Dental therapy...

I went to the dentist today for an overdue check up. I never used to be nervous about going...in fact, there was a time when I wanted to be a dentist myself. I even had extensive jaw surgery at the age of sixteen. That all changed when a dentist yelled at me once after causing me a great deal of pain at an appointment. Ever since that appointment, I have needed to push myself to keep my appointments and pretty much white knuckle it every time I go. Even for the cleanings! In all fairness, the dentists and hygenists I have had since switching dental offices have been wonderfully kind and friendly. That doesn't really seem to help.

Fast forward to today. My first appointment with a new dentist. I have some outstanding work that needs to be done from my previous dentist (see above and my fear of dentists). The very nice, young dentist and I talk about what needs to be done. I say okay. She then goes on to ask me how I feel at my appointments. I said I was very nervous and that I don't like them. She nodded like she understood...and...I get to use gas at my next appointment! I'm so excited that I might actually be relaxed!! I hope it works....I will keep you updated. My next appointment is next week. If I write something silly next week, you will understand why! ;)

I ordered some new glasses yesterday as well. They should be ready in about a week. Looking forward to a new look. Since we found out that Paul's work contract is not going to be renewed, we have been trying to use all the benefits we can before it runs out at the end of October.

Paul has applied to a bunch of positions but no word yet. I'm starting to get nervous. I'm happy that I work full time and we should be okay for a bit. Worse comes to worse I can pick up some overtime shifts at the hospital. One advantage of being a nurse! Yay me! <-- Did that sound slightly enthusiastic?

In my continued effort to lose weight I'm down another 0.4lbs this week. I was sick all last week and didn't exercise much so it was pretty much what I expected would happen. I'm telling myself that I'm happy whenever the scale moves in a downward direction. I had a good loss last week and hopefully a good one in the week to come.

With that thought I'm off to get myself a peach from the fridge! Maybe then I can get my scrap room/office organized once and for all! I'm almost there....

Time for a new layout...

I commited to participating in the "Lift the Pea Above you" thread over at Two Peas. I have never participated in one of these and it was fun! I really enjoy challenges like this. It's fun to see other people's takes on one design.

Here is my layout lifted from the super talented Judith Mara's "Motherhood" layout over at Two Peas.



I have previously scrapped this photo with the same title at an earlier date and it was published in Layout Blueprints 2. The only problem is that I don't have my layout or my copy of the publication despite numerous phone calls and emails. I have given up hope that they will be returning to me so I decided to scrap this photo again since I loved the photo so much. I apologize for the poor photo quality but my camera battery died after only three photos and clearly they were not of the best quality. If I get around to taking a better photo I will post a replacement shot. Don't hold your breath though! :)

I used Basic Grey rub ons for the flowers on white cardstock and coloured them in with my watercolour pencils. I really like how they turned out. The butterflies are rub ons as well. I cut them out and tried to make them appear like real butterflies.

Lazy Weekends...

Love them. Although I did have to work a bit so far. My sister and I had three tables at a mom to mom sale this weekend. SO not worth the work! We have SO many clothes from our kids and we tried to sell some of them. We managed to make $280 total. I'm done with trying to sell my used clothes when there are so many in need. Lucky for us, Sarah knew a couple of people who just had babies and the remainder of the clothes (6 huge rubbermaid totes) were dropped off at each of their houses! I'm so happy to be done with them all. I'm sure Sarah is as well since they were stored at her house all of this time.


Not much else planned for this weekend. Maybe some scrapping - I have a couple of layouts I need to get done. I think a short visit to Grandma and Grandpa's is in order tomorrow afternoon.


The new Scrapbook and Cards Fall issue has been released. You can download the whole issue for free by following the link. I was honoured to be asked to try for the cover layout. Mine didn't get picked for the cover but it was shown on one of the inside pages. I used the new Gel-a-tins stamp set called "Sheltering Tree" for the cute little tree by the title (It's the same set I used for my blog header). This is my favourite new stamp set from Wendy's releases. I would also like to point out that the wall behind the layout is not bright orange in real life! I'm not sure why it is SO vibrant!

