Here and Now

I've got a woody and another bag to share

Hee hee, ;o) before you think that my title is inappropriate I'll start with the woody. My hubby was working his butt of outside cutting wood for the fireplace (while he's got a head cold non the less, he's a work-a-holic). He came across a nice tall dead tamarack tree that he was going to cut down when he heard a tapping sound coming from it. Lone behold he looked up and a wood pecker was having his way with this tree! It didn't matter that Darren was using the chainsaw and the axe and making tons of noise, this pecker was not moving. So needless to say this dead tree got an extra day added to it's miserable dead life because the woody would not move! ;o)

 

 

and here's my handsome hubby working his handsome little butt off :o)

He actually really enjoys doing this. He got a new bar and chain for his chain saw and it's like a brand new toy lol! And here is just a little of his efforts. He wanted me to take a pic of his little work horse, he's pretty proud of his trike.

Also, the girls have been LOVING their new tree house... and I don't blame them. I loved my tree house when I was a kid, my sister, brother and I spent many hours playing in it. Now if only I could get the girls to sweep and clean inside our house like they do in the tree house I'd be set! :o)

And last but not least I made another purse the other day. I think I must say that this one is my new favorite! It's soooo cute in person! I just love it! Pretty soon I'll be adding my bags as well as some scrapbook pages and cards to mine and my sisters etsy store so they will be available for purchase. Also, you'll be able to find super cute crafts like cards and scrapbook pages etc. for sale there that my sister has made too. SO watch for our store "Creations from the he{art}" coming very soon! :o)

 

I'm off to go sew while I wait for the internet guy to get here.... yay for highspeed! :o) chow!

October has come and gone... (long post, kinda picture heavy :o) )

WOW! Does anyone else feel like October just FLEW by?! Here I am, sitting at my computer, eating my 2nd (or maybe 3rd) bowl of goldengrams.... yum.... and I JUST now realized that it's November! Crazy! Time is flying by and I still have not posted any photos of the inside of our house... and I'm sorry to say they wont be in this post either... just because I'm too lazy to take any really... that's the only reason I can think of. Anyhow, I thought I'd share some photos from October with some tid bits of what's been happening.

I've been sewing like a mad woman lately, and LOVING it! I'm officially as addicted to fabric as I am to scrapbooking paper and stamps.... I'm mostly making purses and bags, but throwing in the odd thing here and there. My next projects are going to be some more purses, some camera strap covers (cuz mine is ugly and it needs to be pretty), some pencil crayon rolls... and much more. But for now I'll share a couple pics of some of the purses I did. Nothing too special or overly difficult. I plan on challenging myself with the next few.

The last one is my own wonky design... I named it the Madison bag cuz Madison is my first born and therefore my first bag haha, and my next bag will be.... the Phoebe bag :o) go figure... it's in the making right now and will be unveiled sometime in the next millennium :o)

wanna see the insides? They all have pockets, and after I took these photos the top one and the bottom one also got snap closures.

What else has been happening? Well, we were very lucky to have Lynn and Al and Krystal and Jason come for a visit over halloween. Me being the terrible person that I am I forgot to take photos of my girls dressed up before we headed out but I did happen to find a couple photos that I forgot I took at the school parade.

Madde was a "cat" spider, and a super cute one at that. I could not find a spider costume ANYWHERE in this HUGE city or online! Can you believe that, NOBODY makes a spider costume and that's what she wanted to be so bad! So... I made one. What do ya think? lol! She loved it! I had it fixed so that when she lifted her arms ALL of her legs came up! :o)

please excuse the crapy photo, I just bought myself a new external flash and I'm still learning how to use the thing... Now onto my sweet, darling little Phoebe. She wanted more than anything to be a vampire! Neither one of them asked to be a princess or anything else that's cute and cuddly, nope, I had a spider and a vampire! And Phoebe was a freaky looking vampire because of her already tanless, pasty white skin... yikes.

Of course before halloween arrived we did the usual pumpkin carving. And for the first time ever Darren got his hands in there too (for about 2 minutes) can't you tell by his face how much he LOVES getting his hands all gooey and sticky hahaha!

 

From what I could tell the girls liked cleaning them out about as much as Darren did :o)

And the finished projects.....

Aren't they the cutest!?

I also decided this year that we needed a MAJOR update on our family photos. So we took a new one. It was kind of last minute, and only took a minute and I love how they turned out! However, I'm not going to share the one that we decided to use, because most of the people that read my blog will be getting it in the mail soon :o) I will share this one however, because, of course right after I clicked the last photo little miss Phoebe let out a huge fart! So I quickly clicked again lol!

