February Photo Challenge

Evie hosted the photo challenge for this month. The theme was RED. I wanted to come up with something that wasn't Valentine's related so here's my entry:



Evie's photo for the challenge

I can't believe how fast the weekend flew by. It seems like a big blur amd I've been down with the flu ever since. I woke up Sunday morning with a head cold that has become the flu with fever, chest congestion, head cold, aches and just feeling yucky! It didn't helo that Sunday was a very busy day and I was on the go from morning til night. After Church we had a Musicale so we had to stay in TO for that. The Musicale was at 1:30 and finished at 2:45 then Spencer and I had to rush off to Brampton to a Divisional Youth Band concert there. We got home around 6 and I crashed on the couch where I've been ever since. (it's not such a bad place to be as we've been getting hit by another snow storm.)

The fund-raising crop was a huge success and the kids make quite a bit of money. Spencer and Jennifer (Pat's daughter) came down with us to set up and help get the meal ready. They did a great job peeling potatoes, peeling carrots, setting the tables, moving tables around, and helping where ever they were needed. They plaed a solo each for the ladies before they had to leave at 1 p.m. to go to a concert in the afternoon.

I didn't get much done at all. I managed to get my scrapping stuff out and layed on the table, and read a magazine. The rest of the time Pat and I were running around cooking, cleaning up, or getting tea and coffee.

At the end of the day, when everyone had left (except Deb, Joanne, and Lillian) we couldn't resist the trampoline any longer and had to get on. Man! That was fun, but very tiring. I forgot what a work out that was. I think I need one of those in my basement (well, OK, not the basement because I would have a headache from my head hitting the ceiling!) It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard!

Well, it's almost midnight and I'm exhausted. It's been a long day of doing last minute things for the crop tomorrow. Tomorrow is the fund-raising crop for the Divisional Youth Band. The food is bought, the bags are packed, my stuff is ready. It will be a very busy day. Spencer and Jennifer (Pat's daughter) will be coming along to help out for the morning. Then they have to leave around noon as they have a concert in the afternoon. They have no idea what's in store for them. They will be peeling potatoes, setting tables, carrying bags, playing solos, and doing dishes. I think by the time noon hits they will be so glad that they have to leave.

Tonight we were at Cathy and Don's place. It was Don's 50th birthday celebration. We went skating outside, in the extreme fridgid temperatures ... OK, I didn't go, but everyone else did. I was the hot-chocolate runner. I stayed in the warm car and went to Tim's to get everyone a hot chocolate.

Afterwards we went back to their house and played a game of pictionary. It's bee a long time since we've played that. I was amazed at how well the boys did. It seemed like they were all on the same wave length. Maybe because they're brothers they were of one mind. It was all very strange.

Anyway, it's been a long, but fun day and I have a busy day in front of me tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to waking a 14 year old up after him only having 6 hours sleep. Yikes!

I finally learned how to do it!

I've been trying forever to figure out how to customize a header for my blog. Finally! After searching the net, I cound an easy Dummies Guide that even I could understand.

I know it's basic, but now that I know how to do it, I will try and get creative and come up with something better for the header. ...although, what could be better than a picture of the gorgeous men in my life?

What are you giving up for Lent?

OK. I know. I'm not catholic, and neither are a lot of you who visit my blog.

Yesterday when I was scrapping at the store, two of the girls, Christine, and Marian where talking about the challenge they were about to emark on. They were going to give up Scrapbook shopping for Lent. A quick vision passed through my head of the mounds and mounds of stuff sitting in my room at home. Knowing that I really don't need anything I jumped all over this. I decided to join them. 40 days of no scrapbooking purchases. Can I do it? I think I can ... I think I can ... I think I can ... (I did manage to convince them that we should each have one day of reprive where we can make some purchases ... because while I'm away in Florida I might see something that will be too good to pass up ... but we can't use it until the challenge is over.)

This all sounds well and good, doesn't it? The funny thing is that we shopped like crazy to stock up on what we will need over the next month and a half. So ... where's the challenge in that?

A funny cat video

Since David and Evie both posted cat videos, I thought I would share this one that makes us laugh every time we see it.

Things on my mind today

I don't normally get stressed out easily. Today, however, I'm feeling it. I've had a tension headache for a few days and last night it went into a migraine. This morning when I got up I had to take some migraine medication right away. Hopefully things will ease off soon.

Things on my mind:
-Matthew. He's exhibiting a lot of anxiety right now. We (he or I) don't know why, but life isn't easy for him right now. I talked to his SERT (special education resource teacher) yesterday about it and he's going to see what's going on, if anything, in his classes. I'm so thankful for the staff at the school. They really watch out for him and do whatever they can to make life easier for him. They all like him and want him to be successful. I'm sure this is a big source of my own stress right now.

-I need to get out to the paint store and pick up paint. I want to get started on the work that needs to be done around here, as well as other fix-ups. I wish I could just wave a wand and have it all done.

-I have two scrapbooking events that I'm organizing right now. The first one is a fund-raising crop for the Divisional Youth Band's trip to Calgary. That one I'm organizing with Pat and will be on Februray 24th. The second is the retreat that's coming up in April.

- I need to read a chapter today for Bible Study tonight. So far, I'm not really into this book that we are doing right now.

-I'm doing good with my excersise routine. I'm on the treadmill three times a week for at least 40 minutes each time.

