My friend, Lara has closed down her Dusty Bear shop and is now selling her designs through Gotta Pixel. These are a couple of pages I finished recently using one of her latest kits. I been trying to get these uploaded for a few days, but just never seemed to get around finish posting it.

This is a page I made for my parents. The picture was taken just before my dad left for Tanzania, at his going away supper. Unfortunately he had to come back early, as he had a fairly serious heart attack while he was there. So it was really nice to see them, when they came down a couple of weeks ago. They also brought my niece Madison along with them and the girls all had a wonderful time together.

Cherish digital kit credits: Affinity 1 & 2 by Lara Payton available at Gotta Pixel.
Fonts used: Monsieur La Doulaise, Monotype Corsiva & Kayleigh

I love these picture of Ayden. She has so much fun picking flowers and dandelions are one of her favorites. I guess most of us consider them weeds and forget how bright and sunny they are. She loves this page and I had to print it off for her, so she could put it on the fridge. The quote I used is from Henry Ward Beecher, ... the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass like a spark from the sun.

Dandelion digital kit credits: Affinity 2 by Lara Payton available at Gotta Pixel.
Fonts used: Tabor Handwriting & Kayleigh

We've had several busy weeks. Not only did my parents drop in for a visit, but my son Kyle stopped in for a few days as well. We had a good visit with him and the girls really enjoyed spending a little time with their big brother. Raquel started grade 5 at the beginning of the month and was a little disappointed that she wasn't in the same class as her best friends. She seems to be liking it in spite of that, as she still gets to see them at recess. Ayden started playschool this week. It was a bit difficult for her to let me leave, but once I went to pick her up she seemed to enjoy it. It seems like summer is trying to last as long as possible, as we have been enjoying some beautiful weather. We had a few frosty mornings though, so fall is definitely on the way and a few leaves are starting change colour.

Thanks for dropping by my blog and for leaving me a few comments. I hope you have a good weekend.

Time Stretches Still

Summer is going by so quickly, it's hard to believe the days are getting shorter already. The girls have been keeping me busy and Raquel has been monopolizing the computer. I actually feel a little guilty that I haven't gotten around to finishing a page for quite some time and updating my blog.
When I had a few moments, I've been working on another page for my children's heritage album. I finally got it finished after a call to my aunt yesterday to establish a date on it. This is a picture of my grandmother and my great aunt, it was taken a few years before my grandma passed away. The quote I used is by Nick Edelstein, it reads "When lilies fade, memories flood and time stretches still."


Time Stretches Still digital kit credits: Secret Garden from The Dapper Doxie
Font used: Heather & Park Avenue PT

We've been busy enjoying the summer weather and spending lots of time outdoors. The girls also enjoyed going to the Calgary Stampede and watching the fireworks a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend we finally went and did a little camping. Ayden enjoyed the park at the campground the most. It was nice just to sit by the campfire and look at the stars and get away from the yard for a few days. Raquel spent the weekend riding in the mountains with her dad again and she is away this week spending some time with him. Ayden and I are spending a few quiet days without her. It's been a rather gray and rainy week so far and it's not supposed to turn sunny till the weekend, so we are stuck inside trying to keep busy, much to Ayden's disappointment. Hope your summer is going well!

It's My Life

This month's challenge at Blush-n-Dusty is to do a graduation LO using Blushbutter's new kit, Graduation. Since I have quite a few pictures from my son's graduation last year, I decided to do several pages, as I have been meaning to get them done for some time now. The quote I used on the last page is from Geraldine Kenney-Wallace.



Valediction Ceremony digital kit credits: Graduation Mini Kit, Digital Essential Frames Packet and Faery Kisses in Blue mega kit from Blushbutter.
Fonts used: Monsieur La Doulaise and Fontleroy Brown.

