Welcome Wreath

This morning was a frustrating one. I woke up with the best intentions of taking the kiddos to church. Chris works all weekend, so it's been a chaotic weekend. Yesterday I took them to the park for a couple hours, until, believe it or not, the big kids started whining & fighting:( Boo! 

Anyways...back to this morning...kids were yelling, fighting{physically hitting each other}. I told them, "in order for us to leave this house, the living room needs a quick clean!" It took 1.5 hours to get them moving and all it got was a "tidy" before heading out the door in a huff of emotions & some tears. *sigh*

Fast forward 20 minutes into the worship service--> I am packing up the littles because they will not sit still for worship or the toddler room. I asked mom and dad if I could leave the 2 big ones there...they said yes!

Get home, have lunch, tidy some more, littles play, Miss C goes for a nap, & I create! Nice quiet time afternoon! Here is what I made...

Welcome....Come on in!

Time for Tea!

This Welcome Wreath was created using the following supplies:

Pool Noodle {Dollarama}
Burlap
Ribbon
Odds N Ends that inspire
Glue Gun

My inspiration for this project came from Fox Hollow Cottage! Amazing work! Head on over and tell them I sent you!

Creating things makes me happy! {boy! Did that make me sound cr@zy?!?!} But seriously, making projects is my "outlet" I love it! So even though the day started out hectic, here's to another day!

~happy crafting!~

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!"

Ok, so not THEE most wonderful time of the year, but I have to say that as much as I love my rugrats adorable kiddos I am glad to see them back to school & routine!

Raina started grade 5 today! Khymara started grade 2! Adam has a Pre-K Interview on Thursday, to "assess" his need for school. He is a little upset that he is not going to be taking the bus with his sisters, or the fact that he doesn't get to take a lunch! The girls go to one school and he goes to another - due to there being no pre-k in the other school! (Next year my son! Don't grow up too fast!)

Khymara First Day of Grade 2
So proud!

Raina J First Day of Grade 5
Acting all cool!
 She did not want me taking her photo!

Trying out a new place to store lunch kits! Command hooks in the back porch!
Last year the girls Khymara emptied her lunch kit and tossed it in the pantry.
Raina ~lost, forgot, didn't bother~packing her lunch in her lunch bag. She was content with brown paper bags or Walmart grocery bags. If she did remember to bring it home it usually contained something mouldy. YUCK! {*Side note* 3 weeks in to summer holidays, I came across a lunch bag of hers in her room FULL of mouldy food! EWWWWW!} So we will try this out, and see how it goes!

I am quite looking forward to my "Free" mornings with my littlest one! By the beginning of October, Adam should be going 4 days a week from 9-12! Where does time go? I love my children, I hope they do their best in the year ahead. My word each morning is "FOCUS"! My girls seem to think every thing they do is a race. Needless to say, things get missed. Whether it's chores or school work, half complete jobs are usually the result.

Happy back-to-school to all the moms {& dads} out there!

I want to be a "Glued" Mama!

My children are 10 (almost), 7, 4 & 2 (almost)  and it seems every {school} year we have the same yelling matches, arguments, clothes fights, lunch squabbles, etc! I am guilty of being an "unglued mama". I do my fair share of the yelling, and I feel horrible! At the end of the mornings, one of us is having a melt down. I really don't like seeing the kids pouty as they're walking out the door for the day. I try to give them a hug & a quick blessing...but I always end up feeling like a failure...

After reading Lysa TerKeurst's,  Unglued Mama Mornings, over at The Better Mom, her view point has given me some points to a {hopefully} more productive, less argumentative year ahead! I really hope I can put this into practice this year...here's to a New School Year, less fighting, & more smiles! 

~9 Year Anniversary!~

August 23rd marked our 9th anniversary! We have been together for 10 years, and yes there's been a few bumps along the way, but I wouldn't change a thing! We have 4 beautiful children, a home to call our own, and life is only getting better! Thank you God for giving me such an amazing husband! I pray that I can continue to be the wife you created me to be!

Last night was Date Night! Thanks sis for watching our munchkins!

We went to The Yorkton Buffet! {soooo yummy, I recommend it to everyone!}












Chris' plate was ALL MEAT! A couple of potatoes were in there too! I had some Cali rolls, ginger beef, typical Chinese food, which I absolutely LOVE! And some other great tasting food! After supper, we went to the park to get some photos of us just hanging out and being silly!

