Kataroo's Kitchen

Some Peppermint Scrappy Love

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Pink Peppermint Candy LO's :) LOVE! Can't get enough of this color scheme. Hoping to enjoy a little more scrappy time later this weekend :)

December Daily 2012

2012-01-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

This is by far my very favorite December Daily Album I have made yet. This year I treated it more like a "smash" book and collected all our Christmas Memories in it. I didn't follow a day by day format, and instead have some of our earlier november activities in it, and didn't stress that I didn't document each and every day. I find I have less time to scrapbook now, or rather I choose to do less of it, so instead of piles of 12 x 12 LO's this year I have documented Christmas here, in one handy and fun place. I am going to love looking through this one in the years to come and adding it to our collection of memories.

Family Mini Christmas Album

2011-12-09T13:54:00.001-05:00

I seem to have gotten back into the groove of scrapbooking, and am actually spending some of my evenings tucked away in the basement crafting in peace and quiet. So much better then trying to squeeze it in with the kids playing (fighting, whining, and making a mess). This little album is sitting on a shelf in the kitchen, the basket that holds mini's is full LOL. PS. my Dec Daily is coming a long really well and remains one of my favorite Christmas Activities...can't wait to share it with you all. Is anyone else doing a Dec Daily again this year?

an envelope to hold a cd

Christmas Angels

2011-12-07T07:24:00.000-05:00

A LO made with the beautiful pictures Paola took for us

My first LO made with the pictures we had done recently with Paola. I see many a scrappy evening ahead of me with my Christmas tea. In fact I am almost done a little mini of the pics....you know how I love my mini albums...little books of happiness tucked away through out the house waiting for a peak :)

A little mini for "Me"

2011-12-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

I made a little mini album just for me, all shabby chic, and mixed media style..with words of inspiration and encouragement...a little place to sneak a peak and tell myself I CAN DO ANYTHING :)

Day 1: Kids and Healthy Food

2011-11-21T20:21:00.000-05:00

Green Salad the kids and I made afters school

Thought I would do a little follow up to yesterday's post. Here's a run down of the day:

Breakfast: was of the usual fair nothing special.
Gym Snack, I added a tupperware container filled with strawberries, raspberries and grapes along with some cow cheese. Kay ate the fruit, Kasey did not.
At lunch I made pinwheels wrap sandwiches with TURKEY (they never eat turkey, but presented nicely in a pinwheel they didn't even notice!), light shredded cheese, and ranch dressing all wrapped up in whole wheat wraps. Bonus for getting them to eat turkey and also for using a new 'kind' of sandwich presentation. At first Kasey pulled her I HATE IT routine just looking at it...I ignored her..let her whine..told her that she didn't have to eat it but there would be no computer time till she did...she whined some more...and eventually came around and ate the whole thing!
After school snack: The kids made a 'green salad' themselves...I let them chop grapes and apples with butter knifes on the chopping board and then we played a game together while they ate. It made for a great afternoon activity. (ok I will fess up we also added chocolate fishies to the salad LOL)
Dinner was a bit of a disaster. I made a chicken curry dish that I love, its very sweet and mild and I even went for chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts thinking the kids would like that better (less dry). Kay again ate it up no problem. Kasey took one look at it and threw a huge fit. She proceeded to YELL AND SCREAM for what seemed like forever. We ignored her. We told her she did't have to eat it, but there would be no dessert or helping in the fun dessert we planned to make. We did our best to tune her out and we focused on Kayleigh who was being good and tried to talk to her about school. Kasey finally quieted down and I put her on my lap and tried to get her to eat. She ate her cauliflower but went nuts with the chicken. I gave up. I got up from the table and Kay and I made our special dessert together. We made a parfait with vanilla pudding we made ourselves and raspberries, and some cool whip. Kasey yelled and cried about wanting to help and have some and I calmly explained she wasn't going to help because of the fit she threw. I feel like I failed...yet I feel like we did our best...dinner's and many things our trying with our lovely little 3 year old right now...later on in the evening she was hungry and I gave her cut up apples and PB...she ate 2 bowls of them. Then she asked for her 'ZERT' and I again explained why she couldn't have it. I am going to try and make it easier on us all tomorrow night and pick something she won't turn her nose up to. Hopefully, then I can give her some positive attention and show her what a nice dinner time looks like.
kids are in bed and I am pooped and all I want is to eat the bag of choc chips in the freezer...sigh...

Trying to get the kids to eat healthy....

2011-11-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

source

My goal this week is to really focus on getting the kids to eat a variety of healthy food and smile while doing it! Our family has definitely fallen into a rut. The kids eat the same old foods all the time, again and again. A lot of the time its because its easy for me. We focus too much on dessert, eating our lunch/dinner to get a dessert. We need help!

So this is my plan to shake things up around here:

I surfed the net last night looking for healthy kid friendly recipes and pinned them onto their own board on Pinterest.
One problem we have in this house is snacking....when the kids are hungry they eat the same snacks again and again...tube yogurts, string cheese, cow cheese...why because its easy and they can get it themselves. YEP LAZY MOM SYNDROME. So my goal is to each day after school prepare a fun snack with the kids....it will be a fun thing we can do together, it will help them learn to eat different things, they already love helping me bake so they will get a kick out of this, and we will talk about the different foods and why they are good for us. We will get some veggies and fruit in the mix with cool dips etc...
I am going to get the kids to help with making dinner as much as I can...I have found in the past that when they are involved they are more likely to eat it.
A few nights a week I will designate it kids choice night and will give them 3 options and they get to choose what we have for dinner. (all though I can see them not picking the same thing so maybe it will have to be Kayleigh night and then Kasey night)
PASTA!! we rarely eat pasta in this house...unless its KD for the kids. I don't make it because its carb heavy and because of that I have kids that don't "know/like" things like spagetti, lasagna, and other pastas. Pasta is the best food to HIDE VEGGIES into the sauce! So we are going to start eating pasta. The 'carb' conscious parents can have small portions with protein on the side and a big salad. (lets be honest...Daddy is going to love having pasta back on the menu LOL)
DESSERT....I want to have fun with dessert. I want my kids to see that dessert can be something other than a 'big black cookie (aka OREO lol). So I want to make with the kids things like fruit pizza, fondue's, trifles with fruit and pudding, cream cheese dips with fruit..etc. I know we can't do this every night, but a few nights a week would be do able.
MY BEST IDEA!!!! We are list people in this house. The kids have lists and charts. We make lists of fun things to do. We love lists! So if the kids eat a meal that they like, they get to put in on the SPECIAL KID FOOD LIST! and then when its there night to choose dinner they can pick from the list! I know it sounds lame, but I think this idea is really going to help the kids get excited about food.

I know realistically we aren't going to be able to do all of these things 100% of the time. But we can start to make some changes, and a real effort in this department. I want to feel good about what my kids are eating, instead of guilty. I want them to learn to love a variety of food. Most of all I want dinner time to be fun and relaxing, a time for us to share as a family. I am so tired of the drama, and the fights over eating dinner. Tonight Kasey worked herself up into such a fuss about dinner that she actually puked! We can do better. I know we can. As much as I can blame our dinner stresses on 3 year old behaviour, I know we can do more to help them. I think I need a separate post just on the 3 year old behaviour! So wish me luck and I will keep you posted with what works and what doesn't.

Crafty Christmas 2011

2011-11-20T08:40:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we put up our Christmas Tree and laid out our indoor decorations. I love how cozy the house feels right now. I love opening up the boxes and unwrapping treasures, especially ones I had forgotten about. Its so fun! Among the treasures unwrapped were a number of little handmade things I have made over the last few years (last year part one and part two, and a canvas. So I am finding myself inspired to add to the collection and to get my craft on. So here are some ideas of things I think I will try to make.

source

Pictures to treasure

2011-11-16T11:11:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we had our family Christas Pictures taken with Paola Mateus, of Paola Mateus Photography. Paola is super sweet, and having 3 kids of her own (2 are twin girls) she knows how to wrangle the kids! I am so happy with how these pictures turned out. No not just happy...down right giddy! I can't wait to add them to our photo displays on the wall, and too of course SCRAPBOOK THEM! I just happen to have the perfect patterned paper for these :) Pictures make me very happy, little treasures capturing 'us' at this point in time. Why the kids look almost angelic don't they? LOL

Most favorite Halloween Mini

2011-11-06T08:32:00.000-05:00

I have a basket of Halloween Mini albums that I have been making since Kay was born, and I have to say I think this one is my favorite. I don't if it's because it contains pictures leading up to Halloween and the day itself, really capturing the 'holiday' for us. Or...is it because I got to make it in the peace and quiet on a Sunday afternoon while Ryan took the kids out mini putting? mmmm....I think it may be the latter :) Not to mention that I prepped the pages (gluing background papers on) while hanging with some of my girly scrappy friends on a friday night not so long ago. This is definitely a feel good album :)

The album is a My Minds Eye flocked album, I painted it with a black Glimmer Glam. I used last years Hof3 Halloween collection, and this year's Echo Park Halloween Collection. The skeleton hanging from the album, was found on the ground outside by Kasey and she wanted to keep it. I then stole it and glittered it up with Martha Stewart ghostly green glitter :)

I added little pages of various sizes to the album so that I could fit all my pics in. I like the mis matched, non uniform look to a mini album.