We've had a busy couple of weeks that included a trip to the zoo and a day at the local rodeo. Ayden really enjoyed the rodeo's parade and getting the candy that was thrown from the floats. Raquel's summer holidays have begun, her last day of school was yesterday and she is happy to be done for a few months. She had a good report card and has talked me into getting her a few magazine subscriptions for passing into grade 5. Ayden and I got to go to Raquel's year end party on Thursday at her teacher's place. We all had a great time playing games outside and had some delicious hamburgers for lunch. Ayden's swimming lessons finished this week as well. She is definitely ready to move on to the next level, but will have to wait until she turns 3 before that can happen. I sure we will be making a few trips to the pool this summer, as both girls really enjoy the water. It has be nice and sunny here for the last little while. The beautiful weather is supposed to continue for the next week or so, although we could use a little rain as it is quite dry. The occasional thunderstorm comes through in the afternoons, but we haven't gotten very much precipitation. It has been a wonderful start to the summer. Hope you have a terrific summer also!

The Moments We Share

I haven't really been in much of a mood for doing any pages lately. That and I had some problems with one of my external hard drives and had to download some graphics again and reorganize them. That was a bit of a frustrating experience to say the least. It definitely was a good reminder to back up all my files a little more regularly.

Lara, at Dusty Bear, has another new mini kit in her shop, that coordinates with the one I used on my last page. I decided I would use it, to do this page of myself and my children. I always enjoy it when I get to spend time with all my children at once, as it doesn't happen very often. This picture of us was taken a few months ago when we went on a trip to my parents.
The Moments We Share digital kit credits: Sprightly Mini Kit 1 from Dusty Bear
Fonts Used: La Bamba LET and Adine Kimberg script.

The girls and I took a quick trip up to my parents this past weekend. We went to say goodbye to my dad, who is going to Tanzania for 3 months. We had a delicious supper with the whole family and it was great to see them all. Both girls had lots of fun with their cousins and got to play in the parks, (one of the highlights of the trip for Ayden, I think). The last couple of weeks have been rather busy around here. Ayden and I went with Raquel on her field trip to the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site of Canada. All the kids seemed to enjoy the 2 1/2 hour walk around the site and got to do some role playing of characters from 1821. I have always liked history and really enjoyed the excursion. One day I will have to go again and complete the tour, as we only made it around part of the park. Ayden is progressing well in her swimming lessons and is turning into quite the little fish. We've also had several appointments and have tried to get in a little flower planting as the weather was quite nice. That's changed a bit as it has been cool and rainy here now for several days, but the sun is supposed to be returning tomorrow and it should start warming up again. Hope you have a nice week.

Me... Just a girl

This month's challenge at my yahoo group, Blush-n-Dusty, is to do a lay out about yourself, using some part of Dusty Bear's newest kit, Sprightly Mini 2. I usually try to avoid doing those kind of pages (and getting my picture taken), but I know my friend, Deb, is right when she says that our families will want pages of us, to remember us by.

I decided to use a picture my daughter took of me one day, when I let her play with my camera. I liked this picture she took and since I am usually the one taking the pictures, there aren't that many of just of me. The journaling is really meant for my children, so I am not going to post it here (although, I think it is clear enough if you feel like reading it on the lay out).
Me... Just a Girl digital kit credits: Sprightly Mini Kit 2 and Spring Sprung from Dusty Bear.
Fonts Used: Tall Paul, Kayleigh & Chopin Script.

It's going to be a rather quiet weekend around here as Raquel is gone to her dad's for a few days. Finally, Ayden decided it was time for bed after watching the movie Spirit. (She is such a night owl.)
I signed her up for swimming lessons again and they start next week, so maybe that will help to use up some of her never ending energy. She certainly keeps me busy. We plan to go for a little road trip, later today, to check out the progress on her dad's latest job site. Ayden really misses Raquel when she is away, so at least that will give her something else to think about.

It is supposed to be a bright and sunny weekend here, which will be a nice change after a week of snow flurries and rain showers. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for your comments, take care!

Faith in a Seed

Deb, at The Dapper Doxie, has out a new springy kit call Secret Garden. The kit has some really lovely garden graphics and she will have it on sale for a very limited time this coming week, along with the rest of the products in her store. I haven't scrapped any of my heritage photos for a while and decided the kit would go perfectly with this picture my mom found last time I was up at their place. This picture is of my grandfather, (a couple of years before he passed away), with my mom and my aunt. It looks like they were all enjoying a task many of us do at this time of the year, getting the garden ready for planting. The quote I used is from Henry David Thoreau, "Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."

