Thursday, October 22, 2009

Let The Creativity Begin!

One of my excuses for not scrapbooking at home was that I didn’t have a very good space to feel creative in.  I finally decided to convert an unused bedroom into a light and airy office space.

I set out to do the best job I could on a minimal budget. So I re-purposed items from other areas of the house.  I made my own memory boards that make an unique wall decor item.  I also re-purposed someone else's old rocking-chair.  It was a very inexpensive garage sale item that I repainted and gave it new life.

I love the word re-purposed.  It is currently a word that is often used on many home decor shows.  It seems that many people are making a conscious effort to “Go Green” and are re-using other peoples cast-offs in a new way.  There are many new shows on HGTV that are purely dedicated to re-decorating in a Green way, and one of the biggest ways to do this is by changing something you already own, or using an item that someone else no longer need.

I will have to admit, I love my new completed office.  I will also have to admit, I haven’t done any scrapbooking in it yet.  For the past months I could use the excuse that it was too nice outdoors.  That excuse will no longer be acceptable as we enter these wet, cold and dark months ahead.

What word could be better in a space made for creativity

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This was originally a plain cork-board that I painted white.  It is also magnetic if you can believe it.2009 10 03_0462

The perfect storage unit find at Ikea, along with a new very large desk for scrapbooking on.

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I try not to clutter my open shelving unit.  My comfortable “new” rocking chair sits in the corner where I sometimes read to Cayden.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Can I Say, Yawn?

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Ok, so I don’t usually like the word ‘bored’.  But that is exactly what I felt last night as I sat through session # 1 of the Safe Babies program that I am enlisted in.  I can’t believe that I have 7 more of them to sit through!  I was even tempted to surf the net on my Blackberry phone, under the table, to help the time pass by.  Now that’s desperate!

I signed up for the Safe Babies Program partly because it is necessary for the adoption process and partly for brownie points.  Every little extra training we take helps us with the possibility of getting a little addition to our family a tad bit sooner.  It’s like getting extracurricular points while in High School.

Prior to the start of the course, I had anticipated that I would actually learn some valuable tools and information.  Unfortunately this was far from the truth.  So far, I have learned such things as, tummy time, SIDS, H1N1 and formula.  So, where’s the new information? 

I will go back for more tomorrow.  Hopefully with a good attitude.  And hopefully for some new and important information.  Here’s to the next 7 sessions!

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Can I Do Homework?

This year Cayden has been going to Kindergarten and he is absolutely loving it.  He thinks that its not fair that Ivan gets to go to school five days a week and Cayden only gets to go two or three days a week.  Cayden announced that he should go to school, “Six Times!”

The other day I thought that maybe he should maybe do some practicing of the letters he has learned in school.  So far he has learned the letters ‘S’ for ‘snake’ and ‘B’ for ‘ball’.  So,  I got out a piece of paper and drew some lines. At the beginning of each line I wrote the letter he was to practice printing.  He was to copy the letter 10 times and then work on the next letter.

He loved doing this ‘homework’. He was focused and let out a little cheer for himself when he did a letter really well.  He enjoyed it so much that the next night he informed me that he needed to do homework again.  He said, “I need to do homework everyday!”.  Of course I was quick to agree.  So, off he went to get his pencil and another sheet of paper.  This time we thought he should work on learning the letters of his name.  (It’s interesting that he doesn’t know how to write his name very well, but he has no problems writing Ivan’s name).

It’ll be interesting how long his interest in doing “homework” will last.  We’ll keep it simple and fun in the hopes that he’ll enjoy it for as long as possible.  You never know, he could turn out to be a super-studious-student!  I do have to admit that he shows signs that this will be highly unlikely and I'm perfectly OK with that.  I myself was never super-studious, and I turned out alright. In my opinion at least.

2009 10 17_0474  Super focused on his homework

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I’m Thankful For…

Last year around this time, children of all ages were videoed announcing what they were thankful for.  The completed video was then presented on the Big Screen at church.  We all ‘awwwwed’ as one by one we heard children say they were thankful for: mommy’s, daddy’s, God, food, shelter, Sunday School and many other important things that we all have been blessed with.

Then came a blast of thanks from a little 3 year old who when asked what he was thankful for.  His quick  response  was, “Dinosouars!”. 

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Everyone laughed. I felt some shame as I thought to myself, “Haven’t I taught him what is important to be thankful for, and what is not?” Of course, our son Cayden, would be the little clown.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in Canada.  As I was settling Cayden into bed, I’d thought I’d see what he was thankful for this year.  Hoping of course that I’d hear something like, “mommy or daddy or God.  Instead, his quick response was, “Hot wheels!”

