hairbrained schemes

World Famous.

Yesterday Jacob requested that Grampa make his "World Famous Ribs".

Not one to be left behind, Lucas was soon clamoring for Grandma's "World Famous Perogies".

Those kids know how to work it.

And Jason and I are riding their coattails all the way to another excellent meal.

We took some pictures this morning.  I mentioned before I always forget to take photos when mom and dad are here, so we made the effort.(and we had a good laugh at dad's expense as the more we told him to smile and relax, the more pinched he looked - sorry dad...and now I know where I get it from)

Here are a couple that aren't too bad.

   

We also got a phone call from Jason's auntie with fabulous news.  They welcomed their first grandchild into the world.  She is a perfect little doll and they are beyond ecstatic!  (Congratulations!  We love you guys!)

I wish we lived closer, I would love to scrapbook some baby girl pages.

I had a couple of friends ask about the kitchen I mentioned in the previous post. 

Here's a link to the website i want this.  My favourite is the top photo. 

Here's another favourite of mine.

My friend, Brenda. 

We met in grade 8.  Wow. I just did the math on how long we've known each other. 

I'm getting old.

This is her last summer.  We're doing a challenge at the store site and I'm making everyone write a haiku for journaling (insert evil laughter here).

I know she'll say, "Ackkkkkk, I hate that picture."

But too bad.

I think she looks great. 

And it's my blog.

So there.

Good Stuff.

I have a friend who always wanted to open a store called "Good Stuff".

I would definitely shop there.

Here's some good stuff that's going on with us right now.

• my parents are visiting (always good)
• my dad treated mom and I to lunch at the Bohemian Cafe today (chicken breast bagel with pesto cream cheese - if you live in Kelowna, turn off your computer, put on your shoes, get in the car, drive to the Bo (on Bernard) and have one of these bad boys - to die for).
• Costco shopping done.
• Staff meeting tonight ("good stuff" you ask? there will be pizza, need I say more? No, I thought not).
• My house is clean (thanks Mom!)
• I found THE cabinets today for the new house, totally by accident, and they are perfect (PERFECT)
• 3 more sleeps until we leave for our girl's shopping trip to Vancouver (*note to self* discuss with Dawn tonight to come up with a more exciting name for said trip).

I'm sure I could probably think of more good stuff, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone.

And on the less good stuff front...

One of my friends had to put her dog down yesterday. 

I am so sad for her and have been thinking about Scout today. 

I miss her.

Short and Sweet.

Well, I have lots to say right now, but no time to say it. 

I'm off to work in a bit and just wanted to share a quick layout.

Mom and dad are coming to visit (work) on Sunday.  Jason and Dad are going to start leveling the new lot (those two together = pure comedy).

Mom and I are full of glee at having a full (school) day to do whatever we want.  We just have to make it out of the house without a list of errands to run. 

Oh and we put our house on the market...well, we put a sign up anyway.  Isn't it cute? 

Today I plan on calling Jason every fifteen minute or so to ask excitedly, "Has anyone called yet?". 

It's the small things that amuse me.

Argghhhhhhhhhhh....

It's September 19th. 

I'm sure you all know what that means.

Yup.  It's Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Really. It is! 

In honour of it I'll share some never before seen (except by me and the boys) photos from Jacob's Pirates of the Carribean 8th birthday this July. 

Here are the invites and goodie bags:

I had a ton of fun making these. 

I love planning parties. 

It's too bad more than a handful of kids in one place freaks me out a little.  Which makes it a good thing I am married to someone who thrives on big groups of kids. 

We had this sign with our halloween skeleton hanging at the front door (I can't find some of the pictures...I hope they're on my other card)

Captain Jake Sparrow and the rest of his motley crew (that's crew not crue) receiving their headbands and tattoos.

Baking is not my forte.

Decorating cakes, even less of my forte.

But you get the idea.

The end of the treasure hunt.  We "buried" my cedar trunk on the top of our property and the kids had to figure out a bunch of clues that lead to the goodie bags.

And if anyone wants to take their celebration of "Talk Like a Pirate Day" to a whole new level, check out this link.

See How a Pirate Would Say It.

Good for minutes of fun.

Scrapbooking Goodness.

I got to work this morning and what do I see?

• Basic Grey
• Crate Paper
• Bazzill Chipboard and Blossoms
• Chatterbox

And so much more.

I realize this will mean absolutely nothing to those of you who read this and don't scrapbook (mom) but it's good.  Goooooooooooood.

I did another quick layout using the new MME Front Porch line last night.  My SIL and her cute little baby belly.

Jason got back late yesterday afternoon from his fishing trip and his voice was almost gone. 

Which, as everyone knows, means a good time was had by all.  I might even steal some of his pictures to post on here later on. 

There was lots of fishing, hiking, mushroom picking, setting themselves on fire (that's not a typo and I guess that's what happens when you go fishing with a bunch of pyromaniacs firemen) and rolling in dead stinky stuff (Bella, not Jason).

Good times, indeed.

Jacob lost another tooth this weekend. 

It went a little like this....

Lucas:  MOOOOOOOOOOM Jacob's bleeding!!!!!!!!!!

Jacob:  My tooth, my tooth!!!

Me:  What happened?

Lucas: I dunno....

Jacob:  Well, Lucas kicked me in the face....but it's okay.  Now I'm going to get money from the tooth fairy. (nothing wrong with that kid's priorities).

