Catching Up On Family Events

I won't even attempt to try and catch up with everything all in one post but I need to make a start so here goes ...

When last I wrote it was early March and we'd just celebrated Marley's birthday party and Marley and Paige had their 15 minutes of fame as escorts for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Feel free to refresh your memory here.

The day after enjoying the highs of walking out onto the pitch in front of thousands of Whitecaps fans, Marley, Paige and Greg had a soccer adventure of a very different sort. End of Season Fun Day! In good Lower Mainland fashion, it was a cold and cloudy day!!

Lining up for pre-Fun Day instructions.

Greg had coached both teams without any conflicts all season but having to split his time between both teams on the same field was a bit more tricky. He enlisted the help of his assistant coach for Marley's team and spent the day with Paige's team. 

All sorts of fun things were planned including a Flash Mob dance routine. Even Greg got into it!

And then it was time to get to playing some soccer. 

Or, in Christine's case - time to have some fun with her "soccer boyfriend", otherwise known as the younger brother of one of Marley's team mates. Christine manages to have a boyfriend in just about every aspect of her life. Not sure it bodes well for her teen years!!

I had to put in some volunteering time in the tattoo tent so I got Christine a hot chocolate and a hot dog to keep her happy. Actually, she was pretty happy helping put the tattoos on and playing with the sponges we used to apply them.

I did get to watch Paige play for a bit too. She's quite the aggressive soccer player now!

"Take a picture of me, Mommy!"

How could I refuse?

Once all the games, tattoos, bouncy obstacle course and hot dogs were all done, it was time to hand out participation medals. Greg handed them out to Paige's Aqua Thunders first and then had to run over to hand them out to ...

... Marley's Wizards team. Ah, the trials and tribulations of double coaching! 

One of the parents on Paige's team bought bags of candy for all the players too. Sigh. More sugar highs!!

A few days later it was time for another sport wrap up night. This time it was the Basketball Awards Night. Marley started playing with the Steve Nash Youth Basketball program last year and this year Greg helped out as an assistant coach. Not that he knows a ton about basketball, but coaching comes naturally to him!

Marley sitting with her BFF, waiting for things to get started.

The Grade 2/3's accepting their participation medals.

Marley and Amanda comparing medals. (That's Greg handing out the medals on the left.

And one final picture showing Greg and another coach, Taka Katsube - the father of another friend and classmate of Marley's.

Okay, I think that's enough for this post. Plus my laptop battery is about to die so I'd better call it a night. I promise I'll be back with more. I just won't promise when! Until then, thanks for stopping by. 

Don't forget about my new website where you'll find all my latest crafty endeavours (well, okay, I might be a bit behind over there too!) come and check me out at http://alisondaydesigns.com/.

A New Challenge at S.W.A.T - Colour Combo!

There is a new challenge up at S.W.A.T today and it's put me in a Spring-like mood! Intrigued? I won't keep you in suspense. It's a colour combo ... check it out.

The yummy looking cupcakes aside, doesn't that just scream "Spring" to you? 

Unfortunately, it's not quite spring around here. Almost. But not quite. My crocuses are blooming and I have seen some cherry blossoms in the village but the rains continue and with it some stiff winds and cool temperatures. I know, I know, there are blizzards raging across the continent but it was 19 degrees in Osoyoos the other day! Maybe Aunt Moira would like a room mate for a bit? Just kidding!!

I used the colour combo plus a recent layout idea by Shimelle's alter ego Glitter Girl to create this.

Glitter Girl used papers  from 6x6 paper pads to make her patterned paper quadrants but I used my scraps. I found several in the colours from the inspiration picture that were large enough for my purposes and got to work. 

The top was feeling a little barren to me and I wasn't too sure how to fill it but then I got the idea of a banner and made one with lots of different shapes, papers and layers. It was a fair bit of work and took many times of moving things around but in the end I really like it! You may see more fun banners like this from me!!

Fun was the order of the day so I had fun with the title too. Wrapping it around the photo block and using two different letter stickers. 

Usually I plan where my journaling is going to go before I get too far into the process but this time I got sort of carried away and forgot. Whoops! I am not totally in love with how it looks but the more important thing is that it got on the page! This is one of those types of pages that I'll make a new one of each year - the annual measuring of the birthday girl - so I don't anticipate what I say will change too much over the years. "Oh, how you've grown!" can only be said so many ways before you start repeating yourself!!

Thought I'd leave you with another look at my banner. Love the little washi tape pennants!

Okay, now it's your turn. What will you come up with in response to this colour challenge? Can't wait to see your projects posted on the S.W.A.T. site! Have a great weekend everyone!

Playing Along With LGS ... Finally!

Do you ever find yourself so swamped with all the items on your "to do" list that things slip? This week has been a week of letting things slip for me! Starting with not getting a layout ready for Let's Get Sketchy's Monday reveal. It IS Team B's turn this week so playing along is really a bonus for me but it's something I told myself I would do as a way to have regular posts on my blog. But ... I dropped the ball this week. I also completely forgot to take my girls to their hair cut appointment on Monday. Not sure where my head was that day!! 