Hitting the books!

I did it! I got into the program I applied for at George Brown College in Toronto. It's a one year full time post-graduate certificate program in Health Informatics. I will be going to school one weeknight as well as Friday and Saturday. The program runs for 3 terms and is supposed to be quite intensive. I looked at the book list for one of the term 3 classes and it had 5 required text books! Yikes! I will still be able to work almost full time while attending classes.

I'm hoping that this program will combine my nursing with my other current interest and part time studies in Web Design. I'm also hoping that completing this program will enable me to land a regular M-F 9-5 job. I'm missing being with the kids in the evenings and before school. I hate that I miss out on weekend functions because of my shifts. Mostly I miss not making the special holiday events like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween because of work.

It was a big decision to go back to school...and I'm sure it's going to be stressful for all of us. I feel in my heart that it's the right decision though. So...wish me luck! I think I'm going to need it!

Some Summer pics

So I thought I would share some of the photos from our trips this summer. In the middle of July, we went to Rochester for an overnight trip. The first day was spent at the Strong Museum of Play. The kids loved it! I would highly recommend this outing for young kids. Here are a couple of photos of the kids having a blast at the Play museum. Grace delivering the mail at the Clifford exhibit. I swear she could have stayed there all day playing the mail game!

Here are Simon and Grace in one of the funny mirrors. They love these things!

Simon tracing a picture on one of the light boxes.

Simon trying to prove how strong he is and pure of spirit. :)

We spent the night in the hotel and the next day we were off to the Seabreeze Amusement Park. It is the fourth oldest amusement park in the United States. Great little park. For those of you that remember Crystal Beach, it was much like that. The rain held out all day for us and there were hardly any line ups for rides! They also have a water park with water slides, I don't have any pictures of that because I was enjoying them too! :) Paul fell out of his tube on the lazy river though...which had me in tears for weeks! I wish I had a photo of that.

This is the oldest part of the park - the carousel. I loved the architecture of it all and had to get a photo. They had a pipe organ that played the music. Fascinating to me...the kids couldn't care one bit. They just wanted to ride it!

This last picture was at the end of the day. Grace was on the roller coaster and Simon was tuckered out. He wanted me to take a photo of him with this straw in his mouth. You can tell how tired he is.

The following week we were on to Manitoulin island to spend a few days with Paul's Aunt Vi and Uncle Collin. We all had a great time and it was so nice to get away and spend long days on the beach!

Here are Grace and Simon on the Chi-Cheemaun Fairy on the way over to the island.

Grace and Simon having fun on the beach and in the waves - they loved riding the waves...once they got the hang of it!

Random shots around Manitoulin with Paul and the kids:

Manitoulin has a couple of wind turbines on it and you can drive right up to the base of them and read about wind energy. I had read that one of the criticisms of wind turbines is that there is a lot of noise emitted from them. Other than a slight sound of the turning blades they were pretty much silent. It was actually quite calming and I love the gentle look of them as they turn.

From Manitoulin it was on to Sudbury for a visit to Science North. We wanted to take the kids there because it has special meaning to the Backler family. Paul's Grandfather was one of the architects for Science North. How cool is that? Love this photo I was able to get of the architecture inside the building. The bones are from a whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.

And finally, what's a visit to Sudbury without a visit to the giant Nickel? It was two seconds away from a complete downpour so I managed to snap this shot before the rain came pouring down. Love the look on Simon's face as he tries to hold up the Nickel. I would have liked to get a better composed shot but there wasn't enough time.

What a great summer! I had a ton of fun and I think the kids did too!

Let's try this again...

So I thought I would give it one more try...this blogging thing. I enjoy reading all of my friends blogs and keeping up to date with their lives, so I thought, "what the hey!" maybe they want to know about my life! I even updated my blog header as well! Thanks to Jen for the size instructions and inspiration! I used Gel-a-tins Stamps for the header. These are one of my favourite sets! I mixed the ink on the stamp to make it appear like leaves changing.