Faith in a Seed digital kit credits: Secret Garden from The Dapper Doxie
Fonts Used: Rockwell and Jacki's Hand

We are having a nice long weekend. The weather has been lovely so far and the fire ban in the county was lifted, so we've been able to have a fire in the backyard the past couple of days. Raquel had an extra day off from school and was thrilled when we sent up the tent for her. Both girls have been having fun playing in it, although it is still a little too cold here by the mountains for Raquel to be sleeping in it yet. She tried it out last night and ended up coming in around 11:30 PM with a cold nose. We plan to get a little work done around the yard tomorrow and get the camper ready to go for some excursions. Monday is suppose to be cool and rainy so the last day of the long weekend might have to be spent inside. Hope you are having a terrific Victoria Day weekend. Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Happy Mother's Day

We finally had a week without any appointments and it was nice not to have to do any running around. Between the light rain showers, Ayden and I have been spending a lot of time outside enjoying spring. The leaves should be out soon and the tulips we planted last fall are several inches tall. A pair of geese have decided to make their home at the back of the Lady's pasture. The latest daily visitor to our yard is a fox, much to the dismay of our cats. The fox, of course, is smart enough to only come around when the dogs are kenneled. Both girls have caught a few glimpses of it through the window and Ayden has decided she doesn't like the fox, because it might eat her cat, Vester.

I love the alpha in this latest kit from Blushbutter, even though I'm not all that good at using them on my pages. I've had it downloaded for a while (it is on sale for a limited time, in her shop right now) and just couldn't decided what pictures to use with it. I finally settle on these ones of my lovely daughters. We had them taken at the Calgary Stampede by The Antique Photo Parlour, a couple of years ago. ( We had a family portrait done as well, that I will have to do a page of one day.) It was rather fun to dress up in the old style clothes and they had lots of costumes to choose from. The pictures turned out fabulously and I would recommend going and getting some done, if you've never tried it. They certainly are keepsakes to treasure. (I would like to express my sincere thanks to The Antique Photo Parlour, for granting me permission to post these pages on my blog and in my galleries.)

Little Blue Lady digital kit credits: A Victorian Lady (some items colorized) and Victorian Heritage Replica Scrap Embossed Paper Frames from Blushbutter.
Photography credits: The Antique Photo Parlour - Old Time Photographs & Frames (used with permission).
Fonts used: Windsong.

Radiant Red Beauty digital kit credits: A Victorian Lady and Victorian Heritage Replica Scrap Embossed Paper Frames from Blushbutter.
Photography credits: The Antique Photo Parlour - Old Time Photographs & Frames (used with permission).
Fonts used: Windsong.

We are having a quiet evening tonight, as Raquel has gone over to a friend's for a sleepover. Ayden looks forward to Raquel coming home on the bus every day and is missing her a bit tonight. She will be happy when we run into town to pick Raquel up tomorrow. We heard from Kyle this past week and he is settling in nicely to his new accommodations. I am so happy for him that he made the decision to move out on his own, as he had been staying with one of his Grandma's. It is hard to believe he will be 19 at the end of this month. I think I will have to go digging through some of my albums and find a picture to scrap of him when he was a baby. The weather here is supposed to be improving after a few more showers tomorrow. It will be nice to have a few warm, sunny days in a row. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a happy Mother's Day!

Dream Come True

The challenge for this month at Blush-n-Dusty is to create a layout about a dream come true. When I went up to my parents earlier this month, I scanned some more family pictures and old documents. One of the pictures I scanned, is this one of my sister-in-law and my nephew. I decided to use it for this month's challenge and would like to thank Lorraine and Carl for giving me permission to post it, along with the story of their dream come true, on my blog. Steven has grown considerably since this picture was taken (he looks so much like my brother now). I always like to stop in at their place when I go up north and visit with them. The quote I used is by Lyman Abbott, "A child is a beam of sunlight from the infinite and eternal."
Dream Come True digital kit credits: A Dream Come True, Template Curled and Folded No 1, and Victorian Wedding digital scrapbooking kit from Blushbutter.
Fonts used: Kayleigh & Tabor Handwriting.

