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!