I am really glad we did this! After our park adventures, we went to the mall! Yes, we went shopping on our date! While there, I found a really cute pair of jeans that I can't afford at the moment, So I will wait to see if they go on sale! Gotta love a sale!

After the mall, we ended up at Superstore to pick up some supplies for our End of Summer BBQ tonight! {guess count is at 45 ppl!} And then ended our night with a Dairy Queen treat!

We had some of our oldest daughter's friends over, and I mentioned that they had to leave by 4p.m. because I was going on a date...one of the girls piped up and asked, "with who?" haha! I told her with my husband. She continued with, "but, you don't go on dates when you're married, only when you have a boyfriend!" It was funny to hear this, because I have so many friends {with children} who really don't date. It made me stop and think of how important it is to keep that "spark" of intimacy alive! {and not just the physical behind the bedroom doors stuff!} Going out for supper, going for a walk, even just watching a movie together in the comfort of your own home! Date nights don't have to involve "going out", put the kids to bed, and enjoy a cup of coffee and each others company.

At the end of it all we enjoyed just "hanging" out. We had fun, too much sugar, and laughed...alot! I love you Chris! Thank you for being my husband (& father to our children!). Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being you. Here is to another beautiful year with you! xoxo!

Adam's Birthday Bash!

and another one for the day...

My son turned 4 on June 8th! We had his party on June 10th (I know...I seem to be forever behind on posts!)

Afer 2 sweet girls, a son made his debut!

 Fly ahead 4 years and this little guy is a motoring, playful, energetic not-so-little man!

So Adam's birthday was loosely based on Batman! A week before his party we were in DQ for a sweet treat, and he saw this YUMMO ice cream cake with a MONSTER TRUCK! I ended up ordering this for him for his special day!

Anything goes when it's Superhereos!

Batman Garage Birthday Party!
The garage comes in handy when hosting parties!

There goes another birthday for this EVER growing little munchkin! Love you son!

Khymara's Birthday! {Better Late than Never!}

7 Years ago {on July 6th}, my sweet Khymara joined us in the world! Since she began school, we have done her birthday at the end of school, so she could still invite her classmates before summer holidays begin! For this year we rented the Gymnastics building for 2 hours! No clean up! {Yay for mom!}

 1 hour of teaching/learning

+ 1/2 hour of free play

+ 1/2 hour of cake & gifts

 A bunch of happy little gals! 

My girl is the goof ball in the middle!





This poor cake!
The heat was so awful
in my house when I baked this,
it was starting to crack! EEK!



Filled with jumbo rockets,
 candy necklace, suckers, stickers,
beads for making a necklace, etc!

Goodie Bags made with the
AP Cartridge by CTMH



Close to My Heart
"Footloose" Paper Invitations!





So, like the title says, better late than never! Love you baby girl!

~happy crafting!~

WOW! Been gone for awhile!

Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful summer! I have been absent...eek, for quite a bit!
I've done 2 birthdays, end of school events, Family reunion/Memorial (for my Grandpa), and lots of time spent at my favorite place in the world! The lake! Good Spirit Lake:)

I just thought I would stop in to say "hi"! I am off to the lake once again tomorrow for the weekend! So maybe when I get home, I will have a post ready to put up!

Have a great weekend, & ~happy crafting!~

Oh...and while I was away....

I recieved my first blog award! :0 {I honestly didn't know what this was, read on!}
Here's a shout out to the awesome lady who nominated me! Thank you Theresa! Head on over and check out her blog!

The Sassy Scrapper

A little about the Liebster. This is how it works...

ABOUT THE AWARD
Liebster is a German word meaning "Beloved," "Favorite," or "Dearest." This award is a peer to peer award in which fellow bloggers present the award to their favorite bloggers with less than 200 followers. The origins of this award is unclear, but is believed to have originated by a German blogger. This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion to share your dearest and most beloved blogs that have less than 200 followers.

RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE
Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog.Post the award onto your blog.Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have less than 200 followers.Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award!

My five nominations are....
Candra at http://paperdragonfleur.blogspot.ca/
Jessica at http://freshbyjess.blogspot.ca/
Brianne at http://designsbybri.blogspot.ca/
Tasha at http://wildatheartstudios.blogspot.ca/
Becky at http://stampingwithbekah.blogspot.ca/

Great work ladies. Thanks for sharing your creative wisdom with us! Now it's your turn! Choose one of the following to post on your blog and then choose your five nominees to share it with.