Kat's Krazy Korner

Holy Neglected Blog Batman!!!!!!!

2011-05-13T20:34:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it has been almost a year since my last post and I can't promise that it will be the first of many but what the heck, I found my blog and I remembered my password so it must be fate, right?
Way too much new in the last 11 months to recap, let's just say that things are going well.
Kids and hubby are all healthy and happy (well as happy as any teen or pre-teen ever is) but it is what it is.
Come on over to Lovebug and play with us if you get a chance.
My goal for this weekend is to actually get in my scraproom and complete atleast 1 layout. Who thinks I can do it?
Oh, and here's a fun fact..today is my 16th wedding anniversary..how bizarre is that.
So I shall leave you all with this...
Look how young and skinny I was...sighhhhh

Oh and thanks to the lovely Anna for the great hair cut today (and free to boot for my anniversary!) and for the link to her blog, check it out gals, she's got some great stuff on there!

OH ME OH MY! Changes changes changes

2010-06-27T10:39:00.002-05:00

Over 2 months since my last post? Must do better with this for sure.
So many changes around here lately.
Most importantly is that I have re-entered the work force full time as of June 7th.
It is a huge adjustment for both me and the family.
I am working at a local printer/publisher in Administration and it is interesting to say the least. It's a little out of my realm doing a lot of marketing research and number crunching right now, but I am enjoying it. My main focus is going to be the Dryden and Area telephone directory which is of course a huge project, very detail oriented and time consuming. I am definitely busy with it and that is what I love, nothing worse than being stuck at work with nothing to do, makes the days just drag on by.
Logan is going to be in charge of the younger kids for the summer and is very stoked to have got a cell phone as partial payment and that he will be making money over the summer too. The kids listen to him quite well (atleast when Paul and I aren't around) so I'm not too worried about that. We have family and friends lined up as back up for him and to take the kids off of his hands periodically so he can still have some fun with his own friends as well. I think it will work out great.
I am hoping to keep my blog updated more and to actually get some scrapbooking done once we all settle in to this new routine of ours, so thanks to you who keep emailing me to update my blog..you stick with me even though to say I post sporadically is being generous.
Have a wonderful day everyone!

Too Much to Say...A Drive By Posting

2010-04-12T16:12:00.009-05:00

and so little time LOL Okay so it was pointed out to me that I haven't updated this blog in awhile, and I have no excuses except the usual of no time. So here's a quick synapsis of the last month...now with photos! LOL

* As stated in my previous post, Logan's Junior Boys team went to Timmins, Ontario for the Provincial Bowling tournament. They won a silver medal and I am so proud of them. Logan did some of his best bowling ever with scores of 194, 261, 286 and 196..and the best part of it is that he had an absolute blast!

Check out the video of one his strikes and pay particular attention to the little butt wiggle when he realizes he nailed it LOL

And when he got home after his 15 hour each way bus trip, the kids and I made him this cake

* My newest great-nephew Matthew Scott Polhill came for a visit and totally stole my heart.

* We made this adorable Easter bunny cake for Easter

* We had an amazing evening with my cousin Gail when we went to see Garthmania starring Garrick Sissons from Thunder Bay. He put on an amazing show and as you can see from these photos, we had a blast!!!!!!!!!! If he and his band No Fences are ever in your area, be sure to get yourself tickets, it is well worth it.

And for the newest Lovebug news, like the return of Lovebug Loot, come and visit us at the forum, we would love to see you!

BLOG HOP WINNER!

2010-03-04T13:10:00.003-06:00

Thanks for all your comments folks and I hope you enjoy the recipe.

The random draw winner for my rak is Shannon. I will get your prize out to you this week girl and I hope you enjoy it!!!!!

Lots going on this week with bowling practices etc but I'll be back to update you all first chance I get, I promise.

have a wonderful day.

BLOG HOP TIME AGAIN!!!!!!

2010-02-26T23:37:00.004-06:00

Welcome to Lovebug Scrapbooking's "INSPIRE US!" blog hop!! Our blog hops
take place on the last Saturday of
every month. Thanks so much for joining us!

If you just happened by this blog and didn't realize a blog hop was taking
place, please go back to Lovebug Scrapbooking and start the Hop. You won't
want to miss all the ispiration from our members....... or the prizes

This time around I wanted to share with you a recipe I got from my Aunt Mayme, it is a lovely, light dessert perfect after any big meal. We used to try to go to Thunder Bay to visit her every year on March break and she always made this one for me.
This isn't the greatest picture of it, but trust me when I say you will love it!
This is basically an upside down lemon meringue pie, the meringue is your bottom crust...how fun is that!

Beat 5 egg whites stiff and add while beating
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp water
2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pour into large WELL greased cake pan. Bake at 275 for 1 hour. Turn heat down to 230 and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Turn oven off and leave the pan in the oven overnight.

Next morning
mix 1 tin Eagle Brand Milk
1/2 -3/4 cup lemon juice (I like to use more as it doesn't end up with a strong lemony taste otherwise)
1 egg yolk
*Whip 1/2 pint whipping cream and fold into the above mixture. Spread on top of meringue and chill atleast 3 hours.

Your meringue might be puffed up and uneven - just poke it lightly down and then add topping.

Another thing I like to do is to grate a little zest of lemon onto the top of the dessert for a little more zing.

Now how about leaving some comments for me and share one of your favorite recipes with me? If you do, I'll put your name in a draw for a RAK from me. And please come back and tell me how you enjoyed this recipe when you try it yourself.

This blog hop will run from today, February 27th until March 2nd. We will
be drawing for winners on March 3rd.

Follow along in our blog hop! Your next stop is Carla's Cooking Blog so you are definitely in for a treat!

Busy, busy, blah, blah, blah

2010-02-24T10:00:00.004-06:00

Well the last few weeks have been busy and blah at the same time.
First the blah, still no job prospects in sight and some days I'm okay with that, others it cuts me to the bone and I am struggling with feelings of disappointment, sadness, uselessness etc etc. No worries folks, it isn't like I'm despondent or suicidal just a little blue. I keep reminding myself that things will turn out as they are meant to and that I have to hold on to my faith, but you all know sometimes that is easier said than done. But I will survive, I just might not be enjoying the ride right now is all.
Now for the busy. Logan made the Junior Boys 4 Steps to Stardom Bowling team again this year for our lanes and the tournament was this past weekend. They won GOLD!!!
Woohoo boys, well done.
They will be heading to Timmins on March 6 & 7 for the Provincials and I hope they do well. We won't be travelling with him this time. He will go on the bus with all the other bowlers and coaches and will be billeted out while he is in Timmins. He is a little nervous as of course he is a pretty shy kid, but he is also a really polite and wonderful kid and I know he will be fine. That being said of course my nerves are frazzled at the mere thought of one of my kids being that far away from me on his own. Thank God my godson/nephew Tim is one of the coaches and he will be there too so I take comfort in knowing that Logan isn't completely without family.
Here are some pics of the boys and their amazingly sweet coach.
This is the team BEFORE the winners were announced (of course that is my amazingly handsome son in the back row beside the coach)

And this is the team AFTER they got their gold medals, atleast some of them changed expressions...geesh Lord save us from moody teen and pre-teen boys LOL (oh how love when I see my boy smiling and happy, he's the first on the left don't you know LOL)

And on another note, don't forget there is another fun blog hop starting on Saturday, it all starts on the Lovebug Blog

Survivor Pool and Today

2010-02-10T09:30:00.003-06:00

We have a new Survivor pool started at Lovebug, even if you dont' watch the show you can play, it is going to have a fun twist that we are sure you will love, come and check it out in the Survivor Forum

Logan is feeling better and off to school today, he missed their overnight field trip though. I think he has mixed emotions about it, he was looking forward to the dogsledding etc, but wasn't so keen on sleeping in an arena overnight so I guess it depends on how you look at it. I guess I will have to contact the school to see about getting my $50 back that I paid, but atleast Logan is feeling better and back to his old self again.

So much going on, so many things I am thinking about that I don't even know where to start. Let's just say the main debate for me right now is still about going back to work. So many pros and cons for both sides, staying home or going back to the workforce. Unfortunately the choice isn't wholly mine as the job situation here isn't exactly great. Time will tell I guess.

So to fill some place let's play "today"...

Outside my window... it is bright, sunny and cold.... - 26C
I am thankful... for health and my family
I am thinking... to go back to work or be a stay at home mom and that I am going to try to call my girl Nicky this afternoon, it's been a year since she was here and I miss her
I am celebrating... the freedom to make the above choice LOL...sort of...okay, extra money would be really really helpful..
From the kitchen... I think tonight will be shepherd's pie, haven't had it in a long time and I love it
I am wearing... my comfy Jockey Person to Person navy roll top pants and my blue and black hoodie
I am reading... Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
I am hoping... that I can find a way to take the kids away for a mini vacation during March break
I am hearing... the glorious silence in my house, kids are all at school and DH is at work
I am working on....the final details for the Lovebug Survivor Pool and a nice litte reward challenge for our players
Around the house... laundry, dishes, vacuuming, laundry, dishes, vacuuming...never ending vicious cycle
One of my favorite things... my cup of coffee that right now tastes like a little bit of heaven right here on Earth
A few plans for the rest of the week... grocery store this morning then to the Red Cross to fill out some paper work that I need to do when I am volunteering there, helping them update their computer files etc, should be fun and it will be nice to be around grown ups too LOL

Lovebug Blog Hop Time...Woohoo!!!!!!!

2010-01-29T21:56:00.004-06:00

Welcome to Lovebug Scrapbooking's "INSPIRE US!" blog hop!! This is the first
of 12 months of inspiration, each to take place on the last Saturday of
every month. Thanks so much for joining us!

If you just happened by this blog and didn't realize a blog hop was taking
place, please go back to Lovebug Scrapbooking and start the Hop. You won't want to miss all the ispiration from our members.......or the prizes

Our theme for January is "Love is In The Air".

Now let me premise this by saying that I have known about this for weeks and it totally slipped my mind to do a project, and so I did what any resourceful mother who has 3 kids home today as it was a PD day for them...I put them to work.
Carly spent the afternoon downstairs in my scraproom with me and helped create these adorable little cards from my scraps. She did most of the work herself, with me doing the cutting for her and helping her out a bit along the way. I think she did a great job.

Her second project was this little coupon book she put together, not sure who she is giving it to. We simply cut the patterned paper down to size, punch a few holes and threaded ribbon through to hold them together. The coupons were created at DLTK's site, which is full of great little crafts and printables for the whole family, and they are free, so be sure to check them out.

So leave me a comment and I'll enter your name in a draw for a lovely rak, and don't forget to send your friends along too. If your friend leaves me a comment and tells me you sent them, I'll enter both of you in the draw twice. How cool is that, huh?

This blog hop will run from today, January 30th until February 6th. There will be a prize drawing on February 7th. Check the Lovebug Blog for more details!

> Follow along in our blog hop! Your next stop is to one of my favourite gals in the world, the most talented Margo. So head on over and prepare to be amazed.

Happy Birthday Dad, we miss you

2010-01-27T12:38:00.003-06:00

It is my dad's birthday today and as you now he passed away in July. Today I am not sad though, I am spending my day watching home videos, looking at photos and remembering all the good times.
Logan of course turned 13 on the 23rd of this month and he and Gramps shared a cake every year. This year Logan didn't want a cake on his birthday. He chose instead to have his cake today, on Gramps' birthday instead. And so, we will have family over for dinner tonight and have birthday cake, and raise our forks to my Dad to let him know we are thinking of him and most importantly to show him that we are doing okay, we miss him terribly but are doing as he would wish and celebrating instead of commiserating.
That boy of mine, he is something else. These are all pictures from 2004 of Dad and Logan sharing their cake.

Happy Birthday to my boy Logan!~

2010-01-23T11:26:00.005-06:00

Thirteen years ago today, this precious boy was welcomed in to our family, things have never been the same and I couldn't be prouder of him.

