Favourite Photo Friday

In the hopes of being [a bit] more regular at posting (since I can pre-post these),

AND since I have a ton of favourite photos,

I thought I'd move this idea from Memory Monday to Favourite Photo Friday

(plus I like alliterations).

So here goes:

This is a favourite because, like the previous one, it is one that I don't think I have ever seen. It is one that was recently converted from a bunch of slides we found.

Oh the memories of childhood.

It is my sister and I at Hawkeye Camp.

The camp was owned by my grandparents and was sold before I was a teenager.

We didn't get a lot of time up there but it was one of my favourite places to go.

I love the tube top that I am wearing - and that we could at that age.

Can you believe we were putting baby oil on?

I remember the canvas that was everywhere - on all the paths to get to the buildings and even in the water to protect our feet. I often wish that we had that at our current cottage.

I am currently putting all of the photos that we have of this camp into a photo book.

I can't wait until it is done!

Memory Monday - Favourite Photo

Welcome to another Memory Monday! It is an opprotunity to dive into the past, dig up some memories and record them in some way. Since I am doing less scrapbooking these days the blog is a great format to keep the memory keeping flowing. TFL!

I am attempting to catch up on some of the prompts from LOAD Past Prefect from February that I missed. Prompt #2 was to talk about a favourite photo.

I recently acquired a number of slides from my childhood and was able to get them digitized through Scan Digital. Most I had never seen before. They have been a lot of fun to look at though!

I love this one as it gives a little glimpse into my childhood.

I love that in this photo I look a lot like Mitchell.

I love that there is a freaky version of Ronald MacDonald on the wall - Melissa would LOVE that! And is that a sideways clown on the left? What is with that? Also, did we eat at MacDonald's a lot?

I love that a lot of the toys look like they were handmade. Knowing my mother and that I was a preacher's kid, they probably were.

I love how products have changed over the years - most likely this crib is totally outlawed and my head could have most liekly fit through the bars a few months earlier.

I love that I found this photo.

Memory Monday - Who I Am Now

Welcome to another Memory Monday - an opportunity to take a look into the past and record some memories.

I'm attempting to follow along with some of the prompts for LOAD Past Perfect - some that I didn't actually scrapbook or record during the month of February. For Prompt #3 the discussion was Who I Am Now. Did I become who I thought I would? What could I compare and contrast? Can I think of a specific example - for instance before and after kids?

Today I thought I'd look at careers and goals and what has happened along the way.

Back in elementary school my main aspirations were to be a teacher or an airline stewardess. How did that work out? Well in many ways I am a teacher. I could go way off on one tangent and discuss how mothers are teachers and while I completely agree with that, that is not exactly my focus for today. I took Childhood Studies at university and immediately started working within my field - working with kids with special needs in group homes. I then transitioned to the Early Years Center. At this time I decided to go back to school for my Resource Teacher certificate. This worked out really well with the job I had as I was able to go in the evening and also incorporate my work co-op within my current job. When my course finished I was able to immediately get a job within the same organization. I worked as a resource teacher within the nursery school setting until Marlee was born. Whenever possible I tried to incorporate the inclusiveness philosophy while still teaching as the other teachers would. After Marlee was born I went back to work part time to the early years center. After a year or so we ran into budget constraints and it was also apparent that it was time for me to be home full time. This has worked well and I continued to volunteer teach within the church setting under safe church and also preschool.

If I look back I think it is probably safe to safe that teaching in some form is in my blood. It may not always be in a formal setting but I have found that I am not one to sit idly in a group and be quiet. As much as I want to be quiet, I always find myself talking about my experiences, sharing what I'm learning and in some ways teaching.

As for an airline stewardess? Well obviously that has not come to be. Even remotely. I can definitely say that I love to travel though. The main reason that I wanted to be a stewardess was to travel and see the world. I think we can say that I am doing my best in this area. I do love to travel and my goal is always to see someplace different whenever possible. Of course there are lots of places I would love to go back to but I always think it is neat to see new places. We have had some amazing opportunities and visited some really neat areas.

I recently did one of my "Life Lists" noting all of the international travel that I done. I have travelled to 31 states and 22 countries. Not bad for nearing 40 years of age!

Other jobs that I have had include a bank teller (the closest I ever came to retail right Drew??), a daycare worker, and basically a number of different jobs within the same field of working with people with special needs. I have also volunteered extensively within the church in children related capacities.

I did have aspirations at one point of being an occupational therapist. I applied a few years after university and didn't get in and never really pursued it further. It has always been one of my favourite parts of working with people with special needs - I have been told that a lot of the activities I naturally apply are OT related. Who knew?

