Photo Post

Hi there,

I know it's been a while, and I apologize.  Life has been full of dentist appointments, chiropractor appointments, the Canadian National Dance Championships (CNDC), Tap Class, Piano lessons, and all the regular day to day things.  It's a busy time of year, but I really do love it.  I'm so glad I get to be around for all of it.  The girls did great at CNDC last weekend.  Eden's duo earned a High Silver, and third place.  Théa trio earned a Gold, and 1st place (they actually competed against each other, in the same category).  Théa  trio also earned 1st overall for their age category.  The Jazz Large Group routine earned a gold, and 1st place.  And, the Hip Hop Large Group routine earned a Silver, and 3rd place. We are so proud of all the girls for giving it their very best effort, supporting one another, and representing Kick It Dance Studio so well.  We are going to need some sort of cabinet to keep the all these trophies in if they continue to do so well.  You should see these things they're almost as big as the girls.  Here are some pix of the kiddos

These girls are troopers, alll in all we spent about 25 hours total at the Convention Center, with in a 3 day period. 

After the competition D thought it would be fun to take everyone to see...

 

Such a sweet, funny, family friendly movie.  The best line of the whole thing for me was: "you may not have had a nice beginning, but that doesn't have to determine who you become" or something to that effect.  It made me think about the protective love of our God.  If it weren't for His hedge of protection on my life, I truly don't believe that these words would ring rue for me.  If anything, I think the exact opposite would be my reality.  A world full of hurt, hate, and innumerable poor choices.  Praise the Lord for His loving-kindness. 

I've haven't done too much scrapping, but I did manage to get a couple of things done.  This one was for a sketch challenge by Jessy over at The Nook.

Taken on Winnipeg Beach last summer.  I plan on putting a little letter to her in the envelop.

In more Nook news.  The wonderful DT had a great idea for a Card Kit exchange.  Everyone who wants to take part must put together a few contents with which to make a card, or two, or three...  The sender must include certain items like patterned papers, and some mandetory add-ons, but can feel free to add as much as they'd like.  Here's the package  I put together for my lovely friend Danni. 

She received it last Thrusday, and said she loves it all.  Yeah me.  I can't wait to see what she creates with it, the girl is a card godess :)

I made a card of my own for our neighbours two down from us on the cul-de-sac.  They moved in on the weekend.  I plan to deliver some fresh baked muffins to them on Friday, I'll include this with the goodies.

Remember this?

 

That flower got so much attention over at the Nook.  The ever so talented  Ingrid liked it so much that she made one of her own to use on a project she showcased during the Zva Creative Blog hop.  How cool is that?!  And being the classy lady that she is she gave me credit for it all over the place just to be sure her readers (on the Nook forum, and on her own blog knew the idea came from someone else.  Sweet.  Made me feel good, and just thought I'd share.  

That's it for now.  I need to go and practice my Tap Routine, before fetching the girlies from school.  Only 2 more weeks until recital - eek.

Have a good one all.  Thanks for stopping by.

♥S.

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A few things

With all the rain on the weekend, and the kids busy with play dates.  I managed to spend a little time in my scrap room.  Here's what I came up with...

 

The May Nook kit features gorgeous Basic Grey Papers.  I think they're perfect for cards and tags.  These will be used for end of the year gift for school, and dance teachers.  I'll put together another couple of cards yet too.

Ingrid over at the Nook Forum also introduced a card sketch that I couldn't resist attempting.  I'm happy with the results too, especially that flower which is made of the May Art trim.  Love this I'm going to use it more.  My love affair with flowers is long from over.

Today I was reading about the time when Peter and his friends were out fishing all night without success, and then Jesus came along and told them to try putting the net on the other side of the boat.  Of course they'd already tried that throughout the course of the night, but they humored Him, and did what He suggested.  As you may well know their nets filled to overflowing, so full that they had great difficulty reeling the net in.  The article went on to ask us about the number of times when we go about our lives trying the same thing over, and over again, without success.  I for one, know there are too many instances in my life to count.  Yet, every time I'm expecting a different outcome, and am heartbroken when I realize things have not changed.  How glad I am that our God, is a God of second chances.  Not only does He cheer us on in our second, third, thirtieth attempt at whatever it is our heart is longing for, he pursues us with outstretched arms wanting to offer it to us.  Why?  Well scripture says it's because we, His children are the most precious of all He created.  I'm sure none of us will ever fully come to understand that until we are standing face to face with Him.  In the meantime, however I hope choose to heed His call on my life to try something different, to allow Him to take the lead, so He can reveal to me is perfect love.  A love that wants to give me a hope and a future, fuller, and brighter than anything I could ever hope to imagine (Ephesians 3:20).  I may not be able to change my circumstances, but with the help of the Lord, I can certainly change my perspective, and my self prescribed way of doing things.  It's not always easy, and will almost certainly be uncomfortable, but the hope of more, of fulfillment, and the richness of relationship that comes with walking justly with those around me is so worth it. 

May you be blessed today.  Thanks for stopping by.

♥S.

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Friday Randoms

Welcome to the first day of the long weekend - whoo hoo!  Anyone got any big plans?  Nothing too much going on around here.  We had thought of possibly taking the kids to Minneapolis for the weekend.  Alas it is the long weekend after all, so nothing great is available.  The wait at the boarder would be a huge waste of time too.  So, a stay-cation it will be.  The girls still have Dance classes on Saturday, and Belle had already committed herself to volunteering at church on Sunday, so staying in town is probably the right thing to do.  Not to mention that we had planned a family date day with my lovely friend Angela (pictured in a layout on a previous post) and her family for Sunday after church.  Getting together with them is always a good time. I'm really hoping that a more laid back weekend will bring with it more quality family time, and a more relaxed feel overall for each one of us.  In sticking with a laid back feel.  I've chosen 10 random questions to answer for you.  This list is part of a larger one I found on the world wide web.  Here goes...

1. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

Part of the cover of the latest Oprah magazine, that I picked up today.  Love this one, it's full of behind the scene type stuff regarding her show.  The best article is her What I Know For Sure piece.  It contains a letter that Mattie, a 12 year old boy battling muscular dystrophy at the time wrote to her regarding her wanting to retire at the 20 year mark of the Oprah show.  Such a sweet, well spoken boy.

2. When is the last time you went to the mall?

Yesterday.  Funny because, I hardly every go to the mall.  But it was time to pick up a few things for Spring, and I had a 40% off your entire purchase coupon for Esprit that I was hoping to use.  I love their stuff, it fits so well.

3. Are you wearing socks right now?

Yes, I am, even though it's 20 degrees Celcius outside right now, it feels like Antarctica in here, I finally turned the air off.

4. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?

No sir.  But, Hubby and I are really hoping to get out to one tomorrow night.  I'd really like to see Bridesmaids and/or The Hangover 2.  I realize I may lose some readers after admitting this, but I have to be honest both movies look hysterical.  Plus my friend Kimmi said she loved it and was still laughing about it days after seeing it.  That's all the assurance I need.

5. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Crystal light - pear & pomegranate flavor yum!
 

6. What are you wearing right now?

Yoga pants, an old t-shirt, and a zip up sweater.  Told ya I'm in a laid back kinda mood.

7. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?

Both.  The undiagnosed OCD in me, likes to get 'right in there' and have it sparkly clean from the inside out. 

 

8. Do you miss anyone right now?

Yes, my dear friend Tanya.  It's been waaaaay too long.  She's moving this weekend, I don't know how they managed to overlook the fact that it's a long weekend, when there's suppose to be no 'heavy lifting' only laying back and relaxing (well that's my plan anyhow), don't worry I'm not being a bad friend, they've hired movers, and have been slowing moving the small stuff over for a week already.  We do have a girl's scrappy day planned for June, can't wait!

