happy holidays... yes they really are.

We got to Winnipeg about 9 PM on Christmas Eve and stayed up with everyone that we hadn't seen since summer. My hair, which I thought was a pretty radical change didn't get much notice. I guess that makes sense since it looks different every time they see me.



Here's a picture of me and the new do, finally, not that you can really see it, and not that it's the most exciting thing in the picture... That's our new digital SLR we got for ourselves for Christmas. Yay for boxing day shopping in the city! I also got a new jacket and some dress pants and Sean got new shoes. But this camera. Oh, boy, is it fun. I like it a lot!!! We've been eyeing these up and pricing them out for a long time now.

Christmas was great - mom and dad and us three kids and our spouses and kids. Perfect. We shopped boxing day then most everyone was back for supper all together; today I watched the boys and then everyone was back together for supper. Tomorrow our aunt and cousins and kids will be here for supper too. Like my dad said at the table tonight - I don't think we've stopped eating! Happy Holidays!!

Funny story. My Dad has a PS3. Yeah, it's Papa's toy. Sean and Dave have been playing the racing game on it, and last night, Dave came back after he took Jess and the boys home (at 11!) So M went to bed at 11, Mom crashed at 12, I lasted till 1, and Sean and Dave and my Dad stayed up playing until 6:30 AM. We stay in the basement here, so I kept waking up to laughter - they had so much fun their stomachs hurt from laughing so much. At least I knew where Sean was - Jess woke up at 6:30 and thought that if Dave had been in an accident, someone would have called her, but she couldn't think of why he would have slept over here... She didn't consider that they were playing all night! And Mom commented that she knows Dad has been up late again when the paper is already in when she gets up!



That's them at what turned out to be the start of the marathon. And here's one of all the cousins.



So happy holidays to you all; hope they are as wonderful and restful and fun as ours.

Merry Christmas!

Just a wish for a very Merry Christmas before we head off to family!

This is a little something I made playing around in photoshop with the new Christmas brushes I got from scrapnfonts. (for free!) I got photoshop and a pen tablet last Christmas and haven't really done enough playing around with it...

don't mean to be greedy...

At church this morning my friend Karen asks M, "Did you write a letter to Santa?"
"Yeah...?"
"And did you say, 'I don't mean to be greedy'? And that you only get presents at Christmas and on your birthday?"
"Yeah...?"
"And you drew pictures on it?"
"Yeah, was it in the paper?" (She sent it in to the paper because then 'Santa' would write back, and they might even publish it.)
"No, we saw Santa read it on TV! On channel 7 there's a Santa that reads kid's letters and a lady dressed as an elf that helps him and they discuss the things that kids ask for (like a pony is pretty big and might not fit on the sleigh, so maybe that's not the best idea...) Chrissy thought it was the M we knew and I said, 'Oh, there's probably a lot of M's out there' but she recognized your handwriting, so we thought we'd check."

Blushing M and laughing me.

The Other Blogs

I have a blog that I set up as our young adult website at church. You can check that out here - I posted a big long one last night about books - what I'm reading and some new ones I just got to read and share. I don't write on there as much as here, because no one ever checks it out. I am going to try to change that in the next few months, I think, so I'd better have some good posts worth reading on there.

I also kept this blog about my trip to Kenya this year. I added one post to it this fall when I got to see some of the people again that I met there, but it's sort of a done deal. Interesting stories, I think - maybe I'll turn it into one of those blog books... Hmmm - there's an idea.

Now I'm off to take pictures of all the goodies I'm taking over for Christmas #1 tonight! Show you those later.

new little baby...

Congrats to our good friends Byron and Lori who had their baby on Sunday, December 14. Kaleb James was 9 days overdue and a day short of being induced. I got to see him the next morning, and on day two, too. So cute. They got photos done already, and they're fabulous. Check out Paper Moon Photography and have a look!!

the published one...

This is the one that got published in the edition of Canadian Scrapbooker that just came out. I like it - I love that it got published and it's nothing but cardstock, a couple of photos and a pen.