Raquel is having a sleepover today, with one of her best friends, so I decided to take the girls swimming. We all had a good time at the pool, but were a little disappointed that the hot tub wasn't working. Ayden got fairly cold after about an hour and so we decided it was time to come home. I thought it would help tire everyone out and maybe the older girls might not be up till the wee hours of the morning. By the looks of things I was wrong, as they are still busy watching movies and playing their Nintendo DS games. They will probably be up later than I am going to be, as I did not get a good sleep last night and am rather tired myself. It worked for Ayden though, as for once she fell asleep early. The last few days it has been snowing and rather cool, so we have not been spending a lot of time outside, much to Ayden's disappointment. We did get some of the flower beds clean out and a few leaves raked up the other day, the rest will just have to wait until the weather improves again. Hopefully that will be soon, as I am very tired of snow.

Have a nice weekend!!!

Spring in Alberta

Springtime in Alberta can definitely be a mix of weather patterns. I finally got around do doing another page of the girls. I used some pictures I took of them playing in the puddles a few weeks ago, with one of our dogs, Koda. All of that snow in the pictures has melted, as the temperature has been about 20 degrees Celsius the past couple of days. During the past few of weeks the Canada geese have been returning and the grass is starting to turn green. Ayden & I saw some pussy willows yesterday, so it looks like spring is finally here. Unfortunately the nice weather isn't going to last too long, as snow is in the forecast once again, and maybe a little rain, which I would prefer. The quote I used on this page is from an Ian Tyson song called Spring Time In Alberta.

Spring in Alberta digital kit credits: Spring Sprung and Spring Sprung Tattered Papers from Dusty Bear.
Fonts used: Batik Regular, Kristen ITC & Old Newspaper Font.

We had a couple of busy weeks at our house, with Raquel off for Spring break and Easter. The girls and I decided to take a trip up to the Peace Country. We had a nice visit with their grandparents and cousins. Both girls really enjoyed the chance to spend some time with their older brother, (Raquel especially misses him). We had a good trip, but it is always nice to come back home.
Ayden and I are planning to spend some time outside this afternoon. Maybe we will get around to doing a bit of cleaning up in the yard. There sure are a lot of leaves on the ground from last fall. Tomorrow we are off to an appointment in the city and then maybe we'll have some time to just relax around home for a few days. Hope you have a nice Earth Day tomorrow and that your week is going well. Thanks for dropping by my blog.

Beauty Is

Lara has a delightful new kit (on sale for a limited time), filled with spring colors in the Dusty Bear store this week. I decided to do a new page with it of my oldest daughter. These pictures of Raquel are actually from last spring, (a year goes by so quickly) and she is growing up so fast. The quote I used is from Emily Dickinson.
Beauty Is digital kit credits: Spring Sprung from Dusty Bear
Font used: Monsieur La Doulaise, Pappo's Blues Band Official font, Kayleigh & Batik Regular.

The sun is shinning today and beginning to melt some of our snow, so maybe it will look like spring around here soon. You can never really tell what the weather is going to be like this close to the mountains, I think there is even some rain in the forecast. We are off to take Raquel to see her dad, so it should be a little bit quieter around here this weekend. Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a nice weekend!

Expectation

It was the first day of spring last week, but you would never know it by looking out my windows. We have received at least a foot of fresh snow in the past few days, which kind of put me in a mood to scrap a few of my pictures from Christmas. I decided to take some classes at Digital Scrapbook Place to familiarize myself better with PSE 5 and finally completed the first lesson, (I should be on the last one). The lesson was mostly about learning how the various tools function and how to place things correctly. It was easy, I just haven't been able to concentrate on doing much scrapbooking the past few weeks and I think my computer was actually beginning to feel neglected.
Eyes Shinning with Expectation digital kit credits: A Vintage Season Album (page 1), A Vintage Season kit 1 and A Vintage Season kit 2 from Dusty Bear.
Fonts used: Palace Script MT & Papyrus.

