Ode to Life and Loves

One Little Word 2012: Prepare

2012-01-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and I have started Ali Edward's One Little Word class for the second year. I am so inspired by this idea - choosing a word instead of a bunch of goals. My goals are still there, but my one word ties them all together and doesn't make it so list-y.

My word for 2012 is PREPARE. There are many things I'd like to "prepare" this year, including a cleaner and more organized house, better meal planning and preparation, but my word this year came from here:

"Organize yourselves;
prepare every needful thing,
and establish a house, even a house of prayer,
a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning,
a house of God."
Doctrine and Covenants 109:8

The word Prepare came to me, and I can envision preparing my heart to welcome the Lord. I know that preparing my home is a big part of the peace and calm I want to feel in my heart. Usually when my house is in order my mind is more clear, thus inviting the spirit to dwell in the peace and quiet that I've made room for.

I hope to post more this year on how I'm progressing with my word. I wanted to put a picture up of my first assignment for class, but I'm still getting the hang of my new {exciting!} computer and I actually haven't uploaded any pics to iPhoto yet! It's on my list of things to get on right away, so stay tuned!

If you're interested in taking Ali's course at Big Picture Scrapbooking, click on the link on the sidebar here or the picture above and sign up! It's a great way to remember your word all year long.

It's Christmas Time

2011-11-30T14:17:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it? Christmas starts tomorrow. Okay. So technically Christmas is on the 25th and that's three weeks away. What? THREE WEEKS?!! I'd better get busy!

But seriously, I really wanted to be on the ball this year and have a cute advent Calendar to use right from the beginning of the month. So I actually finished the one I made last year at a church activity. I'm so excited to start it tomorrow!

My Mom had this fantastic advent calendar which she made out of burlap and felt. It had pockets and every day it was so exciting to see what was in the pocket. For the first part of the month, there was a tiny ornament which would then be pinned to the felt tree, and for the last part of the month, there were felt figures for the nativity scene, which was beside the tree. And on the last day there was a tiny baby Jesus to put in the manger. Everyone always fought over who would be the one to do the baby Jesus. We'd usually go in order of oldest to youngest or the other way around, and since there are 5 of us, the oldest or the youngest would be the one to get the baby Jesus. But it wasn't always about the ornament or the Nativity scene figure. My Mom would also include a little paper on which she had written an activity that we were all to do that day. It could be as simple as "Read a Christmas story" to more complex, such as Decorate the tree (Or go cut down the tree!).

I wanted to follow in this tradition for my family. And since Otto is now at the age where we can "do" more, I really wanted it to begin this year. So, I downloaded these Advent Boxes of Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals to write our daily activity. On their own, they are about 2 1/2" square, so I copied them all into a PSE file to shrink them down so they fit perfectly in these little boxes.

I decorated the inside square of the advent calendar in such a way that every year, our current Christmas card will fit there.

I have been busy making things for Christmas which I'd like to share here, but not until after Christmas after everyone has opened their gifts! Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!

How are you preparing?

Back in Shape

2011-11-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've dropped off the blog world as of late. I'm trying to get back into life, but I'm finding myself very lazy. Okay, maybe not lazy because I've actually been doing a lot. I think it's more a case of prioritizing and the fact that I am terrible at it. So this is one thing I've been getting good at:

Awhile ago, a friend suggested to me that I wasn't working hard enough to get into shape. Working hard enough? Try NOT working at all! So, I decided to commit. I can now proudly say that I have completed three weeks of working out 5 times a week. Not to say that it's been easy, or that I actually feel good about my body, but I've been doing it. In complete and honest disclosure, I must say that after having babies, it's disconcerting to have a different body to work with than the one I was used to for roughly 15 or so years. The real issue for me is the diastasis recti that I now have after two babies stretching my belly so far it ripped! [LOVE my babies, but hate the bodily result].

SO. NOT going to win any body contests. Now. or. Ever. But, I'm getting back in shape. What shape that will be we will see!

Introducing Atlas Bao Court

2011-07-03T19:34:00.001-07:00

Atlas Bao
June 20, 2011
8 pounds 10 ounces

We are all home and on the mend, enjoying the
first moments of these sweet cheeks and soft toes.
{Bao pronounced Bay-O, comes from Baobab Tree}

Best Shopping Day Ever!

2011-04-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

I live just outside of a big city, so when I need to go into the city, I plan my day carefully so that I will be able to stop at all the places I need to in the most timely and efficient manner possible. It's a bummer when a store does not have what I need or want - doesn't have it in stock, doesn't have my size, the right color, etc. This usually means that I will need to stop there on another trip into the city.. a week or a month from now! Such a pain!

But not this week! This week when I went into the city, my day went exactly as planned with extra fun surprises! Let me tell you about it.

I started the day by phoning my parents to see if they needed me to get anything for them while I was in the city - sometimes they do. But they didn't need anything, and my Mom offered to take Otto for the day so that I could be faster in getting things done! Lovely! My parents are so good! So instead of having to get in and out of the van all day, Otto got a fun day with his grandparents (and did they ever have fun - a walk to the the playground, slides, swings, and trike rides down the driveway)! I also didn't have to worry about all the snacks and stopping for eating and all that. Nice.

So...
Stop #1: Aldo Outlet. I went in for a specific pair of shoes in a specific color. Sadly, they did not have my size. But, awesome thing #1 of the day, I tried my size on in a different color, and instead of saying, "Sorry, we don't have your size, you'll have to try another store," the saleslady told me that I could purchase the ones I wanted in my size and they would send me the shoes to my door and they'd pay the shipping! Wow! That made my morning!

Stop #2: Winners. I love to stop at Winners and browse. Sometimes you find something good, sometimes you don't. Today, I found something wonderful! I found a cool green tin can and this beautiful bird cage jewelry holder. The door even opens to store bracelets and other things in the inside! Lovely!

Stop #3: Winners. Yep, I stopped in at another Winners. I just can't help myself! It happened to be in the same complex as the next two stores I would stop at. So every time I've gone to Winners in the past two and a half years, I browse through the handbags to see if I can find a suitable bag that would be fashionable, yet have enough room for all my purse items plus diaper and snack items for Otto. And maybe a toy or book for Otto too. And it would be really nice if this bag were green. Anyway, after over two years of searching, I found the perfect one! I couldn't believe it!

Stop #4: Dollar Giant. Gotta love the dollar stores. The last time I went to this same store, I bought a few microfiber cloths that I discovered I love as my dish rags. I wanted a few more. Guess how many they happened to have left! Yep, a few more! Cha-ching!

Stop #5: My Sewing Room. Picked up a pair of free motion quilting gloves. I wasn't even sure they still carried them, as the ones I had borrowed from a friend were bought awhile ago. Nice.

Stop #6: Fabricland. I am trying to put together a quilt for our master bedroom. I got all the fabric (with several trips) and cut out all the pieces, but I wasn't satisfied with one of the patterns. It matched some of the fabrics, but really didn't match the other fabrics. So I really hoped to be able to find something suitable. I didn't have high hopes because I'd already searched for these colors and thought I'd found everything they had. But I was wrong! I found the perfect fabric and it will look wonderful with all the other fabrics! WOW!

Stop #7: Staples. I wasn't really planning on stopping here, but at the last minute I turned in, thinking that maybe they'd have what I'd been looking for in another Staples, but didn't find. I figured that they might have something because this Staples was in a busier center. And did I find what I wanted? Yes, I sure did! (some white tags for scrapbooking)

Stop #8: The Distribution Center. Okay, so maybe this is indulging too much information, but I really needed a few more pairs of maternity unmentionables and guess how many they had left of my size in stock? The same number that I needed! Nice Nice.

Stop #9: IKEA. I wanted to get a few different sized frames to start getting things ready for my new business venture (more on that soon). And I also picked up a stool for Otto (side note: Otto has thee cutest way of pronouncing any word with an "L" in it, and "stool" is one of our personal favorites recently). I rushed through IKEA, knowing exactly what I wanted to get, but I happened to look in one area I don't usually look in and found the perfect shelving unit for my furnace/laundry room, which I'd been on the lookout for for the past several months! And at $14.99, it was such a great deal! Cha-ching!

Stop #10: Superstore. Kinda boring here, but I got all the things I wanted, including some organic face products which sometimes are not in stock here, and I finally remembered to pick up some finger paints for Otto (which we used yesterday and which he loved so much)!

So a total of 10 stops in the city, and I was able to get what I wanted and more from each stop! That is unheard of! So there you have it, a perfect day of shopping and errands! I was so happy as I drove home, I just couldn't believe my good luck!

Circles Baby Quilt

2011-04-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this quilt. Don't get me wrong, there are tonnes of mistakes, as this is my first attempt at free-motion quilting, but I think it turned out all-right in the end. As we don't know the sex of this next baby, the colors are pretty generic, and perfect for us.

As for free-motion quilting - it sounds like a fun and fanciful free type of quilting, doesn't it? You can make whatever shape you want! You can go out of the lines! But OH! How difficult it really is! It is tiring on the muscles, and it is SO hard to get uniform stitches! But I do love that I can do circles and go anywhere with the stitches. {Just don't look too closely!} The special gloves {on loan from a dear friend} were a great help.

Here's a close-up of the backing. I used a soft minky, which will be perfect for babe.

I did a bit of a practice run first with this wee tag blanket. My favorite is the rick-rack around the edge.

I found and fell in love with the pattern on Cluck Cluck Sew blog. I changed the measurements to suite my project and my liking, but her tutorial was a fantastic guide!