Logan is an intelligent, handsome, funny and all around amazing young man and I am thrilled that I get to be his Mom. He is as tall as I am now and takes great pleasure in informing me that he is still growing and will tower over me soon LOL

I have been telling him for months that he wasn't allowed to be a teenager since I am much too young for that, I told him he would forevermore be referred to as "not 12", but alas I find that I must let him be 13, I must let him grow up to be the person he is going to be, and I know that that person is going to be absolutely amazing! I love you Logan, and happy birthday my darling son.

Today I am thinking -

2010-01-18T11:29:00.002-06:00

- about old friends, the kind who you don't have to see everyday but even if months have gone by and you see them it is just like it was yesterday. Some friends of mine who fit this category are going through some of the toughest times of their lives these days. Job less, health issues with all of them. My heart is breaking and I am feeling that feeling you get when you want to help so badly and there is nothing within your power to do...except tell them you love them and send out prayers. That is what I am doing today.

- the fact that I am going to be the Mom of a teenager in less than a week. How did that happen? I'm not sure I'm ready. The last year or so has given me some hints to what it will be like, and if I can just find my way through the minefield of emotions he is bouncing around in then I know we will be fine. I am trying to give him enough space to not feel crowded but not so much space that he thinks he is alone. Wow, what a fine line that is. All I can do I guess is trust that we have done the best we could for him and shown him the right path and then pray to God that he follows it.

- that I really have to start taking better care of myself. I am back to not eating regularly, smoking too much and drinking way too much coffee. None of these things are good for me, they make me feel like crap and then my mood turns to crap and I am stuck in this weird and destructive little vortex of my own making. Time for changes...and quickly.

- that I am more blessed than I think and I need to make a conscious effort to remember that. I need to remind myself that each and every day is a gift and I can't squander it.

- that it is time for me to get off this computer and get some laundry and dishes done, and then I will get to play some.

Have a great day everyone and I'll catch you on the flip side.

How about a few pics?

2010-01-17T11:36:00.004-06:00

Not enough coffee yet this morning but want to post before I get busy, I'm on a mission to post everyday if I can.
Now, how is THIS for a coffee cup? LOL

Here's a family photo (we only seem to get them when my cousin Bill comes to visit)
this was taken just a few days before Christmas. Geesh, I really need to start wearing makeup or something before I start scaring small children and animals.

And here is a fun one of my three kids and the two "kids of my heart".

I hate email chain letters...

2010-01-16T11:18:00.003-06:00

but I love the thought behind so many of them, so instead of spamming my friends, I'll just share this one I received today.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART

ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER! FRIENDS FOREVER!

New Year and Fresh Start

2010-01-15T08:46:00.002-06:00

Okay, I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but August? Really??????

I won't even attempt to catch everyone up then, suffice to say that life goes on and it's been the same general lunacy as usual.

How about some scrappy news? We are blasting off into the New Year at Lovebug with an online crop January 22 - 24th, come and check it out. 2010: A Lovebug Odyssey There are going to be challenges, games and of course prizes, bring a friend along, the more the merrier.

Also the Lovebug 60 Page Club is starting again, bigger and better than ever, so be sure to check that out too.

On the home front, I am heavily in denial that I will be the mother of teenager in another week. I have decided that Logan is NOT going to be thirteen. He will forever more be referred to as One Three, or my personal favorite "not twelve". I am totally not prepared to be the mother of teen..where did the time go???

And many of my dear friends are going through tough times right now and without giving too much detail, if everyone could send out some extra positive thoughts and prayers on behalf of Heidi and on behalf of Jeff and Nancy and family I would be eternally grateful.

That's all for now I think, but I will promise to try to be back. (There you go Jillian *wink*)

Getting There

2009-08-13T17:09:00.001-05:00

Life is slowing getting back to normal????
I wanted to thank everyone for all the phone calls, emails, flowers, food and everything that we were inundated with during this difficult time.
I was so touched and humbled by the outpouring of compassion from everyone.

We are concentrating now on making the remainder of our summer as good as possible for the kids, they haven't been able to have much fun.

Off to make supper for the family now, pudding and ice cream for little Evan who had 2 teeth extracted today (crowns that he got as a toddler that were bothering him).

I'll try to be back in the next day or so with some happy posts.

Blessings to all.

In Loving Memory of my Dad

2009-07-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

In loving memory of Murray Boyd Carter January 27, 1935 - July 22, 2009

In loving memory of Murray Boyd Carter, age 74 years, who died in the Dryden Regional Health Center on Wednesday, July 22nd following a brief illness. Born and raised in Fort William, Murray was a man of strong faith.
He met and married Ellen Mills there and became father to her four children. Together they had two more daughters completing a family that was very important to Murray. He loved speding time with his family, especially taking the grandkids fishing at the dock, for donuts at Robin's, and swimming at the Best Western.
An avid sports fan, it was his letters of opinion to the editor that helped seal his first job at the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal as a teenager. Mainly covering sports for many years, he wrote under the name Moe Carter in various locations across the country, including Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, Winnipeg Free Press, Calgary Herald and a period as editor of the Dryden Observer. His work enabled him to meet many people over his life and he kept in touch with a large number of those friends via the internet. He always had a story or joke to share.
He was predeceased by his wife Ellen, his daughter Judy O'keefe Polhill, brothers Jim and Howard Carter and sister Mayme Tangness.
Murray is survived by his children Kathy(Paul)Waller of Dryden, Terry(Steve)Gadd of Dryden, Frank(Linda)O'keefe of Thunder Bay, Cheryl Coulter and Debbie Johnson of Winnipeg, by 13 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Funeral services for Murray Carter were held Saturday, July 24th at 10:00 am in the First United Church with Alice Bloomfield officiating. Interment followed in the Dryden Cemetery. Visitation was held Friday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Stevens funderal Homes "Moffat Chapel".
Should friends so desire donations to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation or the Heart & Stroke Foundation may be made through the Stevens Funeral Homes, P.O. Box 412 Dryden, ON P8N 2Z1

Too Much Going On

2009-07-16T14:47:00.004-05:00

Okay it's been awhile but I have an excuse.
My dad took a fall last Tuesday morning, about 1 am, and has been in hospital since. He needs to rebuild some strength in his legs and he was having some other issues as well. He had a CT scan this Tuesday (the 14th) for which we haven't got any results, but he has had a rough few days. He was pretty much okay until Wed morning, he is now sleeping almost constantly and is feeling really crappy, not sure what is going on, waiting to hear from docs about that. His vitals are all good though, so I will take that as a positive sign. Will keep you all posted as I can and as we learn anything. Prayers are most welcomed.

In other news, my MRI for my neck/shoulder has been scheduled for Wed Sept 2 in Thunder Bay. As of now, the plan is for my darling niece Megan and I to do a little road trip together for it, hopefully there will time to visit a few people while we are there, but no promises.

To keep me occupied and my mind on stuff other than hospitals and sickness, I have been enjoying the free class by the amazing Jessica Sprague and finally learning how to use my Photoshop properly (much less cursing going on with her step by step videos than when I was trying to muddle through myself.)

Here are a few of the photos I have played with so far, not going to take the time to list what day the classes were or what exactly was done, but if you want details let me know and I'll do my best to explain

Vintage Look

Brushes

Mask

Multi Textures and Edges

Recolor

Frames and Word Art

Textures

Great day at Sandy Beach Park yesterday!

2009-07-04T10:27:00.006-05:00

Finally the sun showed it's face and we decided to head out to Sandy Beach to play away the afternoon. A good time was had by all.
For those unfamiliar with the park, there is a HUGE hill leading down to the water here is a shot I took from about 1/2 of the way down looking up

and here is one that I took from the same spot facing down towards the water.

Logan (age 12) decided he wanted to roll down, being a good Mom,I said "go for it" he began rolling with me running alongside him yelling "keep going, keep going" and he being the dutiful son obeyed.
I was not aware there was a big drop off right near the bottom of the hill that had some rocks etc, and Logan just kept on rolling, right over the edge and into the water..bwahahaha

Amidst my hysterical giggling and scrambling for the camera you could hear quite clearly Logan's voice as he screamed "I hate you!" and "I can't believe my own mother betrayed me" and of course the one said most often "Stop laughing, that wasn't funny" Perhaps the funniest part was when the fishermen in the boat just off shore yelled back "It looked pretty funny from here" LOL

Logan being the good sport he is even said he would attempt it again so I could get the video running and capture it better, but of course by that time I had seen the sharp rocks and the danger involved so I didn't take him up on the offer.

Oy Vey......10 days since last post?

2009-06-22T16:46:00.003-05:00

I officially suck as a blogger, but will it help if I dazzle you with my adorable yet trying children?
Here's some pics from last weekend when we went to Sandy Beach park to enjoy some sun
Click on the pics to get a closer view if you can stand all that adorableness in one sitting. They're cute I tell you, damned cute, and I don't say that lightly LOL

My Little Model, isn't she gorgeous? Carly knows how to strike a pose.

The Evster....seeking some solitude in Zen-like fashion no doubt? (okay so I forgot to re-orient the picture, just tilt your head for crying out loud)

Look at the smile on this face, with all the pre-teen angst, it is sure a welcome sight to see Logan looking this happy

"Patience grasshopper" were Evan's exact words as he tried to teach Carly and Logan how to correctly skip stones. That boy is a natural...Logan and Carly weren't quite as successful

Busy as a One-Armed Paper Hanger

2009-06-12T10:40:00.005-05:00

phew..things here have been so hectic, working a lot while the Dryden Jewellers Retirement sale is on, been quite busy so atleast the hours go by fast.

My apologies in advance for the less than stellar photos, my beloved camera has passed on and I have resorted to using Logan's 4MP Kodak for the time being, geesh Paul needs to get back to work soon (is it July 6th yet?) for many reasons LOL

Logan performed his first official concert with the Fine Arts program on the 3rd of June, they played 2 songs and while he looked about to vomit before they began, he did well as did the rest of the class.

Carly, despite the bike incident mentioned in a previous post, joined the Bike Rodeo at school and did a great job. She was more excited I think that her Dad could actually attend as well, this layoff is good for that atleast, Paul usually misses out on all these things when he is working.

And Evan...well what can you say about Evan? He as usually cracks me up.
This morning he got up to inform me he had "the best dream of his life". In said dream, he was misbehaving in the playground at school and Mrs Ecker (Caley to all you folks who know her LOL)took him for a ride in her car, a Chevy Malibu to be specific (which is odd since I think she drives a van and I have no idea how he even knows what a Malibu is..but I digress). Some "moron" apparently cut them off during this drive and so Caley had to drive over a few lawns on the way to her house. Once at the house, Evan and Caley played a vigorous game of street hockey with the girls' equipment and then they headed back to school for lunch...hmmmmmm....wonder what a Dream Analysis book would say about this?????

Well, off to get ready to go to Pinewood School. Today is Activity and Family Picnic Day and I have the day off so away I go. Hopefully pictures to follow later.

Wedding of the Year...and You Are Invited!

2009-05-23T09:46:00.002-05:00

I've got a personal invitation for all you scrappers out there to the wedding of the year, and you can bring as many guests as you like, our venue has no limits!
Dress is casual, so even jammies are acceptable. Hope to see you all there!
(click on invitation if you need a larger view).

Still Kicking...and Screaming (just a little)

2009-05-20T09:51:00.005-05:00

Not bad, it hasn't been a month since my last post so I am improving.

Things progressing, Paul still off work with this latest lay-off but I haven't killed him yet (thankfully many of my Lovebug gals have generously offered their help with bail money if it becomes necessary).

Busy, busy de-junking the house, tons of stuff headed to the dump and a smaller portion being set aside for a garage sale, yes I swear I am actually going to have one this year, not just talk about it.

