Christmas memories...

Well, it's the day after Christmas....it's pretty quiet around here now as it's just Ethan and myself here at home. Victoria is with her friend, Camille and Virg has gone up to Toronto with my dad for the hockey game toronto vs Montreal. Ethan is still lounging in his new Christmas eve pjs playing XBox as I sit here playing on the laptop. Christmas although it was a rainy day was sunshine here inside!! We enjoyed a Christmas eve celebration with Virg`s family with lots of good food and church service at 9pm. The kids were very happy to have their cousins there for that night as originally it didn`t look like they`d be down. Victoria was the first one up and woke up her brother and then us around 7:30am. we opened stockings and the rest of my family arrived around 9am. After opening gifts it was time for a big breakfast at the diningroom table...naps in the afternoon and then a huge turkey dinner around 6.

I thought a lot about Amanda and Joe and how different their Christmas would be this year....continuing to keep them in our prayers and hearts. The message I really heard this year was that although God doesn`t promise to put a `bandaid` on all the things that can happen in your life, he does promise to always be there for you and with you. It`s good to know you`re not alone in this world...we can`t control what happens in our life but we can decide how to act and make choices.

With the new year about to begin I`ll soon have to think of my word for the year...things I`m looking forward to in 2010....travels, creativity, learning, faith, friendships, high school for Ethan...change is one of the most definite aspects of life:)

Christmas cheer

The days are now in the single digits (according to our official countdown cheerleader, Victoria LOL) I do believe I have only 2 more things to buy and then I am done...I have begun wrapping and after the next 3 days of busyness I will finish that as well. Our real tree still just has its white lights and silver star topper but eventually I will place the red and green decorations on it. I had some friends over this afternoon for coffee and goodies. It was a nice visit and I gave them their gifts for Christmas which they enjoyed...handmade gifts. I have more handmade things to finish up and am happy to have either found "vintage" treasures or have handmade gifts for most of my family/friends this year.

I really think I'm doing a better job of just enjoying more of what this season is all about rather than stressing about silly things. Look at these sillies!!! I feel blessed to have great friends and family in my life and our health...what more could one possibly need. I am counting my blessings and enjoying the yellow suckers that are the moments that I will enjoy in honour of a little blonde angel named Malik.

A wet and warm day....

We went today to Sloan's to get our real Christmas tree today. It was chilly, wet and muddy!!! The Hagg family joined us and we had a wonderful time!!!!! I say warm because truly the warmth of friendship and the spirit of Christmas was a big part of our day. I enjoy spending time with all the kids and they all get along so well together even the ages range from 5 to 13. We were there for almost 3 1/2 hours before we decided we had better go and pick our trees before they closed for the day:) The kids really enjoyed the haystack maze, broomball hockey, slingshots, zipline....despite the drizzle (I was really hoping for some snow). Because of the poor weather they only charged us for the tree and no extra charge for the activities because they didn't have the kids train running and one other activity that I'm not really sure of..LOL

SO I think both families picked some pretty great looking trees...yes? Maybe next year we'll have snow instead of mud. My washer is getting a workout tonight by the way....

A Little more of Christmas

As soon as Victoria and I had placed the tree skirt around the tree...here comes Jack to pose as the purrfect Christmas kitty! Both he and Sedona love sitting under the trees. We've got decoartions on the tree now and I have my urns done at the front of the house. Our advent countdown canvas I made a couple of years ago is now displayed as well. Looking forward to going to get our real tree on Saturday. Right now it's raining outside...maybe by tomorrow am it may turn to some snow??! Would love to have a white Christmas this year, fingers crossed:)

The last day of November

Although I enjoyed a wonderful Crafting at the Cottage day on Saturday I'm still quite pooped today!! I didn't take one picture but hope some of the other ladies will pass some on to me...

