So....the New Year brings new fun things for me. It's almost better than Christmas as far as getting stuff goes. This site - Scrappy Giraffe Kits - Have I mentioned that they're AWESOME. I just found out some of my responsibilities on there today....oh boy oh boy oh boy.....this is going to be fun. I'm on the admin side of things, more so than the design but that means I get to moderate MBs, email people stuff, keep track of database stuff.....ooooWeee this is Right. Up. My. Alley. If you haven't been on here to check out this site yet....DO IT. And if you're in the market for a kit CHOCK full of the latest, yummiest scrapbooking goodies coordinated down the last little bit of ribbon....this is the place for you!!

I'm coming back here with a "do you know me" survey in the next few days or so. Check back soon.

And I'm rak-ing the winner!!

Cathy

Post-Christmas Post

Wow - that sure flew by. We did the usual gatherings at Oma's and spent the night at the in-laws (and several nights after that too since Trev's B&SIL and their boys are out). It's been a lot of eating, a lot of games (both card/board games and Wii) and a lot of craziness (with 7 kids running around). Right now they're all outside playing in the snow. Except me. I'm too lazy. Actually I took my turn earlier in the day. Now I'm pooped. And as much as I love these people - I'm looking forward to my own bed, my own house and only the noise of 3 instead of 7 kids. I feel a little selfish saying that but it's true. I do love my nephews though - they're cute & funny & crazy & all the things kids should be. Wish they lived even closer but I am happy they're only a day's drive instead of 3 like they used to be.

Hope all your holidays were great - and will continue to be great as we "ring in" the New Year (whatever that means). I'm really looking forward to 2007. I'm pretty sure it'll be a busy year - with lots of new stuff. The kids are getting older so they'll have some new interests and ideas. I've got DT work to do every month! We're going to work on our house a little, I hope. And our back yard. We have a flight to take somewhere this year??!! All 3 kiddos are in school full time next fall so there may be a job for me somewhere?? Wow - lots of new stuff.

Happy New Year!

Christmas morning (sort of)

Today is Christmas Morning here at our house. We're not very particular about the Date...as long as Trev's home from work for the morning and we picked today instead of tomorrow because we thought Super Monkey Ball and the new Wii might need a day of play - instead of opening them and then off to church right away. Apparently it was a good choice. Trev loved the coffee bags I framed for him. I think they're going up in his office today already.

And, Erica tagged me with some A-Z survey about me so....here we go:

A - Available/Single? Married
B- Best Friend? Maria & Ang
C- Cake or Pie? Definitely pie
D - Drink Of Choice? water/coolers/iced tea/coffee w/ flavoured creamer....depends on the day and the time of day
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? glasses
F - Favorite Color? black
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? neither as a rule although if they're just sitting there....
H - Home or Homesick? Home! If I could have my groceries delivered and a chunnel built to Maria's house....hmmmm.
I - Indulgence? Scrapping supplies when I don't have a need, chocolate in any form
J - January Or February? Jan. - love resolutions, back to school, new beginnings - by Feb, I have cabin fever.
K - Kids & Their Names? Mica (8), Cale (7) & Egan (5)
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? God, family, friends, scrapbooking, reading
M - Marriage date? Jan. 15, '93
N - Number Of Siblings? 1 brother, 2 BILs and 3 SILs
O - Oranges Or Apples? mandarines
P - Phobias/Fears? something bad happening to my kids, something bad happening to Trev
Q - Favorite Quote: Can't pick a fav. LOVE quotegarden.com for all my quote needs though
R-Real Hair Color? Dark blond - maybe closer to brown by now
S - Season? Summer - hot, hot, hot
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? Sorry to be a wiener - but I'm not much of a tagger
U - Unknown Fact About Me? I love McDonalds. I say that I go there for the kids, but really - if it wasn't so unhealthy - I'd go everyday.
V - Vegetable you don’t like? Haven't met one I don't like, if prepared properly
W - Worst Habit? Snacking
X - X-rays You’ve Had? Sliver in foot, dental, wisdom teeth, 3 ultrasounds
Y - Your Favorite Food? Oh man....pasta, fruit....can I just list all the food groups here....there's not much I don't like.
Z - Zodiac Sign? Don't do signs.

Another kids' movie...

I was planning to do a LO this winter on all the movies we'd watched throughout 2006 and now at the end of the year, I realized that 90% of the movies we watch are kids' movies....must be our stage of life.

Anyway....tonight we saw Charlotte's Web. What a fabulous movie - completely recommend it. I'm pretty weepy at movies anyway and this one reminded me of growing up on the farm and taking in baby goats when they'd be born in winter and not expected to survive....I was totally Fern (right down the jeans and pigtails!). At one point in the movie, when Charlotte's dying (I'm not giving it away am I??? You have all read the book, haven't you?) I had tears in my eyes and I looked beside me and saw my 5-year-old son wiping his eyes and trying to still his quivering lip....it was the sweetest thing and I pulled him onto my lap and said, "Are you sad about Charlotte?" and he said, "Yeeeesssss" and buried his head into my shoulder and cried for a minute. Just wanted to bottle that up I tell ya! I hope he remains that sensitive as he grows older - what a sweetie.

So, moral of the post - go see it - it's worth it!

1st day of Winter

Hey....it's the 21st. First Day of Winter, officially even though it felt much more like winter a few weeks ago and now it's beautiful out again. I know I'm living in the wrong country altogether for this but I'd be happy with about 1 month of snow - from Dec. 10th or so - to Jan. 10th. - and then Spring could come for my sake!

Got an email the other day from an old friend from across the ocean who I hadn't heard from in probably 15 years - weird how this internet thing can connect what has been disconnected. Anyway, Hi Karel. And in honour of re-connection and in the spirit of keeping up with friends I now have....I'm posting a pic of my kiddos. Aren't they cute?? This picture was taken this past summer when we spent an afternoon lawn bowling (If you haven't tried it, you really need to - if for nothing else, than a good laugh). These guys are my life.

Mmmmm....deep fry

So, not much happening today except that it was my last day of babysitting before Christmas and I'm almost done Trev's Christmas present. I'll post pics here when he's opened it - in case he happens by. Nothing like leaving it till the last minute though - sheesh.

And tonight for dessert for supper, he's deep-frying chocolate chip cookies. Yeah. It seemed note-worthy to me too. Have you ever had something so weird and yet yummy at the same time??

Design Teams....so much for my New Years' resolutions

OK....so now that I'm cruisin' here...I have to tell you what an amazing December this has been. One of the top things on my list of "THINGS TO DO IN 2007" was to try to get onto a Design team of some sort. And in the past 3 weeks or so, I've gotten onto 4!!!!! Can you believe it? I can't. Really, I can't. I still go to these websites many times during the day to check if my name's still on the list. And the coolio (borrowing a word, Sarah) thing is that all 4 DTs are different so they complement each other very well I think and this is going to be an exciting year for me!!

Let me tell you about them a little:
Scrappy Giraffe is a kit site with the most BEAUTIFUL stuff. Wow. I won a contest there in summer and got 3 kits as my prize (Aug., Sept. & Oct.) and MAN, those kits are full of GOODNESS. (I'm not trying to yell....in caps....it's just sooooo yummy there I can't not type in caps, kwim?) My position on the SGK DT is actually the DT assistant. Not sure exactly what that entails but I love Kat (the owner) and trust that she's got some huge greatness in store for me, and the whole amazingly talented team. Check them out!!

PaperDillies is another kit club but they specialize in Mini-Albums which are one of my Fav things to do....these kits all include an album of some sort and you can order them in 6x6 or 8x8 sizes depending on your preference....or, starting in the new year, there'll be 12x12 kits too for those who don't do mini-albums but love the product. I'm so excited to be on this team too - their kits are COOL and I loooooooove the mini-album world!!

Apron Strings Designs is the third kit club I'm a part of. And these guys have 2 great things going! They have Big kits and small kits and Card kits - a huge selection with something for everyone. My position is on the Card kit team - I'm a Card Sous Chef. CARDS! Can you believe it? They're my passion!!!! I applied for both of their positions (LOs and Cards) and I just have to say that this one worked out perfectly. This could not be a better fit for me!! Can't wait to get started.

And.
Scrapbook Magazine has asked me to send in the paperwork to be on their DT too! I just had my first 2 LOs picked up by them a few weeks ago and in the process of emailing back and forth with the editor, she asked if I'd like to do some work for this column they have in their magazine called Four Way Challenge. They send product to different people and see what you make with it - use whatever pics I want, whatever extra embellishments I want....just as long as I use the product they send me in my project. She said that by doing this I'd be on their DT list for future projects and articles. So...it might be not much work?? Or it might be lots?? Not sure yet but I'm really excited to be involved in a magazine in any capacity!!

Whew!
So, thanks for letting me share all that.
Check out these sites guys. The kits are awesome - there's something for everyone. Tell them Cathy sent you. CathySAHM in case they don't know who you're talking about.

My first blog post...

OK....I'm jumpin into this blog thing with both feet. Maria, Erica....are you going to help me out???
Look - I'm even going to stick a picture in my first post...just to try it out. Here's my best pic of me & Bean. Until I figure out the most flattering way to take self-portaits, this is it...short hair and summer background and all: