Happy Birthday Jesus... and Merry Christmas to all!

Well, the morning has come and gone... the smell of turkey roasting in the oven is wafing through the house, the kids are all off playing with new toys and building gadgets with Blaine. Everything is ready to go for turkey dinner, veggies are peeled and cut, and we're just snackin' all day long!

Santa was good to everyone at my house this year! Blaine got a big air compressor with tons of attachments and tools, I got TWO new cartridges for my Cricut and a remote starter for my van, and Donovan bought me a foot spa/massager... I think it was more for him than me, because he is the BEST foot massager on the planet, so now he figures he gets out of it! LOL!

The boys are outfitted from head to toe with paintball guns, gear and ammo! Too bad we didn't read until too late that the CO2 canisters aren't filled, and they need them filled in order for their guns to work... bummer! Oh well, they're busy putting together the gym equipment that Grandpa Moston got them for Christmas.

The girls have so much stuff I can't even begin to tell you what they got! Some highlights include the Biggest Little Pet Shop for Dakota, a nail spa for Devin, a VCR/DVD combo for their room, tons of clothes, make up, and X-box games...

Here's a few photos to share from this morning:

Before the paper was flying!





It's a beautiful day here today... sun is shining, the birds are singing and all is well in our world! Another reminder to remember the reason for the season! Praise and thanks to our Lord God for being so good to us this past year!

"Twas the Night before Christmas...

and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse... Isn't he cute? I couldn't resist! :o)

Well, not everyone is in bed yet! We just finished watching the original "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" movie. Grandpa Moston and Blaine are watching the end of Scrooge. Willy's crackin' nuts in the kitchen... the girls are already snug in their beds with visions of sugar plums dancin' in their heads... Donovan and Kirby have already gone to bed, but I doubt they're sleeping! I have presents to wrap and stockings to fill.... as usual, a whirlwind Christmas eve!

Early today, we hit the tobogganing slopes with Auntie Kathy, Uncle Serge, Morgan and Brandon. The kids had a blast, regardless of the fact that the hill was pretty well sheer ice and the dads had more fun than the kids did I'm sure! Kath and I laughed ourselves silly at the kids and their dads sledding down the hills, screaming their heads off... Morgan and Dakota had the best time... I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow... for some reason, it's not letting me add another one right now! :o(

After supper tonight, we drove into the city to drive through Candy Cane Lane and take some pictures of the lights. As usual, the residents in this area of the city did a great job of lighting up the streets and their houses. Grandpa was quite impressed by the show of lights...

The kids opened up their Christmas PJ's from Great Grandma Ashe... a Christmas eve tradition in our house since I was a child. Everyone was quite happy and surprised (Do ya think Kirby was playing to the camera a little bit? LOL!) with their new Christmas PJ's...

And so it begins... the mad rush in the morning, the paper tearing, the squeals, the smiles, the laughter... I'll leave you with the words to my favorite Grinch Christmas song...

Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome Christmas, Come this way!
Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day.

Welcome, Welcome
Fah who rah-moose
Welcome, Welcome
Dah who dah-moose
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp

Fah who for-aze!
Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome, welcome Christmas
Welcome, welcome Christmas Day

So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

My bad....

So sorry for not posting in the last few days! The days before Christmas always seem to go by in such a blur! Last minute shopping, gift wrapping, baking... all to be done and so little time to do it in! I never imagined that working part time would take away so many hours I spent doing other things! C'est la vie!

Lots going on lately... Donovan went to the dentist in Quesnel today. We thought for a pre-op for his braces, but I guess it wasn't because he had two fillings done and I wasn't happy because they put SILVER fillings in and all my kids have the white kind! I guess that tid-bit of info got lost in his file, because when the receptionist checked, all the other kids are noted. So now, he gets to have them out and re-filled on February 14th, when he gets his spacers in. Then on the 21st, it's the big day! BRACES! But not to straighten teeth - his are straight. He has a pretty bad overbite that is causing damage to his lower teeth fronts so they'll correct that. It will be a big adjustment for Mr. Popcorn lover!

Hockey is marching along... as well as the never-ending fundraising! We were supposed to have this weekend off, so I scheduled Dylan for a lacrosse event on Saturday, and then it's decided that the team would be doing one more day of firewood before the holidays... but, we won't be there as I've already paid for lacrosse. We still have TONS of darned tickets to sell... anyone want to buy one or even two???

The girls Christmas concert is tomorrow... that always signals the start of Christmas for me! Nothing like all those kiddies singing their little hearts out to get me in the mood! Then they're going roller skating and have pot lucks on Friday and then school's OUT! Woohoo! The boys are more low key at school in regards to Christmas, but they're glad to have a bit of a break coming up. Kirby wants more snow for boarding, and Dylan wants the temperature to plummet so that the ice rink in the back yard will take and he can skate on in it in the new year!

I won a new cartridge for my Cricut on Ebay last night... $54 CAD in comparison to $99 up here! And that included the shipping and exchange rate! Woohooo! I can't wait to really get in there and play with it. I just haven't had the time yet to fully appreciate all this baby can do! I have visions of layouts dancing in my head... can't wait to get them down on paper soon!

Well, my eyes are crossing... time for bed and bath! Or rather, the other way around I guess! LOL! Night!

The **~magic~** of Santa Claus...

I got this in an email the other day, and wanted to share... one more reason to celebrate the season...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her. On the way my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted.... "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go." "Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but I never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.

That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team. I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care.

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

I have ~serious~ baby **lust**!

Oh my! We had a visit today at Debbie and Darcy's; they sure do make some gorgeous kids! LOL! Although I have to say, I am partial to little Mister #8... Isn't he he just the most adorable little man you've ever seen? I'm as proud as an Auntie! LOL! And he looks just like his big brother Danton! He's just sooo teeny tiny! Debbie said 7 lbs something today, I can't remember! My bad!

Donovan even held him for a while and then Dakota and I shared the rest of the time. He's quite content and Debbie is looking fantastic! Even her house is sparkling and her tree is up, with wrapped presents under there... she's putting us to shame! LOL! You truly are Super Mom Debbie... hats off to you! :OP And can't forget Dakota's picture with Keaton... they're birthday buddies forever now... Finally home after a whirl wind of another day... this week just zoomed by and I am SOOO glad tomorrow is Friday! I can sleep in on Saturday morning, then house cleaning, the Teddy Bear Toss hockey game on Saturday night with Kathy and Serge and kids, then Sunday is baking, Dylan and Blaine have firewood and the team is serving at the Senior's Dinner up in the Hart. Then it's one more week of work and then CHRISTMAS holidays! I so can't wait!

I should run, I haven't had any dinner yet (Donovan made the kids pancakes while I was in town at hockey with Willy!) and I am debating having a bath BEFORE Survivor tonight... Only tonight and Sunday to go. Although I must admit, I am not enjoying the show much anymore. So predictable and boring... Okay, I'm off! TTFN!

Christmas party time...

Had a lovely dinner at a Greek restaurant with the staff from MediChair tonight. It was so nice to see everyone in a social setting and not under the busyness and stress of "work". We had lots of laughs and made some good memories to recall next year...

Kathy and I went walking today at the Coliseum and stupid me, I forgot my runners at home and ended up walking in my work shoes... BIG MISTAKE! Can you say "D'oh?" I have huge blisters on the pads under my big toes and it's so friggin painful to walk! I know I won't be doing that again! But we will be getting together to walk though... it was nice to visit and chat, but I guess we're going to have to "pick up the pace" because a lot of those seniors were lapping us! LOL!

Donovan was my secretary at the hockey tournament meeting tonight while we were at the dinner. He did a good job taking notes for me and making sure he inserted his opinion where is was needed(or not! LOL!)... Hard to believe our home tournament is in less than a month now... lots of things to do to get ready for that too.

