Took some ME time!

Me time = Scrappy time!!

I used a sketch from Little Yellow Bicycle on their FB page that they have used for a fall/winter collection contest, and submitted a layout.... I kinda love how it turned out :) Doesn't necessarily have to be a winter layout to use winter papers, people!

I also did one of my and my 2 boys using Echo Park's Holly Jolly line, still one of my faves of the last few months..... and once again, not a Christmas themed page, but it all worked together nonetheless. :)

I hope you are all enjoying the season, and gearing up for New Years Eve tomorrow night!! We're headed out on the town for some dancing and visiting with a bar full of people! LOL! Happy New Year, I'll be back on January 1st for my NEW YEAR of posting and sharing!!!

Almost to 2012

So I am working on a layout... actually it's already finished, but I can't post it yet. ;) I can tell you what it is about, though. It's about ME. It's about making ME a priority in 2012. 2011 was such a roller coaster of a year, and I let myself take a backseat to everything else. When I'm stressed, I eat. When I'm sad, I eat. When I'm angry, I eat. You can see where this is going, right? Yup, it went right to my hips, my belly, my ass.... I am soooo not happy with how I have let myself go downhill the last year.

I vow to eat better, to keep going strong with the very little diet pepsi and hopefully eventually NONE at all.... I vow to exercise once per day, even if it's just doing the Just Dance 3 on the Wii that we got for Christmas (that is quite the workout, you know!!!).... I vow to make ME a priority, because if I don't, I won't have the energy to play with the kids, and I won't have the health to be around for them for a long time.

It's time... it's gotten out of hand, I miss the old me... but I'm bringing her back. One year from today I will be at my goal weight. I promise. Bring it.

Christmas Traditions

This year was going to be a year without a few of our traditions... and I kept telling myself that it was fine, because things change and that is a part of life. But, I kept thinking about not having Santa on Christmas Eve, and not seeing my uncle and aunt and their kids at all on Christmas Eve.... and I got sad.

Our Amma has been Santa on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember.... but it is getting to be too much for her, too stressful finding extra gifts for everyone and to remember who she has for and who she doesn't.

We found a solution, though.... we told her that she should just use her actual Christmas gifts to give to everyone, instead of finding extras. Christmas morning there are SO many gifts under the tree, and nobody will notice one less, and this way Amma can watch everyone open her gifts without the bigger shmozzle of Christmas morning. Because believe me, Christmas morning in our family is a chaos of wrapping paper and ribbon drowning us in the livingroom.

So Santa WILL be coming this year on Christmas Eve, and I know my kids will be thrilled... as will I. :) It's the little things.

My aunt and uncle are also going to come over for a part of the evening after all, and that makes me happy too :) We always have such a great time eating and drinking and playing games... we have done it for many many years, and I wasn't ready to see that change.

So Christmas Eve we will be sliding in the afternoon with a bonfire weenie roast right on the hill... then back to my mom and stepdads for appetizers as supper, drinky poos, Santa, and some games... and of course tons of laughs and chatting.

Darcy, Brayden, Jackson and myself will be coming back to our house to sleep, while the girls have asked to sleep at Grandma's with my sister and her 2 kids, and my brother. We all stayed last year and while I love doing that, it's just not as easy this year with Brayden... I don't want him waking anyone up, and I don't think he'll go to sleep and stay asleep with 14 other people around. This way hopefully he'll get a good sleep and be in a great mood in the morning. Makenna and Tayla will phone us the second they wake up and we will race on over there and do presents, cinnamon buns, baileys and coffee and more presents. Then over to my dads for brunch and his gifts. Perhaps a little rest, then back to my moms for supper, and my dad usually joins us too.

Ahhh Christmas. Crazy busy, sometimes stressful, but always fun and memorable. I hope that my kids grow up to enjoy our holidays and keep some of our traditions alive. :)

Merry Christmas from my home to yours. Enjoy your loved ones, and make every moment count.

Back to gettin' Sketchy!!!

I have missed playing around with one of my fave sketch sites... Sketchy Thursdays... I was doing them on a regular basis, but then life got way too busy and I had to sit some out. I went back yesterday to check out the latest sketch and knew I had to get busy! :) I just happened to take the perfect pictures for it this weekend too!!



I know, I know... 2 posts in one day. Don't worry, this is a rare occurence ;)

Less than a week to go!!

Monday Monday... I know a LOT of people hate Mondays. I am not one of them. And I'm not shy to admit it. When I was working, I detested Mondays, but now that I am at home full time, after a weekend of NOISE and non stop action with 4 kids, I LOVE Mondays.