It has been rather busy at our house. My mom & dad came down last weekend with 2 of my nieces and we had a lovely visit with them. My mom brought some supplies for doing manicures and all the girls had fun doing their nails. The older girls all enjoyed some time at the swimming pool as well. Ayden's swimming lessons are almost done, she has only 2 more left and then I will have to decided if I am going to register her for another session. Since she likes swimming so much, I probably will put her in again. Raquel's musher finished 13th place in the Iditarod, so she was fairly pleased. She has been sick and has missed some school but went back this morning. I managed to catch her cold, so I haven't been feeling all that well either. Hopefully we will both be feeling better soon. The temperatures are suppose to improve again soon, so all this snow should be melting which will be terrific. Hope your week is going well. Take care!

Adorable

Lara, at Dusty Bear, has graciously accepted me on her creative team. I love antiques and old things and I've always enjoyed using Lara's kits, they are fill with such beautiful vintage elements. Now, I will have the opportunity to play with them more. I used her most recent kit, Adoration, on these pages. I scanned these pictures the last time I went to my mom & dad's place. I wanted to use all the pictures, so I did two pages. They are meant to be companion pages, but are not really a two page LO. This is me, with my older brother before we had other siblings. I do not really look like I enjoyed the whole photo shoot thing much, which is probably about right, as I still don't like having my picture taken.
Siblings 1970 digital kit credits: Adoration from Dusty Bear
Fonts used: Font Leroy Brown
Adorable digital kit credits: Adoration from Dusty Bear
Fonts used: Font Leroy Brown, 1942 Report & Times New Roman

Today the temperature finally started to warm up. Usually that means I will have a headache or two, to go with the pressure change. I'd rather have those than the -30 C though. I was really surprised there was a bus several times this week, as it was so cold in the morning. Raquel has been following the Iditarod at school, for her Language Arts class. The Iditarod is a 12 to 17 day dog sled race held in Alaska, it has been called the "Last Great Race on Earth". Each musher has a team of 12 to 16 dogs. The course of 1150 miles goes from Anchorage to Nome. Each student is following a musher, Raquel picked Dee Dee Jonrowe. She is so proud, that to date (day 6), Dee Dee has not lost any dogs and is now in 25th place. Ayden has been enjoying her swimming lessons and is getting more confident in the water all the time. Things will be a little busy around our house this weekend, as we have a couple of birthdays to celebrate. Hopefully we will find some time to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather. Have a good weekend!

Fasionista

I got another page done this week. Vanessa has a gorgeous new kit in the Blushbutter store, Glamour Starlet. I had fun scrapping with it, all the girlie elements and alpha are fantastic and I can see it is another of her kits that I will be using over and over. It is perfect for these pictures of Ayden, even though she really prefers green and blue to pink. Ayden does love to dress up and look pretty, although given the chance she rather be running around naked. Seeing as she is only 2 1/2, that's probably normal. She loves make-up, especially lipstick and eye shadow and if there is perfume around, well you can probably guess how that goes. A little spray here, another there, as she puts it, "It smells SO pretty, mommy." She is hard to resist with her charming little smile and would empty the whole bottle if she had the opportunity.

Fasionista digital kit credits: Glamour Starlet available at Blushbutter.
Fonts used: Jacki's Hand.

We had a nasty cold front move through the last few days. The school buses didn't run again yesterday due to the road conditions. Visibility was so poor, they closed the main highway from Airdrie to Ponoka for a while. Raquel enjoyed the extra day off and Ayden's swimming was also canceled, so the girls and I spent a fun day together. There is no school again today, it's a regular Friday off and Raquel has an eye appointment this afternoon. Since we have some where to go, it is a good thing the wind finally quite and the sun is shinning (although it is - 25 c this morning). It is supposed to warm up later today, so the weekend should be better. Hope you have a good weekend also and don't forget to move your clocks ahead.

What Lies In Your Heart

What a beautiful day it was today, lots of sunshine and the high was 9 C. Quite the change from last Thursday, when it was so cold the school bus didn't run. We also had about a foot of fresh snow last week, (a lot of which melted today). The warm temperatures are supposed to last for most of the week, Chinooks are terrific! Rather the opposite of the adage "In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb". That phrase though, apparently has nothing much to do with the weather. It is a 19th century English proverb, based on traditional weather patterns. Actually it refers to the relative positions on the horizon, of the constellations Leo and Aries, at the beginning and end of the March. Either way, warmer temperatures are just around the corner and it is difficult, to believe, it is already time to spring the clocks ahead this coming weekend.

