A Movie Night!

Well, George got a call late this afternoon asking if he wanted to go in to work tonight at about 2am to do some salting and prep work for the morning. He accepted even though his holidays actually start tomorrow as well! As a result, he went to bed at about 6pm and the boys and I hung out and watched a movie.

I'd never seen Polar Express, but it was on CBC tonight. Kyle had watched a little one night, but hadn't seen the whole thing and I admit that I was quite quickly drawn in. The boys and I had a great time hanging out and watching it tonight and I'm sure it won't be the last time!

Just to leave you with a little something for the holidays from the most recent addition to my Christmas music collection...


Have a fabulous week!
Cheers,

Wonderful Day with the Boys!

Well, wasn't sure what we were going to get up to today, but it was a great day! I slept in after working late for Midnight Madness last night at the store. I had been trying to figure out what I was going to do today because George got called into work for the Olympic oval opening ceremony today and I was already scheduled to work. I was talking about it at work and one of my wonderful co-workers, Pauline, offered to switch today and Monday with me. Then, I could stay home with the boys today and she could go do Christmas shopping on Monday when it wouldn't be as busy! With a very appreciative thanks, I said "Done!".

As a result, I got to sleep in this morning and got up at 9am. George was busy getting ready shortly after I got up, so I didn't see much of him. After he left, I was trying to figure out what we were going to do for the day and decided maybe we'd head out to the store and visit the girls at work and I could get Matthew's Christmas present. I also told them we'd go out for lunch, so they were excited. By the time we were all ready, it was about 11am, so we headed out a little later than I would have liked, but whatever! We went to work and took the girls coffee and then I got what I needed for my gift. I also got the boys some inexpensive paper and then we spent a while die cutting some things for art projects and had a ton of fun playing!

We then sent off for lunch at McDonald's. The traffic was awful and then the line-up at McDonald's (even inside) was bad too, but the boys were very good and remarkably patient. Kyle was a little disappointed they were out of the Bionicles that went with the kid's meals, but he even took that in stride really. Once we had lunch, we headed off home again. I stopped for a coffee at Tim's and the boys each got 2 TimBits. I admit to having a delicious candy cane doughnut too!

Nathan fell asleep on the way home since it was just after 2 then and he should've been in bed by 1! Today was the first tears we had over the no more binkie too because he was half-asleep and tired, he really wanted his binkie. I just rubbed his forehead for a minute like my mum used to do when I was sick or upset and that seemed to calm him down and he went to sleep. Kyle went for a "rest" and that turned into a nap too since he was up early. I was still sort of tired from being up so late last night since I left work at 12:30am and then went shopping at Walmart! I think I got to bed a little after 2am! I ended up watching TV in bed for a bit and think I even dozed off for a half hour or so!

I woke the boys up so that they'd actually sleep tonight and then we just had dinner and sort of hung out. They were great! I let them play on the Build-A-Bear website for a bit and then it was jammies, teeth and a story. We read Kyle's Star Wars book that he got from the school library. I think we might just be starting the hit the Star Wars stage in our house finally. I figured it would come...

Well, it's a bit of a winter wonderland out there again. It started snowing within the last couple of hours again and Kyle's really excited. The snow we got the other day didn't last long because it rained after, but who knows about this since they're calling for snow for tomorrow too! Not going anywhere tomorrow anyway and I'm just hoping to get the tree up, so that may end up being the plan for the day! Well, that and a snowball fight maybe!

Have a fabulous Sunday!
Cheers,

Snow Day!

OK, it's not actually a snow day in the sense that anyone stayed home, but it is the first snowfall of the year. It's sort of been off and on again with some rain mixed in too and I'm hoping it stays that way since I'm going to work tonight and will be there until late for Midnight Madness!

We had a fun day and Kyle has, of course already been out in the snow! He wanted to head out as soon as he got home from school, but I managed to get him to wait until the kids had had lunch and then as soon as Nathan and Sophia were in bed, he was geared up and ready to go! Was out there for about 15 or 20 minutes before he was cold and wet (since it's also been sort of raining) enough to come in and have some hot chocolate!

It was a nice morning all around actually since Trace and Matthew came over as well. She was nice enough to come before Kyle went to school and she took him up and I stayed here with the other 3 kids. He was very excited about auntie taking him to school! Trace stopped at Tim Horton's before she came back and we had a coffee and a bagel! The kids got Timbits of course! We hung out and then Trace even went and got Kyle before heading home to put Matthew down for a nap! Thanks again Trace!

