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/.

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!

Playing Along With Let's Get Sketchy - February Week 2

Welcome to another Monday morning and another Let's Get Sketchy challenge. This is the second sketch for February and it seems like a great time to remind you all that to be eligible to win each month's prize you need to complete 3 of the 4 weekly sketches. You've got all month to get those sketches in so don't panic if you think you've already missed a week!

And now onto my contribution. 

I sort of switched the photo placements around but kept to rest of the sketch pretty much. This is Paige's Kindergarten pictures. She's still got those chubby little kid cheeks - so cute!! I liked the back ground texture in the sketch (below) so I used my Mister Huey's to create a similar feel. Then backed it with a full piece of Stampin' Up DSP. The blue totally matched the blue background in Paige's picture! Plus it meas I'm using 2 full sheets of 12x12 paper! Woo hoo!! Stash bustin' baby!!

Here's the sketch TeamB is using this week.

And some detail shots.

I am really loving digging through my stash and finding (and USING) the products in it. These may not be the most recent releases but I truly don't think that matters! I am compiling them in a way that is fresh and current so they feel fresh and current too.

Oh, and yes, the two hearts on this layout were leftovers from this layout. I always keep any extra shapes I've punched or die cut (and now I have a pretty little container to keep them in - see here) so when a layout calls for a little something, I have a stash at hand to dig through.

The journaling is on this little tag that I tucked behind the photos at the bottom of the layout. I liked that the card was a yellow grid because the colour matched Paige's shirt and it felt "school-like". Like a yellow legal pad or something. It's the littlest details sometimes!

Thanks for coming to visit today. I've got several wonderful posts lined up this week and on Thursday I will also have an exciting announcement to make. Hope you come back for it!!

Happy Monday everyone. Hope you have a great week!!

Let's Get Sketchy - Last January Sketch

Welcome to the last January reveal for Let's Get Sketchy. You know what that means right? If you are at all interested in the $40 GC from Artful Delight then you've got to get those layouts submitted! To be eligible you need to have submitted to at least 3 of the 4 challenges. This week it was Team B's turn to wow us (hope you've checked out the blog for their versions of the sketch this week) but I am playing along too. Here's the sketch we are working with -  it's a gorgeous one from our very own Bev Code.

And here's what I did with it.

Last year I scrapped a picture of Marley at 4 - they were both taken at the same time so this is me "catching up"so to speak! I was hoping to post a link to the other one but I can't find it anywhere and it's among my lost photos now (hard drive blew up, remember?) Ah well. Doesn't matter!

It's amazing to me that Paige used to look like this! All chubby baby cheeks!! Sigh. They grow so fast!

Anyway, the orange swirly paper was one that I found during my inventory. It's an old Theresa Collins that came in her Gratitude mini album set. (For some reason I have 2 of those sets! Guess I'd better get busy!!) There's barely any orange in the picture of Paige but for some  reason when I put it underneath the photo it just felt so right! I've added a few highlights of pink to tie in the pink in her shirt and to keep it from feeling too "fall-like".

Here are some close up shots for you.

I had a lot of fun creating this floral detail. It's not my usual style but I really felt the sketch called for more than what I would normally do so ... sometimes you've just got to step out of your own box!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout this week. Hope you will play along with us! Have a great week everyone!

Hallowe'en Mini Album for Practical Scrappers

I posted a lot of pictures of this Hallowe'en Mini over at Practical Scrappers - I hope you are following us over there! We've got our spook on lately - did you see Kerri's wreath from yesterday? ROCKING!!! Check it out here.

As I said in my other post, I got the original idea for this mini from a self-paced workshop called The Boo! Book over at Big Picture Classes. This was over 2 years ago and the instructions and materials have sat untouched in my stash since then! Yikes, eh? As a part of my One Little Word (there's another project that hasn't had it's proper attention!) I have been focusing on my Scrapbooking this year. I've done a pile of layouts that I am really proud of! So many memories and stories put down on paper which makes me so happy!! Well, now there are a few more memories in the can!!

Without further ado, here is my All Hallows Eve Memories mini.

The letter stickers are Jenny Bowlin (from 2 years ago!!), the washi tape is new (Teresa Collins) and the buttons are from my stash.

The metal frame was in my stash and I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. I really like the added vintage feel it gives to this album. The orange letter tiles are new Studio Calico.

Okay, now to the inside spreads. I used Jenni Bowlin large Bingo cards (also 2 years old) and backed them with patterned paper (old MME - Spider's Web).

2004 

"Marley's 1st Hallowe'en. Greg took her "trick or treating" to a few neighbours in the townhouse complex on 57th. Marley used an old black handbag as a loot bag. We ate her candy!"

Wasn't she just the cutest little lady bug you've ever seen? Hard to remember her that small!

2005 

"We made the Ladybug costume fit for another year, got a real loot bag, put up some decorations and generally got "into" Hallowe'en a but more. Marley may look nervous (on the left) but she quickly got the hang of things!"

2006 

I was attempting to give the impression of a full moon with the circle of card stock and all the gems. 

"We added Paige to the fun this year. She also made a cute ladybug! Marley decided to be a cowgirl with her pink (Mark's Work Wearhouse) cowboy hat! Marley was very into the treat getting this year. Paige not so much!"

2007 

More old Jenni Bowlin products - this time the black buttons. 

Below I took a piece of black card stock and ripped one edge before attaching the tag to it. The orange arrow is a Studio Calico sticky note that I doodled on.

"The Princess and the Ladybug - First year in our new house. We had over a hundred kids come by and Marley got her first "real" taste of what a trick-or-treating haul can be!"

2008 

I also got the mini Hallowe'en Bingo cards! I was keen!! The black tile letters are Jenni Bowlin mini chalkboard alphas - also 2 years old. Not sure why I'm telling all this but hey, I'm a sharer! Similar products are still available if you are keen to make something like this for your own family memories!

I took the girls to The Great Big Boo this year so these pictures were taken just before we went into the show. They were not taken on Hallowe'en night but are the cutest shots of my kids in their costumes from that year!

2009 

A Panda, a Fairy and Hannah Montana!

"This year Christine (a.k.a LC) joined the Trick or Treating fun. The Ladybug costume had been donated so LC got to be a Panda Bear. Griffin's birthday is Oct 28 so we had a pre-trick or treating party for him. Going out with the cousins made the experience super fun for all!"

2010 

Another pre-trick or treating birthday party for Griffin. Greg's sister and their cousin both lived in neighbourhoods that were not super family friendly so coming to our candy rich subdivision was a good deal for them. They've since moved to better neighbourhoods so we don't do these parties any more. Kind of miss them!

"This year we had a Chicken, a Princess and Hannah Montana came back again. So cute!"

2011

"The Good Fairy. Kitty Cat. Wicked Witch."

I didn't do any journalling but did include pictures from a new activity the girls got to do last year. Friends nearby had a fire pit going with marshmallows and sparklers. It made for a late night (and a school night to boot!) but the girls are already asking if we are going to do it again this year!

Well there you have it. My new Hallowe'en mini. I've got plenty more Bingo cards and papers etc so I can add to it over the next few years. I finished it off with some ribbon strands - not something I normally do but I quite like it on this!

Thanks for coming by today. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I've got more scrapping plans for the rest of this weekend - hope I can get to them!