We're going to visit with Debbie and baby Keaton tomorrow after work. I have to get his presents to him before he grows too much and they don't fit him! Can't have that happening! I can't wait to sniggle him! I gotta remember to bring my camera to take some pictures too... If it's okay with Debbie, I'll post one on here so you can see how cute he is Nana!

Okay... I need to get this tired body into the tub and my bed! Night...

Doing the ~*~happy dance~*~ tonight!

Cuz I got me a Cricut... what's that you may ask? Only the coolest, newest electronic die cutter on the market! My husband spoils me!!! I've been playing all night learning how to use it, and it's quite easy actually! Now I hope my Christmas stocking will hold another cartridge or two and I'll really be a happy camper! Oh the things I can do... Too bad it's almost bedtime though! LOL! Oh well, tomorrow's another day!

Willy got home at the ungodly hour of 4am! And being the mean mom that I am, I made him get up and go to school today... he missed three days last week, and thankfully, tomorrow's 6am practice is optional... so we're opting out, but more so because he's got quite a cough and the coach wants the kids who are coughing to rest up a bit and recover. He would rather be there and "play"... I just checked back on the Victoria tournament website and the final scoring results were posted. Willy placed 13th overall out of all the kids at the tournament and had the most points of all the kids on our team... WTG Willy! You're awesome! :o)

I finished my Christmas cards tonight and they're ready to be mailed tomorrow morning. Not quite as early as I usally do them, but at least they'll still arrive before the big day! I still haven't put the beads back on the tree, but then again, I was in town until almost 7:30 tonight. The girls had dance and then we had some groceries to get and some stuff for Devin's class pot luck tomorrow... So it was another running around like crazy day and night, and I'll be so glad when my head hits the pillow tonight!

Work is going to be busy for the next couple of weeks... we just finished up year end and I'm packaging up all the gifts and day planners for the group homes and hospitals in the area. Keeps me busy with everything else I have, but I prefer to be busy than twiddling my thumbs!!!

Blaine told me tonight that he may be hopping on the company jet on Monday next week to fly down to Kamloops for the day looking at some equipment in a mill down there... hmmm... sounds like FUN!

Not too much more to tell... the snow is still melting; it poured rain most of the day today. At this rate, we won't have any snow for Christmas again this year! Man... I hate when that happens!

Okay, off to the tubbie I go... Night!

It's beginning to look (and smell!) a lot like Christmas...

As busy as this time of the year is, and even more so this year with me working, I do love all the hustle and bustle of trimming the tree, baking and wrapping the presents for under the tree... Well, make that trimming the tree ONCE not twice... as I had to do todayGot the tree all up yesterday and had it "perfect" in my eyes last night... I used only white lights this year for the first time, traded in my old blue and silver bulbs and went with a red/gold theme of bulbs and beeds... It was sooo pretty! Good thing I snapped some pictures because it FELL down in the middle of the night! Blaine was up for an overtime shift this morning and just about had a heartattack when he got up for work and found my "perfect" tree lying in a broken heap in the middle of the floor! Thankfully the tree was very thirsty, because the only mess there wasn't was water! Needles, broken bulbs, broken crystal ornanments I've had forever, broken baby's first Christmas ornaments from Donovan's first Christmas... Sigh... good thing for crazy glue! And my last thought before falling asleep was... "Sure hope the cats don't knock over the tree..." Guess I was asking for too much! Oh well, the tree is back to pretty well looking the same as the picture, I just have to re-string the beads tomorrow night.

Happy Birthday to me...

Just a quickie post for now... Blaine and I are going out for dinner then heading to the rink to watch my other "son" Nathan play hockey in the Bantam B tournament here this weekend. If I can't watch my own boy this weekend, I might as well watch Willy's other "brother from another mother..."

Can't believe I'm 37 today...where in the heck does the time go? Never envisioned myself at this age for some reason... guess you're only as old as you feel!

The boys lost their game this morning to the Vernon Vipers, 7-2... Not what we were expecting, but maybe it's a wake up call for them after winning 8 games straight! I think they were feeling "untouchable" and that's no way to go into a tournament!

I'll try to do an update once we're home tonight... the boys play again tonight so I'll post results when I get them!

TTFN!

**Update: The team lost 4-1 to Victoria tonight... Esther's boy Matthew got the only goal! WTG Matthew! Willy got game MVP though... Woohoo buddy! There's my birthday present! Love ya!**

Just a very quick update tonight...

The boys won their game this morning, 9-3. Willy scored one and got two assists! :o)

They play two games tomorrow... I'll update once I'm home from work!

TTFN!

Well, the boys are off to Victoria!

The boys headed out early this morning (at 6am) amidst snow flurries and yucky road conditions. Haven't had any updates on the hockey hotline yet, but I had heard that the boys were stuck waiting in a traffic line somewhere along the way because of a car accident, and so to pass some time, the boys got off the bus and sold their raffle tickets to the captive audience that they had! Great thinking guys! The boys play at 10am tomorrow morning against Juan de Fuca. I'll post updates as I hear them. Here is a link to the Victoria AAA hockey site so you can keep track of their progress as well... http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/front_pageesd.cfm?clientID=3017&leagueID=7877

Got my flu shot today. My arm isn't sore like I was expecting it to be. It kinda tingled all day and the nurse said it might feel like I was carrying around a brick on my shoulder for the next day or two... but so far, so good! Everyone at work got one because of how much we work with the seniors who are in a very high risk category. No sense in getting it ourselves!

Kirby is taking advantage of the ALL the snow we've gotten in the last week or two and is at the ski hill for some night skiing with his buddy Glen. It's very warm outside, about +5, so it's going to be kinda wet and slick, but they don't seem to care a bit! Donovan is watching a hockey game, Devin is torturing the cat, (Keni of course, never Koska!) and Dakota is playing on the laptop... Blaine is working a bit later tonight as they had a mini shut down on one of the boilers and it's his first shut down as the new assistant chief, so he wants to stay and make sure it all goes well!

Not much else going on tonight... without Willy here and his hockey, we actually get to stay home once in awhile! LOL! I might even sit my butt down in my scrapbook room tonight and DO something! Won't that be novel?

We're going to get our Christmas tree at the tree farm this year. Last year, we bought one off the lot, but it just wasn't the same as "tromping" through the snow making magical memories and asking the chosen tree if it would like to come home with us... Hopefully we'll bundle up on Saturday and off we go! Blaine will be working OT on Sunday and through the following week for the major shutdown at the one mill, then it's planning for the shut down at the other mill... So if I want the tree up this weekend, Saturday it is!

So that's it from my desk tonight... Have a good one!

**Updated: The boys are safe and sound on the ferry, so almost to their destination since they're going to Victoria from Vancouver. They play at 10am, tomorrow morning, so I'll update once I'm home from work tomorrow.**

Here's a bit of wisdom...

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table... Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Great way to end the day... NOT!

Okay... I have finally had ENOUGH of all the danged snow falling and these darned "Pineapple Express'"... Rushed home from work today to get the girls ready for dance, and take Willy in to team ticket sales and I got stuck at the end of our driveway.! After snowing all day (again!), and the temperature hovering right around zero all day, it made for very slippery conditions. Granted, I was probably going a bit too fast to get into the driveway, but man! I was SOOO stuck! I had to wait until Blaine got home from work to dig me out! So needless to say, dance and ticket sales were cancelled for us! I think we have more snow now than we did over the whole winter last year! YIKES! Thankfully it's warmer than it was last week, but warmer apparently means more snow! LOL!

