mad skillz

While at the Craft Fair a couple of weeks ago, Kaedo decided he wanted to do some paintball war games pictures. I have a fondness for stick people so I just love these drawings. These are simulation paintball wars and he has added in all the extra landmines etc for effect. Innocent fun for a Sunday afternoon. These are definitely going in his school years book.

week 10

Week 10 and they are posing in the rain. Thankfully that part of the porch is covered or I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to get them outside. Special treat this week - that cute dog of ours just had to get in the picture. We had a couple of outtakes on this one - trying to stop it from looking like Ketchup had eaten Kaedo's head! We finally got a good one and when I looked at it, Gnomee wasn't even in the picture! Needless to say, we had to take another. Kaedo's hair looks brutal but they are both so cute that it doesn't matter.

We are slowly getting organized for Christmas. My desk downstairs has quite a collection of gifts. Many of them small, but all purchased with care. I am looking forward to having a wrapping party with the boys as they have to wrap their own. May use bags for the adults, but the girlies will all get paper. Ripping it off is almost as fun as receiving the gift.

As of now, all our Secret Santa gifts have been bought and the boys have bought for each other and Kaedo has shopped for Craig. It is amazing what even a year does. The boys weren't so panicked this year about staying right to the "mandatory" limit. In all cases they went over and were happy to do so. For those who don't know - the boys spend $20 on each other, completely of their own money money. They also out of their own money spend $10 each on Craig and I and $5 for their Secret Santa gift. Many years we match the $10 and they go in together but this year they seem to have things well in hand. They start counting their pennies in Sept/Oct to make sure they have enough spending money and shopping money.

I know people say Christmas is for little kids but I must say I enjoy it very much with my teenagers. They are involved, fun, excited and don't get up at 5am.

1154

Yup - that's how many posts I have written. Yikes!

All is well here. Yesterday went really well and I was happy with my success and Craig was happy with football, and Kaedo with soccer. Sterling was just bored.

Today has been filled with calls from afar, Christmas shopping, watching football, playing video games and reading books.

The week is shaping up to be another busy one. I have 5 customs to do, a group on Monday, two on Tuesday and one on Thursday. I`ll be grouped out by Friday.

Craig is in the kitchen on a little bit of a tangent about the kids and chores. I totally agree with him but there is no speaking to him right now.

Kaedo is dreading going back to school tomorrow where he must face his nemesis - his science teacher.

Sterling is back talking his dad so he has been invited to go to bed.

As you can see, all is normal in our world.

Calm before the.....

..... hopefully storm. Another show tomorrow. I am participating in a Customer Appreciation event and am hoping to sell some hats. I made 16 this week, so hopefully most will go. Like my mom said - "at least you'll know which ones people don't like". She's absolutely right, if I have hats from last week still left over tomorrow night then I'll know what not to make again.

So, just a few shots of this weeks hats. I promise - not too many more of these posts.

Special thanks to Jessica and Kelly who both passed my Facebook page along to friends and I got some custom orders due to that. You guys rock.

the weekend

The weekend went great. I sold all but 6 of my hats so Kaedo and I were really happy. These pictures are from set-up night on Friday and show the selection of hats I had for sale. As you can imagine, the table looked quite sparse with only six hats left on it. I tried on a lot of hats for people so they could see what they looked like on. We also had mirrors available so people could try them on themselves. I was surprised at how many did that. It was cool to see my hats on other people. All is all it was a lot of fun and definitely something I would do again. Now back to the grind for this weekend.

Sorry the blogging has been sparse but I have been so busy. Thanks for sticking around.

week 9

The weather is beautiful and the sun is shining. We're not missing any of that Alberta wind. The boys are doing well. Sterling had a classmate here yesterday until 8pm working on a project and I think Kaedo is still recovering from his weekend. Back on schedule this week which includes a return to soccer. He is looking forward to that. The weather is still nice enough to be biking so we'll see if Sterling gets his tire pumped up and gets out there. Craig is playing in the "toilet bowl" for the crummy teams in football, on Saturday and I'm doing another craft event. I am furiously crocheting trying to get enough done for the weekend. All my custom orders from the show are complete and sent or delivered, so now it is actual product to sell that needs to be completed. Wish me luck. My hips hurt from sitting so much!

First Day Jitters

Well, day one is over and I can't thank Kaedo enough for all his hard work. He was awesome. After barely sleeping last night, I was up early ready to go. Too early, if truth be told. It was a fun day. It started off slow and that was scary but it picked up and we sold 14 hats and got 2 custom orders and some other possibles. All in all I was happy with our day and hope to do as well tomorrow. Totally bagged now so I will keep this short. Thanks everyone for your kind words and wonderful encouragement.

a smile for you

Something to bring a smile to your face. Kaedo and I found this in a bag of pretzels. We didn`t break any pieces off. It`s a perfect heart. SOOOOO cool.

week 8

The weather is still mild although I hear we may get some snow on Thursday. I`m hoping not. Yuck. It is supposed to be nice for the weekend and the boys are counting on that as they want to spend some serious time at the skate park. I think we may be going back to our hippie family roots if these haircuts are any indication. We measured the kids on Monday night and Sterling is 5`7 and Kaedo is about 5`4. Yikes. Must stop feeding them!

the aftermath

Sterling had a wonderful 14th birthday - thanks to everyone who called and texted - he was thrilled.

