Holy Elbow Grease, Batman!

Melly's got her shoes on and the sink is very shiny!

More details to follow!

Scrap Machine

Before I forget, Cooper cut a new tooth yesterday, one of his top eye teeth made its way through without too much fuss. My first intention was to post pictures of the boys at the fair, but wow I have a whole pile of layouts to post here. With the two challenges a week for the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race, the one per week for the Digital's Next Top Scrapper, and the new kits that my designers are pumping out, I've been a scrapping machine! You can click on any of the images to enlarge them and see the journaling and credits.

DNTS Challenge 3 - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
We had to choose a TV show that matches our lives.
I couldn't think of a show that had a lot of yelling and
sarcasm, so I went with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Okay, this was kind of funny...for the last challenge of
the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, we had to scraplift one
of our partner's RACE layouts. I had this all set before
I realized it wasn't one of Vicky's race layouts. But I
still liked the page and I used one of Nina's new kits
so it worked out well. Then I had to find a race layout
of Vicky's to scraplift...

"Cast Away" - using Christina Sturmaggio's new
"Wrought Iron Butterfly" kit available at Sophia Sarducci Designs.
So this was a scraplift of one of Vicky's RACE layouts, but when
Lori saw it she so kindly advised and reminded me (gee i need to
read the instructions!!!) that it had to be ABOUT the race. About
our favourite part of the race. Again, I loved how it turned out, and
it was Christy's new kit so it worked out well. Back to the drawing board AGAIN!

I was thrilled to have this layout of my Carter and Jill's Carter
featured in the NDISB newsletter this month!

At last! A scraplift of one of Vicky's RACE layouts, it's about my
favourite part of the race...so I scraplifted THREE of my partner's
layouts just to finish this one challenge! Again I used Nina's products
and I was happy with how it turned out with Vicky's beautiful picture.


And here is another of Christy's kits; a new one called "Ribbet"
which was just ideal for these pictures of Carter taken last year
when he was playing with this frog at my parents' house. This kit
is another awesome one and I'll have much more scrapping to do with it!

Whew. So that's a lot of scrapping. Now for a couple fair pictures. What a blast! It was funny to see both boys were having so much fun but Cooper was so serious-looking! He did crack a few smiles on the rides but for the most part he was straight-faced.

This was too messy to eat at the fair...he delved in the minute we got home!

The morning after...Breakfast of Champions...cotton candy!

Fall Fair Weekend

Ahhh. The sweet, however brief sounds of silence. The boys are eating pancakes as I steal a moment to blog.

This past weekend was our Fall Fair. On Friday I had my "me" day. Man those go by quickly! In the afternoon I went to the fair to sell draw tickets with Diane. I picked up the boys and we came home. I grabbed everything we needed for the fair and once Chris came home and showered and shaved we headed for the fair.

We had a great time. Both boys were eager to go on the rides; I have a few pictures but most are blurry because they are action shots on the rides. We saw Cindy and her family and Mom and Dad were there for awhile.

We had plenty of (junk) food and fun. It was getting late for the boys though I'm sure they would have kept on going. So we came home. Cooper went to sleep on the way home; Carter was up for awhile longer.

Saturday afternoon Cindy stopped by. They had plans to go out for supper so she brought Dominic and Noah over for a visit. Chris had company outside. I went to pick up some pizza for everyone to have for supper.

Cindy picked up the boys around ten; right around the time Chris's friends left. We had a visit then they left.

Sunday I skipped church; Chris had plans to go fishing bright and early and he was gone the whole day. I had a great day with the boys. I was hoping to get some scrapping done but I didn't get to sit down long enough! I managed to squeeze in a couple loads of laundry and did a tiny bit of tidying.

So it's Monday now and my first day off of the week. I neeeeeeed to shower and do my hair. I'm thinkin' of getting these boys out of the house so we all don't go stir crazy on the first day. (Well, me, anyway!)

