Bad Blogger Catch up - Part II

For Part I go here.

So, where were we?
Headache, bed, ... sleep? Ha! Between LC getting up half a dozen times (or more - I lost count) due to her really bad cough, sore throat, inability to sleep through the night (grr!!), my own sore throat and Greg returning from his night on the town smelling like a brewery and snoring like a freight train ... I STILL need some sleep!

But ... instead, I'm up and blogging. Then I'll shower and try to find a clinic that's open so I can take LC to be checked out. I think having a low grade fever for 3 out of the last 4 days plus a croaky voice, a wicked sounding cough and the need to be by my side/in my lap/on my hip 24/7 is reason enough to suspect she may have more than the "common cold". Just sayin'.

But before all that fun, let's show you some Thanksgiving fun!

On the Saturday we went out to the Nielsen's new house in Langley for a feast. First though, Christine had arranged for the kids to have a pony ride at a friends stables. Marley was in heaven and we could have easily left her behind! The kids got to know the mare (27 year old Minnie Mouse) before riding her by giving her a good grooming. Paige (of course) wanted to have nothing to do with such a large scary beast, but Marley, Jasper, Griffin, Kieran and even LC got up close and personal.

Then it was time for some rides! 

Being the oldest (and most keen!), Marley got to go first.

Initially LC mimicked Paige and ran screaming for the hills as soon as the horse was set free and started walking around. But after seeing Marley and all her cousins ride it unscathed, she plucked up the courage to take a turn herself. Paige could in no way be prevailed upon to ride! Sigh.

Remember how I said we could have left Marley behind and she wouldn't even have noticed? Well, she helped Kristin take Minnie Mouse to her stall in another stable. Then she helped get food for all of Kristin's other boarders as well as Minnie Mouse. Short of mucking out the stalls, she's a fully trained stable hand now! Given our location in farm country (with stables literally a few blocks away) I see a future summer job!!! 

Once the horses were fed and Marley allowed herself to be dragged away, we headed to Chez Nielsen for our own supper.

Here is the kids table. From the centre we have Paige, Marley, LC, Kieran, Jasper and Griffin. No, LC's top is not two-toned, she just insisted on washing her own hands. "Me do it!!"

Double sigh.

Marley made the centre piece in school.

This is the adults table (thank you to Marley for taking the picture!) From the left we have cousin James, Aaron, me and Greg. Then on the right we have Zoe in Suzanne's lap, Grandma Day, Christine and Grandpa Day peeking out at back. Next time I think I'll get her to stand on a chair but all in all, a pretty good go at using my "fancy" camera!

Next day we scored another turkey dinner, this time out in Abbotsford at Chez Graham. Another crazy, kid filled meal. Here are the grandkids at the counter. Starting with Paige at the bottom left, we have Marley, Jenna, Caleb, Luke, Miles, LC, and Reid. Drew (9 months old) was in the high chair so not visible. 9 out of 14 grandkids in attendance. Not too shabby!

LC being her cute self. 

And speaking of LC ... with Marley and Paige in school all day now, I have been rediscovering all those toddler/preschool programs that I used to take the older two to. A couple weeks ago we checked out a brand new one focusing purely on crafts.

Painting her pumpkin mask. I've discovered that she is a Maximalist! The more paint the better - especially if it's all in one spot!

Hamming it up in her pirate hat.

Snack time. Love the wall o' masks behind her!

She had fun, got messy and got introduced to other kids her age. We'll be adding this to our routine for sure!

And now for something (two things actually) completely different.

The first is this gorgeousness. A perfect double rainbow!

The girls and I were sitting down for an early dinner (Wednesday's are brutal for the dinner schedule!) when I looked out and saw this. The lower rainbow was so bright! I immediately jumped up, grabbed my camera and ran outside to snap some pictures. Got wet socks in the process but it was worth it!

And the second thing is this ... my very first vendor table! Greg's sister Christine owns the Vancouver and North Shore franchise of Momcafe and she gifted me a membership for my birthday AND offered me a free table at October's breakfast meeting. This is my table. It was a lot of fun. There was a very inspiring speaker  (she had 8, yes, 8 kids!!!) and I met some wonderful ladies. Hopefully it will lead to good things!

Okay, I think I am all caught up now!

Don't forget my Open House next Saturday (see here for details).

Enjoy what's left of your weekend everyone!

Bad Blogger Catch up!

