I am slowly going crazy...

123456 switch....crazy going slowly am I...654321 switch!! I think this will be my new theme song...not just because of the kids either. Everything seems to be stressing me out these days. I know I am exhausted and really,really, really, need a break. A holiday would be great but I'd settle for a weekend away. Brian might be working locally soon, so that should help out some.
We had a crazy weekend filled with hockey...3 games in 2 days. The good news is, regular season is over so all that is left is playoffs and two tournaments. Basketball is also coming to an end and so is soccer...yippee...hooray!! I am seriously considering not putting anyone in anything in the spring either. Hopefully that isn't mean of me, I would just rather spend that time bike riding with them and hanging out in our backyard...jumping on their new trampoline! This year,we are going to buy that hammock we put off last year and I plan to make good use of it...now if winter would just go away so I can get on with my plans...hehe.
So, Gavin decided to express himself through his haircut the other day,here, have a look.....






he told us he couldn't have a bath or go to bed cause it would wreck his mohawk...what a kid! It took quite a bit of convincing that it would be ok because he sleeps on the side of his face. Needless to say when he woke up the next day, he ran straight to the bathroom to have a look in the mirror and was too excited it was still there.
Creating scrapbook wise has stalled for me, but I have been having fun making my own banners...thanks to Jessi's help inserting the html code for the first one she made me, it's been a bit easier for me to change it...the current one is the second one tonight I have had there...they are really fun. Also, over the weekend, I began to learn how to make slideshows with really cool effects and set to music. I am planning on making a slideshow with all the hockey teams pics I have taken over the season, burning each kid a copy, and altering the case it will go in...better get started on the cases at least as there are 15 kids on the team. At least it's scrap related, so it may help get me back into the scrappin groove!
I would like to leave you with the following:

You Know You Grew Up In the 80's if:

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.
2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
3. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
4. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"
5. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
6. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
7. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
8. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
9. You played the game "MASH"(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
10. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
11. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
12. You wanted to be a Goonie.
13. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe)
14. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
15. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
16. You took lunch boxes to school...and traded Garbage Pailkids in the schoolyard.
17. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
18. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
19. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because
you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
21. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
22. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
23. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
24. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
25. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
26. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
27. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
28. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
29. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
30. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"
31. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on
"Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class.
32. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
33. You just sang those words to yourself.
34. You still sing "We are the World"
35. You tight rolled your jeans.
36. You owned a bannana clip.
37. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
38. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
39. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!

A Promise to my Children

This is too funny...especially in light of a previous post regarding my struggles with Motherhood as of late. Thanks to my Aunt for emailing it to me. I thought some other Moms might enjoy it too....

A Promise to my children...
When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,
And bring so much happiness...just as they did.
I want to pay back all the joy they've provided.
Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,
And I'll bounce on the furniture...wearing my shoes.
I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,
I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.
Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,
I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry...I'll run...if I'm able!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click,
I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.
I'll take off my sock s and throw one away,
And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,
I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.
My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,
And say with a groan, "She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"

tag...you might be it!!

So, thanks to Jessi, I've been tagged...here it goes

A=Available? nope, spoken for since the early 90's
B=Best Friend - Vicki and Jessi, without them...I don't even want to imagine
C= Cake or pie - either or depending on flavors, love white cake but also pumpkin or apple pie and I do like to indulge in the occasional piece of cheesecake
D= Drink of choice - depends on time of day: morning I love my coffee with southern butterpecan creamer (I'm like a junkie in the morn. looking for my first sip), water & coke (sometimes with vanilla vodka)
E= Essential item you use everyday - my phone, without a doubt
F= Favorite color: brown
G= gummie bears or worms- neither actually but I do love sour soothers
H= Hometown - not really sure what to put here, was born in Swift Current, SK but kinda consider Red Deer my hometown.
I= Indulgences - scrapbooking supplies and time for me...alone!!
J= January or February - January, it's when I was born and I like that we associate "new" with January
K= Kids and Names - 4 boys: Zack, Reilly, Carsyn and Gavin
L= Life is incomplete without... the men in my life, family, love, laughing
M= Marriage date - October 7/95
N=Number of siblings- 2 brothers, both younger than me
O= Oranges or apples - either: apples(dipped in caramel sauce) or Christmas oranges
P= Phobias or Fears - dying too young
Q= Favorite Quote - "All children are gifted, some just open their packages sooner than others"-unknown
R= Reason to smile -the men in my life, the friends I have and waking up each day to be a part of it all
S= Season - Fall...got married in this season for a reason:colors and smells in the air
T= Tag 3 or 4 people - Kelsey, Mary, and Lynn ..have fun ladies, can't wait to see your answers!!!
U= Unknown fact about me: I love to play Tetris on the N64
V= Vegetable you don’t like - would be shorter to list which ones I DO like...hehe
W= Worst habit - worrying
X= X-rays - not that I can recall
Y= Your favorite food - if I have to pick just one I'd say Fettucinni Alfredo (with or without chicken)
Z= Zodiac Sign - Capricorn

PLEASE tell me I am "normal"