Friday's Feast

I'm trying a different Meme today. It's called Friday's Feast. Each Friday they post different questions for you to answer. This week's required too much think on my part, so I'm going with an older version.

Feast Seventy-Eight
Friday, January 27, 2006

Appetizer
Choose one: Popcorn, Pizza, Pretzels, Peanuts, or Pasta.
Pretzels

Soup
Describe your personality in terms of a particular vehicle.
I hate to say it, but probably a mini van ... practical and maternal

Salad
If you won a shopping spree, from which store would you want it to be?
I would love a shopping spree from a Camera store like Henry's

Main Course
Which television show re-runs do you enjoy watching?
Everybody Loves Raymond

Dessert
If you could look into the future, how far down the road would you like to see? 10 years? 100 years? A million
10 years down the road would be good. I could see my boys as men and see if I'm doing it right or if there's things I need to be doing. It sould be nice to know if all this worrying is for nothing.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I did with my snow day yesterday 1. stayed in my PJs all day. Actually, half way through the day I changed into the new comfy ones that John gave me for Valentines' Day. 2. Drank lots of tea. 3. had the fireplace on 4. shovelled out part of the driveway. (everyone took a turn) 5. made everyone bacon and eggs for breakfast (aren't I a good mom!) 6. watched TV 7. surfed the internet 8. listened to the boys argue over who was getting the computer next 9. put some candles on in the evening (if you know me well, you know that this isn't something I do often,) 10. scrapbooked. I made two layouts. 11. I ignored housework all day 12. except for making supper which I had simmering in the crock pot all afternoon. 13. enjoyed the company of my boys all day. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) 1. Maggie 2. Jenny 3. Amy

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Snow Day!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful.
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

I've been singing that song since yesterday. I love a good snow storm! About noon yesterday we started getting a lot of lake effect snow and then the storm moved in over night. It's still snowing slightly so now the dig out begins.

We are all excited today. School is cancelled, John is working from home, and I'm doing what I normally do ... hey, that doesn't seem fair! I think I deserve a snow day too! I'm still in my PJs and that's how I plan on staying. Hopefully I will get some scrapping done today.

I love snow days. The homework is done, the boys are happy, and the housework can wait. I think Matt has it right ... he's still sleeping.

Happy Valentines' Day everyone.

We aren't planning on doing much. I bought a pork roast to do for dinner, The best way to their heart is definately through their stomaches! John gave me a new pair of fuzzy, cozy, PJs. Perfect for today. I think I may go up and put them on.

Did you feel that rush of air that just went past??? I think that was my weekend. Apparently today's Monday. Somehow, I seem to be missing some time. The weekend was such a whirlwind.

The boys were off on Friday so we packed up and headed to London. The plan was that I would go early in the day, and John would take the Go Train from work to Cathy's and go to London with them as we were going to do some work on Mom and Dad's house over the weekend.

Well ... you know what they say about the best laid plans. Ha!

We arrived in London in the afternoon and went straight to the Snow Tubing place. The boys went tubing for a couple of hours. I would have loved to have joined them, but I didn't have any snowpants so I sat in the chalet instead, sipping on hot chocolate and watching them through the window. The enjoyed it, but Matthew said that it wasn't long, or steep enough. He didn't last as long as the other two so he joined me in the chalet for a while. I was able to get some pics, although, I wasn't able to get too close, so I had by 300 zoom lens on the camera.

From there we went to my parents' house where I stood in the cold to try every single key that I brought with me (in a large baggie, because I didn't know which one was their's ... my parents are in Florida for a few months). No luck. No key would fit. I called John to see where on the road they were, and he was just getting into Brampton on the Go Train and said that they weren't leaving until around 8 o'clock. Great! What was I supposed to do with three boys for 4 hours.

We ended up having some supper and then going to a movie. Matt really wanted to see An Epic Movie and said "it's really funny mom, it's a comedy." Fine. We went. It was terrible. It wasn't funny, and it wasn't an appropriate movie for children at all. Matt was the one who suggested that we leave. We did. I was very proud that he came to that conclusion on his own. I was also very proud of the discussion they had about the movie, and how bad it was in the car.

After killing some more time at Chapter's, John phoned and said that they had arrived. Yay! We could finally get in to the house.

Saturday was spent painting trim in Mom and Dad's house. Three coats! We got the boys to help. There was a little more playing, and not enough working from them. They were writing messages to each other.

After they took a break (from all that playing) we spent too much time trying to fix their mistakes, so we gave them the rest of the day off.

We finally finished around 9 p.m. and packed the boys up to head back to Oakville, leaving Cathy and Don with the mess. They were staying on for a few days to try and get some more done.

Yesterday I was exhausted. After Church, we came home and did some running around Oakville, and trying to get things organized at home again.

Now, we need to paint our own house!!

Here's my Thursday Thirteen for this week. 13 of some of my recent layouts. I have to confess here, however, that a lot of these were scraplifted from online layouts, or inspired from sketches. I've tried to give credit where credit is due.

Thirteen Recent Scrapbook Layouts A scraplifted layout, but I don't know from where. From a sketch From a Becky Fleck sketch This was a scraplift from AmeliaJ http://http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1053960 From a Becky Fleck sketch (I think) This was from a sketch, but copied from Chris's rendition of it. http://http://www.scrappingbuddies.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=201 Another Scraplift, but I'm not sure from where. \ Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants