Chrismtas Celebrations

Christmas Eve we enjoyed the company of good friends at the home of Danny and Sandra to celebrate the season with them.  19 of us filled the house with fun and cheer and good food.  The highlight of the evening was watching the little one open his presents.  Well both my girls and Katlyn were in there with little Liam as he opened all his presents.....cars and more cars....they all played together.  It was really cute to watch 3 grown girls play cars with this little guy. We left Danny & Sandra's with full tummies and Christmas Cheer!

Christmas Day arrive a little earlier than I would have liked....my son and darling hubby celebrated the season keeping a couple of us up until the wee hours of the morning.  We all did get a bit of sleep....thank goodness. 

The morning found us having coffee, the kids checking out their stockings (yes my kids still get a stocking....filled with the everyday items they need and a few other things too).  Then it was on to the gift exchange. This was the first year that nobody knew what anyone was getting from anyone.  Fingers were crossed that there would be no duplicates....and we hit the jackpot in that way.

Once we were done with the gift opening it was time to start getting the turkey into the oven.  Cooking for 12 people called for a large turkey - it weighed it at 19lbs.  The aroma of turkey and stuffing soon filled the house.  Guest arrived at 3pm bringing food and gifts for the Chinese Gift Exchange.

Drinks were had, munchies to help tie you over were set out and the festivities began. 

Through all the hustle and bustle of a full house and the season, my heart still ached for the presence of my dad.  This is the 3rd Christmas without him but the first one for me accepting that he is really gone.  Accepting this has been particularly difficult but with the love of my husband, the support of my children and the support from my Aunt Glenda ((my dad`s baby sister)you have been a great sounding board...)) and the help of a wonderful counselor I have made great strides in accepting that my dad is no longer with me in body, but is here in spirit.  I never realized what I was not only doing to myself but to my family by packing away how I felt since 2008.  I can feel my life starting to get back to the norm.  I still have a few paths I need to venture down but at least now I can think about those paths and set a course to get to end. 



Corinne~

Drawing To A Close

Where did 2010 go to....it seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we welcomed in 2010 and here we are saying farewell to 2010.   As we are saying farewell to 2010 I have been doing some reflecting on 2010 and for the most part it was a good year...a few bumps along the way but then again what is life without bumps in the road.

There are things I would like to do differently in 2011 and I am going to do my best to achieve these goals.  I am working on setting some resolutions, ones that should be attainable too.

As we draw to a close of 2010 I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and all the best in 2011.  I hope you continue to have good health, lots of love and happiness and don't forgot to stop and smell the flowers along the way.

May you achieve what you aspire and may all your dream come true!

Corinne~

Christmas is coming!

The days are going by faster and faster.....Christmas will be here on Saturday.

Still shopping to do
Butter tarts and shortbread to bake

Going to make a list.....and checkin' it twice
Presents to wrap
and groceries to buy.
Oh my where have the days gone!

Good thing I start my holidays tomorrow.  Going to do more baking tonight and tomorrow, have a list ready for my darling hubby....so he can finish the shopping on Thursday.  Good thing we only need a few stocking suffers and a gift for the dogs....yes we are one of the 70% of people who buy a gift for their pets (okay it is a nice smoked bone for each of them to gnaw on)....even have to get the Grand-dog something too (he needs a kennel, especial if he comes to stay at our house in January while Brittany is away for training in Saskatoon).

Corinne~

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

This weekend my daughter is home for a visit for the weekend when she tells me, "Mom, can you make me an ugly Christmas sweater.  Oh! can you make it light up too....you have till Friday to finish it."  So I respond with well you better get and buy the sweater first and I will see what I can do.  So Saturday her and her dad head off to Value Village and she lucks out and buys a sweater with snowflakes on it....so last night I got her building snowflakes out of sparkly pipe cleaners.  I tell her that I will cut a snowflake out of some white fun fur that we found and pick up some battery operated lights to put in the snowflake and attach that the back of her sweater.  I told her that she isn't giving me much time to come up with ideas to create this sweater but if she wants I do have some Christmas applique stuff that I can dig out for next year......


Corinne~

Forest Service Kids Christmas Party

Yesterday the atrium at our office was the scene of the kids Christmas party.  They had different stations to stop at, cookie decorating, snowball throw, bean bag toss, ice fishing, craft table - older children made a card and the younger children made a Santa using their hand  traced out and coloring/word search.  The highlight of the afternoon was the arrival of Santa.  The kids had sleigh bells that they started to ring and soon Santa appeared with bags of gifts for the kids.