As of right now I am officially a stay at home mom. I am completely content with that and hope that that will remain for a number of years. It certainly encompasses a number of different skills but of course the main thing we think of is that I get to be home, walk the kids to and from school, volunteer when possible and be with the kids as they grow up. I can certainly see more volunteer work in my future at the school or at church once the kids are in school full time but for now this is it and I love it.

So there you have it. Just a little bit of who I am now and how I got here. Funny how when you look at it I haven't really strayed too far from my dreams - cool!

Out to a Movie

Ever since Spy Kids All the Time in the World in 4D came out, Matt has been wanting to see it. Obsessively so. We finally got the opportunity last night to use his Summer Bingo tickets and head out.

I have to say though, that we were a little disappointed. 4D does not mean 3D plus an extra sense! Well at least we didn't know that! There were no 3d glasses for us! There was an option at another theatre to see it in 3D but we thought this would be all inclusive. Oh well. I haven't seen a 3D movie since like forever - maybe childhood? I don't even know what that would have been either!

And to top it all off,

my scratch and sniff didn't work. I could only smell one of the 8 smells. Matthew's was similar. The rest smelled like paper. Otherwise the movie was great. It was very entertaining and certainly clean enough for Matt.

On out way home I started remembering all of the scratch and sniff stickers I had as a kid and shared those memories with Matt. They have there sillybandz, the bakugons, the polly pockets. We had friendship pins, scratch and sniff stickers and cabbage patch kids. Maybe stickers will be one of those things that "comes back"?

Remember these?

photo credit

But there was a bonus. I used my container to dump my popcorn in and used my own salt. I only had to get a disposable cup for my pop and the bag for the popcorn. 2 things saved.

Matt got the kids pack which was a box, a water bottle and a kinder surprise. We'll get him edumacated soon enough. Baby steps people. Next time if I'm not in such a rush I hope to bring my cup to ask if they can use it instead. I'm not hopeful though - they weren't willing to give Matt a bigger water from the fountain instead of a water bottle.

Theresa Street - LOAD1105 Day1b

2011 05 01 Theresa Street
Originally uploaded by Alijoyc

I added another quickie since my post on flickr showed yesterday's date even though it was after midnight here. This is another addition to my childhood nighbourhood album.

H's House - LOAD1105 - Day1

2011 05 01 H's house
Originally uploaded by Alijoyc

Day1 for May 2011 LOAD! I'm hoping to finish up my album on my childhood neighbourhood and all the memories that come to mind. Thanks to an easy formula, these can be used when I need to do a quick layout and upload.

Memory Monday - candy candy candy

Again prompted by Katie the Scrapbook Lady, I am reminded to think of the candy from my childhood. While my parents weren't strictly against sugar, I don't recall them being too too generous or open to it either. If I recall correctly, my dad actually had a fairly long stint of limited sugar after a bout with cancer. For holidays and special celebrations we got the typical sweets that prevailed at the time. At Easter we got the large chocolate bunny and jelly beans. At Christmas our stockings were filled with a mixture of chocolates, hard candies and fruit as well.

Random candy that I recall:

• black bart gum



• thrills gum (tasted like soap but we ate it anyway)



• popeye cigarettes (we still have them but it isn't politically correct to call them that)



• bottlecaps (especcially the root beer ones)



• gobstoppers (they seem so much smaller now!)



• astropops!



• popsicles - especially banana ones!

Random candy memories:

• getting black licorice balls from the store in Cookstown



• [gasp] I stole a package of lifesavers from the local IGA and my mom made me take them back (embarrassing but I learned my lesson!)



• mojos from the store on the way to the cottage - espeically banana ones (and now we can get them at the Superstore!



• getting our penny candy and going to the store up the street to spend it



• finding "cats tongues's" at a store in Guelph and buying them out

And what candy do I like now?

• sour soothers (as long as they are the right kind, preferably stale)



• wine gums (the right kind and preferably stale)



• Hot Tamales



• Mike and Ikes



• Sweedish Berries



• Cadbury Easter Creme eggs



• chocolate covered almonds



• caramels - chewy or hard



• hard candy - the kind that comes at Christmas



• Runts - or similar theme-type



• Jelly bellies



• solid chocolate - mini easter eggs,



• chocolate bars - Dairy Milk, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey milk chocolate with almonds, skor bar, kit kat - it all depends on the mood

And candy I don't like?

• candies with malt inside



• candies with cherries inside



• most of the chocolates in boxes of assorted chocolate



• Turkish Delight or similar, Coffee Crisp, Mars Bars,

It appears that the list of likes is much longer than the list of those I don't like. That could be part of an even bigger problem if you know what I mean...

