Hide and Seek

Long time no see!

You should drop by my online gallery- I've got a new layout up. You can find it here.

This layout was done for the latest sketch (#160) over at LCTS, which you can find here.

And, once again, this layout (and sketch) has been added to my favorites list. It was so simple and quick to put together! The ideas started flowing as soon as I sat down to get to work. When that happens, beauty is hard to resist!

Addison, the moment we got to Shining Bank (where our annual family reunion was held), began to play hide and seek. She hid behind a tree and began counting. This picture is one of my absolute favorites, as well. I'm incredibly happy I caught this moment on film- now I can share the beauty with you!!

Our family reunion happens every August long weekend, and that weekend was no exception. In the next layout, which will be posted in the next few days, you'll see some of the wild weather we experienced this past summer- from flooding to tornadoes (which isn't common for areas this far north).

But, that's all I can share about that for now!

Take care and thanks for dropping by. I appreciate it!

~a

DIlemma

Hey peeps, I have a dilemma, and I would love your help (or advice- or both!!)

I attempted to write a post previous to this one, and found out (unfortunately), that I have no more space to add photos to this blog. Unless, that is, I buy more storage. I am not up for that. I found out because I have some exciting news to share, and a picture is necessary to the news I want to share. I will tell you what the news is, because I just can't keep it to myself anymore, but there won't be a picture to accompany it. I don't want to wade through the mounds of posts I've made in the last year trying to locate the photographic item I want to share.

On the other hand, you'll just have to go out and purchase what I am about to share with you. Ha!

I bet I've got you wondering now, LOL.

I got published!

One of my layouts will appear in the next issue (which is out on new stands on the first) of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. GO out and buy it and look for me! I'd love that!

And, since I have no more photo storage, I am unable to show you my most recent layout, which is sketch #159 over at LCTS. However, you can find it at my online gallery.

Maren (and now Addison) are in this phase where everything is 'theirs'. Maren's 'my' phase has expanded to include the word 'friend' now, so everything and everyone is 'her friend_______...' Its pretty darn cute! I love it especially when she asks about 'her friend daddy'. It warms my heart knowing she thinks that way of her daddy. I just hope she feels the same about her mama!

Till next time,

xo

~a

Deep Within

Guess what? I've got another layout to share with you tonight!

I'm in absolute.love with this one- the sketch (#158 over at Lets Capture These Sketches) was stinkin' awesome, and what came of it just blows my mind away!

Here is my take.

Rather than making the left hand column a vertical photo, I changed it to include hidden journalling. I made a booklet, of sorts, by punching two holes at the top, and tying ribbon through to secure it. Then, I adhered the bottom page to my layout, and the top page flips open from the bottom.

I'm completely in love with the K&Co embellies that have been appearing in my projects as of late. Aren't they gorgeous!? I added some pop dots to the bird to give her a little more dimension, and make her stand out from the other bird that I adhered just below my title work. Everything works so well with the neutral background I chose- I wanted the title block to shine- and the self portraits.

I won't go into details as far as the journalling is concerned, but I will say that it (basically) outlines the feelings and turmoil I felt at my lowest point(s) before things finally turned around. The title work hints at it, too.

Have a fabulous evening!

Seriously Nuts

What the...??

What a nut!! 

Sketch #28 is up over at Miracle's Momma's Designs- you should check it out! What a fun sketch to play with. 

Since I didn't actually have a layout of the actual air show, that's the subject this layout covers. None of the pictures I took really turned out all that well- except for the vintage planes, the others move just too stinking fast to get a good picture of! Luckily, the F-18 fighter showed us what those planes look like flying half speed- its still ridiculously fast, but slow enough to get a picture of! 

And, the highlight of the show, the Snow Birds, didn't perform for us because a thunder storm blew in as they took off. Luckily I got a picture of one before the show started. 

So, I know the scan didn't come out the greatest here. Its just way too bright, and the papers and colours are severely washed out. I guess it makes for a cool effect, but I think it looks much nicer IRL. 

I didn't leave any space for journalling, but to remedy that, I used the picture with a ton of white space in it. (And, because I can just see people in the future asking what plane that is in the picture, I wrote it up in the top right hand corner of the picture). LOL

To highlight our Canadian roots, I found a stamp that looks fairly similar to a Maple Leaf. For some interest, I stamped it a few times, then used some pop dots to show case the one that's cut from card stock.

Taking these pictures at night still doesn't do my layout any justice, but at least this time you can see that the one banner is actually a water droplet design. I thought that worked quite well, since it was a very wet and soggy day.

The 'adventure ahead' badge is K&Co.

And lastly, just to show the dimension- both pictures and the circle badge are pop dotted as well.

Hope you enjoyed! Seriously, check out Heather's newest sketch, and let me know what you think! If you play along, I'd love to see how her sketch inspired you!

