Sorry no updates...sad days

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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

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

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~

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!!!!!!!!!

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!

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!!!!!!!

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???????

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!!!!

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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.