A trade off...

OK, so I had no idea how I was going to get Kyle to school today in the mess that is our weather with all the snow and now the pouring rain. I had an idea that I thought might appeal to Tracy, so called and tried to arrnage a trade-off of her taking Kyle to school if I would watch both Sophia and Matthew. Deal! Worked out so that Kyle got to school and Trace got a little rest here anyway. We might do the same thing tomorrow as well though she might head out and up to the mall to do a few things!


Since Matthew was here and I don't sometimes see him as often as I'd like it seems, I decided he'd be my picture for the day! Such a little doll he is and he had a good nap here this morning for me too!

Just a regular day outside of that really. Even though it was pouring rain, the boys wanted to go play outside in the snow, so out there went until I thought they were just getting too wet and probably cold! They had a great time - rain or not!

Well, off to make dinner here. We had tacos last night and it's burritos and Mexican rice tonight since we're going to use the leftover "meat" (veggie meat) in them as well. Yummmmm!

Cheers,

Scrapdango's "Crowned" Competition

Scrapdango is celebrating 3 years, and we are doing it in style again with our very own “Crowned Pageant” contest.

Okay, have you heard of the CW’s new show “Crowned?”…..Well if you haven’t you can come check out our version of “Crowned” ScrapDango style!

Come join us for 4 weeks of Crowned Competition ScrapDango style! There will be weekly pageant competition challenges that will challenge your creativity. Each week someone will be SASHED Princess of Scrapdango. (Prizes involved too!)

Is there a catch….well of course…it wouldn’t be fun if there wasn’t a catch. NO ONE gets sent home. You all have to live/scrap and experience PAGEANT LIFE with each other for the 4 weeks for the month of February.

You will be competing for points. Each week the DT will award points 1-10 for each contestant’s creation. The contestant with the most points at the end of the competition goes home with an awesome prize package! (Including a Guest Design Spot that includes a full kit)

If you are lucky enough to be SASHED, you will be getting some extra goodies along the way as well. The DT will choose one contestant who was the favorite for that week to be “Sashed.” You may only win this one time during the compettion.

There will be other challenges along the way as well, such as scavenger
hunts, posting challenges, games, etc. These are voluntary, but they do help you to accumulate more points.

The weekly pageant challenges are mandatory. The only way you will be de-sashed and leave the Pageant is if you fail to do the weekly challenges.

We at Scrapdango want this contest to be a little different. We want to get to know our existing members better and to make some new members in the process.

To play you must visit the forums, say hello and register in the Official sign up“Crowned” Thread.

So toss in some makeup, an evening gown, and bathing suit, along with your scrappin bags and pick your bedroom in the Crowned House here at ScrapDango!

The first challenge will be issued February 1st. Sign up in official sign in thread.

Cheers,

Scrappy Goodness in my Mail!

Yes, all this amazing scrappy goodness arrived at my door today from Carrie at Scrapdango and this is what I get to play with over the next few days! We're having a mid-month reveal so be sure to come check it out on the 15th! And, yes, the kits are so fabulous that they're already sold out! Come on by and check out the fun forums and all the wonderful and talented ladies there, especially since there's a fun contest in the works!!

Today was Kyle's first day back at school and I thought it might be a snow day after the dump of snow we got last night, but nope! School was on! Kyle was one of only 9 kids that were there for class and that was because George was home today thankfully! Not sure how the other classes were, but I'm sure there were a lot of kids missing today!

Since it was Kyle's first day back and I had some cinnamon buns in the fridge that we got over the holidays and then never made, I thought I'd pop them in the oven this morning for a treat before he went back this morning, so this is my picture of the day!

George went and ran some errands this afternoon while Nathan napped and then we all went out to try and find me some boots! Yeah, well I'm apparently not the only one in the predicament without any boots in all this brutal weather because shelves that would normally have boots on them were literally BARE! Not a pair in sight and in more than one store! Not sure what I'm going to do, but I'll have to find something since I have a bad feeling this isn't the end of this bad weather unfortunately!

Sophia will be here tomorrow and it's supposed to start raining which hopefully means getting rid of some of the snow. The sidewalks are so bad that George didn't think I'd make it to school with all the kids, so I think I worked out a deal with Tracy for her to get some free time and for Kyle to get to school!


