Surviving Easter...

...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!

...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...

...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...