Of Floods and Tornadoes

Good evening! How is everyone doing today? One more day to enjoy before the long weekend winds up. Got anything special planned for tomorrow?

Well, the rumours are true. While I haven't actually seen the word 'tornado' tossed around, a massive storm did blow through town, and damaged a few places to the very southern limits of town, and a few buildings just outside of town, along highway 43. Mostly, trees were twisted off along the tops, some were torn out by the roots- and from what we could see, a large shed lost its roof. News reports said that the winds reached 100 km an hour. I am so thankful we weren't home!!


Mom called in a panic late this afternoon, and the first words out of her mouth were, 'are you ok??!' They had just turned the 6 o'clock news on and heard that a 'tornado' had passed through town. I told her that nothing in town appeared to be damaged, and from what we had heard was hit by the tornado, we couldn't see any kind of damage- other than trees that got pushed over by the wind. Two houses, in particular, may have had some damage from trees falling into them. Head over to Global Edmonton, and click on the UPDATE on the homepage- there'll be a few more pictures of the damage the storm caused to the Lions' Campground, which is literally right outside of town. I'm not sure, but the way I'm interpreting all of yesterdays events, the same massive storm hit Fort Saskatchewan and Onoway, too; both towns also had massive damage to themselves.

The only way a person would really get a sense of the extent of the damage is if they flew overhead. We are surrounded by trees, trees and more trees. Thankfully most of what was damaged were just trees!!

Since I'm on the topic of devastation, I'll share a few of the pictures I got of the flooding and damage to highway 32 south, and a bit further up the creek, off the highway. All I can say is in.cred.ible!!

These are all along highway 32 south, at Baseline Road. See how there's nothing left of the ground above the one culvert?

There is a bridge, at the bottom of a valley along highway 32- at Groat Road, where motorists are required to slow to 30 km/hr from 100. At the beginning of the weekend, we didn't know why the speed restriction was there. We assumed it had something to do with when the flooding was actually happening. Tonight, Kyle told me its because of this:

As far as I understand it, this pile along the road is what's been cleared up of the mess, so far

Looking directly upstream (or, I should be)

OK, so this picture is looking straight down over the side of the bridge.

Down stream. I didn't include pictures of it, but water is still running from out of the trees further uphill from where these pictures were taken. Not much water, but it still looks unnatural! See all the sediment in the foreground of the picture above?! Insane! Unfortunately, these pictures do no justice to the awesome (and humbling) sight we were looking at.

These pictures were taken at a spot just off the highway, not very far up Groat Road (only about 4 miles). He told me that the driftwood had knocked out most of the supports beneath the bridge, so its fairly unsafe. But, of course, the signage sucks, and no one slows down to 30. No one knows the risk they're taking crossing the bridge. Making matters worse, this highway is the over-dimensional route for big trucks. Need I say more?

Well, tomorrow I'll share the happier pictures of our weekend. It was a much needed, well spent weekend!

Shining Bank Lake

Fewf, I'm tired tonight! This post will be just a quick little update and 'hey how're you doing' then I'm going to bed. Oi. We'll be back at it again tomorrow before I even know it!!

Yep, it was another action packed, fun-filled day. The girls did awesome- no naps, and no major meltdowns! They got to go swimming in a lake for their very first time- which they loved (of course), and they rode in their very first motorboat. We thought Maren would for sure panic and dislike the sound of it, but it didn't bother her one bit. In fact, I think she loved it. When we returned to the dock, she asked if she could go again. Unfortunately, some of the family wanted to head out for some more fishing, so that ended our motor boating for the day.

Well...from then on, Maren was fairly fussy- but not in the usual way- if there is such a thing. Mostly, if anything caught her off guard, or if she had a little accident the tears would flood out of those sweet blues faster than a flash of lightning- and those sweet tears would just keep coming. Kind of like tears just hovering beneath the surface, waiting for any old excuse to come rolling out, and when they do, they just won't stop.

We hardly left the campground on our way home before she'd fallen to sleep. She.was.pooped.


Now, it could just be hearsay and gossip, but apparently, there was a tornado at the top of the hill tonight. We are only half an hour out of town (at the campground), so we knew there were thunderstorms around because we could see the clouds and hear the thunder. At one point, we thought we were going to be rained out, but they (two storms) went around us. There was one to the north, and another to the south of us lol. We're thinking it was probably just strong winds associated with the thunderstorms, but we're going to go check it out for ourselves tomorrow. Its made us curious. If I have anything to report back, you'll see it in pictures!

Ummm...any other highlights from the day? Nope, I think that was pretty much it. It was just a relaxed day, full of good visits, laughs and fabulous memories! Our niece and the girls' cousin is spending the night tonight- probably because staying in the motorhome with grandma and grandpa wasn't the most conducive to C sleeping through the night. I mean, she's only 5 months older than the girls. They've got it made tonight, boy. Sleeping in the basement where its nice and cool- they'll not want to go home!

