Merry Christmas and

a happy New Year! Christmas was great and was enjoyed by all. On Christmas Eve we all went to church and after we got back Den's sister and her husband arrived, along with my mother in-law's boyfriend. We had chili and bread for supper and had a nice visit before getting the kids off to bed.

Jacie got up around 6am Christmas morning and once coffee was made and some prep work for breakfast (I fried up the sausage and bacon and put it in the oven on warm) we headed downstairs and did the stockings, followed by presents. I love watching the kids rip open their gifts and getting them to hand out presents.

I sure miss the extra help now that my in-laws are gone. It was nice having them here and did I mention all the extra help!

I sure wish our parents were closer for obvious reasons...to my thrilled surprise my parents are on their way up as I write this. They decided to come up for a quick visit! I am so glad!

This layout I did for the Dreamgirls challenge. I am so glad I was able to finish it. I honestly thought I was going to be SOL, as it is so hard to find the time during the day to do it. At night I would rather watch TV (as I need the break and need to relax)...I wish I could see our big TV from my craft room, as then I would get a lot more layouts done. Oh well...

I went on Amazon.ca this morning and ordered $73 worth of books...What is so amazing about Grace, Jesus I never knew, Twilight, New Moon, The Bone Garden (Tess Gerritsen), Wreck This Journal-which I will have a very hard time doing as it is so out side of my 'perfectionism box', and Rape of Nanking (which my sister in-law told me about)...and it all gets shipped for free...love that!

Ok, time to eat leftovers before Danika wakes up from her morning nap! Take care everyone!

Travis' preschool party was

a lot of fun. I won't lie though, it was a lot of work being there with three out of four kids by myself. Kael is the hardest right now, as he just wants to motor around and add the screaming to his list...he is a handful. I was really hoping Dennis would come, but he didn't. :(

First there was a concert, followed by snacks and juice and then Santa arrived and handed out gifts. The parents were asked to supply the wrapped gifts for each child attending. Travis was excited to see Santa and wanted to chat his ear off. If any of you know Travis, you know he is a talker and will talk to anyone followed by a hundred questions.

Kael was more interested in who this person was and why he was on his lap. Kael didn't make strange or anything...he was just more curious!














When it was Danika's turn I woke her up and placed her on his lap. She wasn't impressed with being woke up, but she didn't cry.














We got our Christmas tree up on Sunday and it was nice that we were all around to do that. Kael loved the lights when they were on.

I am off tonight to hopefully finish up all the gifts, stocking stuffers, etc!! Let's hope anyway!

We are heading out for a Christmas

party supper with the people from our church tonight. The six of us will be there and ready to eat and have a good time. The party starts at 6pm and I have Jacie and Travis in the tub right now, I am showered, Kael is wondering around (not in his party clothes), Danika is sleeping (not in her party clothes), Dennis isn't home from work yet and we need to leave in one hour! So, what the heck am I doing on the computer??? EEK! I just checked the weather on the computer and it is -36'C with the windchill, so we need to dress extra warm tonight!

I actually got a layout done for How Much is Too Much challenge! I can't believe it! The reason is for the last two days Kael has taken a morning nap, so HALLELUJAH I could have some scrap time! Again my lighting sucks, but I am too impatient to wait until tomorrows morning sunlight to take a better picture.

Well I need to get my party clothes and face on, so I best be doing it while Danika is sleeping...cause as soon as she wakes up you know what she wants...the milk trucks!

Snowy and cold

weather has finally hit here. It is going to get extremely cold by the weekend...-22'C without the windchill factor. I may head out this morning to stock up some groceries, but we'll see. I may wait until tonight and go with just the baby.

This weekend is my goal to set up the Christmas tree and decorate the house...if Dennis isn't working on Saturday. Otherwise we will have to wait until after church on Sunday.

Kael was already in bed when I took this picture. I will try to get a picture of the four of them! It is too bad Kael is missing from the picture. Maybe tonight I will make an effort to get them all.

I finally was able to order the pictures I had taken, since Danika was born, from Future shop as Walmart kept giving me an error and wouldn't let me get to the shopping cart to finalize my order. It was very frustrating. Anyway, through Future Shop they will deliver it right to me for only $2.99 shipping...which I am like SWEET! That is so worth it to me as then I am not hauling the kids in and out of the van, etc.

