it's halloween...

yep.

it's 12:01 A.M and it's officially Halloween!!!!

man, did it sneak up on me this year...are ya feeling it too?

i always try to be so organized and plan ahead ( buying classroom and dance friends treats and bags...getting all the house decorations up by the middle of October... ) stuff like that.

this year...HA!

i found myself with only the goodie bags for the treats ready in early October and yesterday and today was spent filling them with courtney and tyler for their classmates and dance friends! last night all the decorations went up, finally!

while i was in the states this weekend i bought some Wilton chocolate pumpkin molds and chocolate wafers and sticks to make suckers for the kids classmates as well....guess what i made today/tonight? ...50 chocolate pumpkin suckers wrapped in celophane bags and curling ribbon!!! whew!

AND....i also discovered a dilema early this morning....

WE HAD NO PUMPKINS TO CARVE TONIGHT!!!

yikes!

one of our favorite things about halloween is carving our pumpkins together and letting the kids pull out all the 'pumpkin guts' ( although tyler STILL hates getting his hands dirty... ) but they always look forward to it. soooooo, i spent 2 hours this morning driving around different sobeys, safeways, superstores, and shreimers trying to find a pumpkin or two the day before halloween...GOOD LUCK! no one had 1 single pumpkin in sight!

what to do? what to do?

i decided to wait until tonight after courtney's dance lesson to look in stores out by her teacher's house...same ordeal.

in desperation and willing to admit defeat that our house would have no carved pumpkins this halloween, i got mike to call Amaze In Corn out St. Mary's road about 20 mins. out of the city.

"yes, we do have some pumpkins and we're open til 10pm"

SWEET!!!

courtney and i zipped on over there and luckily found a couple homely orange and green pumpkins to save Halloween afterall!!

YAY!!!

Sooooo, it's now 12:16am and guess what i just finished doing?

yep, carving punkins'...

the kids, as per tradition, dug out the guts and mom got to work after they were tucked into bed!

what an ordeal!

...four pumpkins, 3 gourds and $13 later, we were on our way home HAPPY!!!

...ready to 'pull out the guts'...BLAH!

...TA-DAAAAA...

i'm going to bed 'cuz tomorrow's gonna be insane!

tyler has his kindergarten party in the morning...courtney's class party is in the afternoon...costumes, makeup, lunches, pictures...my head is already spinning!

what do you think of my carving job? they took me forever, especially the pirate...can't wait til the kids see them in the morning! they were sooooo excited when they went to bed tonight.

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

( remember to take lots of pictures! )

:O)

#1...of three!

ok.

so for those of you who got my November classes email tonight, i will be posting some pictures over the next few days of some of the class projects.

These are some pic's i took before showing the 6 X 6 CREATIVE IMAGINATIONS ANTIQUE CREAM PAPERS AND BIND-IT-ALL MACHINE!!!

just so you get the idea....

i would also suggest since you have the time, that if you'd like the same effect with this beautiful paper line, that you get your pictures printed in SEPIA either on your own computer or even by taking your photos or negatives to either walmart or costco to have them printed this way. it really compliments the paper.

i took my wedding CD with my photos and went to Superstore and used their Kodak Picture Maker machine! i selected 'prints in seconds' and then also selected the SEPIA tone and printed them individually as 4 x 6 prints. i think it only cost like .29 each or something really insanely cheap like that!!!

...luv this paper line...

it's also now available in pinks and blues too...

( guess what? i ALSO have those in stock and will be available to purchase at this class! )

WHEN?

friday, november 16, 2007

...check out your class outline for more info...

please email if you'd like to be added to my mailing list!!!

thegriffs@mts.net

...keep reading for more excitement from today...

:O)

#2...courtney's new swimsuit

...took these tonight at courtney's manta lesson..

she's sportin' a new TYR suit since her last one was pretty much falling apart and lost all elasticity...she LOVES it and i think she looks great!

...she was getting ready to practice some dives off the racing block here..i was pretty far away so that's why this one is kinda dark...

...keep going on...

one more post yet tonight!!!