As for tonight, I started watching, wait for it.... The Bachelor! I really liked the guy, Jason, that didn't get picked last time and who's the Bachelor now, so we'll see what happens! I like it when it gets a little later into it and you learn a little more about the people. I know, can't believe I'm watching it either, but it's my guilty pleasure and there are worse things!

Better go get some sleep before the boys are up bright and early.
Cheers,

More snow?? Seriously?!?

My picture of the day could easily be the dump of snow that we're currently getting yet again. They were calling for the rain to start later today and continue for the next 3 days, but instead, we're getting another dump of snow. I was at work when it started and by the time I started heading home, it was already not very nice. It was a 30-40km/h drive home most of the way, but I made it safe and sound. Kyle's supposed to go back to school in the morning, so we'll check things out then!

January 4th {Project 365) Picture of the Day

I worked all day today (even started a little early to get some extra stuff done in the store) and since coming home, I put the kids to bed and ate to start and then have been listening to the Canucks game and checking out some of my regular sites!

I love what my friend, Kim, is doing with with her Project 365 stuff! You should check it out HERE! I think she's inspired me to try something similar though I might do wallet sized pictures to get a week on a page, but I'm not sure.

Not sure what else I'll manage to get done tonight, but George is home tomorrow thankfully, so maybe I can get a few more things done that didn't get accomplished this weekend. Might try and scrap a little tonight too before I head to bed!

Have a fantastic week!
Cheers,

Snow Day!

So this is my first video with my camera though it loses some of the quality in uploading to YouTube I sure noticed! Still fun...



Cheers,

Snowy Saturday

Well, I'll start with something scrap related with the New Year's card I sent out to some people since if you had one coming to you, it should have gotten there by now I hope! (Sorry for the bad picture, but it was taken with my old camera in bad lighting!) I did some of these with the silver background dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, but decided it was too much and that simpler was better in this case.

Supplies: Cardstock is Bazzill. Misc silver paper. Patterned paper is Stemma. Stamp is Amuse. Ink is Palette Noir Black. Misc ribbon.

January 3rd {Project 365} Photo of the Day

This is how I start every morning - fresh Starbucks coffee beans and the wonderful aroma that they create. I went to get more beans the other day and they had the Christmas Blend on sale, so I figured, why not?! Love that first cup of hot java in the morning

It hasn't been the most exciting of days and my plans were sort of shot since George got called into work this morning about 9:30 and is still there. The overtime is great, but now I don't know when I'm going to get some boots and I really do need some for getting Kyle to school this coming week since we still have a ton of snow and we walk to school. And, of course, the reason George went to work again today is that it's snowing again and has been since about midnight last night and hasn't stopped!!

I was thinking that we were going to all go to the mall today and I'd get boots and the kids could go to the toy store. Their great aunt and uncle were very generous and got them gift certificates to Toys R Us and then Kyle also has one for Build a Bear. Thought we could do all this and maybe have a little lunch in the mall, but those plans went to pot when George got called to work. We can't go tomorrow either because as long as I can get there, I'm going to work myself!

So, it was a quiet day at home with the kids. They were both up crazy early, so they napped though Kyle's was only about an hour, so he'll be going to bed early after getting up at about 4am with what he said was a bad dream. I watched Mamma Mia this afternoon and quite enjoyed it, but what's not to like in a movie with Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep and such great music?!

The boys went out for a bit and I had to, of course, get out my camera and try out the video on it! I'm playing with getting it upload to post here, so it'll have to wait for now!

Have a fabulous evening and enjoy your Sunday!
Cheers,

Project 365

OK, so I'm committed to doing Project 365 this year and though I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to scrap/display/use all the pictures yet, I do want to start getting some posted. Since I've been using my new camera, that meant figuring out how to get them off my camera and onto my computer, so I spent a little time just DOing that this afternoon!

These first ones were actually pictures that George took (yes, I let him touch my new camera! hee hee). I can't say I love having my picture taken, but the concentration here when I was scrapping is priceless!

This is just a funny one that I took of the boys on New Year's Eve when we were getting ready to decorate the cake we'd made and they were pretty excited about helping with that!

January 1st Picture of the Day

Yes, we started the year with a cold and somewhat snowy day, but it did clear up. We hung out at home and took it easy. After dinner, we went out for a drive and picked up a couple of movies! George and I watched The Dark Knight last night and thought it was really well done.

