Sick Week

I am really looking forward to a new week...since the kids & I have been sick this past week. Thank you to all of you who have shared your concerns for Scarlett, she is almost 100%; both of the kids are battling just runny noses now. I was hit hard by the flu/cold bug on Tuesday night...I didn't move from the couch for two days! As you can see above, we are very thankful for drugs!

Rice Krispy Treats

For tonights card class I served an old school treat: Rice Krispy Squares.You can find this simple & yummy recipe here.

How we spent our Saturday...

We took Scarlett in to Urgent Care at 3:30pm on Saturday because she was vomiting possibly due to a head injury. She fell out of bed (which she has never done) at 3am, she cried, had a small cut on her lip and went back to bed. In the morning she woke up, had her breakfast and began vomiting at 9am. This happened approx 10 times between 9am and 3pm. We were beginning to wonder if she was vomiting due to the fall in the night...they call it delayed vomiting.
So we rushed her off to Urgent Care, they saw her and consulted with a pediatrician. They all agreed that we should bring her into Alberta Childrens Hospital to rule out a head injury.
We got to the hospital and they were nice enough to rush us through. The doctors & nurses there were very thourough and compasionate. Scarlett did well with her motor skills tests and since she didn't have any other signs of a head injury they decided not to do a CT scan. The doctors decided that the fall out of bed and vomiting was a coincidence. We were all sent home at 9pm. She showed more signs of a flu once we got home and is now resting and feeling much better.
A big thank you to the Chibry family for looking after Ace on such short notice and to Auntie Amber for picking Ace up and getting him settled for the night (she also cleaned out our dishwasher & cleaned up our kitchen). We really appreciated all your help!
And a little shout out to the Bridle family who we saw at Urgent Care and then again at the hospital...their daughter Samantha had an injury...hope she's feeling better.

January...A Month To Organize!

My month of January has been spent organizing. Since our move to Saskatchewan is coming up in 4-5 short months, it is time for us to create some order and pare-down everything in our lives. I've come across a few valuable tools in the organizing world that have made such a difference:

- Memory Dock planner: I've used this new planner for just a month and already love it! Keeping all my notes, to-do lists and calendar in one spot is really working for me...instead of having them scattered everywhere. It also has sections to sketch scrapbook pages, journal, and a photo planner...it has all the classic features of a planner with fresh twist. One of my favorite parts is the convenient shopping list with meal planner. I took this photo today to place in the front panel window of my planner to personalize it.

- Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker class with Wendy Smedley at Big Picture Scrapbooking (I have also signed up for Library of Memories starting February 28th). It may sound funny, but I've always tried to store my things in cute bins, baskets, jars, etc. but they have never really worked out in the end. This class helps you discover the way you create and then helps to customize your space accordingly. There's lots of cool projects, transcripts to listen to on your iPod, message boards, links, etc. The class began January 3rd and continues through till the end of March...if you've missed the class, here's the book that goes hand & hand with it.
- Organizing For Your Brain Type book: this book allowed Cory & I to discover that we are COMPLETE opposites when it comes to organizing...I mean, you can't get any more opposite than us in this sense. We both took the 50 question quiz, Cory turned out to be front-left brained, called Prioritizing style and I turned out to be posterior-right brained, called Harmonizing style.
If you have a helpful organizing tip, I would love to hear it. We can all use ways to simplify our lives so that we have time for the more important things.

Photography Class

I have been taking a photography class at SAIT and last night was spent experimenting with night photography. Here are some shots...enjoy!

Recycling Batteries

My husband & I were shocked when we called our city to find out where we could drop off our old batteries for recycling...they told us just to put them in the garbage and that they would have no harmful effects on the landfill. That answer didn't sit well with us since we encourage all recycling, so we did some more investigating. You can take your batteries to your local IKEA store and they will recycle them for you!

* Edited to add this Green Link. *

Technique Tuesday: Chunky Glitter & Sticky Cuts Letters

I've been wanting to make a card for a while now that says 'U ROCK' for Charlotte (Hannah's sister) in Las Vegas. She was kind enough to show us around during our trip there in September and we had a wonderful time.