I went to our local consignment store yesterday with the three kids, while Jacie was at school and got Kael some sleepers and Danika some clothes for when she hits the 6 month mark. I got really good deals and was happy we went there!

I have yet to start another layout. Kael is only napping in the afternoon, so it is too hard to try to scrap with him in my office, etc. I use to scrap when he went down in the morning, as by the afternoon I need a nap! Oh well, maybe once Danika sleeps longer through the night I will be able to get my energy back. Speaking of the darling, she is just waking up! Gotta fly!

Faith

is the topic I chose to do for the Dreamgirls challenge. I am thinking I should have added some journaling to the layout as to why I can't live without Faith and why it is so important to me. I just would have to figure out a way to incorporate it when there isn't a whole lot of room left. Maybe that will have to be for another layout...

Danika had her baby doctor appointment on Wednesday and she is 9 pounds even, so the doctor was happy that she gained all her birth weight back and then some. She is a small 9 pounds and love that she is like a newborn baby size, as all the other children came out looking like they were 3 months old.

I love this picture! Look how relaxed she is. It even seems she has a little smile on her face as she sleeps with daddy. I have yet to get pictures developed of the Danika, but it is priority #1! I can't wait to scrap some pages of her.

Den is on his way home with milk and slurpee's! Yes, the essentials! HA. Yum-O! It was Den's birthday yesterday, so we ordered in Chinese food and after the kids went to bed we both fell asleep early on the couch...I fell asleep scrolling through the TV Guide, looking for something to watch...lame eh! Dennis is still fighting a cough which has kept him up at night...I sleep in the basement, so he doesn't wake us all up and also so he doesn't get us sick! What is it with guys and not taking med's. We have cough medicine but he won't take it...I don't get it! Why not take it and see if it at least helps settle the cough down...weird!

Well not much else to report for now...

Just in the nick of time

I finished this layout for the Design Experiment. Feels good to get a layout done and again, wouldn't have thought of it without the help of the challenges.

Today was very busy! First was to get out the door by 10:15am to go to church. After church I dropped off the family, except the baby, and headed to the grocery store. Danika was hungry time we got home, so while I fed her, Den brought in all the groceries...which was a great help. Then after he was done unloading all the groceries, he took Jacie and Travis swimming. Danika is sleeping now and Kael is playing by himself, so I am just eating my lunch (at 4:23pm)...so my supper now. Geesh! Where does the time go!

Danika sleeps well and eats well. We had her baby doctor appointment on Wednesday and she weighed 8lbs, 5 ozs so she lost 9 ounces and gained back 4 of them. The doctor wants to see her this Wednesday to see if she gained back all the weight she lost. For those who don't know babies typically lose weight for the first few days after being born until the milk supply comes in (for those who exclusively nurse). Danika fell in the acceptable range and there is no worries. Now that my milk has come in full force she will have no problem gaining weight now! Last night she slept from 8:30pm-2am!! That was awesome, as I slept from 9pm-2am! That made me feel human again!


Also, we had three suppers delivered to us last week from 3 different ladies from our church! How nice was that. It is nice to be thought of and we really appreciated it. Also, my neighbour, and friend, has really helped out with driving my daughter to and from school last week-I usually drive mornings and she picks up after school. It is so awesome to have people help out and again it is very appreciated.

It's a girl

Danika Rayne was born Friday Nov 21st, at 2:11am. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. We were eating supper late Thursday night when my water broke (just after 9pm). Thankfully I have a great neighbour and friend who immediately came over and sent us to the hospital. Almost 5 hours later Danika arrived. I had a roomate in my post-partem room, so needless to say I wanted to get the heck out of there...so after my parents arrived from Saskatchewan early Friday evening I got discharged from the hospital (about 17 hours after I arrived). I was so glad to get home!

This picture was taken last night. She is a good eater and thankfully a good sleeper. She is, so far, an easy going baby that doesn't mind noise!

Thankfully I finished this layout Thursday afternoon for the OLW challenge. I just posted it today. Back to babies, diapers, and kids! Love it! :)

Roads are bad

to travel on so I kept Travis home from preschool (as I take him to a different town then where we live) and I had to cancel my baby doctor appointment. Dennis called me and said the highways were really icy and that he had to put the truck in 4x4 to stop sliding all over. That was enough for me to stay home!

I worked on this layout yesterday for the Design Experiment challenge and also entered it into Letters to Scrap By challenge - I am not sure if that is okay to do, but it fit both challenges, so why not?!

Well back to the house duties...I need to get something out for supper and clean the whole basement today...then I can relax at quiet time with my mind at ease that I got my chores done!

Sunday card making day

was a good time. I got together with the gals and we made cards from 11am to almost 5pm. We all brought some sort of food and ate and stamped away. It was a nice break for me away and good to see everyone.

The weather here has took a turn for the worse...we woke up on Sunday to snow and it snowed for most of the morning. The highways were in okay shape and was glad to make it home safe...as I came home in the dark. I don't like driving on the highway at night.

Anyone having a hard time finding Christmas decorations? I went out today to Canadian Tire and Walmart with no luck finding LED Christmas lights (in the larger bulb) and lawn decorations. It is very frustrating to come home with nothing...seems like a waste of time. I will keep checking around.

This is the gift card. The Merry Christmas was too big as I found out after I stamped it, but oh well. Live and learn! Other than that I like it.

Maybe today, after quiet time, I will start on another scrapbook layout for another challenge...

Having a bad day today and

yesterday...ever have those?? UGH! Nothing seems to be going right with me and the kids for the past 2 days...it is like aliens abducted them and replaced them with no ears for listening and no thinking skills. I hope they return to normal soon!

I did this layout for The Design Experiment challenge. I used most of the product from the Smitten collection from Created with Paper...except the rub-ons, buttons, flowers and heart chipboard.

Dennis is home today and he is doing his "honey do list" around the house which is awesome!! It is nice to have him around too instead of working all the time.

Baby is head down...

which is great news. I had my u/s yesterday and the tech said baby is measuring 38 weeks (I am 37 weeks right now), baby estimated weight is 7 pounds, 11 ounces and there is lots of fluid around him/her. All great news. I have my baby doctor appointment tomorrow and I am looking forward to that.

I did this layout today for the OLW (One Little Word) challenge-the word they picked was Listen. It took me forever to come up with what the heck I was going to write about. I almost gave up...thankfully I stuck with it! It is really overcast today, so I couldn't get good light to take this picture...hopefully it isn't too grainy.

Oh more good news from yesterday...my layout was picked (from random draw) on the Letters to Scrap By challenge. I think my jaw hit the floor when I read I was the winner!! Yeehaw!

Dennis is working, as usual, so it is just me and the tribe. I am trying to get out and get milk, but they are playing so nicely and it is getting close to Kael's nap time, so maybe after quiet time we can get out...

The kids asked me what Remembrance Day was about, so I explained and we took a few minutes to think about how lucky we are and what today is all about. It is nice to talk to them about things and I try to answer their questions as honestly as possible, on any subject they come to me about. I think it is important that they get the real answers from us and our values as much as possible (to their age level). I want to have that open and honest relationship with them and hope they feel like they can come to us anytime they want/need to. Jacie came up to me the last day of grade 1 and asked me if I knew what the F word was...I was like yes can you spell it for me and she did and to my horror it was the real F word. I asked her where she heard it and she said school (She goes to K-grade 8). That is the drawbacks to older kids around younger kids. I was very calm and said to her that is was a bad word and that we should never say it and thanked her for coming to me and telling me what she heard. Last week she asked me if I knew what "the bird" was...I think I am going to home school the kids!!

Date night was a

success! I managed to get a babysitter that lives right across the street and the kids absolutely loved her. I had her come an hour before we left and let her and the kids play before we headed out. We went to a Italian restaurant right here in our small town, so there was no big city rat race or hustle and bustle. The food is real (not packaged) and was prepared by a real gourmet chef! It was YUM-O and my kind of place! I had the veal scallopini Lemone with brushetta to start and Dennis had the pork tenderloin medallions with tiger prawn shrimp to start-both came with fresh linguine alfredo pasta! I am going to try to get the babysitter once a month! It was a great time.

This layout was for a challenge at Gettin Sketchy that I started and finished today. This is my first ever 'sketch' challenge and I really enjoyed it. I used a pin (which is hard to see) through the lace and the blue ribbon and crinkled brown card stock paper behind the chipboard hearts.

Tonight I am making pork cutlets for supper with pasta and corn. I am so hungry already...so I am going to start it right after I am done posting. The homemade cream of veg soup I made the other night started out as a potato leek soup but while I was sauteing the leeks in olive oil I added carrot, celery, broccoli, potatoes, 2 cartons of chicken broth, a bay leaf, dried thyme, salt and pepper and let it simmer gently until the carrots were tender. Took out the bay leaf and then I got out my hand held blender and pureed most of it (I

left some chunks it in though). Then I added some milk and Voila! I would thicken it with cornstarch next time though. Oh when I put it into our bowls I added a mound of grated cheese on top! YUM-O! Serve with bread, fresh buns, crackers, etc.

I always love to know what people are eating and I am famous for asking "what's for lunch/supper?" Feel free to let me know!

Happy Birthday to me...

Well I turned the big 34 today. I am going to try to line up a babysitter for tomorrow night, so Den and I can enjoy a sit down supper and maybe even a movie. Yum-O!

I did my first challenge for Design Experiment on what makes me laugh. This one was easy for me, as all 3 kids make me laugh in their own way, but since I had these funny faces of Travis, I thought it was perfect for their challenge.

I just put Kael to bed and I am exhausted. I snore so bad now that I wake myself up at night, plus with all the bathroom trips I am getting no real deep sleep. Thankfully the snoring and the heart burn disappear after baby comes out.

Well I am going to search for another challenge to do...after my nap that is!!

Seeing Circles

I did a layout for a Scrap Schemes challenge where the inspiration was a piece of wall art that had straight lines up that branched off into circles (looks like flowers with stems, but instead of flowers it was circles). This is what I came up with. I have never done anything like this before and it took me about 5 hours from start to finish (over the course of 2 days, that is!)

Again, I love these challenges as it really gets me scrapping and doing things I would have never thought of!

Halloween was a blast with the kids. I was out for over 2.5 hours waddling around the blocks. I am super sore today, as I over did it, but I couldn't say no lets go back home. It was a beautiful night and Jacie was pumped to keep going. I LOVE these time with kids and making great memories for them. Jacie was a dragon, Travis was a firefighter and Kael was a bear.

D (Denim)

was the letter challenge for Letters to Scrap By

and this is the layout I did for it. I had a lot of fun thinking up this design and of course looking at pictures of Kael, just under 7 months old, was a bonus too!

I had my baby doctor appointment yesterday...I am 1 cm dialated, but that honestly doesn't mean anything in regards to labour. I was 3 cm with Kael for weeks and he was 8 days late (I had to be induced). But it is exciting to know things are happening. I am just over 35 weeks along right now. The baby's heartbeat was 150 bpm.

Tonight after Den drops Jacie off at Kids Club, he will go straight to the school for parent teacher interviews (for Jacie)...she is in grade 2. I will be staying home with the boys. I have met the teacher a few times and Dennis really wants to go to meet the teacher and see how she is doing, which is great.

Imagine

was the word challenge from OLW blog and this is the layout I came up with. I used everything from the Homemade Collection kit from Created With Paper except the Dream Big banner, distress ink and the flower.

This layout and challenge got me thinking and thinking-which is always a good thing-about how important journaling is as it leaves a bit of 'me' and my thoughts for them to read in the future. I am going to try harder to journal what I think is important for them to learn and one day (hopefully) take with them as values, life lessons, etc.

I survived 5 girls

for Jacie's birthday party. She turned 7 yesterday! Hard to believe how fast life flies when you have children. I tell people all the time if they want their life to go fast to have children. I am not sure why it goes so fast when they are young...is it true when they get older? Into their teen age years?? I don't know yet, but I will find out one day.

I finished a layout challenge for Scrap Schemes where they put a picture of white dishes with black leaves going up the sides of it. Their challenge is to do an interpretation of it...here is what I came up with.

All I dream about now

is scrapping! I swear I was consumed by it last night and couldn't wait to try out a new technique (for me anyway). I got cardboard and ripped off the outer edge and was left with the 'ripples' and painted it and used it like a stamp on my paper ( I seen it on a few of my cousins layouts and it got me motivated! Thanks Glenda). This layout is for a challenge at The Story Matters. I finished it this morning! The side writing says "Now just a minute mister, You think because you have an older brother and an older sister you have to hurry and grow up? I want you to slow down and stay a baby as long as possible...do you hear me?! Keep babbling and drooling and leave the grown up stuff to us!"