January 2nd Pictures of the Day
George had to go back to work today, so it's another relaxing day at home with the boys. Sophia was supposed to be here, but she's sick. When I called this morning to find out how Sophia was doing, I found out that Tracy had been sick all night too. I sure hope we can manage to avoid this bug, but we'll have to wait and see.

OK, well, not too much else to go on about for now! Just having some fun planning classes for February and going to work tonight. Nathan is in bed and supposed to be napping, but seems to be playing more than napping! Kyle is busy playing with his new Lego helicopter that he got for Christmas!

Have a fabulous weekend!
Cheers,

Here's to a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2009!!

Well, We had a nice, quiet evening at home with the kids, but before I get into that, I want to take a little look back at all the things we had to be thankful for in 2008...

- Nathan turned 2 in January
- the scrapbooking store I work in moved at the end of March and the staff all helped move
- Mum, Tracy and I took the kids to see The Wiggles
- preschool helped make my birthday special because the Mother's Day tea was on the same day!
- Kyle "graduated" from preschool
- we got great news from Children's Hospital that Nathan's kidney condition seemed to be correcting itself and that as long as he was healthy, we didn't need to come back!!
- George and I took a trip to Victoria by ourselves!
- Matthew (my nephew) was born in July
- Kyle had adenoid and tonsil surgery which made for a very loooooong August!
- Nathan has his first trip to the barber shop with Daddy and Kyle
- George has been working on preparing a class to teach at work
- Kyle started Kindergarten
- I started teaching at the store I work in
- I also started took a spot on the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) at the school
- Kyle had his first Christmas concert at school
- Nathan finally got rid of his binkie!!
- I took care of Sophia, my niece, a few days a week all year
- Nathan is being potty trained which right now consists of wearing Pull-Ups and sitting on the potty; Yes, that's it for now!
- we had Christmas dinner here for the first time with just the 4 of us since the weather was bad
- we didn't make it to Boxing Day at George's parents for the same reason - weather!
- my Christmas present from George was a beautiful new Canon camera!
- the 4 of us spent a fun evening at home for New Year's!

I'm sure there are things I've missed here and there and all those wonderful little moments that make up every day are impossible to recount, but it was a fun year all in all.

As for last night, we had a nice dinner and then I made some Spinach dip for a snack and Kyle and I had made a chocolate cake in the afternoon as well. The boys has fun decorating it too. They watched Shrek 2 and we let them stay up until 9, so that we could watch the east coast New Year's and have a little celebration.

After putting them in bed, George and I had the discussion about whether or not we were going to stay up! I ended up scrapbooking and George played video games until about 11:30 when we turned on the local celebrations. We did our little cheers and then were in bed by about 12:15!! We made it though!

We woke up to more snow this morning though I think it's warmed up and might be melting a little. Don't think it's all going anywhere though since we still have a lot of it! Other than that, it's just a pretty relaxing day around here!

Have a fabulously happy and healthy '09!!
Cheers,

An End and a Beginning...

I have to admit that I love this time of year. It's a time to reflect and appreciate all that's happened over the last year, but it's also a time full of possibility for what is to come in the new year. I feel so inspired here this morning going through all the goodness on my list of Google Reader blogs, so I'm going to post a few things that I'll be thinking about in the new year.

The first is Ali Edwards "One Little Word" idea. I have been thinking about this for a bit and the first word that came to me was simply "do". I have changed my mind a few times and have had different variations of the word like achieve, but the reality is that these two tiny letters sum up so much that I've decided to keep them as my word for 2009 and I'll be posting more about this soon! Check out the One Little Word blog for inspiration too!

I also got inspired by an online friend, Kim, and her post about Project 365. I started this last year too and quickly bailed in frustration with my camera largely. The idea is that you take a picture a day and another friend, Joelle, has done an amazing job with this this year! Way to go girl! Now that I do have a new camera, I think Kim's helped inspire me to get back to this and see if I can put 2009 in pictures!

I know that the feeling I have now won't last every day of 2009 and there will no doubt be good and bad days, but it's important to remind yourself on those bad days that there is optimism on the good ones and so much possibility. I feel like this is going to be a year of action and decision somehow though I'm not even sure I know the parameters of that yet. It's time to make some changes in my day to day and I'm ready for that.

