No Santa!!!!

In the spirit of the Christmas season fast approaching here is my favourite photo of the season so far!!!

 Poor Liam!  Clay & I decided to surprise the kids and take them out to Ruthven Nursery Center to see Santa Clause.  We stopped to pick up the boys Aunt Cherika, hot coffees and timbits, and off we went!  Noah was super excited for our surprise excursion, and chattered away the whole 40 minutes (Poor Cherika, she was in the back of the truck with the boys!)  Anyway, when we got there, Noah took one look and Santa, and said No!!! and hid behind Clay.  I took Liam over, dropped him on Santas lap and took a photo as fast as I could!!! All he said was "help Mama!" .  Santa then handed Liam a Candy Cane and let him pick and ornament off the tree.  Well once Noah saw that, he decided to go up to Santa, and offer him a high five in return for some candy and an ornament!  When we were done, we headed back out to the truck and that's when Noah started to cry....we wanted to buy me a sparkly ornament....so Clay took him back into the store to pick one out.  Well, he ran back out to the truck, proud as a peacock, and handed an ornament to me and one to Aunt Cherika!  He picked out a beautiful sparkly glass stack of presents for me, and a glittery aqua high heel for Cherkia!  We all had fun that day!

Check Out My Ride!

Every year during mid August, my hubby takes the trailer and heads out to Thunder Bay for work. The company he works for goes out into the bush and sprays the cut blocks.  Clay is the engineer/DOM so he is on site to fix the helicopters.  Usually he is out there for 4 weeks or more (did I mention a bear came into our camp one night and bumped our trailer!!!!) So anyway, this was the year Noah & I went with him for 2 of the weeks. Did I also mention that there was no cell/internet service? Gasp! I know... but we did have a satellite phone for emergencies! In this photo Clay was using the forklift to pull the trailer over to our truck!

I used Studio Calico's Glee Club Kit and Add On Kits - Pep Squad & Debate Team

Quiet Time

This is my favourite time of the day!  The unfortunate thing with it, is that Noah is now 3 and starting to get out of his naps, Liam on the other hand......he just falls asleep wherever...... I was sitting at my dining room table scrapbooking when I looked over and saw the boys, and thought, I better snap a photo of this, it would be great to scrap!

I used Studio Calico's Sept Kit - Glee Club and Add On Kits - Debate Team & Pep Squad

Liam's Backyard Adventure

What a fun day this was!  Daddy had Noah & Liam out in the backyard while he was raking leaves. The boys had so much fun.  They were  running around chasing the dogs, jumping in the leaves and playing with the digger trucks!  Liam  was using his bubble lawnmower to cut the leaves, then jumping on the toy tractor and putting the scoop down to put the leaves into. Everyone was so sad to come in that night (including me, because thats when my scrapbook time ended!).......

I used Studio Calico's September Kit - Glee Club and 2 Add On Kits - Pep Squad and Debate Team

Queen For A Day

This was a fun day!  Clay, the kids and I went and picked up my brother Davids girlfriend Cherika and off we travelled through the countryside to our secret destination to surprise the kids!  We took them to Ruthven Garden Center were we met up with Aunt Sue & Uncle Ken.  The reason for trip was to see Santa and pick out an ornament........Santa - not a big hit (thats another photo & another story) but picking out ornaments was lots of fun!  I found a crown! And as far as I`m concerned, every mom needs one!

For this layout I used Studio Calico`s Kit - Glee Club and Add Ons - Debate Team & Pep Squad

Cards

These are just a few cards that I made with the scraps I had left after killing my Studio Calico November Kit.  They are pretty basic, and maybe I`ll do something more to them later, but for now this is what I came up with......If you have any ideas, tips or suggestions, pleases feel free to let me know as I would love to hear your comments!

Molly

This is a super quick layout I 

did using scraps left from my

 November Studio Calico Kit - Handmade....

I used some twine for the banner, 

and inked the edges of 

the flags with Prima Chalk Ink in Blue Jay.  

The Heart is from my new layer heart punch (which I absolutely adore).

I painted the borders with my Mister Huey`s Bonny Blue 

and the splatters are from my Mister Hueys Piglet

Why So Blue?

My sad little Noah....We were out having a picnic on a sleeping bag in the backyard, and you had this super sad face........but it didn't last for long!  After you and daddy finished eating you both played on the sleeping bag, and then later you fell asleep with your baby, and napped under the huge maple trees!  

I inked the edge of the paper with Prima Chalk Ink - Farmers Jeans. 

 I also added the heat embossed cloud stamped shapes that a friend sent me! (Thanks!!!)

I used my Sew Easy and hand stitched the blue zigzag. 

 I painted the JBS chipboard letters with Mister Hueys Bonny Blue 

and the ? with Mister Hueys Lemonade.

I made this layout using Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add On - Thimble

Broke Helicopter

Here is another photo  I came across of Noah from 2009! He is about 10 months old in this photo.  We decided we would surprise Clay at work for lunch that day.  I loaded up Noah and our dog Molly in the truck, and off we went on the hour long drive to the hanger to see daddy!  Noah was so excited when we got there, because he loves helicopters as much as his daddy! He got to sit in the chopper Clay was fixing and had a blast.  I remember he was so upset when we had to leave.....  Fast forward to today - Noah is now 3 and just as much of a gear head as his dad!  All he still wants to do, is fix things with Clay!

I used Prima Chalk Ink in Cold Ice to ink the left side, 

then added a few brads to finish it off

I used the EK Success Layering Heart Punch for the heart. 

 I used my Mister Hueys to paint the chipboard alpha's

I inked the edges of the papers with the Prima Chalk Ink 

and added some blue gems to give it a pop!

I made this layout using Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add On Kit - Thimble

Our Front Porch

This is a photo I came across from the summer of 2009.  I just love my big pink Martha Washington Geraniums and lime green Creeping Jenny trailing out of the big pots! I love sitting on the step with my coffee in the morning surrounded by all the fabulous colours & I love sitting on this porch with Clay at night when the stars are out, and the street is quiet and dark and the cicadas are singing. This photo brings me happy memories.

I used my leftovers from Studio Calico's November Kit Handmade and add on Thimble.  

Papa & his Boys!

I think that this is my favourite photo of my Dad and the boys!  They all have nice smiles and none of them are acting goofy!  This was from Halloween night.  Papa was working, so after trick or treating with Meemaw (aka my mom) we packed the boys up into the truck and brought them over to Papa's store to visit!  

 The banner was made using a Maya Road chipboard shape, then stamped with the new Prima Chalk Ink.  I then stamped the date with my Smash Date Stamp and then covered in Glossy Accents! The word "BOYS" was made by using JBS Alpha that I painted with a mix of Mister Hueys then drew on with a black pen.

 The border was first drawn with black pen and then I painted over it using Mister Hueys Bonny Blue.

This page was made using Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add On - Thimble

I Adore You

This is a photo I came across of Noah when he was about 9 months old.  Look at that toothy smile! I absolutely adore you!

This is another layout made with Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add On - Thimble.  I hand painted the leaves using 2 different Mister Hueys Spray Inks.

Night Fishing

So, anyone who has been to northern Ontario knows, that come dusk in the summer, watch out for the mosquitoes! They come out in droves!  Unfortunately Clay & Noah came back from fishing in the middle of this!  I got called down to the dock, to take a photo of Noah and his fish, but the mosquitoes were biting so bad, I was jumping and swatting every which way that I was having a heck of a time taking the photo.  Basically, I just started clicking, and hoped for the best!

This layout was made using Studio Calico's November kit - Handmade and Add On - Thimble.  I used Mister Hueys in White to spray the background.  And I used Prima Chalk Ink in Farmers Jeans on the Maya Road Chipboard Banner, then stamped it with may Smash Date Stamp, and covered it in Glossy Accents.

I Love This Boy

My little fisherman! Noah, you look so cute in your fishing hat! Just like your daddy!

Once again here is another layout using Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add On Kit - Thimble.  I painted the border with Mister Hueys Bonney Blue and around the Heart with Piglet

Wild & Free

This was such a fun evening....It was June and about 114F with the humidex and our central air died!  Murphy's Law.  So thankfully we had the trailer parked out at the hanger where Clay works.  I packed up the boys and off we went.  The hanger is in the middle of nowhere, so it was nice that the boys could just run  wild & free in the fields!  

This layout was made using Studio Calico's November Kit Handmade and Add On - Thimble

Summer Days

Noah & I out on the fishing boat this summer........I love summer days!  We were on vacation in Temagami Ontario, approx 10hrs from home.  We had so much fun.  It was so exciting for Noah because daddy taught him how to fish! Noah caught so many fish, he had a blast, and he was so proud to show me that he could do it all on his own! Liam on the other hand was still to small, but he still had lots of fun just going for boat rides!  In this photo we are on the boat heading back from a picnic we had on a remote part Rabbit Lake.  Aunt Sue & Uncle Ken took their boat with Lizzie (the puppy) and we took ours.  I remember this day clearly because Aunt Sue and I were floating out in the lake on our pool noodles while the guys were BBQ lunch, when I kicked my feet up and noticed I had a bunch on tiny leaches between my toes...Eek!!! Enough said!

This layout was made using Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade along with Add On Kit - Thimble

Good Times

This was a fun afternoon....My dad (aka Papa) showed up with cookies for Noah and 2 slices of pumpkin pie, one for me and one for him.  Those of you who know my youngest son Liam, know that he only eats oatmeal....sigh.....so anyway, back to the story.  The boys were super excited to see Papa, and there was a big "digger truck" (aka toddler talk for excavator) across the street from us working on a busted sewer line, so we sat out in the driveway on the tailgate of our truck so the boys could watch.  Noah sat there eating his cookies, and Papa was getting ready to eat his pumpkin pie, when Liam started to eye it, so Papa gave him a taste....Well that was it, he was hooked.  He sat there and ate 2 pieces of the pie while watching the digger.  This was pure heaven for the boys!  What a fun afternoon.

I used Studio Calico's November Kit - Handmade and Add on - Thimble.  I painted the JBS Font stickers "times" with my Mister Huey's Bonney Blue.