Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

Wow...... I can't believe I haven't been here since November.... but... a lot has happened since then.

The biggest excitement for me was getting a full time teaching contract for 2 months. I spent 8 weeks teaching Socials 10 and 11 at Timberline. I was terrified of the "big kids" as I hadn't even TOC'd at the Secondary level. However, it was better than I expected and absolutely loved my time there. The kids were fantastic, the staff were wonderful helping out the "newbie" and it was an all around great experience. I'd go back there in a heart beat.

However, with me working and planning full time, it was hard on the kids. We had a few regressions and lots of behaviour troubles -mostly near the end when I was starting to transition back home. But, our kids are amazing and have bounced right back.. we are once again sailing on smooth waters!

Christmas was a blast.... although we really wanted to give the kids a trip to Disneyland for Christmas - the drop in the dollar - along with the uncertainty of how long my contract would last - we decided to change our plans. This also meant I had to do some fast shopping. We didn't go to "Black Friday" this year so I was no where near ready!

We decided and bought the kids Rock Band for the Wii... but soon found out that it really a shell of the game that you get on the X-Box. So we returned the Wii Rock Band and went all out and bought the family and X-Box 360 AND Rock Band. And because we needed a second guitar we also got Guitar Hero World Tour.

A few of there other "big" gifts were digital cameras - tickets to see the Canucks SuperSkills Comptetion and tickets to see WWE (wrestling) in Victoria. Yes...... they were totally spoiled!!

Butch spoiled me as well.. I got a Cricut Expression and a whole lot of goodies to go with it. My mom bought me a CuttleBug ... and a bunch of other scrapbook related items. I told everyone that I had a Provocraft Christmas!

The boys and I bought Butch a Nintendo DS - so that he had something to do on his nightshifts. He loved it!

January had the kids back at school and back at sports .. and me still teaching.

February started with a bang - and we had/have only one 'free' weekend.

February 1st was the Canucks SuperSkills so we went to Vancouver with Meg and her family for the day.

February 6th my niece Devyn and I went to Victoria to watch a Storm game and do some shopping - it was a fun weekend and something we will definitely do again.

February 7th - Butch and the boys headed to Victoria for the WWE wrestling - Carsyn had the thrill of his life when his favourite wrestler touched him.

February 13-15 we travelled to Port Hardy for a hockey tournament for Brayden. We took a trip into Port Alice to show the boys where I grew up. Of course we had to stop for lunch at our favourite restaurant "The Victorian Steak House". The food was awesome as always. It was fun to take the kids and show them the church we got married in and the park where we had our wedding pictures done. It was a little sad to see that they had replaced all of the park playground equipment that my dad had built. But understandable that it was old and probably unsafe.

We took pictures of the Friggen Islands and then headed on our way to Port Hardy.
The team had a lousy first game - but then played some amazing hockey. In the playoffs (for 5th place) the lost in a shoot out.

Brayden got sick on the last day and didn't play much. Both boys ended up missing a day of school.

This past weekend was our weekend off... Butch went to play in Matt's monthly poker game... and Brayden had a couple of hockey games - but otherwise it was just a nice, relaxing weekend at home......... other than the trip to emerg with Brayden on Sunday morning... poor guy has a nasty throat infection and is home in bed.

Well.......... I'm going to try and update this a little more often......... and I will also add some more pictures to this post as soon as I download them from the camera!

Swaps

Most of these layouts were for a colour swap for mysweetsix on Split Coast Stampers.

The Christmas/Winter layouts were for a swap for mnewby on Split Coast Stampers.

The Disney card and "page candy" were for a swap for dlphns_00 on Split Coast Stampers.

The Halloween, Thanksgiving and Autumn page layout kits were for a swap for frogandbabygirl on Split Coast Stampers.

The turkey, Art border, and Halloween border were for a swap on Scrapbook Bingo.

So.. I've been too busy to update... so here's a look at the last month or so...

It has been crazy busy in our house - some days I don't know if I'm coming or going. But that is the joy of having very active boys.

Megan and I took the kids to the local pumpkin patch - I can't wait to scrap those pictures. We had an absolute blast!