All the little ones were very excited to see Santa......

Many times you see little ones that cry when they are put on Santa's lap.....but yesterday I seen a little one that cried when her mom took her off Santa's lap.



Corinne~

Christmas Decorating

Yesterday my son dug out the Christmas tree and ornaments for me....we were supposed to decorate the tree last night....by the time I got home from our building Christmas Social last night all I wanted to do was watch a bit of TV and go to bed....so that is what I did.  Tonight I plan to get the tree decorated and maybe start getting my Christmas stuff up around the house.  By the end of the weekend my house should look much more festive.

Sometime over the weekend I hope to do up a few cards.....only got 2 Christmas Cards made this year....which is two more than last year.  I was hoping to make my own gift tags this year as well but think that will have to wait till next year too.  I do have a plan for getting more Christmas cards made in 2011.  Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long Blog Hop happens each month and I hope to make at least one Christmas card each month and participate in as many of the hops as I can.  I also hope to make some gift tags throughout the year as well.  I might have a chance of getting ahead of the Christmas rush next year.  I do have a few Christmas Magnolia images colored up now to just make a card....so I figure if I start now I will be ready for the first hop in January.  I really enjoy receiving handmade cards/gifts as I feel that so much more comes with the gift...that is why I want to make more Christmas cards to give as then I am not only giving a Christmas card but I am giving a little bit of me as well.



Corinne~

Whiff of Joy Stamps Advent Calendar

Today marks the start of the Advent Calendar over at Whiff of Joy.  Each day Katharina Frei will post a new card and one lucky person will win the Whiff of Joy stamp or stamps featured on the card, all you have to do is leave a link to your blog on Mr Linky at the bottom of the posting to enter.  A draw for a random winner from those links will be made each day. 

 Be sure to check out Katharina's cards, they are absolutely beautiful. 



Corinne~

Go Riders Go

Tomorrow is East vs West or Montreal Allouettes vs Saskatchewan Roughriders.  It is re-match time it was a year ago that these two teams met in the Grey Cup Game. Last year the Allouettes' won the game in the last play due to a technicality - yes the 13th man was on the field. This year will be a different story...the 13th man will stay where he belongs in the seats cheering the team on.  Our boys in green have come along way in a few short years.  The riders have best fans in the CFL, sell the most gear in the CFL and every home game was sold out this year.  We stand behind our boys no matter what!  Rider Pride lives in Saskatchewan - Strong and Proud.

A co-worker sent me this prayer last week and thought it was fitting to post on the Eve of the Grey Cup.

The Rider's Prayer

Our quarterback
Who art in Edmonton
Darian be thy name
Thy game be done, thy will be WON
In Commonwealth as it was in Mosiac

Give us this game, The Grey Cup Game
And forget about Calgary's whiners
As we forgive those who can't measure up to us
Lead us not into interception
But deliver us from Calvillo

For thine are the Riders
With the Power and the Glory
Forever and ever
Amen !


      GO RIDERS GO       GO RIDERS GO              

  
Corinne~

Joint Effort

Yesterday after work I stopped over at my friend's house to help her with her Christmas Wreath. Brenda and her sister had made this wreath together a few years back around 5 yrs I would guess. Anyways this year Brenda wanted to change it up and asked for my assistance. She picked up some stuff from Canadian Tire and more stuff from Michael's. By the time I got to Brenda's she had taken all the old stuff off the wreath and left the bow which still looked good.

So now it was my turn to take over and make the wreath beautiful again. I started by placing the poinsettia's then some of the greenery and some of the cranberry sprigs and before long it was looking really good. We had to make a quick trip to Canadian Tire for some large pine cones. After being side tracked shopping for Roughrider gear it was back to the house to finish up the wreath. Once I had everything place and we were both happy with the out come we took to the glue gun and permanently assembled things.

Both Brenda and her hubby were pleased with the wreath and both said it looked nicer than the large wreath they seen at Michael's on sale for $165.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.

Close up of the wreath

Corinne~

Pink & Yellow Vintage Tilda

Magnolia-licious has a new challenge blog.  The first challenge started on Nov 9th with the challenge being to make a card using Pink and Yellow on your card.  The Design Team posted some gorgeous inspiration for everyone.  