This was the first time I used the new Chunky Glitter & Sticky Cuts Letters from Stampin' Up!...they go hand-in-hand. The Sticky Cuts Letters come in 12 x 12 sheets, all you do is choose your letter and take it off the sheet. Adhere it to your project (it has a sticky back) and then pull off the clear red plastic to expose the top sticky side (just like sticky strip). Then pour on glitter, beads, or chunky glitter like I used, and tap off the excess. It's heavy duty stuff with no need for a heat tool!

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alphabet

Ink: Basic Black - craft

Paper: Basic Black, Rose Red, Whisper White cardstock; Rose Red Designer Prints patterned paper

Accessories: Chunky Glitter - black, Sticky Cuts Letters, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Black Pen: Pilot Hi-Tecpoint Extra Fine

So Cold!

Brrr! We woke up this morning after a blistery winter storm went through last night. The temperature read -30 degrees Celcius and the wind chill made it feel like -48!

We had alot of snow blow through and pile up
Looking from our driveway, many cars got stuck trying to drive down our street
And we were lucky enough to have Cory home from work today, his ski suit (never used) came in handy as he shoveled the driveway...thanks honey!

Happy Birthday Mom

Technique Tuesday: Coloring Pearls

Ever since I bought the Pretties Kit from Stampin' Up!, I have thought it was pretty, but haven't known what to do with it??? The kit comes with an assortment of un-colored items (the idea is that you can color the items to coordinate with your project)...fabric flowers, pearls, beads, crystal brads, etc. So I had heard that you can color the pearls using a mixture of Crystal Effects and a dot of ink from a Re-inker...I tried it and was very impressed with the result as you can see in my card above.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Versamark, Tempting Turquoise ink refill
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Only Orange cardstock; Bali Breeze patterned paper
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Crystal Effects, Black Embossing Powder, Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, Eastern Elegance rub-ons, Aquapainter

One Little Word 2008: BUILD

Well it's January 15th already...the dust has began to settle from the holidays, the pounds have began to fall off from the crazy eating, life is back to a routine...and we have decided on a word for 2008 (as inspired by Ali):

This word sums up our whole year ahead. We'll be focusing on...Building our future in Oxbow, Building our dream home, Building relationships with family & friends, Building a healthy body, I want to Build my stamping/scrapbooking/photography career into more of a business, Build a nurturing environment for our children, and continue to Build a balanced life.

I'll be making a collage to keep on our bulletin board; throughout the year I'll be adding to it with magazine clippings, inspirational quotes and photos to keep us focused & inspired if we ever stray from our goal. I was so impressed that my husband was on-board to do this with me, we choose the word together for our year and committed to it as a team.

If you have a word of the year, I'd love to hear it...please leave a comment with your word of the year.

Little Munchkins

Just a few photos from my everyday-life with Ace & Scarlett

I spend my whole day with these two little people...couldn't ask for anything more!

Happy Birthday Dee-Ann

A few weeks ago my dear friend Dee-Ann celebrated her birthday. Unfortunately I could not attend her surprise party, so I wanted to tribute this Top-10 List in her honor (for those of you who know her, she is a big fan of these lists):

10. She taught me to believe in CARMA...what goes around, comes around!
9. She is my husband's HOCKEY BUDDY. If there is a Calgary Flames game on, the two of them can be found hovering in front of the TV as if they were in the players box.
8. She has taught me to to appreciate GAMES. She is a big fan of many games: The Price is Right, Scrabble, Plinko, Guitar Hero, Deal or No Deal...just to name a few.
7. She is willing to talk to anyone about anything and she sympathizes with you ;she has the most KIND-HEART!
6. She is an amazing PHOTOGRAPHER! She has taught me so much about photography and I am always able to bounce ideas off of her. We even have a photography prop bag we share.
5. I am so appreciative that she & her family WILL come to visit us in Oxbow when we move.
4. She is the WISEST Mom I know. She is very well-versed in the art of baby cuddling and not too often do you find a baby she cannot calm. She has been there for us during the pregnancy, birth of both our children and we are so thankful for her help and being there to talk to.
3. She is a TRENDSETTER with great taste...Lululemon, Starbucks Mistos, Rock & Republic jeans...thanks for getting me started on all these cool things.
2. She is my CRAFTING SOUL-MATE. We can often be found crafting together until 3am...much to the discontent of our husbands.
1. She is the the best NEIGHBOUR turned FRIEND I've ever had. I miss our walks at the end of the day (to go get slurpees) and unexpected visits. Even thought we don't live next door to each other anymore, we do a great job at keeping close. I'm so thankful to have such a CLOSE friend.