Baby C's

Hello from chilly, wintery central Alberta! My goodness we've been getting a lot of snow over the last week. I can deal with it as long as we don't have any more freezing rain. Its made life pretty interesting when you're attempting to travel from place to place. I highly DON'T recommend it!

When the girls first began learning songs and singing, one of the first I shared with them was the ABC's. They still don't have every single letter down pat, but they have the majority of it. They are also starting to sing along to the theme songs of some of their favourite tv shows- especially miss Maren. I love listening, and I love that she's trying to sing along. It makes my heart happy. They are learning so much and growing so incredibly fast!

Anywho, Addison affectionately sang the 'Baby C's', at the beginning, because that's what it sounded like to her. Now she knows that the song is actually ABC, but I thought it was so stinking cute! I never want to forget some of the sweet things they said and did. I'm so thankful for this hobby of mine.

Why do I say that? I scrapped about it. Naturally!

Reveal day at Lets Capture Our Memories is today, which means I have another layout to share with you.

I'm not sure that Addison was actually singing the ABC's to her Oma in this picture, but she could definitely be doing it- the toy that's in the middle of the bottom part of the picture, is a leap frog fridge magnet that sings the ABC's (including magnetic letters- all 26 of them- from the alphabet). That's what they sing along to now. This picture was taken the morning of our outing to the air show this past summer.

Its incredibly hard to see (I should have stamped it in a darker shade of ink, but I was afraid to try it over again, for fear of it looking bad), but I stamped 'I love you' in SU's Close to Cocoa along the upper right hand side of the picture. The scalloped circles were first stamped using SU's Always Artichoke ink, then cut out with a pair of ridiculously sharp scissors. The journalling spot was also stamped, using SU's Chocolate Chip ink.

The lady bugs and flower are all from the Susan Winget collection of K&Co.

The patterned papers are all fab scraps. Yay!

The sketch? Can be found at the LCTS blog. As always, please let me know if you played along with the sketch challenge this week, and don't forget to post your finished masterpiece to the website, using the link tool there. I'd love to see how this sketch inspires you!

~a

Spoiled Rotten

My birthday this year was probably the best one I've ever had. Seriously. I was spoiled.rotten. by the bestest husband in the universe!

On Friday night, we had dinner at Jubilations, a dinner theatre at West Edmonton Mall. To sum it up in one word: fun!! Dinner was delicious, and the show was superb. (We saw the musical version of NCIS, for those that are interested).

Saturday, husband let me shop: I needed new clothes and bras and undies, so I hit up Old Navy for some new clothes, and La Senza for the rest. For dinner Saturday night, we went to the Melting Pot. For those that live in the Edmonton area, and want to have a romantic, out of this world FONDUE meal, go to the Melting Pot. I have a few pictures from our romantic meal:

First up came the cheese fondue

I didn't get a picture of the salad, which came before the entree, which was an oil fondue

the flowers Kyle bought for me (apparently you can have them arrange flowers for you, and placed at your table before you get there).

Your picture is also taken during your meal, too, and they give you a copy of it, placed in a nice photo folder. Here's the picture they snapped for us, just before dessert.

Oops- what's left of our dessert. I highly recommend the brownies with milk chocolate fondue. In my humble opinion- and please excuse me- but its better than sex. No word of a lie. I had three plates of it. All complimentary, by the way.

This last picture was taken just tonight- the girls sang me happy birthday. We put candles in each of our cheese cakes (that was my birthday cake) so that the girls could blow out their candles, too. It was actually kind of funny watching them try to blow it out. Addison somehow blew hers out, but poor Maren (in the purple jammies) couldn't blow hers out. (The cheesecake was delicious, by the way). Hit up Costco for one of those...

In other news, Friday happened to be reveal day over at Lets Capture These Sketches. You can find sketch #156 there.

Here is my take on this awesome sketch:

I had a lot of fun working with this beautiful sketch. I think its one of my favourites! For a little added interest, I stamped the white card stock in the background- I felt that it was too white. I used SU ink in Summer Sun. The hearts are also stamped using the same ink.

My new favourite colour combo (after making this layout) is red and teal- what a gorgeous combination! Yummy! THe one piece of teal card stock is stamped using SU Not Quite Navy ink. Looking back at it now, I kind of think I should have stamped the other teal piece of card stock with the same stamp and ink, but at the time, I like the contrast.

When we took the kids to the air show in town this past summer, one of them fell to sleep in daddy's arms. I think it was Maren, but my memory has become a bit rusty. Anyways, I love this picture and just needed to scrap it! The journalling reads, 'we love to snuggle with you!' The chipboard 'favourite things' helped to reinforce our love of snuggling with the girls, as did the hearts.

Some of you may be wondering how things for me have been going in the recent past. I thought I'd share a bit of an update with you.