Getting scrappy again

2011-10-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

Want to know the good thing about having kids at home with a cold, they are quiet and cuddly....and that means I get to scrap :) LOL

Another Mini: For my sister this time

2011-10-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

Another little mini book to share. I have had this one done for sometime and really need to mail it off to my Sister. It was made with scraps of crardboard and paper and odds and ends. Its an eclectic mish mash of bits and pieces, smears of paint and a spritz of sparkle.

A mini wine album

2011-10-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

This project has only taken me 3 weeks or so to do, what happened to my scrappy speed? I think I am using it up running and its made me a slow scrapper. I must say it felt good to get this off my desk today and have the desk back in order. A mini seems to make a much bigger mess when it takes 3 weeks to do.

Purple Scrappy Weekend

2011-09-19T10:38:00.000-04:00

This Saturday we actually stayed in instead of heading to the gym. I lazed about in my pj's and drank coffee and scrapped. IT WAS BLISSFUL! It would seem that I was also in a purple mood :) LOL

Apple Picking

2011-09-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

We have been working on a new reward system at home to help with the kids being good (listening, not throwing fits, and for the love of God not whining!). So the deal is we pick a reward and they each have to earn 10 stickers to get it. They also have to keep those stickers, and some how the threat of loosing a sticker seems to hold even more power than earning one. We try to pick rewards that involve us doing something together rather than a material prize (but sometimes they get those too). This weeks reward was apple picking.
So we spent the afternoon apple picking at Dagenais Farm. It was the last day of their apple picking season and the apples were pretty picked over, but we managed to find some nice crisp ones to take home. Lets be honest, for us its more the experience of going and seeing where the apples really come from (yep they don't magically appear in the grocery store) and spending a beautiful fall afternoon outside. The farm wasn't fancy, there weren't any 'attractions', but there certainly was plenty to see. They had free range chickens, and turkeys, a Hen House for laying eggs, a few pigs, and even a donkey. They also had bees and we got to sample the honey they make on site. There was a little organic store and I picked up a big bottle of coveted AGAVE NECTER, and some fresh bread (oh and maybe some organic chocalate because organic makes it less of guilty pleasure right?) We ended the afternoon, with some homemade organic ice cream, which was heavenly. Kasey being weird didn't like hers so Ryan took one for the team and double fisted it. LOL. I think Kasey's favorite part was the sweet little kitty that followed her around. After our very 'granola' like afternoon we headed back into the city and to COSTCO!

Long Weekend Scrappies

2011-09-04T18:10:00.000-04:00

A totally cheapie post with just some pics of pages :) Hey its the long weekend :)

Wedding Mini

2011-09-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

I finally finished up the wedding mini album I was working on. I seem to have turned into a slow scrapper, projects sit on my desk for weeks. I blame it on my heat gun blowing, and having to wait for things to dry. I whimped out on this post and made a collage of all the pages, I was to lazy to post them one by one...its so slow. I used a 7 gypsies kraft album, the kraft cover and doily match the kraft paper covered books in the wedding decorations. I used lots of a pale pink in paint, distress stains, distress inks, glimmer glam, glimmer mists, mister misters. There are a lot of mediums in the album which is why it was so fun to make. The album, is full of my favorite memories and meanings from the day. I hope to get copies of the professional pics from my sister to do an album for her (hint hint).

The ultimate crafty wedding

2011-08-23T07:16:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be fun to share pictures of some of the details from my sister's wedding. I wish I had better pictures, but they were snapped in such a hurry, while we were bustling to get ready. I have missed so many of the little touches that made it such a special day, but did manage to get these. Hope you enjoy :)

The wedding and reception took place at the groom's parents house. They have a huge beautiful property with a renovated old school house. Their home and property is simply inspiring. The theme of the wedding played on the school house theme and also the Bride's favorite color pink. The wedding was full of homemade crafty and vintage touches.

Hydrangeas from my mom's garden :) Oh they smelled so sweet.

The Groom's dad built the 'gazebo' for the wedding ceremony to take place under, the seating is made up of bales of hay, with fabric over top.

A dessert tent being set up

The school house theme in chalk board, apples and globe.

Love the little bundles of pencils wrapped in ribbon

Old books wrapped in kraft paper, doilies and twine

The tables, two long rows, family style...loved that

Library catalogue cards for name plates, fresh flowers in mason jars and vintage vases, kraft paper down the center

More books wrapped in kraft paper, one of my favorite touches

The orange card is an old report card with the menu written out on it

old glass vases

The pictures are so dark, but the ceiling is filled with coffee filter flowers dyed pink, and pink tissue flower poufs.

Bath tub was later filled with ice and beer

Lollies for the flower girls to hold

Handmade necklaces and earrings for the flower girls made by the bride.

Spiked pink lemonade....oh this was so good!

Pink lemonade for the kids and pregnant woman LOL

One of my favorite things, a sweet table filled with family favorites, lovingly made by the family, displayed on a vintage sewing table.

These were handmade by someone as well, to display the desserts on.

The dessert table before the desserts are out

I wish I had a picture of this later in the night...brown paper bag tea lights making a path to the bathrooms.

Weekend Scrappies

2011-08-07T19:52:00.001-04:00

After a bit of hiatus, I finally got a bit of my scrap groove back and finished a mini album that's been sitting on my desk for weeks and a few LO's to boot too :) Now I just need to tackle the bomb that went off in the basement while the kids played and I scrapbooked....sigh.

Fairy Tea Party at the Children's Garden

2011-07-25T16:33:00.001-04:00

Yesterday the girls joined their little BFF Cate for a Fairy Princess Tea Party at the Children's Garden, located at Robert F. Legget Park. The garden itself is really cute, full of little corners and magical like areas for imaginative play. It would make a great place to meet little friends for a picnic. The girls started the party off by fishing for a magic star.

They then used the star in a craft, making wands. My girls love doing crafts so this was a hit for sure.

They also had a cute little bubble station set up.

I loved this area of the park where the kids could jump from bench to bench, and later in the day they all sat here to listen to stories and sing songs.

Kayleigh's magical birthday TUTU in action.

The highlight of the Tea Party was of course the SNACKS! Everyone brought something to share and there were plenty of yummy homemade muffins, cookies, and cupcakes. I was one of the few that brought the store bought 'plastic container' of goodies LOL. (no that's not mine?)

The girls even tried some 'real' sunshine tea. It wasn't a huge hit but I sure did like it. A great little Sunday morning outing, that was very frugal only a small donation required. Next on the Fairy Circuit...the Lantern Festival in August.

Wedding Shower Crafties

2011-07-17T20:48:00.004-04:00

We celebrated my sister Jamie's Wedding shower this weekend at my Mom's house in Norland. I drove down Friday night and spent the night whipping up some crafty stuff for the shower with my mom and my sisters. It was a cozy evening of girl time and crafts, two of my very favorite things. My sister's wedding has an old school house theme with lots of pink, so there is a vintage feel to it, lots of chalk board and pink accents. So I made these 3 little art canvases as gifts to give away at the shower.

My Mom made the cake (it had pink raspberry and yellow lemon layers in it....mmmm), and I made the little bunting banner.

My mom and I also made these tissue paper flowers, they were harder than usual as I picked up a really thin tissue, but we made it work. Aren't you proud of me for hanging those without stitches this time around? LOL

I also whipped up a real quick garland out of punched out pink patterned paper, book text and doilies

I wish I had gotten pictures of the table all laid out with the food, we did a great job of plating everything on my Grandma's china. It was so very shabby chic :) Many of the menu items came straight from my Pinterest boards too, which made planning a menu really easy. It was a great day. I keep smiling thinking about it. Thank-you Marmie, for letting us stick pin holes in your ceiling, and letting us make a mess of your house, and for all the hard work you put into a very special day. YOUR THE BEST MOM!!!