Happy BELATED Birthday Dee! You are one of the most wonderful people in my world...I am so thankful to have you as a FRIEND!

It's Official, We're Moving!

This is something that's been on my mind for months & months...and now, without further delay, it is time to let you all in on some BIG news (if you haven't already heard). We have decided to move our family back to my hometown of Oxbow, Saskatchewan. My husband Cory was the one who first suggested it and after much deliberation...we have settled into enthusiastic acceptance of our family adventure!

We have purchased a beautiful lot there (just a few blocks from my parents home, where I grew up) and will begin construction of our home this spring. It's always been a DREAM for Cory & I to design our own home...this is what we lay awake in bed talking about at night. So in October we met with an architect and designed a plan from scratch. It took a few months and we are very pleased with our finished design. Like I said, we'll start construction in April and will be living in our RV during the process. Cory will be taking a year off to build it himself and I am going to be his helper.

Ok, so I am sure if you are reading this, you are thinking that we are TOTALLY crazy...and the answer is yes, we are crazy. We know that living in an RV with two little ones will be an adventure. And I am sure that we will have a bit of cuture shock...moving from a city of 1 million to a town of 2000...but I've lived there before and it was a GREAT place to grow up! I am stoked to be close to family after living far from the for eleven and a half years. The kids are especially excited to be around their cousins Kyra & Kelby! Cory can hardly wait to get started on our new home.



We will miss Cory's family and my sister Amber who we've grown very close to over the years. And we will be sad to leave such wonderful friends we've made in Calgary, but hope to keep in close touch and visit often. I love that communication is so easy, and possibilities so endless...it will make the transition much easier on us. We're so excited about our decision and overwhelmed also with how everything is going to turn out. It really is the opportunity of a life-time for us, thanks for listening.

Our lot in Oxbow

Unfortunately this beautiful tree has to be removed

Happy new owners of our lot

Our new street

Our new street...in the winter

The big tree...frosty

Our new home we proudly designed

It's official, we have a box number

Better Late Than Never...

...I think I should change the name of my blog to this!

Due to a lack of creativity over the holidays, I didn't blog. I guess I just needed a good break to get organized and fresh for the new year.

I had every intention of beginning 2008 on-time, but here I am 3 days late. I'll give myself the benefit of always travelling over the holidays, which really takes alot out of us. January 1st we spent 10 hours driving home in the [very fully packed] car and January 2nd was our day to unpack & catch up on mail, emails & messages. So to me, today is the beginning of a new year....I'm happy it's here!

The New Year is one of my most favorite times of the year! Full of good intentions, optimism and a fresh start! After I finalize my resolutions to work on in 2008, I'll post them here. I think my #1 resolution will be to fit blogging into my daily routine. Thank you for staying with me over these past few weeks of shotty-blogging :)

Photo taken East of Oxbow on the Forsyth farm during the holidays...it was absolutely beautiful throughout the town with all the frost.

Canada Day 2008

We attended the Irwins Annual Canada Day BBQ and had a great time!

Here's Sadie sporting an outfit suitable for the occasion...cutie
The Daddies playing with the little ones
Ace and their puppy
Nicolas with his Canada Day beach ball
Cory on the BBQ
Cindy & baby Payton
Lian with baby Payton
Canada Day cupcakes...
...the kids loved them

Yum yum!

Canada Day cake...
...made by Lian
Jocelyn & Cari both made delicious desserts too

All the gals:

Lian, Michelle, Christy, me

Cindy, Cari & Jocelyn

Cindy cuddling Scarlett & Mercedes
The kids watching fireworks

Thank you for the wonderful party Michelle & Cory!