A few new layouts done last week and hopefully some more this weekend if the crop goes off as planned, not looking promising but maybe I'll scrap anyway LOL

Mother's Day was awesome. Logan made breakfast complete with pancakes and put hair on your chest coffee...too visual for ya? Too bad

Carly wrote a poem and made me some nice little crafts (pictures coming later, I promise)

Evan wrote me this touching letter, not sure if I should be offended by the order of his comments, but he assures me that he only wrote them in the order they occurred to him...

Here's a few layouts as I mentioned, and that's it for now. Have a wonderful day everyone.

See...I didn't even complain and whine too much, we are making progress, are we not?

Good Grief...it's been a month?

2009-05-07T15:27:00.002-05:00

Okay so I see it's been over a month since my last post, and not due to lack of anything going on, it's been crazy.

Where to begin?

My BIL and my sister were both having some medical issues that were awaiting testing and I don't mind admitting NOW that I was scared out of my mind. Thank God tests have finally been done and confirmed and for all appearances things are well, no major issues, major annoyances to the both of them, but nothing life threatening, so I am going to glory in that.

Oh, and Paul is now officially laid off. Domtar announced in April that there would be a 10 week layoff for most employees (staff and a handful of others are working) so we will be struggling through financially until he gets back to work on July 6th (notice that "until" and not "if"...aren't I a trusting soul!). So far I have not killed him, haven't even really felt the urge yet which surprises me, but it's only been 1 week so far, I'm sure he will annoy the crap out of me any day.

Carly has learned to ride a 2-wheeler..well sort of...she did and then she had a few little accidents. The first she fell down in to our drainage ditch, and came out soaking wet covered in weird little "hitchhiker" kind of things and smelling not so fresh. The second was a tad more serious. She fell on the pavement and as she puts it "did a face plant". She split her lip pretty bad and chipped her 2 front teeth, but only slightly. Dentist was able to file them a bit and smooth them out, might need fillings later but we'll look at that again later he says, no immediate attention required.

Evan had decided his scooter is WAY cooler than his bike so he has been practicing faithfully every evening, of course the price of this is his brand new shoes, only the right foot though, he tells me that real scooter riders have steel-toed sneakers so they can stop..who knew? Not me.

Logan has finished bowling and finished an amazing project for the Historica Fair. he did the 100th Anniversary of 5-Pin bowling in Canada. Unfortunately he didn't get to advance to the next round of competition (my fault of course since it seems that Paul and I are some of the few parents who believe that the students should do their own work and not use) but he received an "A" on it and is rightfully proud of himself for doing it himself.

I'm busy putting together a just for fun crop for Dryden and area scrappers (I don't know that many, but my scrappy friend Sue does LOL), going to be a small gathering, I'm hoping about 12, just a bunch of us getting together without anybody pressuring you to buy anything or do anything "their" way...I won't mention names but locals will know who I am talking about.

I've been a bit under the weather myself but am finally beginning to feel better, I think the stress of family health issues and the uncertainty of Paul's job just finally caught up with me. I am coping better now and have regained my "I can't do a freaking thing about it, so I won't worry about it" status so things are on the upswing for sure.

Will come back later (yes I promise it will be in less than a month) with some new layouts and some info about the next fun event we are planning at Lovebug.
Rachel came up with the MOST brilliant idea and I think it is going to be a hoot!

I've been TAGGED!

2009-04-02T08:16:00.003-05:00

My girl Jillian tagged me on her blog so who am I to say no to a game, right?

Here is what the instuctions were:

Go to the photos folder on your computer.
Go to the seventh folder of photos.
Go to the seventh photo.
Put the seventh photo on your blog along with a description.
Invite seven friends to join.

And because I am always so good at following directions, here is what I come up with

This photo is of my oldest son Logan at 6 months old. That is my sister Deb feeding the boy his very first piece of corn on the cob. I forgot all about these photos, what a fun way to remember.

Now, that being done, I will tag the following 7 people

Teresa, Kirsten, Pam, Carla, ShannonS, Mara, and Jennifer

Can't wait to check your blogs and see what you come up with!

WTF Wednesday

2009-03-25T18:42:00.002-05:00

so my girl Kirsten posted an interesting new game on her blog, called I Wonder Why Wednesday...in responding to her post I felt a need to carry the tradition here to my blog and go with one of her other choices of a title for the game (see I have no compunction to trying to control my temper these days, I just don't care right now LOL)...

So here is the post I made on Kirsten's blog and thought to share it with you all.
Come on give me a reply and tell me your WTF?

Oh let me play, let me play...

I wonder why there are 3..that's right 3 rolls of toilet paper sitting on my vanity in the bathroom and the toilet paper holder remains empty?

I wonder why there are 5 rolls of toothpaste on the go right now in my bathroom and all but one (MINE!) had been squeezed in the middle?

I wonder why there is a pile of laundry sitting on my bathroom floor right beside the laundry hamper?

I'm sensing a theme here, perhaps that my life is filled with crappy things?...maybe I should post this on my own blog LOL **insert that yes indeed I copied and pasted from my reply to Kirsten and am too darned lazy to backspace and remove this line...deal with it LOL

My Life...the Centre of a Crap Storm

2009-03-23T12:10:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since my last confession...okay so it isn't a confession and I'm not Catholic, but I wanted to start on a light note today.
Life has been..what's the word I'm looking for? Suckish? Is that even a word? It is now so deal with it.
So my trusty (NOT) van broke down and my local dealer fixed it...okay so what's $750 at this point, right? Well me, being the genius I am, told them, that was not the whole problem, I understand the braking system needed some work, but that doesn't explain why it wouldn't start, why my wipers have no power etc, there is something else wrong. Oh no they proclaim, it's fine. Okay says me, the moron and takes it off the lot. Fast forward 4 days with me....I am nervous about the van and only driving it when I need to as I know there is still something wrong.
Yep, Saturday the van won't start after I am done at Shoppers' Drug Mart. Logan calls his Dad and he comes to boost it and it starts so we endeavor to get it home without me shaking like a leaf, crying hysterically or vomiting in fear...
Within 2 blocks, I no longer have any readings on my dash, including mileage etc etc..the only light I have on is the freaking ABS light...AGAIN! Within another 2 blocks of that I now have no signals, my windows won't operate...in the last 4 blocks home, we now discover that the power locks won't work and basically nothing is functioning properly.
So, back to the shop it goes with a not very nicely worded note from me for the mechanics which was followed up with a not very nice phone call to them this morning to inform them that the piece of crap is once again parked in their lot and I would actually like to have it fixed this time.......GRRRRRR
On top of that, a woman I know, the mother of one of my Evan's best friends in in hospital gravely ill, don't want to give too many details as all those I have are second hand at best and are somewhat contradictory..the consensus though is that she is not doing well and the prognosis is not good. My heart is breaking, this woman is my age, has 2 children, a boy the same age as Evan (7) and a daughter who I believe is 9 or 10. The fear in me is what and how much to tell my kids, how do you let them know what is going on without scaring the bejesus out of them? The last thing you want is your children fearing that a mom can die when she gets sick..let's face it I get colds and stuff all the time, should my kids have to be in fear that I will just not be there the next day?
If it's a tough decision ,one that we have put on hold for now until more information is available. We are praying for her full recovery and that all will work out for them. Please say an extra little prayer today even if you don't know her, we all know people who good use a little extra boost, right?
Apologies for a long, rambling and completely un-fun post today, but gosh it feels good to get it off my chest...
Blessings to all

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!!!!!!!

2009-03-13T10:57:00.002-05:00

Woohoo, it's finally time for the next Lovebug online crop.
Starts tonight at 7 pm CST sharp...okay, probably not sharp because I am the first poster and I tend to get distracted by shiny things like glitter sometimes...but I digress...

You can find more details here on the Lovebug Blog too, it's new and we would love for you all to pop by and leave us some comments

The crop will run all weekend, with challenges, games, hunts, giggles, prizes and RAKS...what's not to like about that?

It is going to be SWEET and there are going to be some guilt-free calories involved...intrigued yet???????

So, are you going to play with us? Post here and let me know and then go to the Lovebug blog and post there too....don't ask why...just do what the heck you are told, okay? Geesh...always with the questions..........bwahahahahahaa

Sweets & Treats Online Crop

2009-03-06T08:14:00.001-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to tell you all.

Friday March 13th is the start of the Lovebug Sweets & Treats Online Crop, 7 pm CST.

We are going to have a ton of SWEET challenges for you all and you just know that Denise is going to have some SWEET prizes too!

Check out the suggested supply list HERE and be sure to join us in the forum next Friday evening for a ton of fun!

Want to win a $20 Gift Certificate?

2009-03-04T08:17:00.003-06:00

Thought that might get your attention!

Be sure to go and check out the new Lovebug Blog, it's as easy as posting a comment.
Send all your friends too, if they win, they might be inclined to share the wealth with you!

WHY???

2009-02-26T18:06:00.002-06:00

Okay so most of you know that I am working part-time casual right now, generally only 2 shifts/week from 9:30 am - 1 pm.
So tell me why it is that those 2 days/week seem to be the only days of the week that my kids get sick and need to stay home from school?
Thankfully the boss is a Mom and knows too well what's it like with sick kids and the deal when I hired on was that if the buses got cancelled, it was a PD day or the kids got sick I didn't come in to work, but geesh....I have had to bow out of 3 of my last 6 shifts between ice storms and flus....
Okay, vent over...
I am scheduled to work tomorrow morning, so let's all keep our fingers crossed that there is no storm and no vomiting in my future.........

And on an unrelated note (or two)..

Some big stuff coming up on Lovebug, so stay tuned

And, I miss Courtney LOL She is away with the family in Florida (where I am sure it is MUCH MUCH warmer than it is here) and I can't wait for her to get home so we can chat and play.

Two...Count 'Em Two...Posts in One Day? VIDEO FIXED NOW

2009-02-23T17:37:00.002-06:00

But this is just too wonderful not to share.

Finally a theme song I can get behind LOL

**SORRY FOLKS, THE LINK GOT PULLED, HERE IS A WORKING ONE

It's a Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh day

2009-02-23T14:12:00.001-06:00

Not sure why, it's bright and sunny for a change, but having one of those heavy sigh kind of days.
Kids are home from school for a PD day, but they are getting along great and behaving quite nicely today and still

SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Every have those days?
Come on people, talk to me here, I need to know I'm not the only one

And now for your listening pleasure...

2009-02-10T19:22:00.000-06:00

Enough said........

Good Times, Good Friends

2009-02-08T13:29:00.003-06:00

What an amazing week.
My dear friend Nicky is moving from Hellifax (no, that isn't a typo, believe me Halifax as NOT for her) to Vancouver and graced us with a visit on her travels. She arrived Monday early evening and I finally allowed her to leave on Friday morning.
So sorry to see her leave, but I know she is on to bigger and better things for sure.
Of course a visit with Nicky is always filled with much laughter and fun, and so I invited my friend Courtney over "to play" as well.
We scrapped the day away and of course much silliness ensued.
I love this photo of the three of us together.

Of course I also love these 3 pics, with all of us being goofy beyond words...scrap supplies are obviously not just for scrapping anymore LOL

Courtney...A Flapper at Heart, we drew the line at hanging Queen & Co felt from her shirt

Of course, I am so coquetish (it's a word...look it up!) aren't I? And would you look at the size of "my girls"...amazing what packing materials can do!

Nicky apparently has some "issues" and so has signed herself up for a 12 step program (otherwise known as Chipboard Letters for Everything Anonymous)

See, now you are all sad you couldn't come and play too, aren't you? Come on over, the door is always open my friends...

12 Years Ago Today

2009-01-23T13:40:00.006-06:00

My life changed in so many ways.
The birth of my first child, my darling son Logan. He is such and AMAZING kid, he is smart, funny, and sweet. Of course he is also sarcastic, bossy, lazy at times and downright frustrating some days, but I love him to death and can't imagine our lives without him.
I can hardly believe it! Where did the time go?
Wasn't he just adorable?

And in his honor, how about some of my fav layouts about him?

