february 5

Daddy's birthday. Poor guy had to go out and snow blow the driveway. At least it wasn't a foot but it was still enough! One of those chores I am so happy he does for me.

We got his presents all ready to go while he was working outside.

Cute cake!! Don't mind the leftovers of frosting which equaled part white and part orange frosting. Both of which were homemade just not enough of either to cover the entire cake. It worked and was delish!!

Here's the dining room table... are you sensing a theme yet??

Streamers photographed by Alex. Great angle.

I put up the signs and streamers the day before since he was going to be home on his actual birthday and we couldn't surprise him. He was quite surprised!!

hee hee... more Avenger fun.

On his desk!!

We decorated his chair!! BTW... check out the great Vikings quilt my mom gave to him Christmas 2012! It is so cute. I need to take better pictures of it.

Here are the big decorations! They were way bigger than I had planned on at the store and had to put them downstairs instead of upstairs. It worked though.

I put this on our bedroom door!!

Daddy and his girl.

Daddy and his boy.

Daddy can't believe that mommy is making him smile and blow the candles out!! But he did it.

And as a public service announcement....

GET THE FACTS AND VOTE YES FOR A NEW SCHOOL ON MARCH 11TH!

february vacation

It is once again that time of the year where we get a glorious week off. It has been a long time in getting here. It seems like FOREVER since we had Christmas break, and it really hasn't been. Must be all that snow that we had and continue to look at.

oh yeah... we are expecting more on Wednesday??!! I am not expecting it and would not be disappointed if it missed us. The only good part if it does snow, we won't miss school!!

I do believe we will be laying low and having some indoors kind of fun and laughs. We all need it. I see naps and lazy days ahead of us..... ahhhh looking forward to it. (and some scrapping!)

**SCHOOL UPDATE**-Sunday it was discovered that the boiler at the Junior/ Senior High School stopped working. NICE. More money thrown at this aging building as a band aid when what it really needs is a bulldozer and a wrecking ball! Best part about that... there was a reporter that was in town working on a story about our issue and was able to get a tour of the school and see first hand the condition of the school.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MY 

NEWMARKET PEEPS--

Do not give up! The No votes may have put a few more signs up but we are further ahead of them in educating the public. They are using scare tactics and misinformation to try to secure the No votes. It is heartwarming to hear talk of the discussions you have had to turn some of these No votes into YES votes just by giving them the TRUTH! Keep fighting the good fight!

The future of Newmarket rests on this vote.

Showing off the amazing drawing.

Reminder to vote yes on March 11th.

And all that has been done with our school since it was opened in 1925. It is more than time to build a new school!!

VOTE YES!!

we are living the movie 'frozen'

OMG!! Seriously does anyone need this much snow? Okay besides the obvious North Pole region and for the crazy people who enjoy this white stuff. I am officially over winter at this point. Do we really need a storm every week? I am answering a big fat NO!! Knock is off Queen Elsa! Think warm and loving thoughts for a bit for us.... thanks.

I took these pictures on February 19, 2014 because the sun finally came out!! BUT... I have to mention that at 3pm it was snowing like crazy again and gave us another three inches of the white crap. Here is Alex trying to figure out how to climb this snowbank in our front yard BEFORE school!! I was quick enough to stop him in his tracks. He was disappointed but the boy was not wearing snowpants!! Silly kid.

Our political signs that we keep having to uncover from the wonderful plows doing their jobs! Yup, this is our snowbank at the end of our driveway! Little tall.

Here is part of our backyard with the deck somewhat showing up there. And yes I know, it is in desperate need of a complete staining. Hoping this spring will be the time I can finish it and get it the way I want it.

Rest of the backyard. Can you see my poor clothes lines?? They are not able to be used at this point. Unless I hang baby stuff up which I do not have any of!!

Front of the house. The snow that is right up to the door, is on the top step of our entry! Good thing we have that side door to come and go.