 9. What's the last sporting event you watched? 

I'm not a big sports fan, but really love watching football.  I've been a CFL fan for a long time, but this year, I actually got into watching NFL games.  We are officially Bears fans in this household, bucking the trend, which is to cheer for the Vikings.  We get razzed all the time for it.

10. Your dream vacation?

I think I've already taken my dream vacation.  Three years ago we took a family trip with friend down to Turks & Caicos.  It was simply breathtaking.  We did Beaches resort, all inclusive, with loads of activities for the kiddos.  It was a dream I tell you.  Another place I'd love to see is Greece, sans kids...I mean c'mon look at it...

source: http://www.athenstourgreece.com/2011/02/05/greece-vacation-packages/

That's it, that's all folks.  Be blessed my friends.  Thanks for stopping by, and for all your lovely comments.

♥ S.

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A Good Day

Today was that for me.

Began the day at the hair salon with Isabelle (the oldest) to have her hair relaxed. The frustratingly, time sucking routine that leagues of black women everywhere commit themselves to every 4-8 weeks - boo.

- Found manila shipping tags finally, and at a steal of a deal, yay!
- Visited with friends for an impromptu lunch on their deck
- Finally raked the front yard and got it all cleaned up and watered
- Visited with another friend for a few minutes while our girls jumped on the trampoline before supper
- Hubby returned home after a lifetime week away for work.  Even better he won Rookie of the Year, and will be joining over 30 other OnX employees on a trip to Ireland this coming September.
- Went for a bike ride with the girls.  Tried to fly kites, but the winds were not in our favor, so we played at the park instead.
- Now sitting down in a nice quiet house relaxing.

All is right in my world.  At least it is for now.

Just uploaded these today, I'd forgotten I'd taken them .  The melt my heart.

Eden in her Jazz Duo costume just before the competition.

Théa in her hip hop costume just before the competition.

And thought I'd share these two layouts I completed late last week.  I'm so happy with them.  I plan on using the one of my lovely friend Angela as a submission for the Creative Scrappers design team call.  My chances here are slim to none, as they have almost 2000 followers on Blogger, so I'm sure they'll be a mountain of amazing designers/bloggers submitting their layouts.  But, I'll never know if I don't try right?!

Made with Creative Scrappers sketch #155.  It's hard to see in this photo but I love the stitching around the top and bottom corners.

Made for a Challenge over at My Scrapbook Nook's virtual crop last week.

Thanks for stopping by.  I pray you're in the middle of a wonderful week also.

♥ S. Pin It

Proud mamma

The girls made me so proud today at the Manitoba Dance Festival.  They had a fabulous day of competing, but more importantly they were both such great cheerleaderz for other dancers today.  Pride is something we all struggle with from time to time, and they are no exception.  Today, however I saw a selfless type of pride in them.  For their friends, their teachers, and the studio to which they all belong.  It gave me such joy to watch Théa cheer on Eden as she performed her duo, and to watch Eden to the same for Théa as she performed her trio.  They may not always like each other, but seeing that kind of support for one another today gives me hope that they will always have each other's back no matter what.

A special treat for all of us today, was that so many came out to support the girls.  My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two nieces and two nephews came out for the entire day to lend their support.  I was so touched by that, and know the girls loved having other family members there to see them compete in the sport they so greatly love.  Thanks Mom, and Carla for going that extra mile for us today!

I also wanted to let you know that I did not make the cut for the design team I mentioned a little while back; Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  Although, I have to admit I was very disappointed (even though I knew it was a long shot, somehow I still managed to feel disappointment), it was good to see that two women with whom I am familiar got the positions.  I wish them all the best and look forward to the launch of the new site.  Thanks for all your kind, and supportive words as I went through the application process, they were very much appreciated.

I'll leave you with a picture of the girls' Competitive Jazz Class in their shimmery blue and silver outfits, sans the fluorescent pink with shiny sliver tinsel threads that left the stage looking like a giant pink cloud had exploded upon it.