I'll come back and post pictures of the fair later...

Eleven Days...

...OFF!

I didn't even do it on purpose, but I've just realized I'm officially off for eleven days. Tomorrow I have another Friday off; along with all the other Fridays I booked off this month. Next week my babysitter wanted the week off so I took it off too. Then it's the Labour Day long weekend after that, so in total I'm off for eleven days. Woohoo!

This morning I got up and showered and cut up the lettuce for my taco salad, woke up the boys and fed and dressed them. I got us all out the door with time to spare and went to work.

Kelly (my dear sweet coffee angel) brought me a bagel and a French vanilla cappuccino. The morning went quickly. We had the potluck lunch and it was goooooooood. Everything was delicious! At coffee break we ate even more (desserts!)

After work I picked up the boys. We came home and there was a letter in the mail from Carter's school! We have a meeting with the teacher next week and the week after he goes for one day then goes regularly the week after that. OMG my baby is growing up!

Chris came home from work and took off right away to go for a four-wheeler ride with his buddies. Carter, Cooper and I had sandwiches for supper and hung out. I made some cool flash cards to teach Cooper some new words and Carter reads the letters underneath all the pictures. If I keep this up, I might just get him reading soon! That would be awesome.

It's only quarter after ten but I'm super tired. I didn't get any scrapping done tonight but since I'm off tomorrow I'm hoping to squeeze in a bunch of stuff in the morning. In the afternoon I'm helping sell tickets with my friend Diane at the fall fair. And when Chris gets home from work we're taking the boys to the fair. I hope they both want to go on the rides; I'm anticipating ballistic hissy-fits trying to get them OFF the rides this year. We'll see. I just have to pray for sunshine; it ALWAYS rains on fall fair weekend. Today was cloudy and cool; hopefully it won't be any worse than that tomorrow.

Mr. Mushy

This morning was a normal one as far as getting going and out of the house. Made it to work early and had a decent morning. Chris called me at the office just before lunch and wanted to meet me for lunch. This. Never. Happens. He always works through lunch. I often bring lunch to him and he takes five seconds to wolf something down then gets back to work. So I was puzzled as to why he actually wanted to go out for lunch!

We met at Subway and it turned out it was quiet at the shop so he took the afternoon off. I went back to work and felt all tired and achy again by mid-afternoon. Stupid Aunt Flo. Knocks me down every time. I picked up the boys and came home.

I needed to run to the grocery store to pick up stuff to make a taco salad tomorrow. We're having a pot-luck luncheon for our summer students that are returning to school in a couple weeks. We took a collection for gifts for them and I also ran to the store for wrapping paper and stuff.

I came home and cooked pork medallions and rice and corn for supper. I didn't feel up to eating so I went to lie down for awhile. Chris ate with the boys. I felt a little better after I rested, but my headache (still) isn't gone. I'm thinkin' maybe I need to go to sleep? Duh.

I finally finished my layout for challenge eleven of The Race. We had to scrap about our favourite movie and how it relates to our life. Well, I scrapped my favourite movie, but I sure hope it doesn't relate to my life! Other than the fact that when I need a laugh and haven't seen it in awhile I watch it again.

Chris occasionally complains that he gets a sore back from our bed. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but we have had it for eight years so far. Anyhoo, I said it's fine for me but it's my favourite pillow that I can't find. He said, "What about your Mr. Mushy? It's there." I busted a gut laughing. A few years ago I started sleeping with an old mushed up feather pillow and for some reason I named it. And my family also refers to my pillow by name. And I laughed just hard enough that something popped in my back and my headache eased up a bit. Crazy.

I just finished browning the ground beef to make the taco salad. But I don't want to cut the lettuce yet so it won't turn brown. I'll try to drag my ass out of bed early enough so I have the time for it in the morning. Now I'll go rinse and drain the kidney beans and wrap the presents and get to bed. I'm toast!