So I started looking through my stamped images and decided I would make a Christmas card with Pink and Yellow.  So I colored this image up and finished my card last night.  I made a side step card following the instructions that the talented Norma posted on your blog  From My Craft Room with her Fall Is In The Air card (her instructions are at the bottom of her post).

Tilda is colored with Copics, sorry I forgot to write down my colors.  The papers are from my stash.  The white paper that Tilda is popped up on top is designed by myself with snowflakes heat embossed on the cardstock in Holographic.

I now have 2 Christmas cards finished.  I would like to try and make up some gift tags for my family's Christmas gifts.  Time will tell.


To check out all the beautiful cards entered in the Pink & Yellow Challenge head over to Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog by clicking HERE I am sure you will in awe at all the beautiful work.  Each entry is as wonderful as the next.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoyed looking at my 2nd Christmas card.



Corinne~

My Blog Has Attitude Award

This morning I received an email with a surprise in it from my dear friend Caroline in England letting me know that a surprise was awaiting me on her amazing blog angel4031.  Caroline is a very talented lady with the most wonderful cards.  I am blessed to have received 3 of them from her.  So after ogling at her latest card which is gorgeous, by the way.  I kept reading down her blog to find that she has nominated me for an award....WOW what a surprise!  Totally unexpected!

 Now onto the rules of my award I MUST tell you 3 things you may not know about me:
 1.  I love the Twilight series both the books and the movies.  I have read the books 3 or 4 times (I have lost track) and watched the movies at least 3 times each.  I think every woman should have an Edward in their life.
2.  My biggest desire to to travel to Africa for 2 reasons - 1) to go on a Safari and 2) do some mission work
3.  I would love to be a Photo Journalist - Nature photos

I also get to nominate 5 people to receive this award.........so here it goes:
1.   Jacque - She has the most inspiring work on her blog and the best blog candy (I was a lucky recipient not that long ago).
2.   Erika -  My fellow Saskatchewanite.  A very talented lady with lots of inspiring creations.
3.   Lori -  A very talented lady, whose creations inspire me
4.   Christine - Another very talented lady, whose creations inspire me.
5.   Angie -  A very talented lady.  Who has inspired me to try coloring with Distress Inks. 

What can I say these ladies are very inspiring, as are so many others whose blogs I follow but I could only pick to pass this award onto.  These 5 ladies I have nominated have amazing talents.  I check out their blogs daily and am in awe of their work.  They have inspired me in many ways and now that most of our house renovations are done I am finding some time to do up more cards.

Enjoy your award ladies!  If you follow all the directions & visit HERE first you can qualify for a $5 Gift Voucher from Digi's With Attitude!




Corinne~

Farewell Deb!

Today is the day that we bid our last farewell to an amazing co-worker.  Deb is heading east to Ontario to take on the position of District Manager for the Kenora area with the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Our loss is definitely their gain.  Over the last 7 years that Deb has worked with us at Forest Service, she became more than a co-worker but a friend that I will miss dearly.

A while back I was looking over the digital images at KennyK Downloads and this one in particularly caught my eye.  Neither of my girls play hockey but a couple of friends do and I have a cousin that plays.  I knew I had to add Hockey Girl to my collection of digital stamps and that the right opportunity to color her up would come along soon enough. 

Here is what my farewell card to Deb turned out like.

 Hockey girl was colored with Copic Markers on Neenah Cardstock.  Here is a picture of the Copics I used.

KennyK has a wonderful selection of digital images for cards and scrapbooking.  An added bonus is each month he offers up an image for you to download for free.   I am working on a KennyK image for my daughter's birthday card as well.


Corinne~

Learning New Things.......

Today my daughter Brittany and I made cabbage rolls.  Brittany loves cabbage rolls, so I told her that she has to come help roll them if she wants to take some home.  I haven't counted how many we made but I am sure we at least 10 dozen...thinking closer to 15 dozen.  Will have enough for Christmas dinner, Ukrainian Christmas Dinner and a couple of other suppers in between.  Brittany did an awesome job rolling cabbage rolls for her first time....I am sure it is the Ukrainian in her coming out.  

After we were done rolling the cabbage rolls, Brittany made her first batch of stuffing for chicken.  Then she announced that she wanted to make the entire supper and that she did.  She did a great job on her chicken....stuffing was Yummy as was the rest of the supper.  Only thing missing was the cabbage rolls we kept out to cook for supper.  We got so busy with the chicken that we forgot about the cabbage rolls until the last 30 minutes of cooking time left on the chicken.  So Brittany took the cabbage rolls home with her and is going to make them for supper tomorrow.