That kid front and center with her leg hiked to her chin?  Yeah, she would be mine. No class I tell ya :)

A post lunch relax on Main St, enjoying the sunny afternoon before heading back in for the Group dances.

Until next time friends,
♥ S. Pin It

Happenings

This weekend was a busy one.  I've been solo parenting since Thursday, and will continue to do so until next this coming Thursday.  It's not so bad really, the girls and I usually develop our own rhythm when hubby is away, and it usually works pretty well.  These two people have been a huge help to me, however.  I am so grateful to have such wonderful in-laws in my life.  They love and care for both me and my girls as if we have always been a part of their lives.  They pray for us everyday, and are quick to feed us, and lend a hand whenever the opportunity arises.

Monday we celebrated Théa and Eden's graduation from Music For Young Children, aka MYC.  It's been 5 years of hard work, homework, and hour upon hour of practice.  It all paid off on Monday when they received their trophies, and Moonbeems III certificates.  Their teacher has been a real source of support and inspiration for all of our girls over the past 8 years.  We'll still see her for a couple of weeks as she prepares the girls for their Grade 1 piano exams, but she will surly be missed once it's all over.

This week we've been back and forth to the Manitoba Dance Festival for the younger two.  So far Théa has competed twice.  Monday was for a Ballet Trio, for which they won gold.  Yesterday she, and her two buddies competed with a group of 11, 12, and 13 year old kids, they did great, and also won a gold for their hard work.  Tomorrow we'll be at the Festival all day long, as both Théa, and Eden compete in two Jazz dances each.  They look so darn cute in their costumes.  It's a good thing I'm not an adjudicator, as I would totally dole out awards based on cuteness, hee hee.  Check out these costumes for their duet and trio I don't yet have one of their group performance.

They will be dancing to Surfin' Safari by The Beachboys

The older girls are dancing to Rockin' Robin.  Their cute little bums are completely covered in red feathers :)  (Don't worry about that pink thing, she's holding her other costume.  In my tunnel vision I didn't even notice it in the shot)

That's it for me, for now.  I did do some scrapping on the weekend, I'll share those layouts with you soon.

Here's to a safe and healthy week!

♥ S. Pin It

Where does the time go?

I bet, just like me you know someone who manages to maximize every minute of their 24 hour day, accomplishing a mountain of tasks, while you struggle to complete even a handful of the items on your to-do list.  Perhaps you ARE that person efficient individual.  All I know is some days it's as if  time flies by at warp speed.  One minute you're dressing and prepping for the day, and the next you're literally falling into bed way later than you had planned.  Where does the time go?  As much as I struggle to complete my to-do list from day to day, I so desperately don't want to take any of it for granted.  I never want to assume that these moments are mine by right, that there will always be another day for me to tackle my ever growing list.  I pray frequently as the Psalmist who wrote "show me Lord, my life's end, and number my days, let me know how fleeting my life is"  I'm a work in progress, that much, I know for sure.

The week has flown by.  We celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday, and a celebration it truly was.  I felt so incredibly blessed to have this life.  My sweet, sweet husband, and the three wonderfully, beautiful, funny, charming, talented, albeit, trying girls we made together created a lovely morning for me.  I read this quote about parenting on another blog I follow the other day and thought it so true "we get to birth them, feed them, care for them and then watch them grow up and become adults?! it's crazy.  and awful.  and humbling.  and HARD but still so very cool".  Sometimes I am overcome with humility that God chose me to be mommy to these young ladies.  They are such a gift.  Here's a snapshot of Mother's Day morning.  Although there's one picture I wish I had have gotten.  I laugh just thinking about it.  Hubby had come into our room, kissed me a few times rousing me from my sweet sleep, then left as quietly as he had come in.  I opened my eyes, looked and the clock, and decided it was time to get up and get ready for church, so I quickly jumped out of bed, and hopped in the shower.  When I finished in the bathroom,  I opened the door to discover the bed had been made, and on the dresser waited a wonderful home made breakfast, consisting of: a mimosa, coffee, and french toast with strawberries, bananas, and whip cream.  How delightful right?  But no peeps to present it, just a wonderfully laid out tray, sitting there, all alone.  That was because with in moments of my stepping into the shower my lovely little family had burst into our bedroom singing Happy Mother's Day to You (to the tune of the Happy Birthday song), only to find the bed void.  doh!  Their expectation was to greet me, present the breakfast delights, and have me join them downstairs where their breakfast was already waiting for them.  Who can blame them for wanting to eat their food while it was still hot right?!  hee hee.  We all had a little laugh about it when I appeared in the kitchen with my tray of food.