These little twigs are the tops of my Rose of Sharon bush that is in the front flower bed by the road. That is the only part of that bed that is showing itself to the world. Where is spring??

This is a tree that was a small little seedling when my dad transplanted it from my brother's place in Maryland to our place. I was not planning on it getting so big. It needs to go but then again the whole front of the house needs major work. Hoping we can do some of it this year. We need some curb appeal!

Looking into the backyard from the side door. That's my garage door that's open. I took the pictures after I dropped Alex off at school and was heading into the house. Hopefully in the spring Alex can take advantage of that basketball hoop and do some practicing of his shots.

Standing in the same area but looking between the house and the garage. Just a bit of snow mounded up there. We have to keep it that way or the garage floods and the house ends up a tad damp when everything melts.

Yup. We are done. Good part is that warmer weather is on its way. As long as it isn't too drastic and we get flooding. Seems there is always something!!

And if you are a Newmarket resident....

VOTE MARCH 11TH

VOTE YES TO A NEW SCHOOL

IT IS THE ONLY OPTION LEFT

cough cough snarf ick gross

Why yes that has been me since the day after Christmas! I have been stuffy headed, runny nosed, coughing, aching and just plain old miserable. I spent two days laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing. Seriously could not motivate to do a thing. 

Thank goodness the kids were home or they would have been walking to and from school as this mommy was not functioning. It also helped since Kira could be my big time helper and feed me as well as Alex. She did awesome and I am so proud of her.

I am feeling much much better. Unfortunately I gave this head cold to my wonderful husband who was non too happy to receive my gift. I feel bad for him but he is also on the mend now. whew.

Of course we are getting better and are expecting a big old snowstorm Thursday into Friday of this week. oh the joys. We ventured out today to stock up because I was not in the mood to do it tomorrow (New Years Day) or the day of a storm. Been there, done that. Plus it is just going to get colder as the week goes on- brrrrrrr.

Kids go back to school on Thursday. I must say it hasn't been that bad of a vacation for them. There has been minimal screaming and fighting. That could have been because I was so deathly sick and didn't notice, but I'm taking it as they were actually able to enjoy each others company. Yup, I was loving my medicine that made me sleepy and dopey to the real world.

I am working on a small project that I hope to finish up sometime in the new year. Get it?? Since it is New Year Eve and all?? Sometimes I crack myself up. I do have some previous years projects that I need to post for your viewing pleasure as well. Hope to get on those tomorrow.

May you all enjoy the coming new year and the blessings which come with 2014!!

oh yes i did!!

Scrap that is. Get your mind out of the gutter... geez. :)

I have had the photos from the end of December 2008 (yes you read that right 2008!) pulled out from their box for a few months now (read that as about 6-8 months) and have been S L O W L Y working on them. I was going to pack them up and had actually put them back in their box when I stopped, slapped myself around a bit and pulled them back out. 

Let me explain the self beating and why it happened. I first must explain that I have not printed any pictures lately unless they were going into my Project Life album and the reason for that?? I have three photo boxes F U L L of pictures that I need to scrap. The dates on these boxes go from 2002 or 2003 until early 2012. That is a ton of pictures sitting there taunting me into putting them into albums. (this does NOT include the three other photo boxes of Walt Disney World vacation photos) oh the shame.

As I was putting this tiny pile of pictures away I was overcome with a massive amount of guilt. Seriously massive. Probably because I had to take down all three of the photo boxes full of pictures to actually get into the one box where these photos should be placed (chronologically speaking). Another part of it, may have been that for the past couple of nights, the kids have been taking their scrapbooks off the shelves and looking at them. Really looking at them and laughing at what they were like when they were smaller. Alex especially thinks it is funny of the things he used to do. Unfortunately, Alex only has about 5 albums and they are not completely done (enter in the three boxes of photos I have mentioned before) so he is feeling unloved. Major mommy sigh and enormous amount of mommy guilt.

So off the races I went. I am going to scrap. I am going to scrap for me. And not only for me, but for my kids. I am happy they have found enjoyment in what I have been working on for years. I don't want that to end. So here goes... I am scrapping!! These may not be magazine works of art using all the latest and greatest tools, embellishments and paper. But who cares?? As long as the memories are in the albums and not stuck in a box, that is what matters- to me and my kids.

This one is going into Alex's album as I had already done another page to put into Kira's album using other pictures taken the same day. My title is weak but that is what happens when you are using the scraps and are running out of letters. But let's remember- it is headed for an album and not a box. Happy mommy.

This one is so cute. Look at that happy face of childhood. Placing her written letter to Santa into the Santa mailbox at the post office. I can't believe she was so small and adorable. Now she is stunningly beautiful and I have the right to say that since I am her mom! Love my girl. The letter on the bottom of the page is what Santa wrote back to her. Love it!!

I hope to keep working on this pile and the three boxes. That should keep me busy for the next 100 years!!

me happy

My package from Scrapbook.com arrived on Thursday evening. Just in time for me to start working on dinner and getting Kira ready for the Daddy Daughter Dance! So not fair. I had to wait some more before I could tear open that special box but I was rewarded with the lovely goodies shown below!!

I am so happy to have them here with me. But a bit sad as I had ordered an embossing folder that is sold out and they were not sure when or if it would even be coming back in. So they credited my PayPal account for it. Wondering why it took me to email them that something was missing before they did that. Shouldn't that have been an automatic once they packaged up my stuff and realized they could not send it to me?? Oh well, I shall survive and no more waiting!! :)

Winter Storm Nemo has hit us and continues to blow and snow on us. I am sure it will be stopping sometime. Until then we are snowed in and comfy. Poor hubby is out snowblowing the HUGE drifts. They are over the top of the snowblower!! Our neighbors plow guy got stuck when the snow fell behind him and he couldn't reverse out of their driveway! Another guy had to come and plow him out!! Of course that meant pushing snow onto our side of the driveway for hubby to have to move. Somehow that always happens to us. Next house we will not be sharing a driveway with our neighbors. 

Off to clean off the desk in the hopes of actually being able to scrap something today. We'll see!

finding my groove again

I have been having some issues with being motivated lately. Not feeling the mojo of creating. Chores are done but only when absolutely necessary. My blog... so far behind. And I won't mention my Project Life blog that is crying out to be updated. 

I am thinking it is the winter time draining me. Short daylight hours and long nights. WHEN the sun shines it is not nearly as bright as I would like so I feel disappointed.

Then this happens.....

This amazing sunrise. Happened to capture it this morning. I LOVE the pink in the blue sky. I love the snow clinging to the branches and blanketing everything. So fresh. So full of possibilities. 

This will help and it is now my wallpaper so I can look at it when things don't look so bright.

Find  your inspiration and grab it firmly with both hands. We can survive winter.

project life 2011- weeks 11-15

Next group to share. Then I'll have to get back to taking pictures of them and posting. I'll add it to my list of things to do!

Week 11-

Week 12-

Week 13-

Week 14-

Week 15-

So happy that Kira's room is done. Should be finishing up Alex's after breakfast. Then I can work on laundry and the rest of the house. It's been suffering due to the concentrated effort on the kids rooms. I must say it does feel good to rid the house of the excess stuff. It will feel even better to donate as much as we have. Hoping to give most of it to the Rec Center Preschool Playgroup. I know the kids would like that as they both enjoyed all the toys that were there.

Off to have something to eat... I'm hungry.

project life 2011- weeks 7-10

Four more weeks coming your way!