Happy 5th Birthday

2011-07-15T08:11:00.001-04:00

Kayleigh turned 5, last Saturday and we started the day with our SQUIRES BIRTHDAY TRADITION of Daddy singing Happy Birthday on the Guitar when they wake up. Even if its 6AM and Daddy was up late at the blues fest the night before.

Then we opened some birthday presents with Kasey's help. Kasey even got a special little present of her own (which OOPS Kay opened and liked and then we had to tell her it was her sisters).

Kayleigh got a very special present from her FAIRY GODMOTHER....a rainbow tutu, full of layers and butterflies and flowers. A friend from high school, a very talented children's book illustrator and artist has an ETSY store where she sells the most magical TUTUS! I'm not sure which was more awesome the tutu or the card she sent with one of her illustrations on it and a magical story of the tutu! I loved reading the little story out to Kayleigh and I have a feeling this tutu will get lots of use twirling about.

Kay in her birthday finery singing to her Fancy Nancy doll

Birthday Girls reasy to get our party on

This is THE BIRTHDAY PICTURE, the I AM 5 PICTURE

Mommy and her big girl

This used to be my baby!

To celebrate the day we had a little Rainbow Party at Starr Gymnastics with 10 of her little friends. They jumped, swung, bounced, balanced, and played their little hearts out. Then we packed into a party room for an hour of sugar induced mayhem! Luckily when it was all over we left the mess behind!

Ready to Jump and play at Starr Gymnastics

A perfect day, ending with a drive to Grandma and Grandpa's where my mom tried to feed her birthday cake at 9:30 at night :) wink LOL

Take Two: Strawberries

2011-07-03T17:48:00.001-04:00

Last year when we went strawberry picking we found out the berries were no longer in season, so we picked raspberries instead. All though raspberries are delicious, I did not have a stockpile of raspberry scrapbook embellies stashed away. I had a carefully coveted stash of strawberries. So I went ahead and made the album anyway last year, and it was featured over at ELLA because of the funny twist the album took. So this year we got it right, we have finally got our Strawberry picking in, and to literally TOP that off my friend Rachel TOPS made me the Strawberry shortcake embellishments you see used in the album below :)

Engaging

2011-06-28T07:46:00.001-04:00

ok so the picture doesn't really have anything to do with the post but its cute, ah the life of a wiener

Remember this post at the beginning of the year? The one where I chose ENGAGE as my one little word of the year. Well like most things I started off well and then faltered. I am sad to say that I have been spending much to much time on the internet, and not even quality time doing things that I love like blogging. No, I have been obsessively checking Facebook to see what's going on, chatting with friends, and 'pinning' on Pinterest. I don't like the person I am when I spend to much time online, I don't like how I half listen to my children and how I sometimes blatantly ignore them. I tell myself its because I am a stay at home mom that I chat with my friends online so much. That if I was in an office with 'real' people to talk to I wouldn't need to do this. I tell myself that its my 'escape'/break from the craziness of the kids. But here's the thing, if I was engaging with the kids, actually paying attention to them, and playing with them, they are not whiny, they don't fight, and they are may I saw AWESOME. Time is passing so fast, and they are at such a cool age right now. I am missing the moments of this age, I am missing out on truly getting to know these little people. The past two night after dinner, instead of 'escaping' off into the land of the internet I have played with the kids. I have sat on the floor and played jacks and lego. I have laughed, the kids have laughed, I have peed my pants from laughing, and Kasey peed her pants because she was having too much fun to go to the bathroom! Dude, these are not moments to be missed! A couple weeks ago, the girls and I made an impromptu road trip to Grandma's and I left my laptop behind. I can't tell you how good it felt to 'unplug' for a couple days. The girls and I were outside by 7:30 AM picking wildflowers and walking to the park. We played together all day and when it came time for bed I went to sleep right along side them. I truly enjoyed those days. So I am hereby on a strict internet DIET, a little time with my JAVA in the am, a peak at lunch, and then I may do as I please at night when the kids are in bed. Its time to truly LIVE this LIFE of mine.

I am scrappy happy

2011-06-26T09:42:00.002-04:00

Its been a good weekend, as I have been able to carve out sometime here and there while the girls play 'BIG GIRLS' to scrap.

Based on the Sketch below by the talented Becky Fleck

A LO on our fitness journey, a reminder of 'how good it feels' :)

I glimmer misted and inked the white ribbon

I used my distress ink and a stencil on this LO, and some glimmer mist on the wooden hand too :)

Scrappies Scrappies Here Come the Scrappies

2011-06-23T22:14:00.001-04:00

I have some scrappies to share, some that have been sitting on my desk for a while and some that I have done just recently.

This is done on a large brown mailing envelope, I mod podged a collage of papers on it

Art journal meets LO in this one, there are many layers of paint on this

A LO of my fav guy :)

Heather took this pic for me, a fun bright pink LO

I made this mini out of a brown paper bag, its of the race we just did as a family, I loved journalling in this, reliving the event again, one of my favorite memories for sure

A few of the inside pages, truly scrappy made out of scraps of PP and odds and ends

Thanks for looking, and happy scrapping to you all :)

Best in Show

2011-06-22T08:07:00.000-04:00

We had Beau's picture taken at Westfest by Elisabeth & Jane. We got to dress Beau up, we chose a cute houndstooth bow tie which you can't see in the pic because we had to hold Beau down, he wasn't very keen on the idea of dressing up and having his picture taken. Just so you don't think we are one of THOSE TYPES...the fee went to a Dog Recue Charity (and we got some cool treats too) LOL

Squires Summer Fun List

2011-06-21T07:07:00.001-04:00

The girls helped me come up with this list to celebrate the first OFFICIAL DAY OF SUMMER, which we will be celebrating while wading in Big Sister Cate's Pool! A special thank-you to the inspiring Nora for the idea.

Bubbles and Pearls

2011-06-12T08:05:00.002-04:00

Her hair is a constant halo of blond crazy curls, that she twirls in her fingers. She has taken to wearing pearls and pretty dresses most days. Today when she got dressed she proudly asked Daddy, "How I look?" She speaks in the cutest little voice, and stammers over her words sometimes. When her big sister is at school, she can be found playing quietly all on her own, talking to herself and her dolls. She looks like this little tiny angel and then she doesn't get her way, and she balls up her fists and shakes them, and the crying and yelling begins. Oh boy do you have a tempter right now! You are a terrible eater at dinner time and getting you to eat anything but wiener wraps is an exercise in frustration. You still love to watch Dora, and you can play computer games all on your own now. You navigate your way around Nick Jr/PBS Kids site all on your own figuring out how to play new games. Your love to dance, even though your a clutz, and can be heard saying "check this out!" Your so easy to put to bed at night, and I love it when I tuck you in and you say "I love you Mom".

Kasey at 3.

Cupcake Fondue

2011-06-11T18:44:00.001-04:00

Kasey and I made these yummies Friday for a group of girls that were coming over for an art journal party. I got the idea on Pinterest, and then found this recipe. The cupcakes were actually the 2nd attempt, the previous attempt having failed miserably the night before. Yes I messed up cupcakes from a box LOL. But in the end they did look awfully pretty. No one really ate them, but they did look good. So now what do I do with all the left over cupcakes?

Magic of ACTIONS

2011-06-09T16:25:00.001-04:00

I don't have a fancy camera, and I truthfully I am not very good with a camera. But as a scrapbooker I want 'pretty' pictures to scrapbook and I can't rely on my sweet friends all the time for taking pictures. So photo ACTIONS to the rescue! All you do is 'press a button' and the ACTION takes you through a number of fancy editing steps automatically. Best part, many are free! I love THE COFFEE SHOP BLOG, it has many fantastic free actions and tutorials on how to use them.

These photos have been edited with actions from the coffeeshop blog, mainly ICEPOP, COLOR POP and MOODY POP,

Finally Donna Downey!

2011-06-06T07:08:00.002-04:00

Thank-you Natasha for taking our picture, I am so going to treasure this :)

I know its a bit silly but I do think of certain 'scrapbookers' and 'artists' as celebrities and meeting them is akin to meeting a movie star in my book. So when I had the chance to take a class from non other than Donna Downey herself on Friday I was a little awe struck and shy LOL. Truly a bucket list moment for me. I loved the artsy little album we made and I finished the inside of it up this weekend with my favorite quotes that I have been collecting on Pinterest. Its messy and full of sloppy writing but I love it. Thank-you Donna.