Have you ever thought I was blond? Yeah, me neither.

Cans for Comments... Check out this blog and leave a comment - Courtney is donating one can of food for each comment left on her blog this weekend. I saw that on Kayla's blog and she said she's matching each can that Courtney buys. What fabulous ideas. And these are girls who actually have readers on their blogs. lol.

Christmas Festivities... We went to Sean's work Christmas party last night. Each year they go to the small business Christmas party that the center of the arts puts on - good food, sketchy comedian, terrible sounding music with not many people on the dance floor. At least I know a few people a little better now that this is my third one.

The kid's Christmas piano recital was this week - she did not too bad - was the only one who didn't take their book up with them! The residents at the senior's home where they usually have it were sick, so it was at the church instead (her teacher goes to the same church as us) and so she got to play the big shiny black grand piano up on stage there. She's done that once before at the year end recital in June. That was Tuesday, and Wednesday her Girl Guide group went carolling at a senior's apartment. Tomorrow her choir at church is singing with the adult choir in both morning services and their children's concert is in the evening. They had a rehearsal for those this morning, and we had to pick her up early from the birthday party sleepover for that - and she missed swimming... three things at once. And neither Sean nor I had anything today. Other than brunch and a little Christmas shopping while she was busy. Then Wednesday is the school "Winter Concert." One week full of Christmas pagentry and goodness. Grandpa and two sets of aunts and uncles and two cousins came to the piano deal, and the Ward Grandparents are going to make it to the church one. Nice to have the Aitkens in town and sharing church and school concerts now!

Wish List... This is too funny. I read it and laughed the first time, then when I picked it up again this week (to carry shopping with me) I laughed and thought "I have to put this on my blog!" I should explain so it doesn't just seem pathetic - M is 9, and I think very bright, but she is in French Immersion, and they have yet to spend time in school on much English spelling. So here in all it's phonetic goodness, is my daughter's wish list:

1. Barbie make your own Lip gloss
2. 2008 cristamas doll
3. skip it
4. Biskut my fur real friend
5. tummbuls my rollover pup fur real friend
6. Webkinz
7. chees strings
8. fruit gushers
9. Epets (stuff yes you get it.)
10. Tamagishie
11. Littelest pet shop
12. fish
13. Odissy
14. Books
15. cds
16. slypers
17. cd holder
18. cloths
19. Barbies
20. polly pokets
21. Ponnies
22. money
23. calenders
24. shoes
25. paints
26. paper (Rysikled)
27. comik's
28. camira
29. sterio
30. fabrik
31. work serch
32. sadoku
33. markers
34. purs
35. Tikets for Ann of green gabils The musikl at the globle theater
36. more money!

And just for the record, she was not encouraged to write up a list... it might be the first time she's done this. I have to admit though that I have found it helpful! (If you find this helpful also, email me and I'll let you know what I've already got checked off!) She saw an ad in the paper telling kids to write to Santa there and that he'd write back. So she did, and got her reply yesterday. She commented that he didn't even use her name, so she's pretty sure it was photocopied and all the kids got the same one. She doesn't even believe in Santa.

New Look... One last note for tonight - I finally went and got something done with my hair. I was ready for it about 3 weeks ago. It's chopped off - it had gotten quite long - and it's darker underneath, and quite a bit lighter on top. I won't say blond, but I think you're in for a shock when I come for Christmas!! I'm still a little shocked when ever I see my reflection. I won't say I love it, but I am very happy with a change. I'll probably change it up again in a couple of months. Maybe I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it for you. And speaking of pictures, we got M's back (retakes again) so you'll get yours (if you're family!) when we see you next.

Good night, and may you have a blessed restful holy Sabbath tomorrow.

tree decorating postponed due to minor fire...

Monday night I thought we were finally going to set up the tree. We don't have any hard and fast traditions about when we do this, but I like the first weekend in December. Not too early, but up long enough to be able to anticipate Christmas. Plus gifts are getting wrapped and there's somewhere to put them...

But this year's been busy for some reason. So Monday was open, I had eggnog in the fridge, and decided to whip up a few eggnog lattes while Madeline was clearing supper off the table. First problem was that we were out of espresso beans. Not a big deal, we decided just to make them with coffee. (I ground some Java House beans from Kenya for it - yum!) The coffee maker has issues. We have (sorry, had - there's some foreshadowing for ya) a decent coffee maker / milk frother / espresso maker combo that we got as a wedding present, which decided a while ago that the warranty must be up and that it would quit working. Sean, being handy as well as handsome, took it apart, figured it out the problem and fixed it. The only catch was that you had to turn it off as soon as your pot was made, since it would no longer do that on its own. He had made a couple of pots since the fix; I had not. So I made the coffee, and turned it off when it finished, but apparently not quite soon enough, because something melted through somewhere and got places hot that were not supposed to be hot and caused a little smoke to become a lot of smoke... The child was banished to the basement to save her lungs, the hero husband grabbed the whole coffee maker deal (after I saved the coffee) to take it outside and I grabbed the key to unlock the front door. As the hero lifted the coffee maker, the oxygen mixed with the heat and fuel source and turned our microwave stand (on which the coffee pot sat) into a candle. Minor fire. Coffee pot out into the snow. Oven mitt on fire to extinguish it. Both doors open, fan in the window. House temperature plummeting.

The smoke alarms never made a peep.

Instead of setting up the tree, we spent the evening, delicious homemade eggnog lattes in hand, at multiple stores picking up all new smoke detectors and a new microwave stand. The child went to bed late, the tree is still in the box in the corner, and the living room was used as a workshop to put together the new bigger and better furniture.

And so instead of a tree, I have a new kitchen and a story.
And I still have two weeks before Christmas to try again.

Google Reader

Have I mentioned Google Reader to you? It's a great way to keep up with blogs that I like to follow - I just open the reader (I have it bookmarked right under blogs) and it shows me what's new in the blogs I'm interested in. I've been reading mostly stuff by scrapbooking people, but I'm starting to remember other blogs that I wish I was remembering to read more often...

Like this one. The Kennys are a family that we fell in love with when we were in Kenya this spring. It was so good tonight to catch up on all the stuff I haven't read yet. I love seeing some familiar faces and places in their pictures, too. It helps to not see that trip as an isolated time, but as a chance to step into a ministry and into lives that continue on long after we've left.

**********

I added a music player. :) I've wanted to do that for a while. Let me know if the auto start is annoying... I've heard it can be if you normally browse with tunes in the background. (It was while I was editing a few things on the blog and every time I opened a new window, a new song would start over top of the one already playing!) Also, let me know what you are listening to these days - I'd love to check out some new stuff. Two of the songs on my short list are ones I heard on other blogs first...

Advent Conspiracy and other stuff.

First, check out this video. Really.



Powerful, hey? So what 'cha going to do about it???

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I was surfing blogs on SIS to find one with tunes so I can add some to mine, and I saw a couple of girls had done this quiz and said the results were amazing. So I took it, and they are quite accurate. And you can post your results on your blog... but I'm not sure I know you well enough to post that. That would be some good vulnerability there, but nope, sorry.

But do try it yourself!! The COLOR QUIZ...

It's been a good Saturday - Sean and I spent the whole day together, doing nothing and taking M with the social life to swimming this morning, a swimming birthday party this afternoon, and a bowling birthday party this evening. I asked her if she knew what it said to me that she gets asked to all these birthday parties (there's another one next weekend, too...) She said, "That's I'm a nice person and a good friend and they like having me around?" Bingo.

I've been playing in my room (sorry, STUDIO!) today, trying to figure out how to rearrange it. I've also been working on magnets to sell (just got an order for 6 sets from Janet at work) and the most amazing Christmas gift ever (hopefully!), but I've been tidying and tossing stuff and moving stuff too, so I can get rid of the extra bookshelf and see if I can make better use of my space. I have a feeling that this will be a long process.

So this most amazing Christmas gift? I can't wait till it's done and I can photograph it to share with you after the holidays. I think it's cool, and I've been working on it all year. Little cost money wise, but big cost time wise. The best kind of gift, I think.

using the new technology...

to post a new page. I'm down in my "studio" and I scanned my new pages on my new scanner. It works, and I can figure it out - they are so simple these days.

So these are the two I finished this week (I did finish another for my wedding book, but I'm not posting those. For the family, I may bring it out at Christmas...)

I love this first comic book one - terrible pictures and plain black & white, but so much fun - and a great story!



And I don't LOVE this one, but it tells what I was thinking when I took this picture, and that's what counts.



I forgot that when I do this process upstairs, I shrink them down first... oops - those are big files!

PUBLISHED!!

Sean gets a lot of packages in the mail because of stuff he orders for his car... today I checked the mail, and there was a package pick up slip, for him, and another package... for ME! From Canadian Scrapbooker, with a copy of the winter edition coming out right away with my page in it! Yay! I was pretty stoked about that. When I get on the other computer, I'll post the page. Madeline still wants to be published (this one's of Sean), but now she wants a cover. Yeah, right, kid. Dream on! My page is on page 117, if you see the magazine and want to check it out...

I'm off to finish the price list for my craft sale on Saturday - the stuff's all made, but I'm thinking I could be in the mood for making a few more cards for the stash. I love that most of the stuff I made is stuff I could use myself if it doesn't sell, like the gift bags and the cards. Watch - they'll sell out and I'll be left with all the magic bags and magnets.

More machinery - we bought a Cricket the other week! They were on sale, and a group at the church is going to fund it for our scrapbooking group (thanks, ladies!!) We picked up a second cartridge yesterday, too, for 80% off at Michaels. I don't think I'd pay any more for them than that, but these two should do us for quite a while. If I ever bring it home to use, I'll have wall to wall machines down in my studio with the laptop and printer and sewing machine and serger! I really have to rethink the layout of that room.

flowers and toys and photos...

Here's a few snaps to illustrate my last month. This one is of the first snow. M's looking all slouchy trying to catch some flakes on her tongue - I love the narnia-esque feel of this shot through the front window.

I've been sort of busy with work - a new Bible study is filling one more night per week, and I'm in charge of the big Christmas banquet now. That combined with making stuff for the craft sale this weekend (I'm almost ready!) and trying to get around to finishing this paper have made my last month or so full. Not busy, and not stressed, which is really nice. But it is full. And I think life might continue to be full until January. Or April. Or someday. (That's why I have to enjoy it now!)

I got a new phone. My plan was up for renewal, so I upgraded my phone. For $0. Love that! And it's a dual flip with a full keyboard... still figuring out all the shortcuts, but it's kinda fun. And THEN - we've been talking about getting a laptop for a long time, and the time just seemed right, and we can use it now with me trying to work on papers in the evenings while Sean gets his only chance to be online... Doesn't seem right that we need two, but yeah. And it came with a *free* printer scanner copier machine that's fun, too!



November 18 is our anniversary - 2 years this year! We went out on the weekend before, since the 18th fell on a Tuesday, which happens to be the night of the new study I lead at the church. So we went for massages at Jane's Day Spa where my friend Kari works, then out for dinner, then out to another new restaurant to check it out for dessert. Just a nice night out. On Tuesday he surprised me with flowers. Our friend January owns a flowershop and does some great work. I should mention that I took this shot yesterday - this bouquet is almost a week old in this picture, and it still looks great!



Ok, that's it for tonight - remind me to blog about Lifehouse and the great show we saw... Later!

100 things...

I saw this on two different blogs today (by SIS bloggers...)
The ones I have done are in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (On the Rhine in Germany)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David (I have been to Florence, though!)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (but never for myself)
47. Had your portrait painted (does by my daughter count??)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (nowhere exciting, tho)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

why do i need a blog when there's facebook?

I've finally got some new layouts to upload, and they're going here and on facebook and on SIStv... Mostly different audiences, I guess.

SO - love these new ones. Got lots of fun new stuff, as you saw in the last post. Now everything's got flowers on it! Hanging with the girls this week I mostly made fun cards with flowers for the sale.

This one's been in the works for a while, but I'm finally happy with it. The new flowers were the perfect thing for the title!



And I love this picture of Levi, so I had to get it in an album. New stamp and white ink. And the flowers...



And finally, this one - I love the summer part - I painted grunge board letters to match the kid's shirts, and it turned out better than I expected. Fun.



I want a new camera. (I almost said need, but it's NOT a NEED...) This one has had too many issues - look at how it's fading to black in the corners now. I have my eye on a Nikon D60. Mmmm.

This is why I blog - I throw the pics on fb, but none of the me stuff. This is me, all for you, an invisible audience. My imaginary friends. LOL.

speaking...

I spoke today at the Ladies' Coffee Connection at church. My faith story. Made lots of people cry. Sorry about that...! I thought I'd just get up there, read it off and get it over with. Yeah, right. God hits the cry button and off I go, but it's honest emotion, and I'm sure it moves people. I'm not doing it to manipulate people's emotions, but it does work that way! Glad it's done. Hope it made some people think. That'll be the Holy Spirit's job now.

New Stash! and an update on the stash to sell

On Tuesday we went on a field trip to a scrapbooking store located in a basement on South Albert. I like her selection of embellishments. I spent a little bit of cash.

On Wednesday, we went to Scrapbookers Delight, which is closing their doors forever tomorrow. Sad day. I stocked up on Bazzill, and I should be good for at least a year. Unless maybe I start scrapbooking more than I shop for supplies!!!

Here's a glimpse at what I got - watch for it on layouts to come! Sean's gone for a couple of days, so I'm thinking it's playtime down in the studio.



I really like Bazzill cardstock.



Here's a closer look at my new fun stuff!



Just for a laugh, I got a shot of our Chevy Ventures, all lined up outside the Accent Stitchery, Framing and Scrapbooking store...!



Finally, here's a shot of the two other patterns that I made gift bags out of. I sewed them up last night and tonight and they're all done! Now I have to get sewing the magic bag insides - I brought home the filler from the farm after Thanksgiving.



Actually, I'll leave you with one more picture - this beautiful tree is beside the church, and I can see it from my office window. I love that.

Autumn

Here's me doing my homework for the blog class... writing about autumn. I think I'll just say this - Fall is awesome when it's warm and not windy and colorful... then this happens.


Yep - we drove out to the farm for Thanksgiving IN A BLIZZARD.

BUT - It gave Sean a chance to be a hero and pull a couple of trucks out of the ditch. Together - one was towing the other. And Sean saved their day. :)

First things for the Show!

I said I was going to post pictures as things get made... here's the gift bags I made tonight. I've got two other fabrics to cut into (that I got on sale at the end of last season!) and there are a few bags that I made last year that I never used; I'll throw those in for the variety. And these are great, too, because I'll just use what I don't sell!

I had class this weekend, and sketched out about 10 layouts while I was trying to stay awake... Just ordered some photos that I'll need for them, too, so on Tuesday when we get together, I'll be ready to go. Unless I do them all up on Monday when I'm at home! It will be nice to relax on my day off and not worry about papers. I did two biggies in the last month, so I'll take a few days to breathe before the next one.

We're going on a FIELD TRIP on Tuesday with the scrappers! We're all looking forward to going down south and checking out the lady that sells out of her basement. She had a storefront for a while, but had just moved it home when I discovered her. None of the others have been there, so I'm happy to take them.

Craft Sale

I'm going in my first craft sale next month. Saturday, November 29th in Vibank, from 10-4. As I get stuff done for it, I'll post it up here so if you want something and can't make it to Vibank, you can put in an order...