Corinne~

Back up and running.........

Well after some frustration and time I was able to get my blog back together........it didn't take all the King's men but it did take time....I couldn't devote a straight period of time to fixing it so it took me the better part of the day......

So once I got things back in place decided to add a different floral background that was created by the same person as my last one.  You can check out all the wonderful layouts that Ingrid has head on over to to her blog Cute-bloglayouts. 

I am just glad I was able to get my blog back together as quickly and smoothly as I did.


Corinne~

Frustration

This morning I tried putting a Winter Theme to my blog with snowmen and such and now it is all screwed up.....it will take me a while to get it fixed but I am working on it slowly......please bear with me till it is fixed...thanks for your understanding.


Corinne~

It's Snowing

Well it happened again.....it snowed.  We actually got more snow than expected.....forecast was for a dusting of snow in our area but instead we got SNOW....probably an inch of the sticky white stuff.  The hunters will be thrilled as they can now track their game through the bush.

Driving to work this morning took a bit longer than usual as the highway and grid roads were pure slush.  Everything was going along nicely until I get behind a vehicle that is held up by another going far too slow for the conditions, going under 40 km/h.  My dad's advice came back to mind from when I was first learning to drive that driving too slow is just as much of a hazard as driving too fast.  Those words were also told to me by the SGI Driving Tester when I took my road test in the midst of a Saskatchewan blizzard...I was the only one that showed up that morning and they were willing to let me try and I passed....he words of advise was don't drive too slow as you are as much of a hazard as if you were driving too fast. 

Hopefully our temperatures don't drop too much and freeze as we'll really be in real trouble with ice on the highways. 

I did hear that the snow is expected to melt once again on Wednesday.....we'll see about that.  This could be here for the season.  This snow is prime for snowman making....nice and sticky.


Corinne~

Hockey Girl Sneak Peak

One day I was looking through the digital images on KennyK Downloads and was in awe of all of them.  So many of them went on my wish list and I have purchased a few of them....an added bonus is each month Kenny offers a different digi for free.  One of the images that stood out to me in the All Starz Collection was Hockey Girl.  I don't have a daughter that plays hockey but I do have a few friends and a cousin that play hockey.   So with a few people in mind for a card using the cute image of Hockey Girl I decided to purchase this cute stamp.  Well the opportunity to make a card with Hockey Girl presented it self quicker than I had expected.  So I spent Friday night coloring this cute image from KennyK.

Here is a sneak peak.....

 Now to finish creating the card and it will be ready for the lucky recipient. 

Corinne~

Farwell~

Thursday evening approximately 65 co-workers gathered to bid Farewell to a dear friend and co-worker, Deb Weedon.  Deb is leaving the Ministry of Environment, Forest Service for a position in Kenora Ontario with the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Our loss is definitely their gain. 

The "Woman of the Hour"

Deb will be greatly missed....in one way or another she touched the lives of many of us.  I for one will miss Deb's laughter and humor and chats we have had over the years.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Rod Thompson, Master of Ceremonies
 Also a soft shoulder to lean on in times of need.

 Pat - Deb - Wilf

The Three Musketeers of the Forest Service

 Another shoulder to lean on and cry on if needed.

Penny and Deb sharing a laugh or two

Deb and Brenda - Story Telling

and last but not least a few candid shots from the evening

 And our very own "The Mediocre's" gave a musical tribute to Deb

Deb, we love you and are going to miss you.  We all wish you nothing but the best in the future.  May your life be filled with new adventures, much love and happiness and the best that life has to offer. God Bless you!


Corinne~

Sneaky Tilda

Well I did it, I created my very first Magnolia Christmas card.  After hopping around a few blogs I felt inspired to create a Christmas Card.  I used Sneaky Tilda from the new Magnolia Christmas Collection, I picked her up from Diana over at Magnolia-licious.  I see Sneaky Tilda is currently out of stock and on re-order.

Tilda is popped up on top of torn Mulberry Paper layers. 

A close up of Sneaky Tilda.  

I think Tilda is sneaking out to the Christmas Tree to put her present under the tree....maybe a surprise for mom.

Papers are from my stash and the Poinsettia flowers are from Prima.  I attached the Poinsettia's to the card with brads,  then I put a dollop of glue on the centers of the brads and covered them with Gold micro beads.  Sneaky Tilda is colored with Copics, sorry I forgot to write the colors down.  I trimmed her outfit in Frosted Lace Stickles and a yellow/gold glitter glue on the gift bow.  Tilda is stamped on Cryogen paper with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. 