My life. Lately....stress is the word that describes it. Thanks to my family and friends though we will get through it all. I feel better knowing what we are dealing with and having some tools to help us on this journey. Sure there have been days with tears and filled with worry, but there are many great days in between as well.

We had a great summer this year. Outings included a trip to Manitoulin Island/Sudbury, Rochester to visit the Strong Museum and Seabreeze Amusement park and a trip to the African Lion Safari. The kids had a great time. They spent two weeks at Reptile Camp...what was I thinking comes to mind. Now they are always asking for a pet snake or lizard! Do you know what you have to feed those things?? Grace came home one day from camp to inform me that they tried to feed a baby pig to one of the giant snakes at camp named "Popcorn"! ::insert startled eyes here:: I guess I should have asked if cute baby animals would be fed to the reptiles in front of the kids before camp started. The thought didn't even cross my mind! They absolutely loved it all though and are already asking to go again next year.

Grace started gymnastics again. This year she is in Competitive Workshop so it will be more of a challenge for her. I like the discipline provided to her at gymnastics. We tried to sign Simon up for Karate...he said he wanted to go...but after the first free class he said, "it was too much work"! This from the kid who jumps up and down the whole time (and I mean the whole time) he plays video games!

I will sign off with a few new creations I made for The Scrapping Nook.

This last one is for a new colour challenge I'm hosting over at the Scrapping Nook. I have seen these challenges on other sites in the past and loved the idea. Here is the first layout I made with colour challenge #1. Click here to go to the challenge thread at the Nook! There is always something great posted there and Patti and Elia are just the greatest!

Some New Projects...

I had a great time playing with my December kit from The Scrapping Nook! I loved working with the Foofala Indian Summer line when it is getting so cold outside. I also broke out the UTEE for the first time in a long time...I'm addicted again!




I had this photo of Simon blowing out the candle on his cake on his fourth birthday. I thought it would be a great twist to journal about what I wish for his future instead of what he may have wished for (probably chocolate treats) when he blew out his candle.

To make the chipboard owl, I inked the edges of the Maya Road Owl with brown ink an drew in a beak with my journaling pen. I then heat embossed three times with UTEE. This gave it a neat pottery kind of feel. For the eyes I added two little orange buttons.



I also made this little mini book using the lyrics from the song "We are Family". This project is going to be our next free download on ScrapAbility and I hope many of you will visit and download it. I then hope that you post your creations because I want to see them! You can look for this class to be posted hopefully by the end of the week! Also, while you are there, would you mind answering a couple of polls we have posted at the moment under "ScrapAbility News"? We are getting ready to launch some new classes for January and would love to know the direction you would hope to see ScrapAbility go in the future. We want to offer the classes you are looking for (obviously) and are willing to find the most amazing teachers to teach them! Thanks so much for checking it out!

PS. Two posts in one day...this has to be a record!

I did it!

I was afraid to try. I managed to make a very primitive blog banner. I will work on it and make a better one soon! Need to get some digi elements I think!

Quick post...Grace and Simon and my attempt at a holiday photo. I will post again soon!

Where does the time go?

I just can't seem to keep this blog up to date! You would think that I have tons to talk about but I don't. Life just seems to take hold and before you know it, it's December.

I'm working on my layouts with my Novemeber kit from The Scrapping Nook! I love the paper we were given this month. I would love to post a peek but I haven't taken a photo of the one layout I have completed thus far.

November brought some changes on the scrapping front for me. After one glorious year designing for an amazing company, they decided that they were not going forward into 2008 with a design team. I was extremely sad that I wouldn't be a part of the team anymore but Cosmo Cricket and the people behind it are wonderful. I was so honoured to be a part of the team and will value the friendships I have made as a result of being on such a close knit team. Thanks Cosmo!

Wendy at Gel-a-tins brought out some amazing new Holiday stamps and I'm still in the process of making my Christmas cards as we sit here today (insert embarassed face here). Both sets of stamps are a build-your-own set and very versatile! I love the Holiday postage one. So vintage looking! I hear that Wendy has some awesome stuff up her sleeve for CHA winter as well! Can't wait for those designs. Creativity will be oozing I'm sure!