I went out with Kara-leigh today to the mall for a bit before we went to pick up a few groceries. Finished Christmas gifts for my nieces and a gift for my Mom. So tomorrow is December 1st and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape (we'll see how long that feeling lasts LOL) Trying to have as many handmade gifts done as I can manage:) I know I can place a lot on my plate and then get all down on myself if I can't complete everything...must try not to do that this year.

Went over for a quick visit to see Virg's parents. His Dad is doing amazing well considering tomorrow will be a month since his surgery. He was showing us how he can walk without the use of his cane. We only let him do a short distance but you can see how happy he is with his results as well. That's very good news considering one doctor told him he was very close to having to use a wheelchair just 6 months ago!!

Doctors appointments tomorrow for myself and the kids. After much deliberating back and forth decided that the 3 of us would get the H1N1 shot. Especially after having a asthma scare last Friday night at a girl's house who had 2 dogs...not fun!!

I signed up for Theresa M's Christmas ezine...excited to look it over tomorrow. Virg is already asleep on the couch so thinking we should both head upstairs for an early night. Making lists tomorrow to help organize myself...we'll see:)

A picture posted of Miss Lily Christmas morning here last year....can't wait for this year!!

Praying and Preparing....

Feeling a little scatter brained this morning...the weekend was lovely but just flew by! I am happy that UPS was already here and my 9 boxes of stuff for the school fundraiser order have arrived. Now I don't feel tied down waiting for him to arrive.

Praying for Amanda, Joe, Aida, Malik, Kate and little Eli. Poor Malik has been suffering quite badly with head pain and it was time to bring Malik back to the hospital. Hoping he's feeling more peaceful and the Fryers can feel the love being poured out to them.

It will soon be time to start decorating for the Christmas season but did want to share this arrangement I have in the livingroom. I love the colours of autumn and placed the dried yellow roses in there after they had lost their inital luster but love the dried beauties as well. Love the silver bowl I found in Value Village last month. After cleaning it up you could really see the details around the top and on the handles.

Plans are underway for a crafting weekend at the cottage. I've invited some ladies from Scrap Therapy out to the cottage for this coming Saturday. I have gifts that I'm in the process of making and hoping Victoria is in the mood for helping Mommy tonight. The boys are off to a hockey game tonight so it'll just be us at home:) Off to tidy up the kitchen and organize my thoughts with a to do list which always helps!!

some creating...

So it's now getting cooler (ok down right COLD these last 3 days!!) and that always puts me more in the creating mood. Here are 2 layouts I've done over the last few weeks...the 2 friends one was done rather quickly and I didn't think much about it, just did it...and I like the results!!

Lily is over today and is napping rught now. Despite having vacinations this morning she's been in a great mood and even took her to the grocery store with me to pick up a few things this morning. Of course I found a cute hat for her there :) Yes, I took a few pictures but will post them another time.

I must do something with the apples we picked....maybe tomorrow pie making will be on the agenda!!

A change of seasons

Well, looks as if fall IS really here now....although this past September really was the weather we should have had in August!! Ethan finally wore long pants today after realizing that it was a little cold for shorts yesterday but of course I'm just Mom, what do I know?! We had our annual Meet the Teacher BBQ last night, I brought my camera but did not take any pictures :( I was quite busy helping out then sitting down with Virg to quickly eat a hamburger and then run off to meet both teachers. Victoria's teacher is new to the school and seems like a wonderful, motivated and organized teacher. When we were in her classroom we discovered that Victoria had won an award that morning for Character Counts for the Respect pillar...WOW!! Ethan is in grade 8 and he was really off on his own most of the night hangin out with friends (quite a few of whom were girls :) His teacher, Mr St Louis who we were told already was great does indeed seem to be another gifted teacher. We are very blessed with a school who does have some super teachers and a great sense of community.

We`re continuing to keep the Fryer family in our prayers.....Malik is a very special fella who has a brain tumor. Seems like God is calling him home sooner than we thought...love Amanda and her family and pray for them all the time.