I feel I should add a discalimer here before I begin so people know ahead of time how much I love my boys and what being a Mom means to me. What you are about to read is just some talking "out loud" as it helps me sort things out sometimes. Besides, I really don't need any more internal dialogue. SO, here goes...
Why does being a Mom seem more difficult lately than ever before? Could it be that the boys are older with more demanding schedules? I don't know what it is but man...I feel like (let me see how many cliches I can use here): I'm talking to a brick wall, I sound like a stuck record, I talk till I am blue in the face...ok I might be able to go on but I'll stop cause you get the idea!! It's the same stuff over and over and I am at a loss for what to do to change it? Perhaps I am trying too hard and overthinking the solution...? I thought up until recently I was doing an ok job of raising these boys to be kind/caring/loving/courteous/responsible people....am I really? They've begun to expect more and more in reagrds to privileges without doing anything in return...that has never been okay here before. Today, one of my sons had math homework-long division. He was having trouble with it so I sat to help for a bit and then needed to take another son to soccer. Thinking like my Mom (gasp) I took the calculator from the kitchen drawer with me. Lo and behold, I get back and go to return the calculator to the drawer and the one from the basement, that looks exactly like the one I took, is in the drawer....he was going to cheat on his homework! He's 9!! Needless to say, he's being pinished. I think part of the problem too is that Brian and I haven't been consistent enough in what the consequences are...we discipline, just not the same. Let me try to explain this: one of us will take away a really good privilege for a minor 'crime' and the other one will take away a crappy privilege for a more severe 'crime...does that make sense. It doesn't help matters either I am sure that he is gone during the week and only home on weekends. We are currently working on developing a system that the boys will have to earn their privileges
in advance by completing daily check lists and chores. Rather than taking them away, they'll have to earn them first....hopefully it'll work. I am also working on a system to help get all members of the family organized and on track so we can all reap the rewards of spending more time together. I want so badly for the boys to have traditions and connections to things that go 'way back' like I do. I want more Norman Rockwell instead of the Osbornes!!
Please don't take away from this that I am a crazy person who shouldn't have kids(although if you call the Men in White, I could really use a vacation) or that we live like the Bundee's. I *think* we're fairly normal. Just a slight detour of course I guess.
Wewph...that felt better, thanks.

binge and purge

What a feeling....you know the one you get when you rid yourself of clutter? We have been plugging away at some boxes/bins and piles of stuff the last couple of days and let me tell ya...it feels so good. Almost like I lost 10 pounds...(I'm working on that too). It's so liberating to free up space for the stuff you really need to keep and not the crap. I am surprised a bit at how much unnecessary stuff there is in this house because I thought I purged a lot 18 months ago before we moved here...guess not!! With the stuff we've gotten rid of, we'll soon be able to put up a wall making our laundry room a bit smaller (it's oversized) and then my DH will have his own "retro" room, where he can set up his record player and 200+ cassette tapes. We'll get some shelving of sorts to display his comic book collection too. Should be sooo cool when we get it done.I know he is excited. Then, the rest of the basement renos can start. Would be nice if we can get that done before Spring as then there is stuff to do in our yard...does it ever end? I guess I'll have to attack my scrap stuff too, since I'm getting rid of stuff that isn't being used or needed :(
So, I was visiting Mona's blog, and she was talking about fears. Well, it was my own fear that prevented me from going and meeting up with some great ladies I've met online at Love2Scrap. I was scared to walk into a crop all alone and introduce myself. What a baby hey?
It sounds like they all had a good time meeting face to face and I missed it. It's my own fault though and I am going to go to the next one, if the hockey schedule permits. I'll just make sure to find out more specifically when everyone plans on arriving and how long they plan on staying, cause I did muster up the nerve later in the day to drive in and then had doubts after Brian asked if they would still be there...turns out some of them were. You just never know!
With all this 'clean sweeping' going on in my house, I haven't had the time to scrap. I do have some cool project ideas running around in my mind. Hopefully sooner rather than later, I'll be able to transfer them into a reality...as long as my mojo is still hanging around.
Have a great week everyone.

don't even think about it...

trying to steal my mojo that is! I have been on a bit of a scrapbooking roll lately. Whatever's been holding me back is gone...for now! I've so enjoyed the process and the end results as late. I had a blast participating in an online crop at pick of the patch. The ladies there really know how to host a funfilled event. The challenges they came up with were awesome. Some completely out of my comfort zone, which is why I guess they are called challenges, right? I posted some of my favs here and others in my gallery, if you'd like to check them out.

Happy scrappin' .

better late than never...

Sorry it's been awhile but I've been busy. Not only do I have the boys' schedules to worry about and the fact that I am working a bit now, I also have Brian's stuff to look after too. I wasn't aware that when I became his wife, it simultaneously meant I was his secretary too...hehehe. On top of all that, my scrabooking mojo decided to return. I have been scrappin away a little but everyday and having so much fun with what I am creating. I've wanted to scrapbook, a lot over the last year or so but when I've made/had the time, I just couldn't. Call it scrappers block if you will, but I think it's also had a lot to do with all of the changes in my life over the last year and a half. I also think that part of me was so caught up in making every layout or project 'perfect" that I lost touch with how much I love creating and it was too much self induced "pressure". I've decided that I don't care who else likes my work, I do and so does my family and that is all the reassurance I need anymore. Relieving myself of the "every page has to be perfect" syndrome had been so liberating. I am having so much fun with the stuff I have been working on and I finding that more and more ideas are almost oozing from my pores as I find myself writing ideas down in my inspiration journal daily. Now, I just need to continue making time for them all!!

It took a bit to get it posted, but here it is for those of you that have been wanting to see it: the Oilers mini album I made of reilly's first NHL game with Uncle Neil. I used a MR coffee break book, copper/white/blue paint and their tickets (the front cover is one of them). I am wanting to add an Oilers logo sticker to each page, but need to get into the city first to buy some. Reilly loves it! I'll probably make one for my brother too, or do an explosion box for him with the same pics.