Scrapbook and Cards Today Challenge

2011-06-05T15:38:00.003-04:00

Heather posted a challenge to our little FB scrappy group to do the June Scrapbook and Cards Today Project 12 Sketch. I am all for a challenge and I am surprisingly loving 2 page LO's of late. I think the secret is the sketch, I am loving the sketches. So here's my take, a LO with some fun memories from a recent girls night. I used Pink Paislee's Soiree line, an all time favorite, and the corresponding Color Connection Clam pack from Tattered Angels.

Scrapbook Challenges

2011-06-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

A group of friends and I have been putting scrapbook challenges back and forth on a Facebook Group. I love doing this its like being at a crop playing together and I love working from a challenge as it makes scrapping even more fun. I stayed home from the gym today feeling pretty blah with a cold, as is Kasey. Funny thing is I actually scrapped 2 pages this morning, somehow the combination of cold pills, slowing down and the kids playing really nicely just worked out LOL!.

Inspiration for the LO below, challenge posted by Rachel

I painted green and blue glimmer mist onto the cardstock.

Challenge: To scrap a page about yourself and journal about where you are or where you are going.

The Journalling in the LO above reads: I feel like I am living a fairytale. My fairy godmother has come and granted me self confidence, words to write, and self love....for the first time in YEARS! I feel pretty. For so long I truly felt 'ugly' in my skin...its about so much more than loosing weight...its about finding me.

Challenge: Create a LO where you mimic images from a PP by doodling AND/OR use a variety of text in a title.

So does anyone else feel like playing along?

Window Display

2011-06-01T07:18:00.001-04:00

Heidi Grace PP

I found this piece of patterned paper shown above a little while ago in my scrap stash and was totally inspired by all the little windows. So I painted some of my own on canvas :) Can't wait to hang these up in the play room.

Next time your rooting around in your paper stash look for a piece that inspires you to make something.

A really long canvas

A Great Weekend

2011-05-29T18:28:00.001-04:00

Its Sunday evening and a truly excellent weekend has been had. I have just shared the perfect dessert with Kayleigh. I was craving a Dairy Queen blizzard BADLY and I ended up sharing a small with her. It was the perfect amount to satisfy my craving and leave me feeling good as opposed to sick from to much. We spent the morning at a PARTY IN THE PARKING LOT Party after church with our good friends Emma and Fin. The best part of the party was Ryan came! He skipped the actual church part but at least he came to the party and got to see how COOL the church is :) Saturday night I got my PARTY on with girlfriends and discovered a love for GLEE KAROKE! (I hate glee so this is quite the surprise LOL). I even got a long run in on Saturday morning which is really good considering all the cupcakes, dessert and pulled pork sandwiches I ate this weekend. Soon the kids will be in bed and I hope to do YOU GUESSED IT some scrapping :)

Here are a few shares (thanks for looking):

LO inspired by the one below by Glue Stick Girl at 2Peas, I love how she pieced so many PP's together to make the background.

LO by GLUE STICK GIRL at 2peas

This LO is based on a challenge Heather put out to create a background with out PP using stamps! I really enjoyed this one :)

A Week in the Life: Thursday

2011-05-26T21:17:00.000-04:00

Another day in the life to share with you. Today's highlight was definitely going to see Laurie and baby Hunter. It felt so good to see her, its hard to imagine that 5 weeks ago Hunter was born! The rest of the day was very low key and that was A OK with me, I felt a bit tired today. So tired that I didn't even go to the gym, instead I worked on my cuddles and snuggles.

My cutie hubby eating some cereal before heading to work

Kay eating her first of many tube yogurts for the day, doesn't she look OLD here!

Here we are with Baby Hunter, oh my goodness it felt good to hold him!

Kay really wanted me to take this pic of her :) Yeah its cool.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this :)

Before bed the girls and I played hair on my bed, Kay did this hair do...she calls it a UNICORN PONY TAIL

Kasey showing me my hair do

Kay asleep on my bed...she falls asleep each night on my bed and then I move her to her room when I go to sleep...don't ask LOL

A Week in the Life: Wednesday

2011-05-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

Today was a very very good day, one filled with fun! So much so that the girls crashed hard tonight :) I love days like this...here's a peak into our Wednesday.

I snapped this pic when I went in to wake Kasey up, she would have kept on sleeping if she had her way.

Kayleigh had a Teddy Bear Picnic at the gym today, here the girls are dressing their Teddy Bears up

Kayleigh did her own hair today, actually suits the gym...a la Jane Fonda no?

Posing with her bear

Cutie Pies

Heading to the gym to run hills on the treadmill, can't you see I am excited :) LOL

Kasey super excited to be at her 'GOOLS' to see the fire truck

Seriously can not get enough of this kid!

Kasey was scared of the firetruck and spent the whole time in the field playing with dandelions, oh well made for some great pictures

Kasey and I went to the chip truck to meet a friend of hers after the chip truck only we messed up the time and missed them, oh well we still got to eat chips :)

After picking Kay up from school we met Heather and crew at the park for a good sun and sand visit

Getting the sand out before bed! The bath water was brown LOL!

A Week in the Life: Tuesday

2011-05-25T11:02:00.001-04:00

I thought it would be fun to try and capture a week in the life with the girls by carrying around my camera and getting shots of what our days look like. The girls are at a great age right now, were they are best friends, bitter enemies, full of imagination, and generally pretty cool kids to be around. I want to make sure I capture these moments, plus it makes great material to scrapbook. So day one being a holiday week was Tuesday, and I did ok with remembering the camera. Today I vow to do better!

Here's what Tuesday looked like :)

Morning cuddles, her very favorite

Beau doesn't like camera flash and is trying to jump up

Kasey finally awake, and coming down stairs with an arm load of very important stuff

Kasey over hears Kayleigh say she is going to go upstairs and take something of Kasey's

Kayleigh making the mad dash up stairs to take her sister's doll, and Kasey yelling NOOOO

Daily craft time....now more trouble because the puppy tries to eat everything

Lunch before dashing off to school, left over pizza, some turkey and strawberries.

My favorite snacks right now almonds, and strawberries

Kasey playing on the computer while Kay is in school. Kasey learned how to use the mouse and can navigate her way through all the games on her own now! No more fake keyboard for her LOL.

Serious game player.

Iced coffee, with non fat milk, and sugar free vanilla syrup..my guilty pleasure :)

Crazy dog, did 100 tail chasing laps while growling.

On a Scrap Roll

2011-05-24T07:34:00.001-04:00

After a busy weekend filled with activities and guests I really took advantage of a quiet house yesterday and scrapped to my heart's content. Kayleigh and Kasey would come and 'help' every once and awhile. I would let them trim the papers, or have the important job of 'watching' LOL.

Based on Maggie Holmes Tutorial on Making Memories Blog

Scrappy Holiday Monday

2011-05-23T14:58:00.001-04:00

I am enjoying some scrappy time this afternoon. Our family guests have left after a weekend visit, we are down to two kids from four, and the house is relatively quiet. I should have gone for a run, but instead I ate pie and ice-cream and am scrapbooking :)

A challenge posted to friends based on a sneak peak from Studio Calico

Happy Belated Birthday Grandpa

2011-05-18T07:41:00.000-04:00

Happy belated Birthday Grandpa, we are so sorry we missed it. We LOVE LOVE LOVE you loads :)

Tuesday Scrappies

2011-05-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Thought I would share some scappies I did last week. I even did another double pager, I love working from those PageMaps we got at the crop last week. Also working on some paintings I hope to share soon.

Based on pagemap below

NSD Scrappies

2011-05-09T08:14:00.001-04:00

I love a challenge, I love love a challenge! and their were challenges galore at the crop this past weekend. Not only were their challenges but a bunch of crazy friends participating to win tickets. Here are some of the LO's I did this and the challenges that went with them. Thank-you Rachel and Heather for coming up with the challenges.