Christy created a gorgeous new kit this week called "Ribbet". I'm almost done a layout with it but I'm way too fried to put the finishing touches on it tonight. So hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow evening. I'm a goner.

Like a Real Scrapper!

It was a little rough getting up yesterday morning but we made it off to the sitter and I had a good day at work. Kelly and I went to Bingo...we went to a different place and of course we had oodles of fun. I won one of the early bird games so we split $51.50.

I got home and the kids were asleep. Poor Chris was all stressed because Cooper took a tumble on the stairs. They were coming in from playing outside and Cooper lost his balance. Chris reached for him but he toppled over and went down. Fortunately it's a short, shallow, carpeted staircase and there is a carpeted subfloor at the bottom. It could have been way worse. Chris said he only cried for a minute and carried on playing. Thank God for that! And he didn't go to sleep right away or anything. I looked him over quickly and didn't see any boo-boos anywhere so all was well. I didn't even touch the computer; I just went to bed.

This morning went well; Chris helped me drag myself out of bed so I could have a shower and do my hair. Work was fine though I was a bit tired and achy most of the day. During my lunch hour I met up with Cindy and her family for a Chinese buffet. Mmmmm. After that I went downtown to get some of my 12x12 layouts printed!!! This is the first time I've ever had any of my layouts printed 12x12 aside from the time Christy printed one for me to give to my sister. They turned out awesome. You can really see how digital scrapbooking is meant for printing full-size! The resolution turned out incredibly and you can really see the texture! OMGIWASSOEXCITED! I'll be sure to have plenty more printed now, but I'm hoping to send away for them in case I can get a better price.

I picked up the kids and we came home. I immediately put my layouts into my scrapbook. Now I feel like a REAL scrapper! hee hee. Chris came home and I did an A&W run for supper. We had a little picnic outside. I took Carter for a little visit to Chris's Grandpa's house and to the video store. I rented "Vacancy" and we're just watching it now. It is suspenseful, but pretty lame. Cooper was up quite a bit during it so we kept pausing it. Now it's over and Chris put Cooper back to bed so I'm outta here. I was ready to go to bed at about 8:00. I'm almost finished a layout for the Race. We had to base it on our favourite movie. I'll be posting it tomorrow.

To the Fullest

Last night I finally went to sleep just before two. Cooper was up at four-ish, wailing and walking toward our room. When I can muster some mental alertness in this occasion, I cuddle him and take him back to his own bed and wait until he falls asleep. But when I'm ripped from some really yummy sleep, I just grab him and go back to my bed so everyone can stay asleep. So after this point I barely slept because of the little squirmy bed hog!

Surprisingly, I got up fairly early and got ready to go to...church! I dressed Cooper in a cyuuuute little outfit he hadn't worn yet. The beige button-up shirt fit perfectly, though the brown corduroy pants were a tad long. He looked so handsome, and was soooooo good at church! After church we went for breakfast with Mom and Dad, Auntie Lurdes and Uncle Cliff, and Guy and Marie. Cooper was also good at the restaurant, though near the time we left he started getting a bit fidgety and fussy. I just figured he was tired since he didn't sleep great last night either. He fell asleep just before we pulled in the driveway. I tried to carefully take him in the house so he would stay asleep and I could possibly score a nap too, but he woke up.

Chris and Carter had gone out for coffee and arrived home just before Cooper and I did. I decided all of a sudden that I wanted to get some of my scrapbook pages printed (12x12). So I put them on a memory card and left for the pharmacy to get them done. Unfortunately, their equipment for printing large prints was down and will be for a day or two. Bummer. I was thinking about submitting them in the fall fair. I just found out the deadline is tomorrow so I'll try on my lunch hour but I'm thinkin' I wasn't thinkin' soon enough!

I went to another store to see if they printed large prints; I already know our Wal-Mart only prints up to 8x10. I didn't end up getting any printing done, but I bought a new pool for the boys, likely not to be used this year since sadly we seem to be all out of hot days. On my way home Chris called to say he and Carter wanted lunch. I did a McDonald's run for them and headed home.