At the beginning of September, Kyle and I began seeing a marriage counsellor, to help us break the communication barriers, and improve our relationship. Its helped us out immensely! During the course of our counselling, it became apparent that I've been suffering from Post Partum Depression. I knew that I had it- my ob/gyn told me I was displaying symptoms already when I was pregnant. We let it go, because I couldn't take anything while I was pregnant, and the symptoms worsened after the kids were born. Mind you, Addisons' colic and terrible constipation for their first year didn't help matters, either. Every doctor I talked with after the kids were  born wouldn't listen. They kept telling me I was just stressed out, anxious, and they didn't necessarily think it was PPD. Not until my counsellor asked me about it. She encouraged me to see my family doctor again (which I did- and brought along the depression scale questionnaire I filled out at the beginning of counselling as proof that I did indeed have depression- which she says is severe).

I've been on medication now since the beginning of October, and honestly began to notice a difference immediately. I've progressed to the point where I'm doing things again that I haven't since before the kids were born. I feel like myself again; human again.

I am also researching different discipline/raising methods in regards to the kids. I've began to implement  1-2-3 Magic- which is working beautifully with the kids, and I seriously want to read Raising A Spirited Child. (Though I'd like to read 1-2-3 Magic, too). Any other material/child rearing methods are definitely welcome!

Lastly, we received news today that Kyle is diabetic. Things went south again after I got straightened out. It seemed like we switched roles. As soon as I lost the grizzly bear persona, my husband picked it up. I strongly encouraged him to talk with his doctor again, and have blood work done, and this is the final result. His fasting glucose levels are slightly above what the doctor would like to see, but no matter how high or slightly high it is, its still diabetes.

Life is about to change drastically for us! But, in a good way! Its unfortunate Kyle has diabetes (its hereditary), but now that we've had this wake up call, it'll do us all some good, I think. Once I"m done this post, I'm going to print out some diabetic friendly dinner recipes. Even though it'll be a few weeks till we meet with the dietician, there's no reason why we can't start making lifestyle changes now!

Sorry for the novel!

~a

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween everyone! Did you little ghosts and goblins score a lot of loot tonight? Mine sure did! We filled an entire Walmart reusable shopping bag- to the brim- with goodies! My word- they still have goodies left over from last year! All this sweet goodness will last us the next couple of years, I think. Did you stay warm while your little gaffers ran from door to door? We nearly froze- the wind is bitter!! We've all got wind burnt cheeks! I'll have pictures up here one of these days. It'll probably (most likely) have to wait until next week.

As promised, here is one of two DT assignments that were due recently. The other will be posted in the next day or so. Hopefully it'll be posted before the weekend, which is shaping up to be another whirlwind adventure for this gal. Only this time, it'll be solely for dear husband and I. Its my birthday, and he's treating me to a weekend for ourselves. I'm so happy that he heard what I said when I would love- just once- to have a birthday that wasn't all about hunting. I have the best man in the universe!

Don't you just love the simplicity of this design?! I sure do- it came together so quickly and effortlessly- Heather did a remarkable job on the sketch behind this layout. She's such a talented lady! You can find the sketch by going to her blog, Miracles Momma Designs. But, you won't find it there tonight. Check back in a few days, and you'll certainly find it there! I'm getting this up early because I'm certain I won't have the time until next week to jump back onto the computer. There's no better time like the present!

Smokin'!

Hi everyone!

What a fantastic weekend! Oh.my.word. Seriously, I had such a blast! It went all to quickly, unfortunately. But, doesn't it always!? In addition to having my hair done, and then having my boudoir photo session on Saturday, I also had the chance to (just barely) buy the girls some new winter coats, boots, running shoes and dress shoes. I wanted to hit Costco for their winter attire, but they had nothing out yet! What???! I was astonished. Walmart didn't have anything, either. Luckily, we found two (of three or four) coats in their size, and that.was.it. I still need to buy snow pants for the kids. I find it incredible that the supervisors at Walmart under ordered at this time of year. Another brownie point in my little black book for lovely Walmart! LOL

Here's a little preview of what my girlfriend and I looked like after we were all made up. Here's what we looked like before:

Dramatic difference, huh? I can't help but continually stare at the picture of us...I SO need to learn how to do my make up that way! We were smoking!!!!

Since I didn't have the time to, and since I hadn't uploaded the camera before this last weekend, I thought I'd take the time now to share with you some close ups of the last layout I completed.

Later on this week, I'll have a couple more DT assignments/reveals to share with you. I can hardly wait to get them posted!

In the mean time, I'll share a card with you that I made for our nieces' 3rd birthday two weekends ago:

This was super simple to make, and I think the final result is super duper cute! I used my Cricut to cut the cupcake card, using the Wildcard cartridge; I cut the cupcake liner out of blue/turquoise card stock, and the icing from white card stock. The candle and flame (as well as the birthday sentiment) were made using scraps. Everything is adhered to a kraft card stock background. For some sparkle and bling, I added clear rhinestones (to mimic sprinkles, naturally), and I used MS glitter in Crystal Fine for the sentiment.

Enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone!