Now I'm turning in, speaking of sleeping. I'll be back again sometime tomorrow- probably tomorrow night- with another little hello. Depending on how late we come home, there may or may not be pictures. Most likely, that'll wait until Monday! Kyle has plans to tinker on the drag truck, and I plan to scrap when I've got a spare moment on Monday, so at the very least, I'll be back in full force then!

Take care,

~a

Sometimes, Incredibly Nasty

We had an incredibly fun day today! Most of the family didn't show up until just when we were leaving, but we sort of assumed that. Its fine- we'll get to see them the rest of the weekend. They probably still had to work today, because the holiday really isn't until Monday. Personally, I'm pretty excited for the kids, because 1) they'll enjoy this years' camping trip much more than last years (they Maren was just beginning to walk last summer, and Addison was still crawling); 2) they'll get to go swimming this time around, too, and we all know how much they abhor love the water; and 3) their other little cousin, who is 6 months older than the girls, will be there for the first time ever. I am most excited about that. Maren gets along really well with C, so it should be a fairly interesting weekend!

We also got to see some of the devastation all the water and flooding has been causing around these parts this summer. When the weekend is over, I'll have some pictures to share. A few points along the highway has been somewhat washed out by the water. Mother nature is sometimes incredibly nasty!

In the morning, we'll be hitting up Walmart quick for a few necessities that were forgotten/overseen, then heading back to the campground to enjoy our day. Poor Maren lost Kiki out there, so she went to bed with twin stand ins- we've got two brown ones that were given us by a friend- and she surprisingly (thankfully) went down fairly easily and quickly! Phew! I promised her that grandma and grandpa were taking good care of Kiki, and we would find him again tomorrow when we go 'camping'. Hopefully its around somewhere- I have no clue how it made its way out of the truck after I'd already put it in there a few times because she constantly dropped him on the ground and left him there. Hopefully he's not lost!

ANother reveal day has finally come around again over at Lets Capture THese Sketches. You can find the sketch and the beautiful layouts the girls have made here.  Seriously, what an incredibly talented group of ladies! Here's my interpretation of Sketch #143. I've finally made it through Father's day weekend! In honour of the men in my life, I made a layout especially for them. 

I absolutely loved working with this sketch. Simple, clean lines, and straight to the point. Just how I like it! My favourite element is the black photo frames I put around the pictures of my dad and Kyle. Really eye catching! I also like the contrast the white frame provides around the 4x6 picture of Kyle in the middle, and I felt the neutral colours worked well for a masculine page- especially since both guys are 'mens men' lol. You'll probably see more variations of this sketch in the future, so keep your eyes peeled!

Well, I'm off to play for a little bit before turning in for the night. Have a safe and happy weekend!

~a

Good Morning

Just wanted to drop in real quick and share this swoon worthy moment, brought to you by 'I love happy mornings'---

The kids are just waking up, and they're singing Patty Cake.

I'm sitting in the office, next to their room, listening to them, and my heart is going 'pitter patter'....

Dream Haven

Wow, the temps finally seem to be coming down! Its currently only about 18 degrees in the house- I've got wooly slippers on my feet and a fleece sweater to keep the rest of me warm! And, to add a touch of extra warmth (and a heavenly aroma), I whipped up some cupcakes before the kids hit the sack for their afternoon nap. I promised them that when they wake up, we'll ice and decorate them- of course, as long as they're cooled enough. I think I might bring some of them down to the campground with us this weekend. It might be a nice, sweet treat for S's wedding shower (if there isn't anything already there that's sweet and tasty).

In my search for storage solutions for my haven (which coincidentally has turned into an obsession of sorts these days), I came across a multi-tiered DIY standing embellishment system that is similar to the Simply Renee Clip it Up systems that I've seen around. Only, this one uses lamp shades for the rings to clip your embellishments to. Ingenious! I want Kyle to help me construct one- it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying new!! And, it looks so stylish!

Are you one of those that has hoards of Sizzix or Cuttlebug or Big Shot dies and embossing folders lying around, and you're not sure how to store them? Or, are you not happy with your current storage method? I have very, very few (at the moment- like most everything else in my haven lol), and one day I plan to bulk up on those particular items. And, currently, they are free standing on the floor in the closet in my haven. I want to find a place to store them. From the little bit of research I've done on the net, the most popular method seems to be just storing them on a shelf and having a master copy in a binder (who would have thought?!) of every embossing folder and die they own. Mmm- not me. I'm not crazy about that idea- especially since I've got no shelf space available for anything like that!

So, here's my idea: either have someone (my dad or FIL) create a cute little wooden box like this (which also made me think- what about using those little cd stands that house your cd's upright? That may work, too!), and my favourite: using a recipe box or an altered recipe box or card box. (Granted, this second link is actually of another recipe box that was altered, but it looks so much to me like the card boxes I've seen in the Dollar Store and Walmart, that I'm sure that would work, too!)