From a Dear Friend, to all of my friends

2009-01-06T11:03:00.002-06:00

A most dear friend (you know who you are!) sent me this in an email last night after she had seen my blog post yesterday. It touched me greatly.
Then this morning during my blog run, I went to Cathy Zielske's blog and saw the exact same thing on there.
It must be fate...it must be meant for me to share this with all of you, my dear and loyal friends.
This is such a touching video, and so affirming. I intend to watch this over and over again. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Judy!

2009-01-05T13:47:00.005-06:00

This photo was taken October 1999 at the Garth Brooks Concert in Minneapolis, one of my funnest memories of Judy. We had such a blast!

Today is the birthday of my sister Judy who passed away June 29, 2003.
This post is in her honor.

Today

Today you would be 59
Today I shall not cry because you are gone
Today I shall rejoice that you were here
Today shall be a happy day of remembrance.

I love you Judy. I miss you.

Happy Birthday Tim!!!!!!

2008-12-19T12:38:00.004-06:00

Today is my nephew Tim's champagne birthday, turning 19 on the 19th, pretty cool huh?
Tim is an amazing young man whom I have blogged about before, but here is a pic of the adorable fella anyway. Boy oh boy do I love this kid...ummm...I mean man...really I do...it's just hard to wrap my mind around LOL
Been busier than a one-armed paper hanger but I promise to come back and try to post more this weekend.
Logan made me a beautiful ice candle that I am dying to show you all, but since it is currently -45 Celcius with the windchill there is no way I am going outside to snap a picture right now.
have a lovely day everyone

All Moms...You Have to Watch this

2008-12-11T21:16:00.003-06:00

Okay, so one of my favorite stops on my Blog Travels is to the blog of Dawn Meehan, her blog is called "Because I Said So"...anyway, if you are a mom, had a mom, are about to become a mom or know a mom, you can relate to this.
Dawn's blog always makes me giggle, I can so relate to this woman LOL

Check out her blog video, the 12 Days of Christmas...it literally brought me to tears...of laughter that is...this could be me...only she has better hair and more guts, cuz there ain't no way you'll catch me singing online

Oh My! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas???

2008-12-11T12:40:00.006-06:00

Okay I knew it had been a bit since I posted, just didn't realize it had been this long.
You all know how it is when the holiday season starts, right?
So, between shopping...ughhhh...Christmas get togethers and events at the schools etc, I have been scrapping,surprised? Yeah, me too!
Yesterday I went and volunteered at the Royal Canadian Legion, they put on a Christmas lunch for all of New Prospect School. Both Evan and Carly went and really enjoyed it. They had the whole shebang, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, ham, dessert, hot chocolate. A good time was had by all.
Tomorrow Logan will have his turkey dinner at Pinewood School and I'm sure he will enjoy that as well, but I'm not volunteering for that one, tomorrow is my scrapping day with Courtney...yeah!
So, here's a few layouts that I have done in the last little bit. Hope you enjoy, and remember you can click them to make them larger.
The first bunch was all made with the November Lovebug Kit, I loved this kit!

This is one of My Girls, Amanda and Courtney, these gals just make me smile!

Those of you who read my blog on a more regular basis than that with which I post to it, will remember the dreaded Webkinz incident, right?

And just a few randoms, one of my current "make me smile" layouts is the "Have Her Cake and Eat Her Too", just makes me happy.

My Boy is Off on his BIG adventure

2008-11-20T11:08:00.002-06:00

Well this morning started at about 5 am, had to get up to have my boy Logan (11) to his school for 6:30 to begin their big adventure. He and his fellow Fine Arts students are on the way to Winnipeg for a packed trip. They will be arriving back home around 1:30 am, with any luck LOL
Their first stop is at The Forks for a trip to the Manitoba Theatre for Young People to see "Rich". They should enjoy this as it has received rave reviews and is all singing, dancing and skateboarding, what teen or pre-teen wouldn't enjoy that, huh?
Their next stop is at the Planetarium for a showing of "Planets Around Us. Logan isn't big on science, but neither was I and I always enjoyed going to the Planetarium so I'm sure he will be intrigued.
From there they are going to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and then heading off to of all things, the opera! WTH??? Okay it doesn't appeal to me, but these are Fine Arts students and this is a great opportunity for them. Apparently tickets to this opera start at about $95 a person, but our school has arranged for our guys to watch the dress rehearsal and they are doing it for only $10/person, so what the heck.
Now the opera they are watching is Il Trovatore which again means nothing to me, but the cast is apparently top notch and are very famous in that genre, who the heck knows?
I know Logan will have an absolute blast, unfortunately, me, the worry-wart mother that I am is sitting here with her stomach in knots and will remain like that until my boy is back home safe again. I am somewhat more relaxed than I normally would be as today is my Mom's birthday, and since I firmly believe she is our Guardian Angel and watches over us all the time, I know that today she will keep an extra special eye on my boy, so that is my comfort thought of the day.

Just for you Terry

2008-11-18T11:07:00.007-06:00

Okay so my sister Terry took a little dig last night and reminded me I hadn't added any layouts recently, so here with absolutely no babbling (do you believe me yet?) are some recent creations.
Oh, and if you aren't Terry,you can look anyway *wink*

Oh, that wasn't enough??? Okay how about a few more...

oh, okay since you insist, how about just a few more, but that's it, I swear, I have other things to do today you know......

Are my kids freaking adorable or what???

2008-11-17T19:52:00.004-06:00

Prepare yourselves, tis another bragging mom moment coming up.
Here are the proof sheets from the kids' school pictures.
It was so hard to pick just one pose with these cuties I tell ya.
Can't wait to get the real photos back!
Remember you can click on each image to make them larger.
And NO, my children do NOT have "lifetouch" tattooed on themselves, they are watermarks you goofballs.
And YES, Evan did indeed cut his own hair the week before pictures, that's another story for another day...sighhhhhhhhh

In Remembrance

2008-11-17T10:06:00.003-06:00

Well Remembrance just passed and I can't believe I didn't post about it or post pictures, my bad...sigh
So it was cold and yucky that day, and Evan was supposed to go in the parade with his Beavers troop and I told him it was cancelled because it was too cold. The guilt got to me, so 15 minutes before he was supposed to be at the Royal Canadian Legion, I started the van and went and picked him up at school.
So glad I did, it is so important for our children to understand the sacrifices that were made on their behalf so they can enjoy the freedoms they have each and every day.
Here is my darling boy carrying the Beavers flag, and here is one of the reasons it is so important to remember. This is my Uncle Howard who served in the war and sacrificed one of his legs in doing so, I sure do miss you Uncle Howard!

APPRENTICE IS A HIT!

2008-11-15T11:20:00.002-06:00

Holy canoli, once again I am floored by the overwhelming response to a Lovebug event.
My Lovebug Apprentice kicked off on Monday, November 10th and I was expecting a nice little showing of about 20 players...we are now at 47 and the talent and fun are overflowing the site.
I am so totally thrilled with this turnout, and my "favorites" file in the gallery is overflowing with layouts that I fully intend to scraplift.
Sign ups for the event are now closed, but please pop in and play along just for fun if you like, or just browse around and enjoy all the lovely eye candy the players are turning out.
Hope to see you there!

LOVEBUG APPRENTICE STARTS TOMORROW!

2008-11-09T10:40:00.001-06:00

Who loves The Apprentice?
Ever wonder how it would play out on a scrapbooking forum?
Well, now is your chance!

Join us starting Monday November 10th (sign ups will remain open until the 14th) on the Lovebug forum to play along. The game will run through the New Year so lots of time for fun, inspiration and competition.

Watch the forum for the official sign up thread.

This event will encompass a variety of things, including challenges, posting, shopping, games etc etc...maybe even some blogging if you choose.

All current, past and new members are welcome to join in the game and as always, no judging will take place. Everyone has an equal opportunity of becoming "THE APPRENTICE"

How will this be like "The Apprentice"?
* it will have tasks that you can complete or choose not to complete
* it will have prizes
* it will be challenging and fun

How will it be different from "The Apprentice"?
* absolutely no one will be fired
* there won't be any cut-throat antics, (but there will cutting of paper and there will be silly antics, of that I am sure!)
* I have way better hair than the Donald

So, who is up for it? Can't wait to get started!

Beautiful Birthday Greetings and translations.

2008-11-05T21:40:00.003-06:00

So this evening after dinner, Evan disappeared, we found him hard at work at my desk, with his dad blocking my view as little Ev made me a card. You can see it in all it's glory here...

The translation is:
(front of card) Happy Birthday Mom! To Mom From Evan
(inside of card) I will always love you no matter what. I'll always.
Incredible Me E. Hi!

And of course not to be outdone by her brother, Miss Carly decided she should make one too, and to get one up, she used color on hers LOL

Translation:
Happy Birthday Mom! To Mom from Carly
(inside) Happy Birthday Mom. I'll always love you no matter what. I hope you never leave us. I hope you feel nice and good.

Gee, does Carly's sound familiar to anyone? LOL
And I don't know where the "i hope you never leave" thing comes from either...weird..my family is a freak show without the tent I tell ya.

Logan of course is too mature to make a silly card, Lord save me from pre-teens.

And Paul, well what Paul gives me is just plain none of your darned business...bwahahaha...now those who know me, that is just plain old fiction.

Have a wonderful evening everyone, and thanks to each and every one of you who emailed me, posted on Lovebug, posted on my Facebook or called me today with your birthday wishes, I was touched beyond words...Mwaaaaaaaa....sloppy kisses for all

And the Lovebug is BACK! YEAH!!!!!!

2008-10-29T13:31:00.002-05:00

My beloved Lovebug is back online, the forum is back up and running and so is the store, the gallery is on it's way to being back.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding
Huge thanks to Allan for working his butt off to get us back up quickly and easily (well easily for us, not so much for him LOL), but we sure do appreciate it.

Productive Weekend

2008-10-28T16:04:00.003-05:00

Well since Allan is still diligently working on getting Lovebug back up and running, I thought I would share a few of the layouts I completed this weekend at a local crop.
The crop was a big success for me, not so much for the organizer, sadly I think she barely broke even, for some reason participation was very very low. Maybe I'll have to organize one myself and see what I can do.

Anyway here they are, remember you can click on them to see them larger. Most of these are completed using up my neglected Lovebug kits that piled up on me over the summer. They are awesome kits and I had a blast playing with them finally.
This first one "You" was for the Big Picture Scrapbooking Class, Design your Life by the amazing Cathy Zielske..if you missed out on this class, keep your eyes open if she offers it again, you will NOT regret it!

Lovebug Update

2008-10-28T08:15:00.003-05:00

For those who may not have received it, the following is an email that Denise has sent out. Also please note everyone that with the server being gone, I can not access my events email so if you need to contact me, you can either through this blog or at my personal email address.
Let's all send good vibes out to Denise and Allan who are working so hard to get us all "back home"

We're still here .........................

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But it appears that our host server is not! We woke up Sunday morning to no site and after trying to get a response from our host server with no luck we decided it was time to change hosting companies.

Allan is diligently working on getting the site transferred to the new host and will hopefully have it up and running some time tomorrow.

We can't access any of our Lovebug Scrapbooking emails at this time or our admin panel to process orders. As soon as the site is back up and running we will get the orders shipped out out ASAP.

We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank everyone for their patience.

LOVEBUG site is down

2008-10-27T10:36:00.002-05:00

For all those who have emailed me since yesterday and those who haven't but read my blog, yes indeed the Lovebug site is down, there are issues with the server.
Denise and Allan are aware of the problem and have put in a support ticket so hopefully it will be resolved soon.
Personally I am going through withdrawal, I feel like I am completely disconnected from my peeps...sighhhhh
Guess I have no choice but to actually do some housework, that bites LOL

Okay Megan, but you know you should be studying

2008-10-08T19:40:00.004-05:00

Well my most lovable niece Megan called me today from Thunder Bay and of course had to remind me that I hadn't updated my blog in awhile. Poor thing, university is such a breeze for her that she has time to read my blog..isn't that touching LOL?