I was just thinking about attempting a nap (Cooper was asleep by the time I got home) but Cindy stopped by for a visit. We chatted for a bit and she brought us "The Astronaut Farmer". While she was here, Cooper really wanted to go out and play; Carter was already outside with Chris. So I dressed Cooper in some outdoor play clothes and took him out. Cindy left and I played tag with Carter and moved around some of the play equipment in the yard to get it closer to the house. I wanted to move the patio umbrella and this is where it all began... (cue suspenseful music).

I took it in the garage and needed to make a space for it. So I started moving things around and hanging up all the summer toys on the wall. This made me want to do more. Chris left to take his empty beer cases to the beer store and I started to pile up junk on the utility trailer. Each time I made a space I'd sweep up whatever was there and find something new to move. I found five large coolers, TONS of camping stuff from when Chris sold the trailer, unearthed many many many miscellaneous items that I had believed to be lost and gone forever. (These items were inadvertently BURIED in the times my dear sweet hubby "tidied up"). Really. He's a very neat and tidy person, but tidy doesn't have to mean organized in his case. In all the clutter and garbage and mess that I dealt with, I found all our skates. So summer is appearing to be coming to a close, but I am actually looking forward to taking the kids skating this winter. And I hate winter, so this is a big thing!

By the time I conceded to the mess, I had made a highly noticeable difference. The boys were filthy and wet from playing with the garden hose so it was time to come in. Carter promptly stripped himself and I got the bath ready. I brought Cooper in and both boys enjoyed a bubble bath. Next I needed to get supper on. I couldn't believe it was already quarter after six! I had taken some walleye out of the freezer earlier, and they were defrosted. I breaded and seasoned them while I was cooking the potatoes. I nuked some corn and in just a matter of moments supper was ready. Cooper ate almost everything on his plate. Carter, on the other hand, lightly grazed.

Since supper was an evening affair, Carter fell asleep shortly after. He hadn't napped so he zonked out on the floor between the living room and the kitchen. Cooper stayed up to party for quite awhile longer. I got him to settle down with me and we started the movie "Hannibal Rising". I got Cooper down to sleep and in his bed and right on cue Chris had fallen asleep. I watched the rest of the movie. And WOW I can sure see why Hannibal is soooooooo messed up! I liked this prequel to the others in the series; the young dude playing Hannibal did a great job.

Right after the movie ended and I was just starting this marathon blog post, Cooper got up. He was inconsolable. I figured he had a tummy ache so I gave him some gripe water. I rocked him. I walked him. Still heavy-duty crying. He kept biting his finger so I figured maybe it was his teeth. I gave him Tylenol. It was seemingly taking forever to settle him, so I put some Orajel on his gums. He wasn't wildly writhing anymore, but he still wasn't happy. I decided to take him for a ride in the Jeep. Worked like a charm. I drove maybe 6-8 blocks and he was out. I drove down by the lake and back just to make sure he was out and we came home. He woke up when I stopped the Jeep and started to fuss. He asked for milk when we came in and when I set him down to go get it for him, he fell asleep. Whew! What a full day! Now it's twelve-thirty and I had better get to sleep so I can face the day tomorrow!

The Problem With Pop Tarts

Last night we did end up watching the movie, "The Number 23". I liked it. Definitely not typical Jim Carrey but he was excellent. I liked the story and the twists. And ever since I've been seeing the number 23 everywhere! hee. Chris of course fell asleep about half way through so he'll need to finish it one of these days.