Till next time,

~a

Lipstick

Phew! I just checked Lets' Capture These Sketches' blog to make sure the reveal post was up, and thankfully it WAS! I was worried that I'd be posting this layout a little too early. The girls and I are heading into Edmonton for another whirlwind weekend adventure- I have a hair appointment today, and then a {tasteful} boudoir photo shoot as part of Kyle's Christmas present tomorrow. The bad/devilish side of me has wanted to do one of these for eons, and I've finally worked up the courage to go and do it! Thankfully, they don't have to be super risqué or x-rated. They are actually fairly...tame, for a lack of a better word. They are as sexy as you want them to be. I'm pretty stoked about it!

After my photo shoot, my girlfriend and I are hitting up the town, since we're both going to be dolled up for our photo shoots (she's having lifestyle photos done). Its going to be a blast!

So, back to sketch #155. I had so.much.fun. working with this sketch! You can find the sketch over at the LCTS blog site here. I twisted and turned the sketch to fit my layout and the amount of pictures I had. And...about those pictures. To begin with, I didn't have any more pictures than the one of my lipstick (which has sentimental value, by the way--its the lipstick my make up artist gave me while she got me ready on my wedding day!!) I wanted to include a couple pictures of my girls with their lipstick on to help illustrate the story better. Since I'm fairly certain I had nothing with them wearing my actual lipstick, I chose a couple of pictures just of each of them- for all I know, they could have been wearing lipstick in those pictures! (The pics were taken the same day, I think).

The banner along the bottom of my focal photo is actually supposed to be stacked pictures (in the sketch), but once again, I didn't have enough pictures to support that. So, I improvised, turning the photo cluster into a banner, and turning the centre square into an embellishment. To resemble thread or string that the banner is adhered to, I used pearl rhinestones instead of actual ribbon, and I love how it looks! Really kind of girly, flirty and flattering.

I used a few bits of scraps on my layout- the blue polka dotted paper is scraps, and the title work and silver circle peeking out from the side of the picture are also from scraps. The half circle is a pull tab for my hidden journalling. The rest of the paper is Recollections and basic card stock (in kraft and black). The green patterned paper is K&Co. Lastly, the brown banner at the bottom, sporting the 'bribery can be flattering' sentiment is MS.

As always, if you use the sketch, I'd love to know, so I can drop by your blog or website and have a little look see!

Till next time,

~a

Blow

Hello! How is everyone doing? Life seems to have picked up once again, and I haven't had the chance to sit down in the scrap room to get any playing done in a while. Tonight is the first night in a week (or longer, maybe!!) since I've been in here! The kids are all snuggled up in bed, and I'm unwinding with some much missed scrappy time. Kyle's got to be up early again in the morning, so he's gearing up to hit the sack, too.

After much deliberation, we decided to bring Neruda in to the vet to have her de-clawed. My kids were typically her favourite targets, though every once in a while, she'd try and take a swipe at Kyle, too. We've also been noticing that some of the carpet on the stairs has been pulled away from the wall, and we suspect it was her that did it.

I brought kitty to the vet yesterday, and picked her up today, and in the meantime, Gregory got his vaccinations, too. Its a good thing we brought her- turns out Neruda had ear mites (eew!!), which was taken care of when they updated her vaccinations. I don't think its been shared with Gregory- kitty and Gregory don't have much to do with each other. She hates him with a passion.

Neruda's been pretty mellow today- not venturing too far from her pet carrier for too long. She did cuddle with me on the couch for a solid half an hour this afternoon, but once I moved, she went straight back to her pet carrier.

In other news, I have my (late) newest DT assignment for LCTS. This is for sketch #154, but I changed it up some. Instead of having strips of paper laying horizontally underneath the photo (which, there should also be two photos), I turned them vertically. I like how it looks so much better on my 8.5x11 layout. The circle embellishments were cut from scrap patterned paper I had kicking around (which, I find helps reinforce the 'blow' theme), and the title work was coloured with chalk ink (I used wooden letters from Walmart). I think I've used the 'o' elsewhere, so I used another circle from the patterned paper I previously mentioned for that particular letter.

Its fairly simple, but I love it.

The story behind the pic: Addison was the trend setter here, and made it a cool thing to blow your nose. It wasn't long before Maren jumped on that band wagon too, and before I knew it, they were asking for kleenex all the time. Or, if I didn't catch them soon enough, they'd have wads of it pulled out of the box, and strewn all over the floor. LOL In the picture, I had stuffed a wad of it back into the box.

The cool thing is- when Addison asks to blow her nose, she *really* blows her nose! I don't know many kids that catch on to the whole nose blowing thing that quickly!

Well...now that I've procrastinated some...its time to start the next DT assignment!

Have a great night, everyone!

~a

Skip

So, I completely missed a LCTS sketch a few weeks back. My bad!

Here is my take on sketch #152. As per my current 'kick', all the papers used are scraps. The chipboard Joy sentiment is K&Co, and I've had it in my stash for eons. It's pretty Christmas-y, but I like that its versatile enough to use on a layout that's far from Christmas! The netting is from packaging.

