Serious Play

O Canada | 2011

So, our Canada Day long weekend has come to an end for another year.

 

Here is what I want to remember...

Ashley was out of town camping with a friend.

Sean had to work Canada Day.

My sister and her husband moved into their new house.

I went to the Millarville Market with my mom.

Canada Day was actually chilly.

We ate outside twice this weekend.

We got chased indoors by rain once.

I had to go sleep downstairs one night because it was so hot and humid.

I finished reading The Help...so awesome, I didn't want it to end!

Jess and I wore our Canada shirts.

Summer has officially started for us.

 

...and a happy Independence Day to all in the USA!

 

 

 

Celebrating Dad

So, I spent Father's Day with my dad.

 

We went out for a great lunch at this little church converted into a restaurant. Everyone's food was fab.

We went back to my parents' house for the afternoon and had pecan pie which Ashley had made special for Sean.

Sean and my Dad watched golf on TV.

Mom and I started a new scrapbooking project.

The girls played a board game that my sister and I used to play when we were young.

It poured rain...and then a double rainbow came out!

All around, a great day to remember.

 

 

Mother's Day Cards

So, I've been working on my Mother's Day cards. 

 

I didn't really have a plan for this card, it just emerged. I kept adding things until it felt right.

This one is for Sean's mom. He is leaving for Puerto Vallarta in the morning for 9 days on a work trip. He is going down with some fellow firefighters, police and medics to build two playgrounds. Even though he will be working, he will be in the hot sun. I am envious.

I plan to spend Saturday and Sunday with my mom. I can't wait. She is very important to me in my life and has always been supportive. Every new thing that I experience raising my own two girls makes me appreciate my mom even more as I realize now what she did for me all those years.

How are you spending Mother's Day?

 

 

Happy Easter

So, I am wishing all my viewers a very Happy Easter!

Back in a few days...

Valentine's Party 2011

background paper: katie pertiet, best memories word art: ali edwards

 

I am just getting to scrap these photos...bare with me.

On the Saturday before Valentine's Day, Jess had some friends over for a little cupcake decorating party. I was please that this all worked out for her since she has attempted to throw little parties before and not many have resulted in success. It seems even teens have schedules that are too busy and that keeps them from getting together with their friends! Who knew?

Anyway, this party was a success for Jess. It was well-attended. The girls enjoyed decorating the cupcakes and posing for pics with each other. Some of them were watching their waistlines, though, and did not eat their cupcakes! Afterward, they all head downstairs to watch a love story and giggle and visit. All in all, I think they enjoyed themselves.

Now, if only I had time to invite my friends over...

 

Valentine's Day Review

Love Always Wins_Ali Edwards, stitching_Anna Aspnes

So, I love a day (or weekend) set aside to celebrate love.

It just so happened that my husband did not have to work even one shift this weekend! That only happens every once in a while, and it turned out to be this weekend! How lucky am I? As a result, we seemed to be celebrating all weekend.

Saturday, we spent getting ready for Jess' party. She had 7 of her girlfriends over for a Valentine's Day party. She made cupcakes and icing in the afternoon. Once the girls arrived, they spent time decorating the cupcakes with all of the fun sprinkles, candies, chocolate chips and icing. Then they went downstairs with their newly personalized cupcakes to watch Romeo + Juliette.

Sean, Ashley and I spent the evening up in our bedroom watching our own movie (What Happens in Vegas), on our new bedroom-sized TV, and of course, the hockey game. We snatched a few cupcakes for ourselves to enjoy, which was great until I kept feeling crumbs throughout the night!

