The Scrappin Studio...and family

It's Happened...

2011-05-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

...Yep...

Decision has been made.

This blog will remain viewable, BUT...

if you want to continue along with my

blogging journey,

then come join me at my NEW BLOG...

www.usdocumented.blogspot.com

hope to see you there!!!

x0x0

UH OH.

2011-05-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY...

to all my Mom, Grandma, Auntie and Proxy Parent friends in my special world!!!!

I tried blogging some pics from my mother's day for you BUT it seems I have used up all my photo storage in my Blogger Google account....

Hmmph.

not sure how i'm gonna go about fixing this situation up, but i will be back soon with a remedy!!

Moi Ha Ha....

A little bit of...

2011-05-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

...spring shopping for courtney and she was up for a little backyard photo shoot after school on friday!

...this weekend was my friend lora leigh's two day scrapbooking crop in which i was her vendor at again!

i had my sweet, sweet friend tracy keeping me company at my table and LOOK what she brought for us for a treat this weekend!!!

C-Cups cupcakes!! Awwwww Yeeeaaaahhh!!!!

( thanks again Brat....they were delish!! )

...and here's a peek at my creative mind this weekend...

( this one is for my LAST Day 12 sketch for Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook class...all done!! So Fun! )

...and i LOVED digging out some oldies of courtney's to play with again...

( click on any of the photos if you want to see them bigger! )

what fun!!!

...be back soon...

...paper playdate...

2011-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

thought i would share some scrappiness with you,

now that the venting is over!

HAHA!! ( sort of )

...at my friend Tara's house on saturday!!!

(tara and mittens)

...my work space...

...i was a bit behind on my Kelly Purkey Sketchbook online class I am taking with Tara, actually, we both were behind. so saturday's plan was to catch up the last four days and one special layout if i still had time...

...here's my Day 8 sketch

...my day 9 sketch...

...my day 10 sketch...

...and my day 11 sketch...

...i just have day 12 to complete and then the class is done! but the fun part is i can use the class sketch's again and again with different fun variations!

...and here's my "one for fun" for tyler's album....

it is based off a sketch in the gallery and i LOVED the red tartan paper on the kraft cardstock!

...i have no apologies for all my venting on my last post. it is my blog afterall.

these are my thoughts and feelings splayed out, from the heart, live and real.

i think that a lot of people who enjoy reading other people's blogs get an idea that that person's life is pretty awesome and worry free, perfect little life, etc...

which, for every human being, this is not so.

i am human.

i hurt.

i cry.

i get upset.

all of this right along with all the joy, happiness and love that i do indeed have in abundance in my family!

it's just that i tend to keep my blog on a positve note as much as possible.

who wants to read about negative experiences, bad happenings and problems all the time?

blogging (journaling) is a GREAT way for me to KEEP happy, positive reminders, especially when seeing my photographs, that we really DO have a good life.

so it's very threraputic!!! it keeps things in perspective, and that's why I guess you mostly only read

THE GOOD STUFF.

hahaha!!!

but trust me, i have the same feelings in my heart as everyone else, and yesterday's post was a NEED to let some of my frustrations out and share my pain with you!!!

...and thank you to all my friends who have sent me comments or private emails to lift our spirits and send us e-hugs to cheer up!!! you ALL mean so much to our family and your encouragement and support is

most valued and special to us!!!

x0x0

...be back soon...

...sunday update...

2011-05-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

WARNING...A LOT OF VENTING HERE!!!

what can you do?

what can you say?

...when your heart breaks for you child who has been working so hard for so long to be successful and come SO CLOSE at yesterday's chance to win a provincial respresentative spot at her dance competition?

she actually tied with another dancer winning two 3rds and two 4ths the same...but when it's a Championship class, the math comes down to Judges placings and the other dancer squeaked by, literally,by a measly 13 points.

and there were only 3 rep spots per premier age group.

So. Discouraging.

So. Frustrating.

(while peeking around the corner into the living room last night, this was what i saw...)

...i let her have her sad afternoon. i couldn't fix things for her. i too, was sad with her.

we had decided almost two weeks ago to go to the Canadian Inter-Provincial championships (in Nova Scotia - July ) regardless of winning a Rep spot or not, and had booked a room and registered back then for her competitions already, so we were all really hoping that she would be going as a Rep, but prepared to accept going either way.

Until yesterday. Grr...

it's really hard to stay positive along the way when time after time it's the same kids always winning and showing their bad sportsmanship by bragging how they hardly even practised while walking off the stage after results. Or bragging to your face how "i already knew I was going to be a Rep" before the competition even starts.

It. Gets. Sickening.

ANYWAY...

life goes on and i had a little talk with her that even though she's sad today, she will look back at the photos and be happy she was a part of it all anyway.

she won 3rd runner up ( which means in this competition, that should one of the other Reps in her class be unable to attend Inter-prov, she would be first in line as the next Rep ) and still won a new trophy to bring home...

there are so many kids that don't even win any medals on days like these and to imagine how they feel after all their preparing too.

ugh, highland dance is no easy sport. and some days we wonder if the stress and pressure it puts on these kids is worth it. but at the end of the day, disheartened or victorious, as a former dancer in my own youth, I believe it teaches them self discipline, self reward and determination to stick with it and carry on. ( and to try your best to ignore the negative comments from other competitors )

there will always be another competition!

( courtney and her new dance teacher susan with her special bunny gift for good luck! )

...this years manitoba representitives and runner ups for Inter-Prov...

...a tough smile to put on...

(wink)

...and a nonetheless proud hug from susan!

(thanks for being supportive and understanding today!!!!)

...and...

while courtney was at her dance competition, as i mentioned in my last post, tyler was at his YBC Bowler of the Year Manitoba wide tournament!

But...seems that no luck ran in our family yesterday as he didn't have such a great day.

he did finish his day with a +26 pins over average, but not near enough to win...

but that's okay...so YBC is now done for the year and we are looking forward to his big bowling banquet next week on the 11th....especially tyler!!!

so.

that's that for yesterday.

and since i don't want to finish this post off on a negative note...

CONGRATS WILLIAM AND KATE

on your beautiful wedding...

...and it's sure nice to read good news in the paper today....

i just might frame my winnipeg sun front page of Osama bin Laden's send off wishes to

"burn in hell"!!!!

...be back soon -on a happier note!!!

Meet....

2011-04-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

...Speedy Gonzales...

hahaha!

i have been wanting one of these cute little cactuses for my car for a LONG time, and started looking last spring in mexcio...of course with no luck.

our next door neighbors just returned from Arizona and LOOK what they found for me and my new car!!!

AWWWWW YYYYEAEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!

i love it!

( even if my friend linda says that the value of my car has decreased with it on it....hahahaha)

...and just a quick little piece of excitement to share with you...

last night tyler bowled in another tournament!

he was elected Bowler of the Month back in october, and at the end of every season, they hold a Bowler of the YEAR tournie for all the recipents.

it's a pins over average competition and tyler went into this event with a 103 Average...

...incredibly, his first game of three last night was 227!!!!

we were sooooo excited for him as this was also his very first over 200 game!

( we being myself, tyler and my mom who came to cheer him on - mike had to take courtney to her dance lesson! )

..game two was 127, and game three was 141....so he finished with a +186 pins over his average...

...and he WON the tournament!!!!

he now has to bowl this sunday afternoon in an accross Manitoba final Bowler of the Year tournament, again with a pins over average determination.

i wont' be able to go and cheer / coach him on as our courtney is also competing in a very important dance competition this sunday too...it's her selection meet championships event that determines the top 3 dancers from each permier class as the Manitoba Reps for the Canadian Inter-Provincial Championships in July...

SO.....WISH OUR KIDS LOTSA LUCK AND PERSONAL BESTS THIS WEEKEND!!!!

...and the icing on the cake last night was another SPECTACULAR performance by my favorite Idol,

JAMES!

i think HIS personal best yet too!!!

sooooooo happy for him!

You. Rock. James.

...be back soon...

New one...

2011-04-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

...For Oliver...

Sketchbook 3 class, Day 7.

...be back soon...

Surviving Easter...

2011-04-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

...HAHAHA...

i'm sure our easter weekend was as busy as everybody else!

spending most the weekend in the kitchen, getting things ready, buying treats, coloring easter eggs and baking...

and throw in another big family upset in there and it makes for a hectic, stressful holiday!!

choosing to make the best of things and focusing on the kids' excitement, on went the show!

courtney is getting older now and even though she supresses her excitement over the annual treat hunt left by the Easter Bunny, she is still quite excited to fill her baskets full of candy and chocolates!

tyler, on the other hand, is MOST EXPRESSIVE over HIS excitement for the morning egg hunt!

...even little Oliver was left a new rattle toy from the Easter Bunny!!!!

...and the grand finale is always finding their easter basket and treats from mom and dad...

(last year, tyler couldn't reach that cupboard! )

( note Bunny on the kitchen counter...he STILL goes everywhere tyler goes - so cute! )

...all was said and done...= two very lucky little kidlets!

...then on to coloring eggs to take to my moms for dinner sunday...

TA-DAA!!!!

...and the cupcakes BEFORE....

...and AFTER...

thanks for all your help C & T!!!!!!

x0x0

...i cooked a 15lb turkey and made stuffing to bring to moms for dinner ( along with eggs and cupcakes ) and when i arrived with the kids, this is what was going on in her kitchen....

Grandma and Grandpa were at moms for 3 days over the holiday to spend time with family, and Grandma was at the stove - walker nearby - making her gravy for HER homemade meatballs!!!!

and my brother Curt was prepping his salad for dinner!!

LOVE. THIS.

...and at last,time to eat!!!

I hope you ALL had a fabulous Easter holiday with your loved ones!!

...be back soon...

Bird River!

2011-04-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

...guess lots of you have been waiting for me to post some pics from my fun, scrappy weekend at

Bird River Bible Camp! (april 14 - 18 )

i was asked by a fellow scrappin' friend to come join her Scrappy Chicks with my store for a weekend retreat!

it was a smaller, more personal crop ( just what i LOVE! ) and it was indeed most enjoyable!

my mom came along with me to this one and i was happy for her company!

we had some snow overnight friday night and all day on and off, flurries and windy on saturday...but that didn't stop me from being optimistic for Spring and wear my flip flops all weekend long! HA!

...i had left my camera back at home with mike to video courtney's dancing at her competition on saturday that i was not going to be at! so i had brought courtney's camera along with me, not realizing that the wrong date was showing on the camera until it was too late...oh well...

this was the main lodge we stayed in...dorm style bedrooms with bunk beds ( one set to ourselves ) and they were actually quite comfy too! ( bringing your own bedding made it feel more like home! )

and the cropping area was right off the bedrooms!

we also had a full kitchen available right in the lodge so making coffee, tea or bringing along food was always available for snacking!

...me at work...

...mom at the mini album class i tought in the dinning hall...

...this is jackie and chris. she was our hospitality hostess and director, and her husband chris was a FABULOUS chef for the weekend! they are from florida and came to this camp in manitoba on a year long mission work and will be returning to florida in may...( chris told me discovering driving on black ice this winter was a scary highlight of manitoba winters - aside from experiencing -45 temperatures! -no doubt! )

...and here's just a peek at some of our awesome meals this weekend...

...SEE!!!!???? told ya i was staying optimistic for spring!

...mom and i ...

...group photo...

...mom chillaxin' while i loaded up the SUV to come home...

...and can i say that i am quite fond of my little cherries air freshener..

...and here's another peek at some of my work from Bird River...

this first one i did for my Kelly Purkey online sketch class and it really got me inspired and motivated.

i was soooooo lost in my creations this weekend...just awesome to feel so productive, it doesn't happen very often!

...april 19 was my grandpa's official 90th birthday!

but the kids and i went up for a visit after school on the 20th and stayed to have dinner with them. after dinner, they both had a little musical production for them! they hadn't heard courtney play her saxophone yet, and she included Loch Lomond in her playlist...so proud of my kids!