Today Chris worked until noon. In the morning I actually emptied and filled the dishwasher, had a shower and dried my hair, I SHONE MY SINK (I haven't done that classic fly-lady move in ages!), vacuumed the living room. There still may be some remnants of jammy crumbs from the pop tarts the kids have been eating lately. The kids took to them right away when I bought them last week but they are soooooo messy! I'm thinkin' if there are any left I'm gonna stash them for myself and just give the kids peanut butter toast from now on again! Oh and just to make life more interesting, my sweet hubby didn't mention that I bought the wrong kind of vacuum bags last time. So when I wondered why it sucked so bad at sucking, I opened it up to discover the bag had let go of the nozzle inside the machine and there was dirt, dust and Melly hair all over in there. I got it reasonably cleaned up and hooked the bag up as best I could considering it's totally the wrong bag. The suction improved drastically and there are no longer any pop tarts visible with the naked eye.

Awhile after Chris came home both boys fell asleep. I had planned on some heavy-duty cleaning around here but opted for a nap since it's so rare both boys sleep simultaneously! After nap time, we made plans to go out for supper with Mom, Dad, Uncle Cliff and Auntie Lurdes. We went to a new rib restaurant to try it out. It's great. They cook the ribs with a blueberry sauce. Delish! I actually had a grilled chicken burger but I got a taste of the ribs from Mom and Uncle Cliff.

Quite surprisingly, the boys were AWESOME at the restaurant. No major outbursts, Carter ate a TON. I guess I was properly prepared. I brought extra-chocolatey milk for the boys in their sippy cups and bought them candy to use as bribery in case they started going squirrelly. All was well and we all enjoyed our meals. The prices were great too; we'll definitely go back and next time I'll try the ribs too.

We drove back to town and dropped off the 23 movie for Mom and Dad to watch over at Auntie and Uncle's house. We stopped to get another movie and ice cream for the boys. I rented "School for Scoundrels" and "Hannibal Rising". We watched "School for Scoundrels". Again, Chris dozed off but I enjoyed a few laughs while I scrapped and chatted on the computer.

Here is my latest DNTS (Digital's Next Top Scrapper) at Peppermint Creative for Challenge #2. We had to finish the sentence, "I Wish I Was/Were". I opted for vast wealth. But with good reason! You can click on the image to enlarge it and read the journaling and credits.


Here is my latest layout that I just finished for Christina Sturmaggio, the latest new designer at SophiaSarducci.com. You can click on it to enlarge and see credits.


Now it's getting late...just about one-thirty. I really should go to sleep but that nap today gave me a major second wind!

Another Short Week!

I hate that I don't blog daily anymore. What is wrong with me? Oh yeah, I'm tired every day, and I'm lazy. Yeah...that's it.

The weeks are blazing past me. August is vanishing before my very eyes. Carter will be starting school in just a few weeks. Crikey.

Kelly and I went to Bingo on Wednesday night. She actually got to say Bingo...along with two other people. So a hundred bucks was split three ways and she and I split thirty-four bucks. Woohoo. More next time!

We watched the movie "Wild Hogs" this week. HI-larious. A definite must-see. Many laugh-out-loud parts. I've done a bit of scrapping to catch up with our race challenges. Here is number 9...I wasn't too fond of this one; we had to scrap our most embarrassing moment. There is no way I'm scrapping that. I have two of them. So I chose something much milder in subject and scrapped about how embarrassing it was to always lock myself out of my car...

Next was challenge number ten. We had to scrap about our favourite place to go/visit. I had just gotten home from Bingo on Wednesday night when this challenge was posted so my first thought was naturally Bingo...here is the page. We had to use the word "satisfaction" somewhere on the page and use a variety of alphas to make an oversized title. I enjoyed this challenge much more.


Today I had the day off again. But the day went sooooooooo quickly! I got up and got the boys ready to go to the sitter. I took them then stopped at the office to drop off some cards I printed for work. I did a Timmy's run and brought coffee to Chris (but he was gone on a service call). I came home and lounged around. I did a bit on the computer and sipped my French vanilla cappuccino. Next thing I knew it was almost time to go out for lunch with Diane and Silvia. I put on my face and did my hair and got dressed. I had plenty of time, and hated what I was wearing, so I went shopping! I found a cute outfit and bought it and wore it right out of the store! I also bought a couple t-shirts and a belt for Chris and one for me and a shirt for Chris.