So, I tried it out. I put the 4 (yes, you read right, FOUR) lonely Cuttlebug embossing folders I own inside a card box I'm using to store none other than my own handmade cards, to see if they fit- with the lid on- and VOILA! they do!! I've also seen that photo boxes work well to store your dies and embossing folders, too. And, when I have enough to comfortably say that I've got a respectable embossing folder library, I'll include cute little dividers inside, so that they are neat and organized. They may be organized alphabetically, or by some other unforeseen method. The sky's the limit here!

Now, having said all this, up until now I haven't been much of one to 'alter' any sorts of items. But...if I were to implement using a recipe box or card box to house my embossing folders- and if said box didn't meet my 'aesthetically-pleasing-to-my-eye' standards, I may cross the boundary and try my hand at altering an item. I'll keep you posted on that. I'm actually kind of stupidly excited about it!

I have one more organizational eye candy item to share with you. I'm in love with this idea, and must own it in the near future (I'm thinking it would make a marvellous birthday present or Christmas present- though before Christmas would be ideal!!)

Like most everyone else on the planet, I've got an obscene amount of tissue paper, gift bags, rolls of wrapping paper, etc, and the way all those items are stored is ugly and inefficient and incredibly messy. Here enters Michaels' wrapping station. It rolls, it stores, it improves efficiency and organization, and it should be a must have for every household! Its going to be in my household. One day! Do you own one, and do you like it? Is there anything you'd change/don't like about it? In my mind, its exactly what I need in my humble little space!

This is how I would LOVE my closet to look (one day) in my humble little haven. Isn't it dreamy??! I definitely heart it!!

Grass Slipper

How incredibly fun is this nail polish?! I splurged a bit on myself this morning during our grocery shopping trip. This is what I got! I can hardly wait to doll up the toe nails with this fun colour! Its called Grass Slipper. (Cute, right?!)

I just thought I'd share what our chore chart looks like (right now). My mind might be changing as far as the printable chore charts go- this system seems to be working really well for Addison- getting a sticker as a reward for helping out seems to be really good incentive for her. I am not sure yet if its working for Maren- she just kind of seems to be neutral to the whole idea. But, maybe its just that she needs a bit more time to warm up to the idea, or catch on to the whole idea.

Its fairly vague, and the chores that the kids help with needs to be elaborated on, but they each have their own 'chore' that is just theirs; Addisons is helping mama set the table at supper time and taking our dirty dishes to the sink (after supper), and Marens is helping mama load and unload the dishwasher. Both girls need to help mama clean up their toys, and come to bed at bedtime  and nap time without fighting (especially Addison. She's so defiant these days! Terrible two's I think- I hope!! Maren is such an obedient girl.) They can also get 'bonus' stickers, if they help with things like picking up garbage off the floor and putting it into the 'dirty box', as we call it, helping put groceries onto the grocery belt at the till, helping bring the groceries into the house, etc.

Of everything I've found on Pinterest and the internet, this seems to be working and I don't want to mess with it. Maybe as the kids get older and their chores change and they are able to help out more, the way it works will change too. But for now- don't fix what isn't broken!

Lastly, here's another layout I made. This began as another scrap lift, but quickly kind of took its own direction. At least, the inspiration came from sasload4's layout 'Domestic Princess', which you can find by following this link.

Because the kids like playing 'nighty night', I wanted to keep the colour scheme cool and night-like. Also, to play up a starry night sky, I used a polka dot stamp with whisper white ink to create far away stars. I also used some clear rhinestones to help add a little twinkle to the night sky. The white, purple and blue card stock are scraps, as are the blues for the clouds and the stars. (The blue stars were cut with my cricut, and the paper I used was from the Sweet Nectar 6x6 paper pad by K&Co, and the blue of the clouds are from a SU Christmas line). The title work was made also using the same blue paper from the Sweet Nectar paper pad. Lastly, the damask patterned paper in the very back background is Recollections.

Sketch 22 and Another Storage Idea

Its reveal day! Yipee! Here's another layout I made of us enjoying the play park over Fathers Day. Auntie and Uncle both helped Addison down the slide because she's afraid of going down by herself. When she's ready to come down, she'll tell us she 'needs a hand'. Head on over to Heather's blog to check out sketch 22 (this time its a two pager, but I only kept mine one), and see all the beautiful work the other girls have done. You won't be disappointed!

And, once again, this layout is made completely with scraps, minus the purple card stock everything is mounted on.

What a fabulous way to store your brads and eyelets! I think this is ingenious, and I can hardly wait to hit the store to buy another one of these! Now I have an excuse to go out and buy more brads and eyelets- with such a cute and smart way to store them, how could you not?! (I may or may not cover the Rexall logo on the front- just to make it prettier!!)

(The inspiration for this came from BHG. You can also find it on my Pinterest, under 'All Things Scrappy').

~a