The highway was pure sheet ice and in town was down right dangerous! People slidding through intersections, not being able to stop. We had to dig out four different cars from work today because they couldn't move in the heavy wet snow... Those poor seniors shouldn't even have been out driving, let alone getting out of their cars with walkers and canes trying to get into the store! Good thing we have a lot of young men working at the store to help dig them out! I was worried I was going to get stuck at work too because when I parked this morning, I kinda slid into a snowpile and wondered all day if I was going to make it out. Well, I was able to back out just fine, but once I put it into drive, I kinda sunk into the slushy ice. I had to rock back and forth a couple of times to get myself going... once I was driving, it was okay, but I went around the corner from work and some guy in a truck came plowing out of a back alley and almost rammed me! My poor heart! I realize he was just trying to get out of the alley without getting stuck, but hey! Take a look first please!!!!

Got my scrapbook room all cleaned up and organized after supper. Amazing how strapping on your MP3 player can make time go so much faster! And best of all, I wanted to sit down and get some scrapping done! BUT... I didn't. I had a few other things to look after first, like another submission to the Canadian Scrapbooker magazine... now I have the bug! LOL! I submitted my "It's a Dad Kind of Thing..." mini book for the summer issue. I have another couple layouts I'd like to submit too, but I'll get those done another day.

Fifteen minutes to the final HERO'S until after Christmas... man, we're so addicted to this show! Monday nights just aren't going to be the same!!! I guess I should go make sure everything is ready for the kids bedtimes before we sit down to watch!

Night!

Create a Snowflake for the Salvation Army...

Here is a really cool place to go and create a snowflake to help the Salvation Army this Christmas Season... The snowflake I created is #3,129,620 You can search for it to have a look-see! The more snowflakes created, the more money Popular Front donates to the Sally Ann... HAVE FUN!!!!



It's been a busy few days around here... no real time to sit and blog and you wouldn't believe how much I missed doing it!

Dylan left for Dawson Creek at noon on Friday. They played their first game against DC that same night and won the game 13-2. They played again this morning and won that game 13-1... yikes! They continued their travels on to Fort St John this afternoon where they won that game 14-0! What a weekend for improving your +/- rating! They boys even changed it up and the defense played forward and the forwards played defense. Even as a D-Man, Willy still managed to get a hat trick today and four assists in that game alone! WOW! Blaine is just in at the bus picking Willy up from their trip. Then they have a day of woodcutting tomorrow. Thankfully, we can all sleep in a bit as they don't have to be there until 11am. The girls and I will be going into Canfor's kids Christmas party. They're roller skating with the "old style" roller skates... should be fun for some pictures anyhow!

Today I went into a cleaning frenzy and my poor old body is having a hard time handling it... I cleaned the upstairs top to bottom, changed the living room around, dung out my bedroom, changed it all around, had Blaine purge his drawers and get out all the old clothes he doesn't wear anymore, purged the papers at the computer desk, put all the CD's and DVD's into actual cases instead of those darned paper thingy's, and am still working on the laundry. Well, not at this minute, the rest can wait for tomorrow.

Last night Blaine and I went out for a dinner date to celebrate his new job, and our birthdays since we hadn't done anything for those either. We went to the Keg, our favorite place. It was a busy place last night though... a very noisy birthday party and what appeared to be a bridal shower... they were very rowdy, but hey, we weren't looking for romantic! LOL! After dinner we stopped and rented a few movies to have over the weekend: Click, The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo something, and The Davinci Code... LOVED the book, liked the movie. It was really good though. I highly recommend both! :o) The kids enjoyed Click and Kirby was glued to the F&F, said it had the best ending of a movie he could ever remember... so that must be saying something! After the movie store, Blaine and I went to the scrapbook store... what a guy hey? Sarah and I demo'd the Cricut for him to see how it worked and had a good visit.

Caught up with an old friend from Quesnel today... HI BARB! :o) Got the inside scoop on where to get me a Cricut Cutting machine for a good price. I want one for Christmas... maybe Santa will think I've been good enough this year? What do you think?

I am almost done my Christmas shopping... I have a few small things to pick up for the boys. Dakota was supposed to be done, but when I went back to SuperStore yesterday to pick up her gift, they had sold out and probably weren't getting any more! OH NO! Devin is no where near done... this age is sooo hard. She wants primping things... shampoo, make up, that kind of stuff. No fun for mom! LOL! And shopping for clothes for her is impossible... everything I suggest, she doesn't like... hmmm, where have I seen this scene before? Deja Vu perhaps! ROTF!

Have already received two Christmas cards in the mail this week. I haven't decided if I am even doing cards this year. I always do close to 100 and have every year since Blaine and I were together, but I get so disappointed when I don't cards back, that I swore last year, I wasn't going to go through all that work... and now with working, I don't know if I feel like it. I don't know, I'll probably change my mind in the end and do them anyhow.

I have got to start my Christmas baking... maybe tomorrow afternoon, but for sure next weekend. Willy will be leaving for Victoria on Wednesday, and it's my birthday on Friday, and we usually decorate the house and tree the weekend of my birthday. So that may not leave much time for baking... I guess we'll have to play it by ear and see how it goes. Also, it's the Bantam B tournament this weekend, and we'll go and watch the boys and see how they do. Gotta watch hockey even when my kid isn't out there... I'll cheer for his buddies though! :O)

Well, Blaine and Willy just pulled into the driveway... should go and greet my boy! Have a good night all!

What an exciting day!!!

Well, as most of you may already know from my excited email, I'm now "officially" published in Canada in the Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine... It was one of my online buddies who alerted me to the fact that she'd already seen the magazine at her local scrapbook store in Alberta and was emailing me to congratulate me!!! I thought it wasn't coming out until the middle of December... oh well, it was a nice surprise anyhow! :O) I took the magazine into work today, and everyone had a lookie loo.

I also went shopping this morning for our "Adopt a family" through our MEDIChair office. We have a family of three, mom and two kids, one boy, one girl. I bought the girl a scrapbooking kit, go figure, and the boy wanted a hoodie, so I got him one with a bonus electronic hand held game. It was fun shopping for someone else's kids and knowing that we're making their wishes come true. It is what Christmas is all about!

I finished my digi class tonight too... wasn't at all impressed with the whole course. For the amount of money we paid, I really expected more out of it. It really felt like it was a waste of time and money for me... lesson learned! Just because someones photographs are awesome, it doesn't automatically mean that they're a great teacher...

I am really bagged tonight... I'm going to bed early... well, early for me anyhow! Nighty night!

A Typical Tuesday?

Or not! Got to work today to find out that we had burst some pipes overnight in this frigid weather! Finally had a plumbing company come and rescue us and get the water turned back on so we could at least use the washrooms... no water also makes for crabby people when you can't make coffee or tea! LOL! Phil and Char were nice enough to go to Tim Hortons for coffee and hot chocolate for the crew! Left work and headed out to round up the rug rats. Got the girls and headed for a quick stop at Value Village and the pet store. Picked up the boys and rushed home to make dinner because Donovan has Air Cadets tonight and Willy has floor hockey with the team.

Fed the tribe and we're waiting for Blaine to arrive home... and wait, and wait, and wait! And start to get worried because it's now after 6pm, he should have been home awhile ago and he's taking the boys in and heading back into work for a bit because they're having major problems with all the cold weather too. Of course, both his cell phones are sitting on the counter here at home, like they're doing him any good there! Anyhow, he made it safe and sound, walked in and out with the boys... they're both going to be late for their activities! Oh well, what do you do? Esther is being a doll and is bringing Willy home for me after floor hockey! So nice! Then Willy doesn't have to hang around town waiting for Donovan to be done AC or Blaine to be done at the mill... And he won't miss too much of Friday Night Lights then...

Tried to call back Auntie Twila... she called and left a message today while I was at work. It was nice to hear her voice! Haven't talked to her in forever! But, she wasn't home so I left a message for her... phone tag, you're it!!!

Dakota sat and got her English homework done. She had a lot of pages to complete tonight. Three double sided, all on plurals. I had to correct a bunch of stuff, so she had to re-do some, but I think she gets it now... Here is a picture of her working so hard...