I'm also realizing that getting in front of the camera is a priority this year. Now that I have my new camera, I've given my old one to Kyle and he wants to take my picture all the time. George has been taking some pictures of the boys and I lately too and though I don't really like the way I look in terms of my weight, the reality is that that is the here and now and the boys still deserve pictures of me and of us together.

Changing that here and now weight is also on the list of things to work on this year. I know it is for so many people and that nothing will change overnight and without some decisions and action on my part. I know what I need to do and it's a matter of action. Not every day will be perfect, but the doing is the important part.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin

I hope that everyone has a wonderful 2009 and I look forward to seeing what it holds!
Happy New Year everyone!
Cheers,


PS I'm going to try and post a little 2008 summary in the next day or so as well - hopefully with some pictures!

Need to figure out...

how to download the pictures off my camera now! Of course, I have my new camera and have been playing with taking pics, but haven't set it up on the computer yet, so I guess I'd better think about doing that and sooner rather than later!

We quite unbelieveably are getting more snow here tonight and the winds are supposed to pick up too. I won't be surprised if George gets called into work in the middle of the night! And with my luck, end up working late tomorrow or even tomorrow night! Wait and see...

Not too much new around here really. Trach came and dropped Sophia off a little later this morning and we had a nice coffee and a chat. The kids played for a bit and then had lunch and Fia and Nathan had naps. I got some sorting of my scrap area done this afternoon too since I have classes I'm working on prepping for February (yes, already!).

Think I'll pack it in since the last day of the year will no doubt be an early one like all the others! Amazing how quickly this year has gone by and so many wonderful little moments that have filled our lives. I'm thankful...

Enjoy the last day of the year and leave me a comment about what you're thankful for from 2008 and there might be a little something going out to someone that does!

Night!
Cheers,

Would you like to design for Scrapperie?

This is the message that Sandi has just posted over at Scrapperie, so check it out! She's wonderful to work for and her kits are amazing!

Hiyas girls!! It's that time again!

As most of you know, I'm the owner of Scrapperie. Starting right now, I am looking for a new way of doing my design team, who are currently known as the Très Chic Girls.

In the past, I've had the normal design team "rules" - terms run from 4-6 months and compensation is a monthly kit. But I think that is not working for most people anymore- especially in today's hectic society and crazy economy.

For this next while, I think I would like to go back to having something along the lines of "Guest Designers" who would work with the monthly kits, etc. I may ask you to work one or two months with my kits, or longer.

Anyone who has ever worked with me knows I'm pretty laid back and I don't require a zillion projects or demand you to post on the boards every day. I know life is first and foremost and our hobbies and other things come later...

So, if you would be interested in applying and working with one (or more) of my monthly kits, please drop me an email at sandiminchuk@yahoo.com Please provide a link to an online gallery and tell me a little bit about yourself. Scrappers of all creative levels are always welcome. The only thing we ask is that you encourage creativity and share what you love doing with the rest of the Scrapperie community.

Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, PM or email me.

Thanks so much,
Sandi

**International scrappers also welcome to apply!

Cheers,

Busy Sunday!

Well, not much news here really since I spent the better part of the day at work! Got up early with the boys and then got ready and headed off to work for 11am. Spent a busy day there with 40% pretty much everything!

Came home and George went out grocery shopping, so I got the kids ready for bed and then have spent the rest of the evening making some cards and getting them addressed - not Christmas cards!! I'll post a picture soon after I think most everyone (mostly family) has received them!

Better run and get some sleep and hope to post some more scrappy stuff soon though I'm busy planning classes again too!
Cheers,

Check out my new camera!

OK, I'm so excited I'm practically jumping up and down! George gave me an IOU for money for a camera for Christmas and we went to look today. I had expected to be getting a camera that was less than this and with a lot fewer featues. I just asked to look at this one for comparison to the one I thought I was getting and when George heard what the differences were, he got me this one!!! I haven't stopped grinning! I can't wait to go play!!

Cheers,

MORE Snow!

I know I sound like a broken record, but that's how I feel too! Yes, we got even more snow again today!

I got up with Kyle when he got up since George had been up more than I had with Nathan last night. Did our usual morning thing and then I needed to start getting ready for work.

I was scheduled to work today from 9:45-4:30, so off I went about 8:45 this morning. As I was leaving, I saw the snow starting. I wasn't too worried because the roads were essentially clear and they were calling for some snow yesterday too, but we only ended up with a little on and off all day. I made the silly assumption that today would be the same. Well, by the time I got to work, it was really coming down and after being there a couple of hours, George called and suggested heading home. They asked to stay until breaks were done, so that was an hour and a half and I headed home a little before 2pm.