I went and had a lovely lunch with Diane and Silvia (thanks again Diane); she bought us lunch for our birthdays this summer. That was very sweet! After lunch it was already one o'clock! Just two more hours of "me time" before I had to pick up the boys. The sitter had to leave town at three so I was to pick them up early.

My next stop was Wal-Mart. I was hoping to find some shoes to go with my new outfit. I found some cute slipper-type shoes, along with two pairs of sandals that were on sale. I also bought three outfits for Carter for school. He has outgrown most of his pants and I don't want everyone in his Kindergarten class to start asking, "Hey, where's the flood?"

So all in all it was a great day for shopping! I stopped at 7-11 and picked up a Slurpee for the boys and went to pick them up. They of course went CRAZY when they saw the Slurpees. We came home and the boys wanted to play outside but I didn't. It's gotten pretty chilly here this past week or so and I'm not enjoying outside-time anymore!

Last night I rented the movie "The Number 23". We haven't watched it yet. Chris just got home from helping a friend strip his roof to put on new shingles so maybe we'll watch it now. Both boys finally fell asleep within the hour ago so now I can get things done around here again!

Obsess Much?

Okay so ever since I found that computer the other day I've thought about little else. It's not totally out of reach, but I really shouldn't be reaching for it right now. But I'll keep my eye on it and see if it's meant to be. I sure hope so! (Thanks Jason for being the one person who totally "gets" my computer madness!)

The rest of the weekend went well. On Saturday afternoon we went out for lunch at Pizza Hut with the boys. They were very good, and so was the pizza! Both boys fell asleep in the Jeep before we got home, so I opted to do a quick Wal-Mart run while Chris stayed in the Jeep with the kids. I picked up a whole bunch of cleaning supplies so I can (eventually) give the house an overhaul.

On Sunday we got ready and went out to Mom and Dad's for the afternoon. I brought groceries to make supper but Mom had already prepared supper and had the table set for us and Uncle Cliff and Auntie Lurdes. We had an awesome supper of Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, garlic bread and a fresh crisp salad. We hung out for awhile after visiting. Chris took Carter for a ride on the four-wheeler; we just finally found a helmet for him and he loves it. Now he can go for real rides with Daddy; not just putt-putting around the yard. They went all over and had a blast.

Today was a good and very quick busy day at the office. Kelly and I tossed the idea around of going to Bingo tonight but she is gone camping so we'll try for Wednesday instead. Before she left she did a drive-by and brought me a cappuccino and a bagel. Sweet!

Since I had picked up groceries yesterday, I had asked Mom and Dad to come here for supper today. We had gorgeous salmon steaks, asparagus with hollandaise sauce and baby potatoes. Mmmmmmm. After supper Uncle Cliff and Auntie Lurdes came over. I did a quick Tim Horton's run for Mom since she felt like having an Ice Cap. I picked up a French Vanilla Cappuccino for myself and Uncle Cliff and an ice cap for Auntie Lurdes. I gave Auntie Lurdes her "memory maker" photo bracelet that I finally finished for her.

We visited awhile then everyone left. I did a couple projects on the computer while Chris still had the boys outside. Before they came in I washed my hair so I could dye my grey "highlights". After they came in I dried my hair and put in the hair dye. Carter fell asleep and Cooper didn't. He was a real wild child for awhile there. I managed to settle him so that I could go rinse my hair and have a shower.

After we put the boys to bed I dried my hair again so now I just have to iron it in the morning. I'm feeling kind of achey; I'm hoping it's nothing...there seems to be something going around and I really don't want to be sick!

So let's see...did I scrap anything this weekend? Yes, Vicky and I finished our challenge #7 and #8 layouts for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race. Here they are...the first two are challenge seven...we had to set up at least 10 pictures with a background and a title then send it to our partner for adding elements.

