Matt's Grade 8 Graduation

On Wednesday, Matt graduated from Grade 8. He is the last of our 3 children to attend Margaret Ave, and now they have all moved forward to high school.

I know you won't be surprised to hear this.....I did get a few photos. Thankfully, Matt was very cooperative. I think he knew how much the photos would mean to me, so he did his very best to humor me.

Here is Matt and I in our front yard.

Matt had a date for the dance after the actual ceremony. Her name is Reanne! I have heard her name a lot throughout his grade 8 year, but I had never met her. We were invited over before the graduation for photos.

There were other mother's there with cameras, so I just started snapping photos.


This is Matt and Reanne (she is so cute)! Notice the tie matches the dress? Matt came home with the shall from her dress and said that we had to get a tie to match. So cute!
Jay came along and he took a photo of Matt and I together.

I convinced Jay to get his photo taken with his brother. Don't you love how he dressed up for the occasion?

This is a very special photo. This is Rachael. She has been friends with Matt since we moved on the street (he was only 2 years old). I have a photo of them sitting on the curb in front of my house when they started JK. I have a photo of them walking to the bus stop on the first day of grade 7, and now I have this photo of them graduating grade 8. She calls on him every morning for school. I hope they remain friends forever!


Here are all three of my children. It seems like yesterday that they were in diapers.

Here are some proud grandparents. This is Monty's mom and dad. My parents were away and could not attend. I am sure they will enjoy these photos.

Not only has Matt graduated grade 8, he is now taller than his dad!

And here we are.......one big happy family! At the end of the day, it is all that matters.

Congratulations Matt! We are so proud of you. Love Mom & Dad, Amanda & Jason!

Just Add Water!

I have been enjoying Joanne's sketches. This layout was designed using one of her most recent designs. It is for a class that we are having at the store tonight. She designed a sketch and then she gave it to Amanda and I to play with. She also created a layout with it.

Each layout has the basic design of the sketch, but they all turned out differently. I really love this line of papers from Best Creation. I knew I wanted to do pool photos as soon as I saw it.

Thanks for looking!

Little Red Wagon #34 - Canada Day or July 4th!

I love Dee's challenge this week.......to do something for Canada Day or July 4th. I just had to do a layout.

I used some chipboard buttons from Jenni Bowlin and covered them with pattern paper, added some red twine from May Arts and placed it on a felt flower.

I used a cardstock calendar from Jenni Bowlin along with the red mini alpha/number stickers to mark the date!

I had not attempted a banner yet, and I thought it would make the perfect title on the page.

I added this paper ruffle for some dimension and topped it with this yummy ribbon from Maya Road.

I couldn't resist adding the true Canadian signature phrase.

I had the perfect photos to tie it all together. They were from way back in 2004!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the team has put together. I hope you find some time to play this week..........eh!

Challenges I have entered:

Made by Memo - Spots & Dots

Little Red Wagon #33 - Beads

Happy Wednesday everyone! I am so excited about the challenge at Little Red Wagon! I have been on a real layout kick lately and I managed to incorporate Rosanne's bead challenge into a page for my ds Jason.

I had to dig deep into my wagon for all these goodies. I found these beads and used them to make my title. I can't even tell you where I picked them up (that is how long they have been in my wagon). The die-cuts are from Pink Paislee and the stamps are from Close to my Heart.

Here is a close-up of the beads for you.........they are sweet!

I hope you have a chance to play along! Be sure to visit the Little Red Wagon blog and see what everyone else has created.

June Product Challenge

I have been busy working on the June product challenge kit and I came across this sketch that I thought would work well with the materials I had. The credit for the sketch goes to Julie Bonner.

Here is the layout that I designed using the products that came in the challenge kit.

I added just a few things from my stash. The buttons, the dotted paper, the tiny circle alpha stickers, the rub-on, the orange ric-rac and the dimensional airplane stickers. I glimmer misted the chipboard circle ring and added some detailing with a black pen. It is fun to look through your stash and see what works.

I chose to use some photos from my very first flight. I traveled with my mom to Las Vegas to attend the CHA winter show. The photos are not the greatest because it was a very dreary day and they were taken through a window.

Product challenge kits are still available at Two Scrapbook Friends. Click here for all the details.

Off to Camp.........

Today is the day that our youngest son heads off to Camp Wabanaki for 5 days with is grade 8 class! He is the last of our three children to attend this traditional end to their grade 8 year.

Last night Matt and I sat down with the list that the school sent home and went through the recommended items to bring. We packed extra socks, shoes and underwear. He dug out an old hockey bag and stuffed everything in (including his sleeping bag). He packed a few personal items into a nap sack that he would take on the bus. Now he was ready to go.