Did this one Sunday :) Was still on a scrappy roll

A 'Heidi' bow LOL

Based on the Becky Fleck Page Map below, one of the crop challenges

Based on the Becky Fleck Page Map below, a crop challenge

Crop Challenge, a PINK LO for Breast Cancer

Based on a Becky Fleck Page Map (below)

National Scrapbook Day

2011-05-08T18:27:00.001-04:00

I had the most wonderful weekend celebrating my much loved hobby scrapbooking, for National Scrapbook Day, this weekend. We also raised money for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, helping to raise money for a fellow scrapper that is walking in the big walk...60KM! How amazing is that, way to go Adrian! It started with a crop Friday night with all my favorite scrappy friends (Natasha, Lori, Linda, Jan, Rachel, Heather, LouLou, Luce, Stechie, Mell, Karen C, Karen M, Marlene, Sandy, and Tracy...aren’t I a lucky girl!). Then later that night I enjoyed a sleep over and some special time with Mell and Stechie, talk about an awesome way to cap of the evening. (loved the chicken robot star wars!). Saturday morning Mell and I didn’t drag our butts to the gym, we willing got them there and enjoyed a great workout before the Saturday all day crop. Yes that’s right a whole evening, night, and day doing what I love best scrapping, laughing and hanging with friends (no kids whining!). The day started off great but took a little turn for bummer ville when someone from another table complained about how loud we were (and I think maybe me in particular? really me loud?). I know I give off a I don’t care attitude, that I act like something like that would roll of my back, but it didn’t. It really bugged me. Bugged me in that make me crawl inside myself, and want to cry way. I think I was feeling a little emotional that day. I felt happy to be surrounded by friends, at one point I even spontaneously yelled out (oh oh I yelled!) WHO’s HAVING FUN? I AM!! Our table burst out into laughter and giggles. But I did get a nasty look from the grump table behind us. So to go from that high, happy, and blessed place to sad was not fun. At first I felt hurt and sad, and then I felt angry. I wanted to go ‘complain’ about the grouchy no fun crowd. Why come out to crop if you want a quiet environment? I wanted to call them a bunch of grouchy old ladies but they weren’t old and to be honest we have a bunch of retired women at our fun table that are a RIOT!! I eventually shook it off, honestly tried my best to tone it down, and had a HELL of A LOT of FUN! I even met a really cool girl who is running a marathon in May and she had lots of great advice for me and stories on running. I can’t wait to get to know her better. Thanks for listening to my weekend rant, I think the noise patrol was still bugging me a bit, and like all things BLOG IT and it feels better!

Here’s a mini I made :)

Collection Fair

2011-05-06T03:26:00.000-04:00

Kayleigh is having a collection fair at school today. She has been working on her 'collection' gathering the items, and working on a way to display and sort the collection at the fair. She picked ribbons for her collection (very handy pick with a scrappy mom). We made a book for her to display her ribbons in. I cut up a cereal box and she coated it in gesso and painted it. We played around with some art techniques, did a ric rac mask with glimmer mist, and even a alcohol and water color resist. I punched holes down the side of each page and she picked and TIED the ribbon herself :)
For fun we added a bunch of ribbons to her hair today and made a ribbon bracelet too :)
I have to admit when I saw her 'manning' her table at the fair I teared up, she's so grown up!

The bracelet she made

When she's nervous she chews her nails

Look how RED her cheeks got!

3 friends :) I love that Kay's friends seem to adore Kasey :)

The cover she painted it with a blue water color and then added drops of alcohol blending solution for the fun effect

I punched butterflies and she mod podged them on to this page

This is the ric rac stencil she did with glimmer mist over paint.

Voices of Motherhood

2011-05-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

I entered a writing contest at Yummy Mummy and while not chosen as a winner I did have a lot of fun writing my entry and wanted to share it with you here :) The topic was 'how has motherhood changed you?'

I bet if you ask one hundred mothers how motherhood has changed them, you will get a fair number of sunshine and lollipop answers, about how it has made them better people. Why even the Grand Diva Jennifer Lopez herself has said that motherhood saved her life. Let me tell you how motherhood has changed me. Motherhood has turned me into the Green Horned Yelling Monster (GHYM). I am a stay at home mom of two young girls, 2 and 4. My neighbors cringe when they hear me loading the kids in the car in the morning, yelling all manner of instructions, on what not to do and what to STOP RIGHT NOW! I used to be a branch manager at a staffing agency. Not once in the 7 years I worked there did I yell at an employee or a customer, even if I really really wanted to. I didn’t turn into the GHYM right away. Even I wouldn’t yell at a sweet little baby, but once they started whining non-stop, fighting, and not listening I could feel the horns forming. The funny thing is that while I was in the baby buffer zone, I remember my sister in law used to yell at her children and I was horrified. I recall I made sure to use my best Stepford Mommy voice with my own child that weekend trying to rub her nose in how patient I was with my own two year old. Then baby number two came along, and hit the terrible two’s and I found myself out numbered by whiners. I think my lowest point was this winter when I locked the keys in the car (thankfully not with the children in it) and I had to walk the oldest to school, while pulling the youngest in a sled. I believe the sound track went something like this: “Do not touch the snow, put the snow down, walk faster, MOVE MOVE MOVE this is business not playtime!” I sounded like a drill sergeant not a mother. My poor daughter just wanted to play in the newly fallen snow, as children are likely to do. I did not stop and smell the flowers that day. No I did not. It get’s worse, remember how I said I was horrified when I first heard my sister in law yell; imagine my reaction when I first heard my oldest daughter yelling at her little sister in an oddly familiar tone. I cringed realizing that was exactly what I sounded like. I am not alone in the yelling, my husband is guilty of it too, and that’s where the GHYM double standard comes into play. He comes home from work and after a mere 20 min looses patience and raises his voice. Where as I have had a full day of whining to listen to before I loose my patience. I feel like I at least have given it a good honest try before the green horns erupt. I feel guilty almost immediately after raising my voice in lack of patience. Many an evening I have cried on my husbands shoulder telling him what a bad mother I am and how I have likely ruined our children. I wake up each morning with a prayer to help me file off my horns and soften my voice and nurture my children with my tone. Some days I even succeed. Today my GHYM skills actually came in handy. The girls and I were at the sugar bush when a small group of older boys pushed past my 4 year old knocking her face first into the snow. I unleashed the full feral fury of the GHYM on those little hellions! Today my little girl looked at me like she had a tamed GHYM pet to protect her. Today was a good day.

Fairy Houses

2011-05-01T08:11:00.003-04:00

We spent an amazing beautiful day outdoors yesterday, here in Norland. The girls and I had a fairy adventure. I have always loved the forrest and gathering and playing in it. I think its because I spent much of my childhood playing at my grandparents home out on the lake admist the forrest. So yesterday we went on a small walk to gather some housing supplies (I say small walk because Kasey had to stop and clear her shoe of some sort of debris every 10 sec's LOL). We gathered empty milk pods, the silk from the milk pods, dried grass, twigs, bark from the ground, rocks, and acorns. Then went to work constructing our fairy house. I told the girls that in the night the fairies would come and have a party in it. So we made sure to set a table with little acorn top bowls :) It was so much fun playing outside in the warm sun, using our imagination to create something.

Gathering acorns for the table setting

We made the walls of the house out of log bark from the woodpile.

Adding silk from the milk pods for pillows

See the green moss, that's the rug :)

Happy little builder :)

Just some cuteness from the back

EDIT: My mom gave me some glitter this morning and we sprinkled it on the house and then called the kids over..they were flipping out that the fairies had come and had a glitter party in their house :) So cute!

Going with the Fairy theme, I must share this link with you. Last week when I was picking Kayleigh up from school I met one of her friends mom's and admired the jewelry she had on. It turns out that she is the artist! She even invited us to her home and we had a quick peak at the work behind all her beautiful creations. I LOVE HER WORK! They make beautiful fairy jewelry out of items from nature and industrial findings. Think acorns and nuts and bolts. She also does very elaborate leather work. They had a show this weekend in TO and you can see how they dress up for the show on her website :) HOW FUN!

She Art Mini

2011-04-27T11:47:00.000-04:00

In this month's Creating Keepsakes magazine they feature a mini album filled with plain shipping tags with hand drawn and colored doodling. I fell in love with it and wanted to make my own mini using shipping tags, doodling and paint. The album was a great jumping of point, and I soon found myself really into the painting and layering. I did this whole album yesterday evening, I just went for it, playing and not being picky. I love the way it came out. I even added a 'SHE ART' girl to the cover (I love the idea of using them in places other than a canvas).

Can't for the life of me...

2011-04-26T14:24:00.000-04:00

This is the last LO out of my scrappy long weekend and I can not for the life of me find the source of the scraplift. I jotted down a sketch of a LO I saw somewhere and forgot to write down the source. I have flipped through my CK mag, the Studio Calico Gallery and the Two Peas DT Gallery and can not find the LO. So whoever came up with this lovely design thank-you because I really like this LO :)

Last Day of the Easter Long Weekend

2011-04-25T15:11:00.000-04:00

Its the last day of what has been an awesome Easter Long Weekend. We have enjoyed loads of outdoor time hanging in the backyard, grilling, Ryan playing guitar and the girls chasing the dog. We have worked out and played hard too. This morning I got to sleep in, and woke up to pancakes. I even got to go to the gym and the grocery store without any kids in tow! Trust me that was a treat. This afternoon Kayleigh and I went on a big girl bike ride, she even 'stretched' after her exercise :) LOL.

Thought I would share two pages I scrapped this morning while the girls watched a movie.

I have been admiring LO's with borders made out of little scraps of PP of late and thought I would give it a try. A great way to use your scraps.

One of my favorite photos and moments from the cruise. I used some lace paper as a stencil with my glimmer mist to make the background. I also used glimmer mist on white streamers to mimic the look of the streamers in the pic. There is a glare on the transparency used on the LO, in real life it doesn't look noticeable.

Princess Scrappies

2011-04-24T08:52:00.001-04:00

The long weekend is awesome so far, had a great run, an Easter outing, lots of relax time for scrappies and oh yeah a Weiner Dog Escapee adventure too. Here are some Princess pages I have been working on.

Had to throw in a pic of the Wienz :)

Easter at Billings Estate

2011-04-23T16:12:00.001-04:00

A rainy day spent at Billings Estate. We gathered eggs by completing activities like egg dying, making chocolate, crafts, face painting and petting animals. Once we earned our eggs the Easter Bunny awarded the kids with more candy :) Although the day wasn't the story book picture of the girls frolicking through grass covered hills, in pretty dresses in search of Easter Eggs it was a fun day.

She is...making the most of it

2011-04-19T08:49:00.000-04:00

She is...

2011-04-18T10:58:00.001-04:00

I finished this girl this morning while doing some painting with Kayleigh. We had some fun one on one time getting messy and trying to keep the dog out of trouble. I am quite surprised Beau didn't get paint on him, ever try painting with a wiener dog in your lap? LOL

Happy 3rd Birthday Kasey

2011-04-16T08:46:00.000-04:00

It was Kasey's 3rd Birthday yesterday, ask how old she is and she says 4! I wanted to make the morning special by making her pancakes but lets be honest I was too tired and lazy, so we drove to McD's and ordered pancakes to take home. I served them on princess plates though :) In the afternoon the girls had a mini spa day at Goobers and had their nails, hair, and make up done. They loved the special attention. For dinner we ordered pizza, opened some pressies, and ate the DORA cake that the girls and I made. TRUST ME...scroll through to the end of all these pictures, because the cake is so worth it. LOL.

Flying Kites

2011-04-14T07:55:00.002-04:00

I started this canvas for Kayleigh last weekend and had it about 90% complete. I finished it off last night. Now that I have spent two days watching Christie's SHE ART videos I wold have done things much differently. I have to much going on in the piece and its over worked. But hey its still cute and Kayleigh loves it. The dresses are what inspired me to do the piece, they are chipboard pieces from Fancy Pants. I can't wait to get to work on another one.

Paying it Forward

2011-04-11T20:33:00.000-04:00

I have been eyeing this class of Christie Tomlinson's for sometime now. I have wanted to take it so badly, but have resisted wanting to be responsible with spending (you know the whole stay at home mom on a budget thing). Last week an incredible lady purchased 10, TEN, T.E.N. spots for the class to pay it forward to other woman. Her act spurred Christie into offering 20 spots on her blog as a way of paying it forward. How amazing is that! So I entered my name on her blog and today I saw that I was chosen as one of the winners! I have never won anything on a blog before and I really wanted to take this class, so you can imagine how happy I was. Could this story get any better? Yes it can. I have a freind who also really wanted to take the class and like me was being budget conscious (may I say being budget conscious blows). So I asked Christie if my very good freind Rachel could take the class instead of me. I won the spot because of a pay it forward spirit, and lets just say that spirit is catching. It felt really good to do that and I think I made my dear freind very happy. Could this story get any better? Yes it can. Christie being the incredible and amazing woman she is GAVE US BOTH SPOTS in the class. I was floored by her act of kindness. I had goosebumps for a good 30 min afterward. I called my mom and squealed with delight. So a huge thank-you to the woman who purchased 10 spots out of the kindness of her heart, and the incredibly kind Christie who kept the giving going.
I am so excited to sit back with my cup of tea tonight and delve into the class videos. eeeee.

Kids play

2011-04-11T14:09:00.001-04:00

Just had to share a quick funny here with you. One of the things I love about kids is watching them play make believe, its amazing what their little minds will dream up. I have noticed over the years that their play is largely based on mimicking their real lives. A few years ago when we were doing some work around the house, Kayleigh played HOME DEPOT and IKEA a lot. After a trip to the Dr or Dentist there are usually a few games of that to be had. After our Disney Cruise the girls were really into dressing up as Princesses and having GRAND BALLS and calling each other YOUR HIGHNESS. Their day to day play is usually made up of playing school, or babies. Well last night they were sitting side by side on the couch with their dolls and it went something like this.

Kayleigh: "ahhh do you miss your Daddy? do you want me to call him?

Kasey: yeahhhhh

Kayleigh: (picks up play phone) (pause) oh no one is there, let me check my COMPUTER. Oh noooo! Your DOG IS DEAD.

Kasey: that's ok I will get a new one.

Well it was funny and it also made me think: 1) Frodo is still on their minds 2) mmm what did we teach them getting a new dog so quickly 3) and I use to the computer to much.

Ballerina Mixed Media Painting

2011-04-10T08:47:00.000-04:00

I was struck by the mood to play with paints and messy materials Friday night after watching Christie Tomlinson's videos on masks and stencils. I created this painting for Kasey's room and am half way through a second for Kayleigh (much more pastel). Have I told you how much I love playing with paint.

Easter Foraging

2011-04-09T17:18:00.001-04:00

The girls and I took advantage of the beautiful weather Friday and headed down to the boardwalk in Chapman Mills. We walked along the river foraging for branches on the ground to use in making an Easter Tree. Why buy branches at M's when you get them for free, get some exercise, and enjoy the signs of spring. We had fun pulling apart cat tails (AKA Fairy Wands) and letting the wind blow the MAGIC fluff all over (insert not fun to remove from micro fleece running jacket). The weinz enjoyed learning all about sticks, and how to chew and carry them. Once home we put the branches in a vase and hung our Easter eggs from them. Voila. Easter Egg Tree.

oops left the tags on :) LOL

Joy

2011-04-08T13:19:00.001-04:00


Kasey cuddling Beau in a Dora trance

Joy. I feel joyful today. I was walking the dog with the girls to school, the sun was shining down on us, and I was laughing at Beau in full out wiener tilt running along side the kids. This little guy is giving us a lot of joy, from morning cuddles, and evening snuggles, and games of TAGGLE (kay's tug of war game). We have settled into a routine quite nicely. We cuddle in the morning and then leave for school and the gym (under 2 hours) and he seems to be handling our absence just fine. We have crazy wiener games like TAGGLE and then eat our lunch. Then we walk Kayleigh to school. At first Beau would handle about 2 blocks each way running or walking. Today he walked/ran the whole way to school (Kay likes to run to school). He seems to love getting outside. The afternoons is sleepy time for this tired out pup and often cuddle time for Kasey and I. (I have let the routine chores slide this week a bit while we all get used to each other, well that's my excuse anyway). Then we walk to Kay's school to get her. Afternoons involve more play and then puppy naps. Once Daddy gets home he goes crazy again. He sleeps/cuddles most of the evening and he is great at night. He gets up once to pee and that's it. Sometimes having him around makes me feel like we have a new baby in the house. I have to watch the kids like a hawk to make sure they don't leave things out where he can get them. Yesterday afternoon while Beau was sleeping I was actually tiptoeing around the house not wanting to wake him! I still miss Frodo a lot. I keep expecting to hear him at the door when I come in, or to feel him at my feet in bed at night. Yesterday, while buying a new toy for Beau Kasey told the sales lady that her dog died and it tore my heart. But the days are getting better and the hurt no so raw. I think this little guy has helped us all a lot. Thank-you Beau.

A favorite picture

2011-04-08T13:00:00.001-04:00

I scrapped one of my favorite pictures of Kayleigh and Frodo last night. I did a mixed media style page and got into the flow of painting and creating while thinking of the little guy. Art Therapy :)

Scrappies from the Box

2011-04-07T14:28:00.001-04:00

I enjoyed a great Saturday at the box this past weekend before the sadness with Frodo hit. The family and I went to the gym early and I was out of the house by 11:00 AM and I scrapped until 11:00 PM! The best part is it was a small group of women so Stechie and I had time to catch up, and we got to hang and enjoy Natasha too. Great day!


I laid the lace paper on top of the glitter paper by accident while tidying up and loved how it looked so I used the combo in my LO.

