One last time

The last ice cream run of the summer!

We all headed out for burgers and ice cream at the Half moon drive in. One last summer outing like that. Needless to say it was really nice to be all together and thourally enjoyed by all! We walked down by the water with our ice creams while the sun was going down , the girls danced and little Kaiella was shouting " Ocean, Ocean!!!!" as she pointed at the lake. LOL!

ETA: we were delighted to find this new soft serve called Dole whip it is dairy free and made with real fruit so Tiara could actually join in having a cone like the rest of us!!!

It has started cooling off fast in the evening , but still getting some pretty hot days here lucky for us! The girls are loving school and little Bella is settling in to her new mornings with just me. I too am getting used to appreciating that quieter time just the two of us.

I have been trying to get everything done that I need to, and start thinking about preparing for our trip to Vegas in October! I still can't believe we are going, and totally can't believe that it is with CK to boot! What a dream! So here is what I am thinking, since Cam and I are trying to decide what to plan for the two extra days we will be there and have no clue where to start, I am asking for your help! Any suggestions? Leave us some comments and tell us what we should see, ok! That should give us a starting place anyways. Thanks :)

happy weekend all

Cherish

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I thought I'd share my newest desktop for September. A little calendar to check on, and the words that mean a lot to me. The photo was from Kaiella's birthday, Cam and I took her out on her own with us and we had so much fun together! All of the goodies on here are from Scrap Artist and Designer Digitals.

I wish you all a great weekend. Over here I have got to try and clean up this house of ours over the next couple of days, just too many piles around. It seems to creep up every now and then when we get too busy. My tendonitis is back in my arm so I am back to working lefty and one handed for the time being. Any of you praying folks could definitely say one for me about that :)

The air was cold and crisp here today but oh so fresh and I am just loving it! I am surprised I haven't sniffed the window screen right up my nose yet!! We all went for a nice walk after French toasts and banana pineapple milkshakes for super, it was so nice to be outside with all of my lovies, and I could breathe it all in as deeply as I wanted with no danger of screens up the nose LOL! Goodnight and God Bless you all

My creative challenge

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ok here's the scoop! I had been putting up a challenge every Monday for awhile and when I hurt my arm it kindof died off. I really want to get some challenges going here again. I just feel that pushing ourselves to try things or see things in a new way is such an excellent way to grow! It is for me anyways :)

So for this week I want to challenge you guys to use your product in an unexpected way to create something new. Tons of freedom to play on this one, that's the idea...Just let go and totally play!!!! I guarantee it is a blast! So my example is this layout I did awhile ago for my little Kaiella right before she was turning two. I used the lacing for grass and the tags as leaves, the circle stamps are my petals and the photo is the flower centre. A growing flower ( like she is...My attempt at being symbolic while having a little fun. supplies are listed Here and the journaling says: my itty-bitty baby is somehow almost 2, I guess that means you are no longer new! but whether you are 2 or 22 you will always be my baby

So I say anyone who is inspired to play along and see where it takes them, post your layout in your gallery and give me the link here in the comments so we can all check it out! Let go of the rules and have fun!!!!! I can't wait to see some cool art :)

Annual backpack pics

Tia; oh so proud! are we gonna have to watch out for that look or what?! look at that face :)
and Emy in her great new sweater from Nana, ready for another year with all of her friends

Here they are all proud and ready to go! and then there is poor little Kaiella really not wanting her sisters to be left at school! she did okay for the first stop dropping off Emilea but then when we were leaving Tiara at preschool she realized that they were both gone and started crying " no leave my Ty-ia!!!" over and over. I assured her that we would get her back and once we got home for a nice muffin she was all good with that lol! it will be a different year for her but I am sure we will find some adventures of her own for her to participate in!

have a happy Thursday :)

beautiful noise

I dropped off both Emilea and Tiara this morning, my first ever morning leaving them both. Emilea; starting grade two thinks she is an old pro, but I still walk her in for the first day and see that she is unpacked and settling in ( and of course snap my quick photo) before leaving with my other little ones in tow as usual. But then, Tiara's turn came next, she was so excited and well prepared for this next step in her little life. Such growth from last year when I couldn't even leave her at Sunday school. She happily went in, hung up her jacket and put on her shoes, then off to a spot on the mats just as if she had done it so many times before. A wave goodbye and Kaiella and I were off. After a great summer of loving the time together the girls had begun to just have enough of each other this last week, just picking on each other and needing some space and more structure. So I was actually looking forward to my mornings with just Kaiella, a time to take a breath and give her some undivided attention. But as we drove home from Tia's preschool the van was unusually quiet, one little 2 year old looking out the window way back there. I got to thinking that while I welcome a few moments of quiet here and there I really do savor their noise LOL! All of those little voices so filled with wonder and new ideas, so much to tell me with such sincerity and innocent honesty. I love this world of mine mom-ing these little people, they really are my gifts! Even when things get hectic and most often somewhat loud, they are a total pleasure. I can't imagine how I will feel when the day comes to drop them all off for the whole day and go home to an empty house. Life evolves and changes and I will too, but I am happier than happy for now to be surrounded by small voices and little hands to hold. This is my paradise. Annual backpack photo to come later!