The girls always throw a fit when their daddy leaves the house- whether its for a 'yucky smoke' as we call it, or to run out to the garage for something, or to run an errand, mow the lawn...the list is ever-expanding. I will often tell them to go look in the window, because they'll be able to see their daddy if he's doing something outside. In this case, they were able to watch him for a while, as he was mowing the front lawn for us. It made their afternoon!

Great Shots

I got so many good shots of the kids the day we hung out in the garage cleaning up over the summer! Here, Maren is helping her daddy sweep the floor. I love that little tongue hanging out of her mouth!

The latest sketch (#26) is up over at Heathers blog; you should go and check it out! Seriously, the design team is fantabulous! The designs they come up with are incredibly creative, and Heather's sketches are beyond amazing! They are a lot of fun to work with.

As always, if you decide to use Heather's sketch, please let me know. I'd love to see how it inspires you!

And, once again, all the papers here are scraps (and incredibly ancient), except for the green card stock base. The ribbon isn't a scrap either- it came from a bargain basket over at DeSerres. Seriously, I love that store! I could definitely go crazy there...

Another layout will be coming up in the next few days...until then, take care!

~a

Hop Scotch

Hi everyone!

Have I mentioned before the 'sidewalk that leads to nowhere' that was located in our backyard? I say 'was', because its now been torn out. Or, most of it. When we put the shed in the backyard (yes, we bought a shed and had it delivered a couple of weeks ago), Kyle used the sidewalk blocks to level it. Now, we have to re-seed it before the snow flies, so next spring we'll have new grass growing in!

Before the fence was put up, the original owners used the backdoor as their main entrance- which, if you think about it, is a real nuisance, considering you're entering right into the kitchen/dining room. But, that's just me. To other people, its no big deal. There was no grass in the backyard either, so they parked back there- hence the sidewalk.

After it was further developed and closed in, the sidewalk just plain didn't make sense. Why leave the sidewalk when it leads smack dab into the middle of your backyard fence? Silly, if you ask me, but it lead to tons of hours of fun for the girls. They loved taking their sidewalk chalk out into the backyard and play with it. The first thing they always asked for was hop scotch (after I showed them what it was all about one afternoon). Having that sidewalk was a bonus for me, too- I didn't have to worry about my little toddlers playing out in the driveway or along our street, where it is quiet, but local traffic is a constant worry for me.

At first, I didn't really want to cover up as much of this picture as I did, but in the end, I wound up really liking it. I wanted to mimic the numbers in the hop scotch in the picture, so I used my Cricut to cut out the numbers. (I searched high and low for sticker numbers that weren't minuscule or monstrously huge, and apparently I have none! Cricut to the rescue!!) I thought the floral background worked well to highlight the outdoors- even though there were scant flowers growing in my backyard. One day I will remedy that!! (At a time in the kids' life where it isn't fun picking all the heads off the flowers anymore, or playing in the dirt...)

For the title work, I traced out wood veneer letters that I found at Walmart (because the package contains only one of every letter in the alphabet) onto foam and cut them out. To cover up the pencil lines, I used a sponge dauber and inked the outer edges of the letters with SU's Cherry Cobbler ink.

All the papers used on this layout (minus the kraft base) are from my scrap stash- including the papers I used to cut the numbers with.

In a lot of ways, the season change is welcome, but in some ways, I'm sad to see summer leave us already. The kids sure have enjoyed the changes the weather has brought- they loved playing in the snow, and just the other day Maren asked when it was going to snow again. I cringed a little at the thought of cold weather and the white, fluffy stuff, but told her it was coming soon enough. Halloween has me excited enough as it is; don't get me started on Christmas! I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. Its going to be so much more meaningful for the kids! Eeek! I can hardly wait to put up the tree and decorate!

What are you looking forward to at this time of year?

~a

Fascinate{d}

I love this shot of Addison. It was kind of a fluke, really, but a happy fluke. I get all giddy inside when stuff like this happens!

We were out in the garage helping Kyle clean up and sort through the loads of junk and garbage we've got kicking around, and after a while, the kids discovered daddy had some of his old toys kicking around the garage. They also discovered there were some neato things in there- such as sand paper- which is what Addison is holding in this photo.

Everything on this layout is from scraps- in one way or another. The orange and gold flower sticker is actually a 12 inch border strip (K&Co) that I cut into four strips (all varying lengths), to get more mileage from. The white netting is packaging from toys that I bought from Walmart for the kids' prizes (for their weekly chore charts). You'll see it popping up on a few different projects in the near future!

The flower I am especially fond of. It came from a cheapo flower arrangement that my MIL bought the kids for their bedroom when they were first born. Truthfully, I was never keen on them (there were three), but now they seem to have grown on me a little. Now that the kids (aka Addison) tore them all to  shreds (except for one). I kept some of the flowers from one of them, and plan to incorporate them into my layouts. Here, you can see one of them- I used a black rhinestone for the centre of the flower.