I took my first exam for the Web Design certificate I'm enrolled in at the local college here. I'm loving the program so far. I'm learning all kinds of things I didn't know before. Before I know it I will be a web design goddess! :) It was so weird walking through the halls of the college on the night of my exam. At 35, I feel young but man did I feel old walking those halls. My mom said that people probably just thought I was a teacher. Thanks mom!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Steel City Safari here in Hamilton. It was an amazing show put on by the Reptile store and a bunch of other community zoos and conservation organizations. There were amazing educational segments and the opportunity to get up close and personal with many animals. The kids had a blast. Grace was the usual dare devil and couldn't hold enough of the snakes and birds. These photos are her holding a couple of the snakes. She wasn't afraid one bit. In the photo with the funny face, Grace was told to make a face like she is afraid. Can you believe it? That snake was on her head! Simon wouldn't even touch the snakes. He did however touch the shells of the turtles (when they weren't looking). *snicker*



Christmas is in full swing here. I put the trees up on the weekend of the Toronto Santa Claus parade. That is my tradition. I love the trees so much so I try to optimize the length of time that they are up at our house. Now that we are in the new house I have room for both trees. One is actually in our bedroom since we have this really nice arched window in it and it looks so pretty from the front of the house at night. I will take some photos and post at a later date (Read: don't hold your breath).

I'm so thankful that my friend Patti's husband Ron made it through his surgery fine and is home now on the road to recovery. You are doing an amazing job my friend. What an amazing nurse you turned out to be! You had absolutely no need to doubt yourself and your abilities! The patience of a saint I tell you...that handbasket is going to be empty for quite a while! ;)

Heavy Heart and some New Layouts

I have been spending the last week consumed with thoughts and well wishes for my dear friend Patti and her husband. The surgery will be on Tuesday and I'm hoping (and yes even praying) that the surgery will go well with no complications. You are always on my mind Patti and I'm here for you whenever you need me. Please take care of yourself.

This month I had the privilege of working with the Daisy D's Autumn line for my DT work at The Scrapping Nook. I love this paper and I feel a couple more layouts coming on. I created these two layouts with the kit.

The first one was a labour of love, cutting out all the flowers from the patterned paper but I love the final look. It's funny how we as scrappers, always have a favourite layout and how that favourite changes all the time. I admit that these two new layouts are my new favourites!




The second layout is my family being goofy. I had to laugh as someone commented, "that picture of your husband must make you proud" on one of my message board sites. It's true, it's one of my favourite photos of my husband and he didn't want me to make a layout about it. I was planning on using it all on it's own but thought this was a bit more subtle. I love what a great husband and father he is and how he is willing to wear the crown if his daughter (and son for that matter) demands it.



On the ScrapAbility front, we are getting some new classes ready and should have some up for registration in the coming week or two. Watch out for some great project classes and a Photoshop class!

Catching up...a bit

Well...I guess my good intentions have gone to who knows where. I really do try and update the blog more often but before I know it a month has gone by.

We are settling into the new house well although Grace still says frequently that she misses the old house and her friends. It breaks my heart to hear her sad like that. She seems to have settled in well at the school and she likes her new teacher.

The middle of October was busy for me. I had the Crop for Kids in London. I had a fantastic time and the event seemed to go amazingly well. Kudos to Sarah and the gang for pulling off an amazing weekend that raised thousands for the Children's Hospital! I'm honoured to have been even a small part of it all. The women I met that weekend were all fantastic and I even managed to meet a couple of people I only knew from online so that was fun. All of my supplies made it to my classroom and the classes seemed to over well which was a relief.

I have the honour of being a part of The Scrapping Nook's DT. Last month I had Dream Street Papers to work with. I decided I would do a canvas with some of my paper. It took a long time to finally finish it as it was a work in progress but I'm happy with the final result. I hope my friend Patti liked it too (she's the owner of the store).

I also decided to enter a Prima contest this month as I already had the paper that was required to enter and I was dying to try it out. I had a lot of fun working with the Paintables. For the blue and pink flowers I painted them using my watercolour pencils. I used texture paste on the red flower and painted it with red acrylic paint. I accented all the flowers with my glitter pen for a bit of shimmer and outlined the black outlines on the red flower with my black Glaze pen. I'm very happy with the outcome of the layout. Loving the Kraft cardstock lately.

Halloween has now come and gone. The kids had a great time. My sister's kids, the twins, came out as well to go Trick or Treating with us. There were many great displays in the neighbourhood so it looks like we have some competition! We love to decorate the house for Halloween and there were a few in the neighbourhood that even had haunted houses in their garages! It was a lot of fun walking around with the kids. Grace was a bit timid at a few of the scarier houses and I heard her say to Simon once, "You go first Simon because you are braver than me". I love my kids!

I am T-I-R-E-D

Why can't I sleep past 3:30 am lately? This past week there I am, wide awake staring at the ceiling at 3:30. Why?? I guess I have a bunc of stuff on my mind. I can't think of any other explanation unless it's that arched window in our bedroom! It's the only thing about our new house that I don't love. If I had the choice, it wouldn't be there. We are having a hard time finding a covering for it. Of course I sleep on the side of the bed where at 6am, the sun shines directly on my face. I have also noticed lately, that at, oh around 3:30, the moon is also shining on my face! I have a mask but I never sleep as well with it on. I guess I will have to give it another try. Keep your fingers crossed that I will find some suitable covering for it soon!

Grace started school this past week. Her first week in the new school and in grade one. It seemed to go well. It's her first time riding a bus to school. I was worried that she would be to afraid to get on the bus all alone, to a school that she has never been to, and to a class full of kids she didn't know. Boy was I wrong! She hardly had time for a kiss goodbye! She ran over to that bus, got on, and waved happily from the window. I guess it was mom that was too afraid!

There was only one story from the past week that broke my heart. She said that she asked some kids to play with her at recess and they said no. She said that she spent the rest of the recess standing by herself by a tree. I cried when I heard that. The next day she took a skipping rope to school and the report was that she played with Mackenzie at recess. So we are getting there! New kid in the new school syndrome. Grace is so sociable so I'm sure it won't be long until she wants to invite her whole class over for a play date!

Simon starts school this week. We will see how that goes. I found out last week that he is still on the waiting list for speech therapy in Hamilton. We waited 8 months to get in at Erinoak in Burlington. We were told that there wouldn't be a wait here since we already waited so long in Burlington. I guess they were wrong. The thing that bothers me is, that it was one of the deciding factors about whether or not we should move. Since we thought there was no wait we figured it would be okay. Another tearful day for me on Friday. I'm so embarassed to say that I actually broke down and cried on the phone with the speech therapist intake coordinator. Simon is so resistant to speech therapy at home with us. He needs that one on one with the therapist. I know we will get there...it's just such a long road and I'd rather get back on it sooner than later.

Here is a picture of Grace on her first day of school. Love that missing tooth! Just as Murphy's law works. My battery died on the camera after the second shot! Bad mommy not checking the battery level the night before!

Giving...

I watched Oprah today. It as an episode about giving. Bill Clinton just wrote a book about it apparantly. On the show they mentioned an organization that helps people in developing countries sustain themselves by giving them loans to run their businesses. The best thing? You can donate and directly help someone! When they pay you back, you can use that money to help someone else! The donation amount is set at $25 right now due to the overwhelming response. Almost everyone can afford $25 and you can read updates about how they are doing!! Oh...and their payback rate? Something like 97%!!

It's amazing...check it out!

Kiva

Canadian Scrapbooking Crop for Kids

This October (the 12th-14th to be exact), I will be teaching at the London location of the Canadian Scrapbooking Crop for Kids. All proceeds from this event will go to the Children's Hospital in the city that the event is held. The Crop will be held in 5 cities across Canada and I can't even tell you how dear this cause is to my heart.