This I know... - LOAD Day 22

2011 02 22 - LOAD22 This I know
Originally uploaded by Alijoyc

Today's prompt was to use punches creatively - I have a layout I want to scraplift but it was taking too long so I quickly finished off this one for the challenge. I documented a bit about it a few weeks ago.

TFL!

The VW van - LOAD Day 19

LOAD 19 the VW van
Originally uploaded by Alijoyc

The prompt today was to find inspiration from the photo of an art journal that was provided. I thought it fit in with the whole hippy flower VW thing, it was red etc etc.

Journaling reads: The VW van. I don't remember the van but I certainly remember lots of stories about it! Hidden journaling has the stories.
Mom and dad bought the van in Snow Lake in the early 1970'2s (they had it when Sean joined our family).

Mom made red and white bold print curtains for it although they didn't use them much.

The heater never worked properly and they were forever trying to get it fixed. On one occasion after getting it fixed while in Thompson (150 miles/ 3 hours away) , mom and Aunt Pualine were excited to each buy a rubber tree from the local Woolworth's. Of course the heater broke again on the way home. They each had one leaf on the tree by the time they got home.

When mom and Aunt Pauline made the monthly trek to get groceries in Thompson we would either be in car seats or they would sometimes take out the middle seat and put in a playpen to keep us in. [Oh how times have changed! How I wish sometimes we could do this!]

After we moved to Barrie my mom took a picture of the van in our driveway with the snow up to the roof topand sent it to our friends back in Snow Lake. We used to think we had snow in Snow Lake! We were supposed to be moving south!

The van blew the drive shaft in Happy Landing on their way to or from Thunder Bay one year. We ended up spending a week at the home of dad's first girlfiend Sue and her family in North Bay while it got fixed.

The van was sold a year or so after that.

My dad has been known to refer to that time as their hippie days (imagine mom with her long straight hair, flowery clothes...).

While I don't remember having the van specifically I love having the pictures and personally I think it was quite cool to have had it.

Memory Monday - Happy Birthday to a special sister

Tomorrow is my sweet sista's birthday! Happy 34th Sarah! You've come a long way baby. To commemorate this special day I thought I would take a trip down memory lane (not that I actually remember all of these photos mind you) - I will just note what does come to mind...

One of the first photos with just the two of us. Obviously it is 1977, and we were living on W Street. I recognize the outfit I am wearing from a few years previously. The couch is the one mom and dad were starting to purchase when I was first born. They still have it although it has been recovered. I see that Macy looks like Sarah.

I just like this one because you look so scrappy. You are in the kitchen on W Street. Your were just cute - probably 1978 since you are walking.

I like this one because again you are cute. It is probably summer 1979 since it is at the cottage and your hair is a little longer and you look to be about a year older then the previous photo. I like that it shows a bit of the cottage landscape behind you.

I like this one primarily because of the "knocky knees"/ droopy tights (isn't that what mom says you said?) Did you always have droopy clothing? Funny that we still have this dress too. You are in our back yard on W Street and you can see L & T's back yard as well as the Cr's house. Wasn't there talk of some animals buried in the back yard next door that made us refer to it as a pet cemetery? I remember not wanting to play back there very much. That and their very damp basement that smelled. But I digress. Date:?

Awww. My maid of honour. Blue is such a nice colour on you and I really like your hair then too. What a day. Hard to believe we are coming up on 13 years. I should add the photo of you with your scarf - FUN! Thanks again for all your support that day! Date: August 29, 1997

And here we are just recently at the outdoor Christmas Eve service. December 24, 2010. A new mom. Wearing mom's poncho and a distinctly Canadian hat. Are you trying to remind yourself that you are capable of withstanding the cold Canadian winters that you have left behind?

It was so fun to see you in this new role and to be able to visit when you were here.

So Happy Birthday sista! I hope you have a great birthday tomorrow (although it will probably BE tomorrow by the time I finish this lol!). So glad you are my sister!

Yesterday and Today wk 2 & 3 layouts

I finally uploaded my layouts to the Big Picture Classes site so I thought I'd share them here.

This was for the Yesterday and Today class - Week One's Introduction page. I thought I'd try the digital template. It came together so quickly (literally less than an hour)! Gotta love those tight red shorts and the lollipop!


I thought I'd also do a paper version and try some of Ali's technique's. I learned how to do the photo strip in PSE which I hadn't done before. It was also neat to use one of my old school photos - especially the big one. I never know what to do with 8x10's! That was a trip down memory lane. I'm so glad you got those books for us mom! I just wish I had a smaller family photo that included Mitchell too but I didn't feel like fiddling anymore and I wanted to use up some of the ones we had.