I think most kids have gone back to school now, I hope you are all settling well into your days. And for those with small ones still at home, please stop today and remember to just savor their beautiful noise it really is precious!

thankful & Happy

I am happy.

happy to be right here right now. The leaves have begun to change and the air is fresh and crisp yet still so wonderfully warm, we have the windows open and the freshness blowing in makes me stop and breathe deeply. I have gotten some cleaning and laundry done today which always feels so good. With the kids rooms tidied and re-arranged I stop to take an Extra long satisfying peek in as I walk down the hallway. And folding the fresh warm laundry makes me feel loving. The kids are so excited about school starting this week; Emilea ever-planning which skirt she should wear on which day and Tia walking around with her new backpack on feeling good about starting preschool ( this is big!) So as I go about the chores of the day and observe my family doing their thing around the house I just feel truly blessed and totally satisfied to be right here, nothing exciting or out of the ordinary has happened but I am just happy to have a special today. Tell me, what made your today special?

peek of perfection

"only a little peek of you at two years old. What I see is pure perfection in the way God made you perefctly you Love, Mama"

This was supposed to be my lift of our guest goddess over at scrap artist; steppedonaleggo, but it ended up being less of a lift and more of an 'inspired by' layout. Her wonderful inpiring layout is found here: http://www.scrapartist.com/gallery/s...;ppuser=1 930 A totally talented scrapper!!! credits for my layout can be found HERE

A swingin weekend

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. I have to say that I am Sorry for ignoring my blog in the last few weeks, I have had some adventures that I will have to come and write about. But for today I just wanted to say that I am totally glad to be spending this weekend enjoying the Blessings of friends and family, sunshine and the anticipation in the air for school beginning next week. We are not going away, just sticking close to home and getting lots done but it is wonderful just to be all together. Enjoy your time whatever the weekend may hold for you!

Just popping in to say...

Hello from me!!!

Cam turned the camera on me out in the backyard yesterday, nothing fancy just me being me in my house clothes and pigtails, but I'm glad when he does sometimes because all to often I am missing from the story, you know, I take all the pictures and then am not in them.

Was out tonight at my craft night with the Lisas. I always enjoy this crafty , munchy, creative, girl time. It is totally good. Even though I have a ton on the go I just wouldn't miss it! and I went to Dalcrafts on my way (one of our scrapbook stores here) just for a couple of things . Was the first time in a long time, do I ever just love walking around and being surrounded by all that good stuff!!! I just want to get my hands on all of it and play with everything! I almost bought Elsie's new book but I was good and resisted..it will happen...But not today :) I am so tired tonight , been having busy days with the girls, good busy though. Playing school, Emilea writing numbers and words and Tiara is learning to write her name, and trying to tech them to clean up what they pull out, so lots of stopping everything to clean up together. They really play nicely all three of them, which is pretty good considering that 7, 4, and 2 is a pretty big age range for play buddies!

Today I am thankful for answers, and helpful friends, God's love, and good family time, oh and let's not forget craft night!...I am thankful for craft night too

Outside the box with patterned paper

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ok, this week really is my Outside the box challenge over at Scrap Artist! Sorry for the false alarm last week :) I like this challenge I think it is fun, and I wish I did this more often! what it is is cutting shapes from your patterned paper and using them to embelish your layout. you can do this by selecting and removing the background so that only the shapes remain, or by removing the background from only one part by hand ( digitally) and if you're working with good ol' paper then pick up those scissors and get cutting!!! remember to come over and show us your pages in the OTB gallery, and come say Hi in the forum ok?!

I made this anniversary card and cut the flowers out from Lisa cohen's Tropical hideaway paper, all of the embelishments are from Michelle Coleman's Savoir Faire.

An example of cutting away the background and using the whole paper is down below if you scroll to my post called "Thinking Face" where I used the spots to embelish the page.

Hope you join in the fun!!! Happy Sunday

so happy to be swimming at long last!!!

a little visual aid to tell the story

Eyes of observation

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This is a super simple layout I did of Tiara ( I know, I know, gotta get some on here of the other 2!) It has hidden pull-out journaling that says: "your eyes are always watching, observing and taking in your surroundings.You watch from a distance for some time before deciding if you will join in . And sometimes you just decide to participate by observing and that is Okay. Watch as long as you need to, take it all in sweet girl."

I have learnt so much from her how to slow down and be more sensitive, she really has always needed that in her little world. But for me it has been an area of growth in our four years together to learn to stay back and watch with her, and I have taught her to just tell others " I am not ready" when she needs to. I wanted to make her a page to let her know that I love her just for who she is and that it is just fine to be an observer as much as she needs to. I had fun making the flowers and swirls and I am totally loving Katie's new floss stitches! Coming soon over at the Designer Digitals store For a full list of supplies you can check it out here.

yesterday was a dirty grumpy day! The very short version is that we have a pool, didn't ever really want a pool, but it came with this house 3 years ago and needed a new liner so it has been waiting to be fixed. It finally got re-done this year ( a whole big kaffufel that I won't go into ). So yesterday Cam was replacing a few of the lines while the concrete is all broken off still, and I guess something didn't get plugged up right so the very short version is that when he cut the old line there was a Huge amount of water rushing out like crazy! It holds 60,000 litres of water...So there is the two of us, filled with wet mud ( I mean clothes, hair, skin, COVERED!) arm deep in it all trying to stop the water, water is gushing way to fast to stop or bail, adrenaline is pumping, both shaking, praying Hard!! For sure a bonding moment in retrospect LOL. We really had to work together. It is all good now and after a few years of having a hole with a swamp in the backyard we are finally up and running! whoohoo!

with all of our work in the back these last few weeks we have totally neglected our house, today was cleaning day...wow felt great! Cam tackled the kitchen, so nice to see the counter again LOL and the kids had trashed their room, so I worked together with the 2 older girls to get everything back in it's place and it looks so nice now, they are so proud. I keep opening the door and peeking in just because it looks great! Today I am thankful for my home and the way we can work together as a family.

my 3 Blessings

How Blessed am I???

On Lac du Bonnet beach

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here is my sweet Tiara on the beach, in Lac du Bonnet this past weekend. It was so peaceful for her and she really enjoyed it! I did this layout using mostly goodies from Scrap Artist and a few others, my supply list can be found here. I love these photos of her, they make me happy :) This is the beach where I spent so much time when I was growing up. My Gramie's house was just off of the beach and I would spend a good part of my summer's there, it was so nice to take my children there and make some new memories with them.

A rainy day here today, but still lots to get done. We have been working on our backyard while Cam is on holidays lots to take care of back there, but it is really coming along. Yesterday we got landscape fabric down in the gardens and rocks in one and cedar chips in the other, looks so nice and neat! The day before Cam built a swing set for the kids and we built them a sandbox before that, just things we have been wanting to do for a long time. Lots of work but even more fun!!!

good time away

We definetly had a really nice time out at the lake, and although it was jam-packed with fun, we were able to find those peaceful moments I was craving as well. Sitting together as a family at sunset eating ice creams with the beach to ourselves , meeting up with long-lost family and cousins from other provonces, some I haven't seen in 15 years and some even longer so it was a real treat to be all together. I will have to load in my other photos and get a few up on here. But when I saw this one that I took of the sap dripping out of uncle Martin's tree I thought, yes in the peaceful moments we have eyes to see things like this. So much beauty in God's great world! When life gets busy I think all to often we rush by without really seeing the beauty around us, just too busy getting where we are going and doing what needs to be done. I even got a shot of some baby birds in their nest. Just enjoyed taking it all in and breathing the fresh country air. Stop today to take a deep breathe and tell me what you see, what is beautiful in your world?

Finding peaceful moments

ok well, I still have a bunch more photos from Chicago that I wanted to share, but I'll have to settle for just getting this one on here today because we have to get going. Just sitting down for a second.

I loved this peaceful spot. In the middle of busy downtown Chicago, a super pretty courtyard with benches and gardens and this fountain, it was the perfect spot to just breathe and for a few minutes forget all of the busyness going on so close by. As you can see on the street behind me everything was still going on but from right here it was peaceful. I love this photo to remind me of that, to remind me to find those peaceful moments amid all of the hustle and bustle we create in our life. I need that so much, I just sometimes forget to take it! Excited for this weekend to enjoy peaceful moments with my children and Cam, I'm not bringing his laptop or even my magazines, just a journal and of course my camera. aahh sounds good!

Thinking Face

This is a layout I did a little while ago with some of the fantasic product I got being Holly McCaig 's guest fairy chick for June. My Tiara is such a character, on this day she was sitting on the lawn practicing faces, and when I went to see what was happening, she makes this face and says "look mama this is my new thinking face" hahahahaha!!!! this girl just makes me laugh! Holly's product is available at Plain Digital Wrapper, lots of good good stuff there.

I am working on the out of the box challenge for Scrap Artist this week and I thought of this layout. To make the circle cut-outs I used a piece of spotted pp and selected and cut out the background leaving only the circles, totally fun and way easier then cutting many seperately. So I think my challence will be to use pp and cut it up to create some kind of fun elements on your page, stitch it down attach it with brads, tear it up, doodle on it... you name it. Get creative! Come over to the scrap artist outside the box forum after Sunday and show me what you've got! or come and leave me a link here! I love to see everyone let go and play!!!!

It's a long weekend for us here in Canada this weekend so we are just getting ready to head out to the lake at Lac du Bonnet, where I grew up spending so many of my summers, I'm so excited to take the kids and to see all of my cousins and family at the Tetrault reunion!!! whatever you are doing this weekend remember to chereish the time together it is just so precious!!!

Edited to say:

sorry, false alarm! the scrap artist schedule was bumped back by a week after the big anniversary bash, so come and check it out next week and my challenge will be posted then!

small things, great JOY

Today remember to find Joy in the little things.

Tiara is afraid of so much, she had the courage for the first time to touch a ladybug and pick it up! As it crawled on her arm she was shouting out " she likes me mama!!! she is tickling me!" I am so proud of tiara for finding the courage to try, and I am reminded to find the great Joy in the little things!

Fun facts

Over on our Creative team board this week at Designer digitals we answered a few fun questions. I know plenty of people have done this but I have not. I thought it was great to read fun facts about some of the other ladies and decided I'd copy my answers here just for kicks.

Four jobs I have had in my life: was a foster parent, ran a daycare, was a nursing assistant, taught scrapping workshops

Four movies I can watch over and over: Save the Last Dance, Mary Poppins ( my favorite!!!) Anne of Green Gables, and Annie...What can I say I am just a BiG kid!

Four places I have lived: an apartment in the city, a 5 bedroom trailer in the country, a sunny little hundred year old house with beautiful stained glass windows, and a nice sized 4 level split in a good family neighborhood...But all here in Winnipeg where we were both born and grew up! Not too exciting but we are happy

Four TV shows I love to watch: Grey's Anatomy, Alias ( so sad it is over!), CSI, Crossing Jordan

Four places I have been on vacation: Florida & Bahamas ( a Disney cruise Awesome Fun!!!), Jamaica ( our honeymoon), Mexico ( Cam's work sent us ), Chicago (CHA!)

Four of my favorite dishes: ice cream and fresh blueberries ( does this count as a dish?), Tortellini and 4 cheese sauce baked with cheese on top ( LOVE pasta and reeeally LOVE cheese!), breakfast for supper...Love it! Pancakes or homemade Belgian waffles with warm fresh made pudding on top and fresh fruit mmmmmmmm!!!! All that goodness!, and I love a BIG bowl of cereal a MUST have everyday

Four websites I visit daily: Designer digitalis, Scrap Artist, my Yahoo mail, and CK

Four places I would rather be right now: AAAhh! Well...Hawaii would be nice ( just have to get there someday!), the beach any beach, sleeping in my bed , and to be honest I am thankful and happy to be here right here right now I love my life I am truly Blessed there is nowhere else I would rather be!

and I just have to add here because I have been asked so often...

My first name: Christie-Dawn ( I have been called C.D. by everyone except my mom for ever!)

Fun!!! Thank-you all so very much for all of the wonderful thoughts and kind Congrats re: SOY!, I feel really special and totally Blessed! You all make me smile so so big

BE FREE!!!

Quick Layout post. This was one I did awhile ago for the Ultimate digi scrapper contest but never posted it anywhere else. supplies can be found HERE.

I love scrapping totally free!!! Just really letting go and letting all my creativity come out, especially with photos like these of my silly crazy Tiara! I just love adding things like the rosy cheeks and buttons on her shirt without caring if it is "OK" For the scrapartist pool party I posted this as my example of freestyle. Now when I say freestyle I am not saying trying to imitate the look from the Autumn Leaves book, or any popular trend, though the book is super Awesome! And so is the blog. What I am meaning is just letting go and pouring out all the fun ideas and creativity you've got into your page or your art whatever it may be. Different for everyone because we are all different but no matter who you are I guarantee you it will feel great! So for those of you who didn't make it over to the scrap artist challenges. I challenge you to just sit down and be free, throw out the rules and just make something, even if you think it is crazy, I bet it is not! Whether you do Digi , paper, projects , you-name it!!! Just let go and go-for-it! And if you post it and want to share please come back and leave a link here I would love to see what you do!!!

Good good news!

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Checkout the lovely greeting sent to me by our awesome friends Krista and Braden from out of province!! Why the congrats? Well I did a crazy thing a little while ago...I didn't really tell anyone, just worked my butt off to prepare my portfolio of twenty and sent it in for CKs Scrapbooker of the Year contest! I never imagined I could have a chance at something so Big ( if you are not sure what it is all about click the link and check it out!!!) but there are a few pretty great ladies out there who believe in me and gave me the confidence to give it a shot. Well, I am sure thankful, because yesterday I got a phone call from Tracy White telling me that I am one of the ten finalists they are sending to Las Vegas!!!!! I am so incredibly honored and amazed.

It is only starting to sink in today after seeing my name on that list and getting so many very kind congrats that this is real and it is totally HUGE!!! I am someone who seems to have a delayed reaction to things whatever it may be I just do what needs to be done and sometime later I actually feel all of my emotions! So I don't think I sounded nearly as excited as I really am when Tracy called. I have been asked a few times to share about getting the call so...