My son Simon, although healthy today, had two stays at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto immediately following his birth. Had it not been for the amazing doctors, surgeons and nurses that work in the Neonatal ICU there I wouldn't have my son here with me today.

Let me see if I can find some old journaling I did on a layout about the events surrounding my son's birth and hospitalization. One sec...

*********************************
Okay I found it!! Here we go...feel free to skip this part if you aren't at all interested...it's a bit long.

Simon’s Story

March 31, 2003. The day you were born, the height of the SARS crisis in Toronto. Daddy and I were the only people allowed in the hospital with you when you came into this world. No one would be able to see you until we brought you home from the hospital. You were born by c-section at 36 weeks because I had no amniotic fluid left to sustain you in the womb. Your birth was very exciting and you came into the world surprising us all that you were a little boy. You were beautiful and 6lbs1oz, a good size for being born at 36 weeks.

Shortly after birth you developed breathing problems and had to stay in the nursery on oxygen so that they could keep an eye on you. I went to see you a short time later and you looked comfortable lying there in the incubator. I wasn’t able to hold you yet because of the oxygen.

Through the night your breathing became more laboured and the doctors put you on a CPAP machine which would help you breath easier. Because of the CPAP, the pressure in your lungs built up like it sometimes does and you developed a collapsed lung. In the morning the nurse informed me of this and I immediately went down to the nursery to see you with tears streaming down my face. Your father was on his way.

They told me that you would need a chest tube and would need to be intubated. Since this was what you needed you would be transferred to Sick Kids in Toronto. Because of SARS it took them hours to arrange the transfer since they had to get special clearance. The nurses that transferred you were wonderful and took some Polaroid’s of you without any tubes so that I could keep a picture of you by my bed since I wasn’t able to go with you. It was less than 24 hours since your birth.

That night was one of the hardest nights I have ever experienced. Daddy wasn’t allowed to come back to the hospital because he had now been to another hospital that may have had a suspected SARS case. The next morning I signed myself out of the hospital so that I could be at your bedside with you. I sat by your side for hours on end. Your little body hooked up to so many machines. Daddy and I had to take turns because only one parent was allowed in the hospital at a time. This was extremely hard on us to not have each others support at your bedside.

You did very well and 3 days later the chest tube was pulled and you were extubated. This is when I was finally able to hold you for the first time. I was sobbing as I held you in my arms, so tiny and through so much already. Later that day you were transferred back to Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington.

In Burlington you were still being tube fed as you wouldn’t take a bottle well. We were having difficulties with your feedings as you were vomiting them all up. The nurses told us to be patient and that everything was fine. We just knew that something was wrong. When you were 7 days old you began vomiting green bile and then the doctor’s knew something was wrong. They told us you had what was called Malrotation.

It occurred when you were developing inside me. The intestines didn’t attach to the abdominal wall like they were supposed to and now you had developed a rotation in them that caused an obstruction. This required surgery.

Again they started the process of transferring you back to Sick Kids. Hours later we were on the road again. At 1 am and 8 days old you had surgery to fix the obstruction and take out your appendix as it would now be in a different than usual spot. Daddy and I were allowed in the hospital together just while your surgery was taking place and then it was back to one at a time. We waited anxiously and after what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came out and told us that the surgery went well and that there was no further damage done. What a relief!

The next 11 days were long and tiring to say the least. We spent hours on end at your bedside. The nurses and the team at Sick Kids were wonderful and always took the time to talk to us and update us on your progress. You were kept asleep for a few days while you recovered so that you could receive pain medication.

After they took your breathing tube out for the second time, the work of getting you to drink from a bottle started. It was frustrating to say the least. The one wonderful thing about it was that we could now hold you as much as we wanted! We would sit in the rocking chair at your bedside and hold and rock you for hours.

Finally on Easter Sunday and almost 3 weeks later we were allowed to take you home! What a wonderful present for Easter! We brought you home at 5lbs1oz. One whole pound less than you were born at. You were so tiny! Finally the rest of the family could meet you! It was wonderful to see Grace’s face when she met you for the first time. She just kept saying, “baby” and would so tenderly touch your face.