I would like to try and get a few things done here during naptime and before I need to get ready for work, so I'd better run! Have a fabulous weekend!

Cheers,

Another Milestone Day...

this time for Kyle since it was his first report card day!! Of course, since it's Kindergarten, it's all comments and without grades, but it was exciting nonetheless. OK, I should qualify that and say exciting for me. To him, it was just another piece of paper being sent home!

OK, and I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't hoping there'd be a few "exceeding expectations" rather than the "meeting expectations", but that's just the competitive girl in me that was always out for good marks when I was in school! Kyle is doing well and doesn't need that kind of pressure and I'm very sure to be conscious of that streak in me when it comes to dealing with his school stuff!

Wow! I'm the parent of a boy with a report card! Unbelievable! Where does the time go?! I'm so proud!

Cheers,

A Momentous Night

Well, I'm certainly not proud to say that Nathan still has a binkie (soother) at night and we've been talking about getting rid of it for ages. We told ourselves we wouldn't wait as long as we did with Kyle, but yet here we are!

If he takes it out of bed, I've been telling him to put it back or I'll put it in the garbage because he's a big boy and he really doesn't need it. Went to make dinner tonight and put some things in the garbage and I think I literally gasped! There it was, one of the 2 binkies we have left in the garbage! He wanted it back and I told him no way!

Now, fast forward to bedtime... can't find the other one! He went to bed fine and without any tears! He's apparently ready or something because it's sooo not like it was with Kyle when we had days and nights of crying when he finally lost his last one. Nathan was up for quite a while tonight and I had to put him back in bed a couple of times, but he finally just went to sleep without it and without much fanfare either! *shock*

Now the only thing is to find the missing one before he does! Oh and I did take a picture of the binkie in the garbage, but I'm too tired to post it right now!

Cheers,

File Folder Tag Album Tutorial

This is my project that I posted at Scrapdango for our 12 Days of Christmas Gift Giving.


File Folder Tag Book

1 letter sized manila folder
2 pieces of coordinating patterned paper (or more depending on how you embellish it)
1 piece of coordinating cardstock
4 large eyelets
2 ft coordinating ribbon
1 brad
coordinating flowers or embellishments

1. cut folder in half along the fold so that you now have 2 halves
2. I used the half that's shorter so the measurements are for that half though you could use the other as well
3. score 3 inches from the bottom horizontally and fold that section up.


4. fold the file folder in half (vertically)


5. fold each of those halves in half again to give you 4 parts to your album




6. from cardstock (blue in mine) or a patterned paper cut the following sizes:
2 ¾ ” x 5 ½” (trace and trim left corner)
2 ¾ ” x 5 ½”
2 ¾ ” x 5
2 ¾ ” x 5 (trace and trim right corner)
Adhere these pieces to sections as shown in photo

7.Cut the coordinating piece of patterned paper (2 ¾” x 27/8”) that you're going to fold over and attach it to the inside bottom panel second from the left.


8.From patterned paper (little trees in mine), cut 4 pieces sized at 2 ¾” x 2 7/8”
Adhere these pieces to front panels as shown in photo


9. fold your album in half and, using a Cropadile or some other eyelet tool, punch a hole through all 4 layers of your album (front, back and the 2 layers of the folded up piece).

10. Decorate the front of your album as you wish.
11. Set large eyelets into the 4 holes that you've punched (so that the insides of the eyelets will face each other on the inside and be hidden). Thread ribbon around album.
12. Decorate the inside of the album however you want!

13. cut tags (or pictures) the following sizes from cardstock:
1 ¾” x 5 ¼”
2 ¼” x 5 ¼”
2 ¼” x 4 ¾”
1 ¾” x 4 ¾”
(The width of 2 is smaller because of the eyelets you set.)


Hope you try it and I can see what you've created!

This idea originally came from a couple of people:
Taylor VanBruggen
Kristina Werner

Please feel free to ask questions or clarify anything that doesn't make sense to you!
Cheers,

Christmas Card

Supplies: Cardstock is Bazzill. Patterned paper is MME Be Merry. Glitter Paper is Doodlebug. Label Shape was done with Spellbinders die. Sentiment is Pebbles Inc rub-on. Ribbon is American Crafts. Gemstones are Hero Arts. Blue Gems are Kaiser Craft.

Card was inspired by Carla Peicheff.

Just posted this as my Christmas card for today over at Scrapperie since the Tres Chic Girls are doing a Christmas Card a Day until Christmas Eve if you need a little last minute inspiration!

Cheers,

See This...