Family Laundry Line

2011-04-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited that this project turned out! This is my Family Laundry Line fabric artwork. I've had this idea {and many other stitched artwork ideas} floating around in my brain for some time and wondering if I might make these to order.... I must admit that I thought I might be an original or very near original by making the laundry line into a fabric project, but sadly, my idea was found {almost exactly} on the front of this book! *gasp* Oh well. I actually bought this book and it is a fantastic resource for many of the stitching/fabric projects I have in mind! I must give credit where credit is due and tell you that some inspiration for a laundry line came from here and here. And I couldn't have done it without a dear friend's generous donation of her itty bitty fabric scraps {and some not so itty bitty}!

All Bundled Up

2011-04-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent LO I've done. It was super quick and super easy. My favorite part (besides the ridiculously adorable picture of Otto) are the Stampin' Up felt snowflakes and the white foam letter stickers. Would you believe that these stickers come from the dollar store?! I LOVE the white ones because I can dress them up with a muted stamp so they aren't so stark!

Hoppy for you!

2011-04-04T14:20:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago I had 6 of my students perform in the music festival in our town. It is a great opportunity to learn and grow in their performance skills. I am happy to say that they all did very well! One student was also chosen to win an adjudicator's award at the showcase last week. Way to go, students!

I made these treat boxes to let them know I am so proud of them. I recently bought this die (a mini milk carton) from Stampin' Up and I have used it so much already! Just change the colors and stamped sentiment and you've got the perfect little token of appreciation, good luck, love, happy birthday, congratulations, thank you, or happy holiday (insert Christmas, Easter, Valentine's, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day). LOVE it!

Otto's First Year Mini

2011-03-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

It's about time I posted this album! This is one of my favorite minis I've made so far. Did I say that about the summer one? Well, one of the reasons why this one was a favorite is because it was actually quite simple. The bare bones of it and the fact that certain elements and techniques were carried throughout made a lot of it much easier to put together. Here's how I did it:

I started with pre-purchased envelopes which were something like 5" x 11". I cut the long side down to 7" to accommodate my 5x7 photos. I punched a slit through one side only to make the tabs (which would be used on the inserts) visible.
In Photoshop, I added the month and the number of months old Otto was in each picture, and lowered the opacity.
I printed Otto's accomplishments for each month on white cardstock and left room to add extra pictures. On the back of the cardstock, I wrote which number month it was.

On the right sides of the pages, I adhered my 5x7 photos. On the left side, I used up to three 2x3 photos, a Making Memories premade journaling spot with the numbered month in white, a strip of border punched paper, and a simple embellishment. I stiched around each left-side page before adhering it in the album.

I used 7 different patterned papers throughout, using each only once or twice, and using extra for the strips of border punched paper. I used strips of these papers for the front and back cover as well.
I bound it using my Cinch (which I am in love with, btw!) and added some ribbon.

So here is 0-12 of Otto's first year!
Remember, you can click on any one image to see it larger.

I Love You LO

2011-03-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

I finally put this one together. It's been in my mind's eye for quite some time, but I wanted it to be perfect, and now's the time. Journaling reads: "How excited we were to catch our first glimpse of our 1st baby. And how tickled we were when our little one gave us that special sign we are so familiar with - "I love you". Well, little one, we love you too."

And an update with my one little word: I've been taking Ali's class and I've really enjoyed the prompts and the way she has encouraged us to keep our word in mind. I've really been trying to "focus" on focusing on the important things. One thing I've really found that has improved is my goal of not procrastinating the thoughts and ideas in my head. If I know that I should do it, I have been doing it. This goes for crafty things, like the baby quilt I've been working on, and beginning to cut the master bed quilt I have in mind, scrapbook layouts and mini albums, for physical things I have been putting off for too long: EXERCISE!, and just plain old upkeep: doing the dishes right away. I even followed my thought pattern last week and made cookies (I haven't made cookies since Christmas time!) I am feeling good about my goals and my one little word!

Summer Mini

2011-02-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

I recently went on a crop and got most of this summer mini done. Then, I was very sick (and quite out of it) for a week, and on some heavy pain killers. I'm feeling better now, and I'm slowly regaining more energy daily. So, I was finally able to finish this and now able to show you!

This started out as an altered book. My good friend Birdie, who is a wonderful print artist, made this beautiful book and gave it to us at Otto's baby shower. And since then, I've been wondering what wonderful things I could put in it! I wanted it to be for family pictures or solely for Otto pictures.

The problem was that it was a very long accordion book and I knew that the moment I showed it to Otto and let him touch and look at it, it would get ripped quite easily (as evidenced by the stack of books I recently had to glue or tape). So I stewed over this for some time.

I finally came up with a solution I got so excited about! I asked Andy to drill two holes in the side so that I could attach some “o” rings. This way, I could make the accordion pages into pockets into which I could include more pictures and stories (it was, after all, a packed summer!).

Journaling reads: "I'm celebrating summer. Spending my days with a fun little man. Celebrating what makes him happy this first summer of discovery."

I added pictures and embellishments and included many spaces for pockets – behind pictures to allow for longer journaling for our stories (I used Ali Edwards journal overlays), and in the page pockets for extra pictures. I added ribbons and round metal tags for the pulls.

This has been one of my favorite mini books to work on. Thanks Birdie for the beautiful album!

p.s. I made a great mini album for Otto’s first year, which I’ve neglected to post here, so perhaps I will show you that next week! Also in the works: a new baby quilt! So exciting!

Colour Our World

2011-02-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

This is so cool!

The Let’s Colour Project is a worldwide initiative to transform grey spaces with colourful paint. A mission to spread colour all over the world. It sure puts a smile on my face. And the song is pretty awesome too.

Valentine Minis

2011-02-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

I've recently had a burst of creative energy. And just in time for Valentine's Day! I've had a Summer Mini Album in my mind for some time now (more on that soon), and these 2 Valentine minis were taken from this tutorial. I LOVE Ali Edwards! Her designs are wonderful and simple, and I actually use many of her journaling spots and overlays in my projects. By the way, Designer Digitals is having a fantastic sale on right now until midnight Tuesday. Check it out.

So, I made these 2 mini albums out of felt and paper. I have wanted to do a little felt book for ages, and now was just the perfect time! The first one I made for my parents and the second one I made for my sweetheart, Andy. It was very simple with Ali's free download and her fantastic instructions.

I also used this die to make valentines to hand out to some family and friends and it was a big hit! I borrowed the die from a friend, but will have to get my own because I know I will make good use of it. I can see thank yous and birthdays and favors and special holidays celebrated with this box and a handful of candies. It is SO adorable! I wish I took a picture of one of the ones I made, but they were gone fast! I will post another picture another time.

I hope your Valentine's Day was a lovely one!

First Pic and a Little Wave

2011-01-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we had our first look at this wee babe just yesterday. Very exciting. Not very exciting was the long wait I had to endure with a very full bladder! I think the baby looks like a girl. Or a boy. Or a girl. Or a boy. Yes, you got it, we are NOT finding out the sex. We are looking forward to the surprise. And how cute is this little wave? I think baby is actually rubbing his/her eye, but it sure looks like a little, "Hello Mama! Hello Pappy!" to us! If you recall, Baby #1 aka Otto, gave us an "I Love You" sign in his little video clip here, so this baby had a standard to live up to. This baby is also measuring big for our dates, so it's possible that I'm farther along than we thought!

One Little Word

2011-01-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone (does anyone even read here anymore?!) Yes, it's been some time since I last posted. Let's see.... excuses:

I'm pregnant and tired. Lots of naps when Otto naps.
I have a busy little boy running around all the time. [How do people get anything done with more than one?!!! Maybe my next one will sit still more? Ah, who wants a sedentary child anyway?]
I lead a pretty boring life and I haven't done any post-worthy crafts of late.
We were all sick on and off through December and a bad cold for me this past week.

I "follow" several blogs by some inspirational ladies who scrapbook and/or craft. They have kids. I honestly don't know where they find the time. I suppose most of them probably have some child-care and/or cleaning help.

So, this issue of TIME has got me thinking. For several years now, I have been familiar with an idea that Ali Edwards set out regarding choosing one word to live by/remember/focus on to help enrich your life through the year. I've often thought it's a nice idea, but with all the thoughts and ideas in my head, I could never narrow it down to just one word. This year is going to be different. I pored over the comments in Ali's blog post about her word, which you can read here, and I wrote down some of my thoughts and some words that were coming to my mind.

My process went a little like this:

first word: ENJOY. I want to enjoy each moment this year and concentrate on making my time and efforts enjoyable. But this word wasn't quite it.
second word: TIME. Heaven knows I need more of it... or maybe I just need to learn to manage my time better and use my time for things that are most important. This still wasn't quite right.
third word: BETTER. I'm constantly thinking to myself and saying in my prayers that I want to be a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc. But I think that is always going to be a goal I will constantly be working at.
fourth word: LISTEN. Stop and listen for what is really important. Listen more to those around me. But that's still not right.

Then, I found it and it spoke to me and I just can't get it out of my head.

focus

My main idea: to focus on what is important in the moment. Focus on not procrastinating. Focus on who is important in my life. Focus on things I want to accomplish - unfinished projects, scrapbooking ideas in my head, sewing, etc. Focus on feeding my family better. Focus on my personal spirituality, which has been seriously lacking of late. If I can only remember to focus, my hope is that my life will be enriched by my more focused choices in the use of my time.

I'm really excited about this and especially excited that I actually have a word this year! I will also follow along in Ali's new class for her prompts to help me keep my one little word in "focus" throughout each month this year. She will be sending out prompts only once a month, which I think will be easy to handle. Join the class yourself and see how your one little word can change your life this year!

Read more about Ali's One Little Word here, here, and here.

Pining

2010-09-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

Did we skip right from summer to winter? I miss warmer days.

