My Favourite New Tool......January 26th!

This a new tool being release at the CHA trade show. It is my favourite.

It is a corner rounder that cuts 2 different sizes and it cuts through regular paper and chipboard.

I love scrapbooking!!!

What To Order.....January 25th!

I am in Anaheim, California at CHA Winter 2009! I love our trade shows.

I am taking a break and grabbing a bite to eat while I browse through a catalogue from We R Memory Keepers.

I am really loving some of their new tools.

Coming soon to a store near you!!

I Wonder What He Is Thinking.....January 24th!

Today we went to Venice Beach and we had the pleasure of watching some very talented graffiti artists create their magic with spray paint.

Jason stood against this palm tree for about 35 minutes watching them. I wonder what he was thinking. He didn't say too much while he was watching, but when we were in the car he said that was the coolest place he had ever been.

It was very cool!

Hockey in California....January 23rd!

Yup, that's right....even in California there is hockey. Jason and I went to the Honda Center today and purchased tickets to see the Anaheim Ducks play the Chicago Blackhawks the last night we are here.

I think it is sort of funny that both of these teams are from the cities that we attend the CHA trade shows in.....weird eh?

Flight Simulation.....January 22nd!

Yesterday we went to Universal Studios. On the way out he saw this sky diving simulator and wanted to give it a try.

He really is a dare-devil. He told me to make sure I took lots of photos for Facebook.

I wonder where he gets that from?

Flying High.....January 21st!

This photo was take by Jason on his first flight. He had the window seat and I think he spent most of the time with the camera in his hand and his nose pressed against the glass.

Airport Organizing......January 20th!

Every time I go to an airport it seems as though I am juggling bags and fumbling through all the check points. Each time I travel it gets better, but I don't seem to have it mastered yet.

For this trip, I invested in proper carry-on luggage. The larger bag will hold my laptop and other items that I don't want to check and the smaller bag attaches and can hold other misc stuff. I am sure that I will look organized....we will see if it works.

Pet Peeve.....January 19th!

Why is it that
everyone
in my family
uses the
stairs as a
drop-zone
for stuff?

Does it look
like a
closet to
you?

Like Father, Like Son.....January 18th!

Monty and Jason are happy that they placed 1st in their division at the tournament in London.

Monty was a goalie when he played hockey and now he has passed this on to Jason. They both love the sport and I love watching them.

Like father, like son! They make me so proud. Way to go guys.

Invaded by Boys.....January 17th!

This photo was taken the first day of a 3-day hockey tournament in London. I was invaded by boys all weekend. At any given time I had at least 5 or 6 extra boys in my room.....hanging out, playing X-box and who knows what.

I am grateful for any time that I get to spend with Jay and Matt. I am lucky that they don't think I am too 'uncool' and they don't mind hanging out with me.

We all had a few laughs! It was loud and crowded, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Good Intensions......January 16th!

In December 2007 I promised myself that I was going to make myself a scrapbooked calendar. I did make the calendar and I have all the pages ready to go. All I have to do is adhere the layouts to the calendar and hang it on the wall.

Why is this task such a hard one to get to? Everyday I walk by this frame where I used to hang a calendar. I am not even going to use this anymore, but yet it hangs on my wall.....empty.

Hopefully by the end of this month I will have replaced this empty frame with my scrapbooked calendar.....honestly, how hard can that be?

High School Drop Off.....January 15th!

Now that I have 2 of my kids going to Bluevale, I drive them to school in the morning. I car pool with another family on our street. When it is my week to drive, I drop off 4 kids!

Here is Amanda and her friend Carly. I tried to get Jason in this photo too, but he quickly took off before I had a chance to photograph him.

I will get him next time!

Read To Me.....January 14th!

Every night Matt has to read for about 15-20 minutes. We used to have him read out loud to us, but he prefers to read to himself now.

I miss the time we used to spend together, so now I have him tell me what is happening in the book and I just sit next to him on the couch.

Right now he is reading Twilight!

I Never Knew Braces Could Be This Fun....January 13th!

When I was a kid, braces were never 'fun'. Jason enjoys his monthly visit to the dentist when they change the wire and the elastics.

The big decision is what colour elastics he will choose. His last visit he chose black and pink....I know, who knew!

I am glad that they don't mind having them on their teeth. He will have perfectly straight teeth when it is all done.

I Am So Proud.....January 12th!

Today was a big day for Amanda. She did her driving test for her G2. She was so nervous. I have to admit, I was too.

She passed with flying colours. So now, she can drive in the car by herself.

I have entered another new phase of parenting. Does it ever end?

Congratulations Amanda!

BFF.....January 11th!

On Sunday, Joanne called me up and invited me to join her on a quest to find some special cards to send to some family in the USA. I was supposed to be going driving with Amanda, so we made her chauffeur us around.

Joanne and I don't really spend very much time with each other outside the store. It was a nice treat.

Amanda took this photo for us!

Practice Makes Perfect....January 10th!

We have been doing a lot of practicing lately because Amanda is going for her driving test on Monday! She is doing really well.

Don't worry, we were not moving when I took this photo. As you can see, she was thrilled about having her photo taken.

Fruit Loop Day....January 9th!

About 2 years ago I started to have alot of trouble with dairy. Only recently have I been able to have my favourite breakfast again. I love cereal. My usual is a bowl of Shreddies with brown sugar. Lately I have been watching Jason enjoy his Fruit Loops. This morning I had to try them. They were very yummy. I don't know that I will make it a regular thing, but it was nice for a change.

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Introducing Cadbury......January 8th!

We have been after Monty (my hubby) for years to have a dog. The kids still bug him from time to time, but they have pretty much given up. I always thought I would like a small dog. I think it is important that kids have something to love and take care of. We had a guinea pig, and when he died Matt wanted a hamster. Cheddar (the hamster) died in June and he was replaced with a rabbit. I wasn't sure if I would like a rabbit. I liked the idea that he would still be in a cage, but that is a job in itself. You have to be on top of it all the time so that you don't get any smell.

To my surprise, I have totally fallen in love with Cadbury. He is very social, cuddly, and clean. He keeps is cage very organized (only does his business in one area) so it is very easy to keep tidy. I just love him to death. Maybe one day we will get a small puppy, but for now I am quite happy loving our bunn bunn! Isn't he sweet?

Fabulous Blog Award!

Thanks to Karan, I have received a blog award! The rules are simple....I need to list 5 addictions and nominate 5 blogs (I don't know if I can do that). Here goes.......

1. Scrapbooking
2. Hockey
3. French fries
4. Blogs
5. Watching CSI

So the 5 blogs.......Janet and Cheryl. I know that is not 5, but it is the best I could do!

Winter Wonderland.....January 7th!

All day yesterday the weatherman was saying we were going to get about 10cm of fresh snow. Well, he was right. We woke this morning to a fluffy white blanket! It is actually very pretty. After the kids left for school, I went out and shoveled the driveway. When I was finished, I looked back and I could have started all over again.

So far, I think we have had a great winter. We have had lost of snow and it hasn't been too cold. I don't mind the snow, but I hate when it gets really cold.





















Here are some shots of my backyard. We spend alot of time here in the summer. For now.....it waits for the spring thaw.

Oh Canada.....January 6th!

They have done it again. Team Canada takes the gold metal for the 5th straight year in the World Junior Championship against Sweden in a 5-1 victory!

Hockey is Canada, hockey is great, hockey is life!

Technology is great.....January 5!

You would think that after a day on the computer I would be sick of it.....but all it takes is for a few of my favourite friends to appear and I get sucked right in.

I spent the evening chatting with Karan and Patti (from Alberta) and before I knew it, it was 11:20pm.

Technology.....it is the best.

Home Cooking......January 4!

After a very busy weekend I just didn't want to go anywhere. I slept in until 11am, made homemade spaghetti sauce in my crockpot and stayed in my jammies for most of the day.

The kids and I took down the Christmas tree and put our house back together. Other than a quick trip over to the store, I didn't even go outside.

I love days like that. I didn't even watch one hockey game. It was a nice break. I am ready for next weekend. We have 5 games in 3 days again. Bring it on!

Hockey Is My Life....January 3

Jason had 5 games in 3 days this weekend. On top of that we had a Ranger game on Friday night and I took Amanda to St. Clements to see her boyfriend play a game on Saturday afternoon. This photo is of Jason catching up on all the text messages he missed when he was on the ice. The inside of Albert McCormick arena seems like my second home. The hockey will continue to be very busy through January and February.



To top it all off, when we arrived home at 9:30pm we watched the Canada vs Russia game which finished with an overtime period and a shoot out! Canada won and we will play for the gold medal on Monday night.

Hockey really is my life.....but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Up Late.....January 2

I didn't go into the store today until about 3:30 because we were running a crop and I would be working the late shift.

It started at noon and went until the last scrapbooker dropped. I arrived home at about 2am and then I headed to bed around 2:30. I snapped this picture of my bedside clock. The shot is sort of blurry.....I felt the same way!

Project 365

I have decided to do something new this year. It is called project 365. The project is quite simple....you just take one picture every day for a year. This picture, in a sense, should tell a story about that particular day. The point of project 365 is to capture an aspect of your everyday life, everyday. It could be a photo of laundry if you did a bunch of laundry that day, a photo of the doctors office if you had an appointment that day....nothing is off limits. This project is not necessarily supposed to depict all the picture perfect moments of your day, but rather what the story of the day entailed.

I may post more than one photo each day, I may not post for a few days and then post a couple at a time. I am going to keep it flexible. I love this idea and I am going to try to stay dedicated for the whole year.

Here goes.......

January 1st!


I spent most of my day at my scrapbook desk. I was busy finishing up little projects that I had started. I was in and out of this room for most of the day. It was great because I usually don't get very much time to just sit and play.




Later in the evening when I was watching TV I pulled out the scarf that I have been working on for Amanda. It was actually her project, but she said it would look better if I did it. So on Christmas eve we ripped out all the rows that she had done and we started over. I am just about finished.

Sketch Challenge

Sketches make scrapbooking a little easier sometimes. I stumbled across this one and really liked the layout. I was also inspired to take photos of my tree and the ornaments. On the Two Scrapbook Friends blog we put out a challenge and the deadline was yesterday.

This was the sketch:


This was my take on it! I love how it turned out. I did it yesterday, finishing at about 4pm. Yes, I know......I left it until the last possible minute. I have said it before, I think I work best under pressure. Most of the products are from My Little Yellow Bicycle. I used the decorative pattern papers as the backdrop of my layout and embellished with the ornament paper and bling. The title is from the Joys of the Season Cricut cartridge and the tree is from the Christmas Solutions Cricut cartridge. I really love the tree.

Here is my detail shot of the tree. I shadowed it with a darker green cardstock and added the bling as the ornaments.

These ornaments I cut out from the pattern paper. They are already foiled so I didn't have to do much to make them look pretty.

I added a touch of bling to the title to tie it into the page.