The roads near the store were quite good, but as soon as I went up the hill a little, it got worse. It took me about an hour for a 25 minute trip, but I made it home safe and sound. It has basically been snowing since this morning! I thought I saw a little rain mixed in for a bit, but at almost 11pm, we're back to snow. This is just nuts!

Anyway, after I got home, I puttered with dishes, laundry and general picking up after the Christmas craziness! Nathan had a good nap and seems to be back to his old self including the whining of an almost 3 year old who wants what he wants NOW! I'm glad he's feeling better and have to chalk it up to all the excitement and snacking yesterday.

We were invited to a get together at George's parents, but with Nathan having been sick and the weather, we decided we weren't going. George and Kyle went out to shovel snow after dinner instead! hee hee The snowman above was done after all the shoveling was done and though the light was bad, I thought I'd better take a picture in case it rained tonight and wasn't there in the morning. The way things are going, it may just be covered in snow again!

Well, I'm hoping to get out to do some shopping tomorrow! I got an IOU for money for Christmas and it's going toward a new camera!! I know what I want and I just hope we get a chance to get out there tomorrow, especially since I work again Sunday!

Better be off to bed here! Have a fabulous weekend!
Night!
Cheers,

Not the way I expected the day to end...

We had a really nice day here and picked mum and dad up at the airport at the crack of dawn after their 6 weeks in Australia. We did our tree and the boys wanted everything in the house opened to play with of course. We decided not to go to our extended family dinner since it's over an hour away and we have a ton of snow and it was snowing again when we made our decision.

We had turkey (done on the bbq in all the snow!) and all the trimmings here though and that was awesome. The boys had baths and got their jammies on. Nathan was complaining that something hurt on his side, but I thought it was because we were looking at where Kyle hurt his knee. Well, not too long after he went to bed... we had throwing up - X2! Niiiice way to spend Christmas evening - doing puke laundry!

I don't know if it was what he ate (though he didn't seem to have too much junk today honestly and had turkey, apple, some veg, etc at dinner), the excitement, too much running around, no nap (from being wound up) or maybe all of the the above!

Anyway, both he and Kyle are tucked in and seem fine and George and I are just hanging out and relaxing a bit before we call it an early night I think. I'm working tomorrow and We were up at 4:30am this morning to get George and Kyle out the door to the airport and so I could call mum and dad and tell them the boys were on their way! Thankfully, Nathan slept a little later until his usual 6am!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day! I really enjoyed ours though it was a little different without all of the family as well. It was fun watching the kids and the presents this morning! And one of the great things about staying at home is that I was in my sweats all day!

Merry Christmas everyone!
Night!
Cheers,

Merry Christmas!

Our little elf just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas

from our family to yours!

This was the kind of day it was - more snow! A record in fact! I don't remember having this much snow at Christmas EVER! It has just snowed on top of snow on top of snow! And there's supposed to be more to come before it turned to rain! I spent my afternoon shoveling with Kyle with Nathan was taking his nap.

Tracy, Brian and the kids managed to get over here in their car and picked up the Chinese food on the way over. I ordered it and they managed to get it on their way so we didn't have to go out again. We ordered from a fairly new place near us and it was good, but I'm really full now!

After that, we had to whip up a few cookies for Santa! Tonight, it's peanut butter for Santa, so I hope he doesn't have an allergy to peanuts! The kids and I had fun doing that and leaving carrots out for the reindeer.

Then it was time to open their one present from Nana and Grandpa, which was jammies of course. Nana even managed to find the onesies jammies in Kyle's size!! The last pair she bought him I think he about wore out, so she knew he'd be happy and he is. Nathan loves that their are dinosaurs on his.

George went out and shoveled out mum and dad's car because he's decided to go pick them up at the crack of dawn at the airport with Kyle! He knows how much Kyle wants to see them and also knows that my mum and dad aren't really prepared for this cold weather, so he's going to go get them. I finished wrapping and we made our wifesaver french toast type breakfast together, so it's good to go for the morning now too.

Off to bed so Santa can come! Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!
Night!
Cheers,

The weather held off...