The final one is my first page of Christmas memories. I like how it turned out and can't wait to get some more on the go. I'm afraid we don't have too many Christmas photos of my childhood though. There will be quite a large gap until highschool. But some is better than none!

I'm really inspired by the design above. I can see doing layouts for the kids I babysat, the people who stayed with us over the years, extended family stories... It is so adaptable! The BPC gallery has shown me all sorts of variations. Fun fun fun!

More Christmas memories

Here are the next few photos that I have of our early Christmas days.

There isn't a lot to say about them other then commenting on how old we are are and how we look at the time. I can gather a few limited details from each photo that you will see below.

I currently have our family now do the customary "in front of the tree photos" and I am now seeing how maybe we will want to include a little more in the photo in the future. No offense mom - glad to have them! Part of the appeal is to see the changes in us as people over the years so this definitely captures that but it is also cool to gather details about the time from other things in the photo. Let's see what we can do with these!

Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: ? I can't tell if this is the earliest of these photos or if #3 is. late 1970's/ early 1980's

Where: Our house on W Street

What/ Why: I just love looking at the clothes we wore and seeing the expression on our faces. Do you think we wanted to be there? And poor Sarah looks a little stunned.

Who: Grandma and Grandpa, Mom, Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: ? late 1970's? early 1980's?

Where: House on W Street

What/ Why: customary photo by the tree. Grandma and Grandpa rotated their time between their 3 kids each Christmas and this year was obviously our turn. With dad a pastor, we weren't able to travel at Christmas time so our relatives came to us when they could. Look how fashionable my hair was! And pearls! I really like this family photo. Dad must have been taking it. Other things to note: You can see Chimo in the back ground, the pantry entrance with the bulletin board, and the shelf with the encyclopedias where the phone was. You can see our old tv with the bunny ears (it was a while before we had cable). You can see one of Grandma's paintings on the wall. You can see evidence of mom's creativity with the macrame lamp stand and the dried flowers in the pottery vase.

Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah

When: late 1970's early 1980's

Where: House on W Street

What/ Why: Another photo by the tree. I love the outfit I'm wearing- another made by mom. We look happier in this photo - glad to be in it.

There you have it. Not a lot of details but they bring back memories none-the-less. I will have to look back and see what things were going on those years in our family. Perhaps then I can comment more on Christmas. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I think our next Christmas photos jump to high school unless I can find some more.

That's when I started documenting more in my life.

Childhood Memories

The following are the childhood memory photos I've chosen for Week 3 of Yesterday and Today... and all that I can remember. Let me know if I am incorrect or if you have more details.

Who: Alison and Sarah.

When: 1977? (Sarah 2 years?).

Where: cottage patio.

What/ Why: I love this photo because it screams 1970's to me and is one of the few photos of the cottage when we were young. We went to the cottage every summer for my entire childhood - a time to see our relatives, relax away from the phone and do things as a family. I love Sarah in her droopy underwear and me in my flip flops still looking prissy (which seems to have been my nature). I love that it shows us just hanging out, playing with things that were t the cottage. I still have that umbrella which is was my Nan's and I love that. We just got rid of one of the turquoise chairs this year because it was rotten. I love that the cottage was turquoise and that we have a photo of it. I love that it shows the patio which is no longer there since we've added on.

Who: Mom, Alison and Sean.

When: mid 1975-6 (I'm about 4?).

Where: Grandma and Grandpa's front lawn.

What/ Why: We have visited TBay every summer for as long as I can remember. We visit both sides of our family and then spend time at each of their cottages. Our first stop was always Grandpa and Grandma's as they were the first off the highway. They would be waiting for us in their lawn chairs on the front patio with their tea. This photo reminds me of mom talking about Sean's Paddington shirt. This wasn't the shirt with the "little howol in the middel of the tay-shirt" but it brings back fond memories just the same. I also see the red convertible with the white leather seats in the driveway which I believe we only drove in a few times before it was sold. Mom has fond memories of driving in it. This photo reminds me of spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's before heading out to the cottage. Running over the patio stones. Playing amongst the birch trees. Visiting with the neighbours we only saw once a year. Good times.

Who: Alison and Tasha H.
When: 1984 . I was in grade ____.
Where: C Elementary School.
What/ Why: I played the Artful Dodger in our school production of Oliver. Tasha played Oliver. Scott L is also in the picture. I love to sing and was in a number of our church productions too. Our 4th grade teacher was also the choir director at church so we had a lot of musical exposure. I love this picture because it shows how I put my pants on backwards - notice where the patch is? It should be on my bottom. I loved this play as well as the movie and watched it numerous times. I still sometimes sing along. Oliver, Oliver, never before has a boy wanted more...