Here's my story:

I had planned to be home all day and it's nice that Cam is on holidays right now so he was home too...Just in case somehow there would be a call! They announced on the message board that they needed more time and would probably not be making calls until Tuesday, bummer because I had to be out ALL day Tuesday. Oh well, I carried on with my day got lots done and then around quarter to four or so the phone rang and I thought nothing of it but checked the call display anyway....801 area code!!!!!!!!!!! I knew!!! But I answered all calm and cool in my nice voice, and on the other end there is Tracy telling me how nice it was to meet me and my "cute husband" ( he loves that!) last week, I calmly talk with her a bit and then she says "so I did wanted to call and say how much I enjoyed meeting you at CHA, but also to tell you that you have been selected as a finalist in our scrapbooker of the year contest!" at this point I am still all calm sounding but I am totally totally shaking, I am sure I said something like " no way! wow thank-you!" way too quietly...She's telling me that they will be sending me to Las Vegas but it is a bit of a blur because my mind is spinning and I'm trying to walk my shaky legs up to the kitchen where Cam and my mom are. Then ( this is totally too funny!) I ask her to hold on for a second and just say "CAM..." And point at the phone and nod because I can't form any words to tell him, he shouts out a big "WHOoHOo!!!" and my sweet mom who is in the kitchen lovingly making us rice pudding is trying to give me a hug, but is feeling all proud and emotional and can't see where she is going through her tears so she ends up spilling the raisins all over the floor and shouting out something like "congratulations there are raisins going all over the place!!!" and here I am in that moment remembering listening to the HOF calls and thinking "oh goodness please don't be taping this!" Everyone will think us Muckoskys celebrate by muttering half sentences, shouting out sounds and scattering small dried fruit!!! So
I quickly left the room and tried to listen as Tracy was telling me she was making calls from home, that I had to keep it a secret for now, and to pack my bags. At the time I had a nice talk with her and I think sounded fairly calm and normal but now it is just a big blur because by that point I was shaking so badly and I was just so completely thankful!!! I'm pretty sure I thanked Tracy a whole bunch of times and said something about getting to hang out with her again in October.

I can't even express in words how truly thankful I feel for this opportunity. My art is my passion, and that is good enough for me! Being on such amazing creative teams, and having the chance to go to Chicago is so dreamy, But then being recognized in this way and in such awesome company is just really unbelievable!!! The icing on the cake for sure! congrats to April Peterson, Beth Opel, Holly VanDyne, Jody Ferlaak, Leah LaMontagne, Liana Suwandi, Mou Saha, Samantha Walker, and Tiffany Tillman. Can you really believe that we all have a one -in-ten chance at $10,000 and a 2 year contract with CK??!!!! WHOA! Thank-you so much to CK for this chance, and my wonderful friends and family who totally stand by me and believe in what it is that I love to do even when you don't all totally understand what that is! This is where my treasure lies! Right here spilling raisins with the ones I love!!! :)

a little dip

And one more Layout! One of my favorite things about summer is kids in the water! so fun and refreshing. Emy and Bella squeezed themselves into this tiny pool and were having so much fun together!

this one was in the last Muse ( the Scrap Artist newsletter) So except for the cardboard everything used here is from Scrap Artist. Oh and by the way they are having a wonderful anniversary pool party over there until tonight! Good sales and lots of fun challenges! come and check out me and Lisa's freestyle challenge. We are having lots of fun and there is a wonderful kit being given to all who participate. ( in any of the great events!)

Ava's card

I will have to come back to my regularly scheduled sharing of CHA pics and stories ( I know everyone else is long done, but I'm slow and was having trouble getting photos to load!) but I realized recently how long it has been since I shared any work on here. So here is a card I did for our friends who came to visit from out of province. Sweet little Ava just turned one so this is a 4x6 that they can share with some family and friends. She is just a total doll!

we're Back!

We're back!!! Chicago was great, hangin with my Cam was wonderful and we met sooooo many great people! I'm gonna have to post in bits cuz there is so much I wanna share.We are still totally exhausted, The driving was pretty much through the night there and back ( with a few nappy rest stops) and our time there was just packed with goodness! Check out this cute make and take album the Lisa Cohen and I both got to make at A2Z essentials , such super friendly chicks over there and great papers to play with! I am going to attempt to load some photos of some of the people I met but I'm having a bit of trouble with blogger so I'd say just check back and I'll keep adding as I can.
We had a really great time at the CK reception on Sat evening! Here's a pic of Jessica Sprague and I enjoying the yummy snacks ( my favorite! ice cream and tons of toppings!!!) It was great to meet her in person and chat for awhile. We all got the cutest name tags and Ali's new font CD and designing with patterned paper book! Definitely really good stuff!!! I'll have to grab some more photos of meeting people from that evening, because there was definitely a whole lot of meeting going on :) It was great to meet some more digi gals over at the Autumn Leaves booth. Here is (LtoR) Terra, Tia Bennett, Me and Heather Ann Meltzer. All such fun and friendly chicks! It was great to get some big hugs and good chats. It amazes me how we can meet all of these people working together online and then when you get to meet in person really feel like you kinda know eachother. Had a good talk with Rhonna too while I was there, she was also super nice.

The product was overwhelming and amazing, so much that I have never seen IRL, and all of the people I met were so great.I can't seem to add any more photos , so I'll come back and try again later.

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the PINK suitcase is heading to CHA!

I can't even tell you how exited I am getting to be leaving for summer CHA in Chicago in two days!!! Meeting so many people, seeing all those yummy new scrap supplies, and 4 days of time with Cam.....I just may pass out from excitement here!

We only have one decent suitcase, Cam uses it, and I was in need of one for awhile...It's not like we travel often but I want to use it to haul all of my photography stuff to shoots. So when I saw this amazing ,happy, Huge, PINK one on clearance at Winners I knew I had found the one for me! It was Luggage Love at first sight. I will be spending the day today packing my beautiful pink suitcase, and getting the girl's stuff ready for our parents who will be sharing the kids . You would not believe the amount of preparation it takes for 5 people...Even thought he kids are not coming they still need clean outfits ready, food bought, activities and all of that. I had gotten a bit behind with laundry while my arm was really hurt, just because I couldn't fold, so it was piling up, clean, but a whole loveseat full! So I have been wading through that some, and yesterday we got all of the groceries for my mom and the girls while we are gone. I do have a bit of a to do list to tackle to be ready but it is different traveling without kids that's for sure!

Friday night we will be meeting up with some of the FAB folks from Designer Digitals, and
I received my invitation last Friday to the CK reception. I can't wait to meet some of the other gals who won HM in the HOF that I have been getting to know. We get to spend an evening of good food and prizes ( ooooohh!) with quite a few of the editors that we all love. OK you've got to check out this line from the invite: "Who's going? Brenda Arnall, Erin Lincoln, Denise Pauley and Ali Edwards, as well as Leslie Miller, Jennifer Purdie, Tracy White and most importantly . .YOU!" How goofy do you think I got when I read that??!!!! I have never met any of the scrapping chickee s that I have gotten to know online, in real life, so that is what I'm most looking forward to ( other than just getting away with Cam) but seriously I'm a little girl from Manitoba Canada who doesn't get to go to these things and meet super cool people ( we do have plenty of coolness here I must say! heehee), so getting an evening with all of these CK ladies is something I totally don't take lightly.... Just such a dream! The whole thing is. We are driving to Minneapolis and flying from there, even simply the drive alone with Cam is something I look forward to. Now my only delema is to figure out what kind of footwear would look acceptable with my decent looking clothes and still be comfy enough to walk in all day. See I go around in my comfy foamy crocs and they just look a little goofy with nicer clothes, housewife chic is normally the only style I need. :) any suggestions?

I love this! My sweet baby girl holding her daddy's hand strolling along to the park on a warm summer evening, with happily skipping big sister feet up ahead lol! My life makes me happy, it just does. Sometimes I just hang back a bit and watch it all, and these simple times are the ones that make me so thankful to just be in it! Have a great weekend

I'M sooooo RAD??!

look at this!!! a collection made just for me?? lol! This cracks me up. Kim and I have had somewhat of an ongoing RAD joke for quite sometime ( I won't even try and explain that one) so when she decided to call this new collection of hers "RAD CD". I thought it was too funny, but actually seeing it on her label just makes me giggle :) Had to share

way RAD!

I am so totally excited about my friend Kim's new collection!!! It is definitely total RAD-ness, the elements are fun and realistic, the papers are the perfect mix of bright & fresh and good & grungy. She got it all just perfect! Come check out the launch party tonight and try to win the whole collection! and if not you will definitely get some goodies for free!!!

This one is my total favorite, perfect for beach shots and look at those cool little tabs and belts! I'm working on a LO of my little bro using these papers... but really most of the kits I totally love, check out the other previews on Kim's blog Can you tell I'm stoked?!

OK you gotta scroll down and read the Canada day post first and then look at these two pictures!

I really like this photo I got of my Cam sitting by the gardener's shed after dinner. I love this man so crazy much I want a millionbazillion anniversaries with him. He is just as truly good as a person could ever be, so kind and selfless, and he makes me laugh like crazy!

our marble brownie, warm and soft and oh so delicious, with two forks, and two happy people ( anniversary dessert see previous post)

Canada Day!

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Canada day this year was a blast!

For those who don't know July first is our anniversary as well.

and Even though it was a couple weeks ago I have to post this quick little bookmark I made, showing some of the girls fun moments. The girls had gone for a sleepover at Cam's parents the night before and then we all went out to Tinkertown for the afternoon. My in-laws are so wonderful, I've seen it a million times before but it was really great to see the way the kids just light up when they are with them.

Tiara and Kaiella are so different this year, so much braver, Tiara was more then overjoyed to ride the merry-go-round over and over ( she loves horses!) and she went on a whole bunch of other rides, she has always been too afraid! Kaiella has always been daring but she's not even two yet so this is her first year going on rides, I was amazed at how much she loved it all. We put her in one of the little cars alone and she was so thrilled to have both steering wheels to herself she just spun them the whole drive shouting "twooooo!!!" over and over again. Emilea is somewhat of a thrillseeker when it comes to these things, the faster the ride the dizzier it makes her the better!