Been busier than a one-armed paper hanger (no offense to any one-armed paper hangers who might be reading) the last few weeks, and since DH is home this week on holidays, my schedule has completely flown out the window. It's a good thing I love the man or I just might have to kill him...anyhooooooooo..

Will try to post tomorrow once I get some things scanned that I wanted to share with you all, more proud Mom moments, but for now how about a few layouts that I actually got done recently?

These first two were done for the amazing Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class, I swear I will meet this woman some day, I could really party with her, she is as nuts as I am. Both layouts are based on sketches by the Divine Ms Z and the "design your life" logo in the centre of the layout was designed by her as well.

These 2 layouts were just ones that I finished the other day as well. For the "Words to Live By", I painted the background cardstock, added some unused Thickers and painted over them as well to create a little collage background.
"The Door" was one that started out as something different and as I looked at the photo more, the journalling ended up being what popped into my head as I reminisced.
**remember you can click on the image to see a larger view, the "Words to Live By" is special since I found this note pinned to Logan's door and it did my heart good to see him putting up this little reminder for himself. Love that boy!

UNbelievable fUN at the UNcrop!

2008-09-26T10:05:00.002-05:00

Further to my last post about so many of my Lovebug pals attending the Crop for Kids this weekend, I am feeling very Alice in Wonderland and am having an UNofficial, UNsanctioned, UNscheduled, UNline crop at Lovebug.

Come on over and join in the fun, I'll be posting challenges in honor of all my Lovebug friends at the CFK throughout the weekend, so pop in often and see what is going on and play along with us.

The more the merrier..

UNcrop You are UNvited!!!!!!

Instead of Pouting..

2008-09-22T17:40:00.003-05:00

Well since so many of my BC online friends are lucky enough to be attending the BC Crop for Kids this coming weekend, and I am not, I have decided to do something productive instead of pouting. My girls Denise and Margo will both be teaching at the event, so if you are lucky enough to be attending, be sure to stop in and tell the girls that Kat says "hello". Several other online friend will also be there teaching and scrapping so say "hello" to them too for me.

While all my girls will be cropping away (and no doubt crying in their glitter at the sad fact that I am not there with them *wink*) I am going to do a little impromptu online crop for the rest of the Lovebugs who aren't going.
So, if you want to come and play with us Friday Sept 26th sometime in the evening and throughout that weekend, pop by the forum, the more the merrier.

Myself and the rest of the Team will also be having an official online crop on the weekend of October 3 - 5, lots of challenges and fun, so hope to see you there.
Back tomorrow (she says hopefully) with some fun photos and maybe even a little video from my Evan's birthday party yesterday.

A Way Funner Post

2008-09-17T10:41:00.003-05:00

After my little venting post of yesteday, let's make things more fun, shall we?

Here are some great little things that make me smile...enjoy!

Principles of Fun

In The Motherhood

Things I Have Learned In My Life

And this video clip, (taken by accident by my dear friend Tanya) when I was in Toronto in 2005. This is my "go to" when I am feeling down and need a good chuckle.
There is a tad of colorful language (not too much), so make sure no kids around.
Are these laughs not the best, that's my girl Tanya cackling. I MISS YOU GIRLS!

Have you ever been disappointed?

2008-09-16T09:50:00.002-05:00

By people you thought were friends? Okay so those I am speaking of for the most part are only "online" names to me, but I feel we have formed friendships. Now most of these are genuine and true and mean more to me than words can say.
But there are others who I "thought" were like that that have disappointed and saddened me of late.
You all know that Lovebug is my online home, I adore the place and the people there.
I work hard to put up fun and different events for our members and time and time again my ideas have been "borrowed". For the most part I take it as a compliment, but when it comes to those who have played them with me on there and "know" me, and then take the ideas to other sites and take them on as their own ideas, it just really gets to me. A simple, quick email of "I loved what you did with the Canada Games/Olympics event, would love to share it with others, is that okay?" or something like that would go a long way, kwim? And yes that was a BIG hint about what the most recent "borrowed" (using the term loosely as I am striving to be polite) was, and the worst part is several other "friends" took part in the borrowed event and didn't bother to tell me I had been plaguarized either. If only ideas could be copyrighted huh?
When I began at LB, I borrowed an idea for a contest from a dear friend Traci who had an amazing online site (sadly she has sold it and I don't play there anymore, long story for another time), but before implementing the idea, I talked with Traci at length and got her approval and when I posted the contest, I gave her all the credit for the original idea, it's the right thing to do, isn't it? Or am I just too worried about "right" and "wrong", who knows? LOL
Sigh, I guess I just take these things too seriously, don't I? I know where the idea came from and I know how hard I worked at it (along with the rest of my team) and I can rest easy knowing that I did it myself, I wonder if my "friends" can say the same thing, I don't think so...
Anyway rant over, going to play will all my lovely new scrapping goodies that arrived yesterday and put myself in my happy place.

The Beckoning of Lovely

2008-09-15T08:17:00.002-05:00

Reading the blog of one of my fav people Cathy Zielske this morning has prompted me to do several things today.
I am going to library, I need to find a book, called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life
byAmy Krouse Rosenthal.
The other thing I am doing is right now, I am posting this link to this video and I hope that you will all take a few minutes and watch it. It is completely awe inspiring and amazing.
Sending happy thoughts and wishing blessings to you all.
I don't know what I am going to do, but I am determined that this will be something I will participate in in some way.

Oh for the love of Pop Tarts, I have a runaway son

2008-09-10T15:02:00.005-05:00

Well, my boy Evan ran away last night...here's how it began
3:55 pm home from school, Evan eats 2 granola bars, 1 bowl apple sauce
5:15 pm supper time, Evan eats 1 large baked potato, 2 plates of barbq ribs and 2 plates of peas and carrots
5:45 pm Evan is foraging in the cupboards, spots the Pop Tarts (now if you know me you know that it is very rare there is anything like that in my house so he is instantly psyched)
5:46 pm Mom (me) says "there is no way you can still be hungry, get out of the cupboard and put those Pop Tarts away"
5:46 1/2 pm Evan slams the cupboard, glares at Mom and yells "that's IT! I am OUT of HERE!"
5:47 pm much slamming and grumbling from Evan's room
5:49 pm Evan exits his room carrying an overnight bag and reiterates "I am OUT of HERE!"
5:50 pm Mom says "Don't forget a jacket, it's going to get cold tonight and don't forget you aren't allowed to cross the road by yourself"
5:50 1/2 pm Outside door slams amid more grumbling of which I am certain I heard the words "that woman makes me crazy"
5:55 pm Mom peeks out the back window to see where her wayward son is...
5:56 pm Mom the scrapbooker can't resist a few shots and sneaks out the door to snap a few pics **PLOT POINT - REMEMBER YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO GET A LARGER IMAGE- **

6:00 pm Aforementioned wayward son notices Mom taking photos and slumps into the house amidst more muttering, again of which I am certain that I heard the words "her and that freaking camera"

6:15 pm Mom is so thoroughly amused by the incident (and the fact she now has some great shots to scrapbook, backs down and allows the boy a Pop Tart... but alas she is too overcome with the giggles to take a picture of the boy eating it, might have to stage that photo later for the effect LOL
And being in a Google kind of mood, I stumbled upon this today and thought it so totally appropriate

Sparks, Beavers and Bugs..oh my!

2008-09-04T08:48:00.002-05:00

Well yesterday all 3 kids had good days at school, yeah!
In order of conversation, these are the comments:

Carly - "I had a GREAT DAY!"
Evan - "okay", from his teacher "I had a wonderful day with Evan today"
Logan - (in all his preteen "angst") - "not one single person annoyed me today"

After school was community registration night, of course Paul stopped off at his brother's before coming home so I had to take all 3 rugrats with me (yep, he IS going to pay big time for that!).

Evan (7) wanted to do Karate, so I filled out 5 sheets of registration work, wrote a check for $125 to cover the first session and proceeded in a non-orderly fashion to check out gymnastics for the girl.

$355 for 1 hour/week for her to learn to do somersaults? And I have to GUARANTEE that I or someone I send "volunteers" atleast once a month or I have to pay even more...ummm, NOT HAPPENING!

So we move on to the "Sparks", this is the younger girls version of Brownies/Girl Guides. It is only $125 from Sept - April, 1 evening a week, completely doable. She is very excited about it, they of course do all kinds of arts/crafts etc which Carly adores and all kinds of other fun stuff, plus 3 of her best buds were in line to sign up right behind her so she is a happy girl!

Now back to the Karate thing..Evan spots the Beavers/Cubs booth next to Sparks, he is intrigued. He strolls over with his "I'm too cool for my Spiderman shirt" attitude and strikes up a conversation with the nice gentlemen manning the booth.
Before I know it, he has registration forms in his hand and is giving me a pen...ummm, okay.. He has decided he now wants to be a Beaver, this is cool by me as they teach them all kinds of nature stuff, they do hikes, games etc and it is a general faith-based program as well, and only $150 for the year, he goes 1 evening a week too. So now he is a Beaver.
This of course means we have to go stand in the Karate line again, and I ever so nicely explain to the "nice lady" that I would like my cheque back and to remove Evan from the list, she is not particularly thrilled and gives me one of "those" looks...pfffffffft, whatever lady, he has been signed up for what 15 minutes? Give me a break LOL

Logan (11) is of course doing bowling again he loves it and excels at it, but he has also decided he wants to try curling so he will be doing that as well. Fun stuff I tell ya.

And me, being me, what am I thinking about this? Sparks=pretty pink uniform and sash
Beavers= adorable little brown and blue vest and hat
Curling= new sport with lots of red and blue on the ice
Thought process= TOTALLY ADORABLE NEW SCRAPBOOK LAYOUTS FOR ME!!!

Now, the "bugs" part. Logan, by nature, is not a complainer, last evening he was saying his ear hurt, we assumed he had some water in it from swimming and shuffled him off to bed. By midnight he was still awake and almost in tears with the pain, I as always told him, he needed to decide if he needed to see the doctor or not (my kids hate going to the doctor so if they are even faking a little bit, this is the part where they get miraculously cured), he said he thought he should go. So off we go after midnight, heading to the ER. Yep, his left ear is very red inside and "bulging" according to the doc, so they gave him a dose of antibiotics and a prescription for me to fill today. Poor guy loves his new school and the Fine Arts Program and was all set to go to school today anyway, but he realized he just wasn't up to it, so he is home today.

Well that's it for now, maybe I'll be back late, have some photos to post of my cousin David and his family who came for a nice visit last week.

Have a great day all

Countdown to Freedom LOL

2008-09-02T14:33:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is my light at the end of the tunnel day, all 3 of the kiddos start school, full days and all 5 days woohoo!
Don't get me wrong, I adore my children and wouldn't trade them for anything, but this summer has had me feeling something like this...

Of course you realize that being the pathetic fool I am that I will be excited until approximately noon and then be bored out of my mind, right?
I have such a long list of things I want to accomplish now that school is starting up and we can get back on some sort of schedule.
First on the list is to get back to doing my Wii Fit again, no way was I going to let all of "me" wiggle and jiggle with the kids home to make fun of me, I will keep the jiggling to myself thank you very much LOL

To those who have been emailing about my surgery earlier in August, thanks so much. So far, so good, a cycle has passed and so far nothing so I have high hopes that the ablation is a success, won't really know much until a few cycles have passed though. But, the fact that I have gone over 3 weeks with no bleeding is a positive in my books (sorry if TMI, but since I don't think anyone but my loyal few read this, I feel free to elaborate) LOL

Anyhooooooooo, off to the library, I'll likely be back tomorrow to whine about my boredom and lack of drive to do anything on my "to do" list...

Have a good one everyone!!!!!!!

Woohoo! Tomorow is the BIG day!