Who: Alison and either Boo or Sparky.
When: early 1980's? I look to be 7 or 8 years of age.
Where: the back room in our house on C St.
What/ why: On 2 occasions we found abandoned baby squirrels on our front lawn. We kept them in a hamster cage in the back room and fed them hamster food and milk. They were friendly enough to hold although their nails were scratchy. We enjoyed watching them grow until they were big enough to eventually let them go back to nature. one of them ended up being hit by a car shortly after being freed but one (we assume and hope) went on to a full life.
Other points: why was I living in the back room? See my Raggedy Ann comforter and Aunt Elsie's red and black quilt. Sometimes we had sleepovers back there and maybe I just wanted to be close to this "baby"...


Who: Grandpa S, Alison and Sean.
When: mid 1970's (we are 4 or 5 years of age?).
Where: driving across the lake to Grandma and Grandpa's cottage on ____ Lake.
What/ Why: Every year when get to TBay we'd stay for a while at Grandpa and Grandma's cottage. Their cottage didn't have land access so we'd drive down this steep hill, park the car, give a special car honk and wait for someone to come and pick us up. The water had a steep drop off so we didn't usually swim. We'd skip rocks and run around while my parents unpacked the car. Pretty soon we'd hear and then see the boat and the excitement would grow. Once we were loaded up Grandpa would let us Sean and I drive the boat (assuming it was still light - often it wasn't). During our visit we'd get our cool shades and our life jackets on and go all around the lake. It wasn't an overly fast boat but we had a blast. It was always something to look forward to!




Who: Alison, Sean and Sarah.
When: 1980's (I look maybe 10 or 11 years old?).
Where: H cottage driveway.
What/ Why: Our cousins Rob and Jim always have really cool toys that we would never really have. (Remember Star Wars, Atari, movies etc.) This particular year they had a go-cart that we were allowed to use. It was so cool. The water was really low that year so mom and dad let us drive around the road to the beach where we could do spin-outs and fast racing. It was neat that we could all be involved in an activity we all enjoyed. Such fun!

Who: n/a.

When: 1984 (I was 12).

Where: my bedroom on C street.

What/ Why: I've always been a list/ documenting type person and I can see that it started early. This is a photo of all of the things I got for Christmas. This was the year that I was in Oliver at school so I got the soundtrack. I got another Cabbage Patch pet and a photo album that I put all of the documents in. I was taking piano at the time so I got a piano book. My mom made some dolls for me (Yes I was still into dolls). I can also see that I got some organizing containers, some paper and other little things. I sill still arrange things into a display so that I can get pictures for documenting purposes. A little showing of my type A personality I suppose...

So there we have a few of the memories that go with the few photos I have of my childhood. I'm sure that more will follow. What I like about Ali's class, and this particular week's layout is that the format can be used over and over and over. The wheels are turning...

Christmas Memories 1972, 1973 and 1974

For quite a while now I've been wanting to go back and do a Christmas album - documenting the basics of what happened each year. As I've mentioned, I'm a list kind of girl and I like to have all of my "historic details" all neat and tidy. Right now they are no where near that. I came across these photos and in combination with Ali Edwards Yesterday & Today class, I have found a format that I think will lend itself quite well to this project. So here goes. Now I just need the details. Jump in in the comments if you can add any other details or mine are wrong.

What I can surmise:
- 1972
- my first Christmas (3 months old)
- dog Chimo
- Snow Lake, Manitoba

- dad's Hudson's bay colours sweater (purchased in TBay)

- mom's hippie days (hair down to waist)

- just started to buy chesterfield furniture for the house (cushions were the first purchase)

- 1973

- Second Christmas (15 months old)

- Snow Lake, Manitoba

- note the gifts - Fisher Price Pecky Penguin, Never Talk to Strangers book, Fisher Price Rub-a-dub-dub toy, wooden blocks, green squishy ball

- 1974

- 3rd Christmas (27 months old)

- Still in Snow Lake

- We received the rocking lion that [dad/ John] bought made with wood from the mine (dad since copied the lion for our kids a few years ago)

- Sean recently joined our family (he was 10 months at the time (in March '74); 20 months old here)

- mom and dad still have the wrought iron candle holder in the kitchen, piano in background; lampstand was found at the dump and repainted

- homemade felt stockings on chair

TFL!

Memory Monday - crafting through the years

I recently listened to the Paperclipping Round Table Episode 31 where it questioned
"Why do some people dabble in a variety of paper crafts (and other types of arts and crafts) while others stick to a very specific craft? What is it that attracts you to some crafts but not to others? Which did you start with and why did you branch out?"

I certainly fall into the first camp and it got me thinking about all of the different crafting experiences I have been into and how that has evolved for me.

Here is a trip down memory lane:

Remember the fabric painting (I made a few quilts and bibs from these)?