Deb, at The Dapper Doxie has out a charming new kit, with an interesting color palette; blue, green and orange. Orange is not typically one of my favorite colors, but I did manage to work a little bit of it into this page. Raquel likes how it turned out, but she figures that I could have put more on the page. I had to laugh at her a bit, as I was trying not to clutter it up. The quote is from a book by Dr. Rallie McAllister called Riding for Life, "Your horse holds you accountable only for what lies in your heart."

What Lies in Your Heart digital kit credits: Country Lane from The Dapper Doxie
Fonts used: OCR A Extended & Tagettes.

It will be another busy week at our house with swimming lessons and no school again this Friday. We are taking advantage of that and Raquel is going for her semi annual eye exam. She doesn't always use her glasses and I am hoping eventually she may not need them at all. Now that it has warmed up, Ayden & I are planning to spend some time outside. I think Ayden has cabin fever, she sure has been temperamental lately. She is sure going to enjoy spring this year. Thanks for dropping by my blog, enjoy your week!

Every Day Life

I finally got around to completing my page for this month's challenge at Blush-n-Dusty. Vanessa designed this pretty mini kit, from which a element or paper had to be used. The theme for this month was to create a lay out showing what a typical day in your life looks like, for future generations.

I think an ordinary day at our house is usually pretty boring, so I had a hard time deciding what pictures to use. That is probably why it took me so long to get this one done. I managed to find at least one picture from this month of everyone and I decided to include the page from our actual calendar on the lay out as well. So here it is, a page of our daily lives.
Every Day Life 2009 digital kit credits: Every Day Life, Baby Girl Heart Strings Mega kit, & Easter Basket from Blushbutter.
Fonts used:French Script Mt, Font Leroy Brown & Kayleigh.

Last week was rather a busy one our house. We had an appointment in the city and Raquel only had two days of school. She enjoyed the time off, but I was glad it was Monday today and things settled back into a normal routine. Our house is certainly a bit hectic when both girls are home all day. Ayden starts swimming lessons again this week, so we'll be busy with those for a while. She really enjoys the water and has been asking for the past couple of days to go swimming. I enjoy it too and it is a terrific way to wear Ayden out a little. She is such a little night owl and I wish I had as much energy as she does, (of course she takes more naps than I do). It looks like the next couple of days will be perfect for napping or other indoor activities, as the temperatures are supposed to get cooler again and yes, I do believe there is more snow in the forecast. I hope you enjoy your week. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Loved in Return

Last week seemed to go by fairly quickly. I decided to learn how to use Photo Shop Elements 5. Normally I do all my pages with Paint Shop Pro. It was fun trying to figure out how to work on a lay out without taking classes for the program first. A lot of the features are similar, but I do like PSP quite a lot. I can see I will be using both programs from now on, and may even have to find time to take some lessons for PSE5.

Vanessa has some new templates in the Blushbutter store and I decided to play with one this week, instead of coming up with my own composition, (although I did rearrange it a bit). The templates are quite beautiful and certainly good for a little inspiration. Vanessa also added some fabulous new styles to the store this week. They only function in Photo Shop (the reason I decided to start using it). Working with styles in PSE5 was interesting and I really liked the end result. I actually started this page in PSP and then completed it in Photo Shop.

This is a picture of Ayden with her favorite cat. We have five cats and they are all supposed to be outside cats. Ayden really loves Vester and usually has to have him inside during the day. He comes running when she calls him and spends most of the day curled up sleeping some place in her room. He is her best buddy and she adores him. She loves to give him water and fills special dishes of food just for him. I used a lot of Ayden's favorite color (green) on this page, and she loves it.

Loved in Return digital kit credits: Victorian Dolls Kit, Faery Kisses in Blue Mega kit, Template Layout Creator #16, Glitter Glitz Glam Styles & Felt Photoshop Styles all from Blushbutter.
Fonts used: Imprint MT Shadow & Segoe Script.