First and foremost, my most humble apologies for neglecting this blog for so long. No excuses, just crazy busy.

Second ... NITASHA, if you're reading this, you won the Blog Candy and need to contact me asap. I will redraw for a winner if I don't hear from you by next Sunday (Oct 30th). Email me at alisonday@eastlink.ca so I can send out your goodies!!

Thirdly, I am having an Open House next Saturday to showcase the Holiday Mini Catalogue from Stampin' Up! See my website for event details and to RSVP. There are going to be door prizes and incentives for booking workshops and placing orders. Come and see some of the samples I and my other demonstrators have cooked up and be the first to sign up for my Christmas Card making class.

And now for the reason my family comes to check out my blog ... family news and pictures!
We have to go back, way back ... about 4 weeks to be exact.

Soccer season is upon us once more and I went out to the field to watch the girls games. Both Marley and Paige are playing this year with Greg as their coach. They play quasi back to back (Marley usually plays at 12 and Paige at 1:30) so there have been a few Sundays where we all head out to the soccer field together. LC likes to get dirty in the softball pitching mounds and any puddles that may be too tempting for her to avoid. (Greg had to take them all one day and LC covered herself in mud from head to toe! Live and learn! Since then rubber boots and changes of clothes have been de rigueur.)

Marley has been struggling with her soccer passion this year. She fights us when we ask her to get ready for practices or games but once on the field with her team mates she perks up and has fun. Anyone know what's going on with her? All advice is appreciated because currently I'm looking for foster families as Greg and I are reaching the end of our rope with her!

Paige and LC have fun with some of the other siblings. This day it was serious gave of Tow Me on the Ball Bag!

It actually started raining while Marley was playing and LC was so cold and tired I took her and Marley home during Paige's game. By the time we returned the light rain had become a downpour. I think that may be why Paige is sticking out her tongue in the picture above but I'm not really sure.

She was a trooper though and played well despite being soaking wet!

New weekend, same game plan, different weather patterns!

After the Walk for the Cure, I joined the family at the soccer field. LC was digging in the dirt with her little buddy Devon (of the Tow Me on the Ball Bag pic). Incidentally, HE was filling up his boots with dirt. Ah boys!

LC had some great plumbers butt going on!!

Marley's team (the Neon Aliens) were down a couple players so Paige was drafted (again!) but from this picture I'm thinking she didn't mind so much. 

Here they are playing together again.

And then Paige's team doing some warm up drills. Oh, they are called the Cherry Bombs. Cute names, eh?

Marley may be giving us trouble with soccer but her new passion, basketball, is another story altogether!

This was her first day EVER ... they literally gave her a jersey and a ball, took her picture and sent them out into the gym to learn some skills. She was late (LOOOOONG story) and a bit out of her comfort zone but had fun and is showing talent already.

Slow and steady wins the race?

Practicing passes with one of the coaches.

She shoots, she scores!

Okay, so what else has been going on around here? Well, some time ago I had a little thing called a Birthday.Ya, I know, it was only my 38th so no big deal. Right? Right. But hey, I got presents and went on a date with Greg so it was a good day!

Marley spent the entire time filming with "her" camera. The video is actually pretty hilarious!

Me and my girls! 

Well everyone. I've got a raging headache and still have a couple weeks worth of events to catch you up on so ... I'm going to post this, doctor my head and go to bed (hmmm ... too much Dr Suess with the girls tonight I think!) The rest of it will have to wait until tomorrow. Let's see, that's Thanksgiving, rainbows in the backyard, rediscovering pre-preschool activities with LC and my very first vendor table ... phew!

See you tomorrow!

Blog Candy winner ... finally!!

Sorry about the delay in picking a winner. I have been feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities lately and this little task fell through the cracks. Until now ...

I put everyone's name into a hat (okay, bag) and pulled out the lucky winner.

That person is ...

... DRUM ROLL PLEASE ....


...NITASHA!

Congratulations! Nitasha, please email me with your address and I'll get your goodies off to you. alisonday@eastlink.ca


Have a great Wednesday everyone and thanks for playing along. It's great to see a few new followers, both here and over at http://adaydesigns.blogspot.com/. Hopefully I can keep the content interesting for you all! :)

Gotta get the girls from school and take them costume shopping. Marley has started the daily pestering so this year I'm going to nip it in the bud early by shopping early! Wish us luck!

Walking for the Cure!