2008-08-27T18:09:00.002-05:00

Okay so my non-scrapping friends will be eye rolling now, but scrappers will understand my excitement.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the new Lisa Damrosch class, "Product Playground 2" at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have previously taken 2 of Lisa's classes and I swear she is my favorite teacher ever, she is a ton of fun, more talent than you can shake a stick at and I am beyond excited to see what she has in store for us.
I will be sure to share some creations with you when time allows.
BRING IT ON BABY, I'M GOING TO PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to My Boy Evan and other baby news!

2008-08-21T14:52:00.004-05:00

Seems so hard to believe that my middle child Evan is 7 years old today.
WOW! It seems like only yesterday that we were blessed with this little miracle, what joy he has brought to us in these 7 years (okay a few headaches too, but mostly joy LOL)
Since it was his birthday, we took him out for lunch, of course he chose Pizza Hut since he loves the lunch buffet. The waitress overheard us saying it was his birthday and brought him a huge piece of Chocolate Caramel cake, wasn't that sweet of her?
It was a good day at the old Pizza Hut to be sure. Several large groups had made short work of the buffet so we had to wait quite some time for fresh food to be brought out, the waitress felt bad and so gave me a free order of boneless Teriyaki wings (can you say yummy?) and then she gave Evan the cake which goes for about $5. As we were leaving our friend Ina who is a waitress came out from the back with 2 empty pizza boxes and told my kids to load them up with whatever they wanted from the buffet, the buffet ended at 1:30 and nobody else was having it so they stacked them boxes pretty full, talk about a windfall LOL

On an unrelated note, my dear friend Rachel gave birth to an 8 lb baby girl, Sienna Elizabeth last evening at 10:34 pm, I can not wait to see pictures of the little angel and wish I lived closer to BC so I could see them for real. Congrats Rachel, Brian and big brother Kane, welcome to the world baby Sienna, you've got yourself one heck of a mom there baby girl!

Back from Surgery, All is Well

2008-08-13T11:31:00.001-05:00

Got home yesterday afternoon after having my endometrial ablation. Things seem to have gone quite well.
Today I am feeling pretty good actually, better than I thought for sure. A little crampy but nothing that I can't handle.
Time will tell how successful it was, will know more once a cycle passes but I still have high hopes, it certainly can't be worse than what it was before that's for sure.

I want to take a few moments to thank everyone for all the emails, posts etc that you made with your well wishes and prayers, you have no idea what they mean to me.

Today I will be taking it easy, DH is busy doing laundry for me and I am planning on spending some time down in my scraproom playing and relaxing.

Again, thank you all my friends, chat soon!

Epson Creative Zone...Cool!

2008-08-07T12:24:00.005-05:00

This is a little Brag Book I made using free downloads from the Epson Creative Zone, if you haven't checked it out you really should. Tons of really cool little projects, really simple and free...can't beat that. I combined 2 projects to make it, I used the Travel Brag Book and the Travel Accordian Album one. In between the photo pages I am adding in the blank postcard and the blank journalling sheets so she can do her own journalling later.

I enjoyed it but have to say, digi stuff will never replace my love of paper scrapping, but I can definitely see more combining some of these great Epson projects with my traditional layouts.

My Scrap Room is Doing It's Job!

2008-07-31T13:29:00.003-05:00

Well it is working I think.

Now that I have a dedicated scrapping space and can leave stuff out on my desk etc, I am digging in to all those much loved but ignored supplies. I have been playing for 3 days and have got 7, yep 7 layouts done, that's more than I have done in 3 months I swear.

And the best part, I am using up my old stash and old supplies that I couldn't use before when the kids and hubby were invading my space.

So far this week I have:

** painted, I played with my paints that I have had for over a year and half of them weren't even opened yet!

** played with my Stickles - again had for a long time and never used them because of the drying time...woohoo!

** pulled out my Versamark and embossing powders and heat embossed, can't even remember the last time I did that!!!!!

** played with good old glue, did the "rain drop" technique and just plopped globs of glue on the page to mimic rain...way cool!

** played with loose glitter and got it all over me, but who cares it was fun!!!!!

**played with my stamps that are so sorely neglected, love the Inque Boutique Stamp Keeper system by the way, if you haven't seen them, you must check them out! You can see a video of them HERE You can buy them at Lovebug of course. Here's the link.

I hope to snap some pics of the layouts later to share, but right now, I am just having too much fun.

On another note, my kids have been gone since Tuesday evening, camping with my sisters and are due back today. DH and I are so pathetic, we moan about the quiet time and alone time we crave when the kids are here, and by 8 pm on Tuesday evening, we were bored and wishing they were back home. Of course they'll be home for an hour and the wishes for quiet and aloneness will return I'm sure LOL

I'm Moving Out

2008-07-25T12:01:00.002-05:00

my scrap stuff out of my bedroom that is.
Finally decided to brave the dreaded dungeon that DH calls a basement.
I have commandeered the "bedroom" (insert garbage dump here) to use as my very own space. It ain't the prettiest place in the world, but now that I have it cleaned out and fumigated (picture that the basement has been used primarily by DH and his friends to watch such thrilling and stimulating things as UFC fights for the past 12 years or so), it isn't so bad.
I have the tables and shelves ready to go, now to move everything down there...geesh what a job..on the plus side I am finding tons of stuff I forgot I had.
It's going to be great I think, I will be able to leave my stuff where I can see it and hopefully use it finally.
Carly keeps telling people that there are NO kids allowed down there when Mom is scrapping, but she qualifies it by saying "unless we are bleeding, then we come down" LOL The kid has the right idea I tell ya.
Now I am hoping that in this pathetic, shopping-challenged town in which I live that I can find some cool, fun and funky stuff to decorate it down there so it is cheerful and happy, just what I need.

In other news, I am finally going to have my Endometrial Ablation done, August 12th.
Thoughts and prayers that the surgery is a success and I can get back some semblance of a normal life again would be appreciated.

Off to bribe the kids to help me carry stuff downstairs...wonder if a Dairy Queen Blizzard offe will do the trick?

Has Anyone Seen My Summer?

2008-07-15T13:36:00.002-05:00

Holy crap Batman! It is almost the middle of July and we have had ONE decent day this year...rainy, cold, dreary...UGHHHHHH

Off to take the kids to the pool today, hopefully they will burn off some pent up energy and stop fighting long enough for me to fight the urge to drown them all (come on, relax, you know I am kidding,I wouldn't REALLY drown them...)

Hope everyone else's summer is going better than mine with this yucky weather.

Anyone willing to send some sunshine this way???????

Be back later after swimming and working on the building plans for the ark......

I'm a Grandma! ??????????

2008-07-04T12:32:00.002-05:00

To an Eastern Grey Kangaroo LOL

Megan adopted one for Logan, Evan and Carly while she was in Australia. The kids think this is totally cool (way cooler than adopting a WebKinz according to them BWAHAHAHA).

His name is Ugg and he is apparently quite the character. Seems he tried to kill Ranger Tom by kicking him off a cliff or something...figures he'd be "one of mine", huh? LOL

Here is the adoption certificate and a picture of Megan "spooning" with the adorable little creature.

How freaking fun is this!

5 Years Ago Yesterday

2008-06-30T19:45:00.003-05:00

Our family chain is broken and nothing is the same but as God calls us one by one our chain will link again.

We lost my oldest sister Judy, one of the toughest, bravest, most wonderful women I have ever known on June 29, 2003. Yesterday I decided to have my day of remembrance and to wait until today to post about it. I laughed and giggled and thumbed through photo albums, remembering all the good times, and boy there were a ton of those!

She struggled with illness most of her life, Crohn's Disease, Colitis, Ileitis, all household words to us.
But through it all she had grace, dignity and more bravery than I could ever hope to have.
Judy's biggest gift to us all was her philosophy of "Never Give Up".
I love and miss you dearly Judy, and think of you every day. No tears here, nope, only smiles and giggles for all the fun times that we shared.

That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower. We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.
William Wordsworth

BUGZEE BEGINS (Yahtzee - Lovebug Style) edited for correct entry date thanks Rachel LOL

2008-06-16T18:01:00.003-05:00

So excited that our next big event at Lovebug is starting today. If you haven't already joined in, you have until this Sunday, June 22th to enter the fun.
We have some great prizes and you are guaranteed to have a blast and get lots of pages done ( I believe there was some mention of Glitz *wink*).
Keep in mind that at Lovebug, we never do judged contests or events, all levels of scrappers are welcome and encouraged to come and play along.
If you join now and mention you heard it on my blog, I have a wonderful rak for you.
So come on out and play some "dice" with me at Lovebug, you won't be sorry!

WARNING! Proud Mom Bragging Below

2008-06-11T09:06:00.003-05:00

So my oldest son is an amazing kid, and I'm not just saying that because he is mine.
He had a great week last week.
Thursday was his YBC Bowling Banquet. His team the "Royal Pains" won the League Championship, how awesome is that.(cropped the others from the photo since I didn't get permission from parents to post photos of their kids on the net)
He also won several individual awards: Beat My Coach, Beat My Average, 100 Pins Over Average, Bowler of the Month for September and League Hi Triple with a score fo 564. He should have also received the League High Single with his 252, but our alley owners will only give 1 award like that per bowler, so the boy who got it had a 238. I don't of course agree with this, I firmly believe if a child earns an award they should get it, if they don't earn it, they don't get it..plain and simple...but what can you do, right?
His other major accomplishment is one that he has been aiming for all year.
There is a program available here called the Fine Arts Program, it runs from grades 6 through 8, he will be in 6 next year.
It is an excellerated academic program with a strong focus on the arts as well. They do the same curriculum as all other grade 6 students, but in 2/3 of the time. The entire afternoon of their day is dedicated to art, music, drama and dance.
To be eligible for the program, they must have a minimum B+ average, be recommended by their current teacher and their current principal, and go through an interview process in which they bring a portfolio of their work. Logan had his interview on Friday evening and the principal of the new school was very flattering and impressed with his work and with him. She made several commments on his writing, telling him he has "great voice" in his writing, a great sense of humor etc...(must get that from me **wink**). She told him he was fabulous and would make an excellent addition to the program. He is so happy and proud of himself, as are we.
Paul and I must be doing something right as parents, don't you think? Now...if we could just get them to stop fighting, start listening and lose the attitudes....think that is a losing battle at this point LOL
Have a fantabulous day everyone!

Buggy Lovebugs and Endangered Zebras...Oh My!

2008-06-09T19:08:00.005-05:00

Okay, so a few weeks ago a bunch of the Lovebug gals were going on and on and on and on and on and on...(getting the idea here?) about their new addiction....Webkinz...yep, grown women going gaga over these weird little things. Me of course, being me as only me can...felt a need to point out that Webkinz were a mere communist plot to take over the world, that they were evil and dark, tools of the devil...etc..
Anyhooooooo, it ended up being a whole big thing with me teasing them, them teasing me etc etc...then that sneaky Allan ("Mr Lovebug"...not to be confused with "Mr Universe" atleast not in this dimension) decided to alter my avatar photo with a sad, deranged and disturbing chicken...
and then today......this happened..

Now Allan (hereafter to be referred to as "Zebra") has declared that I even messed up the picture as the weird little chicken (who I refer to as Allan the Dumb Cluck) is supposed to be affixed to the hat with the string which is not visible in the photo...oy vey....... LOL

Sweet Johanna!

