Bringing the Year to a Close

Wow! I find it so hard to believe that 2008 is coming to a close so soon.

I remember creating a 2007 favourite photos post as if it were yesterday! At the time, I planned to do it every New Year's Eve. A year later, Dec 31st is here, and I haven't even started.
I will eventually put together a grouping of favourites. But as I ponder the close of the year, I realize that my hectic schedule comes from filling our lives with what we love - family, kids, togetherness.
As I've tried to maintain balance in our lives these past couple of months, I sadly haven't had much time for scrapbooking. But as we all do, I've had to prioritize - family first - and that hasn't left time for much else.

And that's OK!

Here are a few photos of the kids doing things they LOVE! I'll get caught up and be back with my 2008 summary photos sometime soon. First, I have to finish my Christmas cards! ;-) Until then, peace, joy, and good health to all of you in 2009. Cheers!

And - lucky me! - I have a full day of cropping coming up with some wonderful friends this weekend to help get our 2009 scrappy goals off the ground. So stay tuned for those previously mentioned Wenonah and Scrapalicious layouts. For certain!

A peek at our Christmas

We had a beautiful Christmas this year. The kids were so full of joy!

I have been documenting our December in photos, as I plan to create an Ali Edward's type Daily Album . I took so many photos on Christmas eve and day; probably too many to fit them all in the album, so here is a slide show of some favourites.


Take a peek at Christmas at our house. Enjoy!

The Very Best for a Blessed Christmas

...and much joy for the coming year, from our house to yours.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Yes, we've been keeping busy this December!

I've had so little time for scrapping with our family's Christmas activities. One thing I have been doing is documenting our December in photos based on Ali Edwards' December album concept, so while I haven't been playing much with glue and paper, I have been taking at least one photo of us every day. Check out Ali's links above; her ideas really celebrate the everyday.
Despite that I'm not much of a cold weather fan, we've taken part in a few outdoor activities this year, with even more planned. At left, you can see us at Canada's first regular season NFL game, where Evan had a blast cheering for the Buffalo Bills, despite that it was a windy and cold day. Notice my hair in the photo blowing in the wind? Yes, it was really that windy!

Now that Christmas is almost upon us, and we are starting to feel somewhat caught up, I will be back to posting a bit more often. I hope that the holidays are going well for all of you. I'll be back with more scrappy posts soon. ;-)

Wenonah Work

I can't believe that I still haven't posted the layouts I created while I was away at our scrapbooking weekend at Camp Wenonah back in October. I wish I could say that I have these layouts ready to go, but to be honest, I haven't adhered the journaling to any of the layouts yet! Yes, I realize it's been a few months already, but it's been a very busy few months at our house.
So, until I get a chance to put on finishing touches and photograph these pages, here is a quick peek at each of them. In addition to these layouts, I also created my All Boy gear album at that retreat. I had a fantastic time scrapping with a great group of ladies all weekend - day and night! It's great to go away with other gals who share my philosophy that sleep is over-rated!
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to have won a Scrap Pack monthly scrapbooking kit from Just Cre8, an awesome, Canadian kit club. Here's a peek at the first of the layouts I created with this kit. I love the colours and the pretty patterns of this Prima paper. Isn't it beautiful? And I just love the Scribblz Art that come with these kits; they're so versatile. Check them out here.

And for some exciting news - I'm really looking forward to being the Guest Design Team member for Just Cre8's February 2009 kit! Yahoo, I can't wait!

I also have some Scrapalicious layouts almost ready to post. So stay tuned for full shots of the layouts above, and more scrappy stuff - coming up soon.

Wow Wii!

I made my list and checked it twice - but will still have to grab a receipt to return something to the store. Yes, we bought a Wii to go under the tree a few weeks ago. But today, Evan's school had the final draw for a fundraising campaign they've been doing, and guess what? Evan won one of the grand prizes - a Wii! He called me from school and was so excited he could barely speak!

We're pretty excited to be a Wii family now. We probably won't have a chance to check it out until the weekend, but we're all looking forward to it.