Vicky's page

My page

Challenge #8 - The theme was "Girl Talk"

The Readers' Digest Version

Crap. A whole week since I blogged. I had such good intentions too. When I wait that long to blog I forget most of what happened since my days just seem to blend together.

So, last weekend was a long weekend due to the "Civic Holiday". Call it what you want; I call it an extra day off! Not to mention I took Friday off again this week so I had a short and very sweet three-day workweek.

One of the days (I seriously don't remember) we went to Cindy's house for supper. I picked up Mom after work to bring her since Dad had a golf date so they wouldn't have to take two vehicles all the way out there. Mom and I (and the boys) picked up Chris and we were treated to a faaaaaaabulous prime rib dinner. Massive. Awesome. We visited for awhile then the boys started getting antsy so we headed home.

On Thursday evening Mom and I went to Bingo. Despite the unfruitfulness of the evening, we had fun. Kelly has her niece and grand-niece here visiting this week so she didn't join us this time. I'm thinkin' we'll go on Monday.

Last night I went to Mom and Dad's to help Dad set up his nice new Mac with wireless internet. Now I can bring my computer there and be wireless too. Wish it were a laptop; that would make it way easier!

And SPEAKING OF LAPTOPS...I have officially found my DREAM computer. Does anyone have an extra $5,000 (give or take a few options) to buy it for me? Please? You must see this machine. Click here for details. Base price is $3,497 and of course after I customized the heck out of it it was a thousand bucks more. At least by drooling over this one, it makes buying a "regular" laptop seem so much more easily attainable.

Isn't it DREAMY?

So that takes us up to this weekend. A regular weekend. Chris is at work 'til noon and I'm home with the boys. Ive done some more scrapping this week for the contests I've entered. Here is my first layout for DNTS (Digital's Next Top Scrapper).


I have a couple more challenges to finish for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race too but I've been going to bed early all week. We're talking between ten and eleven o'clock. That's so early I'm not getting anything done! I'm hoping that with the extra sleep I've gotten I'll be able to be a scrapping machine this weekend.

Last night I was all set to be a scrapping machine when we came back from Mom and Dad's house but there was a massive thunder storm. It was the best one of the summer, and unfortunately the power went out around ten-thirty. So everyone went to bed. I'm guessing the power came back on around midnight.

Well that is the week in an itty-bitty nutshell. Now I"m off to take a shower and put my game face on and do my hair.

Long Weekend

My First Powwow

We had a quiet day at home today. Chris worked until noon then he got ready to go out fishing. I managed to score a nap while Cooper slept and when I woke up Carter was still asleep.

I did this layout for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race Challenge #6. Only one of us had to do the challenge and post it but Vicky and I both already had something in mind. We submitted hers for the challenge but I was allowed to post mine too. I chatted with Vicky and Jill off and on during the day and gave the ol' blog a new header.

We had leftover spaghetti for supper and Cindy called to say they were on their way to the Powwow. It was at the reserve where we usually go to play Bingo. I had hoped to go but figured it would be hard to navigate with both kids without Chris. Since Chris wasn't back yet I didn't want to just sit around and have a boring evening so I put on my face and got us all ready and we headed out.

I have never been to one before; it is quite a huge and amazing event. The costumes are beautiful and colourful and most have a ring of bells on the cuffs or are covered in decorations that jingle with movement. We were too late for the fish fry which apparently is just awesome and while looking for a parking spot we missed the Grand Entry. I sure hope to make it for that next time.

There were squillions of people there. The weather was perfect. I had an "Indian Taco". This is basically a taco salad but it's served over top of bannock. Very good. I have it at Bingo sometimes. We did get to see some dancing and we hung out for awhile with Cindy and her family and chatted with many of the people passing by.