They were calling for more snow that would start later in the day, but I thankfully managed to get to work and back without too much trouble. Just took it easy since they were saying there was black ice out there and I'd also seen someone off the road in the bushes on my way to work!

Sophia was here first thing this morning and we had a fun time just playing and hanging out. Kyle and Nathan now like to climb into bed with me first thing and watch a bit of TV now that we have the one in the bedroom hooked up. I was up this morning when they got up though, so after Sophia got here, the 3 of them went and took all their friends (aka stuffed animals) and their own pillows and got in the bed in our room. They were so cute and I actually did manage to get a picture of them and it's a good thing since the batteries died after that and are recharging now! At least I got one picture today.

Trace came and got Fia about 11ish and then I got the boys lunch and we took Kyle to the Dr for a follow-up on his nose/adenoid surgery. The doctor said there's still a little puss in there that might be from the surgery, so we're going to try a few weeks of saline nose spray to try and clear it and if it doesn't clear that way, then we need to put him on an antibiotic to try and get it cleared up. The doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about though and may account for some of the stuffiness that he still has sometimes.

Came home and Nathan had a nap. Kyle laid down for a little bit, but didn't sleep. He wanted to go out and play, so I finally got him all bundled up and he was out there for a while in the cold when Nathan woke up and wanted to head out too, so they were both out there playing. Tried to take pictures of Kyle digging out the toy car and Nathan sitting in it afterwards, but that was when I realized the batteries were dead in the camera!

I did this really cool thing with the kids where you enter some info and then Santa sends them a personal message! Kyle was absolutely dumb-founded and has watched it a few times!
http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/home

As we were finishing up with that and checking his e-mail that we set up so mum and dad could e-mail him while they were away, he had a big meltdown. I figured it was coming and it waited longer than I expected, but it was because my parents were supposed to be home this morning and their flight didn't leave on time, so they're going to be late. He's missing them soooo much and has been counting the days to when they were coming home today and he lost it this evening and we had a lot of tears and some cuddles. I told him they were on their way and that they should be home Christmas morning which wasn't long now... I just feel so badly because there's not much I can do and he really misses them!

Then, it was time for me to get ready for work! As I said, the drive wasn't too bad as long as you took it easy and weren't driving like a maniac, but there are always some...

Better get some sleep since the kids'll be up early again. Hope to get some Chinese food for dinner tomorrow night one way or another too!

Night!
Cheers,


PS I will get caught up some time on my December daily and this stuff will all go in there!!

Santa Photo Day!

We FINALLY managed to get to the mall today and get a picture of the kids with Santa! We've been talking about it for ages, but wanted to get the boys a haircut before we did it and that didn't happen until later last week and then with the crazy weekend with me working and the snow, we didn't get there until today! The advantage was that because so many people are snowed in, there sure wasn't any line-up!

When I called the photo place that does the pictures to see when they opened, the guy said he was hoping Santa would make it in because 2 staff members had already said they couldn't make it. We headed up about 11 and I was surprised to see very few cars in the lot. Sure enough, when we got inside, there was almost no one there! We had had the boys wear their boots in so they wouldn't get Santa all wet and after changing them into their shoes, we sauntered right up and had the picture done.

I was a little worried about Nathan because when we got close to Santa, he started to cry and say "No, no", but Kyle went right on over and jumped in Santa's lap! Thankfully that seemed to make it OK for Nathan too and he changed his mind and sat next to Kyle very nicely. As it turned out, I think Nathan ended up with the better smile in the picture since Kyle was doing his sort of fake smile. It's all good though since that's just him these days! We'll get it back on Christmas eve, so I'm hoping George can pop back in there on his way home that day and pick it up.

Got a call from mum and dad today from Australia when they should have been on a plane home saying that they're suck there a little longer! Since the weather has been so bad here and there's only been one runway open at the airport, their plane never left Vancouver last night, so it wasn't there for them to get on this afternoon. Looks like the earliest they might get home is Christmas morning now, so we'll hope that's the case!

I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow... I'm looking after Sophia in the morning and then Kyle is supposed to go to the doctor at about 1pm. It'll depend on the roads tomorrow whether or not I decide to try and get him there to that. I'm also supposed to work tomorrow night, but with the forecast being for more snow in the evening, we'll see if I can get there.