What a great reason to need to re-think my Christmas shopping list! ;-)

New Baby in the Family

Stephen and I have been blessed this year with nieces and nephews. Both my brothers had babies this year, and Stephen's brother Justin and wife Rosa just had a baby in October. Their baby girl, the first cousin to share a last name with our kids, was born in October and is named Alessia. Here, Alicia holds Alessia at their first meeting.
Evan, Vanessa and Alicia were excited to meet Alessia and presented her with gifts that they picked out themselves. All of our kids love babies and took turns holding and helping to feed and comfort Alessia. I'm sure there will be more photos to come. Justin is Stephen's only brother, so we expect that these cousins should spend lots of time together as they grow.

I've put a few photos into a slide show, so take a peek below.

Celebrating 10 Incredible Years!

I try to count my blessings on a regular basis, and when I do, at the top of my list is how lucky I am to have found the most wonderful man to share my life with. It's hard to believe that Stephen and I have been married for 10 years now, but it is indeed true. We've been talking to our family about how special we think the 10 year mark is - pretty much since we were married - and it's here! We had always visualized a special, week-long, tropical getaway on our 10th wedding anniversary, just the 2 of us. ;-) But when babysitting disappointments took us by surprise and made a trip down south sadly impossible, we squeezed in a weekend getaway and went north instead.
Although it's neither the luxury nor the weather of the Excellence Resort in Punta Cana we had hoped for, we made the best of it! The food at this little getaway on Lake Kashagawigamog in Haliburton is outstanding, and the Chef took very good care of us on our special night. We managed to do a little shopping and just spent time together reminiscing and planning for the future.

We are so very blessed with our 3 wonderful children, a business that provides well for us, and the love and support of one another. Happy 10th Anniversary to us! Looking forward to so many more in the years ahead, as we grow old and grey together, and watch our children grow up.

What could be better than that?

Special thanks to Indra and Carol for making our mini-vacation possible!

Cover Story

Now that the winter 2008 Canadian Scrapbooker has arrived in stores, it is selling out quickly, so be sure to get your copy soon. I just received my cover layout back in the mail last week, so I thought I would post a photo of the original page. The magazine so generously sent me Corel Painter 4 Essentials software and a few copies of the magazine, along with this layout. I'm looking forward to checking out the software - probably not until after Christmas though! I really don't think I'll get to it before then, seeing as I still need to start Christmas shopping!!

I really appreciate everyone's kind comments - in e-mail, on facebook, in person, at Scrapalicious - wherever! It's been a lot of fun being on the cover, and I cherish every single one of you who has shared in my excitement. Thanks so much!

Scenic Route at Scrapalicious

Saturday at Scrapalicious we had a fantastic time with Vicki Boutin and Layle Koncar. These gals are each a riot all on their own, but pair them up and you have a bust-a-gut, laugh 'til your stomach hurts good time! We created 3 single page and one 2-page LO as well as started an awesome mini album (in the photo below). It was a great day of both inspiration and fun.
Despite Vicki getting lost ;-), we packed in a full day of scrapping. Check our their blogs - Vicki here, Layle here. I have to say, albums like this one look great on the web, but they're sooooo much more delicious in person. I'm truly inspired to use my handwriting more after seeing vacation albums that Layle puts together - while still on the vacation!

If you missed out this time around, Vicki and Layle are coming back to Scrapalicious in January and February 2009. Signs ups will be coming soon, so keep an eye on the store's website, or call in for details. These classes WILL sell out!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas...

This weekend we hit our local Santa Claus parade and had a fantastic time. The weather was cold enough to remind us that it was winter, yet warm enough to last through the parade without freezing! The kids loved all of the marching musical bands and corps - they come by that naturally ;-) and, of course, seeing Santa was the afternoon's highlight.

It's the first time we've taken the kids to a Santa Claus parade, and it made us wonder why we didn't do it sooner. I think a new winter tradition is born!

Speaking of winter, I'm very excited about this Storm that's brewing, hopefully in time for Christmas. Yes, I will finally be moving into the 21st century with a phone that actually has e-mail, web access and so much more! Hooray!! Maybe I'll respond to e-mails and send photos more often now?? What do you think?? Life is so hectic lately - maybe we had better wait and see. Seriously, sorry to those I'm late responding too... I actually will get to it eventually. Really. Ask Nancie!

The other exciting thing I did this weekend was spend a day at Scrapalicious with Layle and Vicki. It was awesome! More on that coming soon.

Can you believe it's December already? Have a wonderful month, everyone!