Missing him so much

2011-04-05T14:32:00.002-04:00

The house is quiet, Beau is asleep in his crate (he's such a good boy), Kayleigh is at school, and Kasey is in a Dora trance. I am watching Frodo's video, and I feel like my throat is being squeezed and my heart hurts. I MISS HIM SO MUCH. I can't get over how much. I feel guilty too. Frodo and I had a hard year. He was peeing on the floor so much, stealing food from the kids (snapping it out of their hands) and with the two young kids to care for I would get upset. He would crawl up in my lap and I would push him to the floor, and tell him to go lay down somewhere else. I didn't snuggle with him as much as we used to. I wish I had snuggled him more, and not gotten angry when he peed on the carpet. I wish he was here. I love him.
So in the meantime the family and I are crying and talking and remembering and cuddling our new little Beau.

Beau

2011-04-05T08:10:00.003-04:00

This is Baby Beau, our new family member (as Kayleigh calls him). We brought him home yesterday afternoon. I know it seems really soon given that Frodo left us Sunday. Our hearts are hurting so much, we know we are a dog family, and waiting just didn't seem right for us. We had a great afternoon of getting used to one another. Lots of laughs with the silly guy. We got him peeing outside, WOOT WOOT! When bedtime rolled around their were still lots of tears and big hugs and cries over Frodo from us all, but somehow little Beau made it all a bit easier to bear. I was nervous about how his first night would go. But we had him sleeping in the crate next to our bed quite well, with minimal whimpering, and he got up to pee just fine in the night and morning. Honestly, last night felt just like I did when Kasey came home and spent her first night sleeping next to me in her crib. I was on high mommy alert last night. This morning we played hard, and now we are cuddling on the couch while Beau sleeps. Its going to be a good day.

Frodo

2011-04-03T18:25:00.001-04:00

Today we lost of our little wiener dog. He was 10 years old, he peed on the carpets and ate our underwear. He survived back surgery 2 years ago after his back legs became paralyzed and an exploratory surgery to remove lumps a year ago. This dog bounced back and was jumping up on the bed and knocking down the children to steal their food. He spent most of his time as you can see in the video with Kayleigh either snuggling by choice or in a cuddle headlock. When Kayleigh was a baby she sucked his tail, and once when she was 8 months old they laid on the floor side by side and each chewed on their toys. Just last week I put Kayleigh to bed and she fell asleep with Frodo cheek to cheek. When I was pregnant with Kayleigh I napped a lot and I napped every day with Frodo laying against my belly, even before she was born they were cuddling.
This morning Frodo woke up making funny breathing noises. We lay with him in bed, Kayleigh too and rubbed his belly and his back while he struggled to breath for about 15 min. We couldn't bare seeing him struggle so we took him to the pet hospital. After seeing the Dr. we expected to leave Frodo in the hospital to be stabilized and he would see a cardiologist on Monday. We expected to take him home Monday and for him to be on medicine for congestive heart failure and to have maybe another 6 months to two years with him. It wasn't good but it wasn't the end of the road. We said goodbye to Frodo and Kayleigh was very very upset and had hard time saying goodbye. I suspect she knew that this was her last time. On our way home the Dr. called to tell us that Frodo's heart had stopped. We took the girls home and told them....IT WAS HORRIBLE...I can't describe how awful that was. We spent he next hour in our bed with the girls looking at scrapbooks of Frodo and talking about him. All day we have all walked around numb and then start crying and talking and sharing. Kayleigh has been crying and talking a lot about him dying, heaven, where he is, is he coming back, why we die...its so hard. The poor kid has had some tough lessons this week. Kasey is handling it much better, as she doesn't understand nearly as much as Kayleigh does. I know time will heal most of this raw hurt. So we are just slowing down and loving one another and talking about Frodo. I would love to have him back peeing on my carpet and eating my underwear, I really truly would. I miss him so much. I can't get over how much this hurts. My heart hurts for Kayleigh even more. Today I searched through my pictures for pictures of him (I have scrapbooks of him) but wanted pics from my Mac. It was like I was 'looking for him'. I knew where to look....he will be there under the covers in that picture, by that blanket, in her lap...it was like finding him.

Scrapping Away

2011-04-01T18:08:00.000-04:00

I am so looking forward to getting away this Saturday to do some scrapbooking at one of my favorite places to hang (the Box). I signed up at the last minute today after arranging for Ryan and I to take our Sat spin class earlier in the morning (got to make time for the family exercise). Oh I am so looking forward to this ME time (last weekend Ryan went away to a friends cottage...need I say more). So until then here are some scrappies I did this week while sneaking in some Me time in the evening.

Loved the BEE card for this LO...Be true, Be yourself...etc...even the THREE was perfect as she turns 3 in two weeks :)

The LO warped because of the Glimmer Mist I need to flatten it. The PP on the LO all came from my scrap basket :) Super quick and fun LO :)

Telling the Truth

2011-03-28T21:12:00.001-04:00

Today was a tough day for Kayleigh and one that really tore at my heart. I was getting Kayleigh ready for school and noticed some little blocks in her backpack. I asked her where she got the blocks and she told me that her teacher had handed them out to the kids. I knew that she was lying and was able to eventually get her to tell me the truth, that she had taken them from her class. I told her that we would put them in her note tote with a note saying that she had taken them and was sorry (she was going to sign her name). She went hysterical once she realized that she had to tell her teacher that she had taken them. She was crying and hyperventilating saying that she was scared. I remember being her age and taking a paper clip from my kindergarten class. The guilt over taking that paper clip ate away at me, so much that one day while out playing I heard a police siren and was convinced the police were coming for me. I told my mom about it after that. I tried to share my story with Kayleigh to show her that all kids do this, that we make mistakes and then say sorry and tell the truth. She was still so upset and so scared. I have to admit part of me wanted to just make it better, to take the easy route and tell her that she didn't have to tell her teacher. I knew I wasn't going to get her out the door in the next 10 min to get to school without a big fight. I was at a loss as to what to do. I prayed for God to help me. I called my mom (yes I still need my mom) My mom told me that I should go with her to tell her teacher. So I hung up the phone thinking that was the plan. I explained to Kayleigh that I would go with her. She was still upset and getting more and more hysterical. I know my daughter and if I tried to get her out of the house and to school she would have thrown up in the car she was that upset. At this point I thought the best thing to do was to keep her home, calm her down, and talk about it more. I called my mom back because I needed reassurance that I was doing the right thing. We had grandma tell Kayleigh that she loved her and was proud of her for telling the truth. I told Kayleigh that I was proud of her for telling the truth, and that she made a mistake and learned her lesson. When Daddy came home tonight she told him what happened with big tears in her eyes, and he too told her that he was proud of her for telling the truth. We had a big talk, mostly led by Kayleigh about why the truth is so important at dinner. Tonight while putting her to bed she said she was so sorry and wished she hadn't done it and was still scared about telling her teacher. I told her that her teacher would be proud of her too. I emailed her teacher earlier today to tell her what happened and I will take Kayleigh in tomorrow so she doesn't have to do it by herself. I really really hope it goes ok. I have no doubt that once we are at the school gate and she tells her teacher all will be better. I bet she will feel very relieved. I am just worried that we will have another hysterical fit to get her there, then again she may just surprise me. Today was the first of what is likely to be many tough lessons for both daughter and mother. This parenting stuff is tough.

Hopeful Hearts Everafter Chairty Event

2011-03-27T20:06:00.005-04:00

The girls and I had a really fun afternoon at the Hopeful Hearts Everafter Charity Event (thank-you Laurie for pointing it out to us). The girls dressed up in Princess dresses and had their hair done by hairdressing students, their nails painted, and faces painted. They also had balloon animals, cookie decorating, crafts, story telling, and games. My favorite part was the girls getting their hair done, as you know from my previous post this weekend, hair-do's are kind of a special treat. When Kasey was finished she hogged the mirror and kept twirling around looking at herself, it was rather cute. Even funnier was how quickly her hair came undone and she soon looked like a Princess that had been up too late partying (a little Lindsay Lohan LOL).

They both sat so still while having their hair done, maybe this is the key to calming them down.

Cookie decorating, the sugar here may have contributed to Kasey's unraveled look later on :)

Getting their nails done, and yes Kasey chose HARLOT RED!

Kasey unraveling....

Sunday Scrappies

2011-03-27T08:31:00.001-04:00

I am really enjoying playing with my new Pink Paislee (House of 3) scappy goodies. I did one LO Friday night while enjoying a party for one (chick flick, diet coke and scrapbooking) and even snuck another out Sat morning while the kids played dress up. I am hoping for some more scraptime this evening, wish me luck girls.

