It's been a typically busy week!

I have so much to catch up on here. But Grey's Anatomy is on right now and I'm having a very hard time concentrating on my blog! I'll update tomorrow (I hope)!

Thomas has been home this week. He's on holidays. Apparently after years of working at Toyota you get a gazilion weeks holidays a year. Me....not so lucky! So I am stuck at work while hubby is at home relaxing (or not).

Yesterday I came home to a festive looking home! Thomas or should I call him "Clarke" (National Lampoons Christmas Vacation), lit up the neighbourhood with a beautifully (but bright) decorated house! Even my neighbour made comment that she was going to have to try to out do Thom's decorations. lol! His efforts are very appreciated! The kids were thrilled when we pulled up to the house and saw how pretty it looks!

Today he cleaned the house and got everything on the homefront done so tonight I did some scrapping and relaxed! I even enjoyed a glass of wine while scrapping!

I was also SO excited tonight to see that the classifieds website I made has more ads on it! People are using it and that makes me feel very pleased!! Thanks for posting your crafts for sale! I hope they sell!!

Well...Fringe is on shortly so I'm signing off for the evening to watch that and perhaps have another glass of wine with my hubby!

Did some layouts

...And I'm not overly satisifed with them. I guess I'm a little rusty since I haven't scrapped in a few months.

I did this one for the BASB challenge. I think I ripped this one apart at least a half a dozen times. It wasn't and still isn't working for me at all. I've come to the conclusion that I can't get it right on this one. I'm blaming it on the paper because I'm not used to working with prints like that. I usually use bright and funky prints.

And on to the next...it's a WIP and can you say simple?! lol! I only worked on it for 20 minutes so far. I need to get back on those message boards and get some ideas to finish this one up! If you have any suggestions please feel free to share.

So I have got some scrapping done! It always takes a few layouts for me to get back in the swing of things. So I will keep on plugging away at those pics I got and see how I evolve!

I think I also need some suggestions on good scrapbooking sites. I used to be very active on them when I owned my store but it's been a few years and I don't frequent them so much anymore. If you have any suggestions on great sites (and online stores) please, please, please feel free to post it for me so I can check it out!

The weekend!

Still not feeling very good. I can barely swallow my throat hurts so damn much!

Thomas and I have a quiet weekend ahead. The kids are gone to their "other" parents this weekend so we are going to go through Christmas decorations and take it easy.

I still have some scrapping I want to do later today. I want to do that challenge at BASB and get some of my new pics scrapped! I also thought I would start my Christmas cards.

I'll share whatever I come up with later! Have a good weekend everyone!

Blech!

Just in time for the weekend I am coming down with whatever my kiddies had!! Blech! I took some Neo Citron this evening and I hope this dry, scratchy feeling in my throat goes away!

I have some scrapping to do this weekend!

A few more layouts I had on my computer

I got a sneak peek!

A few weeks ago my family and I had our first official family pictures done together since Thomas and I married and we became an official family.

A co-worker of mine has a very talented daughter (Lauren) that takes the most incredible photographs and tonight I got a sneak peek at the pics that she took of us!! She is coming by my work tomorrow to drop them off and I cannot wait to see the rest!

She was so nice and it was such a casual fun photo shoot! The kids thought she was great and she actually got my daughter to smile "showing teeth" which is HUGE for Hayley!

If you live in the Kitchener/Waterloo Area I HIGHLY recommend you look her up for those family Christmas photos!!!

You can find Lauren at With Love Photography and here is a sneak peak of some of the pics I got to see tonight!

Going Digital

I was sitting around with some friends last night and I told them about my new site. The topic lead to scrapbooking. Somehow with owning a scrap-storefront in the past I get labelled as the "scrapbooking guru" (hardly) amongst friends.

One of my friends asked me about digital scrapbooking. I don't know alot about it. I prefer to get my hands dirty with glue and ink and do scrapbooking the traditional way. But I know there are definitely some advantages to digi-scrapbooking. Just think of all the money I would save!

It peaked my curiousity and I felt the need to research more into it to see if I could send her some information.I ran across this site:

It looks like a great deal and very simple to use. They have a free trial which includes credits towards purchasing some of their digital elements.I may have to try it myself now! I'll update you on this!

I'm going to have the "time of my life"

I'm soooo super excited for this evening. Thomas had bought me Dirty Dancing tickets in March for my bday and the day has finally arrived! Tonight we are off to the big city of Toronto to have the time of our lives at the Royal Alexandria Theatre! I've never been to this theatre so I'm looking forward to that in itself and a trip to Toronto is always fun!