The weather has been madness for sure! We've got over 35cm of snow (about 14 inches) and they're calling for more starting Tuesday evening and through Wednesday and then again Christmas Day (Thursday). There's no doubt it'll be a white Christmas here for sure! We're playing it by ear on whether or not we're going to my aunt and uncle's for dinner since that's over an hour away. I talked to my grandma about mum and dad being delayed and us maybe not making it for Christmas dinner and I know she's disappointed. Wait and see is all we can do...

George's mum called tonight too. She was out visiting family about an hour east of us and they hardly got any snow she was saying! She was a little shocked to see what was here when she got home today. She called to tell us that they're not going to do our usual dinner on Boxing Day what with the weather and people travelling in for it and then the issue with no parking anywhere because of all the snow. Have to do it another time when the weather gets better!

Looks like no matter what happens, we'll be having turkey! I thought George got a chicken the other night as our emergency meal, but I see now that he got a turkey since he said they were a good deal. I know that'll make him happy!

Anyway, after our trip to the mall, we stopped for lunch on the way home. I got George a gift certificate last Christmas for Sammy J Peppers and we'd never used it, so we all went for lunch today and had a really nice time. Afterwards, we popped into the Chinese food place in the same area and got a menu in case we order from there on Christmas eve since having Chinese food on Christmas eve is a family tradition for us! We also popped into the dollar store and had a little look around and then came home and got a few things done around here!

The boys even went out to play in the snow tonight. If I take Kyle to the Dr., I need to take mum and dad's car, but it was snowed in where it was, so George went to dig it out and the boys "helped". They went to go get me a coffee after and got some doughnuts at the same time! We got them ready for bed and then they got into our bed and watched Shrek the Halls before calling it a night!

I love that time just before bed when I go to tuck them in and we read stories and sing. They both wanted Frère Jacques tonight and Nathan also wanted the ABC song and You are my Sunshine. I'll be sad when the day comes that they don't want to sing before bed...

Speaking of bed, I'd better get myself there since I need to be up early and ready to go for the kids in the morning! George will be off to work again and let's hope he makes it safely! He loves driving in that white stuff and I wish I did...

Night!
Cheers,

Welcome to Winter!

Yes, this was the first day of winter though it's looked like winter for longer than that here. Mother Nature had us greeting winter with more than 24 hours of snow that still hasn't stopped! I worked last night and as I was coming home, it started and hasn't stopped since other than maybe an hour this morning when it was at least lighter.

George went out to shovel some this evening and the boys went out with him to play. They had fun out there! There is now a "snow mountain", as Kyle calls it, in our front yard where George was piling the snow from the driveway. The funny thing is that now, you'd never really know he did it.

I was scheduled to work at the scrapbooking store today and thought I'd venture out and try and get to work for at least a while today. The further I got from home, the worse it got and it was coming down hard then and I decided that there just wasn't any way I was going to make the 30ish minute drive. Thankfully, 2 of the other girls managed to make it in and it sounds like they were OK without me though I sure feel badly doing that. The worst part is that there's more snow to come and I work again Tuesday night as well, so we'll have to see.

Mum and dad are also in for a shock when they get home from their trip to Australia on Tuesday morning! They've been bathing in the summer sun down under, so I sent them some pictures the other day to show them what they're in for! I hope they don't have any delays...

Well, George has one more day off before he needs to try and venture out in this mess to go to work, so we'll enjoy it tomorrow! Better go get some sleep!

Cheers,

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Yes, the predicted storm is now wafting snow all over the place and we've heard that it could be up to 25 cm (almost 10 inches) and they're calling it a blizzard, so it's not going to be nice. I'm supposed to work tomorrow, but not sure I'll be able to get there to be honest, so we'll have to wait and see. See how much of a winter wonderland there is in the morning.

We did manage to get our tree up today and that was fun! Nathan was really excited when George got the tree out. Kyle had fun putting his decorations that he made in Kindergarten on the tree and I need to get a picture of them too come to think of it. I do have some pictures, but I'm too tired to be bothered with them right now.

I worked this evening. I didn't think it'd be that busy, but it was steady anyway and we had some things to do as well, so it made the evening go by pretty quickly. I stopped for one last thing for the boys on the way home since it wasn't snowing yet. I went into Shoppers Drug Mart and when I came out 10 minutes later, the snow had started. An hour later (long after I was home), the roads were covered!

I think it's time to go get snuggled up in bed on this cold, cold windy and snowy night and see what's what in the morning!

Cheers,