The weather got cool again this past week and we had a little bit of snow. It is supposed to start warming up in a few more days. Ayden finished up her swimming lessons at the end of the week. She is supposed to be about 3 before she can go in the pool for lessons by herself. So since she can't really advance to the next level for a while, I will probably just register her in the Sea Turtle level. Lessons start again in a few weeks. Raquel enjoyed the week at school and got to end it with a Valentine's Day party, movie and swimming, as well. She is pretty happy to have a long weekend and is trying to talk me into taking them to the pool for the Family Day swim. Sounds like it might be a good way to spend some time with the girls.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Happy Valentines's Day!!!

P.S. I love you!

February is Heart month, if you are interested, you can check out the following links to find out more ways to keep your heart healthy, the Heart & Stroke Foundation and The Heart Truth. Of course, February's most celebrated holiday, Valentine's day, is also around the corner. So remember to wear some red on February 14th to show your support of the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Deb, at The Dapper Doxie has a lovely new kit in her store this month, that is just perfect for romantic occasions (and it's on sale for a limited time). I decided to do another page for my heritage album, because I love these old shots of my mom and dad. They have been a couple for over 40 years and I really admire them for that. These pictures, of my parents, were taken before they were married. My dad was quite proud of that Comet Capri, as it was his first new car. The journaling reads: Barbara gave Eckhard this picture while they were engaged. She wrote him the little note in the locket, on the back of the picture. These pictures were taken in the spring of 1967.

P.S. I love you! digital kit credits: Parisian Rose from the Dapper Doxie.
Fonts used: Mutlu, Porcelain & Whisper Write.

We had a fairly quiet week this week. Ayden is getting much better at floating and blowing bubbles in the pool. She is getting a lot more confident in the water, although I'm not totally sure that is a good thing, as she is such an independent little person. Raquel had a winter carnival today at school this afternoon, to finish off the week. She had a good time and especially enjoyed the fact that there were no classes pretty much all day. We went and did some shopping the other day and I got myself a new external hard drive. I found a good deal on a terabyte that I couldn't pass up. So I spent some time cleaning out files and rearranging them this week. Hopefully now my desktop will perform better, as it's memory was almost full. We are supposed to have another mild weekend, which will be so nice. Hope you enjoy your weekend also!

Time For Some Changes

Happy Groundhog's day!!! I thought that it was about time to make a new header and blinkie. Something kind of springy, as I am getting tired of winter and those crazy groundhogs predicted 6 more weeks. I created my own graphics and the doodle down the left side, was done by Raquel. She thought it was neat that I used it, although her original paper version was a little more colorful. I hope you enjoy my new spring header, maybe one of these days I will actually get together a whole kit.

I decided that while I was in a bit of a Halloween mood, I would finish off those pictures, (something I never did do last year). So here are a couple more pages of Trick or Treating. I dressed up as the devil's mistress and put on long red underwear to stay warm in that dress. The girls enjoyed having me dress up, but I don't think I will ever put that black spray on my hair again, what a mess it made!


Trick or Treat 2008 I & II digital kit credits: Photo Benders from Dusty Bear, Cast Iron Halloween from Derek M. Designs and Boo To You Too & Dark Gothic Halloween from Snowraven.
Fonts Used: Cold Night For Alligators & Haunt AOE.

Last week my younger brother stopped in for a quick visit. I finally got to see my little niece, Medea. She is seven months old now and such a little doll. I got to be the proud auntie, because she actually let me hold her. It made me realize just how quickly Ayden is growing up. We had a rather quiet weekend, as Raquel was away. The weather has been fairly mild for this time of year, so Ayden & I have been trying to get outside more. It is pretty slippery for her, as the snow has been melting the past few days, but now that she can get her own boots on, it is pretty difficult to keep her in. She loves to help feed the horses and take care of the dogs (which is great, except she is so tiny. Both of the girls swimming lessons are going well. Raquel's last lesson is tomorrow, so I'll get to see how she is progressing. Ayden has four more lessons, she is enjoying them immensely, so I may have to register her for the next session as well.

Have a nice week!

Halloween in January?