Last weekend was the May long weekend and we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. We had promised them we would take them there when we had decided to run off to Vegas and get married without them but with Hay's broken elbow and my stomach issues we just finally got to fulfill our promise. It was an absolute blast but for the money we paid to stay there...I have to admit...I was a bit disappointed. The hotel in itself was spectacular but I guess I just imagined more for $500/night. Next time we won't go on a long weekend...I'm sure it would feel more worth the money when we aren't going during a "prime" paying time.

I have some pics of Great Wolf. I can't get my camera to download though! Not sure why but I may try using the printer to upload my memory card to see what happens. I'll hopefully get those posted in the next hour or two!

Hayley is off to her last cheerleading show off this afternoon. She has tryouts again next week. I hope she does well. She was right back on top at last practice so I can't wait to see her perform!

Ethan had his second soccer game this week and they lost for the second time. But wednesday was their first practice. The coach seems to have it together so I'm hoping that since they have practiced together...they will do better this monday! Ethan played net. He sooo wants to be a goalie! Once I figure that damn camera out I will post that pic as well!

Bailey had his first away game in Lacrosse. Unfortunately they lost! Thomas said they weren't playing as a team. This week they are off to Owen Sound for a game so hopefully they will win to regain their confidence!! Thomas is LOVING coaching them! He came home with a scratchy voice from yelling from the benchso much! lol!

Off to see what the kids are up to! And try the memory card thing!! Bye for now!

I'm feeling better...

...so it's time for an update.

We did the Murder Mystery dinner at some friends. What an absolute blast that was!!! Dinner was amazing. Dave and Carla were the ultimate hosts. It turns out I was the murderer...which was not a good thing because I'm a terrible liar! Once I found out it was me it was very hard not to let on that I was. I was being interogated and I knew that my face was turning beat red. Oh well...it was fun and only 4 out of 7 other guests guessed it was me! haha!
We all dressed the parts...here are a couple pics to share:


Then it was time for my surgery. I was a bit concerned when I awoke in recovery because the surgery took over an hour longer than they had said it would. I felt horrible and really wasn't expecting that at all!! It felt like someone had taken an egg beater to my insides and with the mix of that and the pain killers rotting my gut I had a very rough week recovering. But a week and a half later I was finally able to put on my normal jeans again and the swelling had gone down. Through this all I lost 5lbs which prob wasn't a bad thing considering I gained that through the winter.

This week I am feeling so much better. I've been moving around and doing things about 98% better than I was a couple weeks ago!! I am so glad I can get on now with no worries, less discomfort and enjoy this weather we are getting!!!

The kids are doing well. Bailey celebrated his birthday and got spoiled rotten. He was happy. He also seems to now have adjusted to dad getting married and things with him have gotten alot easier. He's enjoying his time here with us more now than he had been in recent months. Everything seems back to normal.

Hayley competed in the Nationals for cheerleading the weekend of my surgery. I was unable to attend but her bff's mom took her and she came home with a medal for 11th in Canada. That's pretty impressive and I'm so proud of her for getting right back on the horse and doing her best after her recent broken elbow.

Ethan has just started playing soccer. His first game was monday and unfortunately they lost but he's found a passion for the game and is really enjoying it. FINALLY something he wants to participate in as hockey proved to not be his forte. He is finding every opportunity to kick a ball around and practice and I really have a feeling he is going to love this sport!

As for me. I'm getting busier at work. It was getting a little stale and I was feeling the need for more challenges so I took it upon myself to strive for more and take on a little more. It's starting to feel more rewarding when I come home from work every day. I guess I just needed to boot myself in the arse to get my mojo.

Back to scrapping this week. I completed 2 layouts which I will share with you on my next post as I am ready for bed and it's getting late. I plan on completing more layouts this weekend including the layout for Tara for the swap at CMR. I'll have to do them on saturday because sunday we are heading to Great Wolf Lodge for some fun with the kids on the long weekend!

I'll update about that as well in my next post!

Bye for now

Some Recent Layouts

Here's one of Ethan at Fisherman's Cove last year. I fed off the colours of the life jacket.

This one was a pic of Ethan taken for his SK Wall. I love how handsome he looks!

All 3 kids at Ontario Place last summer. The ride was small and prob too young for them but they had fun!

And beautiful Hayley. Too cool for words!

I really like the bold colours in this one. Went off the colours of Ethan's shirt. Love this PP! And that is our puppy Lucky!

Total scraplift from one in mag. The design at least. This is a step-dad/dad layout of Thomas and the kids. I used the bw of Bay & Thomas to make it stand out from the others. Yellow bg for fun!