Cross stitching (I loved Ziggy!)
Rug hooking (I made a few pillows and some small rugs)

And then there was

• embroidery (some table cloths - I didn't last too long with this one)
• making doll furniture (more on that another time)
• knitting (sweaters while on night shift in university)
• sewing and mending
• colouring and cutting - file folder games for work

which has now led to

• card making
• scrapbooking and of course
• blogging.

As I look around me, I have definitely gotten my influence from my mother. Ever since I can remember, she has been "creating".

There were

• silk screened Christmas cards
• banners for church
• embroidery
• making dolls (includes embroidery)
• smocking (dresses)
• sewing and mending (clothes, costumes you name it)
• pottery (dishes, vases, decorations)
• Macrame
• upholstery (recovers furniture)

And I'm sure there is more! Awesome thing is is that she is still crafty - she sews more than anyone I know. She occasionally pots and still makes Raggedy Ann dolls for anyone having a baby. Thanks mom for the inspiration!

Oh - one another note - I loved the comment from the show where (I think) Izzy reminded his son? that "back in our day when we wanted to learn I had to go to the library" (not like these days with google at our fingertips) oh yeah and we had to WALK 10 miles to get there too! Such a good show- thanks for the memories!

My signature style...

of gift-gving is becoming well known.

And I think I get it from my mother. Yesterday at the baby shower I gave my baby bag of favourites. Part of it was a homemade scrapbook to be used for favourite photos. I've given this a number of times and get rave reviews each time. And then my creativity gets credited to my mom, who traditionally gives a Raggedy Ann or Andy. I think they are right. My mom is quick to point out that she could not do scrapbooking and I am quick to point out that I don't have the patience to sew in the ways that she does.

But I think the two mediums are still related. She is definitely "Crafty" and I suppose that means I get my craftiness, although different, from her. She certainly exposed us kids to lots of different crafts growing up. I can remember her silk screening cards at Christmas, making banners for church, making box costumes for Halloween and play, macrame, potting, always sewing - costumes for plays at church or Halloween, clothes for us and herself, - you name it. From an early age we usually made homemade gifts for relatives, like leaf mobiles, place mats and other crafts. So yes, I think the skill and desire has been passed on. Now as a frugal adult, I also value the art of giving homemade and personal, if not clutter free gifts.

My gift yesterday included the scrapbook (20, 12x12 general pages that could house favourite photos for things like bath time, sleep, play etc); a mommy hook; and IKEA kids dishes (plates, cups and bowls). I usually include a note about the items and why they are favourites as well as a how-to for the album. It is all put together in a gender appropriate reusable shopping bag.

If money were no object, some other favourites I might include would be:

• a digital timer with clip
• bibs with velcro
• a Praise Baby DVD
• a food mill for baby food
• an eye mask
• large receiving blankets

Depending on the age of the baby at the time of the shower (and their living practices as I know them) I'll sometimes include info about the local OEYC, the cloth diapering service and a re-usable cover, the local consignment stores and other "tips" I have found helpful.

So far these gifts seem to have been well-received and well, I enjoy putting them together so that is half of it!

Camp! recapping

All packed up and ready to go!

Well we made it. We've been here a few days and mom and dad should have just made it home early Monday morning (we got an email at 3:50am!). Here's a quick recap (note - long and detailed summary)!

The drive here was surprisingly good. We made it to TBay by 2pm on Friday - about our regular time. We left the house at 10am - the predicted hour after the time we really wanted to leave. But I have to leave the house in a tidy ready to welcome us home manner. What can I say?

Mitchell fell asleep pretty much immediately even though we returned home quickly to retrieve my hat. Then we stopped at the library to drop off our things and to pick up a book on hold. Our last stop was the church to pick up my flash drive and then we were off. We made it all the way to Jeremy's in Nairn Center - one of our favourite stops, for needed gas and a late lunch. (One pee break by Matt in a cup!) It took us an hour an a half for our pit stop after all was said and done. A little longer stop then usual but it is good home made, although fried food. Mitchell seemed to take a while to feed and be toileted and then be ready to go again. Cierra got her magazine though and she was in heaven for the rest of the day. By 3:45 we were on the road again and Mitchell was asleep in 10 minutes. We made it to Walmart in Sault St Marie were we grabbed some drinks, had a quick wander and then got gas.

We had a picnic dinner at Havilland Shores Park - where there was a playground and a beautiful gradual sloping beach.

We drove to check out the washrooms at the next beach but they weren't any better. Thankfully we had the potty and we were soon on our way again. I had to stop to nurse at 9pm and then by 10pm all 3 younger kids were asleep. By now we were encountering some serious fog so we cut our evening short and slept at the White Fang just near Wawa. Mitchell throws a bit of a curve ball now - especially without a pack and play. I shared the bed with him and Marlee, Cierra had an air mattress and the boys shared.