Poor deglected blog...

Funny how the summer just fly by although the weather we've been having this week is a lot more hot and humid than the whole summer it seems!! Started watching Lily on thursdays and have had 2 weeks with her. Of course you know I'll be taking a ton of fun photos...here's one from last week..

Looking forward to a night out tonight at wine fest in Amherstburg and thne hockey starts this weekend for Ethan. I'm really thinking about visiting the farmers Market on Saturday...something I've always wanted to do and really want to do some creating as well. I have some new pics developed and itching to do something with them.

Off to pick up Victoria...Ethan rode his bike today with his friends and don't want to have Victoria walking by herself.

Summer laziness...

Well, can't believe that July is already half over!! The weather has been quite nice except today it did get quite muggy in the afternoon and around 4:30 I went over and kicked the air conditioning on again.

Been kind of in a funk the last few days....not much energy to do much. We had the Dragon Boat races on Sunday and even though I was only in the first race, the day being out in the hot made me quite tired and drained the next day.

Victoria has been busy this week visiting and swimming with her friend, Cynthia yesterday and then she spent the day over at Camilles. Ethan (poor fella LOL) has been here at home with me mostly. I picked up a badminton set at Canadian Tire and we've had a few matches between the two of us. Harry Potter's new movie is out tonight and Ethan and Auntie Leigh are having a "movie Date" together!!! Victoria wants to just chill out here in the house tonight and if Virg makes it home after his meeting and before going out to play cards, we may make an ice cream run. I was hoping to post a few pictures, although not recent...I must take more pictures!!!...the battery is being charged at the moment.

I did spend a little time in my room upstairs and completed one layout after seeking inspiration on the Studio Calico website. I did a layout using pictures of Spring from around the cottage. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress made there this weekend and Virg informs me we'll be doing some painting while we're there.

Get to see this little muchkin and her Mommy again tomorrow night for dinner. She's such a dear and am looking forward to my Wednesdays with Lily beginning in September!

It's a beautiful but HOT day in the neighbourhood!

Although I really should be doing some tidying up around the house just wanted to post some pictures before doing the other "fun" stuff LOL Went out this morning to get some needed lawn chairs for the big fireworks show tonight down at the river and some snacks as per Victoria's written request: gummy bears, chips, Fruitopia yes, I will also be bringing some mixed nuts, green grapes water for healthier choices too. Another item on our fireworks night supply list is glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces so got those at Dollarama as well. So of course before going to the grocery store I stopped off to look....and picked up these goodies:

As I'm checking out I see this interesting wood box on the shelf and score!! It's filled with all stamps from I'm assuming an old general store perhaps? It does smell a bit like old tobacco so I have it airing outside but I LOVE it!!!!!!!

I also have to share some pictures from a recent visit with Lily and Tamara last Friday. We sat in the backyard and had lots of smiles and playing of peek a boo from her....just Loving her curls at the back of her head. Ethan had the same thing until his first haircut.

Not sure how to organize my pics to load and display a little nicer...sorry!!

Summer is coming!!

So one day this past week after school the kids are I were talking about summer vacation and some of the things we wanted to do. We decided to make up some lists. Their lists were actually daily chores they wanted to accomplish as we talked about having quiet mornings and then by 10am making sure beds were made and then before heading off with friends and stuff we'd get our daily tasks/chores done first. I was making up the fun list of stuff to do LOL On Studio Calico this morning I received an email with a cute idea of making up a summer list....I used some scraps from my pile and made this piece up for us. Thinking I'll use it on a page with photos from our summer in a mini in September!!

Virg is out making a floating dock for us to bring out to the cottage tomorrow. He just called and is very excited! His friend, Colin made up the design and they're at his place working on it. It's 8 x 10 and says "it's like a floating party platform!" Can't wait to see it :)

June is flying by!!!!