Sunday morning we were awakened by a rustling at our bedroom door. Ashley brought in trays of breakfast for us! She had been up early to make us heart-shaped chocolate banana pancakes. On the side she even included a slice of apple trimmed into a heart shape. I was thoroughly impressed. When the girls were much younger they would make us breakfast in bed, consisting of an odd assortment of cereals and things that we weren't quite sure what we were eating. It has been a while and I must say, that the cooking skills have jumped up a notch or two over the years! Thanks Ash! xoxo

In the afternoon, we drove out toward the mountains and met my parents in Bragg Creek for brunch. It was a clear, sunny day and not even too cold! After a lovely Italian brunch, we walked around to some of the shops in the area. Mom and I found these great knitted ponchos that I cannot wait to wear. All of the kids (my husband included) went crazy at the candy store...as if the Valentine candy in our house right now was not enough.

On Monday morning, I had set out the girls Valentine packages along with a few other goodies. I bought them heart-shaped jewelry boxes, Valentine kleenex, pink and red heart-shaped paper clips and a set of notecards + envelopes that have their initial monogrammed on the front. It made my heart happy to see their pleasure.

On Monday afternoon I received a text message from Sean telling me we had 'to be somewhere' for 6pm. Another text came soon after asking, 'If you were a cheesecake, what flavor would you be?' He is subtle like that. I arrived home to a dozen fresh white roses all carefully arranged in a vase on the kitchen island. I love flowers. I love it when my husband makes plans even more!

Our dinner reservations were at a fantastic restaurant that we love called Red Water Grill. It is the sort of menu that you would never cook on your own...or at least I wouldn't. It is all exotic flavors and ingredients and combinations of food that I would not even know where to shop for! While waiting for our order, the waitress brought us a mini loaf of fresh-baked bread and red beet + cinnamon butter...it was pink! And that was only the beginning.

I loved the food. I loved the fact that he made reservations. I loved getting dressed up. I loved going out alone with my husband. But most of all, I loved having uninterrupted conversation with him. Those are the moments that strengthen a marriage and I needed that.

He told me I couldn't have dessert at the restaurant and when we returned home, I saw why. My husband had picked up a piece of cheesecake for each of us (the girls included) and picked out the exact flavors that we would have chosen (hmmmm...how'd he do that?). I was impressed that he thought to include our daughters in this celebration, since they did not come with us to the restaurant.

All in all, a wonderful weekend of memories...now I just need to scrap them all so I can remember this forever!

 

 

V-Day Party Theme

So, I am really milking this jewelry party, aren't I?

Since my party was so close to Valentine's Day, I decided to just go with the theme. It is fun to decorate with red, pink and white.

I bought lovely frilly red and white carnations that I packed tightly in a vase with a ring of red surrounding the white center.

We had an assortment of finger foods to munch on. Ashley had baked some red velvet cupcakes, beautifully topped with a swirl of cream cheese icing.

These chocolate pretzels were a real hit. I bought the mold, as well as the colorful chocolate and the fat pretzels at Michaels. They were so much fun!

Of course the hanging hearts and fortune cookies were a hit too!

Now I have to gear up for a party for Jessica and her friends...

Halloween 2010

So, another night of dressing up and having fun has come and gone. This year the girls decided that they were too old to go out Trick or Treating but they still wanted to dress up. Ashley and her friend Debbie had been out shopping at Value Village several weeks before and Ash decided she wanted to be Lady Gaga. Just this past week when Gramma and Papa were here, she convinced Gramma to take her once again to Value Village and she finally found a costume outrageous enough. The wig was a wild mass of blond hair twisted up in beer cans! Apparently Lady Gaga has actually done this for one of her videos!

Initially, Jess didn't seem too excited about dressing up. She was more interested in carving a pumpkin with her dad. The two of them crafted a wonderful visage and set the hollowed form out the front door, lit with a candle. They were pretty pleased with themselves. Sean claims that this was the first pumpkin he has ever carved before...poor deprived child!

Instead of going out, the plan was that Ash and Debbie would hand out the candy at the door with their costumes on. Ashley's wig was a hit with many of the visitors to out door. However, being in an older neighbourhood, we do not have many young children, so it fizzled out quite quickly. Since it was still relatively early, Ash and Debbie decided to go cruise our street and see what they could get.

