Thursday, July 3, 2008

Five Random...

things and photos. Deanne challenged us on Sisterhood of Scrap to try this journaling challenge.

1. My kids thought this was the FUNNIEST! We saw this sign outside a shopping mall.
2. Mr. Squirrel playing hide and seek :-)
3. Youngest son and I on the go-cart track.
4. Our Flowering Crabapple has bloomed. Shortly after I took this photo, it rained really hard and blew off most of the blossoms.
5. My mom is home for the summer. For the past 3 years she's been teaching in northern Manitoba. This is the cake my 13 yo son made for her.




Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Happy Canada Day!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

We're heading out shorthy to Canada Day celebrations. We were worried everything would be rained out, but the weatherman said it was supposed to clear up. We had a big thunderstorm last night and hopefully that cleared away the rain.

Lots of fun and games here at our local stadium, then off to an inn for a family scavenger hunt. This evening is for music and singing, ending it all off with a huge fireworks display!

Monday, June 30, 2008

New challenge is posted.....

at Sisterhood of Scrap. Here's my layout. You'll have to visit the site to see what the challenge is :-)
This photo is my lovely mother -- she started teaching when she was only 16 years old.

Bloggy challenges and PRIZES!!

Check it out at Crafty Moments! Beverley is turning the BIG 4-0 in 40 days and is celebrating big time with her online friends! 40 days of freebies & a whole host of blogs to visit.

"Every day there will be a new challenge, competition or good old fashioned RAK with a great prize. Every day, there will be a post here on my blog, with a link to that day's venue - so make sure you come back every day to see what is on offer"

Monday, June 23, 2008

My garden


I thought I'd share a few photos of my garden. These were taken last summer -- it still hasn't been warm enough here for most of my flowers to bloom. This past Saturday, I was finally able to go outside and get some weeding done; long overdue, but with lots of rain and cold weather (try 4 deg. Celsius!) I wasn't going in the garden. Anyway, Saturday it was done. I even paid two of the younger kids to help me -- they weeded what was poking up among the stones in the walkway.


My garden is mostly filled with perennials. I don't have that much time to spend putting in annuals. I like perennials as they spread with very little effort on my part.


Along the side of the house, there is a lilac bush (that never seems to bloom), 2 rose bushes, a snowball bush, a gooseberry bush and also black currant. We also have lots of raspberry bushes that yield a great crop each year!


Daisies are my absolute favorite wildflower! I just think they look great!



Recent scrap layouts..


Didn't have time to post these on Saturday. Oh well, better late than never, right? LOL!



This one is for our weekly challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap. Drop by to see what the challenge is :-)



Sunday, June 22, 2008

SketchFest at Scrapbook Heaven!


Stuck in a scrapping rut? Lost your mojo? Sketches are a wonderful way to jump start your creativity! Come join us on July 11-13th for our exciting Scrapbook Heaven “Sketch Fest” — a weekend filled with fabulous sketches, scrapping and lots of fun!
For three days we’ll be revealing sketches from our new design team, and ……… we have some sketch celebrities providing sketches created just for our Scrap Fest! How awesome is that! Oh, did I mention prizes? Of course we will have prizes to give away throughout the weekend. Join us and you could be the winner of the grand prize!!
Mark your calendars now and plan for a scrap-filled weekend! Sketches contributed by Becky Fleck, Page Plans, Pencil Lines, Sketchabilities and many more!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Thoughtful Friday 06/20

A sense of curiosity is nature's original school of education.
--Smiley Blanton


Thoughtful Friday at Bella Dia

Monday, June 16, 2008

Couple more layouts...

Our new challenge is posted at Sisterhood of Scrap. Here's my layout I created for it. Check out the challenge and give it a go! We've got another awesome prize you could win this month!

Here's another using the Scenic Route "Grafton". Did I mention that I am loving it!?!




Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day

Aren't dads the BEST!?! I am so thankful to have Devin as the father of my children. He doesn't have the same way of interacting with the kids as I do (and I don't expect him to) but he loves them dearly! He tells them this EVERY single day. He is proud of his children and always encourages them to do their best in whatever they are doing. He works hard to ensure that they have the best that he can give them. They sure do love their Daddy :-)

Here's a nice poem I found that sums up just what dads are to their children. I don't know who the author is.

Fathers are Wonderful People

Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should...

For, somehow, Father seems to be
The man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts
And nurses all our ills...

And Father struggles daily
To live up to "his image"
As protector and provider
And "hero of the scrimmage"...

And perhaps that is the reason
We sometimes get the notion,
That Fathers are not subject
To the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad's heart,
Where no one else can see
You'll find he's sentimental
And as "soft" as he can be...

But he's so busy every day
In the grueling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff
To his partner and his wife...

But Fathers are just wonderful
In a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments
And accolade of praise,

For the only reason Dad aspires
To fortune and success
Is to make the family proud of him
And to bring them happiness...

And like Our Heavenly Father,
He's a guardian and a guide,
Someone that we can count on
To be always on our side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, speaking about dads, this day is a bit rough for me. After losing my dad in a vehicle accident almost ten years ago, I still miss him terribly. He was the BEST dad I could ask for! He was supportive of all six of his children and loved us greatly. He encouraged our independence and loved to show us how things worked. He loved magazines and would always have a pile stacked on the coffee table. He worked with his hands; a carpenter, an electrician, a cabinet-maker, and many other things. He would take us fishing, read books to us before bed, cut our fingernails, slip us money when Mom wasn't looking, bring us wherever we needed to go, and give us "sideways hugs" :-) It's these little things that mean so much, and are the hardest to now do without.

If your father is still living, please be appreciative of the time that you spend with him. Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories. Tell him you love him :-) Dads are so special!

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes. ~Gloria Naylor