Saturday 28 June 2014

Soccer Season

Gracie's soccer season is over. The Kilkenny Cubs had a great spring and really started to play well together. The kids seemed to all have fun, they all learned a thing or two, the parents were great, we had the best turn outs (even on rain days), and every single player got at least one goal, so they were happy.


Gracie started to really lift her head up and play well. She's still a little hesitant to get in the mix, but when she sees an opportunity, she jumps on it. She can dribble the ball the length of the field, and keeps it close and under control.


She's a good team player and likes the social aspect of soccer just as much as the physical. And snack time... she likes snack time...


She gained a little more confidence from last year and even though she's still one of the smallest, she's brave enough to get in there and have fun. She calls out her teammates names before she passes and actually thinks out her moves. 


She was also lucky enough to have her dad as coach this year. I can credit a lot of the changes I saw in her to Brad's skills as a coach.


He was great with the kids, a perfect mix of silly and serious. I was impressed that he could keep them organized and doing drills for the hour long practices and motivate, encourage and even strategize during games. He was willing to teach skills, but was still aware that it's Under 6 soccer. 


Great season Cubs! Emma and I had fun cheering for you. 






Tuesday 24 June 2014

Chocolate Pudding

Emma and Gracie love a good worms and dirt dessert, but Emma really got into it this time. 


Emma, Pudding Ninja!


or innocent babe? You decide.


Judge me all you want, but a bit of instant pudding, graham crumbs, whipped cream and a gummy worm in a cup brings everyone joy.



Monday 23 June 2014

Trends and Travel Layouts

I love this nautical line by Glitz, called Uncharted Waters. I got a 6x6 paper pad of this line, and love using the pages straight out of the book, just ripped out rough, with the border piece on top. It seems to work.

Also, I like anchors, and the pink border has a bunch of tiny anchors on it. I'm practically a sailor, Brad and I went sailing in the Whitsundays for a week once, so I'm pretty authentic ;)

Excuse the photos of the preggo with a bad shorts tan, apparently this sailor doesn't wear swimsuits much. Despite this, I do like how this layout turned out.




Yes... life is better at the beach....

or at the Alhambra in Spain. 

Beautiful gardens, castles and water features make for a nice distraction from my usual bubblegum pink, girlie layouts. 


I love these buttons. They're from Prima marketing and they are so perfect for travel photos, even if they're French and these pics were taken in Spain.... I'll let it slide.  

Plus, there are feathers on the layout above. See them? As well as anchors, and all things nautical, I also like anything navajo, even though both of these trends are probably old news by now. I'm a Navajo Sailor, through and through.


Well, does anyone else have the travel bug? 

I'm ready to head for the ocean. Just need to finish up a few more pictures from this trip....



Saturday 21 June 2014

Father's Day Gift

We made a homemade gift for Brad this year (okay, we do every year...) 

This one may be more useful than the hand-painted candy bowl for his desk. Since he's been doing more bike races this year, we made him a bib holder to hang on the wall. 


This helps me as well, because I found these five race bibs scattered throughout our bedroom. Now they have a home. 

The plaque is another great piece of MDF that my brother cut out for me with nice routed edges (I'm not sure I'm saying that properly... it sounds funny). Perfect for this project.

Gracie and I painted it blue and then placed the Hazel and Ruby stencils over it to spell RACES, and applied a quick black coat. A few cup hooks (hook-screws), some sanding and inking and it was done.


I layered my handprints, Gracie's and Emma's in different colours underneath, because we're his biggest fans ;)


Perhaps you have a racer in your life who would like one of these?? 

Friday 20 June 2014

Hello spring!

Well, it's been rainy, but there are heat spells in between the rain, and we are making the most of them. 

Here's what's happening so far around here:


Frozen yogourt tubes are a big hit here. It almost makes me feel good about giving them sugar, because they're getting dairy, too....


but they're cold, as Emma is demonstrating ;)


and delicious (as Gracie licks her lips).

 We have another fairy garden. This one is definitely magical...

Gracie is a soccer star, and Brad is an awesome coach!


Check out G giving her friend, Serina a high-five after a goal. Gracie is playing in the Under 6 league which puts her as one of the youngest and smallest, but she's used to that. She doesn't let it stop her from picking flowers and steadfastly avoiding the ball ;)


We've been visiting the parks in our neighbourhood a lot more. 



Emma is getting around so well now and loves the park.


  And Gracie bikes to them now, so my stroller is a little lighter. Perfect!


That's it. Hope you're enjoying the sunshine.

Thursday 19 June 2014

Gracie's Goal!!!

Gracie scored her first goal of the season, last night at soccer. It was such a moment, I have to share it. 
Another mom on the team captured a few shots, but nothing can quite capture the moment.


Gracie got the ball in our end and dribbled it down the length of the field, ahead of the other kids. 


She went right to the net, and kicked it straight in, no problem. This was something else from the girl who likes to hang back and stay out of the fray at soccer. Not only did she touch the ball, she got a goal!


Then she turned, and was smiling so wide, I thought her face would crack. She ran back to Brad (who was coaching, so was on the field) and was so thrilled, she started laugh-crying and threw herself at Brad. She then came to the sidelines and almost high-fived her sister right over, and gave me the biggest hug, while still sobbing. 


Choke. I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, and thought, why am I crying? Then I looked around, and all of the mom's and a few dad's on the sidelines were choked up, too. 

Oh my.

What a memory.

There may be no tears in baseball, but apparently there are in soccer. 


Wednesday 18 June 2014

EPL wins Library of the Year!

Just a quick congratulations and a reminder to all those in Edmonton who don't use the library, you are missing out!!!!

Edmonton Public Library won library on the year! This is the first time a Canadian library has taken home this honour, and as a complete nerd and library enthusiast, I think it was well-earned!

Pretty impressive.

I've been a member at 5 libraries throughout my lifetime, and Edmonton has the best system, hands down.

If you want free, drop in classes for kids, book clubs, free song downloads, e-books, free online courses, ESL programs, free sheet music downloads, live music streaming, Lego programs, gaming programs, magazines, movies, 3-D printers, literally anything you can think of, they've got it and memberships are FREE!!!

What?!

Yes, free.

I honestly think we've saved thousands of dollars by using the library, just as a family, since we moved to Edmonton. Plus, they have the best online system so I can reserve whatever I want ahead of time, and even make lists of books that I want to read at a later date. I usually have 25 books or so on hold at a time, with my pick up dates spread out across the year, so I always have new books to read.

Okay, that's my plug....

Congrats EPL!

Here's a copy of their application. It's long, but interesting to skim.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Older Layouts

I've been gone, sorry. 

Here's some filler photos. Ha! Great, right?! Who wants filler? Sorry, but the photos are cute and it will let me get some new pictures downloaded.


These will get you thinking of Halloween ;)



I promise to have some new stuff up shortly. 

Enjoy the rain if you're her in Edmonton...

Friday 6 June 2014

Layout Love

More layouts from our Europe trip.... one day, I'll finish this one and Emma will get some more layouts in her album... 


The above layout was made with a little inspiration from Chantel, from Treasured Memories. She has this great style, her layouts usually have lots of white space and she has a real linear eye for design. I love what she does, so I thought I'd try it. 



And, another sleeping layout because Gracie slept in the craziest places on holiday! 


Wait, what's this? A layout without the kids on it? Gasp. I know. Brad and I made it into the album, with a photo taken by Gracie. I like the colours and watercolour affect on this one.

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Dance Finale

For Gracie's last dance class, they all got to wear their favourite princess dress. Gracie chose her Ariel costume, and even though I thought the tail might be tricky, she powered through. 


These girls are so sweet.



Look at that leap!!


They had a lot of fun!

If you want to take a look at the funny dance moves of 3-5 year olds, check out these short videos :)


And the big finale:




Tuesday 3 June 2014

Preschool Graduate!

She did it! 


Gracie is a preschool graduate. Actually, she was last Thursday, but I'm late posting.


The teachers were fabulous and Gracie had so much fun. 


My parents and Emma and I came to cheer her on.


It was a great day, with a carnival theme. There were jumpy houses, tattoos (seen below), popcorn and sno-cones, and lots of treats to help celebrate! What a great way to cap off a great year!


This is Gracie getting her tattoo, surrounded by all of the girls in her class (and one boy). Out of 18 kids, there were only 5 girls in her class. I hope this isn't the norm for this age group...


She's been to her Kindergarten Orientation and she's excited to go in the fall. She introduced herself to her teacher and her principal, and met a few classmates, so she's set. No holding this girl back ;)

Sunday 1 June 2014

Gutsy Walk

There's exactly one week left before Hanna's first Gutsy Walk for Crohn's and Colitis. 

If you come on June 8th, this could be yours!! 



(Okay, it won't, but it could be... I don't know who owns it.)


Sadly, this car will not be there, but my sister-in-law saw it at a Car Rally in Osoyoos. Pretty cool!

If you'd like to volunteer for the walk, we'd love to have you. 
If you'd like to walk, we'd love to have you. 
If you can sing, face paint or are a talented capoeira (dance-fighter) we'd love to have you.
If you can't do any of the above, but would like to participate, why not donate??


In all seriousness, this is a cause close to our family and my whole family has been involved in putting this event on, especially my brother, sister-in-law, and mom.

Please participate and help make this a successful event. 

Here are the links to my family's page, my brother's family's page, and my parent's page. There are also lots of people walking from Hanna and surrounding areas, so check it out and feel free to donate however you see fit!






Layout Love

June 1!!??!!!! What? How did this happen? May FLEW by. 

I thought I'd usher in the month with a few layouts I worked on at Treasured Memories' last crop. 

What a great weekend that was, by the way. Really fun and I got a lot done. I find I pump out simple layouts quickly once I get in the swing, and I bring them home and finish them up. 

Here are a few.


Gracie and her bestie playing dress-up, paired with some great Heidi Swapp paper,  American Crafts stickers and pen, and Basic Gray and Fancy Pants alphas.


These two are from our Europe trip. That was what I was working on for the most part. 
Above is some pictures from the Alhambra, and I used Bo Bunny paper, Tattered Angels glimmer chips, Ranger ink and film strip, and Simple Stories alphas and photo overlay.


This is a layout of our resort pool in Lagos. I used Sassafrass paper, My Mind's Eye title block, Studio Calico arrows and alphas, and American Crafts and Pink Paislee stickers.

Hope you enjoyed!