2008-06-01T12:47:00.004-05:00

I just have to brag for a moment and show you all the lovely RAK I got last week in the mail. I got it from the uber sweet Johanna Peterson.
I love the Queen & Co felt, such great bright colors and of course who wouldn't love Heidi Swapp XL flowerd shapes? The matchbook is too adorable and the rubon titles are fabulous. Want to know my favorite? It was the sweet note that Johanna included in the package, talk about making a girl feel special.
There is only one thing I don't like about Johanna...she has this addiction to scrapbooking tools and she loves to share them on videos with Leah on ther Vblog so everytime she shows one, you just know that I have to have it LOL
Johanna is on the Around the Block design team and they have of course some of the most coolest tools.
If you haven't checked out Leah and Johanna's videos, click on the link above, you will be quickly hooked I am sure.
Gotta run for now, got some big announcements I have to make over on Lovebug,be sure to come and check them out, FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memories of Mom and How I Want My Kids to See Me

2008-05-29T15:03:00.004-05:00

It has been 16 years today since Mom passed. But I'm not that sad, I choose to remember the fun and wonderful times and not focus on the sadness of this day. It was only one terrible, horrible day compared to a lifetime of wonderful, happy memories.
Cruising the photo albums today and what did I find? This gem. My mother in all her wacky glory...who gets this excited about sticking their head through a toilet seat I ask you? It's gotta be one special woman, right? LOL

Carly and I spent some time today watching old home videos of my Mom (who of course passed away long before little Carly was born) and laughing our butts off.
Was my mother perfect? Of course not, but she was close enough for me. I hope and pray that someday my kids will look back and feel about me the way that I feel about her.
I leave you today with the request that you take a few moments to think of your Mom, or a mother figure in your life, take joy in their presence in your life whether they are still with you or not.
Here is a layout I did a long time ago about my Mom, I might have shared it here before, I can't remember.

I also leave one that I completed yesterday (my apologies for the crappy photo of it, it's the best I could get for now) that talks about just how I want my kids to think of me.
As always, just click on the photo to make it bigger if you care to read the journalling
Have a wonderful day everyone!

It Ain't Right, G'Day Mate, and Silly String

2008-05-27T14:47:00.006-05:00

I have to say it just ain't right that my children are so photogenic and every picture of me is horrific. Check it out, 3 kids with gorgeous blue eyes and angelic looks...check it out a mom with atleast 3 chins and a spare tire around her belly, and no that is not where my boobs normally are...it was the weekend, a girl shouldn't have to wear one of those things on the weekend..

We'll blame it on the fact that I was wearing my old sweats, and old sweatshirt and my niece's jacket. We'll also blame it on the way I am slouched so totally unladylike in that chair.
In reality,I am a very svelte lady, just so you know....... (I also have some prime real estate in the Brooklyn Bridge area if you are interested...)

Anyhooooooooo, This photo is of my niece Megan, nephew Tim, and of course my rugrats, Evan,Carly and Logan. Point of interest...Megan is heading to Australia in days. She is going as a volunteer and will be working at the Wildlife Walkabout Park just outside of Sydney for 2 weeks, and then spending 2 weeks doing those death-defying activities like white water rafting, rock climbing etc that I am way too much of a fraidy kat to do LOL Gonna miss her tons g'day mate!

And look what Megan did on Saturday night to her parents' nice clean house...she attacked...completely unprovoked...with silly string, see how she almost got it all over her brother Tim's plate and his friend Stephanie's plate? How rude LOL. It wasn't me...honest it wasn't... okay so it was my idea, but she didn't argue when I told her to grab the other can and help me LOL

Evan says

2008-05-16T10:30:00.002-05:00

"You are the worst mom ever, and you have ruined my whole life"...sigh....another morning in the Waller household.
What prompted this statement? Well, apparently today is "Twin Day" at school...I know it's a ridiculous idea but the teacher in charge of "spirit days" is a coconut head to say the least..anyway, I digress.
Apparently Evan made arrangements with his buddy Bailey to wear the pants they both have (which ones? how the h*ll should I know???) and didn't tell me. So after a week of reminding him to get his dirty clothes picked up off his floor and put in the hamper to be washed, he finally did it last night. Now it would appear that the aforementioned pants were not washed...thus I am horrible. Oh well, crap happens...that should be his biggest problem today, right?
But...alas...my Evan is always the first(and usually the ONLY) of the kids (or husbands) in this house to admit he is wrong. He walked about 200 feet towards the bus this morning, came running back in the house, gave me a big hug and said "you know I didn't mean it Mom, you're the best....can you rent Zelda for Wii today?")...sighhhhhhhhhhhh Now I could of course think he was only sucking up, but today I am feeding on delusions and have chosen to believe that the whole Zelda thing was just a coincidence...
Well gotta run and put on my rose-colored glasses and head to the video store...Zelda, here I come!

I'll admit it..right here...I'm not afraid to say it...

2008-05-15T14:41:00.002-05:00

I am not perfect, I am not a super mom, but I'm a damned good mom.
I read a lot of blogs and sometimes it just annoys me. Why can't people
admit they aren't perfect? Why do they always paint these rosy pictures
that their lives and families are absolutely ideal? Let's get real folks, everyone has a bad day, everyone has something that isn't going exactly right, don't they?
I'm not a Dr Phil fan, I find him to be condescending and just plain annoying, but I caught a bit of his show late last night on the dish and wanted to reach out and smack both him and his wife. I've always admired his wife, she seems so together and real (isn't that his catch phrase "get real"), well maybe they should
Phil's wife Robin said that never once in the entire lives of their children did she ever raise her voice to them, NOT EVER!!!!!!!!!! Anyone buying that? I sure as heck am not. There is no way in heck they raised 2 boys to adulthood without at least once in their lives yelling...bah humbug......

Boy, I am really on a tangent today, huh?
Moving on, be back later with something more interesting and relevant to say...just needed to get that off my chest....now I think I'll go yell at my children LOL (just kidding, even me with all my faults don't yell at the kids when they don't deserve it **wink**)

Oh and to prove that my kids love me with all my faults, here's a few pages of the "My Mother" book my 6 year old son Evan made for me. Also in the bottom photo is a gorgeous wooden tulip that my 5 year old daughter Carly made for me. SO THERE DR PHIL AND ROBIN

13 years on the 13th

2008-05-13T14:15:00.002-05:00

Today, the 13th of May is my 13th wedding anniversary, do you think that's bad luck? LOL
I think Paul should give me 13 presents just to offset it, don't you agree?
Not much to say today, but I'll share a crappy scan of one of my wedding photos and a few layouts I did awhile ago that seems fitting today somehow.
Have a great day everyone!
There's another layout I wanted to share but can't find it on my computer right now, I'll have to go searching.
Again, to see the pics bigger, you can just click on them

Mother's Day...Gotta Love it

2008-05-09T16:16:00.002-05:00

Well that is 2 hours of my life I will never get back LOL

Trying to upload the video of Carly's concert with no luck, I think it might have worked on you tube, but who the heck knows.

Anyway, hopefully you can see this, she is just too darned adorable in her High School Musical T-shirt, isn't she?

CRAZY busy....

2008-05-05T14:59:00.004-05:00

Starting to figure out the winners of our Lovebug online crop for NSBD, so too busy to type today.

How about some eye candy? Here are the 4 layouts that I completed out of the 26....not such a hot average, is it? LOL but in my defense, I was a tad busy making sure everyone else got lots done

You can click on the image to enlarge them and hopefully make out the journalling if you are so inclined

Have a great day everyone!

Shout Out to my girl Kirsten!!!!! And Happy NSBD!!!

2008-05-02T15:45:00.005-05:00

The internet is an amazing thing!
Through an online scrapping community I met a girl, and this girl is a sister that God forgot to give me(of course not to lessen my love for my real sister...see how I save myself there? *wink*).
She is my soul sister, so much like me it is almost frightening...or atleast it would be if it wasn't so darned awesome
Kirsten, my dear, sweet friend. I miss you to death and can't wait until we find time to get together again. Know that I think of you all the time and you are the BEST baby!!!!!! I was so happy to get your email today, gave me the biggest smile I have had for a long time.

Oh and a reminder tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day. Come and celebrate with me and the rest of the Lovebugs. Our online crop starts tonight at 7 pm CST and will run until midnight with new challenges each hour. Challenge posting will begin again Saturday morning at 9 am CST and run until midnight again. We've got lots of challenges, make and takes, games, surprises, prizes and fun going on. On and an amazing sale in the STORE too! (Did I mention that with the sale you can earn goodie bags AND get guilt-free shopping in June?)**And if this is your first time shopping at Lovebug, be sure to tell Denise in the comments section of your order that I sent you. Nice to let the boss know you are doing a good job, kwim?

Sorry no updates...sad days

2008-04-22T18:23:00.003-05:00

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A dear friend and his family are going through a terrible tragedy that began last week. Too tragic and sad to share here, and really not my story to tell.

In honor of my friend Rob and his family, please hug your loved ones, tell them you love them and count your blessings today, you never know when your life will be forever changed.

Back when I feel a bit more "me".

Blessings to one and all.

My poor kids...I am "you tube" challenged

2008-04-18T14:47:00.003-05:00

So little Carly wanted to enter a singing contest to sing onstage with Suzie McNeil at her concert here on Monday night, she learned all the words (sort of), practiced her little heart out, and guess what? You Tube will NOT upload the video no matter what I try.
My poor kids are being punished because their mother is YouTube challenged...
Oh well, it's probably safest for everyone's ear drums that the video isn't made public anyway LOL Maybe I'll try to upload it here for everyone's "pleasure" later, right now I have to do dishes and make it atleast look like I accomplished something today while the kids were at school and Paul was at work.

Done venting...onwards and upwards.

Hey Aubrey...so nice to see you on my blog, miss you girl! (watch your email, I am going to be sending you a little proposal in the next few days I think *wink*)

And on another note...my niece Megan is home from University in 2 days...YEAH!!!! Miss that girl to death when she is gone.

Okay, so I'm a sucky blogger...deal with it

2008-04-16T18:50:00.004-05:00

So here we are and it is what 2 weeks since my last entry?
See how exciting my life is? It even bores me for crying out loud.
So, still nothing exciting to report, but 2 of my kids want to enter a singing competition so maybe I'll share their "videos" in the next few days for the awe and amusement of all.
In the mean time, here's a bit of eye candy to appease those who are complaining LOL
I "think" you can click on the images to see them a bit bigger and see the journalling.

Finally some sunshine~

2008-03-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

It's a beautiful day here today and of course I am stuck here doing laundry and waiting for it to be time to head to bowling league.
Why did I join bowling league you ask? I haven't a freaking clue, but atleast the girls and I can share a few giggles and get out of the house for a few hours a week I suppose.

Been busy, busy, busy lately. Working on all the details for the LOVEBUG National Scrapbooking Day Online Crop May 3, 2008.

Better get off my duff and the computer and get ready to be laughed at by all the old ladies in our league...so humiliating to be out-bowled by 70 year olds...sighhh....LOL

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-11T17:54:00.005-05:00

GOTCHA! No, I am not pregnant (she says thankfully, I figured out what was causing that and STOPPED) LOL

This your newest edition of "What Evan Says"

I'm sure you have all seen the commercial for home pregnancy tests, right? The one that says "The best piece of technology you'll ever pee on..."

Anyway, Evan too has seen these commercials and has a new annoying habit (okay, granted it was funny the first couple of times, now, not so much).
He heads to the bathroom and avails himself of the facilities (so that is my polite way of saying he pees). When he comes out of the best room, he grins as big as he can and says

"Ahhhhhhhhhh....toilets....the best piece of technology I'll ever pee on!" Bwahahahaha

Bad Blogger...Good Family Connections!

2008-03-10T14:16:00.004-05:00

So once again I have neglected my blog...sighhhh...

Well Logan and his team went to the Provincial bowling championships, they didn't win Gold but they won the Bronze and I couldn't be prouder!

It is March break here this week and I am staring in the face of Hannah Montana overload. We broke down and let the kids get themselves a Wii and there is a HM game that has been on almost nonstop for the last 3 days....oh my......

Not much else to report, I am trying to finish a layout finally.

Oh, I forgot! While in Thunder Bay last weekend, my Aunt Bev gave me a bag full of treasures! Family heritage photos that made my heart skip a beat! I found one of my Grandmother as a baby, taken in 1904. The similarities of it along with other baby photos of the family reached out and grabbed me and I had to do a layout immediately. Here it is, blurry and colors out of whack but the layout is there LOL

ONLINE CROP THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!