And here is a picture of King Keni helping Dakota after the fact...
He is such a nuisance! He loves to knock everything off any high surface he can... including my scrapbook supplies, drinking glasses off the bathroom counter, Devin's jewelery... little bugger! But we love him! :o)

This is what Devin was up to tonight... learning how to tune my guitar with the help of the internet! Isn't it amazing what the kids can learn do these days with the help of the internet?
And Kirby was hiding out in the boys room playing on the XBOX... do you think he could get ANY closer to the TV Set???

I just got off the phone with Auntie Twila... no more phone tag tonight! We're all caught up! :o)It was good to yak at her... we haven't had a chance to talk since this summer I think!

Blaine has been busy getting his new office all put together at work. He's got lots to do to get himself familiar with the Intercon mill and the people working there.

Anyhow, I should run... Lots to do, and I've been yakking on the phone and typing all evening long! Have a good one!

Happy 9th Birthday to Dakota... and Happy ~Birth~ Day to Keaton!

Such an exciting day! Dakota's nine and she couldn't be more excited that Debbie had Keaton today too! He was 7lbs 10oz and 21" long... and he has a head of hair! I think he looks like Danton, Debbie thinks he looks like Chantal... I don't know, he's just plain ADORABLE! And I can't wait to see him again! And silly me, I even had my camera in the van, but I forgot to take it up! Oh well... I promised Debbie I'd come over a do a "baby shoot" for her... you know, little toes, fingers, mommy's hands, daddy's hands etc! I can't wait! Debbie looks darned right awesome for just having had a baby... all Keaton's sisters and his big brother were there too, so it was a tight squeeze... he's going to be one loved little boy!

Here is a picture of Miss Dakota going to bed last night, saying a final good bye to being Eight!

We've done this picture a few times over the years, the most memorable when she was two turning three, and she was in her little crib bed... sniff, sniff! How time flies! I'm just getting plain OLD!

Willy and the boys arrived on the bus this morning about quarter after ten in the biting cold! Some of the kids bags were covered in snow and frost! You sure could tell it was a cold ride home from Saskatchewan! And speaking of returning a champion, here is a picture of him holding his trophy... Such a big smile for such a tired man! 19 hours on the bus through the night... glad it was them and not me! He got nine points in four games, 4 goals and five assists. He isn't sure what his +/- rating was for the weekend, but it was high on the + side... His co-assistant captain, Brett Connolly was awarded the Outstanding Forward of the Tournament! Congratulations Brett! Well done! The whole team as a whole played solid, good hockey and the parents are all very proud of the effort put forth by the boys this weekend! Go COUGARS Go! Best of all, 6am practice is cancelled tomorrow! WOOHOO!

After school today, we got Dakota's aquarium set up. Willy was nice enough to let her have "Larson" his Betta fish, jump into the big tank to help get the tank cycled. We haven't seen Larson swim so much in his life! LOL! He probably thinks he must have died and is in heaven; a tank with lights and a heater! We'll wait another week or so before adding some new tank mates for Larson... so long as the fish don't resemble any male bettas, he's fine in the big tank with other fishes! Doesn't she look excited? And her cute new hat is from Auntie Kelly. She made it for her and gave it to her at dancing today. Too sweet!

We're waiting for Hero's to come on... Hopefully Dakota doesn't have nightmares tonight. Last week's episode was a bit intense for her right before bed, but she insists on watching it with us, she likes most of the characters, but doesn't like Syler or Jessica.

I'm going to help Esther tomorrow morning to get her blog started. She's got comments on her blog site without anything on it, and it's time to get her educated on blogging and get going! She could have some pretty awesome pages on skiing and stuff, so when it's ready for her debut, I'll post a link on my page so you can check it out too!

Then maybe on Wednesday, Kath and I can meet at the Coliseum and get some walking in! I guess we'll have to see! TTFN!

Another weekend come and gone...

How come the weekends always seem to ~fly~ by? Back to the grind tomorrow... work, hockey, school, hockey, Air Cadets, last digi class, hockey... lots going on! I just got off the phone with Willy. They're in Medicine Hat. They've got a lot of road to cover before getting home. Willy said it was snowing, so that won't help anything! The team will be heading out to Dawson Creek and Fort St John for some exhibition games on Friday... so he'll miss Monday (tomorrow) and Friday at school again this week... Good thing he's a great student!

We had Art & Gretchen out for lunch and a visit this afternoon. It was nice to visit with them away from the rink! Gretchen brought out some more baskets for Mom's store for them to take back with them. Nana made a batch of cinnamon buns today, which we had for dessert! Yummy!!! Ma & Pa left here after lunch in the brilliant sunshine and biting cold! McTuff is always so lost for the first while after Holly & Heidi go home... he doesn't quite know what to do with himself. It was down to -24 this morning. I think we hit a high of -19 today! Positively balmy! ~NOT~ The weather is supposed to change by the end of the week, back to +6 by Friday! YES! It will feel like summer by then! LOL!

I was all excited about watching my Sunday night TV line-up, only to discover that Cold Case and Without a Trace aren't on tonight... instead it's a TV movie! I will get to catch Desperate Housewives then at 9pm, and hit the hay early tonight instead!

I keep waiting for my friend Debbie to have her 8th baby... she's overdue by a couple of days now! Dakota wants her to have him on her birthday (tomorrow the 27th)... maybe she'll wait and have him on my birthday (December 8th!) Sorry Debbie... I won't wish you overdue vibes at all! I can't wait to meet the newest little one!!!

Hopefully Kathy and I can get some walking in at the CN Centre this week... need to work off those calories from Nana's cinnamon buns! LOL! Happy Sunday All!!!

We are the CHAMPIONS!

The boys took a commanding win in the Swift Current tournament and won the gold medal game 6-1. Willy scored two, not sure about assists yet... They're going for a bite to eat and then will be on the road through the night, arriving home sometime between 10am & noon tomorrow. According to the team manager, the boys played a very solid 60 minutes of hockey, and there was no doubt who was going to win this game! I'm so proud of the team... just wish at least one parent was there to have taken some pictures! ~sniff, sniff~

**updated to add** Just talked to Willy, he got an assist in the game today too! Go Cougars Go!

Party time... and hockey too!

Another busy, busy day around here! Nana and Dakota started the morning by baking the cupcakes for her party this afternoon. Then we headed into town to do some shopping at the crazy busy mall! Geez, it was a mad house in there!!! Anyhow, we got what we needed for our Luau and spent some time in LA Express with Devin wanting to buy the whole store, which was all on 50% off! We left with some jeans, a shirt, a sweater with fur collar and a pair of PJ's for about $36! Not too shabby!

Then we came home and got organized for the party. Papa had a pretty bad headache by this time so he went for a nap. By the time we were ready to leave, he still wasn't feeling well, so he missed out but Nana came and we had tons of fun! The kids had their cupcakes and drinks first, then Dakota opened presents and she received some awesome gifts! Lots of Littlest Pet Shop things, and she was quite thrilled. She got some arts and crafts stuff too, which always goes over well. I love this picture the best though... she just opened up her Tinkerbell watch from Daddy and I... isn't it great? She'd been bugging me all day at the mall for a watch and I think she was beginning to think I was just being mean!!! Little did she know! LOL! She got an aquarium and a movie from Nana and Papa. She got some money from Grandma & Grandpa Willick and us, and she's going to stock her aquarium and get some extra supplies. Auntie Kathy and Uncle Serge stayed and kept us company and Serge and Blaine went to get some pizza for the kids. Went over really well! All in all, it was a great night!