The fact that they only have 4 days of school left before having 2+ weeks off, makes today especially awesome. :)

So on the blog at LIITD today, Lori has posted what I have been working on during the weekend.... some altered blocks that I was given by my sister for my birthday in August. I used the Little Yellow Bicycle Twig line, some of their embellies as well, and also added a few of my own stickles and bling, etc. to make them sparkle and shine. :)

Here is a look at them as a whole, but you can check them out in more detail on the LIITD blog as well @ http://loveisinthedetails.ca/blog/2011/12/19/six-more-sleeps/



Sorry, I still haven't figured out why I can't actually put links in here using Google Chrome... I shall have to do some googling. haha!!!

I hope you are almost all ready for Christmas, and can relax and enjoy some time with your friends and family!

One Week Left!!!!

I honestly can't believe it's Christmas one week from today.... in one week we will be knee deep in shredded wrapping paper and tossed aside bows. All of the hard work of wrapping will be ignored by the little creatures that find joy in tearing apart works of art.... Are you ready? I am :)

I had the kids outside in the snow yesterday... all of the kids. Why is this so special you might wonder? People have their kids out in the snow all of the time... what's the big deal?

#1. December in Snow Lake, Manitoba is generally kicking anywhere from around -20 to -40 degrees Celcius. Lately it has been an average of -10, and who doesn't want to take advantage of that?!?!

#2. Doing laundry for 6 people generally takes up a good portion of my weekends. This weekend, I got it all done on Friday so that I could boycott the washer the rest of the weekend and have some fun with the kids.

#3. Brayden hasn't been 'allowed' to play outside in the winter yet. Last winter he was too young, not walking, and very sick for almost 6 weeks through Christmas time before we finally got to the bottom of things. This winter his immune system isn't yet back up to par after his heart surgery, so he has been sick pretty much every 2nd week since September. Well, right now he is HEALTHY... Ok, so a slight runny nose but otherwise he's good to go, and it has been almost 6 months exactly from his surgery so his immune system is almost back to 'normal'. He has energy, and he loves burning that energy. I bundled him up in his snowsuit, and we all took off outside to play on the huge snow hill on our street. The joy in his eyes was amazing, he loves the snow and loves the cool air. It was a GOOD day.

I even managed to get a picture of my beautiful kiddos up on top of the snow hill. They ALL looked at me. At the same time. I know, it's a miracle... a Christmas miracle....



Aren't they just amazing? :) Tayla is 13 in March, Jackson turned 9 in November, Makenna turned 6 in November, and Brayden will be hitting the big 2 in April. I'm a proud mom, and truly blessed and extremely grateful for what I have.....

Sorry, no scrappy goodness to show you today, I just wanted to show off my kids :) LOL!!! I'll be back soon with some crafty stuff. ;)

Sorry, Peeps!!!!

I was whipped so hard I have whiplash to get this blog updated... Internet Explorer wouldn't let me on, so I downloaded Google Chrome and it logged me in first try! YAY!!

So, almost 2 months has passed since I last blogged... what's been going on? Hmmm getting ready for Christmas, which includes shopping and baking and wrapping and hiding stuff and lying to my kids.... what about you? LOL!

I've gotten a little bit creative as well, you can find anything that I do for LIITD on the site's blog, which Lori has been updating DAILY for the month of December with some amazing Christmas ideas and some stories as well. I love her posts, especially in December... please hop on over and check them out, I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

We have welcomed Norine onto the LITTD Creative Team as well! Super excited, I have always loved Norine's style and the amazing creations she has shown us over time. Nola has also taken a bigger part on the CT, and I am just thrilled to be around such great gals. :)

Hmmm ok, so this is still acting wonky for me and won't let me turn words into links... So I will totally archaic and put some ACTUAL links for you to follow... I can just hear the gasps from everyone right now, including Lori... (I'm working on it, lady, give me time haha!!)

LIITD BLOG: http://loveisinthedetails.ca/blog/

NORINE'S BLOG: http://www.thevelvetlemon.blogspot.com/

NOLA'S BLOG: http://www.nolawedlake.com/

LISA'S BLOG: http://redmomscraps.blogspot.com/

I am getting scrappy this weekend, as a matter of fact... and will have something to show you SOON, I promise!! Hope everyone is having a fun time getting ready for the holidays... and remember, it's not about how many gifts you give or get, it's about spending time with those you love and making new memories....