They had a little hay maze - and while it was geared towards younger kids - all four of them had a blast running through it. We did the maze first and after we had gone on the hay ride and picked our pumpkins - they all wanted another run through.
Hockey has started and Brayden has amazed us with how well he is doing. Considering they said he would never play a team sport - he has sure proved them wrong. His last game he was named "Player of the Game" for his team. I was proud - but missed most of the game because I went to a scrapbook garage sale - boy did I feel like a bad mom! This picture was taken at their first game - in Gold River.

Carsyn is into soccer and having a blast with the Junior Development team. I am proud of how hard he works and hope that his dream of playing soccer at a higher level comes true. This picture was taken at his first Junior Development game in Comox. They won both games they played that day.





Butch and I finally had some time to ourselves. After sports were done one Saturday we dropped the boys off at Auntie Lisa and Uncle Dave's and headed for Nanaimo. We brought Butch's mom with us as she was heading to Auntie Gail's for a couple of weeks. We did some shopping - me at Michael's of course. We got a bunch of Christmas presents and then found a nice hotel, the Travelodge near downtown Nanaimo. They gave us a great rate when we told them we had come to Nanaimo to shop.

We got settled into our room and then headed for dinner. We always get a gift certificate for the Keg from Auntie Sal - so we wanted to use it up. When we got to the Keg - it was crazy busy - but we were in no hurry so we waited.... and waited. An hour later we finally got our table. Another 45 minutes later our food arrived. Both of our steaks were over cooked and our baked potatoes were not cooked. Our server was amazing and the manager took care of our entire dinner - dessert included. You can't go to the Keg and not have Billy Miner pie - the only good food we had!

After dinner we headed to the casino. I couldn't win. Butch found a poker table and settled in. When we left at midnight we were up $500. Totally paid for our trip - presents included! We headed back to the hotel exhausted. We got up the next morning - had breakfast and hit Costco - we left a few hundred dollars poorer - why can't you go to Costco and not leave there without spending at least $200!?! We picked up a few other presents there and lots of good deals on groceries.

We decided to take the house off the market. The house prices have fallen dramatically and things just aren't selling. It is really too bad as there are some great houses on the market at great prices. The main reason we were moving was to get a yard for the boys - but since winter has hit - we won't be using a yard for a few months anyways, so we will try again next year when people settle in to all of the changes happening in our little city.

Meg had her 40th birthday. Hard to believe - and I can't believe that I will be 37 a month today. I honestly don't feel that old - where is the time going??? Here are the cards made by Carsyn, Brayden and I. I think the boys are enjoying card making as much as I am. I feel a c
couple of male scrapbookers coming up!!
Carsyn Brayden Me

I haven't been working as much as I would like - but it looks like it will be picking up - I hope at least. I've already worked and have booked more for November than I did in October - so that is a good sign. I applied for a job at Cedar - the school that has my heart - but unfortunately didn't get it. Maybe next time.

I have been busy scrapbooking. I am totally addicted to swaps. I've just completed a bunch of things for Yahoo group I am on as well as a bunch of swaps on Split Coast Stampers.

I will be uploading a few pictures. So you can see what has been keeping me busy.

Well...... I think that's it for now...... I'll try and not make it two months before the next post.

Thanks for reading.

Football, BC Lions - September 2007

Here is a layout I did virtually the same for both boys. This was their very first BC Lions game. It was in September 2007. Carsyn looks a bit like a cancer patient, but it was because they had just shaved their heads (which had been red and blue moehawks) for Cops for Cancer.

Disney Autograph Pages

6x6 Pooh Autograph Page



6x6 Piglet Autograph Page



6x6 Tigger Autograph Page



6x6 Pluto Autograph Page



6x6 Donald Autograph Page



6x6 Goofy Autograph Page

Where did the time go??

Has it really been that long since I posted?! Well I can't believe it is Friday already.. seems like just yesterday we were getting ready for the weekend - and here it has arrived again! We've all been sick... Brayden got sick at the end of August.. he's still suffering.. Carsyn's got a runny nose, Butch is really sick - actually came home from work today.. and somehow I managed to shake the most of it... just a little congested. I guess I have to stay healthy to keep the rest of the house running! I don't like it when Butch is sick... I have to cook! Hope he gets better soon!!

