Loving My Six Teenage Kids!

As soon as Monty and I decided we were going to start a family, I worried about the teenage years. That might seem weird, but that is the way my mind works. It wasn't the diapers and sleepless nights, it was the thought of having 3 teenagers in my house all at the same time!

That time came sooner than I expected, but the road was nothing like I had predicted. Who knew that my kids would teach me how to text and that our family would have over 35000 texts in one month between our 5 cell phones? Who knew that I would love their friends as much as I love my own children? Who knew that I would jump on a wake board at age 40 and tube and knee board too?

We just returned from a week of camping with 6 teenagers and it was amazing. Most people shake their heads and wonder why we would even think of taking 6 teenagers anywhere and call it a holiday! I say.......they are missing out on something wonderful!

The above photo is my favourite from our holiday at Six Mile Lake! Amanda and Chloe are missing because they were off doing something with my hubby. We spent about an hour or so at this lock and as we were leaving, both of my sons told me 'thanks for taking us here mom.....so far it was the best part of the trip'!

If they only knew how much I enjoy their company......all 6 of them. I hope some day that they have the same experience with their own family!

A Real Waterbed!

I was on Facebook this morning and someone had this video posted. It is so funny! I thought I would share it with you!



Hope you had a good laugh. Happy Saturday!

Where Has The Summer Gone???

I can't believe that we are starting the last week in August! My kids are already thinking of 'back to school' and I am thinking 'where did the time go'?

I know my blog has suffered this summer. I just couldn't fit it in with all the other things that have been going on. Lately our store has been taking up a bunch of my time. Shipments from CHA are rolling in and that requires unpacking, inventory, re-organizing etc. I am not complaining, I love getting new product for the store, but it does take a bunch of my time.

Then there are my 3 (oh, sorry 4) wonderful children........

Amanda has been taking a cake decorating course (actually courses) over the summer and that has meant many trips to the store to buy the necessary tools and groceries. She is having a blast learning all sorts of new things. Here are a few photos of some of her creations.

Cupcakes seem to be her favourite thing to do right now. One night, we had 75 cupcakes covering our kitchen island. They were all decorated beautifully, but how were we supposed to eat that many???? We farmed a few dozen out to the neighbours, and the boys and their friends were enjoying them as well. Needless to say, they all disappeared.

Jay has been working about 25 hours a week at the Galaxy. He keeps himself up to date seeing all the current movies with the movie passes he earns. He has still found lots of time to do other things too. David (the 4th child) and Jay have perfected their wake boarding skills along with learning how to knee board. They also manage to get in some 'extreme tubing' each time we head out on the boat. I am the official spotter and photographer, so this means many trips out on the boat myself.

Jay and David successfully acquired their G1's and have been driving all over the city. I have chauffeurs everywhere I go.

Matt has also been busy with his huge social network. He has a very wide circle of friends and he spends time with all of them. He has also been the neighbourhood lawn mower. When our neighbours are away on holidays they ask Matt to keep the lawns mowed and trimmed. He also mows our lawn and Monty's parents too. This definitely keeps him busy! He recently purchased a new TV for his room (along with a little help from us as a graduation present). He will be starting grade 9 in a couple of weeks. I know he is a bit nervous, but excited too.

Matt is a bit camera shy right now. Unless I am really sneaky......this is generally what I get. They aren't going to make for very interesting scrapbook layouts, but I will work with what I have.

Monty has been puttering away on the boat. There always seems to be something that needs adjusting, cleaning, tweaking........! If he is not there, you will find him visiting with a neighbour on our street or floating in the pool in the backyard.

We spend summer nights sitting on our front patio or in our backyard. This is where we stay connected and share what has been going on in our separate lives. I am so thankful that I have him in my life. We just celebrated (well it wasn't much of a celebration) our 21st anniversary.

My Break is Over.......

I lasted a week. I haven't picked up a book....and it was torture. On Friday night I came home after a very long day and put on my jammies and jumped into bed. I had this book sitting on my night table!

I cracked it open and read until 1:30am and then forced myself to go to sleep. I worked 16 hours yesterday and when I finally got into bed around 1am......I just had to read a few pages before I went to sleep.

Amanda started to read this book awhile back, and said she couldn't get into it. I am not very far in, but I am enjoying it already. I am really going to try and restrict my reading to 'before bed' so that I still get my 'jobs' done. Let's be real.....I am sure if you drove by my house you might see me outside, sitting in a chair with my nose buried in my book.......just maybe!

August Design Team Layouts

Here are the two layouts that I did with the August Design Team kit at Two Scrapbook Friends. I wanted to get more done, but with holidays and CHA, it just didn't happen. You may see this paper crop up again in some future layouts.

Cool Treats.....I posted this one already. I used it for a Little Red Wagon challenge.


Lovin' Summer........This is a scraplift from ljbridges (off of Two Peas). She is from Missouri. The basic layout design is the same, I used it as a sketch. I did use her pinwheel idea too. The rest is all me!

Thanks for looking!