It's mine!! Or I'll have one soon anyway! I work for some wonderful people and got this as a gift tonight and I'm very excited about it! We don't have them yet, but they're on their way and I can't wait to play.

I worked today and then we had our staff Christmas get-together and had a great evening. We went to The Keg for dinner and then back to one of the owners place for coffee, dessert, and a fun gift swap. We did the thing where everyone buys a gift and you open them one at a time and can steal from other people or open something new. It was fun! And then, we were lucky enough to get a little note saying that we'd be getting one of these Slice machines as well!

Have a wonderful week everyone! I get to go to my monthly massage in the morning and I'm looking forward to it since my back is sore!

Cheers,

Busy!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
-- Norman Vincent Peale

I've had a very busy day here with working all day and then coming home and making cards for the girls at work since we have our Christmas party tomorrow night! George's staff party was a lot of fun last night and I'll post more about that later as I have a picture of the two of us last night too!

This is a busy weekend for us for sure, but we've been having fun too and we're all looking forward to George's week off starting the 15th too! I sure hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Cheers,

Homemade Almond Roca

Picture from More Than Burnt Toast

Yes, it's this time of year again (though I now have requests for this pretty much all year round!) and I need to make some Homemade Almond Roca. This is pretty much always a hit and I take it pretty much everywhere during the holidays.

1 cup of butter (margarine is not the same!)

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 package of (whole) graham wafers

1 cup of slivered almonds

1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lay graham wafers on a cookie sheet - do not overlap.

Sprinkle almonds on top of the graham wafers.

In a saucepan, melt the butter.

Add the brown sugar and bring this to a boil.

Once it boils, pour it over the graham wafers and almonds.

Put it in the oven for 6-8minutes until just brown.

Take it out of the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

Leave for a minute and run a fork through them.

Refrigerate and break into pieces when cold.

Enjoy it because it won't last long!

Cheers,

December Daily Mini

OK, so I'm getting started on my Christmas Memories December Daily album! Julie over at Scrapdango got some of us going this morning and we're posting our pages there to share and try and keep each other at this for the month!

I printed my pictures at home, so they're not the best quality, but they work for what this project is for sure. This is 2 pages that I did for December 1st with the pictures of the puzzle book that Nathan got from mum and dad for Christmas.



This is today's picture of Fia and the boys as we were walking home from school today! As you can see it's a bright and sunny day! Cool, but gorgeous! Nathan had to take his dog, Rufus, so that meant that Sophia had to take her doll too. The kids had a great time playing on the way back.

I'm hoping to get some cards done this evening as well as watching Survivor and Grey's, so we'll see. I think I'm going to go pick up a new blouse I saw as well so that I have something new to wear to the Christmas parties I'm going to as well as for Christmas!

Better run! Kyle has a new game from school that he wants to play while the little kids are napping! Have a fabulous evening!

Cheers,

Paper Bow Tutorial

Over at Scrapdango, the design team girls are doing a 12 Days of Christmas Gift Ideas and it's my turn today! Have a peek and give this a try! It's easy and lot of you no doubt have everything you need already!

I'm going to give you the easy step by step instructions on how to make these lovely bows that you can use on your gifts this year and all you need are some supplies you no doubt have in your stash right now! I'm sorry for the somewhat shadowy pictures, but the light wasn't great!

Your supply list is...
trimmer
a 6X12 piece of double sided patterned paper
some glue dots
pop dots or foam tape

With your 6X12 piece of paper, you're going to cut 8 pieces of paper that are 1X6.
You're then going to cut a one inch strip off the end of the 4 inch wide piece.
You'll then take the remaining large piece (which is 4X5) and cut 4 more strips of 1X5.
Hopefully the photo will help make this clear.

Then you're going to take all but the one 1X4 piece and make little bows out of each one and I used a glue dot to adhere them. Someone referred to them as the 'Brest Cancer bow", but you're essentially just crossing the ends.
**The only thing to remember here is that with the 8 long strips, you want 4 of each pattern showing.

This is what they should all look like when they're done.

With the smallest 1X4 piece, you're just going to roll it.

Then, you're going to take the four bows of the same pattern and just layer them together again using glue dots.
**You could put a brad through all of them if you want, but the glue dots work just fine.

Layer the 2 larger bows together now with foam tabs or pop dots between the layers.

You can add the smaller one to the top making sure to alternate the patterns. The only thing you now have to add is the little roll into the middle and that's it! Bow Complete!

Here you go! An easy and beautiful bow to go on any special gift!

I found this idea at SplitCoast Stampers where Jessica Crawford did a tutorial, but have seen it a few other places as well.
Cheers,

Christmas Memories Catch Up!

OK, it's been a busy couple of days around here, but I wanted to post the pictures that I'm going to be using in my Christmas Memories mini once I get a chance to print them!

December 1st
Mum and dad bought the boys books for Christmas and they were both hits! Kyle got the Shrek the Halls book and Nathan got a Christmas story and puzzle book. he's now done the 4 puzzles in the book umpteen times! He's very proud!

December 2nd
We had a fairly busy day today. I had a slightly more relaxing morning with my niece, Sophia, not getting here until about 8am. The boys slept until about 6:30 which is late for them lately, so I was thankful even for that! We got Kyle to school and the little ones and I hung out this morning.

We had a rushed lunchtime though since I drove to pick up Kyle and we went straight to the dentist for the boys. They were great and so was Sophia thankfully considering it was lunchtime! There were no tears and no cavities, so I was ecstatic! We stopped at Burger King on the way home since lunch was already late and the 3 kids shared 2 meals - perfect! Then it was bed for the little ones and a little computer/project catch-up for me while Kyle played.

This picture was first thing this morning though. Nathan got up first and was very cuddly, so I offered to tuck him in on the sofa just as Kyle got up. They both wanted to "tuck tuck" and the watched Teletubbies! Kyle still likes it?! Good thing I got this one picture at least too because the batteries in my camera bit it after this!

We had a quiet afternoon with the little ones napping and Brian coming to get Fia at about 3pm. Had to wake her up! Nathan slept til about 3:30 and then we played a bit and Kyle was very eager for dinner. He's the pickiest eater, but loves tacos for whatever reason! He asked for that for dinner and I said yes this morning, so he spent the rest of the day asking if it was dinnertime yet. He offered to set the table for me and asked if he could do chores for a treat after dinner. I told him that if he cleared the table, he could have a treat since he was such a big helper today!

I spent the evening watching a little TV and finishing up a few details on layouts for classes. I just need to get titles on them, but I need to do that at work, so I'll be going in tomorrow night to get that done!

Kyle, Nathan and I were watching YouTube Christmas videos this evening since I have Kyle hooked on My favourite "Do They Know It's Christmas". I found a fav sung by Michael Buble who I love and as we were sitting here cuddling and I was listening to the chorus, I got a little teary-eyed. I just wish for all these things to make their lives easier too... Have a listen!



Well, better run for now. Pop in tomorrow for a tutorial that I'm doing for the Scrapdango 12 Days of Gift Ideas! Better call it a night!
Cheers,

Hello December.

Wow! Along with so many other people, I'm a little surprised it's December 1st already! I'm not sure where the time goes, but I do love this time of year and it's fun with Kyle being so excited about it this year as well. Nathan isn't sure about the whole Christmas thing yet I don't think, but he sure loves all the lights and decorations!

I've got a lot to share today and I'll start with a layout that's in the new WeScrap newsletter! This was based on a sketch by Cami.

Supplies: Background and polka dot and patterned paper by Fancy Pants. Red star paper by Scenic Route. Gingerbread man stamp is from Imaginesce. Scalloped punch is Marvy. Ribbon is Fancy Pants. Rub-ons are Creative Cafe by Creative Imaginations. Sticker lettering is Pink Paislee. Felt heart is Fancy Pants. Misc brads.

Scrapdango has some fun going on as well! The DT girls are doing the 12 Days of Gift Giving showing you some fun and generally pretty quick and easy gift ideas! Julie started today with some wonderful ornaments!

The Tres Chic Girls at Scrapperie are also doing a Card a Day from now until Christmas, so you should check back daily to see the wonderful cards and ideas. We'd love for you to play along and show us what you're creating too! Keely started today with a fun card with non-traditional colours!

I've got my Holiday Memories album on the brain today too and need to get pictures going for this. I know what today's picture is going to be already and I just need to take it! Hope to get that done this morning!

I have been working on preparing classes for January and love the snow themed one I've been working on! I'll have to post some sneaks here soon! I've got that and a boy themed mini album and I'm hoping to get at least one more class finished up today: more boy related stuff!

OK, guess I'd better go get a few more things done here, but keep coming back since I'm going to be doing the NaBloPoMo again this month and trying to post daily! And I hope to have more scrappy stuff this month than last too! Love to see who's dropping by, so leave me a comment and you never know what glittery goodies could be off to someone!

Have a fabulous day and may this be the beginning of an amazing month. I'm going to leave you with my favourite Christmas song...



Cheers,