For the title work, I threw together some sticker letters (I don't know where they came from- my sister gave them to me!), but the green banner is MS. The phrase sticker in the top right corner is K&Co.

All this was done for sketch #153 over at Lets Capture These Sketches. If you get the chance, head over there, and see what the design team has come up with. If you choose to use the sketch, let me know- I'd love to see how it inspires you!

~a

Pumpkin Lanterns

Hi everyone!

As usual, life has been pretty busy around here. Last weekend was Thanksgiving, and I had the privilege of cooking my first ever Thanksgiving dinners (times two!!) It was a success! Kyle and I both tackled the turkey together; it was delicious! I also tried out a few new recipes- homemade dinner rolls (which will also be served at Christmas when the family-entire step family and my entire immediate family- comes out) and a yummy way to cook carrots. Both are new family favourites!

The carrots were so amazing, I just have to share the recipe:

Balsamic Glazed Carrots

10 carrots peeled, quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. butter (though I prefer margarine)
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

1) cook carrots in boiling water in large saucepan on medium heat 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Meanwhile, cook dressing, sugar and butter in small saucepan on low heat 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
2) drain carrots; return to saucepan. Add sauce, stir. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until carrots are heated through and evenly coated with sauce.
3) sprinkle with parsley

Thanks to Kraft Canada for that delicious recipe! When looking for delicious, simple, new recipes to try out, Kraft Canada is my go-to source. What's yours?

Anyways, it was Sooo (yes--with a capital S--it was that great!!) incredibly delicious!!

There are also a lot of pictures to share over the last little while- Thanksgiving, our first snowfall (and the kids excitement over it- Addison kept saying that the sky was dripping--how cute is that??!), pumpkins (and things affectionately known as pumpkin lanterns--LOL), northern lights and a few other highlights of our humble days. That'll be coming in another post!!

In the meantime, I have another layout to share with everyone. This one is another that I did on my own- without the help of sketches and DT assignments! Ahh I love that my brain is starting to clear up enough that I can churn out some of my own designs, rather than relying on someone else's ideas. Though, don't get me wrong, I LOVE using sketches, too! I love that they take the guesswork (or most of it) out of making up your design.

Way back in July, we spent one afternoon in the garage with Kyle, just hanging out and {kind of} helping him try and organize his 'man cave' a little better. That is, until the kids got distracted with the toys he played with during his childhood. I think he's pretty proud- his girls like trucks. I think they like anything that moves and looks interesting. One day they'll turn into girly girls; at least, one of them is bound to be- their mama is, so one of them has to be, too. I said so.

Speaking of I said you so's, the girls were pretty excited about going to play outside in the snow yesterday. They were even more excited about the hot chocolate I promised I'd make them once they came inside. All I heard the entire time I mixed it and heated it in the microwave was 'you're amazing, mommy!'

So...I have it on good authority that I'm pretty amazing!

That makes a mommy feel pretty good- even if it was over something as simple as a cup of hot chocolate!

~a

Re-Connect

I did some of my own scrapping last night! Woohoo! No sketches, dt assignments on this one, just my regular old brain power. And, I have to say I'm quite proud of the finished product!

I mentioned in my last post, that I had printed out a couple of pictures for my last dt assignment, but at the last minute, two others screamed at me to be used. This is one of the pictures that was originally going to be scrapped. The other isn't very clear, so I opted not to use it at all (at this time).

In the picture, Maren is playing in her tunnel- they love it when mommy and daddy drape a blanket between the couches in the living room, and they can crawl in and out of it at will. Up until everything was secured to the white card stock, that was the direction this layout was going to take. Then, I got to thinking about my relationship with Maren, and the recent re-'connection' we've made- and how relieved and incredibly happy I am that positive changes are occurring between us.

All the paper on this layout is scraps (none of which I remember where they came from- its been so long), though the little strawberry came off a barrette that the girls got as babies. One of them tore it apart, and I've been hanging on to it for quite some time- for the very purpose of being used on a layout, somewhere, some time.

My Spirit{ed} Child

These pictures just screamed at me to be used when I sat down to complete my layout for the LCTS latest sketch (#151). You can find the sketch here.

I originally had other pictures picked out, and after I got them printed, I looked through the rest of the album that they came from, and decided that these pictures of Addison playing in the living room curtains needed to be scrapped instead.

The chipboard 'spirit' piece defines Addison to a tee. She's head strong, and knows what she wants and doesn't want- and when she wants it (or not), and nothing else will persuade her to think or believe otherwise. Learning how to raise her and discipline her has me stumped, but thankfully I've come across some resources lately that will hopefully help out with that!

Having said that, she's also our fun-loving clown in the family. She sure knows how to make us laugh- and she sure knows how to have fun! She isn't shy- she's a bigger social butterfly than her daddy and I combined!

To sum up, I just wanted to capture the essence of Addison in this layout. I think this defines her perfectly!!