A month or two later we got a call from Sick Kids. They wanted to send a photographer out to take pictures of Simon so that he could be in their annual report. The photographer came and took tons of pictures (I wish I had copies). Later we found out that you were going to be on the cover of the report! The picture turned out fabulous and you looked so cute on the cover held in daddy’s arms.

I’m so thankful that everything worked out okay and that you are a healthy toddler today. I love you buddy.

***********************************************

Well that was four years ago now and I am now able to give a little back. I hope you will help me if you are a scrapbooker and come out that weekend, take some classes, and crop for a while. Classes are only $20 each and are taught by some amazing teachers (humbly leaving myself out of that group).

Here is a peek at my classes. My layout class, sponsored by Cosmo Cricket, will be taught at all the sites and my layout in a tin class, sponsored by Gel-a-tins, will be taught at a few of the locations.

Gel-a-tins Coaster Album in a Tin

We will bind this album together making a board book of sorts from coasters. When completed it will fit inside the altered tin. We will use brand new release stamp sets from Gel-a-tins and explore some stamping techniques like heat embossing, masking, layering, and shadow stamping. We will also be breaking out the alcohol inks for this one!

Gel-a-tins Altered Coaster Christmas Wall Decor

We will use coasters to make this altered Christmas wall hanging. We will use a new font set from Gel-a-tins along with the amazing Fancy Flakes set and a tried and true alphabet. Techniques include heat embossing, layering, and a unique use for heat embossing as well. I can't wait to put this up on my wall this season...who am I kidding..it's already up!

Cosmo Cricket Use Your Diecuts Layout

We all have them and sometimes don't know how to use them. In this class I will get you to think outside the typical diecut to use them in new ways. Using the brand new Gretel Line we will rip, sand, paint, and ink our way to a beautiful aged layout with hidden journaling!

Cosmo Cricket Dates to Remember

In this class we will alter a Plain Jane Cigar Box from Cosmo Cricket with the brand new Gretel line and "to die for" Ready Set Chipboard Letters. Inside you will find a perpetual calendar where you can store all your important birthdays and anniversary's of loved ones. We will even make a couple of cards to get you started!

Tables and chairs and couches oh my!

Paul and I spent the day today at the decor centre in Missauga after a friend of mine, Vicki, told me that she saw some amazing stuff there. In and out of the stores we went. I think we might have found some stuff we actually like and nothing we like more than the living room furniture and dining set we found already so that is good since we are buying the latter this weekend!

This is the recliner that we are buying, the couch is slightly different. The colour is going to be a dark brown, so darker than what is shown in the photo. Also the head rest comes out...I don't like that piece.

I think we found a kitchen table we love and a stand/bench for the front door area. We also saw a chandelier that we both agreed on! That is BIG news. We rarely find lights we agree on.


This is the bench we saw. It also comes in Black so I'm not sure which way I'm leaning on this one...we might not even get it. It would just be great for the kids. Looking at it now, I think I like it better in black! Man this is hard!



We also saw some art work that we would love...now to save the $5400 we would need to buy it! This house is going to cause me hours of overtime I can feel it!

Have I mentioned that my dad's brother is an artist? I would love one of his paintings but I don't think I could ever afford one. My mom has one on layaway at a gallery. She goes in and puts money down on it all the time. One day she will own it!

Here is a link to a gallery that carries some of his work.
Harold Klunder

It's very abstract and I love it...plus he's my uncle! :)

The Funny Things Kids Say

So the kids come home from daycare the other day and Grace has this little piece of paper with her writing on every little bit of the paper. I ask her what it says. She says, "It's a list of what Simon and I want to be when we grow up". I ask her to read it to me. This is what it said.

"I want to be a horse back rider or a nurse (I happen to be a nurse), and Simon wants to be a Chef, a Wrestler or a Giver of Flowers."

Then she goes on to ask me where she will be able to find a horse for riding. I tell her a farm and she seems happy with that. I ask Simon what a "giver of flowers" does and he replies, "I give flowers to you, daddy and Grace". Just like that. Very matter of fact.