As for the hockey... the boys are in the GOLD medal game tomorrow! They won their game tonight, 10-6 against Saskatoon. They'll be playing someone from the East Central Alberta pool, perhaps Stettler. I'll post results when I get them! And oh yeah, the WHL Cougars are on a four game winning streak. They won 3-2 against Chilliwack. Ryan Howse managed to his score his first WHL goal tonight with under two minutes left in the game... the hometown crowd went wild for the opposition for one minute! It was awesome to hear! Congratulations Ryan!!!

Off to have a drink of tea and a tubby! Happy Sunday to all!

Hockey updates...

Just for Auntie Franki! :o)

They've won their first two games and are currently playing Saskatoon... we're getting ready for the birthday party, then I'll post more tonight!

TTFN!

A change of scenery...

Well, since it was looking so wintery outside, I figured a new "look" to the blog would be appropriate too! We were able to come home early today as the boys had early dismissal because of report day. All the boys did fairly well; Willy made the Principals List with straight A's again, Donovan and Kirby both are doing better than they did last year. Kirby has to work a bit harder in math and science to get his lower 60-ish% grades up to the 69% he needs in order to go into the Welding trade program here for grade 11. He has to maintain a 69% average in order to be accepted into the program. Thankfully, this is only a mid-term report, and he has some time to work at these subjects to get his marks up before his final marks are awarded at the end of January. All the kids have a Non-instructional day off tomorrow, so they're going to be doing chores while I'm at work... sounds like a fun pay-off for me! LOL!

Willy and the team left this morning in a snow storm around 7:30am... they called from Jasper at 12:30, and were eating at a restaurant in Edmonton by 5:30pm... they're supposed to be going all the way to Medicine Hat tonight, then carrying on to Swift Current tomorrow. None of us parent seem to have a schedule of their games, so I have no clue as to when, where or whom they're playing! I've left a message for the team manager on his phone to please leave that info on the hockey hotline updates, so we at least know something!

Dakota has been getting RSVP's to her party all afternoon. She's happy that most everyone will be able to come. Tomorrow night, our family plus Nana and Papa are going to watch the WHL Cougars play the Chilliwack Bruins. It's the first time they've been here as it's an expansion team AND Ryan Howse, a PGMHA player, (who was #1 in the WHL bantam draft this spring!) is playing in his first WHL game as a 15 year old player! How exciting for him and his family! He only gets to play five games with the team because of his age, but what a debut on home ice, as the star of the opposition team! I think I'll allow him only one goal, then after that, it has to be Cougars' all the way! Sorry Ryan! LOL!

It's must watch Thursday night TV tonight... Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, and ER... a night on the couch veggin'... awesome!

I'll post hockey updates as I have them... Night!

Winter Wonderland...

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like winter out there! It took us 40 minutes to drive home after school today! The snow was coming down fast and furious in light fluffy flakes and it's getting cold out there brrrrr!!! The highway was a terror to drive! Blowing snow and poor visibility made for a slow drive... I was hoping this would stay away for another month or so, but I guess it's here whether I like it or not!

We've been whirlwinding as usual the last couple of days. Last night Willy had door to door ticket selling for the team raffle. So while he was doing that, I went and got some groceries and then sat and visited with Dayna and sniggled little Miss Draya! She's such a doll and I love her baby smell! I wish they could bottle that baby "fragrance" LOL! We got home just in time to watch "Hero's"... man, that show just gets better and better! Reminds me of the X-Files, which I still miss to this day!

Today, Devin had some Volleyball games after school. We watched them win 2 and lose 2. Oh well, she's having fun! We left the school and drove home. We walked in the door, started supper and Donovan got ready for work. Blaine drove in the driveway, came in to say Hello then walked back out with Donovan. I just wasn't up to driving again. B's going to go back into work while Dono's at the game. Great news on B's work front... he got a new job! He's now the Assistant Chief of two of the pulp mills here in PG! Way to go hunshine! :o)

I actually had some time after supper to do some photo editing for one of the mom's on our hockey team... and update my blog of course! I should actually be running the vacuum cleaner over the carpets, but I will be HOME this weekend, so I'm going to save chores for then! The kids have a NI day on Friday, so they have a long weekend. Willy has hockey practice tomorrow then the team is off to Swift Current, Sask on Thursday for the weekend for a tournament. It's a long, long way from home so I hope the boys do well! I don't think too many parents are making this trip... The weekend after that, they're in Dawson Creek and Fort St John for some exhibition games. The weekend after THAT, they're in Victoria for a tournament. I wish I was going to that one, but I couldn't get the time off work. I want the time off after Christmas so I can go to the tournament in Burnaby Dec 27-31st. Esther will just have to cheer extra loud for me too! :o) And hopefully Auntie Dawn and family will be able to come down from Courtney and watch a game or two!

I have my digi class tomorrow night. I think we only have two left! Where does the time go?? Speaking of time flying... Dakota's birthday party is this Saturday. We're having a Hawaiian Luau at the pool... Should be fun! Nana and Papa are coming up for the fun, which makes it extra special! I can't believe my baby girl is going to be NINE years old! I so remember the day she was born... stubborn little thing she was! Good thing that stubborn streak never manifested itself as she grew! She really wants a fish tank for her room... we're looking at a ten gallon with lights, hood etc. She wants to have guppies and some guppy babies! She's following in her mom's footsteps... :o) I loved my fish tank when I was a teenager.

I should get some stuff done before the Music Awards come on at 8pm. Not much else on TV tonight... I may even get to bed early tonight! LOL! Thanks for reading... Night!

Another quickie trip to Kamloops & back!

Talk about another whirl wind weekend! After my digi class yesterday morning at the park, Blaine picked me up and we started dropping kids off all over the countryside. Donovan spent the weekend with Kath and Serge and working at the CN Centre, Kirby stayed with Glen and family, we dropped off Devin with Auntie Kelly, then popped in to see Papa and left Dakota with him, and headed down to Kamloops. Rolled in to the hotel around 7:30pm and went to Pizza Hut for some dinner. Then we left to find the rink as it was a new one we'd not been to before. Found that and timed our way back to the hotel. Had a bath, watched some TV and turned the lights out at 9:30pm. The wake up call didn't happen at 5:40am like we asked, so good thing Willy set his watch alarm and it went off at 5:45am. Showered, packed up and left the hotel at 6:10am... we discovered later that Willy left his pillow in the hotel... dang! Got to the arena at 6:25am, and Willy headed in to get dressed. The boys were on the ice for four hours today then had to wait around to see if they were invited to the Provincial camp... and I'm happy to say, Willy did! GO WILLY! Here is a picture of him managing to keep the puck away from the opposition...

After hockey we relaxed over some lunch at BP then hit Toys R Us before heading out to collect the children from all the over the Cariboo! LOL! Dakota had an awesome time with Nana and Papa, but as usual, ran out of time to get to do all the things they had planned, Devin ended up spending one more night in Quesnel and she'll be home for dance with Auntie Kelly tomorrow, Kirby was home and had the home fires burning for us when we arrived, and Blaine headed into town to pick up Donovan and some much needed lunch stuff for the kids... too bad he forgot to pick up the dog food on the list as poor McTuffy has to eat cat food until tomorrow! Oh well, he thinks it's a treat so not to worry!

There are major power outages from before Quesnel all the way up to places here in PG. Thankfully, our lights have stayed on and no more wind is forecasted for the night. We saw lots of downed trees and trees leaning on power lines and communication poles all the way home...

I'll leave you with a picture of my tired boy on the way home... we weren't too far out of Kamloops when I shot this one...

Night all!

Heading into the weekend!!!

Another busy day yesterday! Kathy and I met at the CN Centre to do some walking at 9am. Well, by about 9:10am and the doors hadn't opened yet, we finally read the small print on the signs, and lo and behold, no walking on event set up days! Geez! We finally decide to get together and get some exercise and the place is closed! LOL! So we headed over to Tim Horton's for a tea before work! We had a good visit though!