OH! Yesterday I took the plunge and decided to start one of my new years resolutions early. I joined a gym! I signed up for a spa lady membership and I start Tuesday! I'm super excited! I think it's gonna be so fun!

One last thing before I go. You may remember a year ago, I posted that I was soooo excited to have shot my first ever buck! All by myself, one shot, one beautiful deer and a years worth of jerky. Well I finally got him back from the taxadermist. He's on the far left in this photo (I guess you do get 1 photo of my place ;o)) The fact that the rug in front of the fire place is not straight in this photo is driving me CRAZY but I'm going to leave it alone. And all the black stuff around the fireplace is smoke damage, it's not that noticable in person, but the lovely flash makes it stand out... oh well :o)

That's all I've got for you for now, be sure to keep checking back, you just never know when I may update next. ;o) 

The new pad

I just wanted to share a few quick photos of the new place I took the other day. Darren and I were outside fixing up the girls' new tree house and I figured I'd snap some photos of the outside of the house. I'll try and remember to get some shots of the inside of the house soon too.

 

 

and here is a shot of the girls' new house :o)

So as you can see we made it, we're all moved in and I'm 85% unpacked. Just a few more boxes left, gotta put up some more pictures and shelves and I'm waiting on my new master bedroom suite that I ordered the other day. The girls are adjusting great and loving their new school. They've both already made friends and love having their own rooms. I am LOVING being in a house, you will not see me moving back into a mobile any time soon that's for sure. We've been using the fire place like crazy which keeps Darren busy cutting wood. And I plan on getting back into my scrapbooking as soon as I can get to all of my stuff. Anyhow, there's a quick update on how things are going. I'll be back soon to post again. 
 
 
 

Happy Blog-aversary to me!

Wow! Talk about some major blog neglect! I've left my blog for a few weeks before but I think that this is the longest I've ever neglected it for! Lots has happened since my last post, LOTS and I don't have enough time in the world to write about it all so I'll do a little short form posting for some and move on :o)

June high points:

* The girls both finished school with flying colors! Madde made the honor roll in EVERY subject and for that she got a medal in front of the whole school!

* Right after school let out my wonderful mother in law took the girls for a week and Darren and I had some "alone time". We took the bike and went to my sisters in Edson and then through Jasper and around, it was beautiful!

July high points

* Lots of camping, with my family and with my sister and the kiddos. Chrystal and I decided it would be fun for just the two of us to take all our kids and go camping together, and it was fun! We spent lots of time at the beach.

* The girls and I spent some time down south visiting friends and family, unfortunately it was for my aunty Fayes funeral. She will be greatly missed.

* We spent some time in Kelowna visiting family and went to Darren's cousins wedding. It was HOT and beautiful! We took the kids go carting and to the enchanted forest. I always love our BC trips when it's all about us, no work, no bills, just family and fun!

August was filled with more visiting, more camping, more going here there and everywhere. I have a terrible memory, which is why I should really keep a journal for notes lol, maybe that will be a new years goal :o)

September has been lots of fun and busy too. The beginning of the month was spent celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday. We planned a surprise camping trip for him which worked out wonderfully. My sister from Idaho and my sister from Edson, my brother, my Dad's best friend, me and all our families drove down to the Cardston area and surprised my Dad, and he was SURPRISED! It was a lot of fun and great to see everyone!

The girls started grade 1 and grade 3! Man I feel old when I say that. I can't believe that both of my girls are in full time school now! They are loving it and doing awesome, already getting 100% on all their assignments and tests! We're so proud of both of them!

The most exciting thing that's happened this month is that Darren accepted a new job. We're going to be moving to Edmonton! We actually pick up the u haul tomorrow, so this month has been busy to say the least. Getting the girls in school, packing, changing addresses and what not, making trips back and forth to Edmonton, we made a trip to Calgary, etc. etc. We were supposed to be getting the truck today but some unplanned circumstances changed that.

So there you go, a very short form update of what's been happening here. I'll try my best to keep more up to date once we get settled in. I plan on sharing more of what's going on with my new business venture (there's a possibility of me doing some schooling coming soon), I'm really really really hoping to get back into my scrapbooking, I sure do miss it. I'm going to do more sewing and card making as well and I'll be sharing it all here unless I decide to create a crafting blog... knowing me I will :o)

Anyhow, I apologize for the lack of posting, I'll do my best to keep this up to date. TTFN!

a fishing we will go

It is definitely that time of year again. Time for fishing, and camping, and all that fun stuff! Monday night after super we took the girls out to the neighbors pond to do a little fishing. After only a couple casts Madison had a fish on, unfortunately she didn't get it out of the water, it jumped off right at the dock! Shortly after that I let out my first cast and hooked a nice one, I let Phoebe reel that one in and she thought that was pretty cool!

 

They were biting pretty good all night! Not long after that one Madde landed another one! She was soooo excited!

 

 

 

Of course after about an hour or so of fishing, the girls got a little bored, so they decided to spend some time running around the pond and playing in the mud.

 

 

 

While the girls played around Darren tried his hand at fly fishing. Unfortunately we couldn't figure out what flies they were after, so he didn't catch anything, but it's sure fun watching him try.

 

 

Now I'll leave you with one last shot of my baby girl, looking oh so cute :o) chow!

So much to talk about, so little time...

wow, talk about being busy! Ever since easter we've been just go go go! Last I posted was that hubby and I were headed to Cuba, and we did go, from the 9th to the 17th of May. It was AMAZING! I have some great pics from there, that I'll post in a separate blog post later because I just don't have enough time right now.

The girls are just about done school, and with that it's been busy for them too. They've been doing speeches, testing, and lots of field trips. Tomorrow is track and field, on the 8th, 15th and 17th Phoebe has field trips, then she's done school and Madde will be finished on the 26th. Crazy, I can't believe that in the fall Phoebe will be in grade 1 and Madde will be in Grade 3!! They're also just about finished up with swimming lessons, there's only 2 classes left, and knowing them, they'll want to go right back in again.

As for me, I've started kickboxing classes. I go every Monday and Wednesday from 9:30-11:30am and I LOVE it! Wow, what a work out! I went there the first day thinking it was going to just be another aerobics class, and boy was I wrong! I walk out of there every time feeling like every muscle in my body is tight and sore and it RAWKS! It's a nice mixture of kick boxing, circuit training, cardio and core exercises. I'll be doing that until the end of June and then we'll see what happens from there.

This past weekend I went to a scrapbooking retreat with my sister at a lake about an hour north of here called Pigeon Lake. It was GREAT! it always is! We went last year as well and decided to make it an annual get away together, so we'll be going again for sure! I hadn't scrapbooked in months so it was much needed lol! I actually managed to finish 5 pages for my album and 1 for Chrystals :o) It was a great time, the food is always amazing and I also managed to win a prize for being the LOSER at musical chairs lol!!

Now this weekend comming up we're having Phoebes 6th birthday party. I still can't believe she's 6! Her birthday was actually on the 27th of May but because I had already planned the retreat with my sister a few months back we had to bump Phoebe's party to this coming weekend. She doesn't seem to mind tho. Darren's mom and dad are coming, as well as some of her friends from school and Chrystal, David and the kids too. Then Sunday Chrystal and David are taking off and leaving the two littlest squirts here with me for a whole week! I'm so excited!! I can't wait to have them here! We'll be watching them while Chrystal and David take a much needed, well deserved trip to the bahamas!

A couple of weekends ago we took the girls out west to spend a day in the mountains on the trikes. It was a lot of fun, and a long, hot day! We got the trikes unloaded and headed down the trail around 10:30 in the morning, and by the time we got back to the truck it was 6:30! We stopped a couple times along the way, once for lunch, a few times for spitz, and a few times to pee of course lol! Little girls means little bladders :o) All in all it was a great day!

 

 

 

Now just because, here are a couple quick shots of my beautiful little 6 year old, I got a whole bunch of cute ones out of her the day after her birthday, but these two were a few of my favorite!

 

And I can't very well post pics of one without the other so here are a couple shots I took today of my beautiful, crazy, toothless little 7 year old... *grin*

 

Now I'm sure I forgot a whole lotta stuff I wanted to post about, but that's ok, that just means I'll have to come back real soon to post again :o) Like tomorrow, because we went fishing tonight after super and both Madde and Phoebe caught fish all on their own! I've got lots of pictures from that, I just have to get them from my camera to the computer, so check back tomorrow night, or maybe even WWednesday morning for more! TTFN!

So excited!