Without further ado, here is the sketch that we are working with this week.

And my interpretation.

I have a tiny confession to make. I looked at the sketch, saw that I needed two landscape photos (I went with 4x6 to keep things simple) and then totally forgot to look at the sketch again while building my layout. What?!?! I am not advocating this as a way of following along with a sketch challenge by any means! I count it as a lucky coincidence that my layout resembles the sketch at all - albeit mirrored. This is just how my week has gone!

Sigh.

Here are your detail shots.

My title is made up of 3 different components. A word tag, small letter tiles and more traditional letter stickers. Remember that you can have fun with any component on your pages. Don't get locked into one way of thinking. Like, "My titles must be made up of Thickers!" When you're using up your stash like I am you quickly realize that you've got to get creative with your resources or pretty soon you'll run the risk of thinking you can't make another layout because none of your Thicker sets have enough letters in them to spell "Thickers"! Mixing and matching styles, manufacturers and products keeps things feeling fresh and new - no matter how long the product has been sitting on your shelf!

From that same Teresa Collins set as the "family" word tag was a 12x12 sheet of month journaling cards. I cut out the February one to use on this layout. The clocks are also from a Teresa Collins collection pack (for whatever reason I have a TON of Teresa Collins packs - must have bought them on sale or something!) I liked the symbolism of time passing for a child's birthday layout.

The row of little clocks looked a bit bare so I dug out some mini brads to fill the centres. Now it looks finished and I love the pops of red and hints of shimmer with the gold.

In fact, I loved the gold so much I knew I needed to add it somewhere else - the centre of the large clock embellishment seemed like the perfect spot! Kind of wishing I had some of that Heidi Swapp gold lame colour shine spray too ...

Well, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by. Are you playing along with Let's Get Sketchy this week? There's a $10 GC from The Paper Bakery up for grabs this month. All you need to do is enter 3 out of the 4 challenges by the end of March. Good luck - hope to see you on the blog.

Whoops - Family Friday Update on Saturday

Well I'm not doing to well with my Family FRIDAY Updates, am I? Oh well, since it's a day late you all get a bonus story!

Last Friday we were all gearing up for Marley's 9th birthday party. It went off without a hitch! Greg went in the pool with Paige and Christine while Marley and her friends played games with the play leader. I was on the other side of the glass from the water action so only got a few pictures of Greg and the younger girls but not Marley's group.

While they played in the water I got the party room set up.

Cupcake cake. When I saw these owl cupcake holders and owl toothpick decorations at Pier1 I snapped them up. Marley loved them! Score one for Mommy's staff discount!

When we were in Mexico the girls had each bought a pinata from the pinata craft person we visited on our Investour. Unfortunately we were unaware that Canada considers them dangerous goods so they were confiscated when we tried to carry them on board the plane home. Marley had been really looking forward to having a pinata and I briefly toyed with the idea of making one but it became too hard. So this 3-D owl I purchased at Michael's (when I was shopping for party favours and craft items) took it's place. Now it adorns her room I think. 

Once they were changed they descended upon me and made a paper plate owl while we were waiting for the pizza to show up.

Olivia and Marley Owls. New breeds!

I hadn't really planned any games/activities beyond the owl craft so the girls made up their own fun.

There was a dog pile on Marley ...

... some Simon Says, Go, go, go, Stop, and "Night at the Museum" (a game of their own making).

And then the cupcakes came out!

And presents were opened. Marley had asked that this be a toonie party - guests were asked to bring a toonie for Marley and one for O.W.L so of course they brought other things too! One of the favourites was this stuffed owl. Marley has quite the menagerie now! This one brings the total to 6!

After all that excitement we enjoyed a relaxing Sunday. We'd had a ton of rain leading up to the weekend so the grass fields had been closed which led to the cancellation of Paige's game. Marley's had been rescheduled to the turf field at Holly but the team they were supposed to play against couldn't make the early time slot (8:00am) so it was cancelled too. What a rare Sunday! No games, no work shifts for me, oh and the irony of it all? It was gorgeous and sunny ALL DAY!! Go figure!

So let's fast forward to today. (In case you didn't figure it out, this is the bonus part I was talking about.)

MARLEY AND PAIGE WERE ON NATIONAL TV!!!!

Their soccer club was given the opportunity to act as player escorts at tonight's Vancouver Whitecaps game.  I had to work so Greg had the honour of going with them to BC Place. Kickoff was at 4:30 but they had to be there at 1:30 to practice and what not. Here are some photos from the day.

Since Greg had to leave the girls at BC Place, he and Christine got to have a little Daddy/Daughter bonding time. This one is outside the Stadium.

Waiting for the Seabus over to Granville Island.

Then he hooked up with the girls again for the pregame festivities at Terry Fox Plaza. 

They were given these uniforms to wear for the game. Had to give them back though. Ah well.

