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!