By this time, Jess was catching the spirit and had gone digging through my closet to produce this hippie get-up. Rest assured, the items she chose are no longer in circulation, but have been on hand for such an occasion as this! She took over door duty while Ash and Debbie were out.

Well, the other two returned in short order with more than half a pillowcase full of candy! They promptly dumped their haul onto the kitchen table and divided it up amongst themselves. In the midst of it all, they found a pack of cards and the three girls finished off the evening with a cheerful game.

Did I mention that while all of this was going on, Gramma and I were seated right in the middle of the chaos drinking tea and enjoying every minute of it? Gotta love it!

Guess Where We're Headed

So, Sean and I are off on a vacation! It is Fall Break at my school so I have the week off. The girls are at my parents for the weekend and then they are all coming back to our house for the remainder of the week.

This is a much needed holiday for Sean. Between working full-time for the CFD and running his own plumbing company on his 'days off' he is wasted. I can see it in his eyes. I can hear it in his words. And I can just feel it. This is the first time in a year and a half since he has had holidays from the CFD...it's just the way it worked out. I could have easily stayed home this week to get a million needed things done, but I figured I would be a good wife and support my weary husband by joining him on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta...I know, I'm too good to him!

In preparation, I got busy and created a mini book just for this trip. I am only giving you a sneak peak now, but when I return and sort through my piles of photos, I will show you the finished product. I took a recipe binder that I found at Michaels for $3 and covered it with American Crafts patterned paper aptly named Travel. Inside I used the recipe card-sized sleeves and added a few other sizes of sleeves too. I have put a variety of papers in the album already and since the paper is only printed with a pattern on one side, I will use the back (which is blank) to do the journaling for our adventures!

Two years ago, Sean and I went to PV and I had completed the base to my book before leaving and it is one of the vacation books that actually is finished now. All our other vacation books sit at various unfinished stages in my craft room. By getting it ready ahead of time, it makes it easier when I return home because all I have to do is add my photos. So, we'll see if this process is successful a second time. 

Sean and I have been to PV before and loved it. There was so much to do that now we want to return to do the things there was not time for! We are anticipating attending a live bull fight, doing some zip line adventures and a zoo...and who knows what else we will get into?? We love our girls tremendously, but sometimes we just need to get away and connect as a couple. This is one of those times. With Sean working so much, and doing shift work, our schedules often do not coincide and we can go three days without seeing one another. That sucks!

More than being somewhere warm, more than tanning on the beach or swimming in the ocean, more than not having to cook or do dishes...I am looking forward to reconnecting with my husband! See you in about a week!

Thanksgiving 2010

Patterned Papers by Katie Pertiet, LO inspired by Cathy Zielske

Click on image to read the journaling

So, this is our Thanksgiving in a nutshell. It was my pleasure to host it this year. My sister and her family came over. My mom was here too, but Dad stayed back on the farm to help with the combining. He is working for a family that he knows well. There are such good crops this year, but they are late coming off due to the incessant rain in late summer. Now, the men are going strong in order to get the crops off before the snow flies. I do see my Dad's good heart to help and his passion for farming, but we did miss him tremendously. I cannot actually remember when, if ever, our entire family was not together for the holidays.

My favorite part is the decorating, so I spent much time fussing earlier in the week. We decided to have our big turkey dinner on the Sunday because Sean was working during the day and would be home for supper. We knew that us girls would be spending most of the day prepping food, so it was okay that Sean was not around.

We truly have so much to be thankful for. It always seems that the typical responses come forward...I am thankful for family & friends, health, a good job, etc. It seems so cliche. But this year I spent some time pondering those replies and decided that they were not just what everyone "should" say. Instead, I realized that if everything else were to go away, let's say in a fire or other natural disaster, it is my family that would remain important to me, and my friends, and my health. All the rest does not matter and I could live without. So, I was at peace with the typical responses this year as it confirmed that our hearts are in the right place.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving this year?