{ The reason I may not be blogging much }

Welcome Rudy! He is 9 weeks today and so very cute! Yes, we have a baby in the house!

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was plus 14 and beautiful and right now I am watching the flakes start to fall!! No more snow!!

Check this out. This weekend I finally did something I have been wanting to do for awhile now. I taught my girls how to crochet. They started off with chains. And here they are in all their glory!

Too cute eh? My youngest actually progressed to single crochet already and is working on a blanket for her Teddy! ;0)

Thought I would share a card I made this weekend with some of my new stamps from Jovi! I love this one. It makes me so happy when a card comes together really quickly and easily and turns out great too! I used MojoMonday #77 for my inspiration.

Well...I am off to make some dinner and finish laundry...my youngest had a bit of an accident at school today...her nose was smashed into another girls shoulder and had a HUGH nosebleed which went all over her winter coat. Thank goodness it washed out...since it is snowing right now...I didn't want to have to replace a winter coat this close to Spring!!

Thanks for stoppin' by.

{ To Blog or not to Blog }

That is the question. Sorry for not bloggin' lately, but to be quite honest, I just have not had it in me. Now I have not decided to quit altogether, but be forwarned...I might not be around much. I still plan on the monthly Christmas challenges but as far as anything else? Well...It will just depend on my mood, I guess. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and have just decided that too much time is being spent on this computer and not enough time on crafting, family and just me. I hope you all understand...but I think you do. :0)

With that being said...I will leave you for now with a few shots from our last camping trip...which was great by the way! We have our spot booked for next year already!

Oh and PS...did you check out my samples for this month challenge? I just added them to this post. I am quite happy with the way they turned out. :0)

{ Enjoyin' the Summer }

Well...that was up until the storm the other night. Wow! That was probably one of the worst storms I have seen! Our poor trees, bushes, flowers and gazebo sure took a beating. Oh well...what can ya do? I am just thankful we were still not camping at the time of the storm...that would have been one scary night!! And now the weather is nasty...rainy and cold...actually cold enough in here to turn the furnace on!!!

Anyway...just thought I would show off a few pics from this last camping trip.

Sorry...no pics of the lake...kept forgetting the camera everytime we headed down to the beach!!

{ How cool are these!!?? }

Okay this is not crafting related, but I just had to share what I picked up for my family today! Check these out!! I was going to save them for Christmas, but I can't. ;0) I am gonna leave them on the kitchen counter for when they all get home from school and work...heeheehee. ;0)

Off to work I go...wish I was off to bed though! Thinkin' I have myself a sinus infection...yucky. :0(

{ First day of School! }

Can you believe that? Well, I know for some of you, your kids already started awhile ago...but I still can't believe it! Where did summer go?? And it was mighty chilly this morning too. :0(

Just a quick post today as I just got home from work and now off to workout and have a shower before the girls get home.

First off here they are this morning. Em is now in Grade 2 and El is in Grade 1. It was not as tough as last year...for me...but I still had some issues. El is now in Grade 1, so she is gone full days just like her sister!! Where does the time go?? They were both very excited to get back to school today...they were even up before I had to wake them. I am sure that will not be the case by next week though. ;0)

And I have one more for ya. We got the girls in some activities this year. Em is going to be doing Cheerleading and El is going into Ballet. So we went off and picked up her ballet outfit this weekend. She is just too cute!! She wore it all day yesterday...including the ballet slippers too!

Okay...off to workout.

I will try and post something new tomorrow...I will try! ;0)

{ Back from the farm...but gone again soon! }

Okay, first off...what did we do to deserve all this lousy weather! I tell ya! Of course we had fun on this last trip, but of course the weather was not nice until the night before we left. Once again there would be no lake for us. Em begged to enter into the SandCastle contest they ran on Wednesday... It was pretty breezy, but with my sweaters it was manageable in the sun. The contest was actually a lot of fun. We were not sure how into it people would be, but there were some pretty good creations out there. We entered into the 'Family' category...didn't win, but had lots of nice comments about it...and of course we had lots of fun.

Even thought the weather was not ideal...once again...it was still a lot of fun. For anyone in the area, I would highly recommend Ol' Macdonalds Resort for some good family camping fun. They also have cabins for those with out trailers. There is just so much for the kids to do... beach, lake, cart rentals, paddle boat rentals, petting zoo, hay rides, Merry-go-round, Mini golf, Pool, arcade and of course the parks!! They even had a Comedy night for the adults. We did not go, but it sounded like they had lots of fun. There is even a new coffee shop too...very yummy! We will most likely head back there again next year, but stay for a week, in the hopes of actually getting the chance to enjoy the lake!!

Here is one last pic. This was from the last night...it was so warm and calm...nothing at all like earlier during the contest.