In the morning we were up at 7am and out by 7:42. Not sure why it took so long - we just had an over night bag and the cooler to pack back up. I have to say that by this point I think I am already regretting the decision to bring our own diapers to care for. And seriously wondering if we brought enough. Time will tell! (This is after I hand washed a few just to be on the safe side).

Mitchell was quickly asleep even through the Tim Horton's breakfast stop in Wawa. We made it to Marathon by 10am for a pit stop and nursing. The engine light and TCS came on for some reason but after reading the book (and the fact that we are in the middle of nowhere) we decided to chance it and keep going. Mitchell was asleep again but then awake after 1/2 an hour so we stopped in Schriber and fed him again. The kids played at the playground in the rain and we got going by 11:45. We finally pulled in to TBay right on schedule at 2pm. No stopping at Terry Fox this year. We immediately went to the library and then called mom and dad. After getting some groceries we pulled up to camp around 4:30. Phew! It always feels like a whirlwind drive but we were certainly pleasantly surprised at how well this one went. We were really not sure how this would go.

We spent the evening catching up with mom and dad and letting the kids get into camp mode.

The men folk discussed the trees that need to be cut down.

The water is really low the year, which actually makes for a great beach and more play area. It was really warm and sunny so we had an early dinner (for camp) of shepherd's pie and then had a fairly relaxing evening. The water is beautiful and I may actually go swimming this year!

Saturday

The day was beautiful! Sunny and warm and we were all up to enjoy most of the day. Poor mom and dad were probably up earlier then they had been all month but we were all down at the water for a lot of the day. The cousins arrived shortly after 1pm and we had a great time together. We discussed their recent travels and then had a late lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs. We then spent some time reminiscing about Aunt Elsie.

Dad loved the times that Aunt Elsie took care of him in Calgary - especially when his mom was busy with his brother. They took the train downtown and spent the day together weekly. He also remembered the time that she took him on the roller coasters and then had greasy dinner and then spent the bus ride home throwing up in a paper bag. Good times! I hope that our kids have memories of Ya-Ya like that!

Rob talked about visiting Aunt Elsie in Calgary, as well as the time that she spent living with them with Gramps in the later years. She did a lot of chauffeuring of the boys back and forth to school, to hockey and to Bingo. She was a fiercely independent lady those days! This turned to some memories about Gramps as well - how Rob used to greet him daily by rubbing his comb-over to the other side. That is until Gramps "caned" him one day in the side! He also remembered how he was "forked"one day while attempting to take the last pork chop. You can bet he remembered to ask anyone else if they wanted to have the last one from then on!

Adena enjoyed the regular lunches that Aunt Elsie used to make for her when she came home for lunch. When that got difficult for her they still made it a priority to eat together which was nice.
What I enjoyed most about this time of remembrance was that it wasn't sugar coated. Aunt Elsie really wasn't that pleasant to visit in her final days. She really didn't want to be here and was ready to move on. Aunt Marilyn and Adena did an amazing job and were faithful in visiting her regularly despite this. With dad so far away, the burden fell to them and we are so grateful for that. We are thankful that we were given the opportunity in a way to give back to her for those early years.

It was a great time full of laughter and memories. While we didn't see her nearly as much as everyone else there did, it was nice to be a part of it. And to get these memories recorded. Maybe one day I'll be able to get a tribute album of her done. I've been promised some photos of the early days of camp - I can't wait to finally get that one album done!

We said our goodbyes around 6:30 and cleaned up. While the adults still felt full from lunch,
a short time later the kids felt that they needed dinner so some snacks were prepared. You certainly can't get out of routine with them! The kids were soon separated for bedtime and we were left to tidy up, finish helping my parents with last minute closeup instructions and then we settled down for some more tv. MacGyver! We watched the pilot the night before and caught another hour this evening. Not as cheesy as I had thought it might be! Not to say that there isn't some, just not as much!

Sunday
My parents got on the road around 8am and the rest of us slowly crawled out of bed. Drew left for a game of golf with the boys leaving me behind with the kids. It was a fairly windy and cool day so we spent most of it inside. Mitchell was rather out of sorts and really only got a few hours of scattered naps. We watched The Railway Children in between nursing and attempts at napping and lunch prep. We also caught some Scooby Doo videos. Needless to say, by the time Drew returned at 5 pm I was ready for some relief. Mitchell wasn't quite ready though to spend time with Drew and I finally went for a walk with him in the sling. We made it to the end of the road and he was asleep. Finally. I walked to the rock pile for good measure and then back. As soon as I opened the door (this had been about 1/2 hour), he woke up. Exasperating! Back out we went. He failed to fall asleep again but he was at least in a better mood. Good enough for Drew to hold for a while once we got back. Soon the kids were down for the night and we watched The Jane Austen Book Club. Even Drew enjoyed it. That is another thing with the library movies - we find ourselves watching ones we might not ordinarily watch. We were pleasantly surprised!

