What wonderful weather we're getting. March is definately going out like a lamb this year. Today it is supposed to get up to 20 degrees Celcius, which is pretty fantastic for Southern Ontario in March. They say that April is going to be good too. Cameron loves this kind of weather. He loves to be outside riding his bike, playing in the gardens, hunting bugs, playing with his friends. When he comes home from school he walks in the front door and right out the back door.

Today I won't be able to enjoy the nice weather outside. Spencer has a Halton Junior Jazz Band concert in Burlington this afternoon. That means I need to pick him up from school just before lunch and take him to the concert. I don't mind because I love to hear the jazz band play. They are really quite good considering they are grade 7 and 8 students.

I've been bitten by the scrapping bug again. That's good and bad. Good for me and the mounds of pictures that I have sitting on my desk, but bad for the house. I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to keep the house somewhat clean.

So last night I went out for dinner with my two sisters. It was so nice to be able to sit and relax and chat without anyone else around ... no kids, no husbands, ... just us! I couldn't believe how fast the time went. During dinner, I got a phone call from home. As soon as the phone rang, I knew who it was, and why. Sure enough, it was Matthew. At 15 he still needs me to solve problems. He and John were having a disagreement about homework, and he was starting to get anxious. Fortunately, after a few quick words, things were happy on the homefront again and I could eat my dinner guilt free.

This weekend I participated in an on-line crop (when I was home, and not distracted by other things!) I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but one I managed to do this one.



The challenge was to use one sheet of either patterned paper or cardstock, a title, one picture, and one embellishment. Let me tell you, it was a much bigger challenge than I thought it would be.

I'm so excited. My sister, Joanne is in town and the three of us sisters are going to go out for dinner tonight. I should be off the computer right now getting myself ready, but I'm not ... I'm here, LOL! It's been a while since she was in town. Hopefully no one has to rush off tonight and we can have a nice leisurly dinner.

I've been having a lot of fun with my pictures from Music Camp. I really don't know why it too me so long to bring them out. They make me laugh everytime I look at them.
I did this layout last weekend.



Every year at camp there seems to be a pie-in-the-face thing going on. This year, it seemed to be someone's birthday each day (whether that person knew it or not!) As soon as you heard the birthday song, you knew someone was going to get it in the face. Once you had it, you could rest easy because you wouldn't get it again. I was fortunate in that on the second day it was my "birthday" but they forgot the whip cream so I got a jug of water over my head instead. At least I was able to relax the rest of the week. I tell you, these adults are worse than kids!!!!

I have finally pulled out some pictures from last summer to scrapbook. I've been putting these off for a long time now, why, I don't know. They are really fun pictures. They are pictures of Junior Music Camp that we go to every summer. Two of the boys are now too old to attend as Campers but I still go along as a cabin counsellor while Cameron is a camper.

It is always just so much fun. I think the faculty and counsellors have more fun than the campers. There is always a lot of practical jokes going on back and forth. I don't even bother putting on my make-up all week or trying to do my hair because I know that an hour later I would just need to have another shower.

Each day there is a different theme that the whole day revolves around. On this one particular day it was Prehistoric Day and there was a challenge where the kids all had to dig for dinosaur bones. It was a huge mud pit that two of the men had spent the day making, and then they buried a ton of plastic bones. When I was going through these pictures I was killing myself.

Look at the look on the boys' faces!


The kids had so much fun (except the boys!)


As you may have guessed, the adults had to get involved!


I fought real hard, but I lost in the end!


Call me crazy, but I can't wait for camp this year. I need some good practical joke ideas!

We're back home.

Our week in Panama City Beach has unfortunately come to a close. No one was too thrilled to leave the beautiful sunny, warm weather there to return to the cold ... especially Cameron.




My parents rent the same place every year in a condo complex called the Gulf Highlands. Their unit backs onto a large green space that has an 18 hole mini golf course, suffleboard, and swimming pools. Across the road from the complex is the beach and the complex's beach house and pools. It's a great place to spend a week.



Of all the years that we've gone there in March, I think this year had to be the best for weather. It was in the 70's everyday and sunny. I don't think we got any rain (except for maybe at night.) We spent a lot of time on the beach and swimming in the pool. We didn't do too many tourist things except going to explore the Florida Caverns. The Caverns were a lot of fun to do. The boys really enjoyed it, but we didn't see any bats .... too bad! We also went back to ride on the Vortex again since it was such a hit. I actually tried to get by Cameron this time, but he wouldn't let me pass. He was pretty proud of himself.

Before heading out of town, we had to make a stop to purchase two more hermit crabs. We both agreed that we like the small ones better, so we adopted to small ones that are now names Junior and Herman. Hermit and Kermit (the two we already had) seem to really like their new friends.