He didn't seem nervous at all (this was his first time away for this length of time). He didn't seem concerned that he would be gone from his family for 4 nights and 5 days. He didn't mention that he would miss his brother or sister. He wasn't upset that he wouldn't be able to mow his Grandma and Grandpa's lawn and his brother would have to do it for him. He wasn't disappointed that he would miss his turn to cook dinner this week. I was getting the feeling that he wasn't going to miss us at all!

He was the first one out of bed this morning and ready to go, earlier than usual. I was driving him to school and we needed to be there by 8:30am. We arrived about 10 minutes early. He had already told me the night before that I was not allowed to take photos of him at school. The shot above was taken in front of our house just before we left.

As we were pulling up to the school you could see the kids and parents saying there goodbye's and the rental truck was already there for all the luggage. I wanted to park the car and walk Matt over to the crowd like all the other parents were doing but he told me to pull up next to the curb. He hopped out and before I could get out of the car, he already had his stuff out of the trunk and was saying goodbye!

I said my quick goodbye and watched him blend into the crowd, never looking back. I started to drive away, feeling a little sad that all I would have to scrapbook would be the one photo of him in front of the house holding his bag (and the fact that he didn't seem even a little sad that he was leaving me behind). I tried to convince myself that it wasn't about me and that I should just let it go. Before I knew it, I was driving around the block and parking my car in the church parking lot across the street.

I hopped out, camera in hand and stood across the street (behind a pole) and took this photo of the group of kids and the rental truck being loaded up! Do you notice all the parents in the crowd? I am trying to look past that and focus on the scrapbook page. I was sure to get the name of the school in the photo and as much of the crowd as I could. I couldn't spot Matt (I am sure he was ducking behind something so he didn't get int he photo).

After a few minutes of watching the action I made my way back to my car and headed home. I snapped one last photo through the windshield of my car......the buses all lined up, waiting for the kids to be loaded on.

Don't get me wrong.......I am thrilled that my son is independent. I would much rather have him blend into the crowd without a thought than be nervous and anxious. It tugs on my heart a little to feel him drift away from childhood and start on his own path. I know that he will have a wonderful week and I will rely on Facebook for all the photos at the camp. I will be sure to take my camera along with me when I pick him up on Friday. I don't care what he says at that point. I will be so happy to see him.....and hopefully he will be happy to see me too!

Little Red Wagon #32 - Sketch

I am so excited about this challenge! I love sketches. I am completely addicted to them. Regan drew this sketch for this weeks challenge..........

And this is my card.........

I had coloured this image and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. This is Butch and Mimi from Stamping Bella. I fell in love with them the minute I saw them. I used papers from October Afternoon, which I have to say is one of my favourite new collections.

Thanks to Regan for a great sketch. I had fun using it. Be sure to visit Little Red Wagon and see what everyone does with this sketch, and maybe you should give it a try too.

I also entered my card in the following challenges:

Cards - use floral paper
Sentimental Sundays - new or neglected stash
A Spoon Full of Sugar - floral delight

May Product Challenge!

Well it is a bit late, but I did get it finished. I love to participate in the product challenges at Two Scrapbook Friends. It really takes me out of my box and challenges me to try something different. I came across this sketch on the Imaginisce blog that was created by Robyn Schaub. I used it to create my layout.

Here it is........

Here is a close-up of the birdhouse.........

I added some stamping and these sweet felt birds that we just got in the store from Maya Road. They matched the layout perfectly!

Little Red Wagon #31 - Alter an Embellishment

Happy Wednesday everyone. It is challenge day at Little Red Wagon and I have been on a layout roll. The challenge this week was issued by Avril and it was to alter an embellishment. This one made me think.

Yesterday was DT reveal day at Two Scrapbook Friends and I played along. On this layout I altered the Maya Road kraft envelope. I added some punched circles from the pattern paper to decorate the circle tabs and added a brad to the center. I also added a sticker that coordinated with the page.

I was super pleased with the end result! Check out what the rest of my girlfriends have created and try to play along.

Design Team Reveal!

It is DT reveal day at Two Scrapbook Friends and I am thrilled to be able to play along this month. When we received the shipment of the products from Paper Loft I just knew I had to create with it. Here is what I came up with........

Skipping Stones........

Like 2 Peas in a Pod........

The Ultimate Fishing Buddies........

You are Unbelievable.......

I also made up the designer star album from Kaisercraft..........

I can't wait to see what the DT did with their kits. Be sure to visit our layout gallery and stop by the store to see the designs in person. We will also have the products that we used for sale in the store too.