Went to work, picked up the kids and headed home. Willy only had about 1/2 hour at home before having to head back into town for hockey. Blaine dropped him off on his way to work. Then I headed in because we had a meeting after hockey in regards to the BC Best Ever program and the try out process involved. It is a phenomenal program and I sure hope that Willy makes the team.

Rushed home to find a plugged toilet and all the hassles that are associated with that... never could get the darned thing unplugged! Had to leave it for Blaine when he got home this morning. THEN... I went downstairs to watch Grey's Anatomy and happened to glance at the fish tank and noticed that my prized one armed Emerald Crab, Ozzie was upside down looking markedly dead! THEN my eyes found that my huge lawn mower blenny, Bling Bling was also dead! WHAT THE HECK!!! A few of the hermit crabs were already munching on him... boo hoo! We got them out of the tank, but I have no idea why they died! So far this morning, everything else looks okay! It better stay that way... Two weeks ago our tomato clown, Tommy jumped out of the tank and was no where to be found, however I suspect my kitty Keni probably had a snack! :o(

So it's off to work with another busy weekend ahead of us. Nathan is coming for a sleepover before we head off to Kamloops after lunch. We're going to watch some Midget AAA hockey tonight and enjoy the action in the Kin Centres. PG is playing the Cloverdale Colts. Should be a great game! Devin is going to Auntie Kelly's, Dakota is having a sleepover at Nana's, Kirby is off to a friends house for the weekend, and Donovan is going to spend the weekend between work at the Monster Truck event and at Auntie Kathy's house! BUSY!

Have a great day!

The winds have died down a bit...

but I can still hear them every once in awhile gust up and shake the house! Thankfully we managed to keep the power on and didn't end up with any downed trees in our yard. There was a big tree that snapped off and onto Fifteen Mile Road though, and we had to kind of drive over/around it on our way to town this morning. Mom said they have two downed trees in their yard from the wind and also lost power twice...

I had my studio session at Phil's digi class tonight. We had a nice couple come and let us take pictures of them; they were so accommodating while we tweaked and double checked our cameras!

I missed a hockey fundraising meeting tonight, but I still signed up for lots of things for our tournament in January... I like doing the program and organizing the music and the Game MVP CD's for the boys. Looks like we're going to have a kick a$$ tournament this year!

I got a new piece of furniture today! Esther's dad made me an awesome folding table that is totally cool! Thank you Esther! I love it! :o) And it will be put to good use, I assure you!

I should too-dle and go have my bath! I was freezing at the studio, and it's so hard to warm back up when your feet are frozen! Only way is a long soak in a hot tub! I am meeting Kathy at the CN Centre in the morning to do some walking before work... nice & warm and no ice to slip on! Have a good one! :o)

Another quickie update before bed...

We have a huge wind storm blowing through and I haven't heard/felt wind like this since we left Hinton, where wind was par for the course! It's amazing how much you forget when you're not living in it everyday! It can be scary! No wonder Willy used to crawl into bed with us when he was little! LOL! I just pray the power doesn't go out! Our salt water aquariums are at risk without power!

Dakota called me at work today around 1:40pm to say she had a crampy tummy and needed me to come and get her. She sounds so little and cute on the phone! Needless to say, I left work a tad bit early and brought her home. Gave her some Pepto Bismol and we hit the couch to watch some soap operas... I fell asleep! Guess I'm not feeling so well either with this cold thingy, but at least I don't feel ~bad~, just run down. Hopefully no one else gets it! Blaine went into town to get the rest of the kids, and Devin had her first school Volleyball games, and her team won all their games! You go girls!

Willy and the rest of the hockey team met for some floor hockey at one of the schools. The boys sure seemed to have fun doing that! Hopefully they'll do a few more sessions... It's back to the regular hockey schedule tomorrow, and we get our studio session for our digi class tomorrow night, so I can't wait for that!

Anyhow... I'm off to bed! Had my tubbie earlier with the girls! Nighty night!

Home again, home again...

Well... we lost in the semi finals to a very strong and physical Chilliwack team this morning much to everyone's disappointment... We ended up with many players with injuries (some boys are out for 4-6 weeks!!!) and one who had the flu and couldn't play. The boys battled hard and were tired, but there was only so much they could do. Dylan even scored on a penalty shot! It was a fabulous deke! So we take the Bronze and be happy with that... We even had a WHL scout call Blaine today! How exciting is that?????? :o)

Too bad that Uncle Brad didn't show up to watch Dylan play... Dylan was very disappointed that he didn't take the time to come and watch some awesome hockey. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see his boys, but whatever...

Our drive home was good. The roads were pretty good most of the way and we only saw one accident with a semi truck in the ditch. I got the divider cards I had taken with me to scrapbook finished, so I can start on some pictures of my wedding! WOOHOO! The scrapbook store in Kamloops pretty well sucked for a city of it's size. I was very disappointed in their lack of product and the lines they didn't carry! Even Esther wasn't impressed, although she did manage to drop a pretty penny in there! LOL!

I have a cold coming on, and I hope I don't get the flu that some of the boys had! Blaine just left to go to town to pick up Willy and Donovan off the bus... they're going to be tired! At least 6am practice is optional tomorrow morning and we're opting out! Willy needs a good night sleep! And so does MOM! I'm off to watch Hero's and then hit the hay! Night!

We're heading for the semi-finals...

We won our game this morning, 9-2 against Cranbrook Ice. So we'll be playing in the semi's tommorow at 9am. We're still not sure against who though...

I'll update when we're home tomorrow... happy trails all!

Quick hockey update...

Hey all... well, good news, bad news! We won our game this morning, 8-4 against Pentiction, Willy got three goals and one assist, and we lost our game this afternoon, 8-7 against Westside. We have one more game tomorrow morning, against Cranbrook... We need to WIN this game so keep us in your thoughts!

TTFN!

One WIN down, three to go!

Go COUGARS Go!

The boys won their first game today 8-5 against Ridge Meadows. It was a very physical game and one of our boys was sent to the hospital with a concussion! He ended up having a cat scan and didn't have any short term memory earlier. He was more concerned about who won the game, but couldn't remember the answer and he'd ask and ask again. He's back at the hotel now and he is remembering more and more. His mom and dad are on their way down here to pick him up and take him back to Prince. He's one of our best defensemen, and it will be a loss to our team to not have him in the game. We'll have to do our best to make him proud of us!

Roxanne, Esther and I are squished in the hotel room, with extra tables set up for scrapbooking and the laptop... I'll take a picture in the morning and try to find the USB cord so I can upload them for you to see!

And we're off!

Well, in a few hours anyway! Dylan and Donovan will be loading onto the bus with the team at 4am and Esther, Roxanne and I will be heading out around 6:30am from my house. I am SOOO looking forward to this trip! You have no idea! We have to stop in McLeese Lake for team cinnamon buns made special by the "Team Nana" and pick up a couple other things from mom and continue on our way. We hope to hit the scrapbook store in 'Loops either before or after the boys first game as it won't be open for the rest of the weekend! Oh well, there's always Michaels! LOL!

I am taking the laptop with me and the hotel has wireless internet, so I can still update my blog from down there! Keep your fingers crossed for the team... We really need to win a tournament! I just found out to that Uncle Brad is in Kamloops this weekend too, so he might be able to pop by the rink and watch his nephew play some AAA hockey! We sure would love to see him, and maybe Cory, Jake and Chase too... who knows?

I did my lunch box class tonight and TOTALLY love how my project turned out... I have all my stuff packed to work on for the rest of the weekend... now Esther better get her butt in gear and pack some stuff too or else she's going to regret it watching me accomplish something! LOL! (Are you reading this Esther???) Bring on your Bowron pics! Come on girl! I'll post some pictures of it when it's done!