I Got You, You Got Me

2010-08-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

It would seem that we have a budding rock star in the family. Check out my 5 year old niece, Kaiomhe. Singing and playing her own composition. Awesome. I think my favorite part is the very extended ending, with a few extra strums thrown in for good measure. Now that's talent!

Monster Beetle Baby

2010-08-16T22:35:00.001-07:00

Maybe it's a cop-out, but sometimes I love using large photos on a LO! It definitely makes a statement, and it can help keep embellishments simple.

Summertime Fun

2010-08-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

Hence, the lack of blog posting. We are too busy trying to enjoy the nice weather amidst continuing to keep on top of our everyday existence.

Fun things about Otto right now (at 14 months):

>he can't just walk anywhere, he needs to run.
>he spends a lot of time in the front entryway, circling around his shoes, laying them in different positions in order to try to get them on his feet. then he gets out Mama's shoes and tries to get those on too.
>he still has a great love for books and will sit for great lengths of time flipping through books by himself, or being read to
>he started associating a picture of a lion in one of his books with growling. So now we ask him what a lion says and he does this cute little growl in his throat. Sometimes I hear him in the living room, growling away and I know that he's got that book out.
>when asked where his noes is, he exhales loudly out of his nose. pretty cute.
>will do the actions to "Rain is falling down" song we sing.... if you're lucky. Only a few people have actually witnessed this. Apparently he does not perform for an audience.
>loves to help Mama, especially if it is getting produce from the garden.
>absolutely LOVES the spray park. This kid has no fear going head-first into the biggest sprays. Won't stop for anything (I practically have to tie him down to stop for a snack/bottle!)

I hope you are all having a fun summer, even if it means that you are away from your computer for long bouts of time! Enjoy what is out there!

Foray into Digi

2010-07-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's a long story. Here's the short of it: Andy bought me Photoshop Elements for Christmas (completely a surprise, but something I've been wanting for a long time). However, it was the newest version, which my Mac does not support. So we took that back and I searched online for the last version for Mac. PSE 6. Brand new, great. Tried to install it. Did not work. Looked online for help, finally called Adobe support. The guy I got was completely useless. They did not do phone support for older versions of PSE. So I went back online. Did everything to my computer that I was told to do in the support forums. Tried to install. Didn't work, didn't work, didn't work! I was so frustrated! Finally, a month or so later, I called support again and spoke to a nice gentleman who totally helped me out! Hallelujah. Now it is installed and I've already done two lessons of my Jessica Sprague class and two complete layouts! This is so much more user friendly than my dinosaur version of Photoshop CS!

I'm so excited for all the layouts and tweaking of photos to come!

Catch Up: Part 1: The Many Crafts

2010-05-27T21:02:00.001-07:00

I've been missing from the blogging world for 2 months now! I don't know where the time went or what I've really been doing. Well, doing a lot of things but that isn't really an excuse. So here's a bit of catch up.

Crafts: many.

Sock Monsters
Originally the plan was to make a bunch and sell them at a Mom-to-Mom sale in Lethbridge. So I got busy making them on a scrapbook weekend at the church with the ladies. However, I ended up not making one sock monster to sell at the sale! Instead, every sock monster I made that weekend was promptly snatched up, and one in particular was an extra long (in actual length!) custom order for one of the ladies present. I even left the weekend with an order for one not made yet! So, really a success all around. It turns out that the sale in Lethbridge fell through for us, so if anyone is interested, the two small ones on the end are available now!

Scrapbooking
This is actually the only layout I've done in the past three months, but it's a favorite already. I saved several shots I had of Otto sleeping in his first 3 months and compiled them on one layout.

Silversmithing
Andy and I took a silversmithing course and I came out of the weekend with these two pendants. I actually made one other pendant, but it didn't exactly turn out the way I invisioned, and I'm still a bit embarrassed by it. (It's sitting upside down on my dresser so I won't have to look at it, but it is there anyway to remind me that I actually need to finish it.) Anyway, the course was really fun. Andy made me a ring with a stone setting and he began to make a copper LEGO man replica. I told him he needed to make something for himself in this class, and his mind immediately turned to LEGO. Anyway, it all turned out awesome.

Stitching
I'd had fabric yo-yo's in the back of my mind for forever! Then one night, I just decided that they would look cool on a necklace. I'd seen similar looking neck pieces in different places online, but made out of different materials. So, I got out my cool green fabrics and whipped this up. I plan on making a multi-colored one as a bright summer piece. It really dresses up a plain old T-Shirt, and often people think it's actually attached to the shirt. This way, I can wear it with any shirt!

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy weekend! But I think we've all had a happy Easter.

It all started on Friday with the Easter Egg Hunt! Martha did such a great job organizing it all- thanks Martha! There were so many kids there, and I even got to see some of my old Kids Are Special kids! It was a special kick to see the twins who always saved me seats for snack and games. So cute!

We were invited to camp out with some friends on their land Friday night, but we're [read: I'm] not that adventurous when it's still so cold out, so we just went to hang out until late. Otto had a great time, all bundled up in his weird blue ruffled Russian snowsuit. Andy and Paul took turns rocking him to sleep in his car seat.

Saturday we listened to 4 hours of conference while going around the house getting things done, preparing food for Sunday, and playing with Otto. Andy always sets it up so we can hear it all throughout the house; it's awesome. I find that when I'm busy doing things (in the kitchen, folding laundry, etc) I listen a whole lot better than when I'm just sitting there. Andy went to the church for 2 more hours in the evening.

Sunday we listened to 4 more hours of conference, then had my Uncle Tim and Gramma over for Easter dinner.

Monday I drove Tim to the airport and did a few errands in the city only to rush back to get Easter supper ready again, this time for my parents and sister. (We had so many leftovers from last night!)

1 Easter egg hunt, 10 hours of conference, and 2 Easter dinners= fun, but tiring weekend!

p.s. See if you can spot the awesome piece of jewelry I made! I'll post a better picture soon.

Getting my art on

2010-03-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

Early last year and the end of 2008 I took two Art Journaling classes online here from Dina Wakley (on my sidebar). I didn't get very far at the time. I was hindered by a number of things. First, I am a perfectionist and I was very intimidated by the talent of my teacher (though she was lovely and kind and very accomodating). The way she would just put a dab of paint on the page with such abandon, I admired that and wished I could do the same. I was also extremely intimidated by the whole journaling thing: what could I possibly have to say, my life was so boring! Then, I was pregnant, and I got busy getting ready for baby. Lastly, I was in too much pain (the good ol' kidneys) to sit for too long at a time. All okay excuses. So thoughts of art journaling sat on a shelf in my brain, percolating, until my friend Birdie re-inspired me by giving me a wonderful hand-bound (by her) art book for my birthday.

I think having a child has calmed some of my perfectionist tendancies (out of necessity) and some recent events have allowed my pen to creatively blossom in so many ways I never expected. I have really enjoyed this creative process and haven't cared so much about what the end result would be. (Dina was always telling us that - that you couldn't think too much ahead all the time - just be in the moment and put something on paper!) So I put something on paper.

So thanks Birdie, thanks Dina, and thanks to some others who shall remain nameless. And finally, thanks Otto, for being such a source of complete joy in my life!

Hidden Gem

2010-02-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

I've been going through all my childhood memorabilia and I happened upon this little gem. My uncle, Tim Lilburn, is an award winning poet both provincially and nationally. I found this poem he wrote for me back in 1987:
Kitchener, June 17, 1987
Dear Kaly,

My neice asks for a poem
so I will praise her corn-coloured,
goat-eye yellow hair, her eyes'
hot June blue and the beginning-
of-the-world bright
of her face, as I speak
highly of stones, pumpkins and horses'
musical pasture turns
for she is beloved and glad to me
as mornings
and the towering sky
and wheat
and prairie's forever,
her rising bread joy
great to me;
speaks of her intelligence
as poets do of roses
opening,
happily if she will
accept these mutterings
from an eccentric uncle
as downpayment for verse she will,
quick as a whisper,
send to me.
Love, Uncle Tim

Now, how warm and lovely is that to come upon?

And he's Off!

2010-02-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I thought it would never happen. So many months of trying and crying and rocking and ... well, more crying. But he's finally done it, and now he just can't be stopped! I can't believe how fast it happened! Last week, he began taking a few crawling "steps", and by the end of the week, not only was he crawling like a pro, but he was also going from laying to sitting like nothin' and more often these days, we go to get him after a nap (or when he wakes up early in the morning) and he's standing up in his crib, just waiting for us, with a beaming smile and many happy sounds.

It's incredible how much they change in the first year. And from here, there's only more to go! Wait til he starts walking (and he wants to so bad), then I'll be chasing after him even more! So much fun!

I caught this adorable little smile when we went to visit Great-Grandma by sled. He didn't quite know what to make of it all, but by the end, he was making his happy little noises and having a grand ol' time.

Current Virtues

2010-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, I purchased a set of virtue cards from here. I have browsed through them (there are 100) from time to time, getting to know them a bit. Several weeks ago, I chose three to focus on right now. I keep them out to refresh my mind and motivate me to remember what my goals are. These are the current ones:

NOBILITY: Nobility is keeping faith with our true value as spiritual beings. It is living up to the virtues, the Divine trust within us. We treat ourselves and others with dignity and respect. We speak and act graciously. We choose the moral high road regardless of the cost. If others try to bring us down, we remain steadfast, remembering our true worth. Our sense of decency is our touchstone. The world's temptations cannot divert us from our purpose. We don't follow the path of least resistance. We lead principled lives. We live the good life.
I know that I am a child of God, and thus, am heir to His kingdom. I know I won't make it back to Him unless I follow His example and plan. Therefore, I must become more like Him, that I may draw nearer to Him.

PRAYERFULNESS: Prayerfulness is a relationship with a power greater than ourselves. One that loves us and knows us intimately. We live in the presence of our Creator, mindful that every act, decision and thought is meaningful. Prayer is quiet reflection that cleanses the mirror of the soul. It is a sacred conversation that opens us to forgiveness, hope and renewed intentions. We listen and receive spiritual guidance. We ask for help, heighten our awareness and watch for it to come. Praying our gratitude keeps us in the flow of Grace.
To me, prayerfulness goes hand in hand with nobility. I need to keep the lines of communication open that I may draw nearer to my God. I know I cannot do all things on my own and need the direction only my Heavenly Father can give.

ORDERLINESS: Orderliness is living in a way that creates harmony around us and within us. We have a place for the things we use, and keep them where they belong. Order and beauty in our homes and work spaces brings a sense of peace and freedom. Our thoughts and ideas flow more freely. We do not hold onto clutter. We clear the way for genuine abundance. Orderliness is being focused and purposeful, planning taks step by step instead of going in circles. As we trust Divine order unfolding in our lives, we find a still point of order in our souls.
I love this one because it is so tangible. Most of you know that I am an organized person to begin with. However, I seem to always have "organized clutter" all around my house. I think because I have so many interests and hobbies, things just pile up. Scrapbooking, sewing, art, cooking/baking, reading, food storage. There are some things I can't control, like food storage, which we must have. But I am currently trying to organize my scrapbook clutter. And it all begins with a new vision. I regularly visit scrapbook blogs and some of them have giveaways weekly. I leave a comment among the other thousands, never dreaming that I would be one of the chosen. Well, a few weeks ago, I actually won! Stacy Julian is a very inspiring woman, and I won a seat in her online class, Library of Memories, and her book, Photo Freedom. I got her book in the mail yesterday and read it cover to cover. Her process is revolutionary and so freeing. The way she organizes, then scrapbooks her photos is so liberating! I am excited to begin the process and allow the orderliness to inspire me. If you are a scrapbooker and you are constantly overwhelmed with being "caught up", check out the links above. I gaurantee your outlook will change for the better!

So, my goals for now are:
1. To be a better person, more like my Savior and Heavenly Father.
2. To pray more meaningfully. To thank more often, and to seek guidance and direction.
3. To have order in my life that I may have a sense of peace and freedom in my life and in my mind.

What are your current goals?

Not a Funny Girl.

2010-01-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

I admire my friends Becky and Erin for just putting it all out there, so here I go.

I am not the funny girl. You won't find me the center of attention at a party. I am not rude or overly sarcastic. I am not clever or witty, though I wish I was and admire it in others. My tongue just doesn't work that fast. My brother-in-law is the champion of witty remarks. I don't know how he thinks them up so fast. He's also extremely sarcastic, so maybe that has something to do with it.

I am quiet. I enjoy meaningful conversations that get to the heart of the personal humanity of those involved. I care deeply for my friends and family. I care about others and hope I am empathetic towards all. I am genuine and sincere. I am loving and hope that I am kind always. I am musical, creative, and spiritual. I am loyal and consistent. I am strong. These values rule my life and I ever aspire to be better at them than I currently am. I know I shouldn't care about what others think of me; I should just live my life how I know I should. I don't need anyone's negative interference to sway my beliefs, goals, or nature of who I am. I know I must plow forward, doing those things I know will bring myself and those closest to me happiness.

Erin said exactly what I've been feeling lately, and I just don't feel that I can make a better spin on it, so I will end with her words:

"I remembered once again that God's perspective is the only one that matters. It really doesn't matter if anyone notices me, if anyone thinks I'm valuable or important, or reads my blog. ;) It doesn't matter if people take me for granted, are rude to me or ignore me. My legacy has to be one that mirrors the one whom I am living for. If I'm living for myself then I will chase that ego trip. But if I'm living for Jesus then His example has to be my lead. Jesus didn't seek attention, or significance. He came with a mission to save us from ourselves and He lived His 30 years on earth to that means. No ego trips just truth and hard hitting messages. Time to let go of ourselves and the desire to have amazing biographies written about us when we die. Time to deny ourselves and walk with Christ, as challenging as that path can be." {Thanks Erin.}

Happy and Holidays

2010-01-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

{Otto, so happy on Christmas Eve}
While I love the holidays and everything that goes along with that - the family, the food, the games - I am somewhat glad it is all over and we are all getting back to normal.

That said, we had a really great holiday. Games were played, Wii was experienced, food was eaten{oh yes it was}, Otto was loved by all, and we saw everyone in the family but Niki's family, whom we all missed terribly, especially since she had her baby girl on December 10th. We can't wait to see her in February! Welcome, welcome, little Cedar Rose!

{Otto and cousin Paisley hangin' out all cute-like on Christmas morning}

{Otto saw his first Santa Claus Parade. He was mesmerized with the lights and sounds. As you can see here, he was still trying to look out into the street.}

{Otto, so happy in his new Christmas hat - thanks Metcalfe family!}

Productive Sock Saturday

2009-12-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I was in Rosemary for a craft weekend and I'm happy to say it was productive! I started out making these sock monsters as gifts, but when I ended up having to hand-stitch the green one and it kept looking more and more adorable, I decided that I must keep him! We've named him Desmond. He'll be one of Otto's Christmas presents.

I love how ridiculously small the wings are on the huge yellow one.

I'm thinking of making more to sell at a show in Lethbridge, where my sister-in-law will be selling tag quilts.

And another!

2009-11-21T15:01:00.001-08:00

I'm on a roll! I'm so excited to be scrapbooking again!

This one is not really my usual style - it's a bit busy. The journalling reads:
"You don't cry like most babies do, Otto. Nope. Whenever you fuss you make these cute little squawks which sound like a baby pterodactyl."

Back in the Swing of things

2009-11-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

After being sick for so so so long (I thought I would never be better, and indeed, I'm still hacking up my lungs every few minutes or so, but I'm hoping that will end soon too) I was excited to get scrapbooking again.

Otto had so many different expressions, as babies do, but this "o" one was one of my favorites, and I just had to scrapbook it.

I wanted to share this one too - I did it just before I got sick. The journaling is about how great Grandpa Lilburn is and how Otto and he will be great friends.

Two Minis

2009-10-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

I recently made two mini albums. The first is Otto's Birth Day album, the second is the Thank you album I made for the midwives. This album is bound, with pockets and a personal note of thanks to each midwife. Each pocket has an insert which the midwives can keep for their own. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Starting Early

2009-10-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

I think Andy is trying to get Otto started early in enjoying the great discoveries and workings of cars and machines. Andy drove Paul's Monster Beetle home for lunch and we took a few pictures of Otto with it.

The Coolest Thing

2009-09-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

I've never seen anything like this! It is pretty amazing! Check it out.
Check out her other work as well. Wow.

Top 10 Wishes

2009-09-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

I'm list-lifting this idea from my friend Haley's blog because I think it's good to have a wish!

1. I often wish for more time. If only sleeping and eating were optional because we just felt like it, we'd have 24 usable hours in a day. Think of all that we could accomplish! Now, don't get me wrong, I love food and a good nap, but if we could just do so when we wanted to, like if we had some extra time....
2. I'm with Haley on this one: I wish winter weather only existed through the months of December and January. But, maybe not all of January because I'm sick of having cold weather on my birthday. But let's just wish further than that: I wish spring could be for everywhere like it is on Vancouver Island - fluffy white and pink cherry blossoms, magnolia blooms, flowers everywhere, and greenery would last all through the year! Summer would be the majority of the year, but not too too hot. And fall would last a few weeks and be like Eastern Canada, with all the lovely maple and oak trees turning magnificent colors.
3. I wish yard and house work would magically do themselves. 'Nuff said.
4. I wish I could go hiking every weekend, and climbing once a week.
5. I wish I could get all of my closest friends and family together and live in a co-housing community like my friend Annie's. We'd have house concerts and house potlucks ALL the time!
6. Speaking of concerts, I wish that I could go to any and all concerts I desire. I really miss going to classical music concerts with my classical music friends, jazz concerts and gigs, and I lament the fact that I didn't go to Folk Fest this year.
7. I wish that I could do all the musical things I desired, such as pick up the Foothills Girls Choir again, and learn a bunch of new piano pieces this year. I would also love to learn to play the guitar. This wish would work if only we could have wish #1.
8. I wish that when we looked at older people, we could see their life story in front of us. They would receive more respect and admiration from us than they get now. I suppose that could go for regular people we meet or know as well. It would certainly eliminate all sorts of judgements.
9. I wish we could travel like they did on Star Trek. I'm not even sure how that was, but I know it was super FAST. We could travel all over the world in seconds.
10. Lastly, I wish I were asleep in my bed instead of staying up to write on my blog. Sometimes I just want to kick myself in the pants for not going to sleep when I should!11. I lied, here's one last one. I SO wish that babies (especially mine) didn't spit up so much! Andy caught this one of Otto WHILE we were doing our family pictures. We took his bib off for only a few minutes and of course, he spits up. It never fails.

Thanks Haley for the idea!

This and This

2009-09-06T20:26:00.001-07:00

Seeing lots of these two things these days: smiles, and hands in the mouth.

Congratulations to my PBF, Kacey, on the safe arrival of her 4th, Miss Sloane Browning!

2009 Family Portrait and a 90th Birthday!

2009-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was a busy one! Scrappin' with the sisters-in-law on Friday, Assiya's wedding on Saturday morning/afternoon then Grandma's 90th Birthday on Saturday evening. Then more family get-togethers on Sunday.

I made the slide-show for Grandma's birthday and it was amazing to go through all the pictures of her life, right from 1919 until now. What a full life! We love you Grandma!

Andy drew this little portrait when he was supposed to be listening to the Sunday School lesson, but everyone passed it around and had a good laugh. See if you can identify all our family members!