Week 7-

Week 8-

Week 9-

Week 10-

Didn't do much yesterday. The day got away from me. Hoping to make today a better one. Would love to get Kira's room done. It's that never ending project that won't go away but needs to be done. The hard part is really done. We did get the trash out, 7 bags of stuffed animals are in hibernation and heading to the garage loft and the desk is stained and in the house. Need to rearrange the room and get things placed where they need to go.

oh yeah... and tackle the closet. That's very scary and I am not looking forward to that. Me scared.

Have a super one!

project life 2011- weeks 4-6

Posting a few more weeks. I'll have to take more pictures of the other weeks soon!! Enjoy and have a great fourth of July! Be safe.

Week 4 of 2011-

Week 5-

Week 6-

I'll post more next time I am here. Still working on Grandma Clark's desk in the garage. I should have only one more coat of stain to put on. It is looking so wonderful. I know she would be happy. I'm sure Kira will enjoy it as well.

project life 2011- first three weeks

I have been doing my Project Life for 2011 and took pictures of the first 15 weeks that I have completed. Then they sat in my computer for a bit. Now they are edited and ready for display. I'll do a few at a time since I am a bit busy to actually scrap.

I am doing Project Life as a Picture a Day with journaling. I love that this kit can be used in so many different ways. Click the Project Life banner on my blog and you can read all about it. I am thinking of maybe scanning and taking pictures of all the kids art to create a couple of digital books for them using the Project Life templates. We'll see how that works for me.

Anywho... this is Week 1 of our 2011 album.

Week 2.... yup, we had A LOT of snow this year. Many snow days were recorded.

Week 3... Alex had a bruise between his eyes. He did battle with a wall at preschool and lost. I love his sad little face he put on for me to take the picture. He smiled so big right after.

Promise to post more. I love using this as a way to record some of the small things I may not actually scrapbook and would definitely forget over the years. How else could I remember their lunch boxes this year? Or that I am totally in love with my label maker from my parents??

Seriously... how did I live without one for so long?

See you around the bend!

cruel april fools joke

Yup... it happened at 5am today... the phone call from the superintendent saying no school today due to SNOW! Yes snow on April 1st. No joke. Here's what fell and landed on my parents car since they are visiting this week. Not a whole lot but it was quite heavy when the kids would have been on the buses. Better safe than sorry. Add another day onto our school year.

All this snow means my Book Fair is still going on! I was so hoping to have it done with and ready to be shipped out. Nope. One more day on Monday. But I really did need the extra sleep I got (after answering the phone)

During the Book Fair, the art teacher places artwork from every student in grades 1-5 onto the walls of the school. It is amazing to see so much talent and how proud the students are of their work. On Family Night, she runs a scavenger hunt where you have to find different things/ objects/ color combos ect in the art in the whole school. It gets pretty competitive too! All in good fun.

Here is Kira's artwork that is on the walls. Not too shabby. She loves to draw.

Here is the picture I have been wanting to post but have had no energy to post!! This is the sight that you see when you walk into the library. So many great books all available for purchasing! No wonder the kids go into sensory overload and forget their library voices!

Here is the Fair in the cafeteria/ gym for Family Night. I was standing at the cashier/ check out area. Lots more space to spread it all out and make it pretty! My wonderful fabulous hubby was so helpful that night in keeping the stock levels full and helping people find books and getting it all back into the library while I cashed out the three registers! He is amazing. Not sure what I would do without him (and never want to find out!)

This is from the cafeteria door entrance. The front table was all the books that were in the flier that was sent home with the students. Makes it easy when the parents come in and say... it was in the flier!! The second table back is the teacher baskets full of books the teachers would love to have in their classrooms. We emptied a few of them on Wednesday! So happy when the parents come in and want to help the teachers and the classrooms. Love it!

Today we have been pretty lazy. At least I have. I have finished folding laundry that has sat since I have been so tired at night. And almost found my floor in my office. I am hoping to actual sit and scrap.

Off to put in some Pirates of the Carribean. Think I'll start with one and work my way through. It seems like a Johnny kind of day. Hoping the rum isn't always gone in your neck of the woods!