He went to school in the morning and I picked him up at lunch and we went for fish and chips. After lunch I took him back to school where he got all his "birthday beats" and "pinches". His name was even in the announcements.

After school I picked up him and Kaedo and his friend and we had slurpees and then headed home for some serious video gaming. We had supper - homemade pizza and tater tots (I did not pick the menu) and cake and then we took his friend home at 8:30pm. He had a wonderful day and just loved every part of it. I'm so thrilled we could give him a great day.

Blowing out the candles

card from us (with $25) - we had already put over $200 into his bike but I wanted him to have a little something today. After all it was his special birthday.

Pre-paid Mastercard, given to him by his friend C. He was thrilled!

His hideous cake - chocolate sour cream cake does not transfer well into a white chocolate cake. In my defense - HE LOVED IT!

I bought a balloon animal kit at Dollarama and the kids had a blast building dogs and popping balloons.

I decorated the house as a surprise. He loved it.

First picture of being 14. Usually he looks half asleep so this time he gave me the `wild eyes`.

It was truly a wonderful day and I was so glad that we were able to provide him with a small but fun party and a day full of smiles. He deserved it.

14

At 7:31pm Alberta time today Sterling was born. The first grandchild on both sides of the family. We were so excited, so scared, so overwhelmed. So in love. We had this beautiful sweet boy that belonged to us, that at that time, made our life complete. Little did we know it would be another 18 months before our true family was complete.

Sterling was an amazing child and has grown in to an exceptional young man. He is polite, kind, generous, he holds doors open for others, says please and thank you, and gives us very little hassle in the teenager department. He rocks, so absolutely!

Today he and I will be having lunch together and after school he is having a friend over for a birthday supper of home made pizza and tater tots ( I did not choose the menu) rounded off with vanilla cake and french vanilla ice cream.

He will not be going to Joyride this weekend as we just can`t swing it. We wish we could but he understands our circumstances. We have promised him a delayed party through the Christmas break so he can head to Joyride with his buddies for the day. He accepts that and for that I am eternally grateful.

Our son taught us how to love unconditionally. He taught us true love, giving with your whole soul and loving beyond measure. He is amazing and loving and beautiful and all the things I had ever hoped my child would grow up to be.

SO - happy 14th birthday Sterling! I love you - more than you`ll ever know.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our sweet nephew Caleb - we hope you have a great day. We love you.

Busy weekend - sort of

It's 9:15 and we are pretty much ready for our weekend to start. Kaedo is eating Froot Loops, waiting to go to soccer, Sterling is already at the skate park with his buddies, Craig is getting ready for football, I have been working on a collage for Sterling's birthday to post here and we are just trying to figure out what we will be doing this weekend. I know I have a cake to bake, a house to decorate, a card to make, hats to crochet and details for next weeks show to iron out. I'm excited and nervous and anxious all at once.

Craig will be watching football and doing the few little chores we have around the yard to get completed. The boys will no doubt be playing video games as that is what the cool weather brings out.

Aside from that we are just taking it easy as we know this will be a busy weekend coming up. It's now the calm before the storm.

Have a great weekend.

school pix

Just got this years school pix and here they are. Sterling in grade 8 and Kaedo in grade 7. They are growing up so fast. I'm shocked Sterling didn't wear his pac-man shirt for the picture. Must have been dirty. Will be figuring out who gets what in the next few days and sending them out to you. We got the base package so there aren't too many photos.

Happy Remembrance Day to all. I will be spending some time at the school today watching Kaedo in his school play. He really wants me to come, so go I shall. Aside from that I have hats, hats, hats, a husband home and some school council work that needs to be done today.

The weather is beautiful here and we are enjoying this beautiful Fall. Hope the weather is cooperating wherever you are.

New Hats

Here are a few of my new hats from this past week. I really love the green one. I have a preference for the earflap hats. I don't think too many other people do but I love them. I am taking part in the Eastdale Fall Fair in Oshawa next weekend (Nov 19 and 20th) and I am hoping to sell out. I know that won't happen but I'm hoping. Right now I have 19 hats ready to go and one scarf and I'm hoping to have 30 by next weekend. We have a lot we need to do between now and then like print business cards, make our signs, finalize the logo we will be using and buy the covers for the table. We also need to make up our raffle box and the little papers for that. We have the custom order forms done, and I've got my list together of all the things I need. Now all I need is the time to do it.

I'm taking a poll here on the old blog - should I wear a hat at the fair or not?????

Let me know your thoughts!

week 7

Week 7 and the weather is awesome. You would never guess we are into November. The boys are doing great and are still biking and scootering. Kaedo is even still practicing outdoors. Craig and I are looking forward to spending the day together on Friday as he is not working and the boys will be in school. After the last month of barely seeing him I am looking forward to getting the chance to spend some one on one time. I sound like a whiny kid, don't I?