I brought the boys home and they were both asleep by the time we got here. They both ended up getting up but they were pretty mellow. I put on the movie "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock and watched it with only a few interruptions for cuddles and milk for the boys. The movie started out slow and sketchy and a tad confusing but really pulled together. Once it finally came together it was over. With a stooooooooooooopid ending. I do think it was worth watching, but I was disappointed and would have written it differently! I had heard from a few people that it was so-so, but luckily didn't hear any real spoilers so it was still interesting.

Chris came home and went straight to bed after his long day of fishing. The boys are snoozing too and I am outta here.

The Remains of the Day

Well I finally blogged yesterday, though it was much earlier in the day than I usually blog, so I feel compelled to write about the rest of the day. Though unlikely, it's possible that I caught the shopping bug from Angie (unlikely because I believe I already possessed the bug!) and I went to Wal-Mart while Chris played outside with the kids. I picked up milk and pull-ups and wipes and new sandals for Carter that were on clearance, as well as a bunch of shorts and t-shirts for both boys. I didn't take pictures of all the loot like Angie did, but I spent about sixty bucks. I did a McDonald's run on the way home and we picnicked outside on the food when I got home.

When we came inside I realized I had movies to return so I took Carter to the video store. We rented "Stuart Little" for him and "Premonition" for the grown-ups. Though before "Stuart Little" was over, one of the grown-ups was fast asleep so I didn't bother to put "Premonition" on since I'd have been watching it by myself. I did some scrapping that I needed to do for the Race and chatted with Angie and Vicky. I stayed up way too late as usual but I'm almost caught up on my race layouts. Here's one I did for the journaling challenge at Butternug Squash Designs.

Now it's Saturday morning and I have the boys fed and dressed in their new shorts and t-shirts. It doesn't look overly nice outside so I don't think we'll go out until maybe this afternoon if the sun comes out. In the meantime we're watching round two of "Stuart Little " and the boys are playing with the new squishy spiky ball toys that I picked up for them last night. The next challenge in the Race is for just one of the team members so Vicky and I are both doing a layout and she'll flip a coin for who gets to post for our team challenge.

I'm Coming Back!

Oy. Another blogless week. But on the plus side I've been sleeping a little more. But only because I've been going to bed earlier. Cooper has had me up a few hours a couple nights this week. But two in a row he's slept through the night. Yum.

Wednesday night we went to Bingo...but Kelly couldn't go 'cause she had a staff meeting. But Mom and I went and we took Cindy (the bingo virgin). Bingo virgins are lucky; Cindy won the very first game. I won the second last game, bringing home a hundred bucks. Sweet.

Thursday evening we went to Mom & Dad's for supper. Uncle Cliff and Auntie Lurdes went too and we had theeeeeeeeeee bessssssst spaghetti. EVER. With garlic bread and salad. Scrumptious. Dad finally had his high-speed internet connected so I put him on to MSN Messenger so I can give him a holler whenever he's online now.

Today I had a "ME" day. I took the kids to the sitter and came home and did some much-needed catching up on projects that I've had on the back burner. I had a hot shower without anyone pushing in or pulling away the shower curtain. I did my hair and got ready and I caught up on most of my stuff and just need to do a bit more printing and cutting.

I had lunch with Kelly and my Mom and Aunties Lurdes and Josie. That rocked. Then I went to the bank to pick up some papers Chris and I had to sign and met up with Kelly again at the drug store. I dropped her off and came home to do some more project work.

Next was my much-needed eyebrow wax appointment. But on the way I stopped at Tim Horton's for ice-caps. I brought one to Serena at my appointment. By then it was almost time to pick up the boys so I stopped at the bank to get money for the sitter and picked up the boys.

We came home and Chris was home shortly after. Now the boys are playing outside with water balloons (I made about a dozen of them). Carter came in to ask for more but we're clean out of them! I'm thinkin' we're having a fast-food type of supper since I haven't taken anything out of the freezer and we don't have any propane for the barbecue!

I have plans to do some scrapping tonight; I have two challenges to complete for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race that I MUST do.