Just for the Cute of it!

Last Sunday I was driving home from a birthday party with Paige and LC in the van (Marley and Greg had left early to go to soccer.) Since it was after lunch time and both girls had been playing hard at the party, I wasn't surprised to see them both fast asleep when I looked in my rear view mirror. LC was due a nap and Paige is slightly narcoleptic in her car seat!! What I wasn't expecting was this ...

All together now ... "AWWWWW!!"

In other news, I had a birthday (37th if you're counting!) Here are some pictures:

Opening presents - somewhat challenging with LC sitting on my lap.

Marley's "fancy writing". 

Apparantly the theme was "make Mommy smell good" - I got a tube of hand cream and 3 different lip gloss tubes.

We ALL had to model the lip gloss!

A few days later my brother and Greg's sister and their families came over to help keep the celebrations going. Greg organized everying; the guest list, the time, the place, the food .... Memphis Blues BBQ FEAST! Not exactly what I was expecting but it was enjoyed by all. And yes, we had no need for meat proteins for a few days after!!

Matthew chowing down on a rib.

Not sure what LC actually ate - maybe just the baked beans and the fries. Oh well.

Paige was very happy to have me load up her plate and did her best. I somehow missed getting a pic of Sophie - that's the top of her head at the bottom of the picture! Sorry Soph!!

Marley LOVES pulled pork!

Jasper gave it all a miss and opted for PB&J instead!

Sadie (LOVE those curls!) drinking her milk.

Griffin with a milk goatee!

This is Auntie Christine's "Meat Feast Face". Personally it looks to me like that's what her arteries are saying!! LOL!

Behold! MEAT!!!!

And the instigator of the MEAT - Greg. Thanks for a great birthday hon!!

As for my scrapping life; I have been working on an album about our trip to Hawai this past March but instead of posting each page as I complete it I am going to wait and post the finished album all at once. I'm getting there!! Slowly but surely. I'll also have my September layout for Project 12 soon. I receive emails from Ali Edwards and she just posted about her annual December Daily. I looked at this project last year and thought it looked like a whole load of work that I didn't have time for. And I didn't really. What with the girls' activities, my schooling, Paige's preschool and everyday life, it was hectic. But that was then and this is now ... and now I am seriously considering doing it. The album Ali just posted looks so easy! Hmmmm .... I'll keep you posted and let you follow my prgress should I decide to do it.

Well, thanks for tuning in, see you later.

18 months ... already!

LC (Little Christine) is 18 months old today.
Wow!
Already?!

She may not have been TOTALLY planned, and I may have been more than a little bit bummed that she wasn't the boy we were hoping for, but she has turned out to be such a Treasure. She is intelligent, adventurous, mischievious, and BUSY. So very busy! Nothing is sacred anymore. Drawers that neither of the older girls showed any interest in are now regularly opened and the contents strewn about the house. We never did much baby proofing beyond the plug covers but now we have locks on most of our cupboard doors and I am planning to install them on the drawers soon. She hasn't gone into the knife drawer yet but I think it behooves me to get to it first!!

The other day Greg was out mowing (last mow of the year!) and LC tagged along. Here's what it looked like ...

What I love about LC is ...

... her grin

... her faces (she is SO expressive!)

... her giggle

... the way she goes to Marley for cuddles when she gets hurt

... the way she attacks the world around her without fear and with full abandon

... how cute she looks walking around with the thumb in her mouth and her blanket clutched to her cheek

... EVERYTHING!!

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Marley's desk

Today was the day the kids were assigned teachers - whether they keep these teachers/classes is another story but ... as of right now Marley is in a Grade1/2 split with Mrs Lumsden. She is a new teacher to our school and comes to us from Tsawassen. I introduced myself to her and then Marley dragged me off to see her classroom. I didn't bring my camera but had my phone and snapped this ...

Considering this is from my not-so-fancy cell phone I think it's pretty good!! Gotta Love technology!!

Grade 1 Surprise!

This summer I signed up for the Big Picture Scrapbooking Big Idea Festival. I think this was the first project idea that they sent out - what does it say that I'm just getting to it now? LOL! When I read in the handout that the project was based on a German custom of giving new first-graders a “schultüte” (which is a paper cone filled with school supplies and little gifts to celebrate the first day of first grade) I knew I would not be making a summer themed one as suggested. With Marley going into first grade this year I decided then and there that I would do this for her (and then Paige in a couple years and LC after that ...)

So here it is hanging on her door last night.

I had the goodies on the dining room table for weeks which Marley or Paige would every now and then pick up and ask what it was for. And then I made the cone on Sunday so Marley thought it was a giant party hat!! Not exactly stealthy of me but oh well!!