I entered my card in the following Challenges:
Wild Orchid Challenges - Classic Christmas
Stampavie and More - Christmas
Sir Stampalot - Christmas Traditions

I am very pleased how my card turned out....simple yet elegant.  Thanks for stopping by!



Corinne~

Trick or Treat

Well Halloween has come and gone for another year.  Sunday was a beautiful day for the little ones out trick or treating.  We had 8 visitors at our house.

On Friday 5 of us brave souls dressed up in the spirit of Halloween.  There were even a few of us that had our office areas decorated for the season. 

Hope you enjoy these pictures from our Halloween celebrations at the office on Friday.  By clicking on the pictures you will get to see them better.

Twila, flashed back to the 50's all decked out, even with her "Sweeties" Letterman Sweater

 Deb's flashback was to the 60's when Peace & Love was hip!

Penny's flashback was to days of Witches and Warlocks.

This is the group of Forest Service and other staff in the Forestry Centre Building that dressed up on Friday.  We all had a blast!

Corinne~

Dress Up Friday

With today being the last business day before Halloween, a few of us brave souls decided to partake in the fun of dressing up for Halloween.  We have a witch, a hippie chick, a girl from the 50's saddle shoes and all....I am a pirate and a bountiful one at that - all the jewels I am wearing.  As you seen in my post from the other day the Coffin Treat Box Cards I had made.....well I decided to keep the purple one for myself and give the other 3 to staff members that dressed up whose costumes I really liked.  So this morning I picked the 3 others that were dressed up from the start of the day and gave them their Spook-tacular Coffin Treat Boxes filled with booty from pillaging the local Super Store (I actually paid for the items).  They were all surprised and please with their little gift, then I proceeded to make my way around the office with a cauldron filled with more booty to share with the staff that came as themselves.  Stay tuned for pictures from the day later this weekend or early next week.

Have a Ghoulish Goblin Day!

Corinne~

Coffin Treat Box Cards

While I was browsing through my fall Magnolia Ink magazine I seen a picture of the cutest treat box in the shape of  an old fashioned coffin.  I was intrigued right away and new I wanted to try making one.  So GOOGLE being my favorite search engine I started searching.  Lucky me!  I didn't have to search for long.....Martha Stewart to my rescue (isn't she great).  My mind started swirling with ideas for these Ghoulish treat boxes and Dracula Edwin from the Magnolia collection available from Diana's store Magnolia-licious.  He isn't in stock right now but if you contact Diana and let her know you are interested in ordering him she will do her best to get him for you.   If you would like to try making these ghoulish coffin treat boxes your self click HERE to go to Martha Stewart's site.  The one change I made to my treat boxes is that I lined only the tops and bottoms of the coffin not the sides.  They are really easy to make.

This is going to be a bit of a long post so grab a cup of Java and Enjoy!

Now a look at each one individually

Side Profile

Inside look at both bottom and lid of Coffin

Dracula Edwin is colored with Copic Markers, sorry I forgot to write down the colors I used.  The flowers I used were from Hydrangea's that I picked up on sale at JYSK and the roses were a sale find at Michael's last month. All the flowers are sprayed with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  Bat stickers are from Martha Stewart.  All other embellishments are from my stash.

Don't you love duel purpose a treat box and card in one.  Now to get some treats to fill the Coffins up.  I do like them all but the purple one is my favorite.  Would love to know what you think.



Corinne~

Living Room

When I arrived home after work on Tuesday, my hubby is busy painting the hallway doors.  First coats on the walls in the hallways and living room....WOW does it ever look nice.  Al did a wonderful job painting even tho he hates painting.  Today he hopes to get the second coat of paint on the walls and doors and maybe the first coat on the feature walls. 

On my next trip to Saskatoon I need to hit Home Depot as I found the Shears for my living room there.  The hunt is on for my drapes, lamps and bar light for the living room.  We are also looking for coffee table and end tables as well as an area rug. 

We have made a lot of changes to our house since May....and once we get our over the range microwave in I will have finished pictures of my kitchen. 

It is looking like a completely different house both inside and outside.


Corinne~

More Halloween

Soon the all Hallowed's Eve will be upon us.  The night where witches and ghosts fly about, monsters and vampires lurk in the night, animals scurry about.  Maybe if you are watching closely you will see a witch or two flying through the night sky on their broomsticks.