We are off in one more day. Our last camping trip of the season. We will be heading off to Sylvan Lake for 3 nights...and it is suppose to be super hot!! Everyone...please cross your fingers...please, please, please...no more rain and wind!!!

Tracy :0)

{ Where oh where is Tracy?? }

I am still here...honest. Just been busy. We got back from Camping on Wednesday and have not really been home much since then! I don't really have anything new to share, but thought I would share a couple of pics from our first camping trip with ya...
This first one is of me with my girls. This was a log along the river we found. The campground is located next to the Kananaski River...great for relaxin' and throwing rocks. We even saw a Coyote on the opposite side from us one day.



This next one is of Mt Kidd. Not a bad thing to wake up to each morning, huh??


This last one is of Wedge Pond. It is just down the road from Mt Kidd. There is a 2km trail that circles the pond. Nice and quiet. There were even some brave...or crazy...kids that were swimming that day. The water was freezing!!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer thus far. I hope to be back soon with a new creation. I just got a new toy this week...something I had ordered awhile back...so no, I have not broken my promise about not spending any money on crafting stuff until the fall!!

{ Hula Girls and Challenge card }

Okay, for those of us that a buried in snow and wind...close your eyes and image you are on the beach in Hawaii...check out these hula girls!!

Couldn't resist...the girls were playing dress up yesterday after we got back from getting hair cuts. They were performing for me, so I HAD to shoot a few pics. :0)

On another note...I stamped lastnight! And did a challenge too! Here is my entry into Ila's Highhopes blog candy. I think I like it. This is so out of my element. I don't usually use more than one kind of DP together. I see so many wonderful creations out there, but when I try...well to me it just looks messy and icky. I was lucky enough to have this great DP that I had bought off of Nancy awhile back. Enough babble...what do you think?

I love these stampsets from TAC. The butterfly is from the new mini and the sentiment is on the last page of the catty. I almost missed it and so glad that I ordered it. There are some great sentiments in the set. The inside of the card says...'to forget about your dreams'. As you can see I also too a stab at Beate's Thumping technique from a few weeks ago. I LOVE this technique. It is so pretty!!

Well, I am off to do some laundry. My darling daughter decided to dump 1/2 a bottle of cough sirup all over mommy lastnight! Yuck! Should have done the laundry lastnight...not too sure if it will come out of everything now...oh well.

Have a great Sunday!

{ Give me a break!!! }

Just thought I would share...for all those who keep bragging about your beautiful spring weather!





See all those cold snowy bikes on the right?? Yup...Daddy bought new bikes this week...it's all HIS fault!!



Hope your day is nicer than this! :0)

{ Man...I give up! }

Okay, so lastnight was our Calgal gathering. It took 5 of us 2 hrs to sort all those Dewdrops! It was...interesting. If you don't know already you can see all the details on Nancy's blog here.


I was not feeling very creative lastnight so I just colored and did not make a thing! But hoping to get some stamp time this weekend.


When I left Nancy's house lastnight at 12:20AM it was lightly snowing, but the roads were clear. Then this is what I awoke to at 7:30 this morning!!!

Someone just shoot me now!! Oh well...at least we got to make a snowman with it this morning.

Have a great weekend all!! I am going to try my best to post at least a few more times this week...try. ;0)

{ Bad Mommy! }

That is me. Lastnight was my monthly stamp class for a group of my family and friends. I was letting one of the ladies in the front door...Elizabeth(my youngest) was behind me trying on her new roller skates. I went to close the door and could not figure out why the door was not closing...kept trying. Then looked down to see my daughters thumb in the door!! Talk about feeling bad. We had some blood, lots of swelling and a very purple thumb. And LOTS of crying. I tell ya that was the worst feeling in the world...probably worse for her though! She is better today. Still a bit purple and warm to touch, but better.

Thought I would share the projects we did lastnight. And one I can even enter into Allisons weekly challenge this week too!

This first one is using the Bouncing Brayer technique. This was my first time using this technique and I must say I quite like it! I think I might have to get me a few more spectrum pads now! This is very simple but it is the technique that shines on this one! Hope this one is okay, Allison!

We also did a Crisscross card. I ran out of River Rock CS so had to come up with two designs. And here they are...

I really do love these crisscross cards. A great use for your double sided DP's!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I will be back soon...Riley's are in the house!! I have a couple of creations to share...but you are gonna have to wait. ;0)

{ MIA...but I have some good reasons! }

I know, I know...I apologize. I can not believe it has been a whole week since my last post! It has been a very busy week here in our household. We have had El's bday, Valentines Day, work, El's bday party, work, Family Day(holiday Monday) and then we also booked and paid for our Disneyland trip and got our passports! Yup, that's right...we are going to Disneyland, baby!! But...sssshhhhh...it's a secret...we are planning on not telling the girls until we are on our way to the airport! That's the plan...we will see if Daddy and I can stick with the plan. We have almost let it slip soooo many times. Must bite my tongue!