2008-02-15T09:44:00.003-06:00

Woohoo! It's time for another LOVEBUG SCRAPBOOKING online crop!
Come and play with us starting tonight Friday, February 15th at 5 pm PST (7 pm CST) and running through until 5 pm PST tomorrow. We are going to have some great challenges, lots of fun and PRIZES, who doesn't love prizes??
The theme of this online crop is "Travel the Lovebug World" and you will be coming to virtually visit all of us on the Lovebug Team in our hometowns, and maybe a few detours along the way too.
Hope to see you all there!

Jewelry from recycled skateboards???????

2008-02-14T11:05:00.006-06:00

Yep, you read that right.
One of my online friends and a friend of hers have set up the most adorable Etsy shop
with the most fabulous and cute jewelry you could ever hope to see.
Check it out HERE, and they are offering free shipping anywhere until tomorrow too!

Congrats JANN, I wish you much success with your endeavor!!

Provincial Championship, Here We Come! And Happy Birthday Rachel!!!!

2008-02-13T20:25:00.010-06:00

My son Logan (11) and his Bantam Boys bowling team won the Northern Ontario Zone Championship this past Sunday. They beat out Kenora, Fort Frances and Atikokan to win the honor or representing the region in the Provincial Championships! WAY TO GO BOYS!!

Thankfully this year, the Provincials are only in Thunder Bay (3 1/2 hours from here) and I will be able to travel up with my sister Terry and her husband Steve since my nephew Tim and his Senior Boys team won too! Woohoo!!!

I would love to show a team picture of the boys, but I don't have permission from the other parents and don't want to plaster their kids all over the internet without it, kwim? LOL

But here is a shot of Logan and his most amazing coach Brenda Hazelwood. They don't come any better than this lady let me tell you. She is such a positive woman, never criticizes the kids, just encourages them and makes sure that they remember that fun is the most important part of the game. Exactly what you want in a coach!

And before I forget, Happy birthday to my dear friend
Rachel. Love ya girl
and I wish I could have been there today to help you celebrate

Ahhhhhhhhh, Peace and Quiet

2008-02-08T09:48:00.000-06:00

I love my kids, I really do, but this week they have been...what's the word I am looking for? Oh yeah.....LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!! Today they are all at school and Paul is at work and it is so blissfully quiet here, too bad I have to go out and search this dumb city for a belt for my vacuum, geesh, what's wrong with people? Is it is hard to carry a vacuum belt in stock? Then I need to pick up the kids from school and take them to the bowling alley, Logan has a practice. If all my stars are alighned correctly, then Paul will remember to come to the bowling alley after work and pick up Evan and Carly so they don't drive me insane.... Anyway, I digress...(again)

A few things to report. Logan has won a spot on the House bowling team for the Bantam Boys. This Sunday, the 10th is the Zone playoffs and if they win this they will move on to the Provincials which thankfully are only in Thunder Bay (3 1/2 hours) this year. I am hoping to be able to go if he makes it, but time will tell. He is so proud of himself, now if he can just relax and not stress himself out, he should do quite well.

The trying to quit smoking is going okay I guess. I am using Chantix which is the first aid that hasn't made me deathly ill. I am on day 8 of the pills and am down to less than 1/2 of what I normally smoke. My official "stop date" is Valentine's Day, I picked it cuz of the whole "heart" thing, kwim? Symbolic, don't you think? LOL

Evan as usual cracked us up last night. The kid has decided he doesn't like cheese. So he is filling out his Valentine's for school (Tom & Jerry ones) and one of them says "I like you more than cheese!". This is the conversation that followed:

Evan :"well duhhhhhhh, I like everyone more than cheese, even my arch nemesis"

Mom: "Arch nemesis? What are you a superhero now?"

Evan: "of course I am, I am FART BOY, I can clear a room faster than a fire alarm!"

Mom: sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So I guess some people are reading this LOL

2008-02-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

In the last week, I have received several emails from people reminding me to update (thanks girls, you know I need a push now and again LOL)

So, I promise that later today (after bowling for Logan) I will try to do a nice little post for you all.

And to make things fun, post a comment for me in this thread and I will do a draw at the end of the week for a big old Kat-style rak!

Back later, everyone, have a fabulous day!!!!!!!

A New Year and still not blogging LOL

2008-01-10T09:26:00.000-06:00

Okay so here it is the 10th of January and this is my first post, how shameful huh?

Not much to report, finally went to see the doctor and am biting the bullet and finally seeing a specialist to deal with these "female problems". Should see him in February and then maybe I will get my life back...YEAH!!!!!!

Also going to try to quit smoking again, the date for this is January 23rd, choosing Logan's birthday so it will be a reminder for me and a day that changed my life once before. Wish me luck!

I'll leave you with this photo from Christmas Eve. Of course I told the kids I wanted a nice shot of the three of them. Logan and Carly amazingly enough complied, but my comedian Evan had to blow it all. He decided that since he wasn't sure that Santa would bring him a Nintendo Wii, that he would appeal to a higher source and chose to pray for one (note...this didn't work either, he didn't get one LOL), naturally he chose to do it on camera for me..that boy...it's a darned good thing he is cute, huh? **take note of yet another injury on the boy too, the scratches on his face the result of a failed landing while sliding at school just before the holidays began...sighhhhhhhhhhh

Have a great day!

A Message from Above - Just What I Needed!!!

2007-12-14T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well yesterday was one of "Those" days. My kids didn't have school, the buses had been cancelled. Good behavior was not on the menu for them. They have been doing more than their fair share of fighting, yelling etc and I was having a "I don't want to be a Mom" today days. I'm sure we've all had them.
On top of that, the local paper mill where my husband is employed did their annual "Christmas Cheer" thing and announced the shutting down of a machine and the loss of 125 jobs. Merry freaking Christmas, huh? Thankfully my husband and brother-in-law are not losing their jobs (yet) so we can breathe a little bit, atleast until they make the next announcement.
Well, once again during a dark time for me, my Mom was my savior.
My Dad had called and wanted me to scan a few family layouts for him to send out so I was digging in the linen closet where all the albums are. Onto my head falls my Grade 12 High School yearbook. So, to avoid being hurt again and because I felt a need to look at it, I opened it up.
Staring me directly in the face on the inside front cover were all the inscriptions from friends and classmates, but one jumped out at me immediately.
I had forgotten that I had Mom sign my yearbook and seeing her handwriting and reading her oh so true words were exactly what I needed yesterday to shake away those blues. If you click on the photo you can see a larger view and read the words that changed the whole course of my day. Love you Mom, even though you have been gone for over 15 years now, you are still there for me everyday!

Oh, and to clarify for some who may be confused...many of my friends call me Kat, and in my younger days "Kitty Kat", so my mom was referred to by me and my friends as "Momma Kitty", how cute is that, huh?

Love those Lovebugs

2007-12-09T15:17:00.000-06:00

Well, what a bad bad blogger I am.

But I have to show you all the lovely 40th birthday gift I received from my fellow team mates at Lovebug.

Each item was so totally me, I was so touched by the effort and time they put into putting these goodies together. Don't look too closely though, the macadamia shortbread cookie box is empty (I ate them all)!

Thanks Team, I love you all!

And here's a closeup. Aren't these awesome? Anyone who knows me, knows my love for coffee and those mints are the funniest thing I have seen in a long time, I see them coming in very handy to me LOL

Happy Birthday Mom, I Love You

2007-11-20T19:25:00.000-06:00

Today would have been Mom's 75th birthday, hard to imagine. This is a photo taken of her about 5 months before she passed away. She hated having her photo taken but Christmas of 1991 she had me take this picture of her "all dolled up" and she gave it to us all in a frame for Christmas that year. A strange coincidence? I don't know, I'm just saying.

Although she has been gone 15 years now, I still feel her here with me almost daily. And how truly blessed I feel that I do. I did a layout about the many times that I have heard her speak to me and felt her with me, I will try to scan it and share it with you all.

Mom passed away of course long before any of my children were born, but you wouldn't know it to talk to them. All 3 of my kids can tell you stories about Grandma Ellen and you would swear they had been there listening to her tell them. I love that. It's one of the things I am proud of, that I have given my kids a sense of who their grandmother was even though they didn't get to meet her (yet).

In the meantime, this morning Carly just cracked me up. She was snuggled up on the couch beside me as always and I told her that it was Grandma Ellen's birthday. So she looked up in the sky and began to sing Happy Birthday to her. It was so funny and so cute. She did it all day though, so by about noon it wasn't quite so funny anymore LOL

Not much else to babble about right now, be back tomorrow (atleast I will try)

Have a great evening everyone, blessings to you.

Sad Day and Happy Memories

2007-11-13T11:30:00.000-06:00

Received the sad news last night that my uncle Jim Carter passed away. I am trying hard to focus on the positive in that he is not suffering anymore, but it's hard to hold onto that.

My Uncle Jim was a real card. He and I had an odd way of communicating, I called him "crotchety, cranky old man" and he called me "cheeky bossy little girl". We teased each other unmercilessly but always in fun and we both knew that we loved each other.

Uncle Jim always made me laugh, and many of my best childhood memories took place at his camp near Thunder Bay at One Island Lake. He and Aunt Bev always made sure a good time was had by all and everyone was welcome.

One of the funniest things was when he had us walk the trails by camp and told us that he had seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves up there earlier. As I walked the path with Megan and Tim (then I think only 3 and 5), he snuck up behind us and starting whistling the "Whistle While You Work" song. Meg and Tim were so excited, they ran all the way back to camp to tell Uncle Jim. Meanwhile poor Uncle Jim had to hustle back to his lawn chair and look non-chalant so they wouldn't catch on. It was so funny and the kids didn't even notice how red in the face and out of breath he was LOL

When I grew up and had my kids, they still loved going to camp or to Uncle Jim's house. They knew that all those cool old toys, ice cream and yummy persians would be brought out. They also knew that Uncle Jim and I would natter at each. Me telling him to quit giving my kids so much junk food, and him telling me not to be so mean to my kids.

He was an amazing man and he will not be forgotten by me.

I love you Uncle Jim, rest in peace you crotchety, cranky old man. ((HUGS))

We can learn alot from Crayons

2007-11-08T08:36:00.000-06:00

I saw this quote on Stacy Julian's blog this morning and I just have to share it here. I don't want to forget this one! How true is this!

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty,some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box."
Robert Fulghum (b. 1937)author, pastor

My nephew Tim...my angel!

2007-11-06T08:41:00.000-06:00

I have to share with you all about my amazing nephew Tim. Tim will be 18 in December and he is just the best kid around. So sweet and thoughtful and I love him to pieces.
Yesterday he came over to bring me some birthday gifts he had brought for me. I am not a cryer by nature, but he bought me to tears, happy tears.
He brought me an adorable charm for my Italian charm bracelet, it is a slice of pizza. Tim works at Pizza Hut and has for a few years, he has worked his way up from busboy to shift supervisor and I am so proud of him.
But he also brought me something else, an angel. Now you who know me, know that I collect angels and am a fanatic for them. This one is even more special, it plays the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" when you open the box. If you have never heard the song, you can see and hear it here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTXRzolPzFo
Now I have always loved this song, but it has special meaning to our family now. When we lost our sister Judy on June 29,2003, she had chosen this song to be played at her memorial and she dedicated it to her oldest son Scott. The fact that Tim bought me this beautiful angel and it plays this beautiful song just touched me beyond words.
I love you Tim, don't ever change, don't ever stop being the sensitive caring man that you are. ((HUGS))
Here is my Tim snuggled up with my daughter Carly at her birthday party and also a not too great shot of this most amazing gift.

Happy Birthday to....

2007-11-05T08:01:00.000-06:00

ME!!!!!!!!!

A few of my "friends" dared me to post on my blog and announce to you all (the 5 or 6 who actually read this LOL) that today is my 40th birthday!

I'm not sure why that fact doesn't bother me, guess it's just a number after all.

Off to take the kids to school and Logan to the eye doctor and I will come back later with some utter nonsense to tell you all I am sure.

Catch ya on the flipside everyone