Okay, I need to head off for a tubbie... I'm just waiting for Ma to call before bed... Last minute details to take care of!

Safe travels to the boys and us, and happy long weekend to you all!

You were born an original. Don't die a copy. ~John Mason

Another crazy busy few days around my house... I finally have a minute to sit and do some typing... The fixer-upper sports car is now in my drive way... not looking anything at all like the pictures Blaine sent to me! ROTF! I guess he's got a whole lot of work to do over the next few...years! It is currently blue and I'll have to take some pictures to document the whole process.

I had my "yearly" at the doctor's office today. He re-checked my lump and thinks it was just a localized infection and everything is going away now. My blood pressure was good and no more lumpies anywhere! WHEW!

Went to digi class tonight. Didn't really learn anything, but we did get to look at everyone's best and worst pictures and it's awesome looking at things through someone else's eyes! There is one guy in the class who has an eye for seeing things I don't think I ever would have. His pictures are weird in a really cool way if you get what I mean! And I met a gal in my class tonight who used to live in Hinton, and her hubby knows my hubby! Kinda neat! And she even remembered that Mom and I used to have the store there... it's a small world I tell you!

Willy found out tonight at practice he's been named as an assistant captain of the team! WOOHOOO! Congrats bud! And they changed lines again, and he's now the centre man of the first line... We're really looking forward to getting down to Kamloops this weekend and playing some hockey and me taking a ton of pictures! We don't get to see much action in town, and since this is my first out of town trip, the pictures just aren't happening like they were last year. Esther and I are going to bring our scrapbooking projects and we hope to be able to camp out in the hotel and just work away on stuff! I can't wait!

Franki sent me this in an email tonight, and I thought I'd post my answers here! Enjoy!

4 things about me............

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Front Desk Clerk

2. Cashier IGA

3. Judicial Clerk

4. Prison Guard


Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Top Gun

2. Finding Nemo

3. Pay it Forward

4. Pirates of the Caribbean


Four places I have lived:

1. Port Hardy, BC

2. Hinton, AB

3. Quesnel, BC

4. Prince George


Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. The Young and the Restless

2. Amazing Race

3. Grey's Anatomy

4. Friday Night Lights


Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Disneyland

2. Disney World

3. Las Vegas

4. Toronto/Niagara Falls


Websites I visit daily:

1. Canada Scrapbooks

2. November 1997 Moms

3. Elements User Forums

4. all my friends blogs and baby websites


Four of my favorite foods:

1. Franki's sweet and sour chicken

2. homemade pizza

3. Fettuccine alfredo baked with cheese

4. homemade mac & cheese with cracker crumble topping & pork cutlets


Four places I would rather be right now:

1. In bed

2. in the tub

3. on a beach somewhere warm

4. on the coast, I love the ocean!!!


Four of my favorite beverages

1. Chai tea

2. Smirnoff Raspberry Twists

3. Iced Tea

4. Water

There! So now you maybe now a few more things about me that you didn't know before! And maybe a few things you didn't even want to know! LOL!

So now I am off to the top two places I'd rather be right now... Bath and Bed! Ta ta!

Have I mentioned how much I hate 6am hockey practice?

Enough said for now... yawn!

Scrapbooking on a Sunday...

Ahhh... what an end to a relaxing day! I even spent the WHOLE day in jammies, and so did Devin! Sometimes, it's the only way to make sure you do "nothing" too stressing! LOL!

Blaine and Willy were gone all day doing firewood deliveries for the team. I started the day off with some chores, laundry and baking. Then Kathy & Serge stopped by to drop off Dakota and pick up their snow mobile since we finally have some snow! McTuff lost his jacket somewhere outside... now we have to have a hunting expedition to find it! Dumb Dog! Then after lunch, I hit my scrapbook room and spent the rest of the day finishing up projects and getting circle journals completed! Sheer Bliss I tell you! I sure wish I could do that every weekend! As promised, I'm uploading some pictures of my finished projects... first the Family themed CD tin... And here's what the inside looks like of the kids school pictures: Now for the Circle journals... the first themed album was on Music... well, you all know what kind of music I love! LOL! And the second one was on Life's Lessons: It was so nice to get these finished so quickly and back in the mail in less than week. My CJ is finally home after 21 months of traveling through the US and Canada. It is a book I will treasure forever! I also got my wedding pictures and my papers, ribbons and embellishments ready for my lunch box class on Thursday night... I am SOOO looking forward to that one! I'll be sure to post those once I've completed that project as well.

I gotta say that I do not like how dark it gets now in the afternoon... by 4:30pm, I'm having to turn on the lights and by 5pm, it's almost pitch black outside! No wonder the kids are "bored" in the evenings and it feels like the night drags on and on! It seemed to take forever to get to 8 o'clock so we could all sit down and watch Amazing Race. I'm bummed that team Kentucky was eliminated. They were such a hoot to watch and refreshing in their un-worldliness...

Now hopefully my batteries are recharged for the upcoming week! Back to the routine tomorrow. The girls have dance tomorrow, and I have a candle party, Tuesday is 6am hockey and Donovan works, Wednesday is hockey, and digital class, Thursday is hockey and lunch pail class, then Friday morning at 4am, Willy, Donovan and I head down to Kamloops for a hockey tournament. Donovan is going with the team as the "official videographer"... he'll ride the bus with the team, stay with the team and eat with the team. His first experience being part of a real "team"... it should be a great weekend.

Sure hope everyone also had a refreshing Sunday and here's to wishing you smooth sailing in the week ahead! Night!

The road to a friend's house is never long. - Danish Proverb

We're home after a wonderful afternoon and evening at Kathy and Serge's. Dakota even managed to snag herself a sleepover with Morgan (it's a good thing she was pro-active this morning and thought to put her binky in the van with her sleepover stuff, ~just in case~ ) LOL! Kath made chicken cordon bleu and mashed potatoes and gravy with veggies, and berry pie for dessert! It was DELISH! She's a cooking queen! Too bad Miss Fussy Pants Dakota won't try anything! She has no clue what she's missing out on... too bad, let her eat peanut butter sandwiches! We sat around after supper and played a couple of games of pigs and had fun razzing each other when we didn't get any points... oink, oink!

We finally got some snow that we thought might be staying, but it's been raining and the temperature is going up and I think it's going to melt away, much to Kirby's chargrin! Dakota and Morgan tried to make a snowman outside today, but they got soaked right through from the rain. McTuff caught a squirrel in the backyard today... little bugger! Donovan got him away from it and put him in the house, and went back out and the squirrel managed to make it into the forest. I doubt he'll be making a return trip to the bird feeder anytime soon!

I signed up for a lunch pail album class at the scrapbook store for Thursday night. I'm finally going to dig out my wedding pictures and do something with them! We've only been married for 17 years already! Sheesh! I'd say it's about time!!! Tomorrow is my "stay-in-my-jammies-and-scrapbook-all-day" day! I have two circle journals to do and get off to Krista in Quesnel. And I want to get my pail album stuff all organized. I guess I'll do some laundry and maybe bake a batch of cookies for lunches. And hopefully I'll also finish off my CD tin that I keep promising to upload pictures of! Oh yeah, and take a picture of my finished Circle Journal that arrived home to me on Friday after being gone for one year and nine months! It's been all across Canada and down to the States and back! Very cool to have a keepsake made by 16 very talented ladies...

The local scrapbook store here in PG is up for sale and I'm getting lots of pressure from a few people to buy it! LOL! While I miss the industry, I don't think I miss the day to day operations and the stress level of owning your own business. But I do miss teaching and my customers...

I took in a craft fair today... nothing spectacular. Mostly knitting and crochet and some woodworking stuff. But nothing that jumped out and said BUY ME! Well, one snow man tole piece, but she wanted $75! Then I browsed the two scrapbook stores and enjoyed my down time while Willy was selling raffle tickets and the other kids were cruising the mall with Blaine... Bliss I tell you!

