Live it!: Mom Day

I woke up to a wonderful day. I am so totally blessed with the family I have. I know how lucky I am. I slept in and woke up to fresh flowers, Tim Horton's coffee, fruit and freshly made breakfast! The kids showered me with handmade gifts from school and they bought me the MOST beautiful bouquet of green and pink flowers. We spent the day just hanging around the house (we painted some of our pool fence & did some gardening) and then took the kids out for supper in Madoc where we enjoyed fried chicken and wedge fries and ice cream. Then we headed to the Madoc skateboard park so the kids could ride their bikes for a while. Tonight it is Survivor and just chilling with a tasty drink in hand.

Motherhood is the best thing that I've ever experienced. It is a gift and today as my kids celebrated ME I couldn't stop thanking my lucky stars for all I have.

Some photos:

My flowers and homemade gifties from the kids =

Chloe made me this gift at school. It is interesting, a surgical glove from the looks of it - with ribbon glued to it... perfect for gardening ;)

Keaton brought home this little flower, he forgot to water it though from Friday til' today. Hee...

Me and the kids.

Smooch:

The kids and their icecream:

Chloe and her bike at the park:

To my mother, thank you. You know how much I love you... how much I appreciate all you are and all that you do for me, Shaune and our children. You are my best friend and the person I always turn to when I need a shoulder or a laugh or just to talk. I am truly the luckiest daughter around. Thank you Mom. Thank you!

June 2008

On-Line Favourites

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Autumn Leaves/ Creativity Inc.
I have been a part of the "Designing With" Autumn Leaves team for several years. We do idea books, teach classes, do on-line assignments for the website and create samples for the numerous tradeshows Creativity Inc is a part of each year. I love working for Autumn Leaves. If you haven't had a chance, check out the "Designing with" series of scrapbooking idea books. My personal fav is probably "Designing with Details" which came out last year.
Come check out Scrapbooks Etc's "PHOTOG BLOG"
I co-host this photography blog with Erin Clarkson, fellow contributing editor at Better Homes and Garden's SBetc magazine. Come visit us as we talk all things photography, including lots of tips and tricks and even some challenges for you to participate in.
Heather Haynes Gallery
a local artist that Shaune and I discovered on a trip to Gananoque the year before we were married.
Hero Arts Online: Learning Center
Another great site: I am proud to work on their design team and love all their stamps!
Hanna Andersson
Where Chloe's colorful snowsuits come from...
Two Peas in a Bucket -- Scrapbooking
I love this site, it is where I found all my inspiration when I first started scrapbooking. I was on the Creating Garden (Design) team for this fabulous site for MANY years (4-5 i think) and had to step away this year to focus on other things. It is the best on-line site for s/b inspiration, in my opinion. Go check it out.
Baby Lulu
For when the urge strikes me to buy perty little girly things for Chloe. i have bought a couple of Baby Lulu dresses here and great service. fast shipping. hey - what can i say... its fun to dress a baby girl!

Back from my kid-induced Reading Hiatus

Diana Gabaldon: Voyager
This one took me a long time again. I need to stop picking 1000+ pg books. It was a good read and i'm excited to get to the next one with the way this ended! (****)
Jay Mcinerney: The Good Life
Blah. I did not like this book at all. I could not identify with the characters in the book and came away from the book feeling like i'd wasted some precious time reading a dud. (*)
Diana Gabaldon: Outlander
Enjoyable. Kinda romantic (gasp) but lots of history and action. This is a BIG book. It took me forever to read... but I quickly went out and bought the next in the series. Jamie makes a red-headed Scot warrior seem very appealing :) (****)
Diana Gabaldon: Dragonfly in Amber
This book took me even longer to read. It was a busy time... still I liked the book a lot, especially near the end - I went and bought the 3rd book right after finishing this. I'm a glutten for 900pg novels apparently! (****)
Sue Monk Kidd: The Secret Life of Bee's
Glorious. Just an easy, sweet, contemplative read. I fell in love with every character... especially Lily. (****)
Arthur Golden: Memoir's of a Geisha
Really enjoyed. Interesting culture read. Slow read at times but overall i really liked this one. Want to see the movie now. (****)
Audrey Niffenegger: The time traveler's wife
3 1/2 stars maybe. i liked it but didn't love it. it took me a while to get thru (Busy) so i had a hard time with the jumping around time lines...and i just never identified well with the main character (although i loved Clare) (***)
Elie Wiesel: Night
Riveting, disturbing, educational and something every person should read. i will be saving this one for my children to read someday. (*****)
Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner
Loved this book. Raised my awareness... i learned so much and the book really got me. Great read! (*****)