Paige looks like she had fun.

They got to clock how fast their shots on goal were.

Christine got to have a little face painting - she's always excited to get her face painted!

And then the main event!

That's Marley holding Whitecaps Captain Kenny Miller's hand. Know it's a bit far away. Really need a zoom lens!!

Paige was holding the hand of one of the players on the opposing team. 

Lining up for the national anthems.

And running off the field so the game can get started.

And last but not least, they all got to sit and watch the game. Greg rolled in at 8:00PM with Happy Meals all around. Sigh. Tomorrow is going to be rough! Spring Forward and Soccer jamboree too!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with my winner from THIS POST - you've got a few more hours to get your comments in if you want to win my prize of a stamp set and ribbon/brad bundle.

Thanks everyone!

Family Friday Update - Marley Turns 9!!

 If you're looking for the Let's Get Sketchy Blog Hop please go here.

This week (and the upcoming weekend) has been taken up with Marley's 9th birthday. Nine?! Really?! When did THAT happen?! Greg took her to the Canucks game on Tuesday (her actual birthday) so we had to reschedule the traditional Birthday Dinner to Sunday night. Our tradition is that the birthday girl (or boy in Greg's case - LOL!) gets to choose the restaurant where we all have dinner. Marley chose White Spot so here we are.

Marley and Christine goofing around opposite me.

"Take a picture of me, Mommy!" How could I say no?

Not sure what she's doing here ...

Christine's turn to get into Marley's picture.

Oh! Now I see where they get their goofiness from!

No seriously, THIS is how she posed for me! 

*sigh*

I'm surrounded by goofs!!

Grilled cheese and sweet potato fries in a boat. What could be better?

Sparklers and a sundae for the birthday girl!

In case you thought there wasn't going to be a craft component to this post, here is the card I made for Marley. The background paper is something I made for my new Staffer position at Scrapbook News and Review ... can't share that project with you though. If it makes the magazine this month I'll let you know!

Anyway, since I had a small piece of this hand stamped paper left over, and not a lot of time to get a card made ... simple does it!

On Tuesday morning I think Marley was a little underwhelmed at her birthday breakfast. I'd had a rough day on Monday fighting some nausea of unknown origin so just wasn't able to get anything organized - or even get out of bed early enough to greet the birthday girl in the manner she was probably expecting. She took it in stride. Such a great girl!!

Once Greg came home from work we measured her height - something we usually do first thing in the morning! 

She's now 135 cm (4' 5") or there abouts. Which means that technically she still needs a booster seat until she's 145cm (4'9"). Bummer.

Then it was time for presents. 

I found a pretty intense book on owls that Grandma and Grandpa agreed to give her (since we'd already purchased her presents but I knew how much she'd love this book! Thanks G&G!!)

The girls gave Marley "Owls in the Family" by Farley Mowatt (sensing a theme?) and this pretty journal I found at Pier1. Marley loves to write and I am always on the lookout for pretty sketch books or journals for her. And all the girls for that matter. I've got quite the stash actually!

And then the big present which was ...

Surprise, surprise! An owl print for her bedroom! 

 

Oh yeah, and the Rihanna tickets! :)

A rare Mommy and Marley date to look forward to in April!!

Paige and Christine had fun with the bubble wrap!! 

Christine is excited for Marley's birthday and by extension her own (which is imminent!) but Paige is feeling a bit of jealousy this year. I haven't seen this sort of reaction from her before so I'm a little at a loss of what to do. I get it. It's hard to see Marley get so much attention and she know she still has to sit through Christine getting all the attention in a few weeks before it's her turn in April. Lots of extra hugs seem to be doing the trick! Oh, and getting to meet many of the Canucks tonight with Greg helped a ton too!

So that's where we're at these days. Tomorrow is Marley's party, Sunday is soccer which I may actually get to see as I'm not working anywhere and then we're back to Monday. Which leads me a bit of sad news. I will be working my last shift at The Upstart Crow on Monday. The store is going to be shutting down over Spring Break while they expand their workshop space. It's pretty exciting really. It will completely change the focus of the store - from mostly retail with a side of classes and workshops to mainly classes and workshops with a side of retail. But reducing the retail shop means that so many sales Crows will not be needed. I am bummed, I'll not lie. But I'm pragmatic enough to understand how these things work. I still hold onto the hope that there will be space for me to hold workshops but only time will tell. I would ask a favour from my local readers. If you would like to see me teach a workshop, can you reach out to Megan at The Crow? Go onto their Facebook page or their website and make class suggestions. What classes would you like to see in the new space? Cards? Layouts? Scrapbooking for beginners? Introduction of multimedia techniques onto your pages? How to scrapbook faster? I've got a ton of ideas! If you'd prefer me to teach out of my home, I'm happy to entertain that option too. A monthly crop would be so much fun!! 

Anyway, enough whining. I know there are exciting things on my horizon. Can't wait to see what they are!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I'll share pictures from Marley's party next Friday!