On another note.  I had the opportunity last week to witness this girl  excel at her school's track and field day.

She did wonderfully.  She came in 1st for the 100, 200, and 800 meter run.  She placed 3rd in both the long jump, and shot put exercises.  I was so full of pride as I watched this baby of mine use the skill and talent that God had planted inside of her.  It's not so much about her coming in first, but more about watching her grow into herself.  There was once a time where she didn't enjoy gym class, she wasn't really one for exercise.  Then after a conversation we had about how I use to run track and be quite good at it as a kid, and how genetics plays a large part in what we're naturally good at, she decided to give it a shot.  Needless to say she not only shocked her friends, but herself with how capable she was at running.  She later discovered she's really quite the natural athlete.  God's gift in her coming alive.  I couldn't help but think, as I watched her race around that track, that the same pride I had in her at that moment, and how it made me feel to be able to witness her accomplishment firsthand, is the same way God looks at me.  It's the same way He looks at each of His children when we live out His will for us, and take steps of courage and faith to test and see His good and perfect will for us.  The God of the universe, the creator of the earth loves us with a remarkable love that way exceeds the depth and breadth of the love we have for our own children.  Unfathomable. 

It's taken me some time to be able to fully accept and embrace the idea that God's best for me at this point in my life is to be focused on my girls, my husband, and our home.  Making this house a refuge for each of us, and being available physically and emotionally for my family is my high calling at this time.  Ministry, and volunteering must take a back seat to my family for now.  I know it doesn't make me any less of a Christian, but we live in a day and age where what we do becomes so much of a definition of who we are.  There once was a time where a stay at home mom was not even a title, but the expectation.  That's what women naturally did when they become mothers.  Now, there's somewhat of a stigma to that title.  I can't tell you the number of times I've been asked when I plan on re-entering the working world now that my girls are in school full time.  I've come to realize that for me, for now, there is no greater gift, nothing I would rather be doing with my time than being available for my family.  To have the opportunity to join my girls on field trips, or spend the day freezing my tush off at the track to watch Isabelle run and jump, or make myself available to pick up or drop off friends of my girls' to or from school to help out another parent.  To open my home to friends for dinner once a week to make their lives a little easier, and cut down on their driving on "piano days".  Those things are all things I consider gifts, opportunities to live out my calling in this life, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, loving my neighbour as myself, and giving back to my Father what He has so lovingly given to me.  Giving of my time, my resources, and my skills, and sharing what I have with those around me is the best way for me to live out my faith, and right now those things all center around this wonderful house we call home, and the lives of those who live here.

If you're still with me, thanks for hanging in there for this lengthy post.  Hopefully I can make it up with some eye candy.  I attended an all day crop last weekend in order to spend time with my lovely friend Flo.  I completed only a few layouts, not all of which I really like, but in the effort to keep it real around here, I'll share them with you anyway.  What's the sense in only sharing the "good" layouts, that's not the real me.  The real me, spends more time chatting with and getting to know people at crops than actually scrapping.  I also find it a little difficult to work in another space with my stuff all in piles.  Anyhow here they are.

Another Haven layout using Echo Park papers.

The short story about how this house become our home only 8 months ago.  I love the way this one turned out.

I made this layout in 25 mins.  Fastest layout ever, except I accidentally smudged a paint splatter on the top of the page :(  Hence the really awkwardly placed tag.  I thought about cutting out the center, and the little strip at the bottom, but after reassuring myself there are no scrap police I decided to do something better with my time, and kick perfectionism in it's butt.  Papers are Fancy Pants

My sweet baby girl #3, using MME papers and embellies.  The flower is Prima.