We took our own family pictures on Saturday. I would pity any photographer who would try to do our portraits for us, it's always such a gong show! The last picture is my Grandma with her 6 great-grankids!

Laughing Out Loud

2009-08-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

Otto's been smiling and cooing for awhile now, and he has this cute little sigh-laugh - it's the cutest when he does it in his sleep. But last night, he full-on laughed out loud and it was the greatest thing! Andy and I just sat there laughing along with him. And to our delight, he did it again tonight! Our boy is so fun!
Unfortunately, we didn't catch his full-out laugh on film, but here's one of his adorable smile!

Our Newest Addition

2009-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world, Paisley Louise Lilburn! Born July 24. 6lbs 1 oz.
Congratulations Karley, Irish, and Marshall!

One month already?!

2009-07-02T21:09:00.001-07:00

Actually, it's been a nearly a month and a half since Otto was born! And in a month, here's what has happened:

Andy had two weeks off of work when Otto was born and brought me breakfast in bed every single day.

Otto lost a bit of weight and we were worried when he kept it off for far too long. We had to figure things out with the feedings, but we're working it out and he's finally gaining weight. A few weeks ago, he was in the 10th percentile, but this week, he's in the 25th percentile, so we're making quick progress.

I've learned I can't get enough of his cute faces. He has so many different expressions already. The little round "0" mouth gets me every time.

One of my favorite things is watching Otto sleep. He is absolutely adorable.

I've learned to live with messes around the house for awhile because there are more important things in life. Namely, cuddling with Otto, feeding Otto, changing Otto, staring at his cute cute face, and cuddling some more.

We've learned that Otto will usually become more calm when Andy or I simply hold his hand.

Family camping with a five-week-old is kinda fun - everyone wanted turns holding Otto, so he was cuddled and spoiled the entire weekend. Love it! We brought the laundry basket with us, and some people thought we had brought our laundry with us until they realized it was Otto in there!

Meeting Family

2009-06-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

I have finally gotten around to upload some pictures from the last little while and thought I'd share. I think my favorite is of Otto meeting his two boy cousins (on my side) for the first time. Marshall and Iarnan just adored him! I know Natalie, Alyssa, and Shantelle were just as excited to see him.

I actually felt up for a long walk last week (the day before I got really sick), so we bundled Otto into his wrap and off we went. It was a really nice walk and he slept peacefully the entire time. In fact, the wrap works so well that I have Otto in it right now, just so I can get a few things done without him fussing - he so loves to be cuddled and held.

An Eventful Week

2009-06-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well now, Otto is two weeks old now, and last week was a busy one for him. Last Tuesday, on the same day (crazy us) we had family and newborn photos done, then we went to get him the big "C". What a tiring day! Then Friday I ended up getting really sick and was sick for several days. I'm feeling better today, but Otto has been fussy. I hope he doesn't get sick.

Anyway, that's what's been happening with us. Andy is still Mr. Wonderful in our books: taking care of us daily, including coming home at lunch time just to make me lunch, and taking Otto when I need to rest. My Mom has been giving her share of time and cooking as well, so Thank you Mom!

Here's the link to the photographer's blog, where she has posted more photos from our session last week:

http://mikophotogaphy.blogspot.com/

Introducing Otto Rowan Court

2009-05-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Otto was born Sunday, May 24th at 2:18pm, weighing in at 7lbs 10oz. He was welcomed into the world by his parents, Andy and Kaly, one of his wonderful midwives, Jane, and a slew of nurses, doctors and anesthesiologist. Yep, we ended up having an emergency C-Section at the Rockeyview in Calgary. Long story. But in the end, we're just really glad that both Otto and Mama are healthy and well.

Otto is a happy little guy, very content. His cry sounds like a wee pterodactyl, and he does these cute little bird squawks. He makes so many faces already, and when he's awake, looks straight at us with alert eyes! He's perfect.

We arrived home today and we're resting and adjusting to life outside of the hospital! Thank you for your prayers and thank you to all those who have helped so much already!

40 Weeks Today

2009-05-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

I know that only about 5% of births happen exactly on the due date. Is it wrong to hope like heck that we're one of the 5%?

I want this baby out! I'm terrified that the longer this baby stays in, the bigger this baby will be and I might not be able to get baby out!

Today I put together a little ABC book with my Zutter machine. It's so cute, and the animals in it are adorable. Colors are great too. I'll post a pic another time. I also made cookies. Tonight we went to Okotoks for a walk by the river and out for supper. Andy swears he was trying to make me giggle, but I think he's trying to bear-claw the baby right out of my belly in this pic!

This past week the baby room has really come together. I mod-podged some paper onto a bookshelf and cut some vinyl shapes for the wall with my CriCut. Andy finished the drapery rod so we hung the drapes. There are only a few things left to do for the completion of the room, but Andy insists he will need something to do when the baby actually does arrive. So, here is one picture to whet your appetite, and I will show more when things are finally together.

Waiting Time

2009-05-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

I've been busy.

Last week we prayed that the baby wouldn't come until after the recital. Baby listened and hung out for awhile longer.

Saturday came and still no baby (even after some intense contractions Friday night). So then I got to thinking, Hey, I could stand a little more time to get some things done. Time is good. Time is nice. So this is what I've been up to:

Sock Creatures. I've made three. Just finished the last one today. We've got the twins, Max & Millie, and little Percy. They're kind of fun and a bit ridiculous. Check out their awesome tails!

On Monday, I made this piece of artwork for the wall. I sewed fabric and also added paper and buttons. The tree and the birds are all templates I made from Maya Road chipboard shapes. I'm sure I could have come up with something more original, but I really loved these shapes, so I just drew them on my own and adapted them for this project.

I love the sewing on the bottom with the little round logs.

Andy finished the set of drawers. It is BEAUTIFUL! I love the look of the grain.

Over the Easter holiday, I made this slip cover for the chair.

I've been getting the baby's room more together and it's looking great! I've been cleaning and tidying spaces around the house and tomorrow I will do some baking. I'm really enjoying this TIME!

But... I am getting bigger. Can you believe I've gained almost exactly what the midwives hoped I'd gain: 40 POUNDS! I'm out to HERE!!! Mostly I'm feeling pretty good. I've got Braxton Hicks contractions, constant kidney pain, and now swelled legs, ankles, and feet because I have to spend a good portion of the day (and sometimes middle of the night) standing to alleviate some of the kidney pain. Other than that, I'm happy. I'll be much happier when I get to cuddle this wee babe in my arms. Although by the time he or she makes her grand entrance, she might not be so "wee". One of our midwives thinks this one is going to have a long body with long legs.
And here's one of Andy. I think he feels a little left out with all these pictures of me and my belly.

Music Festival, Recital, My last week

2009-05-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last week was my last week of teaching for the year. Eight of my piano students performed in the High River Music Festival in addition to our year-end recital on Friday. All my students performed very well and the recital was so enjoyable!

Congratulations to Mandi Hofer, who will receive a Music Festival award at the Adjudicator's Showcase this Wednesday evening! Her performance of Jig, by Violet Archer, was near perfect! Way to go, Mandi!

37 weeks.. and all that that implies...

2009-05-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I could get no bigger... my ever-expanding belly surprises us all!

Highlights of this past week (or not so highlights) include:

1. Ode to my Mother. She keeps asking me what I have left to do, and I told her of some sewing projects I wanted to do: hemming the drapes and making the diaper bag. She said it most aptly: "I can do it faster than you." And true to her word, she spent one day and had it all done! So thanks Mom! Now everyone will want a bag like mine!

2. Andy is almost finished staining and polyurethaning the dresser for the baby room, yay! And, my talented husband also made an attachment for our kitchen tap that will aid in filling our "birthing pool". Nice work, Andy!

3. This was my last week at Kids Are Special Jr. Kindergarten. Sad, but it had to happen sometime! Unfortunately for me, it happened sooner than later, but more on that next. The kids made a list this week of their guesses as to what sex the baby would be, and what we should name the baby. We had names ranging from "Sweetie" (cute, huh?) to "Tina" to "Princess Annalese". A few of the children thought that their own name was the best, so we got some Calebs and Davons and Connors, etc. I will miss these kids!

4. I had another kidney attack. This time it wasn't a gradual thing - it literally attacked out of nowhere. Stabbing, completely dibilitating kidney pain. Lucky for me it didn't last as long as it did the last time. We (actually, my afore mentioned wonderful Mother) rushed to the hospital and they put me on the monitors to check baby, and in about an hour and a half the pain had subsided considerably. Our midwife suggested we go to Calgary, but when we left High River Hospital, I felt like the pain was going away and we didn't want to spend another night and day waiting around for tests at the Rockyview. So, I stayed home to rest and we went to our pre-scheduled ultrasound on Wednesday morning. Now, there's some prestory to this ultrasound. It wasn't just kidneys that they would be checking. At my last appointment, TWO midwives were stumped by a big lump in my belly that apparently wasn't a discernable baby part. I am also measuring small, so they wanted to check if there was a growth that was taking away from baby. Well, I was very worried. But I know the Lord watches over us and answers prayers (thanks for all your prayers). If there was a lump there, there's not one now! The ultrasound showed baby as happy as a peach. Babe is moving a lot and gets herself into some strange positions, so they think that the way baby is sitting has stretched my uterus into some strange shapes. The spot that was in question turns out to be baby's bum stretching out. Andy was funny, saying that our baby might be born without a bum since everyone's been praying for the lump to go away.
We're so glad that baby is okay. We only have to worry about kidney pain, because they found a small stone in the left kidney, and quite some fluid in the right kidney. It's funny because all this time I've been having a lot of pain in the right one, and the left one never gave me any pain until Monday. So... still a lot of kidney pain, but it's manageable. I've been drinking a tonne of fresh lemon and water and have cut back on many things that may aggravate kidney stones. These things include animal products: meat, milk, dairy, fish, etc. And sugars (which I wasn't having much of in the first place). But now I'm stumped as to what I should eat. Last night I made a really yummy minestrone soup and a roasted red pepper hummus, but I can't just eat beans for the next few weeks! Any suggestions? Please!

5. My good friend Rebecca Smart had her baby 5 weeks early by emergency C-section a week ago Friday. At first things seemed to be going well (at least he was a relatively healthy birth weight of 6.1 lbs), but her baby, Sean, had a few seizures and now has some blood pooled in his brain. After a week in ICU, he seems to be doing better - a few minor seizures, but he is able to breathe on his own and has been able to cut back on some of the tubes and monitors he was hooked up to. They are hoping that if he can feed on his own, the blood will dissapate and he should be able to go home with his parents. The doctors are optimistic, which sounds good. He is in our prayers.

6. This afternoon, Andy and I attended a gorgeous a capella choral concert in High River. My good friend Candia sings in the Spiritus Chamber Choir, who happened to be performing in High River today. What a treat to hear a professional choir like this one! They were BEAUTIFUL!

So, exciting week say the least. I have one more week of teaching piano, with the student recital this Friday, so anytime after that the baby can come! (We hope!) I'm still trying to putz around, doing cleaning and setting up for baby, but in all the essentials we are ready.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. It means so much to us at this time!

April 27

2009-04-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Very uncomfortable. Babe's feet in the kidney or kidney stones again? We might find out at our ultrasound on Wednesday.
Pressure. On kidneys, bowels, bladder.
They don't tell you about the end of pregnancy until you get there. It's long and uncomfortable.
Oh well. Only a few more weeks to go.

Congratulations to Rebecca and Terry, who had their baby boy, Sean Henry Smart, last Friday night in emergency c-section 6 weeks early! At first everything looked fine, but last night, baby Sean had two seizures and they think he might have an infection in his blood? You are in our prayers, sweet babe!

34 Weeks/Easter

2009-04-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

I hope you have all had a happy Easter! I've been looking forward to this week off. I have grand plans to sew, bake, shop, visit, a bit of teaching, and get some piano stuff done too. Enjoy your week!

Baby update: At our last appointment our midwife felt the baby and decided that babe has moved into position! And I gained another 4 inches! You're supposed to gain about 1 inch per week after 15 weeks or so, but I jumped 4 inches in two weeks since baby finally moved! We also learned that I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions since before week 26! I just thought it was baby stretching. I guess not, but it's all good because it just gets my body ready for the real thing!

33 Weeks

2009-04-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am at 33 weeks. Everyone always comments that I still look so small. Well, there's a reason. I actually am measuring small, but it's because baby has gotten comfortable in a certain position - sideways, or transverse!! So, hopefully baby will move into a more appropriate position for labour as the time draws nearer. I don't think anyone is worried about it yet - not until 36 weeks at least.

Things I love right now? Andy is finished the shelves in the closet (just the clothing rods to go!) and he set up the crib today! I'm planning on doing a huge shopping trip (or a few) starting next Saturday to get all the essentials in order - you know, like crib sheets, onesies, and diapers might be a good thing. I can't really go overboard seeing how we don't know the baby's sex yet. Any guesses? While we're at it, anyone want to guess the date, sex, and weight of baby? I'll have something fun for the person who ends up being the closest!

Family Photos

2009-03-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last month Andy and I got some family photos taken at Towne Photography. The photos turned out fantastic! We are really pleased. We've chosen this one to grace our wall, and several others to go in our scrapbook.

29 Weeks

2009-03-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so slow at posting these days. I'm posting this while I'm almost at 30 weeks. My excuse this week? Taxes. 'Nuff said.

What's going on with me at 29 weeks? Well, blood work says I'm iron deficient, which explains why I feel light-headed and fainty after I do something simple like walk up the stairs! My white blound count is still up after the whole kidney thing, so my body is still trying to combat infection. I'm so tired.

That said, the fun things include: continuing to feel baby moving around, and the kids at preschool are in awe at my ever-expanding belly. They will spontaneously want to feel "the baby". One little boy always asks if he can "see" the baby, and makes motions like he wants to look down my shirt. Here's a typical conversation:
Him: "Can I see the baby?" (motioning to look down my shirt).
Me: "Well, the baby is inside Ms. Kaly's belly. You can't see the baby from the outside."
Him (as he points to my belly): "But it's right there."
Me: "Can you see what's inside your belly?"
Him: "Uh, no."
Me: "Baby's inside my belly. All you would see is my skin, just like we see your skin on your belly."
Him: "Oh."
Then we have a repeat of the same conversation the next week.

Love this girl!

2009-03-02T13:12:00.001-08:00

Last week I checked my mail, expecting to find the usual: flyers and bills, bills and flyers. Well, was I ever pleasantly surprised when I found an envelope addressed to "Auntie Kaly". The return address? "Eartha". Thanks, Eartha girl. You really made my week! The card is still sitting on our table for all to see! Eartha made this card all by herself and insisted that her Mom send it to me in the mail. You are so special, Eartha!

LOVE this.

2009-02-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Deiter F. Uchtdorf spoke at the last General Women's Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His talk seemed to speak directly to me. He speaks directly to all women everywhere. My friend Becky posted this on her blog, which was a great reminder to me of the highlights of all that he said, displayed in such a beautiful manner.

Perhaps She'll Die?

2009-02-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

No, not really. But I'm posting this blog from my hospital room today. Yup. Hospital. So not fun. I came in yesterday with symptoms for kidney stones or just a really horrible, terrible, no good, rotten urinary tract infection. I was pretty much in pain from 9am till 11pm or so, getting progressively worse as the hours ticked by. By 11 pm when they finally started giving me iv antibiotics, saline, and morphine, I was in mucho intense pain. But as soon as the antibiotics started to kick in, I began feeling a bit better. Then the morphine kicked in and I started to get drowsy and the pain started to fade. Morphine is great for pain, but it feels icky, that's for sure.

Anyway, to look on the bright side, our midwife, Sivan was with us the whole time last night and she remarked that I will be a pro when it comes time to labor because the pain I was having was so much more intense than labor pains will be! Some consolation at least?

Our midwife was great, the obstetricians were great (baby is great), and the nurses were wonderful.

I'm feeling drastically less pain today. Very tired, but feeling okay otherwise. They keep putting in the iv antibiotics and they want me to get an ultrasound to check my kidneys and urinary tract, and just to check on baby, but since it was the weekend, and there is only one radiologist for the entire hospital, we are all on a very long list to get ultrasounds today.

Since I feel so much better today, I am assuming that either the antibiotics are killing whatever infection I have or I actually passed my kidney stones last night. At least I am feeling better.

I hope you all had a much better Valentine's and Family Day weekend than I did!

p.s. I would post a picture, but you don't want to see this face after such a night! I popped some blood vessels or capilliaries around my eyes. Not a pretty sight. I just need some rest and I'll be as good as new (I hope!).

p.p.s. It just so happened that a good friend (expecting twins) was in the same night I was, so we had a little visit this morning. Nice coincidence. Not being in the hospital, but getting to see a familiar face. As far as I know, she's going home today for more bed rest.

UPDATE: I was able to be discharged from the hospital Monday night around 7pm following an ultrasound and doctor's consult (who happened to be Diana [Poulin] Timms' brother). The prognosis? Hydronephrosis. Distention (dilation) of the kidney with urine, caused by backward pressure on the kidney when the flow of urine is obstructed. They assume that the urine was obstructed by either stones or that baby had been putting pressure at a certain point to cause a kink in the line. Well, whatever it was it was painful and I'm glad that it is over.
We got home last night and I went straight for the shower then straight to bed. Roughly 12 hours of sleep later and I'm feeling rested and much better.

2009-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

It's Valentine's Day and we've spent the day sleeping and watching movies. My poor Valentine was up sick all night and morning. I started feeling better by noon, but we're still pretty lathargic. Poor Andy.

I found this quote on love just yesterday and I think it's beautiful. Especially because of the reference to trees and roots. Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Preparations for Babe/24 Weeks

2009-02-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this picture a bit late. This is me at 24 weeks. I'm now almost 25 weeks. Wow, does time fly! Especially when you're going by weeks.

Here's Andy, plugging away at the baby room. Two coats of primer and this is the first coat of paint. I love it! It is a happy green, that's for sure, and it looks so cheerful in the daylight! You're doing an awesome job, Andy!

Temple Trip and Tap-Dancing Toes

2009-01-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

Andy and I have always had a goal to attend the temple once a month. (We'll see how that goes this year with baby! Any suggestions?)
Andy came up with this great idea that we should take a picture each time we go to the temple and I will make a mini album out of it - kind of a flip book through the different seasons, times of day, outfits, weather, etc., but we will be the constants. So, here's the first picture for 2008!

In other fun news, yesterday was my birthday. I slept in, did a bit of scrapbooking, visit with a friend, then went to the temple. The highlight of my day? Waking up to tap-dancing toes on my belly! Now, this baby is an active little peanut, so I've been feeling all kinds of bumps and nudges and somersaults and all kinds of other acrobatics, but this was a unique feeling - two tiny feet going tap-tap-tap-tap one after the other! So exciting!

Baby Journal

2009-01-14T20:11:00.001-08:00

I just finished making this: a baby journal. I keep wanting to write to this baby, telling how I feel, things that are happening, what cravings I've been having, weight gain, midwife appointments, nursery room happenings, etc. So, I made this little journal. Most of the shapes I just cut with the Cricut, and I bound it together with my Christmas present - my Zutter Bind-It-All. When our baby is born and we know whether baby's a girl or boy, and we give baby a name, I will personlize the front of the journal.

I also wanted to show off a LO that I did awhile ago. It's my favorite from the last little while.

Btw, I am loving this second trimester! I'm not sure if I notice my energy level now only because it was non-existant during the first four months, but I really do feel like I have way more energy and I feel good about getting things done!

Love these guys!

2009-01-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it isn't Mother's Day or Father's Day yet, but can I just tell everyone how much I love my parents? They really are the best!

Yesterday I had a regular checkup with my midwife, and since Andy is in school right now I thought maybe my Mom would like to go with me. When I asked her, she said she was planning on having a date with Dad the same time, so I said he should come with us too! So that was the plan.

Well, Dad showed up alone to pick me up. Apparently Mom needed to stay home with Gramma. So I insisted that I could just go by myself and he didn't have to use up his precious time driving all the way to Calgary and back. He (perhaps a little jokingly) said that Mom had told him that they need to support their daughter. So off we went to Calgary!

I think Dad would have been happy to stay in the car and read his book, but I convinced him to come in to the waiting room. Then convinced him to actually come into the appointment with me! So, all went well and we heard the baby's heartbeat and actually heard the baby moving around. Apparently I have a very active baby! (That's actually what the ultrasound report stated, and I've been feeling the baby moving tonnes in the past week or so.)

So anyway, thanks Dad, for supporting me. It was fun to have you there to listen to the baby. He or she will know that you cared enough to do that.

Beginning the Baby Belly!

2009-01-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

It's been beginning for awhile now, but since I'm a small person, it hasn't been as apparent to other folks as it has to me. But here we are now, sprouting out! The funny thing is that I feel like the baby went through a massive growth spurt in the last week and a bit! I wasn't this out there a few weeks ago! I wasn't eating a lot for those 6 days I was sick, just drinking lots of fluids, so not a lot of growth from that. But then Christmas day hit... And Boxing Day.... And then family dinner on the day after that... Then leftovers for days and days and some eating out too. I sure made up for the week that I didn't eat much! And now here I am! Thanks to Mom and Dad for feeding us so much over the holidays!

Christmas Come and Gone

2009-01-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a busy holiday! I hope you all had a great Christmas! I did, for the most part. The very day I started my Christmas break, I began a 6-day fever/headache/strep throat. It didn't help any that the E.R. doc took one look at me and said that I was fine, I was just running a slight fever. But he "humored" me and took a swab of my throat. Sure enough, two days later (through the weekend and getting worse and worse by the day), I phoned up my own Dr. and they said, yep, it's strep. So they got me on antibiotics and I was actually feeling better on Christmas day. After that, I was pretty good.

But, Christmas was a time to be happy and have fun visiting with family! Everyone was home this year in both our families, so that was a real treat. Andy and I got to spend time with family we see the least because of distance, so we were really happy to get to do that.

Highlights of this Christmas:

~The nativity play my nieces and nephew put on. Notice how baby Jesus is a rolled up towel under Kaiomhe's dress... and then out it popped! She was so proud!

~The white elephant exchange with Andy's family. Andy, Daryl, and Adin kept stealing each other's presents because everyone wanted what they had: mint Oreo's, Wagon Wheels, and chocolates. Andy ended up with a spatula. Also fun was how excited John was with his motorcycle. Good thinking, Juanita!

~Andy's excitement with his gifts: the One Piece t-shirt I made for him, and the Carcassonne game I got him. We played it every few days with whoever would play it with us!

~The little house I made for Andy's Mom. (picture at the top)I think it turned out pretty cute! I hope she liked it!

Well, I hope your Christmas was wonderful! Happy New Year to you all!

Candy Cane Popcorn!

2008-12-21T06:39:00.000-08:00

Here it is! I broke my back trying to get popcorn and nuts 'n bolts done in the same night and now I'm paying for it - sick, sick, sick.
But doesn't it look yummy?
Pop about 18-20 cups of popcorn
Pour about 3 two-handed handfuls of white chocolate (melted of course) over.
Crush at least 5-6 candy canes in food processor. Pour over chocolate.
Mix all together until completely covered.
Lay out on counter to cool.
Pour into Glad 2L freezer bags. Decorate with ribbon.
Enjoy!

Seeing Baby!

2008-12-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

Introducing our little baby! He or she is moving around, kicking, flailing arms, everything! You can see he/she yawning (well, opening mouth at least!) Andy and I were able to see all this on Friday at our 18 week ultrasound. Isn't technology fantastic?!
I think our baby must be really smart and very loving already, because if you look closely at this one, you'll notice that baby actually makes a slight "I LOVE YOU" sign with fingers! Wow.

Check out the feet action in this one! Amazing!

First of the Christmas Baking! (Finally)

2008-12-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

I am so glad I finally have some energy to get stuff done around here!

Last Saturday I made shortbread and gingerbread cookies, then started to put up Christmas decorations (and this was after the funeral for an old family friend - I had the privilege of playing the piano for him). There should be a picture of the aftermath of decorations, but I'm too embarrassed because doing all this wiped me right out and the house is still in shambles! Sunday we had church and choir practice, braved the cold to visit with some friends and then some family and when we came home, we went straight to bed! What a busy weekend! Monday it didn't stop because I spent all the time between preschool in the morning, till my students came in the afternoon decorating the gingerbread cookies and using the leftover chocolate to dip an entire bag of pretzels! These pretzels are the BEST for dipping! (I got the last bag at Extra Foods in High River!) And if you have kids, what an easy and fun activity!

So now that I have all these things done, I still have to make a tonne of candy cane popcorn (don't worry Megan, it's coming!) and a huge batch of nuts and bolts.

Recipe Request for Crepes

2008-11-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so the crepes were so good but not only do they taste good, they must sound good too because I've had a few requests for the recipe. So here it is. I'm including 3 different measurements with each ingredient because you've got to triple or quadruple it if you're making for more than 2-3 people. So the triple is in ( ) and the quadruple is [ ]. Does that totally confuse you?

Basic Crepe Batter

4 eggs (12) [16]
1/4 teaspoon salt (1/2) [1/2]
3 Tablespoons oil (9) [12 or 3/4 cup]
1/2 cup plus 2Tablespoons water (2) [2-1/2]
3/4 flour (2-1/4) [3]

Beat eggs with whisk. Add the rest and mix well. Let batter "rest" 1-2 hours before serving.

for 1 crepe, use 1/4 cup of batter. I pour the batter into the pan with one hand while the other hand twirls the pan around so the batter will coat the pan. Usually the first one you make is horrible, but then you get the knack after a few.

To prepare ahead, stack between wax paper and freeze.

Pictures courtesy of Jessie Ursenbach from a crepe morning last year.

Crepe-tastic!

2008-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ooh, these crepes were so so yummy! Becky, you are such a better blogger than I! You had pictures and commentary up the very next day! I had to make you wait almost a week! Anyway, for all those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, Andy and I (more emphasis on the I) had three of my girlfriends (Birdie, Becky, and Candia) over for a crepe and girlie gab night. Yeah... Andy mostly hid in the basement. We don't blame him though! We loved all the girl talk!

The crepes were fantastic and yummy! My favorite was the Nutella and raspberry one with whipped cream on the top. I would have photographed it better except that we were just too excited to actually eat them! So I didn't bother setting it up so much.

Latest baby news? Nothing much about the baby, more like symptoms of it being there. I feel very "stretched" today. It seems like the belly is starting to come all at once! I've been getting a lot of headaches lately, which really wipe me out. And I'm still craving all things raspberry. Well, except that raspberry cheese fudge that Andy bought me. He was so sweet, thinking that it would be a great treat for me. Well, it was more cheese than fudge or raspberry, so the taste was a bit odd. Okay, a lot odd. It was kinda gross. We gave it to my Mom who seemed to like it.

Lub Dub-Lub Dub

2008-11-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Or was it Swoosh-Swoosh Swoosh-Swoosh? Well, Andy and I heard the heartbeat of our wee babe yesterday! What an exciting thing!

Our first checkup with our widwife was great and everything is going very well. I'm even gaining weight! I told my Mom how much I've gained in the last three months and she replied, "Where are you putting it?!" I guess to most people I haven't really started to show yet, but it's there and it's healthy.

And Baby makes 3... or soon to Be

2008-11-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

Andy and I would like to announce that we are expecting a bouncing bundle of joy sometime near the end of May! (Exact due date is May 22) We are thrilled! We are excited! We are a little bit nervous! But I'm sure all will be well.

How am I feeling, you ask? Well, some days it's like I have an alien parasite sucking the marrow out of my bones... literally. I've been super [super] tired, and only nauseated if I get too hungry or if I eat certain things at certain times of the day. No throwing up (thank goodness! and cross my fingers that it will stay that way!). The worst thing is that I have huge hormonal pregnancy acne so I feel kinda like I'm 13 going on 30 or something like that. I'm twelve weeks pregnant, and they say the tiredness will soon go away, but will come again in the third trimester. The baby is doing well as far as we know, and we have our first big appointment with our midwife team next Wednesday.

We'll keep you posted as we go!

btw, Here's Andy and I on Halloween - a burglar and Rocket Man. Dig the wigs?

Random things in my life right now

2008-10-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm such a sporadic poster!
But to let you know some things I've been up to lately:

I started an online "Art Journal" class with the amazing Dina Wakley. Check out her blog through the link on the side of my page. I'm learning how to layer textures and how to use paint. I've always been intimidated by paint because I usually use way to much or not enough and it ends up being disaster. But my first assignment from last week actually turned out not too bad. The part that is way harder than the painting is the journaling! Who would have thought?! When I have a few pages actually completed (in another few weeks) I'll post them then. Or maybe I'll post week-by-week so you can see the beginning to end process? I'll have to see what I'm up for.

Christmas is coming quick! Especially if you are making some presents by hand! Quick quiz: How many of you will be giving home-made gifts? What kind of gifts do you make? I seem to always make peppermint popcorn in glass jars, and shortbread cookies. They are both Christmas staples in this house!

Now that I've sat down and written the above, I entirely forget what else I've been up to lately. I thought there was more, but it appears that I am just really very boring.

Well, Andy is back home and he did a fantastic 1st year welding, so way to go Andy! And I'm glad to have you home again.

Off to Blairmore!

2008-10-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm off to Blairmore tomorrow for a scintillating scrapbook weekend! My good friend Kacey and I are driving down tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited to scrapbook again. Even when my sisters-in-law came over conference weekend, I didn't get much done because I was sick. But this weekend I hope to get more caught up than ever! And maybe do a few Christmas presents!

I will miss Andy, but he has only ONE WEEK LEFT of his 1st year welding, then he's back to work machining and back in High River full time with me! Have I mentioned that Andy is top of his class and frequently gets unbelievably high marks on all his exams! That's my Andy! He also finished the garage this weekend, and I'm so very proud of him - he did all the drywalling, mudding and taping, and painting pretty much solo. Well, he did have a lot of help from my fantastic father too. So congrats Andy on a job well done! Now you have more time to do some other things around the yard?

Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday, Lucky Me

2008-10-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind! I've been busy and not busy, sick and not sick. Did everyone catch that awful stomach flu last week? I knew about a dozen people who had it the same time I did. Nasty.

But on to more exciting things! Like, happy one year anniversary to Andy and I! Andy planned the day and all along I assumed we were going to Banff. He first took me out to Black Diamond for breakfast at the Barn (A favorite for us. I wanted to take a picture of the pancakes - they were huge! - but I forgot my camera in the car). Then we followed hwy 22 up to the 22X or Spruce Meadows Trail. I thought we'd head straight for Banff, but instead turned into Calgary. I was confused and Andy would not tell me where we were going. Then when we turned into Deerfoot Meadows or Run or whatever that place is called (with the IKEA) I joked that he was so nice to take me to IKEA even though I know he hates to go there. Well, we didn't go to IKEA. Instead, Andy said to me, "I want you to have your camera today. We don't have to wait until Christmas!" So, we got the Canon Digital Rebel Xsi!!!!! Wooooo! This is the LUCKY ME part!

So, we've both been playing around a bit and figuring things out with this new camera. So fun and exciting! I love my Andy for giving me a surprise like this! Oh yes, and my present to him was a mini album comprised of pictures and text from our dating life - things that we both had written in our dating journals!

Next, was Andy's birthday! Yay! Happy Birthday Andy! It was games at the church with a potluck supper. The highlight of the evening was opening and playing with Paul's present to Andy. Uh... we're not really sure where Paul scored this beauty, but the guys sure had fun rolling around in it! We kept joking that maybe Paul nicked it from the Rotary Club? Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time Andy!

Medieval Fair - Paul's Birthday Bash

2008-10-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it has been awhile and now I'm playing catch up. Starting with this fabulous Saturday that Andy and I spent at Paul's farm near Millarville.
Paul organized this entire event for his own birthday and it was amazing! Almost everyone showed up dressed in Medieval costume, and the games were amazing! He even had performers come to do flame-eating and belly-dancing. The man of the day was our King Paul, who was dressed to the hilt! Andy was so proud of his own costume. Paul had even made two "horses" for jousting.

There was jousting, axe throwing, spear throwing, and eating without utensils (I think that was Paul's favorite part)!

Making the Dress LO

2008-09-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Since Andy has been away for school during the week, I've been able to get a bit of scrapbooking done. I finished this one yesterday, showing different stages of working on my wedding dress. The large picture is the one I like best, because it shows that as Halli was working on my dress, I was stitching up the flower girl dresses. We were just sewing all around! The green bits of fabric are from the sash, which we hadn't put on the dress yet.

"Docking" a la Franky

2008-09-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Andy and I watch this Japanime cartoon called
One Piece. In one of the last episodes, the character Franky gets all the other characters to "dock" (attach themselves to him) so they can make one big robo-pirate. It was a ridiculous idea, and one of the characters didn't want to. Nico Robin was so annoyed that Franky even asked. She refused, saying, "As a human being it is embarrassing." and told them never to ask her to "dock" again. Andy thought it would be cool to try it with the nieces and nephew. They were game to try it. The girls "docked" on his arms, being the weapons, and I'm not sure what Iarnan was supposed to be. They thought it was grand though.

"the coming of the winter"

2008-09-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was recently on a blog I frequent. I was asked the question, "What are you most anticipating about fall?"
I had to think for a minute, because already the colors of the leaves are changing and it's getting cold - I've been sleeping with wheat bags in bed since Andy has been away at school! And you who know me well know that I absolutely hate the cold (why do I live in Canada?). So asking myself what I'm most anticipating about fall just makes me think of how depressed I will be when it keeps getting colder and colder and colder and colder.
But I dug deep. There are some things that I've always adored about fall, and when I remember these things, I don't feel the woe of winter coming on so strong. So, I'm making a list of all the things to look forward to this fall that will make me happy and help me count my blessings.

My list:

Wonderful smelling crispness in the air. Just breathe it in!
My first wedding anniversary! yay!
Fall colors (they're best in Eastern Canada or Northern AB,SK,BC)
Crunching leaves underfoot
Snuggling
Sleeping under the stars in the back of the truck (with many many blankets)
Less yard work.
More scrapbook time!
Getting back to work with all the kids I love! - piano, girls choir, Cantos tours, pre-K
Birthdays to look forward to
Soups. yum.
Lovely, heart-warming wintery songs. John Denver "Rhymes and Reasons" comes to mind, "so you speak to me of sadness and the coming of the winter..."(then it gets happier)
Scarves. You know me, I love my scarves.
Sweaters and vests and blazers.
Hot chocolate, herbal teas, hot carmel apple ciders, and steamers.

This picture was taken a few years back at the farm in Rosemary. It's one of my favorites. Reminds me of good times.
Well, there's my list. What does yours look like?

Getting back to reality

2008-08-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well it's been awhile, but hey, I've gotten a lot done in the last few weeks. I've been in Calgary as a caregiver to a young boy with autism and downsyndrome while his family went on vacation. This was my third summer with him and it was great! Since he likes to watch his shows, I set up a scrapbook area to work while he is occupied. I had several free hours a day that way. I finished a slideshow, phoned all my piano and choir peeps, set up most of my fall schedule, and scrapbooked 2 mini albums and about 18 pages! I feel so accomplished!

Thanks to my wonderful husband for taking me out on a lovely date the night before I left him. We drove his 1958 Ford Edsel to Okotoks, where we went electric skateboarding on the wind-y paths down by the river. I wish I had some pics of that, but I left my cam in the car! Oh well, we'll go there again and I'll post pics then. It was a gorgeous night and a fun ride. Thanks Andy!

I had a few goals as I started to scrapbook during this time, and I'm pleased to say that I actually accomplished these goals! Have a look:

#1. Use more negative space on my layouts. I find these layouts refreshing to the eye,

not having to look at all the millions of pictures that are crammed onto one page. How did I do? Let's see:

#2. Use my stash! I have so much stuff that I save because it's too "pretty" for this page or that, but then in a year it will be old news. So I gotta rip and tear and use bits and pieces here and there.

#3. Use my sewing machine. This is one of my favorite layouts, from the

picture to the journaling to the scraps of paper and ribbon I used.

#4. Do more journaling on the page. I got some cute journaling stamps and used my computer for others. I love it!

Of Hiking and Napping...

2008-08-07T11:37:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, Andy and I went with our friends Paul and Sara for a hike on Paul's land. It was beautiful being in the trees and moss and such! We had a picnic and a nap at the top of the hill.

In the morning, Paul and Andy were

up early, doing "Heat 'n Beat", when

they forged their own weapons. They threw their spears and sword head at dead trees and kept Sara and I worrying.

When we got back from the hike, Paul started up "The Claw".

If you have ever watched Hallmark's The Magic of Ordinary Days, you will know what I am referring to! It's actually Paul's old machine, and he's actually the one who drives it in the movie! So cool!

Thanks Paul and Sara for a grand day of outdoor adventuring!

Sun (well, mostly) and sounds at Folk Fest 2008

2008-08-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend I had at Calgary Folk Festival. We saw many fantastic musicians and hung out with great friends. Here are some of the highlights:

Josh Ritter tops them all. My husband teases me that if any man asked me to run away with him, I would say no to all except Josh Ritter. After seeing his hockey hair, I'm sticking with my man! But I will always love Josh's amazing musicianship and wonderful voice!

Andrew Bird is the King of Layers. His band was amazing!! So many layers of sound, so imaginative!

New discoveries

are always an exciting part of going to Folk Fest. A few years ago it was that musical gem, Luke Doucet. This year it is Claire Jenkins avec Band. So much energy and such catchy tunes! And Claire Jenkins has a beautiful voice!

And who could forget the ever lovely Julie Doiron with her simply-put lyrics...

It's so nice to enjoy these sorts of outdoor musical adventures with friends, so thanks to Andy (I know you only did it for me), Birdie & Lewis, Jessie, and Selena! We huddled close when the rains came, and we cheered loudly for our favorites! Fun times!

New Blogger!

2008-07-10T20:00:00.001-07:00

I'm in new territory now!

Recently I've been on the internet more (I have a bit of extra time on my hands) and I've made a goal to get myself a blog. If I can get everything set up over the summer, then I'll only have to add to it when I have time over the school year, right? (Please tell me I'm right?)

My other goal is to learn to get my way around Photoshop because I want to create awesome things!

Wish me luck!