Panama City Beach must be party central for the college students who are on their Spring Break. The roads, beach, stores, restaurants are all filled with the students who are out to have the time of their lives. We are surrounded by about three units that are filled with spring breakers. Each night they have been outside and carrying on until about 4 a.m. I would have thought that they would have been passed out all day, but they are still up by 11 a.m. and at it again. How do they do it? While I don't want to rain on their good times, they are doing it at the expense of the rest of the people (most who are retired). It has kept us awake too. Last night they were much better, however, and were quiet by midnight. I believe that security must have come around and had a word with them.

Yesterday was another beautiful day here. It was about 74 degrees. We fried ourselves on the beach and then went go carting. We have to go back to the Vortex every year. The boys look forward to it. Cameron was so excited because this year he was tall enough to drive his own car. I was a little nervous, so I rode behind him the whole way. When we finished he couldn't wait to tell John that he beat me and that he wouldn't let me pass him. John Matthew and Spencer were racing each other the whole way so we didn't see them at all.

Afterwards, we had to hit the souvenier shops to check out all the hermit crabs. Cameron's plan is to bring two more home with us.

We love the March Break!

Well, were here in Florida for the March Break. We picked the boys up from school at noon on Thursday and left after a quick trip home to drop off backpacks and winter coats.
21 ½ hours later we arrived in Panama City Beach. We drove straight through. It was 9:30 a.m. Friday when we arrived.

The boys never mind the drive. Why would they? They’ve got their cozy back of the van where they can watch movies, play game cube and game boys. It’s like they are still home!

The weather here had been great since we arrived. It’s been in the upper 70’s. We’re staying with my parents. They have a townhouse condo. In the back is two pools, an 18 hole minigolf course, and shuffleboard. So far, we’ve made use of everything. The beach is across the road from the complex.

I’ve taken some pictures to share here, but for some reason the camera isn’t formatting the card. Hopefully we’ll get something figured out.

What a gorgeous day. It is sunny and supposed to go up to plus 4 degrees Celcius. I think a walk may be in order this afternoon. I won't have trouble convincing Cameron to come along with me.

Well, hockey is done for us this year. Both Spencer and Cameron played for the last time yesterday. There are two more games, but they will miss them because of March Break and us being away. I had my camera there of course, trying to get a good picture. I don't know what it is, but it's almost impossible to get a good shot of them on the ice in the arena. It doesn't stop me from trying and trying again every year! While I will miss the arena, I will be happy to have a few quiet Saturdays until baseball starts up at the end on April.

I scrapped yesterday! I was motivated and inspired. I saw this ad and searched around to find the perfect pictures to go with it.


Here's the layout I came up with to go with it. It was so fun working on beach pictures while it was hovering around the freezing mark outside. I really love the way it turned out ... I know it's partly because I love doing any water pictures.

So yesterday was the big performance for the Jazz Band up in Collingwood. The band played very well. The Music Fest competition is for highschools, but the Junior Jazz (which is grade 7 and 8) goes to it every year. The adjudicator said that they were one of the best bands he had heard in the competition. (I think so too, but then I'm supposed to think that!) Spencer played a solo and did it very well. Unfortunately the sound person didn't get the mic turned on and so you couldn't hear him very well.

This weekend we don't have a lot on other than hockey and Church so I hope to get a lot of scrapping done. I also need to organize some things for our Florida trip. We leave on Thursday and I haven't even thought about it. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Here's a recently completed layout. I'm finally getting to all the CKU pictures that I have in my pile. When we were in Stamford, we found this very cool 50s diner on the first night there. The food was great, and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. It was called Lucky's. We loved it so much we had to go back again on our last night there.

The things we do for our kids!

Today Spencer is traveling up to Collingwood with the Halton Junior Jazz Band. They are participating in the regional competition there. John can't go due to work obligations (hate it when that happens!) so I was thinking that I wasn't going to go either. It's a two hour drive and I didn't want to make that trip alone. When I dropped Spencer off at the bus he said that he really wanted me to go. Can you say GUILT TRIP? So, it looks like I'm going to go. A friend of mine has very kindly agreed to go along with me. Thanks Joanne!!! The things we do for our kids!

I've allowed myself to get into a scrapping rut again. I find that happens when I don't get my things out and play at home. That has got to change. I'm also at the bottom of a pile of pictures that aren't particularily inspiring. Time to get the camera out and snap some pictures. That will all change soon enough, though. Next week we head out for the March Break. We always end up in the same place, at my parents winter place in Florida. I'm sure there will be lots of photo ops there.


These are some recently completed and scanned layouts that I did lately. This is my adorable nefew. He's such a doll. I did this for an ad challenge onScrapping Buddies. It ended up being nothing like the ad.

Ah! CKU! I loved going to this convention. I did this layout for a Becky Higgins sketch challenge on Cherished Scrapbooks

I gotta get my groove back!