Anyways...that's a few of them I've done recently. I'm enjoying getting back into the scrapbooking thing!

I never realized how much I missed it!

In other news...

Bay's bday is next week on the 2nd. Same day as my surgery unfortunately but that's ok we'll still celebrate!!

Hay got a molar pulled. She was brave! Yikes...even I turned green watching!!

Ethan also lost a tooth! Tooth fairy was Busy!

Thomas is busy busy coaching Lacrosse and 4 on 4 hockey now! It's the first time he's ever had the opportunity to coach because of his job and shifts. So he's taken advantage of it!

Thomas and I are off to a murder mystery party this weekend. That should be fun! Thomas is a South African diamond miner and I'm a nanny/amish type woman. That should be fun to dress up for! lmao! We'll have to get pics of that!
Anyways...off to the library with the kids! Bye for now!

What a month!

So the trip to Vegas was incredible but March proved to be a trying month!

It started off with Ethan bonking his head pretty good! I got a call from the school that he had slipped on some ice! With that it was rush to Urgent Care to find out everything was ok inside but he would have a big bump and headache! Then a week later it was the call from Thomas while I was away on business that Hayley had broke her elbow and that Ethan was sick with a fever! I told my boss I never wanted to go away again!!! They recoupped but then a week went by and I ended up collapsed on the hallway with awful pains in my abdomen! This was another rush to Urgent Care that refused to admit me because I hadn't received my health card with my new name!! Putting me into tears literally Thomas rushed me to emerg where they immediately took me in , started an IV and gave me morphine! What a drug that is!! I was sent for CT Scans that showed a moderate to high levels of free fluid in my abdomen and the possibility of surgery was suggested. The surgeon saw me next. He had looked at my CT and from there (and some uncomfortable internal exams) decided that it was my appendix which was first diagnosed. But having this blood/puss in my abs wasn't normal so they sent me on for some ultrasounds...more awful internals exams and then the result...a hemmorphoragic cyst that had ruptured was their conclusion. This kept me off work for the week and then the next week I decided to brave it and start back to work 1/2 days. I lasted ok but the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach was still unbearable by the end of the day. Now it's three weeks later. I have since seen the specialist and he has booked me in for May 2nd to do a laproscopic surgery. They will cut into my belly button and go in with a scope to see why this pain and swelling is still present. I don't think the specialist is convinced it's a cyst so we shall see.

The good thing about it all is I've had some time to scrap again and I'm finally getting to the two plus years of photos that have sat on my harddrive!!!

I'll share some of those with you later!! I have to get in the shower right now!

Look at what happens in a year!!

Isn't it crazy to come here a year later and see the posts about making decisions to be where I am today.

And where is that exactly?

Well I'm not so new at my job anymore! This year has been wonderful for me learning and recreating myself in a job that I felt I knew nothing about when I started. But the job has gone well and I'm not learning so much now but more "improving upon" what I've learned thus far. It's a great job with so many opportunities.

As for Thomas and I well.....

YES!! We got married February 18, 2008! We wanted something simple so we opted for a trip to Vegas! It was a great time AND we got married so it was by far the best trip imaginable! And no! We did not get married in some cheesy Elvis chapel! We opted for a more intimate ceremony that was just perfect!

This was also the motivation I needed to get myself scrapbooking again! I've started our wedding album and now I am instantly hooked again!

As for the kids. They have all adjusted to this new life! They are so good and well behaved! After the stir up of their lives a few years back they have come out of it like troopers!

Hayley is now 9 going on 15. But she is such a good little girl with such a big heart. We don't ever have issues with her.

She's now taken up cheerleading and LOVING it to death! BUT this week at practice she fell off the top and broke her elbow! Mommy is trying to keep her spirits high so she doesn't get discouraged from trying again when she's all better. Here's a pic of her from her last competition:

Now admit it! Isn't she the prettiest little girl in the world????

As for Ethan...he's 6 now and full of energy! He keeps me running that is for sure.

This past winter he took up hockey.

It wasn't exactly his favourite thing to do though. So this summer we are going to try out soccer to see how he likes that instead. We think most of the reason he wanted to play hockey was because of Bailey. Looking up to the older "step" brother. But he's only 6 so we expect it will take a while before he really knows what sport he wants to play.

Speaking of Bailey!

He's doing well. Hockey is still a passion in his life and he's doing very well at it! This summer he has decided to try Lacrosse as well. I'm a little worried about that! It's a rough sport and he's not the biggest guy on the team BUT Thomas will be coaching so I will be there cheering them both on!

That's about all I have right now. I'll try to get on here more often to update the events in my life!