Last Friday I cut some peonies from the front bed and placed 3 sets around the house. Gorgeous blooms and so many due to the rain we've had the last few weeks. On Tuesday I brought a friend out to the cottage to show her the "before" of the kitchen as we wait for the real work to begin (hoping this means tomorrow!!) After that we went to L&K Antique place and I picked up a few things :) including these cute pastel name place holders. I put them around the vase on the diningroom table and like the look.

As Virg and I looked over the calendar for the month we seem to have a lot of weekends booked but that's fine....just looking forward to summer...relaxing by the lake, late evenings, no more school lunches to make, having my kids around, nothing on the agenda days....

Look what happens in a year.......

Look at these two cuties!! Look at how they've grown...these pics are almost exactly one year apart (minus a week or two).

Ways in which they've changed...

Victoria..she's gained confidence and ability in gymnastics, grown a size in clothing and a size larger in shoes, lost 4 teeth, enjoyed trips to Portugal and Southern States, stopped her habit of biting her finger nails (for the most part!)

Lily..she's learned how to say Mama and Dadee, walks like a pro, laughs, almost has her first tooth, started day care, made new friends, uses her finger nails to "tickle"

Ways/things that haven't changed...

Victoria..very excited to have a baby cousin, still has her hair in a shorter style, still enjoys plane rides but is not patient on car rides, still flips her hair behind her ears

Lily..is loved greatly by her family, still amazes me with her beauty, dresses superbly, changes each time I see her

One thing for sure that hasn't changed and I don't think ever will....these two are crazy about each other!!! Cherish your special cousin bond....love you girls!!

Signs of Spring..May

Although it's a bit cooler so happy the sun is out! Later this week we are expecting rain so thought I would head out to the yard and take some pics of the early signs of spring that are appearing around here at home.

After returning from what I think was one of best family vacations last weekend, we went for a day out to the cottage Sunday. Gorgeous warm weather had us outside for the majority of time. I got some weeding done and finally pulled out the rest of 2 ugly bushes that I had cut right back last summer. Virg and I started packing up some things from the cottage and demo of the kitchen should begin next Saturday...yeah!!!

Saturday I had an awesome day with Keri and a group of wonderful scrapping ladies out in Harrow. I finished up a small mini with pics from Slide Rock park and did 3 12 x 12 layouts as well. I so enjoyed being with the creative "energy" of everyone and met some new scrap friends as well. Tammy and Michele had some delicious sandwiches and a ton of great prizes as well.

My blessings are many....

We're here!!!

We've been enjoying our time here in Sedona and have been blessed with gorgeous weather!! Today we enjoyed some gorgeous views on a pink jeep tour we took this afternoon. At the top of Snibley Hill (sp?) we had a great BBQ dinner before heading back to the hotel. Although it's only shortly after 9pm here we are all just about ready for lights out. Being outside for most of the day really wears you out and we have another full day of fun planned for tomorrow...here's some pictures for you to enjoy :) These two pictures are from our visit to SLide Rock yesterday. I can't believe that both Ethan and Virg made their cold ride down Slide Rock!!!

Easter Weekend

Taking the time here and now to record our Easter celebrations. The weekend was full of food and family times. We went to Good Friday service at "our" church and enjoyed listening to the stations of the cross service and seeing some families from school. The afternoon we spent some time cleaning around the house and Ethan had some friends stop by for some road hockey, Virg was happy to join in for a bit when they were short a man :)

Saturday we had my family over including little Lily who was celebrating her first Easter and therefore we had to have an egg hunt. Victoria organized them with letter stickers on each egg to spell out "Lily is a cute girl" Next year we hope to have some surprises inside for her instead!!

I found a cute Paris themed shirt and some cute red and white polka dot pants and I found her one of those cute fluffy yellow chicks that peep when you hold them on your hand!! It was a really nice time together and enjoyed the food:pork roast, scalloped potatoes, broccoli asian salad, hot cross buns, asparagus and an almond cookie torte for dessert. Mum brought a purple basket of chocolate goodies which i have in the living room hoping to keep them away from me!!!