I've been busy with hockey stuff... although it has settled down a bit... I fear that busy times are about to happen as we will be picking teams very soon... eek!! I imagine it will be somewhat like placing students in classrooms and when parents (who haven't sent the school their requests) find out that little Jimmy isn't where they want them to be and they are upset. I'm not looking forward to cranky parents - and hopefully there will be none. I am not going to stress about it until if/when it happens.

Carsyn made the Junior Development U11 Soccer Team! Yeah!! I'm so proud of him, and this is a super boost for his self-esteem. This will mean an extra soccer practice each week - skills and drills - they run them hard! It also means there will be a little bit of travel for tournaments, only 3 or 4 times in the season - possibly even to BC Place around Christmas. At least we aren't off somewhere every weekend!

Since I haven't been teaching yet... but I do have a couple of days booked in the next couple of weeks.. I have been doing lots, and lots of scrapbooking. On one of my favourite sites (Scrapbook Bingo) we are doing a Virtual Crop - and we get points for everything we do. I've been working on all of my swap stuff so that I can earn points. This has also helped me with all of the swaps I've signed up for on Split Coast Stampers.

I have even been able to get a couple of pages for the boys done - mind you they are basically the same pages - just pictures placed differently depending on whose book they were going in.

I want to upload some pictures... so I'll keep this update short.

Busy Times Ahead!

Well.. fall has started and so has everything else. The boys started school on Tuesday - and it went amazingly well. No meltdowns the night before, no meltdown the morning of... no meltdowns at all! Wooohooo... I think I was more worked up than they were - fearing their struggle with new transitions! But once again they surprised me. I'm so proud of how they are progressing, it really just amazes me to see how much they have grown in the past 15 months.

We still don't know who their teachers are (will know tomorrow afternoon), but have an inkling that Carsyn will have the same teacher as last year. Thank goodness! He was such a wonderful teacher and totally got the "adoption" thing. He was actually telling us how things would happen - and when changes would occur, etc. Carsyn LOVES him, and I think that is why he had such a good beginning this year - he knew he would be in his class, for the first week at least. As for Brayden, we aren't sure... I put in my request (for both boys) and hope that he ends up with the teacher I think will be best for him.

Hockey has started........ the Campbell River Storm - who we all volunteer for - Butch does security and is the assistant trainer, I do all the game day events, Brayden is an "On-ice Kid" (picking up pucks etc) and Carsyn is fan! Butch traveled with the team to Victoria tonight as the trainer, and the home opener is tomorrow.

Minor hockey has also started, and the fool that I am has taken on the Division Manager position... eek!! So far it has just been lots and lots of emails, but once we get into assigning teams, I fear that the real workload has yet to come! Brayden LOVES hockey... and I want to be involved.. I can't coach so figured I'd help out where needed... we will see if I've made a mistake or not! LOL

I'm also on the board for the Soccer Association - Carsyn LOVES soccer, Butch coaches and my sister Megan and I are in charge of Awards - nothing much to do until the end of the year.. phew... hockey will be over by then.

Butch has taken on the Vice President of the P.A.C. at the boys' school - but as there is currently no President he is having to do all the work. Unless someone comes forward at the first PAC meeting, he has offered to be the President - yes... we are crazy!!

Somehow I've managed to find time to do some scrapbooking.. not for me.. for swaps. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and update some of the things I've been working on. I've also made a few really cute cards... at least I think they are cute! I've even started on Christmas cards - most for a swap - but I liked them so much I made a couple for me.

Yesterday the boys went to Grandma's to make cards - she's the resident expert on card making. It is also a fun way for the boys to spend some one on one time with Grandma - and give mom and dad a bit of a break. It is Nana, Caedra and Uncle Rod's birthdays this weekend - so they decided to make cards for Nana and Uncle Rod. They made really nice cards - and the one that Carsyn made for Rod is very nice (I'll take a picture of that tomorrow too!) We will make Caedra's card this weekend, before we head to Nana's for birthday dinner!

Well.... I've rambled and have to be up in 6 hours to go to Curves.. so off to bed I go.

Thanks for looking!