Playing Hair

2011-03-25T20:04:00.002-04:00

The girls and I enjoyed a bike ride and some time in the park this afternoon, but it was very cold. When we got home we just couldn't seem to warm up, even with bellies full of KD, so I poured the girls a hot bath. Not wanting them to be cold with wet hair I decided to blow dry their hair. Blowing drying was a special treat, if you know me, you know that hair dryer rarely gets used LOL. It was so relaxing and fun to play with their hair. I have to admit I was really curious to see how Kasey's curly hair would look.

GUESS WHO THIS IS?

Its KASEY!!!! When I showed her this picture she was convinced it was Kayleigh. Kasey can't stop looking in the mirror, its so cute. Its like Christmas for her, she's always saying she wants long straight hair like her older sister. Good Lord I hope she doesn't expect me to blow dry it often LOL :)

Here's a few more cutie pics :)

Mad Hatter

2011-03-25T07:38:00.001-04:00

I made a roadtrip to the scrapbox yesterday to pick up some goodies. I spent my April budget and its not even April LOL. But I just had to get my hands on the new Pink Paislee House of 3 papers. They were perfect for our Alice and the Mad Hatter Tea Party pictures. I cleaned of my scrap space last night, organized my new goodies and went to work. Check out the paper pieced HAT I made the Mad Hatter :)

I also snapped this photo this morning because I couldn't resist sharing how cute this kid is in the morning. Just look at that bed head hair, sweet cheeks, and the SOCKS...Kay is crazy about her socks!

Doodlebug Challenge

2011-03-24T11:11:00.004-04:00

Playing along with Rachel and gave my hand at scraplifting one her LO's (my LO is above). Weee (below) is one of my favorite LO's. It is so fun, and free and scrap by the seat of your pants. So I went my version of this LO :) Fun fun fun :)

A Heidi Inspired Mini Album

2011-03-24T07:28:00.001-04:00

I love how generous Heidi Swapp is in sharing with us her ideas and instructions on how to make really cute handmade journals. I have been watching her Wednesday night webshow religiously for over a year and have tried my hand at a number of her album ideas. This past week I put together my version (ie. not nearly as well crafted LOL) of her latest mini album style. In the album I have placed some of our cruise memories and now the album sits in the kitchen for the kids to play with. On a side note, the girls really do love looking through all the mini albums. You would think they would be fascinated with the buttons and flowers and all things pretty but no its the pictures they love :)

Hello Cutie Blog Challenge #2

2011-03-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

My crazy spirited friend Rachel is on the DT at the Hello Cutie Challenge blog. This challenge was based on the following photo and you have free rein to use it as inspiration in creating something.

Rachel's creation was a very elegant LO, with stunning hand cutting and a touch of whimsy in the butterflies. I love it Rachel!

Our friend Heather played along too, and quite honestly her idea to use the photo as a literal sketch for a LO was brilliant!

Inspired by her literal use of the photo I tried my hand at a water color painting of the photo in my art journal. Then I taped a pic of Kayleigh in it like a picture hung above the mantel and added some journaling. This was super fun, I hope they do more photo challenges.

Signs of Spring

2011-03-22T18:32:00.002-04:00

Today Kasey and I added some spring things to our seasonal table (a round table with compartments to display things). I am looking forward to going on a nature walk once all the snow is gone to find some natural signs of spring to add to the table. We also filled our Mini Album bowl up with spring and summer books. The girls love looking through them, and it was really neat to see how much they have changed from just one year ago! Snow snow go away and Mr. Sunshine please come out and play. We are so ready for the warm weather over here.

Scrappy Friday

2011-03-18T08:19:00.005-04:00

Getting to play a little lately, scraping our cruise pictures :)

Self Esteem Issues at 2?

2011-03-16T08:00:00.004-04:00

My littlest one Kasey has always been into all things pretty. Even at two she is already demonstrating the classic curly haired syndrome of wanting straight hair. It likely doesn't help that her older sister has long straight hair. Kasey is always trying to sneak a brush to brush out her curls and saying she wants long beautiful hair like her sister. May I also say that her older sister wants the curls and keeps brushing out Kasey's curls in an attempt to take them away from her. Yes at 2 and 4 years old the hair wars have begun.

But something else has been tugging on my heart strings and it happened on the cruise. We were getting ready to leave our room and Kasey was lagging behind in front of a floor length mirror. She pointed at her birth mark on her cheek and asked what it was. We told her it was a birth mark and that it was beautiful. Kasey told us she didn't like it and wanted it taken off. That one little sentence tugged at my heart. She is two and already not liking something about herself. I hardly notice the mark anymore, its as much a part of her as her eyes and I think its beautiful. Like Cindy Crawford's mole on her cheek. Well yesterday I found Kasey in front of the mirror again starring at it with this sad look in her eyes. I came up to her and kissed it and told her how it was a beauty mark. We talked for a bit about it and sure enough her older sister then started to whine about how she wanted one! Never fails, you want what you do not have. But like magic now Kasey adores her mark, knowing her sister can't have it. LOL
I tucked Kasey into bed last night and kissed her beauty mark :)

Hello Cuties Blog Challenge

2011-03-14T08:52:00.007-04:00

My good friend Rachel is on the DT at Hello Cutie's challenge blog and I wanted to play along with their first challenge. The challenge was to create something with this color pallet.
Wouldn't you know I had pictures from the cruise with the kids in green, blue and pink...and the chipmunks are brown! HAHAHAH perfect :)

The LO is based on this LO on 2 peas.
Instead on the punched circles I placed the punched circles behind my core cardstock and sanded the circle shapes into the cardstock. Wouldn't you know the CS is brown and the core green :) perfect.

Magical Scraps

2011-03-14T08:28:00.006-04:00

I sat down to some scrapping this week and at first it went horrible wrong I started a mini, painting and glimmer misting the pages. It just didn't look right. Into the GARBAGE! So I decided that maybe I would scrap our Disney Cruise pics in 12x12 LO's instead. Guess where the first LO I did went? That's right the garbage. LOL. I do mean the garbage. So I hit the net for some inspiration and with the help of some other talented ladies got these done :)

This LO was inspired by a LO Maggie Homes did. (her LO is below)

On this LO I salvaged the Disney Cruise postcard from the mini and LO that ended up in the garbage.
This LO was inspired by Jen Jockish at 2 Peas.
and a cute picture for good measure, Kasey asleep on the couch before our dinner guests arrived Sat.

Rachy Rach Inspired

2011-03-09T13:38:00.004-05:00

I was having a really bad start to the day, with a stage 3 clinger 2 year old. I felt the need for some scrap therapy and looked on the net for some inspiration. I kept going back to this mini that Rachel did. She really worked magic making her own glimmer mist screened backgrounds. Did you know she is part of a new challenge blog? So I followed suit and made my own background for this LO. Kasey my stage 3 clinger 'helped' by passing me stuff.

Thank-you Rachel, I really love how you are always trying new things and creating unique and fun art.

Scrappies from A Gym Tale

2011-03-09T09:18:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the supreme pleasure of a scrappy night at A Gym Tale with my bud Emma. It was so good to scrap near home again (really missing A Fine Mess). It was an early night but just perfect with lots of laughs with Lindsay, and Emma and new friends. I did this 2 page LO from Valentine's day. Today I plan on a visit to my not so local scrapbook store but awesome store non the less as I am in serious need of some goodies to scrap my DISNEY pictures. I feel some scrap therapy in my near future.

I love that the first page is full of all the lollipops and sunshine journalling and 2nd page speaks the truth of how they turned into sugar monsters.
Another little LO, I found my Making Memories embroidery floss purchased like 4 or 5 years ago and went to town stitching! I did this while watching TV and trying not to get too excited about our upcoming trip.

Scrappies

2011-02-23T15:34:00.004-05:00

A super quick share of some scrappies I did this past weekend with Rachel Friday night and some Saturday morning with the kids playing 'crop'. I am busy packing for our Disney Cruise. We leave Friday and I don't know how I am going to make it, I want to GO NOW! We have house guests while we are away, my sister and my parents so I am trying to clean up a little too. Wish me luck counting down the minutes.

A wee bit scrappy

2011-02-16T07:33:00.003-05:00

I made this sweet little book after seeing Tim Holtz post this tutorial. Its the perfect little place for some sweet pics of the kids and took me less than an hour to make start to finish. Its very basic inside mostly just pics.

I also found some time to do a LO on Saturday. Its been awhile since I have 'scrapped' I have been busy writing, art journalling, and working on the brave girls class. Looking forward to some scrap time this Friday with Rach and next week at A Gym Tale. Like A Gym Tale on Facebook and check out their events page for Thursday night scrapping once a month.