For now I think the blog will be a little sparse as I am crocheting madly trying to get enough hats together for the show next weekend. The store where I sell my stuff has asked for more inventory and a supply of baby hats as well, so I have been furiously trying to get some done for them. Right now I think I could crochet in my sleep. I have lots of new ones to show and will post them here and on facebook. Now that I've said blogging will be a little light, I'm bound to find a way to write something every day. It always works that way with me.

Fall Leaves

On Saturday afternoon I voluntold the boys that they were going to help me bag the leaves on the front lawn. I had already raked them, I just wanted them to help me put them in the bags. Once Kaedo saw that there was a big pile of leaves, no clean up could be continued. He jumped a few times, and Sterling raked them back into a pile (all the while whispering to me "can you imagine all the bugs in those leaves?") and once he got cold, he went in and put on a jacket and pants and came out and jumped some more. Here are a few of the action shots I caught. Once he was done playing, we got all the leaves scooped into the bags. Then of course we came out yesterday morning to another pile of leaves that need to be raked. I think I'll wait until the tree is bare and do it all at once.

And so it begins

Soccer resumes this morning with split indoor/outdoor practices. They will practice all winter getting ready for the Spring and the start formal start of the season. This is a big commitment for all of us but Kaedo loves it and there are no 6am practices in a cold arena, so all is good.

Craig has already left for football - the last regular season game. He had to ref at 8 and play at 9:30am. I'm sure with the Fall weather there is a lot of Under Armour being worn.

Sterling is busy with his computer and hopefully will get the option to go biking this afternoon. Not too many biking days left.

I got a call on Thursday from the store that was carrying my hats asking for more as they had sold most of the original bunch. Yay. Unfortunately that sets me back a bit in my crocheting for the craft show in a few weeks. We figure if I can crochet two a day, I'll be good. In my quest to do this I have spent a lot of time talking to my mom and sister as well as watching crazy daytime tv. I'm just thrilled my hats are a hit!

Not too much else going on this weekend. We have our four free passes to the movies still, so we may go to the show tomorrow, but aside from that it's just hanging out and hookin'. haha

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was a bit of a gong show. We had big plans to go to the movies as no one was trick or treating. We heard from Craig mid-afternoon and he advised that he wasn't going to be home until 8pm. So a new plan was made and Kaedo decided he really did want to go out halloweening. So, at 6:30pm, we joined the neighbors and made a loop around our neighborhood picking up treats. The kids had a blast, no coats were needed and K and I had a nice chat while we were walking. Sterling didn't want to dress up so he just walked along with us. I think this may be the last year as this is the costume Sterling wore when he was 5 and it still fits Kaedo - barely. Kaedo only got a small bag of peanut candies and tons of chips and other treats. He was happy with his stash and I noticed him putting a box of Smarties in his lunch bag this morning.

week 6

Week 6 and light jackets are still in the wardrobe. Our weeping mulberry hasn't dropped all it's leaves yet and only one morning of needing to scrape. I am crossing my fingers for a long Fall. The boys are doing good and are enjoying life right now. Kaedo is anxious for soccer to start on Saturday, Sterling is still biking and Craig is still playing football. The computers are in use by the kids for hours a day, if they are allowed and we're just waiting for Craig's work to get back to normal so we can hang out together some more.

Saturday - a bit out of order

Saturday morning Kaedo headed out with Craig to his football game and so it was just Sterling and I. I wanted to go to a big craft fair in Oshawa and Sterling decided to join me for some "recon". Our priority was to scope out the competition in the hat department. From what we could see, there was no real competition. The hats I have created are much different than those we saw and Sterling was not very impressed with the ones we saw. (awww - always in mom's corner).

So, now I can announce that I will be participating in the Eastdale Fall Fair on Nov 19 and 20th. This is my first craft show in 10 years. I know it's 10 because I was in the hospital last time I did a show. 10 years seems to be my cycle, I guess. I'm very nervous but excited and hope all goes well and we sell a lot. I have two little worker bees who want to join me, so they will be honing their selling skills. I'm very nervous but looking forward to it. Nowadays, I'm busy "hookin" like crazy.

Sunday

Sunday found us to be very busy indeed. Sterling and Kaedo were up bright and early to head to the skate park with their buddies. They finished there and I picked them up about 12:30pm. We stopped and picked up the flowers for GG and headed home for quick showers. At 1:45pm we headed out to the Manor and spent two hours with GG celebrating her 101st birthday. Sterling had the brilliant idea to bring his computer so that GG and Baba could Skype. I was so impressed with his kindness and thoughtfulness. So they got to Skype and we enjoyed a fun afternoon.

Craig didn't join us but he had a good excuse. He was invited to the Bud Zone at the Buffalo Bills vs Washington Redskins NFL game at the Rogers Centre. His friend had four free passes and he invited Craig to join him. He had a wonderful time and got home at about 8:30pm.

All in all it was a fun day for all of us. Hope you had a happy Sunday.

PS - A special birthday wish going out to Kelly, my Brother in law. Hope you had a wonderful day on the 30th.