Easter Sunday service was wonderful!! Father Nelson is a great speaker and he always says something that speaks to me. Although it was a tad chilly, the sun was out and made for a beautiful day. Victoria and Ethan looked for eggs in the backyard, using Victoria's dress as a basket! They enjoyed their visit with their cousins and we celebrated with an ice cream cake after dinner for dessert to celebrate 3 birthdays: Ethan, Samantha and Virg's mom.

It really was an enjoyable weekend just visiting with everyone and enjoying good food and wine. I have to admit I was real tired by 10:30 last night and was happy that we have a day off school today!

Junk treasures!!

After picking up a few groceries I went across the road to the Value Village and found some treasures......my most favouritest one...an Eiffel tower!!! I was nearly jumping up and down when I found it. I must have had the biggest grin on my face. Found some wire racks to use in my studio to hold some 12 x 12 papers, milk glass vase, old croquet balls (can see these in a bowl at the cottage!), gorgeous green brooch and an awesome lunch pail. Giddy with excitement..sad isn't it :)

Take a peek...

SC challenge...comfort colours

There's a scrapbooking kit club that I've belonged to for almost a year. It's been a real blessing since our the LSS store that I worked at closed in January (very sad, missing it SO much!!) Studio Calico is wonderful for inspiration and challenges and sharing. The most recent blog post was a challenge to discover your comfort colours...your go to colours, the ones you tend to gravitate towards. I love colour and combinations. I loved helping customers put together "kits" for their projects, it's one of the things I most enjoy when first beginning a project.

So, I've included photos of things that I've found that inspire me...as well as pictures of a recent mini album I completed.

I discovered that it seems the earth tones are "safe" and comforting. Sunny, buttery yellows...deep red, browns and accents of black. From art from a fav artist, James Tissot to the colours we have in our home...I found a link, a connection.

Adding published beside my name!!

Well....it's official I have my first published "article" and a layout on scrapbooking .com....and I'm quite excited!!! My Mom has emailed some of her friends and Keri was sweet and called me this afternoon. I had coffee with some friends this afternoon and they were very sweet when I told them as well. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful and supportive friends.

Tomorrow is the day Ethan has anxiously been waiting for since his birthday last Thursday. We will be bringing him and 6 of his friends out to the cottage for a sleepover. So hoping the weather co-operates so we can do some things outside. Look for pictures next week!!

Tomorrow morning I have Lily and Tamara coming over for a visit. Tamara returns to work next week and Lily has been going for small visits at the daycare a few times this week. It will be a time of change and adjustment for everyone. I remember those times for me...daycare really was a great experience for my kids. I think especially for Ethan as he was a quiet kid and it helped when he enterred kindergarten. It seems like that was SO many years ago now :)

One year old today!!!

What a beautiful day to celebrate the birthday of our precious LILY!! We enjoyed a wonderful celebration on Saturday with family at Lily's house in Amherstburg. So happy we didn't have a rainy day as they predicted but some sun and nice times with everyone there. Here's a few photos to share of a sweet girl who's loved to bits....happy Birthday Lily Noelle XOXOXOX

Mother of a teenager

Well, my son is now officially a teenager....he was excited by the idea, me not so much...it seems like time just goes by way too quickly when it comes to kids. I'm so proud of the young man he is turning into, the choices he makes, his friends, how he treats others...oh sure the occasional teenage scowl has been seen, the rolling of the eyes but that's ok. I've always felt blessed that he was chosen to be a part of this family, we are definitely the lucky ones. Some pictures of his family celebration here last night. A friends get together is planned for next weekend at the cottage with 6 of his friends.

Tomorrow looking forward to celebrate this little one's 1 year birthday!! She was a sweetie last night.....full of smiles and love.