Well, I think I'm going to hit the hay... I have a busy day of creativity ahead of me! WOOHOO! Sweet dreams!

Remember that post...

on self breast examination I did not so long ago? Well, put into practice, it works! I found a lump last night on the left underside of my breast, and thankfully after a trip to the doctor today, and a sleepless night last night, it would appear that I just have a clogged duct of some kind, and we're just watching it for now. I go back to the doctor on Thursday next week for a follow up. I may need to have a needle aspiration if the lump hasn't subsided, but he thinks it will be fine. I can't tell you how much of a scare that put into me... so please, DO YOUR EXAMS!!!

On a lighter note, I'm just home from selling raffle tickets with Willy. The mall was really quiet, so we didn't sell a whole lot, but it was better than nothing! It's hard to be a kid and be turned down time and time again, but they keep asking and are rewarded every once in awhile.

I still have one more trip into town tonight. Donovan is working at CN Centre for the stupid King of the Cage extreme fighting event... It's not something we'd ever spend money on for entertainment, but a lot of people sure do! But hey, whatever!

We're going to Auntie Kathy's and Uncle Serge's for dinner tomorrow. Dakota is looking forward to spending the day with Miss Morgan tomorrow. Willy has more ticket selling from 1-3pm, then we'll head up the hill to the Hart for a good visit. Now that hockey season is fully upon both of our households, we don't get a chance to sneak a visit in very often! :o(


I'm off for my tubbie... go figure! Nighty night!

Fourteen hours and three round trips later...

I'm finally home for the day! UGH! I'm pooped! Too pooped to even go and watch TV... I just want to have a bath and crawl into my bed! Which I will be doing very shortly!

Left home this morning, dropped off the kids at school, dropped off Willy's skates to be sharpened, went to work, left work, picked up the girls, went and got Willy's skates, went and picked up the boys, drove home... got organized with homework for the girls, Willy got his gear together, Donovan got his work stuff ready, I got my camera bag and tripod ready, the boys got something to eat, headed back into town with the boys... got almost to town when I realized, I FORGOT my photography equipment at home! Too late to turn around, Willy has a hockey game and has to be at the rink, and Donovan has to be at work...dammit! Race to drop off the boys, and head back home to pick up my stuff! How come no one reminds me to take my stuff, when I remind all of them to make sure they all have what they need??? Sometimes my head can't hold everything in it! So now, I have my stuff and am racing back into town so I can catch a little bit of Willy's game before my class starts. Get to the rink a few minutes into the first period. Watch Willy play about half a period, head up the hill to the University.. take some Excedrin cuz my head is pounding. Do my class, visit with Dori, take some test shots, compare notes, have a piece of pizza since I'm starving, head back down the hill to the rink. Get there while Willy is doing his player interview with the coaches. All is good! He finishes up and we're still waiting for Donovan to be done work, so we sit and watch the Midget AAA's practice. Donovan finally calls about 9:30pm, so we pick him up next door and FINALLY head for home... Now I need to unwind and chill out so I can go to sleep!

Dakota and Kirby were already in bed when I got home and Devin was watching Criminal Minds with her daddy... at least someone got to watch Shemar tonight! LOL! ~wink, wink~ Days like these suck sometimes because it's such a whirlwind! I don't feel like I had any quality time with anyone, except for the time we're all in the van driving and singing along to the radio! Oh well, sometimes, it's better than nothing!

Tomorrow won't be much calmer... Dylan has practice, has a fitting for his custom mouth guard and has an award ceremony for lacrosse where he's receiving the MVP award. (Another proud mommy moment!) Thankfully, I'll just have to wait around in town for a bit until Willy's hockey, then I can come home. Blaine is going to go the rink when he gets off work and do the other activities so I can spend some time with everyone else! Maybe I can actually eat dinner with the kids tomorrow... won't that be a treat! LOL!

Nighty night all!

I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. ~Author Unknown

Couldn't help myself on that quote! LOL! It was too funny! Here is my Goulish crew before heading out for some Halloween fun... Donovan was a pretty tall, scary Vampire, Willy was a clown gone bad, Kirby was the Cat in the Hat, Devin was a devil and Dakota was an angel. Devin opted out of trick or treating, and stayed home with her dad to give out treats. She never was really into the whole trick or treating scene. I took the rest of the kids to town, and we went to Esthers. There, the kids left us and headed out on their own. The very first time Dakota ever went out without me! But she had the three boys with her, so it was okay! When they were done, we headed down to watch the awesome fireworks... what a beautiful way to end an awesome evening! We only had about 25 kids at our door this year... the joys of living on an acreage! The weather cooperated, no snow and the temperature hovered right around freezing... couldn't have asked for much more than that!

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day... Blaine is back to dayshift, so that means all the driving is up to me. Dylan has a hockey game, Donovan has work, I have my digital portrait class... and then I have to pick up in the reverse order on the way home... sigh! It's going to be a long day tomorrow! So I guess I should hit the hay early! Yeah right!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe halloween where ever you were! I'll leave you with the scene from my front door tonight... Pumpkins Come and Pumpkins Go
But a Jack-O-lantern steals the show!

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu

How about those words to live by? My life seems to be nothing but hurrying and being run off my feet! Thankfully, I have a great support system to help out in a pinch! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with hockey fundraising at the moment. We were supposed to have a weekend off with ticket selling, which in itself isn't a big deal, but now we've got about 25 cords of firewood to be delivered, and prior commitments be damned... okay, just venting! I'm better now!

Nana and Papa left this morning after being here for the weekend. We haven't had a visit since September, so it was nice to have them! Holly and Heidi (Nana's dogs) love my cat Keni, so they had a good time chasing him around. Keni layed a beating on Holly at one point, and Holly can't seem to tell the difference between Keni who likes the dogs and Koska, who doesn't! So McTuff and Holly had their usual dominance squabbles, and Heidi napped with me on Sunday. We had breakfast at Denny's this morning before they left and before I had to go to work. It was nice to have some time to ourselves! :o)

The girls had Irish dance today. Auntie Kelly graciously picked them up and dropped them off... so nice for me as I didn't have to drive into town again today! It is such a blessing to have her in my life! :o)

Everyone is getting ready for Halloween... our pumpkins are carved, the candy is bought and the kids have their costumes ready to go... I think! I know the girls are covered, and the boys can look after themselves! I think they're too old to go out trick or treating, but hey, I did it at their age, so who am I to be talking?

Willy was pretty tired this morning after his hockey weekend. He's in bed early tonight as he's got 6am practice tomorrow... thankfully, Blaine is home to do it! I am so not into driving in at 5am on Tuesday mornings when I still have to go work! Ugh! Donovan and Devin are up to their armpits in homework, Dakota is watching TV with Kirby and Blaine, and I am waiting for Hero's to come on at 9pm. Then for some strange reason, they've moved Friday Night Lights to Monday from Tuesday... so I gotta watch that too...

I got a Circle Journal in the mail today. Mine should be home in the next day or two! Yipee! It's been gone almost a year and a half and I can't wait to have it back all finished and in my hot little hands! I'll post pictures of it done when it arrives. I know, I know, I'm supposed to post pictures of my CD tin too, but it's not finished yet! I'm hoping this week(end)!

There's been lots of babies being born around us lately! The Longs welcomed a precious little girl, Draya, Mike and Kim welcomed Cole Nicholas, and we're waiting to hear from Denise from my work on her new bundle, who is due anytime now! And then next month, our other friends are expecting baby number 8... and it's a boy! We know that much already! I'll be surrounded by that intoxicating baby smell! LOL! Good thing I'll have lots of babies to sniggle! :o) Congrats to all!

Okay, I'm off to change into my jammies and get ready to veg in front of the boob tube! Nighty night!