Today was the day! Team Pinkalicious Pandora had fun walking through the streets of Vancouver in support of an excellent cause. As soon as I get the team photo I'll pop it into the post here ...

Edited Oct 12th - Beth sent me this picture of Team Pinkalicious Pandora. Aren't we a good lookin' bunch?!

... until then, here are some other shots from the morning.

Pre-race energy - mmmm ... Timbits!

Tanya, myself and Shannon.

Approaching the start line - finally! With all the people it took ages to get moving. It was worse than the Sun Run for congestion! But we were there to walk, support Beth and her family and enjoy the sunshine so the slow pace was not a problem.

Pinkalicious Pandoras in all their Pinkalicious glory! Beth with her daughters Kate (on left) and Emma. Beth's husband Mike is the man walking behind with the stroller and in the bottom of the stroller is their son, John. The kids did amazingly well - considering. There were a few melt downs and Kate need a piggy back a few times but all in all, they were awesome!

Then there was this guy.

He did the walk with his cat on his hat. A real live cat! 

Apparently this was their 3rd year doing the walk like this.

It truly takes all types!!

The walk took us under the Chinatown gates.

And here we are approaching the finish line!

It was a moving experience. Seeing everyone with names on their pinnies - Moms, Aunts, Sisters, Grandmas, friends, co-workers and even the odd man's name too. This is truly a disease that needs to be defeated! I was so glad I took part and hope that next year I can turn it into a family affair. It's on my birthday next year so it seems destined!

It's not too late to donate to this walk and the cause in general. To donate to my team please click on this link. (Hope it works!) Thanks!

Birthday BLOG CANDY!!

This post will remain at the top of the page until next Saturday so please scroll down for recent posts. Thanks! And good luck!

Okay, now that I have your attention, let me extol the virtues of  ....

Ha, ha, ha! Just Kidding!! Do you want to win this?

Well, stay tuned ...

Hee, hee, hee! I can be so mean sometimes!

Before I tell you how to win this, why don't I tell you why I'm giving this away today. 

Ages and ages ago I was lucky enough to win all that is pictured above from Scrapbook & Cards Today during their birthday celebrations. I had most of in my stash already and really wanted to share the wealth with my loyal reader(s?) I was just looking for the perfect time to do this. My birthday seems like a good time! One week today is my birthday! 38th to be precise. Eep. 

So ... want some more pictures of the goodies?

Your wish is my command!

18 sheets of double-sided 12"x12" American Crafts patterned paper. These are all from their Confetti Line. They are so yummy!! Cupcakes, textured gingham, glitter stripes, balloons, streamers, you name it! It's a party in a bag!!

Plus ...

Not one, not two, but three sets of coordinating Thickers alphabet stickers and one sheet of Thickers puffy sticker accents.

Plus ...

A packet of Remarks Journaling stickers, Details cupcake embellishments, Delights paper flowers, and  Musical Chairs and Pin the Tail Remarks dimensional stickers.

Plus ...

Confetti Adhesive Ribbon, Elements Patterned Buttons and Bits Decorative Tags.

Now, I'm not one of those people that likes blog candy giveaways that force you to jump through a million hoops to win. BUT ... I need your help and I hope you can see you way to doing that.

As I hope you know, I recently started with Stampin' Up! as an Independent Demonstrator. I have been immersed in the learning process and for the most part feeling very much over my head. Greg is less than supportive too which has been tough. But I think I'm starting to get a handle on things. Greg will hopefully come around if I can start to bring in some real money.

And perhaps you can help me show him the money! Here's how to do that and how to win all those American Crafts goodies.

• I will put one entry into the hat if you are already a follower and leave a comment on this post. 
• If you become a follower and leave a comment I'll put in an entry. 
• If you pop over to my new blog (that I started to showcase exclusively Stampin' Up! projects and ideas) and become a follower and/or leave a comment on any post (being sure to reference this blog candy post) then I'll add another entry to the hat. 
• AND if you head on over to my Stampin' Up! website and make a purchase from my online store by 9:00PM PST September 30th, I will add 5 entries to the hat! Sound fair? I'm really close to making my minimum this month so your orders would be appreciated to help me reach my goals.
• This last one is not a requirement but if you could spread the word about my blog candy that would rock my world! Thanks in advance!

Ready? Set?

GO!


Oh, and before I forget, I'll draw for the candy on October 1st ... after I recover from my birthday dinner out with Greg! :)