Hot!! Hot!! Hot!!

Summer is here for sure.
We've been seeing temps in the mid to higher 20's.
And that is HOT!

We're getting ready for our BEEEEEEG July vacation.
A bit of stress.
Lots of planning...
And more planning...

Now and then I stop
and do this...


(All papers and rub-ons are "Upsy Daisy Designs")


Off to crank up the AC...;)

M.I.A

Long time, peeps.
Lots been happening, and I sat down to update on more than one occassion and thought, "Meh..."...lol...you know how that works, right?

*Canadian Scrapbooker's Summer Issue* hit the stands on 1 June and I have 2 pages in there.

Here they are for those of you who don't get this mag in your neck of the woods:


and...


...and they requested a page for their Fall issue too :):)

I havn't scrapbooked much lately, but tonight I'm cutting into some lurverly *Upsy Daisy*yumminess.
Did you know they have 4 new lines debuting this summer; complete with matching brads and stamps.
Yum! Yum! Yum!

On the homefront, we parted ways with our nanny. It was a case of us running into the same problems with her over and over for the entire 7 months. So we gave her two weeks to shape up or ship out, and she opted to ship out.
So, we're juggling again, but things seem a lot *nicer* without her around.

We started the paperwork to bring in a replacement, and this time we're being super picky during the interview period. So far we think we've found our lady...older and hopefully, wiser than her predecessor.

I took the kids to the park the other day.
Look at this weird thing Eilam does... he is clearly not happy getting sand on his feet...lol)

House-Zilla

Yup..that's me!
While the fix-ups continue in the house, my patience is starting to wane.

So today, for fun (ha!), I did this page, on the floor, with bare essentials...
Totally not my usual style, but kinda freeing to just "go with it"...

And I felt a whole lot better, as in "less stressed", afterward...:)

This is Rea, at 10 months.
We took this pic at *Sun City*, one of the best places one earth!

Happy Thursday everyone :)

Moved In

We finally moved into our new home and it's been a bit crazy trying to settle in, unpack and tend to the sickies.

As with a lot of new houses, we are discovering a few problems that need attention...like our Spa-shower in the ensuite, which was apparantly installed upside down without an installation guide...and this by a plumber who admits to have never installed one like it before...
Pardon the shabby pic..lighting was a bit wonky and I couldn't find my lenses...



So now all that tile has to be removed...plumbing has to be re-done, drywallers come back and re-tiling begins.
In the meantime, someone scratched the tempered glass with a tool...Grrrrr!!!

The rest is starting to feel like home though :)

(need to find a bufet and nicely framed mirror to fit into that recess)


...super happy with the way the kitchen turned out :)


...and loving that the kitchen looks out at the lake (which you can't see due to crappy lense action)

Oh, my Guest Design Spot at Mark's Paper Company is on this month.
Loved working with their stuff and got everything in just before we moved...whew!

Check out my bio and projects *here*

Presently, I'm unpacking the office and scrappy room, which is always a load of fun :):):)
We're thinking of getting rid of the queen sized bed in the guest room, replacing it with a pull-out couch, and using it as a combined office/scrappy room for Oshean and I...I'm liking the idea...plus a pull-out kinda ensures the guests don't stay too long, eh?...lol

Happy week everyone!!!

Mark's Paper Company

Early in February, the lovely Stacy Marks invited me to Guest Design for her brand new company called *Mark's Paper Company* in the month of May.
At the time there was quite a buzz in the scrappy community about this new company which had a created paper that resembled fabric.


I had only seen images online, but when I received the two lines "Old Fashioned Courtship" and "August", I was suitably bowled over :)
It didn't take long for me to get creating and I have to say that I fell in love with this little company during the process.


A happy addition to my creative process was receiving some darling "Printable Patches" in a MP Co. *newsletter*.
These were the perfect finishing touches to my pages :)


I hope you enjoyed my little sneekies. You can everything in its entirety on the 1st of May :)

Getting Fit, Freezing Rain and (yet another) Possession Date

As some of you may recall, I started a dedicated excercise regime mid-January this year.
Coupled with my 45 minutes on the treadmill, at least 5 times a week, I have tried to adjust the way I eat, and slowly but surely the plan is starting to work.

As of a couple weeks ago I was down 10 pounds.
Yay Me!!!
Of course, that's only a fraction of what I'd like to lose (I'm not saying what the fraction is...hee-hee), but it's a start.

The weather has finally taken a turn for the better. We've had some really warm days, and a lot of the snow has finally melted.
But it looks like while we said good-bye to snow, we have had to dig out the umbrellas and rainboots.

Lots of rain, mainly freezing rain, which makes a heck on a noise when it hits the skylights.
But rain's good...and everything looks so fresh and "new" after a good washing, right?

News on *the house*, we've been given a possession date of the 17 April. It's like the tenth possession date we've been given since last year, but we're feeling hopeful...kinda.
The girls have their Hip-Hop recitals going on next weekend and the following weekend, with rehearsels in between, so we booked a mover for the 20th April.
Cross fingers, toes, eyes, e.t.c for us!

It's been a while since my last post.
The Hubs is back home safe and sound.
Kiddies are happy, but three have been passing around a bug for the past 2 weeks, so it's like a hospital here at the moment.

I saw a happy happy announcement today on the Pink Paislee site.
I won this whack of yumminess (thanks Pink Paislee :):):)):


*drool*, right?

So, I'm going to leave you with a lookie at a page I did not a long while back, full of PP goodness:


Happy Hump Day ya'll!