I have been living on cloud nine since yesterday afternoon! About a week ago now my hubby and I decided that we both needed a BREAK and a HONEYMOON (seeing as how we just celebrated 6 years and have never gone anywhere together!) We were planning for the longest time to take our kids to Disneyland. Well, when it came right down to it we all (even the kids) decided that they were not ready. We don't think they'll be able to walk all day long for 5 straight days! (they barely make it around the yard lol) and for those of you that know my girls, you know they are really, really LITTLE. So they both said they wanted to wait another year (shocking, I know lol). Anyhow, when that was decided we put off the idea of a vacation for a while, and then boom! Momma had a breakdown! So three days ago we decided we were going to go to Mexico! I was so excited, trying to pick the perfect resort and plan excursions... well, go figure... people started getting sick! Ugh! BAD timing! SOOO we made a last minute decision, changed directions, checked out different ideas and BOUGHT TICKETS! We are headed to Holguin, Cuba on May 9th! I'm so so so excited! We really NEED this time away, alone together, away from work, school, life etc. I can't wait! The resort we're staying at is called Sol Rio de Luna y Mares (I can't tell you what that says lol). It's so beautiful! Here's are some pics of it I got online.

 

 

 

Isn't it wonderful! Everyone I've talked to that's been there says that it looks exactly like the pictures! WOW! All that beauty, plus unlimited food, booze, and fun all included! White sandy beaches and teal blue ocean just screams ROMANTIC!

I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we get back! I'm gonna have a busy week ahead of me, shopping, packing, making arrangements for pets etc. but I know it's gonna all be worth it. :o)

Chow for now!

Pretty ponies

Today was a busy day, more so than usual. Phoebe and I spent the morning doing laundry and house work... boring lol! Then we spent the afternoon outside. We cleaned up the yard, pulled some dead fall from the flower beds, loaded the truck with garbage, cleaned out Darrens shed and then went for a stroll to visit the neighbors horses. They recently got a new one because they had to put one down last year, so of course we had to head over with some carrots to introduce ourselves. Just our luck they were feeling friendly, but now so photogenic lol!

Here's a shot of their new pretty pony. Not sure what their names are, I suppose I should just ask one of these days... :-)

 

Here's another shot of this pretty girl.

 

She's just a baby still, and she's shedding. I'm curious to find out what color she's going to be when she's done :-)

Here's a shot of her partner in crime lol. The big galoot kept on putting his face right in my camera so this was bound to happen. *smiles*

 

And here is a shot of Phoebe handing out some pony lovin' haha! Actually, they thought she had more carrots, but either way there were some sloppy pony kisses handed out. :-)

 

*while I was typing this out Darren called me to come look out the window. Six whitetail does walked right by the yard, right down the road in front of our house. They used to come by all the time but it's been a while so it's nice to see them back. So I grabbed my camera and ran to get some shots, they're not the best, this is where a nice new super zoom lens would come in handy. *wink* Maybe the moose that used to visit will return someday too. :-) *

I love how Simon (our male kitty) doesn't seem to bothered by the visitors lol! Can you see them? They're back by the snow ;) SOOOO need a zoom lens!

 

 

That's it for tonight. :-) TTFN! Thanks for stoppin' by!

Easter

Here are just a few pics from Easter. My entire family was here and it was AWESOME! My parents, my sister and her family, and my baby bro and his lovely wife all joined us in our little home for a wonderful Easter weekend! There was lots of chocolate, lots of smiles, and lots of good food. I think the kids all really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

and just cuz I like it I want to share this picture of my sis and her hubby, the little posers lol!

 

and another pic I have to share, is a pic of Xanders boots, Aidan had the same ones, they were so stinkin' cute!

 

I didn't get a LOT of photos, even though I wish I had of, but I've got a lot of memories, and those are just as good. SO thank you to everyone that came here for Easter, it was a great weekend!

Baby Maddox

Ok, first off, just let me say, I am NOT a professional photographer at all! I just have a love for photography, so, with that, on with the post. I spent a week down south recently. While I was there I got to meet Julies beautiful, tiny, brand new baby boy Maddox. He is the sweetest, most itty bitty, tiny baby I have ever seen in my life! I was terrified while trying to bend him in different ways, I thought I was going to snap his little body in pieces. So I had Julie help me a bit with that. I just don't think our timing was quite right, he really didn't want to be naked, he peed on her curtains lol! and he was hungry. So we did what we could and I managed to grab a few shots, these are my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry that the post is so picture heavy. I did like more that just these, but I don't want to overload my blog lol! I will be posting again very soon, most likely today, to share our Easter photos and tid bits so check back soon! Thanks for poppin' by TTFN!