Alive and kicking...

Life is tres busy but I'm popping in for a minute to post some new layouts.

Brendan has his first game of the season tomorrow. My brother is supposed to come up and see them. Fun! We're also getting ready to send out the invites for his 8th birthday birthday!! My big boy!

We celebrated my nephew's first birthday and my Dad's 60th birthday on Thanksgiving Day. It was too much fun. I don't think I got any good pictures but the memory is definately in my head for a long time to come. Keeghan was too cute as we sang happy birthday and he helped Grampa blow out the candles. I can't believe he is one already.

Olivia is 'star of the week' this week and gave a presentation today. I'm sure she did great. She was totally psyched about it. When I was her age, I would have been crazy with worry about having to stand in front of the class. She loves it! :)

Here are some recent layouts. Not much has been happening in the scrappy department. I'm averaging about 3 layouts per month and that is NOT cool.

So here they are:

Here comes Fall.....

I can feel it in the air and in my bones. I can see the leaves changing colour. I must admit that although I find the colours of Fall to be spectacular, I am somewhat of a pessimist when it comes to Fall. It ALWAYS makes me dread winter and the inevitable.

The kids have been keeping us super busy with their activities. Brendan has hockey several nights a week and soccer on Mondays. Joe just offered to be a co-manager with another Dad for B's team. You know, because he doesn't already do so much for the kids and their activities (he's Treasurer on the parent council, coaches soccer and helps out with a multitude of events in between all that). We're all so fortunate to have him in our lives - he's always there for us and he even goes beyond that. We're lucky. :)

Speaking of Joe, his birthday is Tuesday! Unfortunately, no one will be home that day until about 9:00 pm at night. So, the kids and I are going to surprise him with his bday celebration tomorrow. Daddy isn't allowed to do anything tomorrow except sit on the sofa and watch all the football he wants. We're cooking his favourite dinner and we've got his presents ready to go. And of course!! CAKE!!!!! My fave part! LOL

Olivia starts Brownies on Tuesday night. Which means, I start as one of the Leaders of her unit. I think it's going to be pretty cool. It's a lot of work but very gratifying. And the women I am leading the group with are really great - so it's nice to have a bond with some new ladies! I can't forget that her swimming lessons start this Friday as well!

I haven't scrapped much in two weeks (okay, nothing at all) but as soon as I post this, I'm going to scrap. I must scrap! I MUST! I've got the urge.

I leave you with 3 summery/bright/fun layouts that help me remember that hopefully summer will be back before I know it!

The first is with some American Crafts Moda Bella collection that I've been hoarding forever. I really love the colour scheme in these papers. Finally cut into it:

Next up are two layouts I created with MM's vacation line they put out this summer (drawing a blank on the name). Thanks Mel for the surfboard pp! It worked out great on one of my layouts!

That photo of Olivia and Joe is one of my faves of all time. :)

Forgot to mention that Olivia had a FABULOUS time with her friends last Sunday for her pj-themed birthday party (she even went so far as to tell me it was the best day of her life....so I guess we did good). We had thirteen 7 and 8-year-old girls here and we had lots of fun painting nails, making crafty signs for their bedroom doors, plaing games, dancing (I was shocked at the top 40 pop songs these girls could sing and do special dances to!) and eating CAKE! Ha! I was going to post pictures but I don't think I will (I will maybe blur faces when I do the layouts)....too many parents to ask if it's ok! Olivia's favourite gifts were the 3 webkinz she received (phew! I was worried there'd be more than that), her MP3 player and her new kitten. :)

Enjoy your Sunday everyone. Monday mornings come way too quick for the working moms!

Last day as 6....

...for this sweet baby girl!

Dear Olivia,
I find it so hard to believe that yet another year has flown by us. It's hard to beleive that you are turning 7 tomorrow. Tonight we were snuggling and I was giving you a bunch of kisses. You got up to go to bed and ran back and said "I don't want to stop hugging you." How I wish sometimes that I could freeze a moment in time for just a little longer. :)

This year has been wonderful for you. You are a straight A student for Grade 1. Heading into Grade 2, things are looking great again and I'm so very proud of you. Soccer, Brownies and swimming are on the top of your list for things to do. You are confident, persistent, intelligent, beautiful and surrounded by many, many friends. I hope you always have great friends in your life.