My office space is decorated with spiders, ghosts, witches, skulls and jack-o-lanterns.  It looks rather nifty if you ask me.  This past weekend I spent some time cutting out casket treat boxes from black cardstock and coloring Halloween stamped images.  Still have to cut out the liner for the caskets top and bottoms and do a bit of decorating on outside top then they will be ready for a few treats to give to a couple of special people.


Corinne~

Arm Chair Coaching

Yesterday afternoon Al and I went over to a friends place to watch the football game with them.  Calgary Stampeders vs Saskatchewan Roughriders in the battle to take first place in the CFL West Division.   The game started out good with the Roughriders taking an early point lead......then it all went to pot in the 3rd Quarter and we lost out in the end 36 to 24 for Calgary.  One of the highlights of the game was that Getzlaf played his best game of this year with five catches for 201 yards and two touchdowns. We are proud of our team and our players even though there are times we wonder what on earth they are thinking.  We'll be wearing our green and white next week with pride and cheering all the way.

My view on what could be improved....get Cates to stop going up the middle each time into the waiting opponents to stop him in is attempt to gain some yards and change it up by going into the clearing.  He has become far to predicable in his moves and all the opposing teams know what he is going to do.  Special Teams need to pick it up too....maybe it is time for a new special teams coordinator, well we think so but the powers that be seem to like things the way they are.  Yes we all like to be Arm Chair Coaches....but I don't think it is an easy job by any means.  We all have our opinions on how things should be.

I am no expert when it comes to football but I do enjoy the game.  Not that I am glad we lost our second straight game at home but it is one we could afford to loose.  We're still in good standing to finish 2nd in the West and battle it out with Calgary once again for the right to represent the West in the 2010 Grey Cup in November.  Now that is the game we can't afford to loose.  We are all hoping they will get it together by Saturday when the meet up with the Edmonton Eskimos and again when these two rivals meet on Nov 6 at home. Then we are into the Semi Finals and Finals...and then the much awaited Grey Cup on November 28th.

GO RIDERS GO

Corinne~

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian family and friends.  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend with loved ones and lots of turkey.

We had our Thanksgiving supper on Sunday evening.  The kids were home.....a good time was had by the family.  We had our first family supper in  our new dining room....now all I need is the dinning room table and chairs.....one day soon.

I have so many things to be thankful for...first and foremost is my loving husband, Al and my 3 children, Michael, Brittany and Meagan and our 2 furbabies, Rocco and Lucy.  My family and friends make my life full, I am blessed to have wonderful relatives and wonderful friends.  My health is good.  I have a job that pays the bills and I like for the most part - I still miss my job with Human Resources as an Employee Administrator but moving to Regina just wasn't an option for me and Al.  There are so many things that I am thankful for that there are too many to list but the one I can't forget to give thanks to is God.  For with out the love and guidence from our Lord God I think I would be lost.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Corinne~

I WON

Wow what a way to take my day from bad to good.  My new email/stamping buddy Caroline pops me a quick email to Congratulate me on my blog candy win.  I have never won any blog candy before and I have entered lots knowing my time will come.  I am thrilled to have won the blog candy offered by Jacque and I don't have any of these items but have some of these things on my wish list. 

Here is what I won!

1 Martha Stewart French Scroll Punch Around the Page Set (New Release)
1 Magnolia Prom Queen Stamp
1 Belles 'n Whistles Little Eden Stamp
1 FlowerSoft Best Fishes Stamp Set
1 Set of Orange Essentials Ribbon
5 bunches of Mulberry Flowers


Corinne~

Bitten....

I do think I have been bitten by the Halloween bug and it seems I am contagious as well.  Today myself and a couple of co-workers headed off to Dollar-Rama on a mission to pick a couple more of the Jack-O-Lantern tealight Candle Holders I have....well of course I couldn't leave the store without picking up a few more things for the office...today was skulls, black roses, a black lantern, a really ugly witch that cackles - oh she is cute, a hand that hangs out of the filing cabinet drawer and a couple of scrapbook pages.  The other girls picked up some items to decorate their areas with as well.  I heading back to Dollar-Rama again tomorrow as after making a couple of  changes in my work area there a couple more things I want to add then I should be good this year... Even picked up what looks like a cast iron witches pot for candies on the last day of work before Halloween.