...and I LOVED American Idol, once again, this week!!!

I am sooooo absorbed in this season...i think because i have just loved James since auditions and I immensely enjoy watching him perform and grow as an artist and soooo happy for him and his progress and achievements.

seriously. there hasn't been one thing that i haven't enjoyed by him yet.

Durbin, you rock!!! keep it going!

(he has been my prediction to WIN since he made the top 24...i can FEEL it)

AND....

we are off to my MIL's for easter dinner and a visit now...

so here's to wishing you and your families a very Happy Easter weekend!!!

from Oliver and his family!!

( heeheehee )

x0x0

...be back soon...

Scrapbooking & birthdays...

2011-04-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

...sharing my layout i created for DAY 4 of Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 3 class over at Studio Calico...

www.studiocalico.com

( GREAT inspiration there! )

i had fun hand stitching the paper doily down and adding some fun buttons...

...and saturday i FINALLY did a layout from our Scotland trip - from aug.2008- hahaha!

KI Memories has a big selection of these adorable calendar papers...different colored and shaped edges on them, and they are quite popular in the current magazines and recent additions to studio calico's gallery...so i was inspired to challenge myself and get one done.

it took me FOREVER to select only ONE photo from each day of our 19 day trip for each calendar day- naturally- and then i printed them all off on my Canon Selphy as 2x3 sized photos, which STILL wasn't small enough, so i made a template out of the first photo and used it to trim out all the others...

WHEW...this layout was quite the job...PLUS, tracing and handcutting out the title was another fun job.

...but i LOVE the finished product...

...sunday was a big day for my grandparents...

my mom had arranged for a small "open house" at The Maples nursing home to celebrate BOTH of their

90th birthdays!!

(Grandma - April 6...Grandpa - April 19 )

they had a lovely little turnout and the BEST part of the day ( for me ) was to see my grandma

SMILING and LAUGHING out loud, just beaming, and sooooo happy!

THAT's the grandma I know was still inside there!!

grandpa was happy too, but after a while, i think he would have just as soon gone back for his nap!! heehee!

here's some shots from the day...

...it really was a most special day for us all...

great job Mom on all your planning and special touches!!

...i am looking forward to going out to my first "camp retreat" for scrapbooking this week...

i was asked several months ago to be the vendor at a smaller, more intimate weekend retreat and accepted!

so i better start making my lists for packing up for Camp Bird River!

i leave this thursday with my Mom and good friend Tracy and am looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, teaching a fun little project and having some "Mommy Time" and doing some work myself for our family albums!!!

...be back soon...

SPRING...

2011-04-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

...is in the air!!

all the snow in our frong yard is GONE - and this makes me very, very happy!

around here, we know it's spring when the kids start asking for their bikes and scooters to ride!

we were invited to my mom's for dinner last thursday night, and the kids wanted to "ride" over to Grandma's...

...i waited in her front yard for theier arrival ( camera in hand of course ) and snapped a few pics of them driving by...

just LOOK at this boy!! ( click the photo to make bigger if you'd like )

GASP...i didn't realize he did this UNTIL i printed the photo off for a layout I made last night!

( little rat! - but i love it! )

...yep, these kids are just growing too fast...

...i have been very, very busy working away on so many fun scrappy things lately that i almost dropped to the floor in shock after getting some tea the other day and came back and REALLY SAW the mess i've been working in!

HAHAHA...creative productivity, can't help it!

( and it's not like it won't get cleaned up...so I love it! )

***I AM HAPPY TO MAKE A LITTLE ANNOUNCEMENT HERE THAT AT LAST NIGHT'S HALL CROP,

I HAVE OFFICIALLY FILLED MY MAY TWO DAY CROP WITH 40 SCRAPBOOKERS!!!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR EXCITEMENT AND EAGER PARTICIPATION TO COME TO MY CROP...I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO PLANNING LOTS OF SPECIAL THINGS FOR YOU!!!***

...and here's a few pics of my layout i started last night and finished this morning for the

Kelly Purkey Sketchbook 3 online class...

~FIRST SPRING RIDE~

i had fun playing with paint, mists and stitching!

have a happy weekend everyone!

...be back soon...

...today...(april 6)

2011-04-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

...is my sweet grandma's 90th BIRTHDAY!!!

she is in very good health, good spirits (most days) and still so in love with my grandpa! (who will turn 90 as well on april 19)

after school today, i took the kids and picked up my mom and we went up to the nursing home for a special birthday visit...

...we all stayed and had supper with them in the family room where tyler entertained them with a little piano playing after dinner...and...

there was a HULA HOOP activity going on next door in the multi purpose room and the kids were asked if they would come in and show the witty senior residents present how to hula hoop!!!

sooooo cute...they got an applause and everything! Hahahaha!!

...HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

I LOOOOOVE YOU TO PIECES!!!!

x0x0

...after coming home from courtney's dance lesson tonight, i was excited to finish off my second layout for DAY TWO in the Studio Calico Sketchbook 3 online class I am taking...

thought i'd share some shots of the new one!

...there seems to be so much scrappy excitement happening around me lately...

-365: Project Life - a daily keepup

-Sketchbook 3 -every second day for the month of april

-my hall crop tomorrow night ( april 8 )

-next weekend i am a vendor at sheila lamb's Scrappy Chicks Getaway for 3 days in Bird River

-a fun 2 day crop with Lora Leigh May 6/7

-going with mom and some GREAT friends to Miami, Mb May long for a Vegas weekend of scrapbooking ( that I will be a GUEST at..not working! )

-and then my fun Scrap into Summer 2 day crop May 27/28

I. AM. SMILING.

...and i am working on THIS fun little number to share with my new friends in Bird River...

but i can't share with you yet!!!

heeheehee...i'm the devil!

...and one last little thing i want to share a peek at for you...

i found these PeRfEcT CoLoR CoMbO NaPkInS for my theme colors for my May crop today...

seriously. i giggled out loud in the store, all by myself, in pure happy delight.

;o)

...be back soon...

...and heeeerrrre's the layout!!!

2011-04-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

hahaha...i think it's been quite some time since i've blogged TWICE in the same day!

so here you have the mind behind my layout i made for

DAY ONE

in Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 3 online class that I am taking with Tara!

( www.tleclaire.blogspot.com to have a peek at hers too! )

...i wasn't sure which alpha i was going to use until i actually started putting the layout together, so i had just grabbed a few that had caught my eye while gathering supplies to make it. looks like orange won out!!!

...be back soon...

So......

2011-04-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

...according to a fun little FENG SHUI HOROSCOPE quiz i played along with this morning,

here are my results!

*I am spontaneous and love affection

*I have a lot of loves and friends in my life

*My life will be great. I will find my soul mate

*I have a friend who completely confides in me and would do anything for me

*my friend tara should be a best friend

*I am a laid back kind of person

*I am spontaneous and like to please people

*and i wish we could get a bigger house, and IF I EMAIL THE QUIZ ON TO 10 MORE PEOPLE, MY WISH WILL COME TRUE BY MY NEXT BIRTHDAY!!!

HAHAHA!!

( okay you suckers who I DID forward that email to, you better make my wish come true!! )

wink!

And yesterday after school was

SLURPEES...

...and DANCE!!

... i am working on a layout today for a new, fun little adventure that Tara and i are registered online for...

Sketchbook 3 with Kelly Purkey.

yesterday was Day One.

i will come back later and share my layout with you!

...be back soon...

Can you...

2011-04-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

...i found this lovely little painted reminder on a fun little blog called

The Great Online Roadtrip Adventure.

www.thatgrrl.tumbr.com

it was a creative reminder...

so i will share a few little loves of mine from yesterday...

despite the rotten, wet, slushy, blowing icy rain we had ALL DAY yesterday,

it did not stop mine and Tara's ( www.tleclaire.blogspot.com ) spontaneous plans to have a little road trip adventure!

i left at 9am to head out to Morris to pick her up, ( with fresh made tea in a travel cup waiting when i arrived! ) and then we were off to Pembina Parcel pick up in the good 'ol USA ( haha...i make it sound far, far away, when it's only another 25 minute drive from Tara's ).

...and then we were off to Winkler to go for our usual Twisters lunch and My Scrap Shoppe shopping spree!!

www.myscrapshoppe.com

here's what i bought for myself!! it was most fun to get some new goodies to play with!

this little traditional visit to Winkler is most loved!

...after shopping, i drove Tara back to Morris and then made my way back to Winnipeg... one more quick stop at Zellers, as tipped off by a friend saturday night, on my quest to find a game called Mexican Train Dominoes...with the colored dominoes!! And at long last...the game was ours!!! so i indulged in some more fun love with my family last night with mike's homemade chili for dinner and then 6 rounds of Mexican Train Dominoes!!! ( the kids are all over this new game like flies on rice, you should check it out! ) so thank you to my friend Syrella for introducing the game that became the obsession to us!! HAHAHA!!!

...and one more little love worth listing here is our bunny...

i caught this picture of Oliver napping with his 'snuggle bunny' yesterday while we were playing our game...

SOOOOOO SWWEEEET!!!!

...and Oliver in action playing with his toys...

...these are just a few of the things from yesterday that make

LIFE

WORTH

LOVING!!!!

...be back soon...

...just some stuff...

2011-04-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

...Spring Break...

is it really friday already?

where oh where has this week gone?

i had big 'clean up' plans for the week and got zero crossed off my list.

maybe that's a good thing though...sometimes life just needs to

SLOW.

DOWN.

...yesterday i took Courtney with me 'thrifting' for some new books...

this is not something i usually do, but after catching up on lots of lovely blogs this week, i felt intrigued to go and have a look around at other people's lost/given away/donated treasures...

and i also just happened to find 3 books that i've been wanting to read!!!

SCORE!

and even though I am aware that all three books have also been created to the big screen, I still wanted to read them. I did see Eat Pray Love and adored the movie...but I'm sure there's a lot of content and personality lost if you don't read the book...so there you have it.

i started right away with reading The Lovely Bones, and I cannot put it down...i am in agonizing waiting to see if the killer is caught.

will i watch this movie after the book?

doubtful.

i have a young daughter and it's already hitting too close to home. i already told her last night to get used to the fact that my driving the kids to school up til now, will continue right on through university and to and from her future jobs!!!!

Precious.

Again, another big screen story.

not sure if i will be able to watch that one either...but we'll see.

...and what have you been reading lately???

it seems the only thing i felt inspired enough to reorganize yesterday was my flowers from my mom!!!

she bought these for me last friday and they are still alive and well...

so yesterday, they went from

THIS...

...TO THIS... ...Hmmmm... not much else to say! 365: Project Life is going to be the death of me yet... hahahaha... it is absolutely a love / hate relationship!!! ( looking forward to june 30's last entry...) ( and looking forward to the years ahead that our family and friends will enjoy a stroll through our days...)

...and this week's IDOL???? are you kidding me?

it is sooooo good!!!!

...what did you do for spring break????

...be back soon...

...and the fun continues!!

2011-03-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

...last night i had my friends lori and tracy over for a chill night of scrappin'...

( and my banana martini's )

...oh, and in my last post, i was showing a bunch of fun new paper flower techniques I've been playing with

( and plan to share with at my May 2 day crop )

and i accidentally deleted the finished product of the last flowers..

well, here they are...

the are pleated paper flowers, and i trimmed these ones off with some Ranger Stickles ( thanks for the suggestion Tracy...)

this is going to be a TOTAL scrappy post, and I just wanted to share my process as I worked on a few layouts!
this is the ONLY layout i completed last night ( hahahaha )...
it seems my Mexico album is lagging ( amongst other things ) in the scrapbooking dept. so i had the creative juices to work on one!
i "punched off" the white cardstock ( like stamping off ) and trimmed the white C/S down to 11.5 x 11.5 and adhered it to kraft C/S.

...i also sprayed the white C/S with tattered angels glimmer mists and painted with bubble wrap for a fun background effect!

...ta-daaa...

...a closer peek...