Tomorrow is your big day and your birthday party (12 girls plus yourself.....think of this time when your Dad and I are old and grey....!). I hope you have a wonderful day and it's a day you remember for a very long while to come.

And don't forget...Friday we go and get Buzz to bring home. You're going to be the best Mommy to your new kitty. :)

I love you my sweet baby girl! And any time you want to hang around for a few more hugs, no matter how big you get, I'm always here.

Love,
Mommy
xoxo

Yes! I'm alive!

Though I don't know for sure if anyone is wondering...perhaps I'm only talking to myself on my blog! LOL :)

Let's start things off with some layouts I created

recently :


And now a wee update on us:

Life's been busy - back to the routine of school, soccer/hockey/swimming/Brownies, volunteering for Joe and I, work......I'm tired just reading it. Our lives are very full and I'm grateful for that.

We're gearing up this weekend for Olivia's 7th birthday party. Incredible...7.....I'm speechless. She invited 12 girls and guess what? All can make it. Last year we invited 10 and only 5 made it so I thought maybe we were safe with the 12.....lesson learned. :) We'll have a great time though. Olivia wanted a pyjama party theme and I think Joe and I have come up with some cool stuff. Pictures to come after her big day!

School is off to a great start - Olivia is in Mrs. Hamelin's class (2/3 split) and Brendan is in a 3/4 split with Ms. Butler. So far so good. I've never met a teacher at their school that wasn't amazing or didn't come with glowing recommendations so here's hoping to a fun year. I've got some pictures to share of their first day in Grades 2 and 3:

That's it for me! Happy Friday!

"Pencil" Shout Out!

If you're here for the TPP blog hop, it's just below this post.

I'm feeling a tad bit guilty about the pencils that everyone is commenting on in my layout below. I wish I could say I thought of it myself but I was inspired by my good friend Melanie when we were scrapping together last weekend. She did a layout with pencils and I just had to try it.

So thanks Mel. :)

TPP 'Back to School' Blog Hop!

It's time for The Paper Passion's “Back to School” Blog Hop!

I still can't believe that it's time for the kids to head back to school! I am so enjoying the lazy days of summer. Don't make me pack lunches and help with homework already!! :) The kids are excited however so I guess that's a good thing!

There's lots of inspiration and creativity to be seen as you hope through all of the fabulous blogs!
The blog hop should have brought you here from Deanne's blog .

And after your stop here, you should be moving on to Dorrie's blog .

If you'd like to start at the very beginning of the blog hop and make your way through, please go to Nicole's blog .The blog hop ends once you've reached The Paper Passion's blog: http://thepaperpassion.typepad.com/my_weblog

Be sure to leave a comment on EACH blog participating in the blog hop and of course, leave a comment on The Paper Passion blog to be eligible to win one of two awesome prices from TPP!

Here's my layout:

Happy Blog Hopping! :)

Just under the wire....

I promised I'd be back with some layouts this weekend and it looks like I've made it in just under the wire! Vacation often lends itself to having more free time so I have scrapped a bit. Though being out with the kids and enjoy the weather (albeit crappy weather) is where I really wanted to be. Which in turn makes for some great shots to use on my layouts. :)
This first layout is with the yummy new BG Lemonade line and a huge Prima flower that I've been dying to use. I adore this picture of Livi:

This next layout showcases some of my fave pictures from this summer. I took these pictures of Joe and Olivia without them realizing it. They were enjoying each other so much while they build their moat! I also used tons of 'old' Scenic Route. It is still one of my favourite lines ever:
And finally, some more pictures of our day at the beach. Brendan and Livi have this ritual of searching for shells wherever we go. It's fun to watch. Used all of Sassafrass Lass' new line "Me Likey", except for the Jenni Bowlin alpha stickers:

Well, that's it for me for now. Back soon with some more layouts to share. :)

Happy holiday Monday to all of you who are off tomorrow!