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn in Anaheim. So if anyone has any review of their own, I would love to hear them. We were last in Disneyland in 1996...OMG!...so the motel we stayed in is actually no longer there! A lot has changed since then. ;0) I will apologized now...you are gonna be sick of hearing about Disneyland by the time we actually go. 10 weeks today we leave!!!

Okay back to stampin' stuffs...

I want to share this awesome RAK I received from Alexandra last week. I had commented on Alexandra's blog about how I wish we had a Target Dollar Spot up here in Canada. Then a few weeks later, lookie what I recieved in the mail!

Not only did I receive this awesome card, but two of those adorable mailboxes! Thank you again, Alexandra! I can not wait to alter these babies. Although, it will probably take sometime to decide on the perfect DP. ;0)

Also, this week I was tagged with a few awards. First up was being nominated by Allison for the 'Bitch' award. At first, I was not too sure what to think about this one, but you need to check out Allison's blog for the details. Thanks, Allison...I feel kinda proud after reading your explaination. :0) I am so far behind on bloggin' this week that I know that most of you out there have already been tagged. So to all my bloggin' friends...and you know who you are...consider yourself a 'bitch'. ;0)

Next I was tagged by my friend Kim for the E for Excellent award. Thank you so much, Kim...it really means a lot! Especially since I feel as though I have been neglecting my blog lately. ;0) Again, I see that many of my bloggin' friends out there have been award with this honor already...so if you stop by and have not been tagged...consider yourself tagged...I know that was lame...sue me! ;0)

I really do have something to share though...here is a card I did up last week. Not 100% sold on this one...seems to be missing that something. I am thinkin' it is just missing some bling...what do you think?

Well, I think I will call it a night. It has been a pretty crazy day. I actually ended up posting this on another blog by accident today...duh!! Then the girls and I were at the dentist today. This was a first for my girls...I know we are a bit behind on that one. All went pretty well. Elizabeth was good and no cavities...yahoo...but Emily has got a mouth full of teeth and no room at the Inn, plus 3 cavities...boohoo :0( So we will be back 3 more times for the fillings/caps and then looks like she will be looking at some molars being pulled and braces in the future. Then I am back a few more times over the next month too. This dentist is gonna love us over the next few months!! Oh well...gotta be done.

I promise this week to be a better blogger...honest. ;0)

{ 5 Years Ago Today... }

...my baby girl was born. Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Here's the bday card I made for her on Friday during our Calgal's monthly gathering. This is one of the images Miss Dottie RAK'd me.

{ I completed a challenge...woohoo!! }

Maria is having a blog candy/challenge on both of her blogs and one of the challenges yesterday was a sketch challenge. So I went down to my stamp room and got one more Christmas card done and a challenge too!! It is pretty simple...but I like it. I just love these new TAC snowman images I got. They are fun to color!!

Maria also had another challenge to photograph your stamping space as it is now. And tell what one item is your comfort or calming item. I would have to say that a permanent fixture would be my music and my normal item which is usually with me is my cup of Tazo Chai...not in this pic. ;0)

Okay...an update on the family. Took DD #2 to the dr today and turns out she has Bronchitis on top of the flu...poor thing. Got some really strong cough meds for her, so hopefully she will be feeling better soon. She actually wanted some crackers when we got home and ate 3! That's the most solid food she has had in 3 days! Daddy on the other hand? Still sick!!

{ My Beauties! }

Okay...just had to share my girls with ya. Here are their school pics for this year.

Emily is in Grade 1(6 yrs) She looks so grown up!!

Elizabeth is in Kindergarten(4 yrs) Anyone who knows El will totally get this pic! This is just so her. No she is not upset or sad...just very serious ;0)

{ Happy 6th Bday Em! }

Today is my DD 6th bday! Of course I am a bad Mommy and waited until today...while she is at school...to make her a bday card!! She loves my Bella's, so I think she will like it. :0) Oh and also this was this weeks Mojo Monday Challenge.

This pic was only taken at Thanksgiving, but she already looks so much older...could be she had all her hair cut off this past week too!! :0)

{ First Day of School }

I just had to share a pic of my girls today! The day is not over yet...I will let you know if the little one is traumatized for life after I pick her up. Let's just say there were tears involved...and they were'nt mine! ;0)

{ First Camping Trip of the Season! }

What a weekend! We got out for our first camping trip of the year in our new tent trailer! We had lots of fun despite the rain. Lets just say the trailer had a good testing out. ;0) Here are a few of my favorite pics of the weekend...

I managed to get down to my stamp room yesterday after we got back...I was going through stamp withdrawl ;0) I will post something new later today.

Thanks for stoppin' by :0)