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!

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!

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

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

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

Bought Out

Fields is closing out here in town. I found out after I mentioned to Kyle yesterday that we really needed to head out and find some summer clothes for the girls. (It was such a gorgeous day, and they were playing outside, but all they've really got to wear are sweat pants and long sleeved shirts. Not appropriate for such a gorgeous spring day!) All they had (at that point) were a couple sun dresses that their grandma M had bought them. They desperately needed more than that- more t-shirts, shorts...

So, we went to check it out, and splurged way more than we ought to have, but I'm happy the kids finally have some summer clothes. I'd still like to find them more, but I'll work at it slowly. I'm finding it hard to shop at walmart for the kids these days (the place I normally frequent for most of our needs). They must be in an 'in-betweener' stage, because size 4 is big on them, and I can't find anything smaller than that to fit them. It could also be that walmart is just too disorganized and not stocked well enough, too.

(Of all the posts I've made here, do you see a recurring theme centring around my love of walmart? LOL...just thought I'd point that out...and, I hope you realize I'm being sarcastic, because what I feel about walmart is *far* from love)

But, I like that their t-shirts and other things are always marked down and on sale- $3 here, $3 there, and you can get a lot of clothes for a decent price! I just wish I could find something that's not too ridiculously big on them (for right now).

We found a lot of great things at Fields- cushions for my kitchen chairs (which coordinate beautifully with my colour scheme), a growth chart for the girls, a cute little sign for the kids room that says 'enchanted'...now I'd like to find a few more {star} accents to go along with it, because I feel like it just isn't enough. What do you think? Walmart might possibly have what I want...

The girls got nerf balls to play with, they got bubbles and cool bubble wands to play with, they got those hand clapper things (they love those to pieces)...*I* got my anniversary present (which husband never bought for me). I picked out some really pretty jewelry. I bought myself another pair of sunglasses, for lounging around home with. That way, I don't always have to run out to the Yukon to get my other pair. I bought some really cute napkins- because there'll always be a need for those; rooster dish towel and table cloth (because we all know how much I ADORE roosters! And, if you didn't know it, go check out my pinterest 'for the love of roosters' board. You'll see!) (you can check it out here). I also picked up some nail polish for myself. Now that spring is here (and since I gave my MIL all the old nail polish), its time to make the toe nails look all pretty again- especially since its the season to live barefoot again!!!! Wahoo!!!!


Mmmm...I'm trying to think what else we bought, but I'm coming up dry. I do want to go back, because I spied a really great bowling set that the kids are just going to go nuts over! OH and speaking of going 'nuts' over things--Maren spied the toy section, too. She plopped herself down on the floor, and played with a musical toy (a piano type thing), and didn't budge. She sure wasn't happy when I told her it was time to go home. Oh dear...every time I re-play the whole scenario in my head, I can't help but giggle. It was too funny!

I took the toy away from her, and she was so mad, she crawled away from me, crying. When she saw that I had gotten near her again (I was following her), she'd crawl off again. And again. And again. Finally I caught her and picked her up. The whole thing reminded me of trying to catch a spider to kill it, but keep missing it. Know what I mean?? Poor thing, and I felt kind of bad because she was enjoying herself so much, and being so good, but it really was time to get going. We had spent enough money, and I didn't want to spend any more there! (I may talk myself into buying that piano toy for the kids, though I think its a little too young for them...) But, if it makes them happy, then I'm happy!!

My most FAVORITE catch of the day were these (I bought two):

Suction cups do come along with these utensil trays, but I don't want to stick them to the wall (tiled) or a window or anything like that. The idea to use these came from a desire to buy spice racks from IKEA that look generally the same as this. I have a cupboard that's full of spices, and its kind of disorganized and annoying to me, so I thought this would be the ideal solution! I'm pretty excited about it. I know I haven't mentioned anything organizational/beef up the humble abode-ish lately, but it still is something that I want/plan to slowly work at.

The container back there with the packages- really needs an overhaul. Its all the gravies, etc. and I loathe having them in there. Its so jam packed full of different packages, I don't honestly know whats in there. (Kyle has to have his gravies. He adores gravy!!!)

So, this is the plan. We're going to screw the spice racks to the inside of my spice cupboard so that things stay nice and tidy. I do need to find different baskets/containers to hold the rest of the spices in. The ones that I'm currently using are going to get in the way. They're just too big. Or, I'll just opt out of using containers at all. Just as long as it isn't a nuisance to try and find that one particular spice you want to cook with! I might go with dish racks that are graduated- as long as they are small enough to fit inside this cupboard.

As you can see from the first picture, my top shelf is devoted to tea and hot chocolate, coffee, etc. It isn't used that often, but it could use some sprucing up, too! I wonder how?

51* closing out sales
52* a beautiful day (and today is supposed to be even nicer!!)
53* bonus checks that save us (financially)- especially since we're in the midst of spring break up
54* spring break up--
55* --which means more time with Kyle!! (and also smaller--waaayyyyyyy smaller pay checks)
56* really pretty jewelry, even if *I* had to pick it out
57* spice racks!!!
58* toys that make the kids happy
59* that spring break up usually (hopefully) is never too long
60* time for myself

In and Out

Another beautiful day has graced us- this time without the threat of possible rain in the afternoon, so the kids and I are outside basking in the warmth and fresh air. I pulled out their blanket and some toys from inside the trailer, then tied back one of the doors to the tent so they can move about freely. I love that they love playing outside!

We had a quick visit with grandpa K as he was passing through on his way home fro
Peace river, and then since we were already out, I decided to run over to Wally world for a few things. I've been toying with buying a small silk flower arrangement, after seeing another lady in the campground with one gracing her picnic table (along with a pretty tablecloth). But, summer stuff is out and fall stuff is in. It's too early! Maybe next summer, when I have my patio set out, and an actual house to live in!

~26~ good tunes via galaxy on tv
~27~ another opportunity to go camping (or at least a day trip) September long
~28~ a good sleep last night
~29~ watching our favorite summer show together
~30~ random phone calls from mamoo
~31~ the smell of freshly mown grass
~32~ raising their hands over their heads when Mama asks who her big girls are
~33~ the way they clap their hands when they hear the words, "yay", "good job", and "good girl!"
~34~ the way they unintentionally (unavoidably) get dirty when playing outside
~35~ nap time!

There You'll Be

It's been three long years since we gathered with them last; it was at Gwynne, and husband and I were still dating. It would be that Christmas morning that he placed that beautiful, glittery, white gold promise on my finger.

Three summers later, we are back, gathered in a large circle- during the day, wherever there is shade; at night, around the campfire, swapping news, jokes and spreading many hearty laughs.

This time around, there were two little ones in tow, two new boyfriends, new fishing licenses, and a new campsite (to most of us). There was no tv (my most favorite part of the weekend), although there was lots of playing on cell phones (I am guilty of pulling it out every so often as well); they were a handful! The first day, we let them run around- I am so PROUD of and impressed with little maren for the amount she WALKED. There was no crawling of any kind all weekend. JUST walking! Then, we got smart and kept her barefoot. It hurt to walk on the gravel, so she stayed on the blanket we spread out for them to play on. She played really good there.

Miss Addison also BLEW me away--she was not afraid of anyone there. She would willing go to anyone that held their arms out to her. And, she would sit with them, laugh at them, and squeal every so often in delight. When she wasn't being cuddled by someone, she played happily on the blanket too.

At the close of this weekend, there are # things that I've learned:
1-we WILL take the kids camping again
2-less tv equals better quality time together
3-four days is exhausting! (with children this age, at least)
4-hail is ridiculously LOUD in a fifth wheel trailer!
And lastly--
5-no more heating bottles on the stove; the microwave is the way to go!!

It is Time

Its drawing nearer.

What I've been dreaming of for the last three years, what has finally been decided, what is finally happening after the great adventure, reality setting in, and stretching our family of two.

And, along with it comes happy, sunshiny, warm walls, nerves, the best and the worst in all of us, baseboards that we don't know how to properly install and crown moulding thats probably going to be affixed the same way as the baseboards, and excitement.

The babies are going to scream ceaselessly through the day because their mother is too busy to pay much attention to them and they're going to insist on mama gently stroking their foreheads and the backs of their soft, thick and curly, brown haired heads- once they roll onto their sides- when its time for bed.

We'll start going out so strangers can come and see how we live; they'll look through the dwelling that's been our home for the last three years, asking themselves whether they like it and if they want to live here. We'll pack everything up and move it- and us- back home to start the next chapter in our lives.

Hopefully happier. Hopefully more fulfilled. Hopefully to rebuild our connection and strengthen it. And, hopefully to keep it there. Undoubtedly with more to look forward to- and to share it with.