Coffee with your BFF

I have to apologize for the long absences between my posts as of late. In the grand scale of things, and the way things should be prioritized, this has fallen way down the list- but its constantly on my mind. I enjoy blogging, and I hope that in the future it will pick up again (to the once daily, if not nearly daily) status. For now, working on strengthening my relationship with Kyle is priority; and improving my relationship with my kids is a close second.

We have been attending marriage counselling for a couple of weeks, and its helped us overcome our pride and (on my part) fear of letting him get close to me. We still have a long ways to go, and I have a significant amount of 'baggage' that still needs to be dealt with, but we both feel confident we are 'coming along'. Certain concepts are totally new to me (such as an apparent fear of abandonment), and others are finally being seriously looked at and treated (such as post partum depression/depression). That, in itself, is an incredibly long story. In short, we're keeping an eye on my hormones (especially cortisol, testosterone, etc. because in the recent past, my testosterone levels have been low. It may account for my depression, anxiety and everything I've been feeling and experiencing towards/with the kids). To help things out, I'm on an anti depressant. Phew!

I am happy to report, in addition to working things out (satisfactorily, so far) with Kyle, I also feel like I've made a better connection with Maren. I am trying some different disciplinary methods, and they seem to be working. There's less stress in the house, less anger, and more happiness, and the change is welcome and positive. Things can only keep getting better from here!!

I just wanted to give y'all a little update and let you know how things are going, and where I'm at in my (our) life right now. I miss you and will check in as often as time allows!

In other news, I have a new layout to share!

This layout was completed for Miracles' Momma's Design Diva's. I followed Heather's sketch fairly closely this time. I wanted to pick up the colours the girls' cups are in the photo, so I used a lot of pink and blue. I thought coral worked so well with the pink striped paper, I had to throw that in, as well, and the green was such a nice complimentary colour. That explains my paper choices!

I began thinking of how I could incorporate the girls' new favourite thing into this layout- having 'coffee'. We call it coffee, but really its whatever they're drinking. When I'm pouring it, I pretend like its coffee. Then, they get a spoon to stir it with, and sometimes a snack- because when you're sitting and visiting with your BFF over a cup of joe, you need to have a snack! To tie that idea into this layout, I used the tea pot and tea cup stickers.

And, there you have it. When the kids go to bed, they get 'fresh ice', as we call it- just plain old ice water. Sometimes at supper time or throughout the day they'll drink it, but not often. And, when they do, it NEEDS ice in it. They're like their mommy- won't touch water unless its frozen.

I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful, cooler days! I'm so glad fall has rolled around- I love this time of year! Its got me to thinking that I need to hang my fall-y wreath on the front door. Do you decorate for fall? Any season, or all the seasons?

~a

MOnster Jam

I have another layout to share with you tonight! Apparently I forgot to post this one!

As you may recall, we went to the Monster Jam truck show over at Castrol Raceway this past summer. Kyle had to be in absolute heaven--his idol, Grave Digger, was at the show. Unfortunately, his real idol, Mr. Dennis Anderson, wasn't in attendance. He wasn't driving the Grave Digger truck.

Boo.

We still had a good time, though. My BIL and Kyle's friend (and swamper) tagged along with us.

This layout was made using sketch 24 over at Miracle's Momma's Designs. It is a two page sketch, but I whittled mine down to just one. I had enough pictures, but they weren't the best quality, so that's my excuse for making it only one page! LOL

There was a baby boy sitting in front of us with his older brother, mama and daddy-I couldn't resist taking a picture of him and include him on this layout. He was such a happy little thing- and when his ear muffs were put on- he really went to town. He sure liked the sound of his own voice, that's for sure! (My guesstimate, when Kyle asked me, was 6-8 months old. His mommy confirmed ((she overheard us talking about him)) and informed us that he was 7.5 months old). Sure stinking cute!!!

I also couldn't resist including the pictures of the girls sleeping on our way into the city that weekend. Even though they weren't there in person with us, I know they were there in spirit! (I especially love Addison clutching her Manny toy while she slept. So cute!)

LCTS Sketch #150

Wow, survived another incredibly busy weekend! I can't believe that in another two weeks, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving already. Insane! 

While we were gone to the city for the weekend, the next sketch (sketch #150) at Lets Capture These Sketches was posted. I missed the reveal, and am just now posting (here) my take on the sketch. Actually, I looked up LCTS just to make sure the reveal post had actually been posted, and when I saw that it was, I learned (more like clued in) that this is their 150th sketch. Way to go!! 

To see the sketch, and what everyone else did with it, make sure you head over to Lets Capture These Sketches. If the sketch inspires you, let me know, I'd love to see how it inspired you!

Know how some people tie ribbon or string into their fans so that when they blow, the ribbon flies out? That's what my layout reminds me of with the banners sticking out of the side of the picture- its as though the fan is blowing the banners with its own wind. 