Monday
Monday brought about more cool windy weather. Great for the indoors! Matt and Drew attempted to go play golf together in town but were rained out after a short time. (They still had the hour in and hour back though and some time at MacDonald's for lunch). Marlee, Cierra and I spent our time watching more Scooby Doo and trying to get some nap times for the boy. We got one good nap in - which I then spent getting lunch ready and eating with the girls and that was it. When the boys got home we only had a short time before we turned around and starting getting ready to go into Rob and Adena's house for dinner. Oh - that and we dealt with a hygiene issue but that is another story.

Btw - did I mention it was cold? And windy? And wet? And that since we had an extra person to pack for we decided to condense this year and not bring all the stuff we never seemed to use? Some of which was warmer clothing? Yeah well, it was good to head into town - even a little early because perhaps the weather was a bit different. And we might as well go shopping and get some more clothes.

So into town we went. It was still cool but it was dry and we were inside. We tried the library at the mall but it was closed so we headed to the other one where although bigger, didn't have much of a selection unfortunately. Still, we got a few more movies and books and headed to get some salad.

We decided against getting more clothes (and we were out of time) but that's besides the point. It's funny how when we are missing something our immediate instinct is to go buy some more. I only brought Mitchell one pair of pants. Yes I know. What was I thinking? And the problem was that they got wet and with the damp weather at camp they weren't drying very quickly. But we did have blankets and lots of towels and we can make do. And spot clean instead of immersing in the future!

Fast forward to dinner - great spaghetti and play time with the cousins. Again Mitchell didn't sleep (although he did on the drive into town) so he was getting a little antsy by 8pm. Since Rob had to work in the morning it was a good time to head out. And he immediately fell asleep so we decided to stop at the superstore. We love this place! After an hour and a half we had picked up some good bargains - a tether ball set for home (14.95), a 2 in 1 basketball and garden tennis set (10.00), some clothes for Cierra and I, some pants for Mitchell (2 for 2.94 down from 10.00!) and the best deal? Star Wars light sabers marked down to $4.44 from $29.99! We got 6 of them! Of course we only went in for grapes and $200 later well... So much for just keeping it simple eh?

On a side note, we stopped in the washroom before heading out and well, let's just say that we were quite the sight. The whole family, kids included, dressed in "aahheeemmm" our best (Marlee in her pajamas even), out at 10:00 at night at the grocery store with very little groceries. I'm sure there were a few looks.

Tuesday (today)
A nice sunny and windy day. It started late for me - up with Mitchell at 10am. Poor Drew - since we have limited tv more this year, Matthew has been getting Drew up early for breakfast. He usually crawls back into bed but I'm sure it's not quite the same. He took the kids down to the beach for an early bonfire. We managed one good nap for Mitchell during the day and attempted a few others (what is with this rolling?).

We had a few good saber fights and a little bit of tv.

All in all a good day!

Gut-busting laughter

Katie the scrapbook lady today had a Memory Monday - laughing so hard your face hurts - and it made me think of some of those laughing times in my life. The memory that comes to mind goes back to grade nine with Kristy. We were in geography class and one of the other students in front of us used to stand with his bottom sticking out a bit. There were some mornings while we sang the national anthem or were quiet for the Lord's Prayer that we were just struck by it. Nice? Probably not - although I don't think anyone actually knew why we were laughing. I can recall it happening on several occasions though - that gut busting, I can't stop laughing time. Man that seems like such a long time ago!

Thanks for the memories Kristy and I'm so glad we're still friends!

Welcome to December and early memories

Welcome to December!
Matt had a great time "prepping" us all for some photos to usher in the month. Definitely some of our prouder moments!

Remember...
My earliest holiday memory would have to be having my brother come into our room (I shared with my sister growing up), and waking us telling us that Santa had come. He was so excited and it seemed like such an early hour. I know there were years when my parents told us it was too early and we had to go back to bed.

I'll also never forget when both Sean and I got our Raggedy Ann and Andy comforters. I still have mine and LOVE it. It goes on car trips with me and is always the best blanket for movie time. So much so that I now have to fight the kids for it because they love it too. I can picture the scene that morning - yellow shag carpet, piano in the corner with the tree beside. Warm, snuggly blanket to follow. Awesome.