:O)

...#3...my friend nikki

...so, i came home last night from my weekend away in grand forks, nd, with my bestest pal nikki! we had SUCH a relaxing, fun weekend! we shopped, we ate good food, we soaked in the hot tubs, we had yummy drinks and lots of good times ( and good laughs at each other too...)

i won't divuldge ALL the silly details of our adventures we had, ( ahem, gummy bear fight, 'skateboarding' on target shopping carts in the parking lot, attack of the "burr" trees or reese pieces up the nose to mention just a few... )

but we had a fun weekend that's for sure!

...on our way...um, maybe you should be looking at the road? heehee

on our first night we treated ourselves to Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster for dinner...YUM! and then our second night we treated ourselves ( yes, again ) to Paradiso's...MMmmmm Mexican food! Oh ya. margarita's and enchalada's...so good. too full for mexican fried ice cream though...again! Dang.

uh, well, let's just say that the sillies seemed to come out when we were in walmart...
:O)

yes...this is me!!!

..and before we knew it, it was time to come home back to reality and our family's...which we really did miss of course!!!

Thanks for a fun 'girls weekend' nikki...just what i needed!!!

um...i think this one says how much shopping we did...we had MORE filled in the back seat too!!!

YIKES!!!

:O)

good times though, good times!!!

OCTOBER KIT PIC'S...

at last!

here's october's exciting colorful collection!

the kits sell at $29 plus PST.

i DID send an email out earlier in the month with a product list of what was in the kits, so if you're wanting that list again, please email me and i'll get one to you...hopefully before they're all gone!!!

thegriffs@mts.net

...have a good look here...

...i cannot even begin to try to tell you how much better and happier i really feel now that i have my camera back! being without it held up a lot of The Scrappin Studio's plans and other family memories now passed with no pictures...SIGH.

but, all is good now.

"IT'S GOOOOOD"

( Jim Carey-Bruce Almighty )

i am off to Grand Forks for the weekend leaving in the morning. I have had some requests regarding November classes and as you know, i am slow at typing and emailing it out...so, monday is THE DAY!!! i can tell you right now that i WILL be having a friday night class every friday of the month starting November 9th....and i will also be having another EXCITING Christmas card making class with MICHELLE VERNAUS from Stampin' Up in November as well....lots of fun things planned for your scrapping delight!

the HALL CROP is set for friday November 23.

More details coming on MONDAY all!!!

have a super, awesome smawsome weekend...

:O)

yipee skipee!!!

OH YA.

I GOT M'BABY BACK, BABY BACK, BABY BACK....

:o)

life is much better!

i am rushing off to work in a few minutes...but i wanted to make sure all was in working order before i go...

here's a few layouts a made while in winkler last weekend!

i love this new Making Memories paper on the first two layouts!! yummy stuff!

...i don't usually do 2 page LO's anymore, but i had soooo many pic's from the park that i just loved so much that i had to use the best ones up!

...this was a 8 1/2 frame project class i did...too cute!!

...and this was another project class i went to with bronwen...so super easy using rubons between the glass plates...

...when i get home from work tonight, i PROMISE to blog you some pic's of the October kit

AT LONG LAST!!!!

toodles for now...

:O)

guess what????

...i get my digital back TOMORROW!!!

you know what that means...

:O)

'honey, i'm home...'

...i had SUCH a great time with my mom this past weekend in Winkler at the smalltown scrappers getaway convention!! i actually got quite a few layouts completed and also made a few of the projects offered at classes too! i taught a painting/heidi swapp masks class on saturday afternoon and then went right back to it!!!

Good times...much needed R&R for mom...made some new friends and had many laughs!

i love going to these things...

here's one 81/2 x 11 layout i did for courtney's dance album...i usually scrap everything in 12 x 12 but her dance stuff is all smaller...so since i don't know how to scan and stitch larger layouts together on my computer, this is all you're gonna get UNTIL I GET MY CAMERA BACK THIS WEEKK!!!!!

oh yah.

i was told on friday morning that they would have it ready and call me this week.

i've been sooooo, sooooooo lost without it.

as SOON as i get it back, i will be posting pictures of my october kits ( still have about 6 left ) and then, soon enough...my exciting November kits as well!!

( this layout was a simple 'slap it together' kind of layout...i promise when i take pic's of the 12 x 12's that there is definately more creativity there...)

i will be working on ironing out my november classes over the next couple days, so for those of you on my email contacts you will be getting it shortly!

if you would like to get more info about my classes and crops please drop me a line in my comments on my blog or you can email me at thegriffs@mts.net

...while mom and i were out of town this weekend, my brother Curtis and Mike helped out with my grandparents. when i dropped mom off at home yesterday i stayed for a little visit with G & G and they seemed to have enjoyed the peace and quiet there too! They had a relaxed weekend with no complications that my bro and hubby couldn't handle...it was a good weekend for all!!

...i can't help but feel a little guilty right now, but i am also preparing to go out of town AGAIN this coming weekend!!! (YIKES)

a while ago Mike gave me 'his blessing' to go out to Grand Forks with my 'one true friend' Nikki!!!

i don't think i can handle another kid-free/husband-free weekend...teehee.

i love them all very dearly, but you moms know how it goes when you get the chance to go away for a couple days without the family...FIRST DAY, your enjoying yourself and laughing inside when your shopping and hearing all the parents dealing with whinny screaming kids...( haha, that's not me this time...) FIRST NIGHT at bedtime, (man i wish i could give my kids hugs 'n kisses goodnite...will they be crying for me at bedtime? =guilt kicks in...SECOND DAY, by lunchtime you admit to yourself that you DO in fact miss your kids and husband, even though you're enjoying yourself that darn guilt is looming over your head and by suppertime you wonder if you should maybe go home?....SECOND NIGHT, after dinner and all through the evening you're wondering why your husband hasn't called you more than 3 times that day? is everything okay? and then when he does FINALLY call you and you give him heck for not calling enough throughout the day, he sweetly tells you that everything is just fine at home and he didn't want to bother you so you could relax and enjoy yourself. Hmmph. ( open mouth/insert foot) Now you totally have guilt because you know that deep inside, NOBODY can do it quite like MOM, and to hear that 'everything is just fine' and the kids tell you on the phone about how much fun their having, you aren't really being missed too much. By the THIRD DAY and last day at that, you realize that YOU are the one with the issues and not the kids or the husband!!! funny huh?

so, bottom line, even though i really enjoyed myself this weekend with my mom, i realized with some thinking while lying in bed both nights until almost 3am, that I have separation issues from my family!!!! Perhaps this weekend has also been theraputic too!!!! LMAO!!

nikki and i are planning to do some shopping, hopefully get some chirstmas shopping started as well ( a great opp. to start with no kids peeking in bags...)

and maybe a little evening scrapbooking in our room at night with some 'beverages of choice'...and maybe go see a movie or something....who knows? i'm sure we'll have a blast! i think that mike is so encouraging with these two weekends as WINTER is approaching us,....he will have his own weekend requests for going snowmobiling with John...always a motive...always a motive!!!!

....better get going and get some work done here...

:O)

HEY....

today was a very nice and quiet, low key birthday...just the kind to have!!!

i went for lunch with tyler after kindergarten to meet with my cousin and her new little baby for a visit ( not because of my birthday but to simply get together and visit! )

and then picked up courtney and we were off to swimming for both the kids and then my mom made a wonderful birthday dinner for me and the family...well, it's one of mike's fav's so i honestly think it was more for him!!! LOL!!!

i got some sweet new p.j's in PINK and also a warm 'n fuzzy new fleece sweater for the fall, also in PINK from mike and the kids...mom and G & G gave me some always welcome $$$, and my little bro and his better half gave me some yummy popcorn/chocolate treats from "SUGAH"along with some scratch lottery tix...hey, i'm up $4!!!! gonna go trade 'em in tomorrow for that $1 million ticket!!!! :O)

courntey's highland dance competition on saturday went very well...she finished 3rd overall in her group with 6 new medals!! way to go Punky!!! so, so proud of all your hard work!!

this is her outside the civic centre for a coupel quick shots before a costume change...this is her JIG costume!!!

..and this is her with all her new winnings...

...i STILL don't have my digital back and i'm having ANXIETY over it!! i can't believe how hopelessly LOST i feel in the blog world without it!

:O( BOO.

having to take film in for developing and then scanning them in takes sooooo long.....how did we ever survive before the convenience of digital?

i am taking mom with me on friday to winkler, mb for a getaway scrapbooking convention until sunday. i was hoping to take my camera with me...but???? i will be teaching a few classes using heidi swapp masks and paints and i'm looking forward to meeting lots of new scrap-crazed ladies and getting inspired from all sorts of new ideas! we are excited for some serious R & R out there, and maybe even a couple drinks to unwind later....heehee! mom sooooo deserves a weekend off from being the primary care giver to my grandparents who are still living with her until we get them into their own senior's apartment! Mike and Curt are the designated 'babysitters' this weekend!! LMAO!!!!

thank you all my friends and family for all your phone calls, 'surprise cards' left in my mailbox, great presents and all your love in your birthday wishes!!!

Luv U all!!!

still waiting.....

...to get my digital camera back! WHAAA!!!

it has been 2 WEEKS today and i am in total withdrawl!!

they said it should be ready this week sometime...it was something to do with the flash.

BUMMER.

it just doesn't feel right to post without any photos, ya know??

so, a quick update on this past week...

courtney returned to Mini Manta last monday night, and tyler back to his Red Cross lessons on wednesday night...once he's 6 i will ask about putting him in Mini Manta as well..

courtney has decided to add more hustle to our crazy schedule and has decided last monday at swimming that she wants to do manta 2 X a week now instead of once! so i think that every night of the week we now have something going on! EXCEPT for saturday nights...so far! {GIGGLE}

we are getting ready for this coming weekends first fall dance competition on saturday afternoon...have to try on costumes today because i'm sure things are going to be needing some hemlines let down cuz' that girl grows too fast!!

the kids are deciding on what they want to dress as for halloween...every day it's something else, so they'll have to pick their 'final answer' soon!! i'm sure those of you with kids are going through the same dilema!

we are all going to my mom's today for THANKSGIVING dinner!! i am looking forward to being all together for a nice visit and some yummy turkey! mike's mom and dad had their dinner yesterday, but we were unable to go as courtney had a private lesson at noon and then i did a friend's family photo shoot right after and then work at 4pm....

i was hoping and planning for the 4 of us to go to the Fort Whyte Centre today to see the geese and do some of our own family pic's....but the crummy weather has literally put a 'damper' on our Thanksgiving afternoon plans.

'rain, rain, go away...come again some other day...'

oh well. what can you do?

I DO HAVE SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE!!!

it's official...

THE FOUR OF US ARE GOING TO SCOTLAND IN AUGUST 2008!!!!

we will be travelling with courntey's dance teacher and 7 other families the last 3 weeks of next august to beautiful bonnie Scotland! we will be doing a lot of touring and sightseeing from Glasgow, up to Loch Ness, as far up the coast to Skye and back down through Edinburgh, Dundoon and back to Glasgow... courtney will be competing in 5 different competitions all through our travels and we are sooooo excited for this trip!! her teacher has shared some small details of the trip with us at a 'meeting' and it sure sounds like a busy, fun filled adventure! i am excited for many reasons...other than the simple fact that we're going to SCOTLAND...but courtney will be dancing mostly outdoors in the highland hills and mountains all around...hearing all those scottish accents....seeing all the different castles and old historic buildings...and i am sooooo stoked on doing some PHOTOGRAPHY there....so pumped on that one!!

AND...(yes there's more! ) my family has extended family in Scotland as well, some of them have been here to canada before so i've met a handful of them, but now it's our turn to visit over there!!! i can hardly wait to see them again!!

so, that's our big and exciting news!!!

:O)

naturally, the dance school will be doing some 'fundraising' to help us all out...so i give you our first 'dancer direct' fundraiser....

TA-DAA!!!!!

these 'SIMPLY DELICIOUS' fudge/creamy caramel/almond bars sell for $2 each and courtney (we) will receive 47% of our sales for our own family! every little bit helps so if you are interested in stocking up on these yummy bars, now's your chance!!!

please give us a call or email if you would like some!

thegriffs@mts.net

WHEW!!! i think that's about it for our family update!! man, i hope i get my camera back by next weekend...i have things to show you and i NEED/WANT my baby back!!! heeheehee...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone! i hope you all have some good happy quality time with your families over the weekend!!!!