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I guess  we are really going to have to work on this for next year.  I’m really hoping that I’ll get a better response than that he is grateful his newest favourite toy at the time!

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Cayden and JJ

I Heart Faces

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Memories of summer gone by.  2 buds hang out under the heat coming from the air conditioner after swimming in a cold pool.  I do not take any day for granted.  Each and every day that we are blessed with is something I am thankful for the Thanksgiving.

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Back In Scrappin’

I have been feeling the itch to get my scrapbooking supplies out of the closet for a while.  It has been over nine months since the last time I tried to make an attempt.  And only an attempt it was.  I think I may have started a layout, but never completed it.

My sister and I made a trip out to Clipper Street in Langley to scrapbook in a great environment that encourages creativity. Not to mention it encourages browsing all the great things that would be a great addition to anyone’s supply cache.  They have two classrooms with tables and chairs for scrappers to work at.  Most Friday evenings they have around 30 to 35 ladies chatting while they work on their prized scrapbooks.

I went with intentions to complete a double-page layout for a few great pictures I got of Cayden this summer.  The pictures were some of my favourites.  I captured him investigating a Snail in our backyard one beautiful summer day. Picking pictures for a layout is often half the battle. 

Unfortunately, when all is said and done, I only got a start on my layout. By the end of the evening I didn’t even like it!  I’m not sure what it was exactly that I didn’t like.  I never move on to a new layout unless I absolutely love the current one I am working on.  The next time I sit down to scrapbook I’m going to have to pull apart what I started and try again.  Oh well.  No one said scrapbooking was a race.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Thanks Dad!

I arrived at work to find a box in the middle of my desk.  It was a Tim Horton's Box.  I took one look at it, saw the note that was left on it, and without having to look inside, new exactly what I would find.

I knew with-out a doubt that I would find a raison-bran muffin.  This might  seem like a strange gift, but I could only smile as I thought back to when I took my dad’s last raison-bran a few months ago and how much ‘trauma’ it caused.  It really isn’t my favourite type of muffin but it was the thought that counted most.

You can read about the original story here to gain insight to this morning gift from my dad. 

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Friday, October 2, 2009

"The World is Mud-luscious and Puddle-Wonderful." ~E.E. Cummings

It was the perfect night to play in the mud. On second thought, it was a little chilly.  But the cold didn’t seem to scare the many boys and girls from running through the mud bog that was created for their church youth annual event.

As I watched the bog being created, across the road from the office, I felt a little jealous that I wasn’t invited to partake in the mud games that were to take place tonight.  I even suggested out-loud that maybe the employees at Denbow and there families might be able to take advantage of the work done to create this bog this coming spring when it warmed up a little. 

I thought that a family event would be fantastic.  I will have to admit that I think I may have changed my mind.  Why? you ask.  Because I think that should we host this event, we might find ourselves short about 50% or more staff members for the following week due to the strains and sprains that potentially could occur.  Our customers would not be too happy.  Neither will the chickens that wouldn’t be provided there nice comfortable bed.  I will admit that it would be a whole lot of fun though.

As I watched these young teens slipping and sliding, wrestling, pushing and pulling their way up and down the mountains of mud, through the bogs and moats and down the monster slip and slide, I thought to myself, “If only I were young again.”

This mud bog was created for approximately 100 youths from four different churches.  Some from Surrey and some from Chilliwack.  They had the music blaring, the fire roaring and the hot chocolate steaming all evening.  The youth leaders joined in on the fun and games with youthful joy.  Some of us just stood at the sidelines wishing we could join.  And others of us just stood at the sidelines and watched in disgust.

One lady stood beside me and asked if I could see myself enjoying the muddy mess.  I said, “Oh yeah!  I would have been in there like a dirty shirt!”  She says, “Not me. No way could I see myself having fun being covered head to toe with mud.”  I did feel a little sorry for her and thought that she must have been some prima donna growing up.  Something I certainly never had been.

Anyone interested in playing in the mud is welcome to come on out.  We plan to keep it around for a while.  You never know when I might just leave my seat at my desk, walk across the road and just dive in to the mud bog.  I’m thinking it might be great stress relief. 

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The middle mountain with the mote of water around it.

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My sister Jessica, not afraid to get down and dirty

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Ivan, finally got himself down into the mud. Took calling him a sissy a few times over.

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Trying to get warmed up around the fire. 

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Ivan, full fledged mud wrestler at this point.

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Getting prepared around one of the four mud bogs for a round of capture the flag.

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As much mud as I would let Cayden get on him.

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The base of the giant mud slip and slide hill.