bus. Today she was in her bright yellow rubber boots with spring jacket tied around her waist(I am not too sure if it was that warm this a.m..but hey arguing with an almost 7 year old is impossible... plus, it will be that warm by the afternoon). The forecast says it will be 12°c today and by the end of week it will be reaching 15°c . I cannot wait to be able to slip my feet into my comfy sandles and not have to worry about socks.

Yesterday, Hadley, the dog and I went for a nice brisk afternoon walk, and it was beautiful out. I think after I finish my work at the store today, I will take Had for another walk..these punds will not shed off by themselves.

Today I have to drop off a layout at the lss for april's class, along with some supplies that we will be using for props for the booth at the scrapbook expo...that is almost near. I should also go out and pick up a few things for Ab's party. I have absolutely no decorations. I cannot believe how behind I am this year in party preparations..usually we have things well under way by now. At least the invites are made and she will be handing those out today.

I am finding that patience is definitely not one of my virtues this week. I replied to a publisher with another layout in hopes that they will consider it, since the layout they asked for is already spoken for. I found myself constantly check my email all day yesterday, in hopes to see a speedy response.I swear that technology today has truly taken away our ability to be patient. With the speed of internet and how quick an e-mail can be sent and received has made us have that "I want...need..it now" mentality. You have to wonder how we ever made it with having only the postal system in our lives at one time. back then we actually took the time to see life, and not let it pass us by so quickly. Ok so now I am babling on about nothings..I will take that as a que to sign off for now, before I bore all.
11:43 AM - Mar. 28, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment
Finally..I jumped on the bandwagon
So I finally took the plunge and created myself a blog. I always thought to myself...why do people have these things, who really cares.....then I started to think. What a great way to keep all my thoughts, cute things my daughters do or say, and just document all the events that happen throughout my famiy's life. This blog is not being produced to oooo and awwww others, but to help me remeber all the great things(or even bad) that go on in my life, so when the time comes I can have the memory fresh in words for me to scrap it. I so should have done this before, but my stubborness was just refusing to let me join the trend.

To start things off, the first thing I want to document are a few things about Hadley. She just turned 6 months last week, and had her check-up this past Tues. She weighed in at 15 pounds 61/2 oz, and measured 25" long. She had her shots and did very well this time around with just a little whimper for a mere second. Her first tooth is slowly coming in..I swear it will be no time before it breaks through. Last Sunday(Mar. 18) she beagan to click her tongue, and then this past Friday(25th) she started to play peek-a-boo with her blanket with us. She is just growing so fast.

Ab is getting excited about her upcoming 7th birthday..and of course I have so much stuff to get done for it..like make the invites so that they can be put out tommorrow. She is just growing like a weed, and picking up so much from school that it scares me. She is no longer my little girl:( The "older" kids are bringing her over to the dark side...lol.

Now on a quick scrapping note, I received my first e-mail in regards to being published during March break. It will be for a new canadian mag geared for consumers. I picked up the premiere issue just yesterday and it seems pretty good. Then just this past friday I get another e-mail for a request for that very same layout in an upcoming book. I am hoping that they will accept another layout with the exact picture for the publication. I hear that they are wonderful to work with. Here is hoping this is just the start to having more of my worked picked up.

O.k. so I did not plan to write so much for there is an abundance of work to get done today, and it is suppose to be beautiful out...so the plan will be to take a walk with the girls once Hadley wakes up.
1:18 PM - Mar. 26, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment