where does the time go?

...sorry my friends for being MIA for a while...

LIFE IS BUSY!

i am going to share some ENGAGEMENT photos that i took yesterday of my

brother curt and his fiance erith!

we went to the st.boniface catherdral with some beautiful weather and great light to play in!

their wedding date is in the planning for now...

~ enjoy ~

..thanks for being so playful and photogenic guys!!!

( can't wait to do your wedding now...)

....on saturday, i was set up at lora leigh's ALL DAY crop at rossmere golf and country club...

yep.

from 10am until midnite...i was her vendor there and i also actually managed to create two layouts myself throughout the day!

here's a peek!

...mom and lori were there in my 'store room' with me, so thanks for keeping me company all day!!!

...and a few of the 'slice girls' were in attendance as well!

scrapbooking is so much better with good friends to play with!!!

...this is THELMA on the right...

she is THE scrapbooking diva in my books.

she has a beautiful vintage style about her work and everyone is always in awe at her creativity.

you can keep up with her lovely creations and heartfelt journaling on her blog at

www.originalinspirations.blogspot.com

..i asked her if she'd be interested in creating a 'thelma original' for me with a few photos of

miss courtney when she was only 2 years old...( only intending on one layout with the 3 pics )

and

THIS

is what she came back to me with!!!

...THANK YOU so much again thelma....

i love them and courtney says you are 'awesome at scrapbooking'....she loved them too!!!

...and here's just a couple shots of courtney last weekend at my inlaws having a ride on the kids' mini quad ( on loan from our friends! )

....i will be sending out an email later today with June classes and crop info...

and it looks like i will for sure be having summer crops in july and august too!

YAY!!!

...back to work i go....

( gotta finish prepping my business income tax return this week....Grrrrrrr. )

happy monday everyone!

:O)

Something sweet to share...

last month, my grandparents were excited to discover that outside their living room window in their new senior's apartment ( that they moved into last september ) had

NEW RESIDENTS!

the property that the apartments were built on used to be all fields of tallgrass and lots of water...so this was first home to families of canadian geese!

naturally, building two 3 story apartments and months of construction noise does not change the geeese's migration flight pattern so they have returned to their 'new home' with lots of eager elderly tenants throwing them cracked corn, grains and water dishes off the main floor balconys!

Grandma and Grandpa being main supporters...

( do you think I get it from them? )

hahahha....

keeping in mind of the 'geese history' i have with the kids now, grandma called me last week to tell me that i better bring my camera over because one of the couples had felt comfortable enough and welcomed enough by grandma's hospitality

to make their NEST right outside G & G's bedroom window!!

seriously.

against the wall, right outside their window!

so in our own excitement the kids and i went over for a visit right after school yesterday to go and have a look!

this very proud mama had been sitting on her nest ALL DAY in the warm sun ( as grandma had observed in her efforts to feed her ) but the gander was on guard close by so grandma was afraid to get to close. ( but of course he had no problems coming to their patio for some fresh water and cracked corn for himself...typical! )

ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL AND PROUD?

( family photo before all chaos breaks loose!!! )

hahaha...

...i felt bad for the mama sitting in the hot sun all day so i dared to bring the water bowl within her reach with papa so closeby, but i quietly and calmly assured them no harm and placed the water within her reach from her nest so she wouldn't have to get up....

she guzzled like my now 18 year old niece on sunday!!

...and we were granted a quick peek at her proud little bundle of SEVEN warm eggs she keeps such tender loving care over all day...

really, are their hearts any different than a human's?

they love.

they protect.

they care.

it's so beautiful when life comes to the world!!!

~sigh~

...and on mother's day, we went to my moms for a fantastically YUMMY dinner as it was also my niece Airiel's 18th birthday!

She has been living with and being raised by mom since she was 2 years old....so really, she's always been more like my little sista!!!

Happy Birthday Kiddo!!!

We love you tons!!

( oh ya, sour puss from aunty and uncle...there needs to be some tradition on turning 18 )

-and that's her friend Randy's hand helping her along...NOT MINE!!!

hhahahaha...

LOVE LOVE

xo

Well...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

i was treated with a toasted scrambled egg sandwich ( my fav breakfast treat ) and a glass of milk in bed this morning and 'allowed' to lounge about in bed and watch Friends on the t.v all morning until 10:30am!!!

SWEET!

while i was lazing about, mike was busy sweeping and washing the kitchen, living room and bathroom floors WITHOUT ASKING!!

SWEET!

i was delivered homemade cards from the kids and beautiful artwork from tyler

(made in school ) - courtney's class is apparently still working on their "projects" with being away at camp last week...

SWEET!

...all this and it's only NOON!

We are going over to my moms for dinner tonight as it's also my niece Airiel's

18th

Birthday

today too!!

SWEET!

so i am having a great day so far, and i know i will be having a great evening with my family later tonight as well....especially with NO cooking!!! hahaha.....

and what are YOUR special mothers day plans for today??

have a happy day all you moms, step moms, grandmas, great grandmas, auntys and moms to be!

:O)

guess who's

gone to CAMP with her school for the very first time?

yep.

courtney left with her grade five classmates at 9:30 this morning to camp for 3 days and was really looking forward to it ( i think it's more because she doesn't have to dance for 3 days now!! ) hhahahahaha.....

they were all loaded up and on their way in 2 school buses and i was left watching them go

in a bit of a daze...

can she really be old enough to go to camp...alone without parents...already??

apparently so.

~sigh~

bye girls!!!!
i hope the predicted rotten weather doesn't interfere with all your fun plans!

...so, as you can imagine, the house was pretty quiet tonight.

no bickering.

no fighting.

no whining.

no complaining.

...and yet you'd think this would be a nice change, if only for a few days...

but i miss my girl already.

it's different from staying at a friends or my moms because I can still talk to her on the phone, but THIS time, it's a shut out!!!

hahaha.....

and do you think courtney's having any of these issues right now? HA.

i'm such a clinger...

:O)

survival...

...so.

today was an emotional overhaul for a bunch of us Highland Dance moms!

I am grateful for my friendships I have made through our now 7 years of dancing with courtney because on competition days, it's sure nice to know that half a room is feeling EXACTLY the same way you are....

grinning, smiling, happy and inside your guts are churning, ready to explode and you're nervous as hell! hahahaha.....that's us!

today was a big championships 'selection meet' competition where the top three dancers from each category are selected to be the annual Manitoba representative to go to the Canadian Championships in July. This year the event is being held in Toronto.

We had decided as a family a few weeks ago and informed our then unhappy dance teacher that IF courtney should win a rep spot this year, that we would not be going to Toronto...she wasn't happy with our decision, and as it must have been in the cards anyway, courtney did not win a rep spot today in the end.

she did place 3rd runner up though in her group, and her good friend Kelsey won 1st runner up so she will be going to toronto as a rep!!

congratualtions kelsey on your acheivement!!!

our girls work so HARD at lessons, practising at home and have been having extra brutal workshops and longer lessons in april in preparation for todays event.

so i want to highly commend courtney, kelsey, alex, kailey and cielle for ALL your efforts and beautiful dancing today!! I felt very proud of each of you watching you all 'go for it' today and to know that you are all a part of our dance family!

Keep up those positive spirits, the terrific dancing and believing in yourselves!!! You are all very talented and should always be proud of where you have come today!!

...warming up...

( L to R )

3rd runner up - courtney

2nd runner up - kim

1st runner up - kelsey

winner - rachel

...just for fun...

kailey, courtney and amanda

( way to go courtney!! we're very proud of you!! )
SMOOCH!!!

...courtney and kelsey...
WOOHOO!

...lynn's premier dancers, ALL WINNERS!!!!

alex, courtney, kailey, lynn, cielle, and kelsey

whew...congratulations girls!

hope you sleep well tonight!

...i'm beat!

....AND....

it's getting closer to THIS!!

for those of you who KNOW ME well, must KNOW that

I

CAN'T

WAIT

FOR

GOSLINGS!!!!

( there's little eggies everywhere....just waiting!!! )

EEeeeep!

:O)

( these were all from last spring )

~sigh~