The next layout I did was for Letters to Scrap By. Their challenge is you must use the colour cranberry on your layout. This is what I came up with.

Entering another challenge

as we speak. I am so glad to be doing these challenges...this layout is for Method Playground. On this layout you are only to use rub-ons. I found this very hard, as I really don't have a lot of rub-ons even though I love them. Anyway's this is what I came up with...

Tonight I am meeting the ladies for our card making class and get together! Iam very excited as we talk, eat, hang out and make great cards. I look forward to seeing them as much as possible! I tried to get in to get a hair cut somewhere before the meeting, but as usual I leave it till the last minute and everyone is booked up. Oh well, next time! HA

Making Jacie's Birthday Invitation Cards...

After quiet time, and a short nap due to some f^&*er ringing the door bell (at least Kael slept through it) I started making Jacie's invitations for her birthday party. I am half way done and here is what I made. Purple on purples. I lifted a similar design from Splitcoast stampers, but changed it up a bit to make it my own. I am not good at making cards and usually I don't like the ones I make, but this one I am happy with!
After supper I am going to vote! I hope all Canadians out there will do the same!

I entered my first ever scrap challenge

OMG! Well I did it! I just finished linking my layout for a scrap challenge at One Little Word. The word was Keep and this is the layout I did for it.

I am not looking for a win at all (I have a long way to go for that), but these challenges really do get your mind going and keep you scrapping. I find a lot of times I don't know what to call a layout, but I don't have to worry about that part if I am doing a challenge! Anyway the main thing is it was fun!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was fun great. We had our big supper on Thursday, as the weekends are just too busy and I wanted to be with the the family instead of in the kitchen as it was just us. I baked a lot this weekend...gingersnap cookies, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, haystacks and oatmeal coconut cookies (which I took to church). Everything turned out good and can you believe the only cookies we have left are the haystacks! Geesh!

Dennis and Travis are outside packing down the yard (getting all the outdoor toys put away, tarping the air conditioners, etc). Jacie has a friend over and Kael and I are hanging out. I am still in my PJ's, but oh well...it is one of those days where I just cleaned the kitchen including the fridge and ouside cupboard doors, etc...yes I am nesting big time! My dad told me on Sat that it is only 52 days till due date! I am hoping my mom comes the week before the due date and we can organize and clean like crazy. I am trying to do a bit each day, but I am not good at organizing!

Tootles!

Our baby turned one!!!

Happy Birthday Kael! It is hard to believe you are a year old already...
where did the time go?! You had your first piece of chocolate cake and loved it. It was cute to watch you muck around with it first until you actually put your fingers in your mouth and tasted it. After that it was game over and you inhaled it!







This picture is when Kael was all done his cake and ready for a bath. He isn't as messy as I thought he would have been.


I finished the "Rock Hound" layout a couple days ago. It was taken when we were camping in June. The kids love it outside and Kael is no exception...especially with the buffet of rocks to choose from!

This layout I did this morning while Kael was down for his morning nap and Travis was playing on the computer. When I asked Travis what he thought of it he said "it is lovely". Where does he pick up those words from? I don't recall us using "lovely" too often when we speak! HA I thought what he said though was very sweet.

Well I am going to rally up the kids and go get milk and bread...and while I am out I might as well get a slurpee! :)

Happy Sunday

I was able to take pictures of my other layouts this morning before heading off to church with the crew. Jacie went to a birthday party this morning and enjoyed the outing. Den is winterizing the trailer and the lines for the underground sprinklers. I am supervising Kael's nap. :) Yesterday Den was insulating the garage where he is going to get a furnace put in...then he will OSB board it when he is done.
Den got up with the kids both Sat and Sun (without being asked...so nice) as I was up again through the night with Kael. I sure hope he can kick this cold soon as it sure is whooping his butt. Kael is also cutting two molars on the bottom and one tooth on the top, so he is a mess.

I am into clustering an area...not sure if that is the right lingo or not but on the layout "Summer Fun" the circle, the tag, the name plate and the flowers is my clustering of objects.

Well that is it for now. This weekend just flew by as it usually does. Later dudes.