After a perfect afternoon, we headed home and left the girls with my marvelous mom and Cam and I went out for a wonderful dinner at Pineridge Hollow the place where we got married. This cool little tea house with gorgeous gardens and a big white tent. We ate out on the screen porch, there was a gentle breeze and it was just warm not too hot. We shared a super great pickerel dinner, Cam had salad and I had mushroom perogies with dill sauce, for desert we shared a big warm marble brownie with caramel drizzled on top. MMMMMMM! After roaming the gardens and taking a few pictures of ourselves, we were off to a late movie. We never ever end up getting out together alone, and it was really nice. We will have to make a point to do it more often. So that was our Canada Day this year, we didn't get to see the fireworks but it was such a perfect day that it doesn't matter. These are the moments I want to always remember.

edited to say: blogger is not adding my other pictures again *sigh* so I'm gonna post them on their own after this and see if that works

Brown-eyed inspiration!

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tonight's inspiration LO!!!

Edited to say: I will post this with supplies sometime tomorrow. It was a busy night over here, so I need to grab an ice pack and rest my arm. I just wanted to thank everyone who came to chat at Designer Digitals tonight for coming and hanging out, and for all of the kind words that came my way. And deffinetly, a big thank-you to Katie for designing such a beautiful pack for us all!

come and chat!!!

I know I have tons of catching up to do , I have photos to share and a few layouts even, and I will definetly do that soon...but why don't you Come and chat with me at Designer Digitals tonight at 10 pm est!!! I am hosting the chat for the first time! When I was thinking of a good inspiration I asked for fabric swatches and Katie has made this awesome freebie to give away to those in attendance. It's always a really great bunch over there and lots of fun to be had , so come out and crop and chat or just chat. I'm a wee bit nervous I have to admit it, but mostly just excited.

Family fun day!

It was a good weekend, Saturday we went to family fun day put on by Cam's work, so much fun! Clowns and potato sack races ( Cam got 2nd place) and Emy won the three legged race for her age group! Kaiella was scared of everything ( she is these days, must be an age phase I think at almost 2 the other girls were the same) the balloons, the clown , the jumpers... Even the sponge bob soccer ball, poor girl! But I have to say my star of the day was Tiara. She found her courage within and conquered a long time fear. She has always been a SUPER cautious child, and has been afraid of the bouncy jumpers. This Saturday she watched all day and worked up her courage and then right at the end she decided to give it a go... First sitting on the edge and then getting in to actually jump! She had a blast and was so very proud of herself! I have to say I was pretty proud too. The joy on her face was so great and the day was so fun I couldn't resist taking some pictures, I was just really careful with my wrist and iced later.

It's been slow going on the healing, and I have to say, I am an easy-going girl but it is getting harder and harder to just let my clean laundry pile up unfolded ( although there is always a load or two on the couch waiting!) and popping onto the computer for some slow lefty typing only here and there is getting old for me. I really want this to heal up well though so I am trying my best to behave! And on the bright side I'm getting to bed earlier most night cuz I'm not up working on stuff. I never made it on here on Friday ( for a couple weeks) to tell you what is good in my life so I will now; An unexpected visit with my Dad, mom's homemade chicken soup, Kaiella's baby alphabet song, Tiara's courage, a nap this evening, taking time to really take in the joy of my little family, growing into a better me, an evening with my Kristie, and the knowledge that it is all in God's hands ( isn't that a load off!) What is good for all of you lately,what do you love in your life? Tell me it makes me happy to read.

I just noticed that Ali Edwards has a daily happiness blog, sortof the same idea as what is good in your life, only more of a what makes you happy today. it is awesome to read what makes people happy and so great to focus on the positive, I think we all need a reminder to do that here and there. She has some wonderful t-shirts too I discovered, I just have to get one ( or a few!) If you don't already, you should check out Ali's blog she is such a kind and positive chick ( and of course, way way talented too) , I love the things she has to say, they are always so uplifting.

have a great week

Funny stuff

Check out this commercial, so so funny, I want to try this on my kids sometime, hee hee they would be in total shock!

Jake! ...and a new challenge

Man I love this little guy! Some of our closest friends ( Krista and Braden ) live the next province over ( about 6 hours) and this little Jake dude is their first baby, they have always been great people, it is so cool to see them grow into really great parents as well! I took this photo when Krista was here for a visit last month. I took so many, I'll be good for awhile when I get the urge to scrap a boy! It was fun to change it up a bit and use stars! I have tried to put 'em on the girls pages but never feels right. This started out with a quick page by Jackie eckles, have never used one before. I added my own touches to her awesome starting place and I really like the results. My supply list is HERE.

Sooo since it has been a long time since I did a challenge, I know it is not Monday but, here is my challenge for you all. Either try doing a LO starting with a quick page or page template and see where that goes for you, orrr show me how to use stars on a girl LO! Just post a link to your LO in the comments here I can't wait to see! I miss seeing everyone's work in the galleries since I'm not really computing (hiding while typing slow and lefty again...tsk, tsk, tsk) So whoever does share here it will be a treat for me!

take care and God Bless you all!