Okay, maybe I'm a little behind with my pictures, but I am finally getting to Halloween. Raquel seemed to think is was an odd choice for this time of year, but I didn't feel like doing Christmas pages yet. It was fun going through the Halloween pictures. The girls were so cute, Raquel was a good witch and Ayden was a forest fairy. They had to wear their costumes over some warm clothes, as it was a chilly evening, but at least there wasn't any snow this year.

Halloween 2008 digital kit credits: Victorian Wedding Kit, Unicorn and Fairy Clipart Kit, and Creepies from Blushbutter.
Skelegance from Derek M. Designs.
Fonts used: Haunted.

To break up the winter boredom, I decided to start Ayden in swimming lessons this month. She gets to go twice a week, in the morning and really seems to be enjoying it. She is too small to go into the pool by herself, so I get to join her. I am impressed with the fact that they are actually being taught skills at such a young age, not just playing in the water. Ayden is learning it is okay to put your head all the way under the water and is progressing nicely with her front & back floats. She loves the hot tub, but I think the highlight of the week for Ayden was when she got to go down the waterslide with me. Raquel has been taking swimming lessons for the past couple of weeks as well. Her school offers a session of lessons, as part of the physical education program each year. She was a little upset because she was put in a more advanced level than her friends, due to all the lessons she's had in the past. She has some dreams of being a life guard one day and I am really quite proud of her progress. With swimming and an appointment last Monday, our week has gone by quickly. It looks like we are in for a few cold days, just in time for the weekend. Maybe we'll have to go out and rent a few movies. Hope you find a nice cozy way to spend your weekend also!

A Difficult Choice

This month's challenge at Blush-n-Dusty is to create a page using your favorite picture from 2008. You also had to use something from the mini kit provided by Dusty Bear.

It was hard for me to decide just which picture was my favorite, but I finally settled on this one from Kyle's graduation. We all had a great time and the girls were pleased that they got to go to such a grown up event. Kyle looked so handsome and I am very happy that he graduated. It is certainly one of my favorite memories from 2008 and I do love this picture, as it not only has all my little darlings in it, but my parents and niece as well.

Graduation - Family digital kit credits: Tattered Solids, Dainty elements, Dainty papers, and Classroom Memories elements from Dusty Bear.
Fonts used: MisterEarl BT and WhisperWrite.

We are enjoying a week of unseasonably warm weather. Today it is above freezing and the snow is melting. It feels so nice to get a break from all the cold and snow we've had so far this winter. Chinooks are such wonderful things! Spring is my favorite time of the year and I much prefer rain to snow. If you are looking for some signs of spring, you can drop by Deb's blog, she had a some adorable pictures of her new baby goats posted. My parents raised goats for quite a few years when we were young and I always loved the babies, they can be so comical. So if you are feeling a little down about winter, remember spring is just around the corner.

Hope you are having a terrific week!

The Dance

Happy New Years!!! It's been rather busy at our house with everyone home over the holidays. I think Raquel's actually looking forward to school starting again on Monday, so she can go and hang out with her friends. We took our tree down the other day, so we could set up the "inside bouncer" the girls got for Christmas. This cold weather has certainly been keeping everyone indoors. It looks like we will finally be getting a break from the cold weather we've been experiencing. It will be nice to have some milder temperatures this week, maybe Ayden will get a chance to go outside and enjoy the snow for a change.

I decided to do another page for my children's heritage album. My maternal grandparents were married in Saskatchewan and soon after moved to British Columbia. Although Mike & Lena shared a life filled with many new experiences, their time together was relatively short. Lena passed away from an extended illness not long before her 36th birthday. Leaving Mike alone with their 3 young children to raise by himself. I imagine it must have been a very heart breaking and difficult time for the young family.

The journalling reads:

In 1942, shortly after Metro (Mike) & Lena’s marriage and subsequent move to the interior of British Columbia, they had this professional wedding portrait taken.

Together, Mike & Lena had four children, Peter, Joyce and Barbara, as well as an infant daughter who predeceased them in 1947.

The couple was married for 13 years, until Lena passed away in 1955.

The Dance digital kit credits: Wedding Dreams from The Dapper Doxie (some items colorized).
Fonts used:Papyrus, French Script MT and Edwardian Script ITC.

Wishing you health, prosperity and happiness in 2009. Have a nice weekend!