Not sure where this getting into Halloween has come from.....today we were saying that it might have to do with not having to worry about getting stuff together for the kids...less stress might have something to do with it.

My costume is coming together as well.....definitely in the spirit for Halloween this year!

Corinne~

Bar Hoping

Yesterday Al and I headed off to Saskatoon to get new tires put on our daughter's car after they were slashed last weekend.  Four phone calls later we found a place that had the tires in stock and were able to put them on the rims as well.  One place we called didn't have them in stock, the the other 2 had them in stock but couldn't even entertain the idea of trying to get them on the rims till maybe Monday so A-1 Tire to the rescue.  They were fast hubby was gone maybe 1 hour by the time he was back to put them on the car.  Meagan and I spent some time together watching "Dear John"  good movie while keeping an eye on the football game Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Toronto Argonaughts we left the house it was tie game 10 to 10. 

Once the tires were one we decided to head out somewhere we could have a bite to eat, a drink and watch the game....so off to the Hose we went.  It is bar in an old fire station, very neat place.  So after something to eat and a drink I decided to head off to Michael's to see what I could find.  The only way I get to this store is if I go by myself....hubby and the kids don't like going there.  So I leave Al and Meagan at the Hose thinking they are heading home as soon as they are finished their drinks.  Well Meagan runs home picks up her skates so she can take them to get sharpened.....while they are waiting for her skates...they hit a couple of the local establishments on Broadway for a drink.  Meagan and Al had a wonderful afternoon together as did I at Michaels.  I actually beat them back to Meagan's place.  As I was going to dig out her spare key I could hear people walking up the sidewalk and figured I bet that is them....sure enough they came around the corner laughing and chatting. 

Oh ya the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the football game.....YEAH!!!


Corinne~

Autumn Is Upon Us

Well according to the calendar we are into Autumn, but the last few days have felt more like early summer than autumn.  We didn't have much of a summer this year if you can call what we had summer.  It is like we are the area that Summer forgot.  The weather has been a blessing to the farmers, many are now able to get out and harvest what is left of their crops....some were able to seed this spring, some not so lucky....and those that did get seeded some drowned in all the rain and some survived the wet cool growing season. 

This morning waking up it just felt more like Autumn to me, maybe it is because today is Oct 1st.  Next week will be Thanksgiving.  My kids will all be home for supper on Sunday and Meagan and Michael will be home for the weekend.  Turkey is in the freezer....need to bake some pies this week - pumpkin and apple, pick up a turnip (can't have Thanksgiving supper with out turnips) and all the other fixings needed.  Maybe I will even have a dinning room table for our feast....we'll see what we find this weekend...if not our old kitchen table will suffice.

Thanksgiving weekend will be busy...with the kids coming home, attending a wedding on Saturday, cooking a big supper on Sunday and relaxing on Monday.

Corinne~

It's Coming...........

Only 32 days till Halloween....hard to believe that it will be here in a blink of an eye.  Soon the night will be filled with monsters, and witches, vampires and werewolves, ghost and goblins, all in the quest for the ultimate candy find.   Yesterday I had some time on my hands after work so I headed off to Value Village.....it was almost as if it was beckoning me - "Corinne......come to Value Village....we have Halloween Costumes and accessories" They already have all their Halloween stuff out.  This year for some reason I can't explain I am rather looking forward to Halloween.

I was amazed at all the things Value Village has in stock for Halloween...spotted a cute pair of glittery devil horn barrettes (they are really cute)....and spotted some awesome wings from angelic to devilish to butterflies and fairies....Oh the ideas started to swirl about in my head like little pieces of candy corn.  I haven't dressed up at work in many years but this year I plan to do just that...not dress up all fancy for work but to dress up in a costume of some kind.  What should I be....a Witch, a Vampire, the Bride of Frankenstein, a clown (too boring), a mermaid - no none of those but after walking the isles of Halloween costumes and accessories I came up with an idea and ran with it.   Yes I know what I shall be but I'm not telling! Nana Nana Boo Boo  Yes I left Value Village with a bag in hand of items for my costume...still have a few more things to gather.  I am hoping by the end of next week I will have of my costume together.

I dug out my few decorations that I have at the office for Halloween.  I do think I need a few more things....so off to SuperStore and the Dollar Store after work today to check things out and see what I can find.  Can't explain why but I am in the Halloween mood this year.  I Even ordered a couple of Halloween Magnolia Stamps from Diana's store Magnolia-licious.  I might even get a couple of Halloween cards done up this year.

muhahahahahaaaa

Corinne~

Early Morning Hours

Last night Al and I hadn't been home for more than 15 minutes when the phone rang....it was about 1:30am.  When ever my phone rings in the early hours of the morning my heart skips a beat and falls straight to the pit of my stomach.  I think I worry too much about my kids sometimes.  hehe

Anyways is it was our daughter Meagan....this is the second week in a row that she has called home in the early hours of the morning.  Turns out that her tires on her car were slashed last night along with all the vehicles on her street.  Both tires on the drives side of her car were slashed.  She came home to find a note on her car from the City Police as did every other car owner on the street find the same card and note.  The police were letting everyone know that this incident had been reported to the police along with a case file number. So I guess next week we'll be off to Saskatoon to get new tires put on her car.  She is filing a claim with SGI on line today crossing our fingers that vandalism is covered. 

Good thing Meagan takes the bus all week and doesn't need her car and very rarely drives it on the weekends.  Unfortunately her room mate is not so lucky and needs his car every day to get to and from work and to his night classes.

Even though my heart hits the pit of my stomach when I get calls in the wee hours of the morning I am glad that my children remember that they can call home any time of the day and we'll do what we can to help them....even if it means getting up at 2:30 in the morning and picking them up because they have had a few drinks and don't want to get behind the wheel or take a cab to a stay with a friend...they just want to come home Or getting up at 5am and picking them from their friends place because the are not feeling well and just want to come home.

Happiness

.......something we all experience some more than others so I've heard.  Every now and then something I see or something that happens makes me reflect on the things that make me happy.  Today one of the things that made me happy was to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders win Saturday's football game against the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Some of the things that make me happy!

• My family - my loving husband and my three wonderful kids
• Memories of my dad - sometimes it makes me sad as I wish he was still here so I could sit with him over a cup of tea and discuss life in general.
• Memories of my grandparents - they were the best grandparents I could have asked for, especially my Grandma Gardner - a wonderful lady that I think of every day.
• My extended family - aunts, uncles and cousins - they have impacted my life in many ways
• My friends - old and new friends they help make us who we are today
• My fur babies - Rocco and Lucy - my most faithful companions who great me after work everyday with so much joy and love and genuine  happiness to just see me walk through the door
• My job - yes my job makes me happy.....I go to work Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:30am.....I really miss my Human Resources job but I am grateful to have the job I have today and some wonderful co-workers.  Some that are dear friends too...and time spent with them is important to me.
• Having the freedom to make choices 
• Having hobbies - photography, scrapbooking/stamping/card making, stained glass, along with others
• Filling in blanks in the family tree and being able to research the family lines back a few hundred years
• Above all the most important thing that makes me happy is the guidance I get from our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are many other things that make me happy from the little things in life to the big things.  There are far too many things to list here.  It never hurts to reflect on things that make us happy and fullfill our lives with love, joy and peace.

Kitchen Reno Pictures

After a long wait I am posting some photos from our kitchen renovations.  I still don't have photos of the cupboards as we still have to get glass put into a couple of doors and buy the microwave/range hood for above the stove.  Once I have those I will take more pictures and post them for you all to see.

As for the dining room we still need a light fixture and a dining set.  So once we have those in place I will post pictures of those as well.

The other thing we have to do is get the base boards and window moldings.  That should happen within the next few weeks.

Enjoy the pictures!

 BEFORE

 Taken from my living room

Taken from in front of my kitchen sink

Looking from the kitchen sink to where the dinning room will be.

DURING

Taken from the corner where my pantry will stand

Al taking out the flooring that my grandparents put in back in 1980

Looking from the kitchen entrance into our new porch

Looking from where my pantry will stand down to the corner where the sink will go

Same location as above

The new stair well.  This used to be closed off completely with a door to access the stairs

Paint is up on the walls. 

Taken from the doorway into the kitchen from the porch

Taken from the dining room.

Lucy had to sneak into the photo too!

Looking into the dining room and feature wall in the kitchen

Taken from the corner by where the sink will be.

Lucy didn't want to miss out on another photo op!

Dining Room.

Looking into the porch from kitchen entrance

Hope you enjoyed the little tour around my new kitchen and dining room.  I haven't taken any after pictures of the cupboards up yet as we still haven't installed the over the range microwave....hoping this weekend or next!  I now have the glass doors in for our feature cabinet.