Here are some close ups.

Marley came into our bedroom this moring all excited about school and the fact that she'd found a surprise hanging on her door. It's nice when a plan comes together!!

On Sunday we FINALLY got to meet our newest ... cousin? Hmm ... let's see ... James is Greg's cousin so his kids are Greg's cousins once removed and second cousins to our kids ... Yup, she's our cousin! Her name is Zoe and she is SO cute!! Don't you think?

Marley and Paige were smitten and pretty much just wanted to hold her the whole visit!

And this is Zoe's big brother Kieran - so proud!

One final note: Marley had her first day of Grade One today. It was very exciting - even if they spent most of it in the gym while they sort out where all the kids are going. Hopefully by the end of school tomorrow we'll know which teacher Marley will have and who will be in her class but it might not be for another couple of days. I forgot to take a picture of her first thing this morning but did snap one of her at pickup time.

She's looking so grown up these days!! Sigh!

Hooray for the Everyday!

I was feeling a bit low the other day when I read this post from Ali Edwards. She has always struck me as being one to celebrate the every day things, occurances, and memories. That is one thing I am trying to do with my scrapbooking. Taking pictures of the big holidays and the special occasions is one thing but remembering and documenting the everyday things is good too. It also helps me to focus on the everyday in a positive way. I have a little secret to share ... I've been not so happy for quite awhile now. It may be a delayed PPD type thing or just a "I've finished having kids, finished my schooling so now what" thing (at almost 37 I think I'm too young for it to be menopause or a mid-life crisis!!) Whatever it is, it's really affecting how I relate to Greg, my kids and the everyday tasks that I am responsible for. So thank you Ali for reminding me to celebrate the little things!

On a similar vein I ran across another post called 4 Simple Goals (before 2011 ...) The basic premise is to publically commit to carrying out 4 things before the end of the year. They should be fairly easy to accomplish and should enrich your daily life. Well, my dily life could use some enriching so ... I'm going to participate. Last November I did a personal challenge to post a Gratitude every day for 15 days. Some days I found it a bit challenging but at the end of the 2 weeks I found my attitude had improved and I really liked that! In the vein of not adding more to my plate (which is pretty full already!) I am going to keep these goals ridiculously easy. That way I should actually be able to reach them! Right?

Here goes ...
Goal #1 - eat more fruits and vegetables. If I were to calculate how many servings of fruit/veg I have in a day it would be embarrassingly low! Like those V8 commercials I need to smack myself on the forehead!! I have a tendency to grab whatever is easiest/closest to snack on without regard to calories, salt, carbs etc. Goal #2 - to move more. And this won't involve trips from the couch/computer to the fridge!! LOL! I was running regularly until I injured my knee a couple months ago but I've been fitted for a knee brace and I've seen a physio so ... soon, I'll be good to run again. Yay! With school starting up next week I'll naturally be moving more as I walk Marley to school everyday and since LC is old enough now, we'll be doing the Parent and Tot gymnastics and swim lessons together.
Goal #3 - to limit my Facebook time. Greg will probably turn cartwheels when he reads this! The past couple weeks I've been spending WAY too much time on the computer doing nothing. Wasting time. Actually, trying to escape! It's hurting my family so it's got to stop.
Goal #4 - find a job. This should maybe be goal #1 as we are starting to feel the pinch of growing kids and a stagnant single salary income. But I am choosing to focus on getting my head better before my wallet!

Okay, there we go. It's now "out there" and I trust you all to keep me honest!
Thanks for listening!!

Project 12 - August 2010

Time for another layout for my Project 12 Album. I am really enjoying this project! Having to complete one layout a month is not overwhelming and Becky Fleck's sketches are always so easy to follow. I glad I decided to do it this year and look forward to continuing it for years to come!

Here is the sketch we were given this month:

And here is my layout:

I tried REALLY hard to stick with the number of pictures dictated by the sketch  but ... you know me. More is better, right?!

Here are close ups of the left and right pages.

And just for fun, here are a couple close ups of my embellishments. Even though there is only one beach picture, I cut out some sea side shapes on my Cuttlebug. (I tend to forget that I own one but I just bought some Nestabillites and was using it to cut out the scaollped circles so ...) They seemed a bit flat when I placed them on my layout. They were crying out for some sparkle so I got out my MS glue pad and glitter and Voila! Instant pop! This is the part where I grin crazily and pat myself on the back! :)

Anyway, thanks for tuning in. See you next month!!

PS - After last month's rare appearance by me, you'll notice I appear in not one but 3 pictures this month. Wowzers! And  September happens to be my birthday month so I'm sure to feature again!! At this rate, there might actually be a record of my existance to pass on to my kids one day! LOL!!