packing, packing, packing

So it feels like I've been packing for two weeks now. OK, so I have been packing that long. Sunday I leave for my second annual girls scrapbooking vacation. We're going for a week. This time were heading to Tennessee to the Smokey Mountains. It's going to be a great week. Check out these pictures. This is the 7-bedroom cabin that we booked:

Doesn't this cabin look amazing? I'm sure if it's even half this nice we'll be happy.

So Sunday night there will be 16 of us sitting in one of the two hot tubs on the veranda over-looking the mountains.

Now I just need to finish my packing!

Our piano teacher, who has been teaching the boys for 7 years now has gone back to University full time. She wants to keep teaching the boys but felt that Spencer was now past where she could teach him and suggested that he move on to someone who can take him farther. She recommended someone to us.

On Saturday we met with the teacher that she recommended. During the interview we found out just how accomplished a pianist she is. She has done many concert tours and has many recordings. She totally impressed Spencer when she told him that one of her friends is Oscar Petterson. (she also told him that if he was good enough she would arrange for Spencer to play for him ... hmmmmm ... I don't think he's quite there yet!)

Anyway, she listened to him play. She thinks he's good (well, I do too, but I'm his mother!) and confirmed to me that he has perfect pitch (which to mean just means that he has a unique quirk that he could show off at parties!) She noticed some flaws in his playing and said that she's pretty picky and would fix those right away. She said that she would love to work with him and would even re-arrange some of her other students to fit him in.

Wow! This sounds all very cool.

So ... when we were getting ready to leave I asked her "By the way, what's your fee."


"$90 an hour." ...and that's her cheap rate. She charges $120 if you do it out of the conservatory!


We've got a lot of thinking and talking to do!

A Hot Time in the Old Town

Once upon a time there was a very lovely family who owned a trailer. It was a nice new trailer and they all loved it.

One day (let's call it Friday) they decided to go up to their brand new trailer to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation after a long week of school. The weather was perfect and everyone was happy.

After a night of relaxing by the campfire, and chatting with the next-door neighbours, everyone turned in. Everyone was tucked into their beds while watching Jay Leno (a favorite thing to do while tucked in their beds in their brand-new trailer.) Everyone was happy.

While watching Leno, the mother kept hearing some quiet banging noises that appeared to come from the camp's fix-it shop that was just behind the trailer. It was interferring with their enjoyment of one of their favorite things to do while in their brand-new trailer. They were able to put it out of their minds, and once again enjoy Jay. Soon, everyone was fast asleep, happy, warm, and content.

Bang, bang, bang. It was 1:15 a.m. "What is that?" the mother asked? The father arose from the bed to investigate a little further. He emerged, sleepily, from the trailer. "Holy smokes!" he yelled. "It's on fire! The Fix-it shop is on fire!"

Both the mother and the father sprang into action and ran over to the shop, meeting a couple of men who had also just discovered the fire, and had called the fire department. As the mother and father helped move some trailers away from the side of the shop, the mother had a strong desire to run and get her camera to take pictures of the event so she could scrapbook them later.

"There's propane and gas tanks in the shed." someone stated. "We need to evacuate the trailer park." The words snapped the mother out of her layout-planning thoughts, and the mother and father once again sprang into action.

Running back to the trailer, they woke up their neighbours alerting them to the danger. The father continued his heroic measures of saving the others in the trailer park while the mother ran to rescue her boys from their impending doom. She woke them and told them to grab their shoes and get out. The youngest (we'll call him Cameron) immediately jumped from his bed and grabbed a shirt and shoes and ran from the trailer (while still in his boxers.) The too older ones, who are teens (we'll call them Matt and Spencer), rolled over and went back to sleep. Once again, the mother woke them and told them of the danger they were in. Once again, they went back to sleep. The danger of death didn't spring them into action, but the threat of loosing their game boys if they didn't get out, did.

Soon the family, and all their neighbours, were safe in the field, far away from the fire, and far away from danger. All thanks to the heroic mother and father.

I've been doing a little playing!

Yes, I've been playing around a little with my new camera. I've read some of the manual and have been looking for things to try it out on. Unfortunately I haven't had very many willing subjects. I have, though, found some interesting pics on there when I've gone back to look ... like the inside of someone's mouth (ahem .... Cameron!) with what looked to be popcorn, or the remnants thereof! Ewwwwww!

Doesn't he look like such a happy child??? His mother dragged him away from his video games to play with her new toy. TOTALLY NOT FAIR!

Now this is more like it. A willing subject. I wonder if it had anything to do with the birds in the backyard???

Hopefully I will have lots of time to play around with it this weekend.

It's a very sad day!

Yes, it's a very sad day in our house. We are all sad that school has started up again. There were a lot of long faces and feet dragging around here this morning, mine included. We had such a wonderful, relaxing summer (well, at least August was anyway) that it was a shame that it had to come to an end.

The boys all seem to like their teachers and their classes. Matt and I had to go in first thing this morning to get his schedule straightened out as it was different from what his SERT had set up for him back in June. When we walked into the school I was gob-smacked by the amount of students lined up in the hallway leading up to the office for registration. I was glad that we went in last week to register. The guidance office was no different! It was packed full of kids trying to change courses. We were able to just breeze right by them and go right into see the SERT.

Cameron seems to like his teacher this year too. I hope she's as good as his teacher was last year.

I spent the day yesterday and today repainting, and reorganizing my scrap space. I can't beleive that I got it all done in two days. I even got the trim painted. It looks so much better. I might actually be able to get some scrapping done now! (no more excuses now!)

Oh! Guess what John bought me!!

Yes, that's right. After fighting it for so long, I'm finally taking the leap into the digital world. I'm a little nervous about it as I really loved working with film. Please tell me it won't take me that long to learn how to use it. I feel confident about taking the pictures, it is everything thing else that goes along with it. I'm also fearful that I won't be getting them printed as much either, and that they will end up staying on the computer and then the computer will crash and I will lose it all. See? This is why I fought the good fight for sooooo long.

Wish me luck!