Thanks for stopping by, and for leaving a little love, you know I appreciate it.

♥ S. Pin It

May kit at My Scrapbook Nook

Just popping in to share the pix of the newest Nook kit...   I'll be back with a more personal update tomorrow...

 

Spring has sprung at the Nook! Welcome in the May flowers with some flowers of your own! Delicate blossoms paired with a bold color palette and a dazzling alphabet will be sure to chase those lingering winter blues away!
This kit features:
Basic Grey Hello Luscious Paper
Webster’s Page’s threads
American Crafts glitter thickers
American Crafts molded rose brads
Basic Grey notes
Two lovely trims from May Arts
Be inspired today with the lush May kit! Pin It

Scrapping Everyday Miracles

Yesterday while checking in on a blog I frequent, I discovered a new Christian based Scrap Site called Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  Here's what they have to say about themselves ..."We are an inspiration challenge blog... we want to encourage you to look at what God is doing in your life and scrap about it. He has blessed us with such wonderful talents and should glorify Him with them"  I think this is so exciting as it would seem that they've taken my vision for a simple blog and turned it into something even bigger and better, and able to reach more people.  The site doesn't actually go live (designers, challenges, etc) until June, but in an effort to help get the word out, they've created a fun and inviting home page and already have a wonderful prize pack to give away to one lucky person.  I'm pretty excited about the launch of this site.  I've found so many, many blogs out in the blogusphere that center around scrapbooking.  Some only post photos of layouts and cards, while some include a little more personal information related to their life, but few are openly Christian.  Perhaps it's because of fear that visitors will be offended.  Perhaps it's because it's hard to put into words how being a follower of Jesus impacts our everyday lives.  Perhaps it's because we assume our readers will simply pick up on this important part of who we are simply by keeping up with our blogs from week to week.  I can't speak for others, but I know for me it's a little bit of all the above.  Through this site I'll be challenged to live out my faith more through scrapbooking, and that gets me pretty excited for things to come.  In addition to the fabulous giveaway, they are also holding a DT call.  Applicant duties are listed on their page.  It sounds like a potentially great team to be on.  I've never applied for a DT position before, but really think it's time to change that.  I've decided to throw my hat in the ring here.  How wonderful it would be to be able to call this place home.  I know it's a very long shot, but I'm going to go for it.  Sometimes I struggle with pride, and putting myself out there.  Fear of rejection, or failure can keep us from experiencing wonderful opportunities in this life.  I want to be the kind of example to my girls that shows them that it's not only okay to take risks in life, but mandatory if we are to truly allow God to work through us.  Scripture tells us that, not only does He choose to accomplish His will through us, but that he delights in us, and wants to do in us more than we could ever think or imagine.  His will can only be fully accomplished in and through me when I give over control.  So here's me.  Letting go...  For more on how you can possibly get your hands on these goodies ...

Or simply to check out what this fabulous new site is all about hop on over here.  Who knows maybe I'll see you around?!

Happy Wednesday all,

♥ S. Pin It

Scrappy love

Got some 'me' time in this weekend, and completed a few layouts and a card for a friend.  Thought I'd share them with you today.

Made this for a friend who had a beautiful, healthy baby girl last week.

Lorrie, and her handsome little man, at her home.  Belle and I had a short visit with the two of them on a Saturday morning last month.  Haven's such a sweet baby boy!

Flo, Carla, Shannon and me at the end of the Woman's Retreat for which we led worship.  So fun getting to know these girls.

Darwin and me at a friend's wedding a couple of summer's ago.  Love this For The Record Line by Echo Park.

It's another buys week around here.  Dance, piano, a track meet for my oldest, and a full day of scrapping on Saturday, followed by Mother's Day on Sunday.  Hope your week is off to a good start friends!

♥ S. Pin It