...and the finished product...

LOVE. IT!!!

...and today, the mojo kept going and i played all day long...

here's some of my creations of the day!

...i finally made a layout for tyler about his piano lessons...

...and another fun one for Oliver's album too...

( don't forget to scrap your furry family members too! )

i cut the C/S down to 8.5 x 11 ( his album size ) and stamped off the paper with Stampin Up
goodies!!!

..and of course, pulled out the paints again and dotted around the journaling...

...drying time is about 5 mins...

...and then using my ultra fine point sharpie, i drew circles around the painted dots to make them pop right off the paper!! ( a trick i've adopted long ago from Elsie Flannigan )

...i also had a fun piece of "embellishment" to add to this layout to go with the journaling...

the other day Oliver bit the cable for our PC keyboard ( Grrr, that's 3 cables now! ) and i added a small piece of the cable to the layout!!!

...and had fun playing with the bottom of the page too...

ta-daaaa!!!

...and here's the process of another one for tyler's album...

the photo is from a couple summers ago, but still a favorite and a soft spot in my heart!!

...i free hand cut out the "marry me" words out of wood grain MAC TAC, and the bonus is IT IS ALREADY ADHESIVE!!! try it out yourself, cut out shapes, use it in your punches ( works like buttah!! )

...and while i was playing, i found another fun paper flower embellishment on the American Crafts website and tried it out...( again, you'll see this one at the May crop! )

...love it...

...and i tried out a few other ones with smaller papers...

...and i wanted to use the pretty brown travel flower right away, so here's the last one of the day...

of course, for my Mexico album!!

...looking back, i can see that WHITE was my canvas color of these layouts...hahaha....i guess it just shows off the glimmer mist so nicely, in its true color...

ANYWAY....hope you've enjoyed a peek at my creative day today!!!

...be back soon....

...last night...

2011-03-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

I made Mexican for dinner.

aside from lasagna, definitely a favorite in La Casa Griffin!

...at courtney's dance lesson last night, susan started teaching the girls their new hornpipe steps for the upcoming competition ( it has to be a 5 step, plus a mandatory 3rd step for all dancers )

so the girls were having fun with something new...and as always, courtney soaks up the 'new stuff' and has been hornpiping around here all night tonight...

..i was super excited to come home last night to watch American Idol ( THANK GOD FOR PVR, ya know! )

i am soooooo loving James this season...i am just so, sooo happy for everything that is happening for him...it's so inspiring to watch him go for it every week and ENJOY every minute of it...

James is just so real.

maybe because he's also so QUIRKY ( like my courtney ) i feel a connection to him...I get him.

i would love to see him go all the way....

...and tonight...
( while watching the results show...GAH...so exciting, I could barely contain myself! )

anyway...tonight...
I. PLAYED.

awwwwwww yyeeeaaaaahhhhhh!!!

I have found my mojo the last few days, and feeling so inspired from reading my favorite blogs...
here's my take on one of Sasha's layouts over at
http://www.sassysasha.typepad.com/

( sesriously...CHECK. OUT. THE. CRAZY. TALENT. OVER. THERE!! )

while on her blog, if you click on the top right of her screen "LAYOUTS" it will take you to her flickr album of all her posted layouts...
my following layout is off her sketch called "A Hero @ 10"....love it, love it, LOVE it!!
( sorry I couldn't figure out how to add the link to make it easier...)

...i had fun using my butterfly punch on MACK TACK and CORK, and adding bling!!!

i also 'splashed' glimmer mist over the patterned paper as well to add some funk!

...and then the mojo just took over me!! HAHA!!

i have been asked recently to maybe check out teaching different flower embellishments to add to layouts, so i was in a learning / producing mood tonight and here's what i banged out...

( NOTE: i plan to share and show these faily easy techniques at my May 2 day crop...FREE!!! )

Okay...for starters, these totally cute felt / button lollipop embellies were posted all over in blog world months and months ago. i just haven't bothered really making them until now, so for the most part, these were my own creations, long since inspired!!

...and these cute loopy flowers i found on a tutorial on

Paper Trunk

http://www.papertrunk.com/

sooooo cute and fun to make!!

...and these chifon distressed lovelies i was told how to make by my inspiring and talented friend

Thelma Findlay!

i couldn't wait to try making them, and LOVE how they turned out ( and i did them in green, intending to add them to my Scotland scrapbook, but I can't wait to make them in in a TON of different colors and bling! )

check out thelma's beautiful creativity at

http://www.originalinspirations.blogspot.com/

...and probably the hardest, fussiest, testiest ( is that a word? ) was these pleated paper flowers...

another tutorial i played with on the AMAZING Studio Calico blog...

(shown by Emily Pitts )

www.studiocalico.com

OOPSSS!!!!

hahaha...i accidentally just DELETED the finished paper flower...

Grrr....

i guess that's what happens when you blog at 10:36pm and your eyeballs would rather be watching Big Bang Theory....

but have no fear...i intend to scrap with it tomorrow, so you WILL see it soon enough!!

...be back soon...

Last night...

2011-03-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

...was tyler's Tumbling Rally through his schools gymnastics club...

it was a looooong time sitting on those hard wooden bleachers, but most enjoyable!!

Great Job Buddy!!!

...and today was another fun day of Spirit Week at courtney's school - HAWAII DAY!!!

( thank you BJ Super Toy Sales for stocking lots of fun costume accessories! )

i couldn't resist a fun little photo shoot when she came home...

...and tyler couldn't resist getting in on the action of a photo shoot either...

here's his Justin Bieber impression!!

HAHAHA...he is such a little ham!!!

...and one of tyler being himself...

the cutest lil' man ever!!!

...SCRAPBOOKERS...

details coming soon regarding my two day crop in May ( 27 & 28 ). things are all coming together and i will release all the info by the weekend!!!!

...be back soon...

Weekend update...

2011-03-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

...i was a vendor at my friend's hall crop this past friday night, and I enjoy going to hers because it also gives me an opportunity to work on some of my own scrapbooking as well...

trust me.

it's been a LOOONG time since I've done any layouts for fun!

I planned ahead and came up with the following two...

this one will be added to Oliver's special album I made for him out of file folders...

...and it's been a LOOOOONG time since I've scrapped anything for Courtney's dance album too...i love how it turned out..i used Glimmer Mist on the prima flowers to blend in the layout better...and who doesn't love to use bling??

( and i'm sorry for the bad, non cropping layout photos, lazy today! )

...i find that since March 11 I have not been able to turn the tv to any other channel than CNN when I'm home..it's always on, listening to updates on Japan's horrible tragedy and also the frightening issues happening in Lybia.

Anderson Cooper, I would never want your job, but DAMN, you are good at what you do!

Stay safe!!!!

...courtney's been working away with her dancing and focusing on her goals for upcoming events...and she was quite happy to be able to join me with a short visit with Lynn last week before heading to her dance lesson...i wasn't sure how she was going to keep together while at Lynn's, but she sure showed me a mature, compassionate young lady while visiting ( and saved the tears for the car ride! )

she has been handling her emotions quite well with Lynn's ongoing struggle with cancer and I believe that the kids' artwork, cards and letters to her are a great way of expressing some of those hidden, deep emotions...but it's a whole different ball game when you are with that loved one in person and struggling to hold tears in....i admire courtney for her young, 12 year old loving little heart, and how brave she is trying to be while going through the process of losing someone so loved and close to her.

...and i have to share ( if i haven't already ) one of my weekly guilty television pleasures...
i am just LOVING this season's American Idol!!!!!
Steven Tyler and JLo are the best thing that has happened to that show...aside from my favorite contender this season....James Durbin!!
You have to Google his audition and story...what a great guy...and what a great singer / performer....i hope he takes the cake!
( and my fav girl is Pia...WHO DO YOU LOVE??? )

...saturday...
oliver got his weekly cage cleaning and had about a two hour free run in the house...
One. Happy. Bunny!

...this guy LOVES to explore...

...and play with his toys...

...saturday night...

we celebrated my cousin's 50th birthday at the PANDORA INN!!!!

hahaha....I was a little afraid for my life when we first arrived, as I've never been there before, but as the night went on, and our party group was pretty much the only ones there, it was all good...plus, ain't nuthin' like Amaretto and Diet Coke to take the edge off...HAHAHA!

HAPPY 50th Dianimal....t'was a fun, fun night!!!!

( and it's been a while since I've made "last call"....)

...sunday...

two words...

JAMMIE. DAY.

booooyaaa!!!!

CNN, scrapbook magazines, laptop internet surfing, movies with Courtney, Diet Dr. Pepper and Mr. Griffin bbq'd us some steaks with garlic pasta for dinner...ALL in the comfort of my jammies and king size bed all day!!!

YES!

...and what could add to an already perfect day?

again...two words.

Edward. Cullen

...courtney and i enjoyed dorito's and eclipse in the afternoon....

SWOOOON!!!

( can't wait til Breakin' Dawn already...grrrr...)

...and how was YOUR weekend???

...be back soon...

This Week....

2011-03-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

...CURRENTLY...

( loving how sweet the seasonal fruit is tasting lately!!! )

eating: about to make our dinner...farmer sausage, perogies, beans and salad
drinking: nothing. but sure would love a peach passion right now...
reading: breaking dawn...again...still..hahaha!
wearing: black sweats, pink Cozumel hoodie and slippers
feeling: soooo soooo sad for the tragedy happening in Japan and all those poor people. and also heartbroken for the Clouse family in Penns. who lost 7 of their 8 small children in their house fire on their family farm. just. so. sad.
weather: nice out, snow's soft and squishy...a good sign for Spring!
wanting: about 12 hours sleep!!
needing: about 12 hours sleep!!
thinking: that i hope Lynn will be up to our visit this wednesday...
enjoying: that i have finally caught up ALL the photos for my 365: Project Life scrapbooking project...but still have a ton of journaling to add....hahaha...and grrr...
wondering: how people survive the loss of their children without going crazy. i would not survive this kind of loss. i am not that strong.

...be back soon...

Happy. Boy.

2011-03-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

...tyler had a most exciting day today...

first of all, at bowling this morning his very own first pair of bowling shoes arrived!!

( rental shoes are soooo gross! )

anyway, we ordered them quite a while ago, they came in and were too big, so the wait was on for the right size to arrive, and today was the lucky day!

( the spider webs glow in the dark too! )

...and today was also "badge day" for all the kids who acquired new high scores in the last couple weeks, so tyler was most excited to receive his 175 badge for his collection!!

( ...during practices for Provincials, he bowled a 176 and a 178...way to go buddy! )

...AND tyler also bowled his personal best yet this morning as well....

196!!!!! ( this kid's average is only 96.....) hahaha!!

and after YBC, we were on to his "school friends" birthday party!

although his bday was 2 weeks ago today, he was having a visit that weekend, and then last weekend was provincials, so there just wasn't enough weekend in the weekends to have his party, until today!!!

and just where oh where, do you think he wanted to have his party????

here's a clue...

HAHAHA!!!!

so...we had a fun little glow bowling party for the boy and the kids all seemed to have a good time!!

here's just a peek from this afternoon...

Carson, Courtney and Rachel...

...ok...can we officially claim this year's birthday over now tyler???

heeheehee!

;-D

...be back soon...

So......

2011-03-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

...a little dance update here...

Lynn is still hanging on with us!

We were told one month ago YESTERDAY that her time with us was very limited, maybe a couple weeks, and she is just telling that time line "WHATEVER!!!!"

;-D

after my short visit with her last week she told me she didn't know if she would see me again during our last hug of the visit, but she has the will power that is out of this world!

but in the meantime, dancing has taken a huge change, of course, through all this since January.

and after unsure decisions and possibilities, a new door has opened for courtney's highland dance future and we would like you to meet Susan, her new dance teacher!

...susan is a senior dancer of Lynn's and has been part of our dance school family since she was a little girl herself. she is one of Lynn's substitute teachers since january and has helped courtney immensely through some tough, sad times when this all began.

not only has susan been there for our dancers emotionally, she has been a big impact and continuous supporter of helping the girls keep up their work during this emotional roller coaster and focus on their goals and dedicate to help reach them at the last competition in February!

when she announced she will be opening her own highland dance school not only in honour of Lynn, but as a challenge and a goal for herself to keep highland alive in her life, there was no question that we would continue our future in dance with her!

she has proven to courtney and i that she is willing to work hard with the girls and set / achieve new goals and we are very happy with how great the kids are all settling in with her as their permanent new teacher!

i have every confidence that this was the best decision for courtney!

...the only thing that is taking some getting used to is the new location...a school gymnasium!!

( Lynn taught in her home basement! )

...the kids also made some new artwork to drop off at Lynn's on our way home from dance too!

( thank you sheila for helping out with this delivery! )

...yesterday i was in another home made soup funk, so on the menu was cream of broccoli and cheese ( and bacon ) soup!!

thank you to miss courtney for your help in the kitchen!!

...TYLER was sulking all through dinner that he didn't like the soup, so after we were all done, and tyler was STILL sitting at the table fussing over his soup, i brought Oliver in to 'encourage' tyler to eat his soup or else oliver will...so he tried feeding it to the bun bun...

silly boys!!

...SCRAPBOOKING...

i still have some spots available for this friday's upcoming hall crop!

please call or email to register.

thegriffs@mts.net

AND...

i also have some exciting scrapbooking news to share with you!!

mark your calendars...

Friday, May 27 and Saturday May 28

will be the dates for my two day crop!!

MORE DETAILS WILL BE EMAILED TO THOSE OF YOU ON MY NEWSLETTER LIST, OR EMAIL ME IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE ADDED!!

there is only 40 spots available, and registration will be based on both days first...if the crop does not fill up, then i will open space to only friday or saturday croppers!

i am still in the planning stage, so please bear with me while i sort it all out...i just wanted to share the dates with you for now!!!

...be back soon...

WHEW....

2011-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

...yesterday was a pretty hectic day and i was glad to come home last night and get into my jammies and soak it all in...

...my scrapbook shop was the vendor at an all day crop in Cooks Creek! so i was there friday night setting up and then back for 8am saturday morning for a full day of business and fun with my mom and a few close friends! AND...saturday was also our much anticipated Provincial tournament for tyler's boys combo team at St. James Lanes...so i left cooks creek at 11am to get to tyler's tournament ( leaving my store in the trusting hands of good friend tracy while i would be away! ) and was there in time for the action!

tyler's boys combo team ( one bantam, one junior & one senior ) bowled 4 games together and the tournament was based on Pins Over Average...and after an 88 pin difference, tyler's team finished SECOND!!!! not bad at all for his first year in bowling! tyler, of course, was quite disappointed that they were not going to be moving on the the National finals in Regina, but by the time the big banquet and awards presentation was over ( Victoria Inn ) he was feeling proud of his accomplishment! ( his team finished with a + 282 pins over average, and +178 of that total was tyler on his own! )

SOOOOOOO proud of this boy!!!

...tyler's team...
drew, elijah, tyler and coach ron.

...final results...

...congratulations tyler!!!

***and a huge THANK YOU to mike for taking such great pictures at the presentations for me as i had to return back to the crop right after the bowling, so i was unable to be there for the awards - in person anyway!!!!

...otherwise, life is life...

piano, dance, bowling, scrapbooking...hahahaha!!!

...oh...and we also dogsat for our friends for a few days too...

the kids are always excited to have maggie and now their newest addition oscar, at our house for a fun visit!!

...and here's a cute pic of my friend tara sharing her first scrapbooking publication in Canadian Scrapbooker's magazine!!!

Soooooooo excited for her!

Eep!!!

...i am looking forward to a quiet day today of catching up laundry ( AGAIN ) and tidying up the house and hopefully later this afternoon some catch-up on my 365: Project life...

and how is your weekend so far???

...be back soon...

CURRENTLY...

2011-03-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

...soooooo happy I had an opportunity to have a small visit with LYNN last night before going to Courtney's dance lesson!! We brought her some new artwork from the kids and some food and fruit to help out with meals for her and her 24 hour caregiver (and BFF ) at home!!

The whole dance family has come together to cook and provide lunches and meals for Lynn to ease the stress off her caregiver...and it's so wonderful to see the outpour of love in so many thoughtful ways just shine through for Lynn at such a difficult and sad time.

We really are the BEST dance family ever!!

...I thought it was time to try my own rendition of a "currently" post as i've been inspired by many bloggers of whom I keep up with and their own 'currents'....and most recently my sweet friend TARA ( http://www.tleclaire.blogspot.com/ ) has tempted me to finally give it a try!

( ...and might i add that TARA has also successfully been published in CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKERS magazine for her first time in the new issue pg. 94!!! CONGRATULATIONS and big hugs to you Missy!!!! )

so here goes:

CURRENTLY...

listening: to my furnace clicking on and off ( i really should put some music on down here! )

eating: a tim horton's bacon and egg breakfast sandwich on a biscuit

drinking: tim horton's hot chocolate. extra milk

reading: breaking dawn, for the 3rd time!

wearing: black yoga pants, long sleeve black GAP shirt ( a fav ) and black socks...hmmm, what's up with all the black today?

feeling: sick from my stupid cold starting up again, but happy from my visit last night

weather: still winter, so COLD! ( but sunny )

wanting: a part time job for some extra $$$ - summer's holidays are coming!

needing: a bigger house...and a part time job...hahaha!

thinking: that sometimes life just isn't fair, but blah, blah blah...things happen for a reason, when you're ready to believe it!

enjoying: recent successes of my children and knowing i have the best family in my 4 walls every day!

wondering: when I'll ever get to Scotland again...

...be back soon...

x0x0

Well hello again..

2011-03-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

...somehow, I always seem to be playing the 'catch up' game with my blog.

although, we have been going through some heavy stuff lately, so blogging hasn't been one of my priorities lately....i will explain later...

FIRST...

Well, as things go around, we have had this season's cold bug attack our household and all four of us ended up SICK, SICK, SICK!!!

i hate it when SICK hits because none of us have time for being sick and it just hangs around for weeks....

grrr.

...as you know, in the mix of SICK was Tyler's 9th birthday...

we had a small little family 'cake and coffee' night at my mom's last night to celebrate with them as tyler was away for the weekend on a visit...

so last night we shared a delicious Dairy Queen ice cream cake with 9 candles!

...as always, tyler's favorite thing to receive as gifts is MONEY!!!!

( haha..this was from Uncle Darren )

...and big on this years' list was Justin Bieber CD's, posters, etc...hahaha!

...tyler was pretty excited about this special hoodie made for him from his step-mom's parents...it's sooooo cute!!! ( and so thoughtful! )

...and we had a little quiet celebration sunday night with Oliver when Tyler came home from his visit as well....that round nature mat is barely recognizable anymore, what's left of it...LOL!

...so, a little life update...

i went as a parent chaperone with courtney last week to Camp Cedarwood for Band Camp for 3 days....

...as i got quite SICK the day before we left, i had a pretty uncomfortable stay there and the noise level of 55 band kids, plus morning to night activities, plus band rehersals did not help my situation! but, overall, the kids did enjoy themselves...

...we were supervising the kids around the clock as the camp did not offer camp guides for any of the outdoor activities, so my post all 3 days was at the top of the monster tube slide...sending them off in a safe manor...( but i assure you, the kids requesting to not end up going down backwards or spinning somehow got the very opposite...heeheehee - karma sucks, don't it kids? )

;o)

...here's our band group...

...i was only too glad to come home, get into my jammies and fuzzy socks and curl up and catch up on American Idol...and can i just say how much i am LOVING steven tyler and Jlo on the show?? Excellent.

...something funny...well, for us anyway...

THIS is what happens EVERY TIME we clean out Oliver's cage...he goes crazy, running and jumping as fast as he can in the fresh shavings, kicking them all over the floor ( and himself )...

we have learned long ago to just let him have his fun til he chills out and THEN we can sweep up after him...little rat!!!

...our awesome little backyard skating rink mike made this winter has been used plenty, and the kids ( ALL 3 OF THEM ) have taken a loving to mini hockey games in our own backyard!

...even WITH all the ups and downs...

hahahaha!

...a while ago, my mom called us up and invited us to come over for a nice dinner, which turned into a fun family game night with Payday and Poker, and lots of laughs...

MOM....it was JUST what i needed at the time! Thanks for ALWAYS knowing just the perfect solution to make things better...i love you!!!

...and around the same time, courtney and i were invited for a potluck lunch and tobogganing after a dance workshop...

it was, once again, just what us dance moms and the girls needed...

what a fun, happy afternoon!!

thank you susan for pulling it all together and sharing your home for lunch!

...on feb. 12 i had a very special and important lunch date!

my friend syrella and i go waaaayyyyy back and hadn't spoken in 11.5 years!

we had been emailing off and on since last spring, but the time had come to get together and see each other and get everything out and most willingly move forward with our friendship!

i know that this will be one of our best decisions.

after seeing her, i felt like no time had passed between us and immediately felt our connection in our friendship spark again and i'm sure in no time, we will again feel like the sisters we felt like back then!

our regret is the time passed that we've missed in each others childrens lives, but that too will only pick up now and move ahead!

syrella, i am so happy that your friendship is back in my life!!!

..that whole entire day was an overwhelming dose of warm happiness as earlier that morning, tyler had a big bowling tournament!

in YBC, the 4 Steps to Stardom is their "big one" of the year...the bowlers who win advance from the first Zones competiton to Provincials...and the winners from Provincials advance to Nationals, which is also the finals.

Well, our boy qualified to bowl on the "combo team" of 1 bantam, 1 junior and 1 senior bowler and at the Zones tournament that morning, THEY WON!!!!

it was sooooo very exciting!! The combo team is based on a "pins over average" outcome and tyler's team lead with +575 POA and +277 of that being on his own!!

Just awesome!!!

so tyler bowls this saturday afternoon ( march 5 ) in the Provincial tournament at St.James Lanes!!!

( wish him luck! )

( tyler wish his team & coach & first bowling medal - gold )

...and as if that weekend wasn't excitement enough...

last weekend ( feb 19 ) courtney competed at the Winnipeg Scottish Festival at the Convention Centre.

This was her first Championships of the year and she danced very, very well...

she won 2nd Runner-Up!! ( 3rd overall in class of 14 )

Soooo proud of her too!!!

this competiton was not only a tough one physically, but emotionally as well.

i am so proud of all Lynn's dancers for handling their emotions in such a mature way and getting their "jobs done"...for those of them who did come home with any medals that day, you still came home with the satisfaction of working your hardest, trying your best and knowing that Lynn is so very proud, no matter the outcome!!!

(photo is of Lynn's Premier dancers and 3 assistant teachers! )

Congratulations to courtney's dance friend kelsey who won the overall championships in courtney's class, and also a huge congrats to alex who won 4th Runner-Up in her own class of 13/14 year olds. you ALL make us so proud of you!!

...which has now brought me to share some very sad news in our dance world with you.

most of my family and close friends know that Lynn has been a part of my life since i was 8 years old, beginning my own stories of Highland Dance with her as my teacher.

Although after having knee surgery when i was 12 1/2 and having to give up my dancing, it was forever in my heart and carried along to my adulthood.

When Courtney was almost 4 years old and the right age to start Highland, there was no question of who will be her teacher and confirmed by Lynn herself after my phone call to " don't you take her to anybody else...you bring her to me, i would love to teach her!"

Lynn and our love of highland dance has impacted our lives in so many ways and has ultimately been the decision maker in our plans and routines for the last 8 1/2 years that courtney has been dancing!!

so we have come to a huge turning point in our little highland world where after almost a year of apparent illness of Lynn, we have recently been informed that she has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and her time left with us is very, very short.

( we were told 3 weeks and 1 day ago, maybe 2 weeks left! )

Lynn has always been strong hearted, courageous and has the will like no one i have ever met.

she chose to keep this illness to herself and not seek any medical attention until just over a month ago when she was struggling terribly to carry on without any medical help.

having chosen to never marry or have children of her own, Lynn dedicated her entire life and meaning to her teaching of dance and sharing with it a love with her girls that truly is a gift for each and every one of them that have been blessed to be her student.

I won't share much more for now than our time left with her is limited and will certainly keep my family and friends updated.

i have many people accross the globe in my highland world who keep up to date with us through my blog, and as this is such a huge happening for us, i know you all understand.

we feel like we are losing a family member whom we love dearly.

...be back soon...

( Lynn in Scotland 2008 )

( Lynn and Courtney, wpg. airport, ready to go to Scotland, 2008 )

x0x0

FEb.26....

2011-02-27T18:15:00.001-08:00

...(as in yesterday )

was TYLER'S 9th birthday!!!

he was having a visit this weekend, but being his birthday, we had some time for a little celebration (until monday nights family party...)

so....

we picked Ty up from bowling and took him to Montana's for a bday lunch ( and I haven't been to Montana's since I quit in may 2008....WOW! )

...one chocolate milk, cheese pizza with apple slices and cookie birthday dessert later, we were on to some presents...

...one of which included pre-purchased tickets to the Justin Bieber 3D movie following our lunch!

( TYLER WAS SOOOO SURPRISED AND EXCITED TO GO!!! - he's been asking for weeks )

( at the theatre...in our dorky 3D glasses...hahaha )

...The Biebs, he's a little bit o' alright....
nice kid. we all admittedly enjoyed the kids' big movie!!!
( my foot was tapping along to his songs..hahahaha...and tyler was comparing his own wardrobe to JB's and talking about getting a purple ball cap now...LOL )

( and of course, thinks since he plays piano too....someday...???? LOL....oh well, like the Biebs says...Never Say Never....)

:D

...AND...

yesterday was also our perfectly sweet and adorable little bunny's 1st birthday as well...

courtney and i baked up these cute lil' cupcakes special for Tyler ( with Oliver in mind since he can't eat one ) and he loved them!!! - the bottoms of the liners have a bunny on them...

...so it was a good day, aside from all of us still being sick and sniffling and coughing...we were glad to come home and get into some jammies and have a lazy night at home...

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TYLER AND OLIVER!!!!

X0X0X0

...be back soon...

still have lots to share...

Wishing you....

2011-02-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

...a very Happy Valentine's Day!!!

( cupcakes I made for Tyler's classroom party today )

...I have much to share so I will be back soon, but didn't want today to go by without sending some happy luv luv wishes!!!

x0x0x0

...scrappy stuff...

2011-01-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

...as promised, here's a photo full post of scrapbooking stuff!!!

...last night's layouts from Monday Night Sketches, all inspired by the awesome talent of

Sasha over at "A soldier girls thoughts"

http://www.sassysasha.typepad.com/

She is bold, she is a fighter and she is insanely talented!!! Have a peek at her blog!

These layouts are my own spin on a few of hers that I loved!!

Now.

I have had several emails and requests to "explain Project 365".

I could go on forever about it but to keep this as simple as possible, this project is a daily PHOTO and JOURNALED documentation of the goings on in our family's daily lives...

FOR ONE FULL YEAR!!!!!

this idea's original inspiration came from Ali Edwards

www.aliedwards.com

( click on 365: Project Life )

...and I tried back last May with creating a Week in our Life mini album project and had SO MUCH fun documenting and creating the album after the week was up....it was a challenge, but a YEAR is more like a good scrapbooking BATTLE !!! hahahahaha...but a fun one!

I have an ongoing "Project 365 Club that I try to host a monthly potluck get-together at my house on a friday night from 6pm - midnite-ish, where we all work on and share ideas and struggles and new finds on our albums!

some of us are documenting daily, and a few are documenting weekly to ease the stress of keeping up!!! but bottom line, the finished project after one year will be so much fun to reflect back on and see how busy our lives are and how fulfilled we are keeping them!!!

if you are interested in coming for an information night, or starting this project yourself with our group please email me at thegriffs@mts.net and I would love to reel you in...i mean FILL you in!!! HAHAHAHA!!!

Basically, you will need a couple of albums to start yourself off...

...and JOURNALING is the key to keeping your project organised because when it comes to putting your photos into the album, you will need to look back at your 'notes' you've taken to update the journaling in your project album!

( i picked up a few of these lined hardcover cuties from Dollarama...)

...because I am documenting DAILY and tend to add lots of embellishments, it looks like I will be adding a fourth album to my "year" project yet...I can only get 3 months in one album!

( but to each their own on how you choose to document! )

I have started my third album with January.

When should you start? You don't need to wait til Jan. 1, a new year....ANY day is a GREAT day to start...mine started June 30, kicking it off with our summer!!!

...so here's a bunch of shots traveling through my albums throughout the last 6 months...

(no way could i post a photo of every day!! hahahahaha!!!! )

...i have several 8.5 x 11 pages that I added to the albums for something fun and different...some have 8 x 10 photos blown up like this one, and some are trading card collecting pages that I can make mini prints on...

...add special cards to your album...

...keep receipts here and there and add them to your story...

( shopping bills, utility bills, ticket stubs from movies / plays, kids artwork, ANYTHING goes!! )

...my albums are full of all sizes of mini pages...they just add some character and i love how they look in it!!

...yep, try your journaling on fast food bags, cut out pieces from boxes of fav. foods ( above is an added page on the back of a Rice-A-Roni box - the kids LOVE it! )

...find something you like on the internet? print it off and add it...

( this also includes important happenings in the news...my friend Tara has even laminated events out of the newspapers!!! you can also find things SO EASY by Googling!

...I try to keep up my photo updating once a week, usually on mondays i sit and plan my last week's pages...this includes selecting what photos I am going to use, what size the photos will be, and then upload them to Costco and send them in online....but you will find a system that works best for you!

...I 'sticky note' my pages with what photo is going to go where, which pocket the journaling will be going in, etc.....and the mini prints I am lucky to be able to do them myself at home on my Canon Selphy photo printer....OR on occasion I still take my memory card into Superstore or Walmart and use the Kodak Photo Printer Kiosk and make my mini prints there at a very affordable price!!! ( .19 / 4 x 6 sheet )

...so this is what my pre-planned pages look like as I get them ready for photo updating and journaling....then the idea is to do a week at a time...

DO NOT get too stressed out if you fall behind....as long as you are keeping up with your photo taking and journaling, the rest will catch up with time.

I have had many challenges with TIME to work on it, especially over the Christmas holidays with all the holiday preparations and having the kids home for winter break to keep busy, but I am getting back on track and as I said, the photos and journaling are done, it's just to keep up the scrapbooking part of it now and catch up!!!

THE NEXT PROJECT 365 POTLUCK CROP AT MY HOUSE IS FRIDAY

JANUARY 21 AT 6PM ( TIL MIDNITE-ISH!!! )

Please email to register as I only have room for 7!!!!

thegriffs@mts.net

Today....

2011-01-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

...I GAVE A BUNNY A BATH...

( and yes, he was about as thrilled as he looks! )

...but he was in need of a good rub down to finish off his "molting" season...

( and I assure you that he is quite happy in his freshly cleaned cage full of new treats and toys we picked up for him today at Petland! )

...tyler returned to his YBC bowling this morning...
Avg. is 83 and today he bowled 111, 133, & 129!!!!
Way to go Buddy!

( here's one of his STRIKES in motion! )

...after bowling, tyler and i went for a visit to Petland on Pembina to visit the bunnies and find Oliver some new goodies.

(funny how we now walk right past the puppies and go to the bunny bins...)

and we stopped a bunch of Dwarf Hamster fights while visiting too!

...then we went to pick up courtney from her "back to dance" workshop with her pals,

Alex, Kailey and Kelsey!

( she's tired and sore tonight1! )

...the girls are now into their Championships competition season coming up and have longer steps to dance at competitions...so i bet they will all be sleeping well tonight after today's workout!!!

...Mike and I have been enjoying our evening episodes of Big Bang Theory on a regular basis again...and thank goodness for PVR when needed!!!

Are you a BBT fan too??? ( if so, who's your favorite nerd? )

...thursday was BACK TO SCHOOL...

despite all the moaning and groaning and complaining the night before school, the kids were happy to see their friends again and were thankful for a short week back!!

tyler also went back to his piano lessons thursday night too...

...the young lady ( 8 years old ) who comes in for her lesson after tyler's, came and sat down beside me while waiting for her turn...i was asking her how her holidays were and what her favorite gift was etc...and while we were chatting, she proceeded to take off a rubber " Silly Bandz" bracelet and put it on her lap. After a while she told me,

"I am giving this one to Tyler" and gave me the biggest smile!!

GAH!!!!

...and so it begins...

8 years old? really?

hahahaha!!!!

so cute!

(my little handsome devil...

...we also got a New Year's letter and village children photo of our sponsor child, IVY, from World Vision ( Kenya ). I love to see all her precious little artwork and imagine her working carefully and proudly on her paper as she knows it's a special letter going to her sponsor family in Canada...

Ivy is the same age as Tyler...2 weeks apart...

I have been sponsoring with World Vision now for 8 years ( next month ) and LOVE IT!

$35 a month to make one child healthy, happy and hopeful...

and the rewards of giving mulitply tenfold in your heart!!

...I took courtney and tyler to see a movie on tuesday night at St. Vital...

something fun to do to wrap up our winter holidays!

...if you haven't seen Disney's TANGLED, I highly, highly recommend it!

it is definitely one of my all time favorit Disney movies!!!

Luv It!!!!

( of course I had my camera with me, what else did you expect? LOL )

i hope you are all having a most relaxing weekend and have all survived your

"back to"

schedules this week with a smile!!

...think I will be posting something scrappy next time too????

the CATCH UP...

2011-01-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

...got tea???

i am basically gonna give your our holiday update...otherwise you will be sitting here with me for a couple hours if i go back to my last posted date!! hahaha!

...i do, however, have to share some photos from Courtney's Santa's Showcase, hosted by her highland dance teacher, Lynn, every year...or else Courtney's dancing friends ( and their moms ) will never forgive me!! LOL!

Dec. 5

(and for all the dances, Courtney is always on the far left end )

...the girls were excited to get new custom fit costumes this year for this new dance...

...and also the first year to be dancing choreography along with the senior dancers too!

...and of course the finale includes a visit from Santa with all the dancers!

( sarah, alex, kailey and courtney - kelsey was already off to a swim meet!! )

...lynn and courtney...

...back at home, i wanted to snap a few photos in her new dress, she looked like a little bridesmaid!

...the showcase is always very enjoyable, once the stressload is over in preparation!!!

...and guess who got a new car on dec 6??? a very lucky and spoiled ME!!!

2009 Ford Escape...isn't he handsome???

...and here's this years' gingerbread houses...

( C on L, T on R )

...Dec 12 brought us to Tyler's first bowling tournament -

Master Bantam Junior.

He bowled at Billy Mosienko lanes at 9am and there was a second shift and noon and the last shift at 3pm...results were posted on the website around 8pm...

Tyler's team finished EIGHTH out of 42 teams! WOW!

AND....of 42 bowlers, Tyler finished 5th overall in the Bantam division!

AND....(yes, there's more ) of the 42 teams entered, there were 5 teams out of Tyler's house lanes ( Dakota ) and his team finished first from the house, and he finished FIRST of the 5 house Bantams too!!! Neeless to say, he went to bed feeling quite proud of himself that night and had a good sleep on Cloud Nine!!!

...the night before, Courtney slept over at her BFF's house to go snomobiling with her family the next day in Portage la Prairie...she had FUN FUN time!!

...and I spent the afternoon working on my December Daily and watching / listening to my favorite Christmas movie...The Grinch who stole Christmas....with Jim Carey!!

Too funny!!

...last week of school before holidays...

i helped tyler make two of these adorable little christmas trees out of clay pots for his school teacher and also for his piano teacher...they loved them!!

...it was hard to find time to work on my December Daily with all other holiday chaos going on, but i did work on it here and there, but am now behind since dec 15...but soon enough it will be completed!!! did you make one this year???

( i will post more pictures of this project another day for you )

...dec 17 - tyler's most enjoyable Chirstmas piano recital..on his teacher's new grand piano...

...and oliver having a little rest while out on one of his daily adventures!

( luv this bunny )

...dec 18...

tyler's YBC bowling christmas party...

...and bingo bowling...fun day!

...and later that night to Papa Griffins for a Griffin family get together...

...and on to Christmas eve....

...while I was finishing wrapping our gifts up ( late, i know ),

Oliver was hopping all over them scouting out something for him!!!

...and Mike took the kids outside for some hockey scrimmages on our first backyard rink he made himself!!! They had a blast!

...snacks for Santa...

...CHRISTMAS MORNING...

(the kids sporting their new, annual christmas eve jammies from grandma...)

...the living room ready for action...

looks like Santa came afterall!!!!

..and the kids were so excited to see that even Oliver got a stocking filled by Santa too!!!

...i will just let you scroll through the next photos of some of the kids' gift opening...

( a new medal board from daddy! )

...the kids were SOOOOO excited to get new desks for their rooms!!!

( poor mike, two more things he has to build now...)

..after our gift opening, we tidied up, showered ( except the kids wanted to go to Grandma's in their pj's) and then we went for a quick gift exchange at my moms before rushing back home to finish my cooking preparations / cleaning up for dinner...)

.. my brother Curt and his fiance Erith came for a morning visit too since they weren't going to be with us for dinner this year....and Curt brought HOLLY along for laughs too!

...Mom had checked Grandma and Grandpa out of The Maples for a few days over Chirstmas so they could be with the family and enjoy with us...SOOOOOOOOO happy to see them at Mom's in their pj's Christmas morning!!! So special!

...after a couple hectic hours, we were packed up and zipping back home to finish getting ready for our afternoon / evening entertaining...

here's our Christmas dinner spread....

YUMMY - i know in a couple months i will look back at this and wish for it all over again!

...i challenged myself to make some special cupcakes to add to our dessert tray this year, thanks to Tara's cake decorating motivation!!! I loved making them, but I ain't no cake boss...hahaha!

...dinner time...

airiel and BF skyler

mike and liz

mom and grandma

darren and airiel

mike and ken

...and one of my favorite things about the Chrismas holidays is having some delicious egg nog!!

Mmmmmmm!

...Boxing Day...

Courtney had received some surprise mail for Christmas enclosing two tickets for me to take her to the Concert Hall to see our first ballet...The Nutcracker.

Once all the seating complications were sorted out ( stressful!!! ) we were able to sit and enjoy the show together and discuss the show as it went along!

The lead dancers were exceptional and it was fun to see "ballet" live, in person and appreciate a different style of dance together! We would definitely go again!!

...then we were off to my moms for our annual boxing day party!

we are always visited by Santa ( wink ) and play all kinds of games, and enjoy a potluck dinner and drinks!!

...a whole lot of chillaxin' between then and New Years...YES!!!!!!

New Years Eve...

we had a handful of good friends come over, all my family ditched us this year ( hahaaha ) so it was a small , quiet night in...but most enjoyable!!!!!

...I have so much to be thankful for not only at New Years, but every day of my life.

It's just the end of a year and the prospects of a fresh new year often leave me thoughtful in reflection.

I try to focus on the good things that happened, and leave the bad behind.

I have an awesome, loving family.

I am married to the most amazing, supportive and understanding husband.

I have two amazing, talented, beautiful and smart kids.

And I feel so unconditionally loved and blessed at the end of every night.

I may not have a big fancy house. I may not have the finer things in life. I may not have the wealth and ability to show the world to my children throughout the year.

But I am content and happy with who I am and my place in this world.

...and I hope at the end of your own reflection you will raise a glass and toast to LIFE with me!

Cheers to your and yours and many happy blessings and lots of smiles in 2011!!!!

x0x0x0

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

...i see i have a MAJOR catch up to do on my blog...

but for right now, all i am squeezing in is wishing

EVERYONE

a very Merry Chirstmas and hoping you all had a warm and wonderful holiday!!

we have been super busy with festive celebrating and visiting and

the usual over eating of all the delicious holiday food and treats...(giggle) and hope you have been enjoying the same yourselves too!

Be back soon with a catch up post!!!!

x0x0

2010-11-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

just to update those of you who were asking how tyler did today...

he bowled his FIVE games this morning, and bowled all FIVE of his games over his average,

but did not qualify to bowl in the top four spots as a Singles Rep this year in the bowling tournament. BUT he will be able to bowl on the TEAM!

He tried his best and did great considering he's only been bowling for 2 months, and missed a spot by only 90 pins after five games!

He didn't seem too disappointed knowing that he can now bowl on the team still!

the qualifying boys were 8 - 11 years and most have been bowling for a few years already...

so GOOD JOB TYLER, we are proud of you for trying anyway!!!

x0x0

happy saturday!!!

2010-11-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

...not much going on the rest of today...

courtney had her saturday dance workshop this morning, so after i dropped her off, i went to the bowling alley to watch tyler finish up his last 2 games...he bowled great again today..all 3 games over his average AND he was very excited to show me his new badges he earned over the last couple weeks...

*100 - single

*125 - single

*I Beat My Average

*Bowler of the Month for Oct. 10

WAY TO GO lil' man!!! so happy for you!

...tomorrow morning he is bowling in his first "Bowl Off" to qualify as a Single Rep for the upcoming Four Steps to Stardom tournament ( it's the biggie for YBC - youth bowling council ) anyway...there are 5 boys trying out and only 4 spots available...being his first year of bowling, and really only 2 months of experience, we are looking at his trying out as fun exposure to a little competition and some more experience ( he has to bowl 5 games, as opposed to his usual 3 game saturdays! ) ...the spots are awarded to highest "pins over average" at the end of the bowl off....so it's anybody's day in the end!!

GO FOR IT TYLER!!!!

( i'll let you know how he makes out tomorow...)

AND on another bowling note for tyler...we were told he has qualified in the top 12 spots to bowl in another tournament in December...it's called the Master Bantam Junior tournament, and he is soooooo stoked about it!!

WHEW...so that's the bowling update!

courtney.

yep, these are her LEGS at dance lessons this morning....

that kid grows out of pants like nobody's business, believe you me! she was officially

"taller than Mom" last december and has not stopped....pants bought in sept. are now too short.

Holy. Growing. Beanstalk. Batman.

..( and THIS is just something that makes me happy...Peach Passion from Timmies....)

...heeheehee, had to show you this one from the other day. I was visited on my desk while blogging by Oliver, and he sprawled out right over the mouse pad and stared me down...
"play with me, woman."
so i gave him a mohawk.
~giggle~

...and this is the newest photo shoot of the kids...
we spent the whole day on Rembembrance Day at mike's parents in woodmore...
Gramma Liz was a great sport and came along with the kids and I while driving around neighboring farms to find good places for pics..
it was very windy and cold out and everyone was very cooperative about "jackets on, jackets off" for the pictures!
...i took 91 pics that afternoon, so here's just a FEW of my favs!!

...while warming up and waiting to eat dinner, tyler found a spot in the middle of the living room to pop a squat and finish reading the newest "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book....done in a day!

...thanks for a fun, relaxing day Gramma Liz...and a yummy dinner too!!!

x0x0

...and THIS was the lovely sunset right outside their door at the end of the day....

sigh.

see ya tomorrow!!!

a few things...

2010-11-10T11:11:00.000-08:00

...tyler was barely even awake and came down to the living room at 7:46am this morning to continue pracising a new song on the piano....

last winter i self taught myself bits of "where are you chirstmas" by faith hill ( also from the movie " The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey ) and tyler has picked up on the notes and has been trying to figure it out on his own! WOW. I am so impressed.

But i couldn't let him struggle over his frustration for long and showed him both hands and he has been working non stop on perfecting it for the last two days!!

I love this boy's determination!

SO.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

it feels totally weird without any snow yet, but for me, that's a GOOD thing!

but, nonetheless, our most favorite holiday is just around the corner and i dug out my annual Christmas Planner to refill with this years pages and start organizing myself for the holidays!!

I first taught this adorable little REUSABLE project in 2008 and have since had lots of new scrappers join our circle of classes, so I have photographed my planner and am asking for any interest in offering this class once again ( you organized planner type folks will LOVE this one! )

So...have a scroll down and peek at the planner and then please let me know by leaving a comment in this post or by emailing me ( thegriffs@mts.net ) if you might be interested in this class project! If i get enough response, i will most definitely teach it again very soon!

CHRISTMAS PLANNER CLASS PROJECT

December calendar pocket...

speical events list...
christmas cards lists and stamp pocket...

budget plan pocket...

wish lists....

gift lists...

receipts pocket...

cooking / menu planning...

recipes pocket...

shopping lists...

extra notes....

so fun. so cute. wanna make one??

;o)

I also wanted to share another home made soup recipe with you!

if you love Zoupa Toscana soup at the Olive Garden, this one's for you!

TUSCAN POTATO SOUP

Ingredients:

1lb. ground italian sausage

2tsp crushed red peppers

1 Cup diced onion

6 strips bacon pieces OR i used an 85g bag of precooked bacon pieces

3 tsp garlic puree

11Cups water

5 cubes chicken bouillon

1lb. russet potatoes (i used 5 cups sliced white baby potatoes)

1 Cup heavy cream

1/2 bunch fresh kale

...saute bacon, onion and garlic pureee until cooked, set aside in a bowl.

...bring water to a boil, add chicken bouillon.

...while bringing water to a boil, saute italian sausage and crushed red peppers in the same pan used for the bacon,onion and garlic puree. once water is boiling add bacon & onion mix.

...i found the ground sausage to be very lean and sticking to my pan so i added 1tsp of olive oil.
i also added a shake of red garlic sansel ( Epicure ) instead of a pinch of salt for more flavor!

while italian sausage is cooking, slice your potatoes.

...add potatoes to soup and cook until soft on medium heat. Covered.

(about 25 mins )

Add heavy cream and cooked italian sausage.

( i also added a handful of fresh dill, because that's the way i roll....)

...cover and let simmer together for about 20mins. add kale just before serving.

...i also made a quick and yummy little bread treat to have with our soup...

you will need:

1 baguette

olive oil

herb and garlic seasoning

grated dill havari cheese

..slice baguette into 1/2 inch pieces, baste with olive oil, shake with Epicure herb and garlic seasoning ( Mrs. Dash or any other favorite seasoning is perfect! ) then top with grated cheese. broil on high for 2 minutes. ( don't go far while broiling to keep watch! )

...serve hot out of the oven with a bowl of your freshly made soup!!!

ENJOY!

( and once again, and modifications you try to this recipe are welcome to share in my comments! )

Hmmmm.....

yesterday was tyler's school Remembrance Day Ceremony assembly.

I have not been at a school R.D assebly since I was a kid, and it was a huge difference attending one now as a parent. It was quite emotional.

Espeicially when that trumpet blares and then the moment of silence.

And the difference between THEN and NOW is....I get it now.

I menitoned this on my facebook status as well, but I truly hope that our kids take with them from these ceremonies the importance of appreciation and gratitude to our past and present soldiers. War is not just a part of our history, it is our RIGHT NOW too. so many of us take forgranted of the peace we have in our homes every day ( myself included, I won't deny it ) and forget that there is indeed still war happening and that so many brave men and women are still dying. I want my kids to respect and appreciate what a soldier represents. And at their age, while still in school, they are so young to fully understand it all.

I am so grateful that I attended my son's assembly yesterday to remind me of the sacrifice's made for us all and to reinstate my appreciation for all that I have been given.

THANK YOU VETERANS for your patriotic visit!!

...I hope you all take a moment to share some Remembering with your kids tomorrow...

it's good for the soul.

...an oliver update...

2010-11-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

...so THANK YOU to so many of my friends who have been either calling or emailing me today

sending warm thoughts for Oliver!! you guys are the best!!

he had is neurtering surgery yesterday at the loving caring hands of Dr. Sheri Gould at Best Friends Animal Hospital and is doing very well. ( for a bunny! )

he spent the day there yesterday and Courtney and I couldn't wait to go pick him up last night after her dance lesson...

"HI EVERYONE! THANKS FOR THE BUNNY LOVE"

x0z0

...this was our SUNRISE yesterday morning...beautiful!!

( and trust me, i am NOT a sunrise kinda gal...)

heeheehee...

...i felt so bad leaving him there in this jail - like little cage...sorry buddy!!!

( he looks so sad...)

...but we got a call from the vet in the afternoon saying Oliver was awake and doing well...his surgery went fine with no problems at al...we were a little worried with some of the sad stories of loss of bunnies under gas anaesthesia.

courtney and i were quite anxious to go get him after dance and bring him home!

...awwwww...cuddles for Ollie....

...heehee...he's still a little groggy in these pics...

...and these are his FUN oral pain meds til friday night that we have to give him!

believe you me, this was not a fun first attempt last night, but i seem to have it to a science now!

hahaha!

...so, bunny is doing great...started eating again today and all his other 'functions' are in working order back to normal again too! I'm just happy it's over and now he can have his 10 days to mend and get spoiled rotten with attention...not that he wasn't already!!

And here are the pics of the layouts from mondays class...

Monday Night Sketches...

Mexico.

Fresh flowers make me smile.

Engaged.

( this is my brother Curtis and his fiance Erith...i did an engagement photo shoot for them in May and used one of my fav pics of the day! )

...well hello!

2010-11-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

OK.

a little confession here.

i am having edward withdrawl...c'mon breaking dawn producers!

~sigh~

...and in the REAL world...

tyler finally got his hair cut...

although we loved his Bieber / skater doo, it was time for a cut...

BEFORE:

AFTER:
( both photos coincidentally taken in the bowling alley - HA! )

...Halloween...

here's our traditional slew of 'gettin' ready' pics...

-courtney helping with the gutting...EWWWWW...

me caught in carving action...

tyler decided he wanted to try carving his own pumpkin this year...

...so with very little assistance, here's his finished product!

( maybe he should be a surgeon........??? )

...having a little pizza bun snack before going out...

6:04pm...the Malinowski's arrive and get their annual photo taken and off they went

with the Dad's!!!

our punkin's...

...courtney and tyler...done for another year...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

...the candy haul...

...Hmmmmm....

other news...

tyler's piano teacher invested in a grand piano!! so tyler is one very lucky student to have his teacher share her new toy with her students...it sounds lovely!!!

( playing a duet )

...Oliver tuned 8 months old already on Oct. 26...

( yep, we luv this bunny! )

and that's your quick little update...

if you are interested, i recently tried a new soup recipe and took pictures as i went along making it...so here's a DELICIOUS recipe for:

FARMER SAUSAGE BORSCHT!!!

Ingredients:

*Farmer Sausage - Pioneer brand was recommended, one large coil / or two lengths

*one cup chopped onion

*4 cups sliced carrots

*5 cups chopped cabbage

*fresh dill, as much as you'd like

*2 TBsp parsley flakes

*salt to taste ( I USED EPICURE'S RED GARLIC SANSEL INSTEAD )

*one large can tomato juice

*1 cup heavy cream ( I added a bit more )

*cut farmer sausage into small pieces

*boil farmer sausage in 6 cups of water

*once cooked ( about 30 mins on medium heat, covered ) add chopped onion, sliced carrots and chopped cabbage

*cook until tender ( about 45 mins )

*add seasonings, fresh dill and tomato juice

* simmer soup for about 30 mins

*add cream just before serving and heat for about 10 mins then serve and enjoy with fresh buns!!!!!!!

if you try this recipe, i'd love to hear how you enjoyed it ( or any modifications you add yourself! )

ENJOY!!!

...a few things to share...

2010-10-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

...first of all, i am feeling much better today. i had a good restful weekend, didn't get dressed AT ALL. yep. a total jammie weekend and it helped!

sooooo....the other day i showed you THIS photo...

a start to a project i was starting for Oliver!

i used just a few basic file folders and some 12 x 12 patterned papers and a few embellishments here and there and created a Pet File Folder for all his info...

i took him for his first Vet visit this morning!

Dr. Sheri Gould from Best Friends Animal Hospital gave him his first 'check up' and he was sooooo good! perfectly heathly and happy little bunny!

...got his nails trimmed, filed, and made his appointment for next week for

his neutering...poor lil' guy!!!

anyway, i wanted to share the finished project i made for Oliver this weekend!

this will hold all his information we collect...

...a little photo story of how we came to adopt Oliver from Petland, and how we chose his name...

...adoption papers and first "bunny bill"..

...photo album...

( and the fact that this album is on binder rings leaves it open to add more pages in the future )

...grooming appointment book and photos...

...and all the fresh foods Ollie loves...

...vet appointments /business cards...

...Best Friends Animal Hospital info...

...hahaha...vet bill pocket ( hopefully this doesn't get too full... )

and "bunny 911" clinic emergency procedures...

...back cover...for now, i can always add on!!!

...are you inspired to make one for your own pet now???

( giggle )

....AND....

congratulations to Denys who won season 3 SYTYCD Canada last night!!!

( dang, i love this show....every season...my little addiction...)

and here's something totally random...

courtney has been wanting to try a fresh pomegranite now for months...

the thing is, which i didn't know until yesterday, that pomegranites are a fall fruit.

so we bought one to try.

and after an instructional Youtube video on how to cut the darn thing...here's my own

version of how to cut a pomegrantie...hahaha....it's really quite a procedure...

*****pomegranite juice will stain ANYTHING and EVERYTHING it touches****

1) if you have a wooden cutting board, cover with paper towel so you don't stain it. i have clear galss cutting boards, so no troubles there.

- slice the top and bottom off ( like you would a tomato )

2) make several from outside the fruit towards the seeds. you will feel the knife cut through the tough skin in to the soft middle

3) ( this is a tip from the video to reduce chance of staining from juice )

fill a bowl with water, hold pomegranite under water and pull apart seeds from the skin. the seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl.

4) use a strainer of some kind to scoop out only the seeds from the bowl.

discard the skin and peel.

...you are now ready to enjoy a little bowl of delicious ( and full of probiotics ) pomegranite seeds!!! YUMMY!!!

* a little work, but so worth it in the end...

so, now you know how to do it yourself!

you can also garnish your fall meals and salads with some seeds too!

...sick...

2010-10-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

...gee whiz...sick again.

some kind of throat / ear infection.

so i have no voice, nuthin' but squeaking...and not feeling too hot at all.

so. this calls for a JAMMIE DAY!!

( thank you to my sweet, sweet DH for taking courtney to her dance workshop this morning so i could get some bed rest after a sucky week...x0)

i have the mental wellness to desire a little bit of scrappy play while i can...

so i wanted to share something new and exciting!

This will appeal in particular with my friends who are also taking part in the

"YEAR in our Life" project.

just LOOK at these adorable Prima Marketing journaling note cards!

So Cute...

Road Trip...

Paisley Road...

...they are PERFECT for your 4 x 6 page pockets!!

The cute box they come in holds 30 notecards, 5 designs of each style.

I. AM . IN. LOVE!!!!

I had 9 boxes and have sold out...but am definitely ordering more in for the shop.

anyone interested? ( $5.99 / box )

...and here's another little scrappy thing I will quickly share with you...

of course, it is something in the making right now and is inspired by Ali Edwards...

this is going to be a "Pet File" for our bunny Oliver, full of vet info, appointments, photos, his likes and dislikes for food, his happy little quirks and why he stomps his back foot when he's upset...

all kinds of Ollie stuff!!!

can't wait to finish it!

yep...our little bunny is sure loved!!!

...oh, and courtney and i picked out our Halloween pumpkins yesterday...

...hope you're all feeling better than i am today and having a lovely little weekend!!

...got tea?

2010-10-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

...oh ya, this is gonna be a bit...

hahaha...got a whole month to fill you in on!

***just want to mention first, that i now have a fresh new batch of

ADORABLE gift certificates available in any amount for my shop!

CHRISTMAS is coming.....

...oct 2 we took a couple of courtney's friends from dance to Amaze In Corn for a belated bday visit!!!
...the weather was just beautiful and allowed for some fun photo opps of the girls...

Miss Alex...

...Miss Kailey...

...on our way to climb the hay stack...

(please don't break anything....and don't tell Lynn i encouraged this!! )

;) hahaha....

...in the corn maze...

...goin' on a hay ride...

...pickin' out some mini pumkins...

...back home ( and after picking up Rosi ) we had pizza, salad and breadsticks... and the girls iced their own cupcakes...

...then chill time downstairs playing Wii and watching movies...

...Hmmmm let's see...

yes. i was very sad to see Mackenzie eliminated last week off So You Think You Can Dance...

Top 4 remaining are all great, but I am voting for Denys.

( and yes, this show has been my obsession for years now...it's about the only tv i watch, aside from Grey's....)

...our little furball Oliver is doing great...sweet and cuddly as always......i think i work almost daily on my YEAR in our life project...between photos and journaling, it is a huge project to upkeep....BUT I LOVE IT!!!

....KELSEY!!!!!

i took this photo for you after Courtney had a little shopping spree at Claire's using your birthday gift card!! She went on a good day and got lots of great sale items to make the most of her card!

...and lots of new PIERCED earrings...

Thankyou!!!!

...and look who's on the girls Grade 7 Volleyball team at school!!!

Go Viperssssssssssss!!!!

( Go #35!! )
i am excited to watch her try something new!

...and tyler was excited to earn his first YBC bowling badges!!

( here we go with the sewing.....hahahaha )

Thanksgiving...

this year, our families decided to just lay low and do our own things for dinner.

life has been so busy lately and nobody was prepared to make a big meal for everyone i guess!

so mike, the kids and i just had our own little dinner at home!

...my mom had my sweet grandparents at her house for a little sleepover/thanksgiving visit!

so we went for a visit and to do a little photo shoot with them!!

( there are soooo many, so i am only posting our family )

...oct 13 brought courtney's very first volleyball games!! she played 3 different schools, won a couple and lost a couple...it was a whole new world for us!!

...first timeout huddle...

...heehee...courtney's 'game point winning serve'!!!

...last week i decided to try and color my own hair. usually i go to my hairdresser for color and hilites, pay an arm and a leg, and it lasts just a few weeks.

i have not had the 2.5 hours to go sit and get my hair done ( nor could i digest $90 for my HAIR at this time either - courtney needs lots of highland costumes! )

...i decided to straighten it that day too...

ta-daaaa!!!

...oct 16...

WOW. busy. busy. day.

courtney had her first fall dance competition.

courtney, kailey & alex...

...heehee....poor tyler, it was such a LOOONG day!

...7 dances, 7 new medals, 3rd overall in her class!

...congratualions girls on all your hard work today!

( kelsey...where did you go?? )

...later that night it was an event LOOOONG in the making!!!

heeheehee....

my brother Curtis and fiance Erith's wedding social!

( they are getting married next July! )

FUn, Fun night!!

Congrats you two on a successful and fun social!!!

x0x0

...and the next morning was Oct 17...

my birthday!

here's my bday breakfast mike made me!!!

YUMMY!

...i had a totally lazy and relaxing day...

opened up and played with my new Canon Selphy photo printer...

DANG - do i LOOOOVOVVEEEE this new toy!!

Eeep!

...did a little photo shoot of myself...meh.

...and since mike was 'recovering' from last night's social, he did not make supper, as promised. so i had to run out and pick up pizza...not that the kids minded!! hahaha!!!

...and on my way home, LOOK at the beautiful sunset the Big Guy gave me on my birthday!! I went home to grab my camera and go back for some pics...of course! ( wink )

...this past monday was Monday Night Sketches at my house...

and my sweet lil' Brat made me a scratch chocolate cake!!

Sooooo delicious!!

( thank you again Tracy...and for all the thoughtful gifts - LUV 'em AND LUV you!!! )

...one of the layouts that night i had the girls painting with BUBBLE WRAP on their layouts!!!

...here's the layout i sketched...

and here's the other two...

YOU SHOULD COME OUT SOME TIME TO A MONDAY NIGHT SKETCHES CLASS AND GO HOME WITH 3 COMPLETED 12 X 12 LAYOUTS!!!

...tuesday night my mom came over to have some belated birthday cake...

she's so sweet!!

...and last night courtney had her second volleyball game at a visitor's school...

...nice save courtney!

...and well, i DID have a picture here of last night's rainbow after a little sunshower on our way home from volleyball, but accidentally deleted it..sorry!!!

WOW....that was some long post!!!

are you still awake?

giggle.....

...happy birthday...

2010-10-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

...to me.

yep. another year come and gone.

sigh.

i tried to catch up a blog post for you tonight, but the computer seems to only let me upload one photo and then quits...so this is all you're gonna get for today i guess!

hope you all had a nice relaxing sunday!!

...something HUGE to share in my scrappy world...

2010-10-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

BUT FIRST...

guess who got her ears pierced today after school???

( well, they were done before but had closed over )

GIGGLE...she was soooo excited to get 'em done, and not even an "ouch"!!!

...and here's my own bit of excitement...

Remember back in May when i shared my "WEEK IN OUR LIFE" project with you?

...i had documented on my blog daily through photography and journaling all our

daily routines and activities and then compiled it all into a totally cute album!!

WEEELLLL.....

I had been pondering the thought of "how fun would trying a YEAR project be?"

NOT blogging every day, but definitely taking pictures every day and compiling another album, all over a year period...and I've started it!!! I am soooo stoked about this project!

AND HERE'S THE THING:

i had originally planned to do this

"YEAR IN OUR LIFE" project as a class...I had been starting to purchase some

journaling cards to put away to include in the class, but as things started piling up, so did the cost of the project. And I wasn't even at the album part of it yet....

SOOO.....here's the deal.

I have taken lots of pictures of my own project so far to share with you AND to see if this is something any of you would be interested in attempting yourself!

if you are even SLIGHTLY interested, I will be offering a couple of

FREE INFORMATION evenings to get you the jist of the whole project!

At the 'meeting', i will have my project available for 'show and tell' and also several color copies of the journaling cards to purchase ( .55 each 8.5 x 11 sheet ) for you to make your own additional copies for your own album!!!

The first information night will be

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4 at 6:30pm....coffee and tea will be available.

And a second information night on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14 at 7pm

( both meetings offered will be at my house )

so, without further delay, here's a peek at some of my pages so far...

FUUUUNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

...these are some of the journaling card sheets that will be available to purchase for .55 / sheet at the meetings...

...doesn't this look like a ton of fun??

my excitement over this project has rubbed off my friend Tara, who has also started her own

"YEAR IN OUR LIFE" album in the middle of September, so there is no given date to start this project....mine started June 30.

So any time is a great time to start...Go for it!

If you are interested in attending either of the info nights, please email me at

thegriffs@mts.net for further information and to register!!! It's FREE!!!!

Hope this has gotten your creative juices going....

:O)

...Hmmmmm....

2010-09-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

...ever just have one of those days?

( playing with paper, glue and scissors today to pick me up! )

...Back to routine

2010-09-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

...T'was the night before school,

as Mom labeled shoes,

the summer has ended,

and I've got the blues....

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

i spent last night double checking school bags and shoes, etc for the kids

and felt more than a little sad that our summer is over and we are all gearing up for

Back to Routine!!!!

...tyler was spiffy and off to Grade 3 this morning...

...and courtney was stylin' and off to Grade 7 this afternoon....

...courtney and BFF rachel were happy to find out today that they were going to be in the same homeroom for another year together! Since Kindergarten, they were only seperated once in Grade 4!!!! what a happy relief for them!

...and other than back to school today, here's the last catch up posting from the rest of our summer!

of course, blogging is always a bit of a task to sit and find time to upload pics and type when there's kids anxious to "do something" nipping at your ankles, but I managed a few LONG summer posts this year!

...on one of our few day trips in the city from the lake, i took the kids to the movies to see Vampires Suck......not bad....but i think i laughed more at tyler killing himself laughing more!

....oliver's last nail trimming...this time she used a filing tool instead of clippers and i could not believe how calm she had him to lay back like this and just let her do her job...

if i ever try to lay him like this, he just squrims and jumps away....little rat.

Who's Bad?

Bunnybad.

heeheehee....

too cute to be bad!!!!

...for Sept long weekend, the four of us loaded up and went to Grand Forks for fri, sat and sun....

and Mike's parents were going to BUNNYSIT for us!!

so the day before we left, i packed up all these little snack bags ( aside from his daily pellet food )for oliver and orange slices and brussel sprouts....and of course his Cheerios!

( i felt like i was packing up a diaper bag again...)

...we had supper at my moms before we left...she wanted to make life a little easier to head out for us...and it was delicious!!!!

...thanks for the send off mom!!!!

x0x0x0x0x0

....then we were on our way to mike's parents to drop off oliver and have a sleep over before heading for grand forks in the morning...

....FINALLY arrived at the hotel around noon, met up with nikki, john and taylor and we went to grab a bite for lunch and then were on our way to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP!!!!

( matching Tee's )

...ohhhhh Bath and Body Works, Gordmans,s and Super Target...how do I love thee??

...courtney was SO EXCITED to finally get her new converse hi top sneakers....

( this was the only thing on her list that was a MUST to buy! )

...and on saturday, our families went to PARADISO'S for dinner...

OMG. Yummy as always!

( mike's mexican fried ice cream, mostly enjoyed by mike and john....don't even TRY to get your spoon in there....BAHAHAHA!!! )

"cheese" - nikki and john!!!!

...we had planned to celebrate Taylor's belated 10th birthday and Courtney's 12th birthday while we were there, so they both got to wear sombrero's and eat an ice cream sundae and were sung to by the staff...HAHAHAHA!!!!!

...and then a swim from 9-11pm......

...mine and courtney's brunch sunday at perkins...

...don't ask why mike didn't eat today....HAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!

( is that BEANS??? - wink )

sigh. oh gordmans. again. giggle.

...and last shopping trip to Walmart Supercenter...

Pop Tarts.

WOW.

the kids and i couldn't believe the flavour variety that we don't have here in winnipeg.

-chocolate chip cookie dough

-ice cream sandwich

-vanilla milkshake

-apple struedel

-cinnamon bun

...just to name a few!!!!

@ $1.97 / box...yep, we stocked up!!!

...last stop = McDonalds at 930pm....

nobody ( except mike ) wanted to go home!!!

...we crossed the border and were on our way to my inlaws to pick up oliver, in which mike decided he wanted to just stay the night and come home in the morning....

thank you again Liz and Ken for shackin' us all up for another night!!!

( heehee....all loaded up and on our way home! )

...once we got home, courntey likes to spread all her new stuff out to look at it all again before putting it all away...so that deserved a photo opp!

we are redecorating both the kids' bedrooms in october, so we lucked out and found some awesome new bedding for them while we were down there....

...and tyler was having a visit, so i didn't get a photo of him and all his stuff, but trust me, he did pretty darn good too!!!!!

we had a fun time, some more than others, ahem Mike, and it was a fun way for one last HURRAH before school and routines start up again!!!!

...and yesterday my mom, the kids and i went up to visit my grandparents for lunch and to bring them a bag of treats we picked up for them too! It was a lovely little visit!!!

...i am thankful that dance lessons and piano won't be starting until next week so we have one week of just school routine to adjust to and not feel too overwhelmed!

our family had such an awesome summer filled with many, many happy and precious memories...i sure hope you and yours did too!!!

Happy Back to Routine Everyone!

Good luck in your first week back at 'er!!!!

:o)

...so here i go again...

2010-08-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

...catching up my blog...

well, it IS summer afterall...what did you think i'd be doing?

on aug.16, my MIL came into the city to stay with us for a few days as she was scheduled for an angiogram on the 17th....so when she arrived, she wanted to take courtney shopping for her

pre-birthday present...so off to the mall we went!

courtney was happy to have found 2 new pairs of stylin' skinnies from Garage....

THANK YOU GRAMMA LIZ!!!!

...heeheehee...

we also stopped at princess auto for a Papa Ken errand, and tyler scouted this new shotgun case box for his bunny! he walked right up to the clerk emptying the cases and asked if he could have one of the empty boxes for a "tunnel for my bunny rabbit"....SO CUTE!!!

( and Oliver loves running through it too! )

...Liz wasn't allowed to eat after midnite, so i made sure she had a feast of a supper to tie her over til the next day...

lasagna, garlic toast and caesar salad!! YUM!!

...the dreaded aug. 17 came and i took her to HSC for her angiogram...
even though she was in good spirits the whole day, we were discussing later how amazing it is that in todays day, doctors can perform surgeries and touch your HEART and send you home the very. same. day.
WOW!!!!

...we ate our dinner el fresco later that evening...

...on aug. 19 Liz was packed up and ready to head back to the comforts of her own home...

(but not before a few backyard photos....)

...hope she enjoyed her stay at La Casa Griffin!! HAHA!!!

...aug. 20 i loaded up the kids and the bunny into the van and we were on our way back to the cabin! ( don't worry, oliver was in his cozy pet taxi up front with the kids, not thrown into the back like his cage you see here!!! heeheehee....)

....sigh....

the last stretch before the cabin road!!

...aug. 21...

our little miss courtney's 12th birthday!!

we celebrated again this year at the cabin...

( she will have her "friends" birthday party once school starts again )

the malinowski's came out for a beach day with us...

...and we bbq'd hot dogs, smokies and PITA PIZZAS for supper with caesar salad and pasta salad....Mmmmmmmmm

...and of course, courtney was spoiled rotten....

..happy birthday to one great kid!!!

MUAH!!!!

:o)

...next morning, we ate breakfast like kings...

...and spent another day on the lake!

i took a whack of pic's of courtney

"Hot Doggin" on the jetski...she's a natural adrenaline junkie, like her mother!!!

~giggle~

...aug.23...

met up with the pinter's at patricia beach for the day!

despite the start of our "interesting" day there, it was a nice day!!

...aug.25, i took the kids and a picnic snack to patricia beach for one last fun beach day before coming home the next night....it was really windy so there was lots of boogie boarding happening!

...and then we went for another quick swim back at the lake when we returned too...

and later that night, i repeated last years "sunset photo" adventure, on the jetski with my camera packed into a ziplock bag.....and here's what i got!!!

...aug.26...

probably one of our last BEACH DAYS at the cabin...swimming, jetskiing, suntanning...

sigh.

i can't believe our warm weather days are pretty much over and that school starts next week.

Grrr.

...so it was bittersweet taking these "last hurrah" pics of the kids playing in the lake, which is already getting pretty cold thanks to the cool temps in the evening...

GOOFBALL buddies!!!!

...i spent all of this past friday with the kids getting a load of stuff together to have a yard sale on the weekend....WOW....they have so much stuff...and STILL have so much stuff!!

( our living room the night before we hauled it all out! )

on sunday the kids wanted to have a lemonade stand...and who am i to deny such a cute request??? so ....here's their first customers!!

...yard sale went great...$575 to add to our shopping money for "back to school" clothes and shoes...and whatever else the kids will need!!!

I cannot believe school starts again in 9 days.

GAH!!!!

....i hope you've been making the most of your summer too and that those camera's are still clickin'...

SCRAPBOOOKERS...

next hall crop is set for Friday Sept. 17...6pm - midnite....

i will be emailing the sept newsletter soon!!