I think that for the majority of us, this summer was a hot one. And a fairly dry one, too. In the midst of the heat wave we lived through, I thought I'd take one more picture to highlight the hot temperatures we'd been experiencing- and what we were doing to try and stay sane through it all! We couldn't live without our fan(s)- there was one in our room, another in the dining room window, and yet another positioned at the bottom of the stairs in the basement, pointing upwards- to bring more of that beautifully cool air upstairs. I told Kyle that I would never again whine or complain about how cold it gets down there- its a blessing when the weather is too hot to cope with!

Its hard to see in the picture, but part of the title work says 'can't live without the FAN'. And, truly...we couldn't live without it this summer!

All the paper on this layout is scraps- minus the blue base card stock. The journalling spot is the other half of one that was used for another layout; all the paper from the banners are left overs from another project, and the hexagons (which are so much fun to play with, by the way!!) were made with clip art off the internet (which were first used on yet another project). 

I hope you enjoy! 

School!

Have I mentioned how crazy obsessed with school that my kids are? If I haven't--they are. It all began back in July when we took them to the Whitecourt Airshow. The airport was flooded out, so no parking was allowed. We had to drive up to the rodeo grounds (which is another 5 minutes up the highway), park, and then ride a shuttle bus (which happened to be a good, old fashioned yellow school bus), and my kids were smitten. Next, We took the kids to the jet boat races, and we rode another shuttle bus from a frac site down to the river (which is literally only a 2 minute ride). There is not enough room down at the river for spectators to park. There's only enough room for the competitors, with their boats.

I've began thinking, in the recent past, that getting the kids involved in toddler groups up at the leisure centre would be a good idea. #1- it gets them out of the house; #2, it burns off some of their endless energy; #3- they get to hang out with other kids their age; and lastly, I get to get out and meet some other mama's. Today was our first day. While I was getting ready for the day, I began wondering how I was going to tell the girls what my plans were- and make sure it was in terms or in words that they understood. So, going to our play group has become 'going to school'.

When I first told Maren, she told me she didn't want to go because she was scared. I assured her mommy would be there, her sister, lots of other kids her age, and that it would be a lot of fun. What I didn't bargain for: daddy being there with us!! He called me at 1, and sounded incredibly ODD. I knew right away that he had something up his sleeve; when I heard the train blow its horn through his phone (and clear as day by my own ears), I knew that he was in town, and on his way home. Yup. He got delayed by the train.

I am SO thankful he was there with me on our first day. I wouldn't have gotten the kids out of there on my own! Miss Addison can be so stubborn- I don't know how to properly handle her. Oi!

So, in honour of our first day of 'school', I've got a picture or two to share with you (which will eventually be scrapped, naturally):

We are also adjusting to life with another kitty in the house. And, this kitty is neurotic, to say the least. She keeps us pretty entertained, and on our toes. She's still adjusting to two little people that aren't always the gentlest, so we've had a few scratchy mishaps, but otherwise, we're adjusting pretty well!

Since the girls are still recuperating from the nasty colds they caught, we plugged in the humidifier in the hallway, so that all four of us would benefit from it (its in-between our bedrooms). Neruda was enthralled with it- especially when it gurgled.

I still giggle every time I see these pictures. Silly kitty!

Dr. Addison is in the House

Daddy took us all out for lunch today, and while we were out, Addison began to give her 'Germy' a medical check up- checking his ears and throat ('say aaahhh'). The funniest part: when she told him "good girl". LOL

The last few sketches that have come from Lets Capture Our Memories have been so fun to work with- and this one is no exception. There were two reasons I wanted to {finally} use hexagons on this layout: first, because I haven't used them yet (and they are on my scrappy bucket list), and because you'll find them in that pillow right behind Maren's head.

To see what the rest of the design team did with sketch #149, head on over to LCOM

If you decide to use this sketch on one of your own layouts, let me know- I'd love to see what you do with it! I know I had a lot of fun working with it- I hope you do, too!

Ill

In a nutshell, this is just detailing how badly I want another baby (to me, my family is still incomplete)

Sharing some fun down at Rotary Park, playing at the splash park

 A couple of cards- the first one is a wedding card for our niece (which I'm sure I've shared already); and the second one is for our other niece, that had hernia surgery a couple of weeks ago

Addisons (but, really BOTH girls') love of spicy food

 And lastly, playing for a while at our 'old' stomping grounds- the campground we lived at when we first moved to town. There's a petting zoo there and a small park, and I thought it would be fun to bring the kids down there for some fun one morning. Anytime we head that way now, they ask for the animals LOL


Just thought I'd share my last latest layouts to get *finally* all caught up! (Minus one, but that one has to wait for a few more days until reveal day!)

The kids are still incredibly sick- last night they puked their guts out, which prompted a trip to emerge (because I really don't like that they're coughing so hard they're making themselves sick to their stomach). Nothing more can be done than what we're already doing, unfortunately.

Have I mentioned before that I LOATHE illness?

On the bright side, Addison enjoys playing 'doctor' now LOL