I love these kids! :)

Updates Galore!

Two times in one month! Now I'm getting somewhere! So...what's been happening with me? The short answer is lots!


On July 24th we moved into our new house. We are absolutely in love with it! Almost all the boxes are unpacked and we are getting to the point where we almost feel brave enough to put holes in the wall! It's funny to me because I never had this problem before. I guess this is the right house for us because I just want it to be perfect. Our appliances are finally installed, grass is growing, towel bars are up, and the inevitable search for some new furniture has begun!


I will post photos of the house soon. It's much nicer now that we have grass. I just have to get out there and take the photos!


We have been spending a lot of time at the Binbrook Conservation area the past few weeks. It's just minutes from our house and the kids love it! The beach is perfect and the shallow water is corded off. They also have a great splash pad. We bought a season pass so that we can go whenever we feel the urge for some sun and sand.






Last week we took the kids on their first camping trip. This was our first time camping since Grace was born six years ago! Of course, it had to be the worst two days of the summer. The kids had a blast just the same. We didn't go far so that if something happened and we couldn't get the kids to sleep in the tent we wouldn't have far to come home. They loved sleeping in the tent and roasting marshmallows on the fire. The hammock that Sarah (my sister) demanded we put up, turned out to be a tremendous hit. We also tried "fishing". I put that in quotes because we mostly just threw the line into the water. The kids fishing rods didn't even have hooks on them.





On Wednesday we went to the African Lion Safari. We decided that we would drive our car through the animal reserve so that we could stop where we wanted and move on at our own pace. It was a good idea I think, since the kids were so excited and very loud! It wasn't too hot so the animals were pretty active. I got some great shots of the animals too. My favourites are the monkeys (Baboons) and Giraffes.





I have to say though, that I was very bothered by some of the patrons of the safari that day. This is the problem with parks like this. People just don't think about the animals' well being. Many people were feeding the animals through their window and I even saw a teenager pull on a baby camel's ear! I was hoping that the camel would spit on him but he didn't. I left feeling sad for the animals as I usually do when I take the kids to places like this.


On the creative front, I have completed a couple of layouts for The Scrapping Nook where I am honoured to be a part of the design team. This month we worked with the yummy Cherry Arte paper. I have also been finishing up my projects for the Canadian Scrapbooking Crop for Kids coming up in October. This is a Cross-Canada event for an amazing cause, Children's Hospitals.




Those of you that know me, know that this is a cause close to my heart. Had we not had an amazing Children's Hospital near us when Simon was born, he wouldn't be here with us today. The doctors and nurses that work in these hospitals are amazingly talented at what they do and I as a nurse bow down to them for all that they do every day! I don't know how they do it but I'm so thankful that they do.


Saturday marked our annual Klunder Family Reunion. My dad has 10 brothers and sisters and most of them have large families as well. This yearly event is the one time a year that a lot of us see each other. We have to wear name tags now to keep all the 2nd and 3rd generation straight! Grace and Simon had a good time although we couldn't stay long since I had to work nights at the hospital.


Speaking of hospitals, we had a family outing to our local hospital last night. Simon fell off the swing at daycare yesterday and got a cut on the back of his head. When Bern called us to tell us about it, it didn't sound so bad but when Simon came home and we got a closer look we knew it needed stitches. He wasn't too happy about it but he ended up with 4 staples in his head by the time we left. Other than that he is doing completely fine.


We have two new classes up for registration at ScrapAbility. Please stop by and check out the classes by the lovely Michelle Engel and a new teacher at ScrapAbility, Pamela Mosby. Both have designed amazing projects for you. We also have a new free project available for download in our forum. It was created by Pamela for us and the project will be part of an upcoming class at ScrapAbility. Downloading the project will give you a good idea of how we deliver classes at ScrapAbility. Plus, as an added bonus for registering on the site this week, we are giving away free classes to two lucky new registrants in our forum! Hope to see you there!

Phew! That was a lot! Hopefully I will get better at all of this!