My dear sweet Daddy

This was my Dad's father's day gift. he lives a three days drive away from me so I miss him tons and tons! The pictures were from a visit we had when he was here a couple years ago, the title is from a song I used to sing to him as a little girl. Supplies are mostly all from Scrap Artist and can be found HERE. I am so very slow typing left handed only, so that's it for now. Thanks for the prayers and have a great weekend. I say let's all do something that will make someone else feel great this weekend, big or small, just feels so good to bless somebody!

cooling off

OK this has to be quick because my arms are shaking and I shouldn't be typing at all! just thought I should explain why I have dropped off the face of the earth! between weeding , letting my big camera hang from my right hand for hours, and typing and computing all night I ended up getting a reeeally bad case of tendonitis in my wrist/arm, and the only way I can heal up nice and good is to stay off of my computer and leave my camera down ( pure torture!!!) So for all you praying folks I would really apprieciate your prayers for healing! It will be two weeks on Thursday and it is pretty impossible to not use my right hand with 3 little ones at home. I'll be back when I'm feeling better, and maybe in the meantime I can drop in a photo or two.

the perfect moment

and here is the photo I was talking about if you read my last big post ( also couldn't get this photo to load ) I just love it!!!

Conquering the Jungle!

I couldn't get the photos to load on my last post so here I am conquering my weedy jungle...And little did I know at the time hurting myself.. I'll explain later ( read previous post and next one!)

Friends are good!

Goodmorning peoples ( morning for me anyways) I think it's been cool to hear about why a few of you are thankful. I think we should do it every Friday, just talk about what is good in our lives. It is so very easy to find all the little things that are wrong and I would so much rather take my energy and look at the things that are right! So I hope some of you will join me because it makes me happy to hear. I can't wait for Friday this time though because today I am thankful for friends and family again, feeling totally blessed by both!
Last week my good friend Lisa came to help me "conquer the jungle!" you see we have a crazy overgrowth of weeds and I have yet to learn anything about gardening, she on the other hand is something of a garden expert! So we weeded and transplanted and decided that there are some areas that just need to be killed with round-up and started fresh. So here I am conquering my jungle, heehee thanks to Lisa for capturing this fine moment: ( photo to come...bloggers not working :(

Then I got to spend an evening with my pal Kristie hanging out and munching a banana split fudgsicle from superstore, mmmmmmm! We always spent tons and tons of time together but since both our oldest ones are in grade one and life has been seeming busy I have been really missing this time, so that was a nice get-a-way from the everyday. Then on Thursday My wonderful mother in law ( yep I luv her tons!) who had taken a few days holidays took my little two out with her for a fun afternoon and even picked up Emilea from school, I was able to go do a photo shoot and get some work done here at home in total peace and quiet. I wouldn't want it always so quiet cuz I love kid noise around me, but it was a nice treat for a day. Here is one of my favorite shots from that photo shoot. I know this one doesn't show their faces but it reminds me of moments I had growing up with my mom. She raised me on her own and was amazingly patient and super fun. Sitting together splashing our toes in the water was totally something we would do ( also photo to come when blogger works)

Saturday was cool too, Cam's dad and our good friend Kris were here helping us with some work we are doing around here this summer ( and they both have their own projects on the go that they could have been working on), heavy work ( breaking up and hauling concrete) Then our oldest two girls went for a sleep over with their grandparents and we popped over there for supper so we didn't even have to cook! I am trying to add photos of the concrete fun too but it just doesn't seem to be working right now. Maybe I can edit the post and add all the pictures later.

I hope no one reads the last few posts and thinks " well, La dee DA doesn't she just have the perfect life" cause that is not the case, there are plenty of things I could complain and grumble about just like anyone else , but I chose to look at all the things that reeeeally matter, and what I see is wonderful. Like caring and helpful friends and family. Thanks for the congrats on my new team position, it was a dream for me, and it was an amazing feeling to have that come true.

Be inspired

So I had this wonderful thing happen to me a few weeks back and I really don't think I shared it at all! I got a crazy exciting e-mail from Michelle Coleman over at Scrap Artist ( which , if you do not already know, is one of my favorite designers) telling me how very much she likes my work and asking me if I would want to join the Scrap Artist Creative Team!!!!!!!!! WOW landing my spot at Designer Digitals and now Scrap Artist, what could be better??! This is my About Me team page for over there. It says: always... Create, share, bless, love, be free, care, play,read , laugh, believe, dream, pray, and be... Inspired. To view the supplies Click Here

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Man I just keep on feeling so very Blessed. And not just in my scrapping life, but in real life too. I have the family I always prayed for and dreamed of, the perfect kind and supportive husband, a good house in a nice safe neighborhood, our parents live close by, we laugh together and play together. My life is good, very good. It makes me happy to look at things this way, looking at why my life is good makes the little glitches seem so little. Tell me something good in your life right now? It feels so great to be thankful, I'd love to know what is good for all of you :)

a Kiss for Gramie

We celebrated my mom's birthday this weekend with a great summer supper outside; corn, and BBQ chicken breasts and potato packs, mmmmm! and strawberry shortcake for mom I just love this little moment between her and Kaiella. We all spent the day outside playing and weeding our crazy weed filled gardens, it was a great Sunday! The flowers are blooming the air is fresh, I love this season!!!