Baby Got Back(splash).

I can't believe I forgot to post pictures of this.

We (whenever I use the word "we" when talking about working on the house, please automatically assume that I am standing and watching, perhaps handing stuff to Jason, and he is actually doing the work) finally got the kitchen backsplash done. 

I LOVE IT.

We bought the tiles over 2 years ago and someone (I think it was the realtor) finally convinced Jason that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses (I think he still is not a true believer, but I got my backsplash, so who cares?)

And because no leisurely weekend would be complete without a head injury, I'll share what I just finished doing.

Picking myself up off the floor of our closet.

I decided to organize and clean out our closet at about 2 am this morning.  Of course, this involved chucking everything on the floor, then I got tired and went to bed.  So I wake up and start to deal with this, climb up on a stool to put stuff on the top shelf and as I'm standing up my coconut connects full force with the top of the door jamb. 

I fall the the floor (off of my counter height stool), roll around on the ground, clutching my head and cursing, waiting to pass out, but my story isn't going to be that dramatic. 

Once again, I am faced with two undeniable realities of life:

1.  I am no delicate flower.

2. I am my mother's daughter.

Overheard.

The other night while at Shannon's (our uber-talented, gorgeous and newly pregnant plan drawer and friend) the boys were ripping around outside with Perry and the dogs.

Shannon has 2 large, extremely fluffy Samoyeds (aka the boys and/or the white dogs).  Lucas, being the animal lover that he is, begged us to let him play with them and frankly, it kept him out of our hair while we were doing plan type things.  He also let Bella out of the Jeep to play with them as well (and as we soon found out to add to his growing army of beings-that-he-is the-boss-of).

We're in the kitchen and I hear him barking (heh) orders in the backyard.  So we stop and listen a little more carefully.  And this is what we heard (verbatim)

"I am taller than you.  You MUST listen to me"

"You are my audience.  Do what I say"

"WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME???  I SAID I AM TALLER THAN YOU!"

I am not kidding. 

And I am not exaggerating. 

And yes I laughed. 

Hard. 

(and then I felt a little uneasy...is he that bothered by his height - or lack thereof?...does he really have that little power in life that he is resigned to bossing a pack of dogs around?...dogs that clearly see him as lower in the dogpack than themselves...is he amassing a secret canine army to take over this world of his?)

And then I laughed some more.

This kid is something else.

That very night, we got home, put the boys to bed and I was upstairs watching tv.  About 11ish I figured it was time to peel myself out of my chair before I fell asleep (and when I typed "my chair" just now I felt very Archie Bunkerish.  Hmmm.) I heard footsteps and the back door open and close.

I went to investigate (thinking it was Jason) open the backdoor and see that the garage lights are on. I open the garage door and see Lucas.

Fast asleep.

With both garage doors open.

Heading outside.

I called him and he kept going, so I ran down, picked him up and asked him what he was doing.  He didn't really say anything, so I put him back to bed. 

And then barely slept all night. 

I keep running through all the bad things that could have happened.  It seriously scared the crap out of me.  So until we get high deadbolts for the doors I have windchimes hanging from his bedroom door to wake me if he gets up again.

On the Fun Front, superhappyfunweekend is progressing nicely.

We had a small break this morning where I made the boys pull weeds and I got some painting done, but other than that, it's been pretty much a continuation of yesterday.

I made this as a sample for the store:

My best friend, Brenda and her beautiful family.

I miss them.

How much fun?

How much fun is too much?

The boys and I have made it our goal to find out.

So far there is no end in sight.

The day started with Jason leaving for fishing. 

After goodbyes I brewed the biggest pot of coffee my coffee machine is capable of and tidied the kitchen (I know.  That's not fun at all, but mess=stress which is less fun.)

Lucas decide to have waffles for breakfast.  Which, of course, were Eggos (cooking...not fun) with a big ol' scoop of chocolate ice cream on top.  If it's good enough for IHOP, it's good enough for us.

Jake slept in and to be honest I don't really know what he had for breakfast.  A granola bar maybe?

Around 10 am I told the boys that if they cleaned up their room I would give them back their gameboys.  The gameboys they lost about 6 weeks ago after the BIG FIGHT OF 2006.

This was their response:

 

They retired to their bedrooms, gameboys in hand and I didn't see them for 2 hours. 

We then decided that it might be fun to try out the new Ice Cream Sandwich maker I bought the other day (who KNEW they sold such delightful gadgets?)

Keeping with our theme of IceCreamForMeals, we made a gourmet lunch together.

Good stuff.

We may forgo the IceCreamForMeals thing at dinnertime and have something equally nutritious, but more savory.  I'm thinking nachos.

And while the boys are gameboying, I'm actually scrapbooking.

We're doing a "fashion inspired" challenge at the store's site and this is mine.  Using the new MME paper.  It's gorgeous stuff!

Well, I think I better go have some more fun.  It's already 4:07 and I haven't begun to fill the quota for the day.

Unfortunate.

Love Audrey Hepburn.

My Fair Lady is one of my favourite movies.

LOVE AC/DC.

Every song brings back a specific memory from my teen years. 

Love the GAP.

Which is why the new GAP ads featuring Audrey Hepburn dancing to AC/DC makes me sad.

Less is more, people.

Less. Is. More.

(unless we're talking about the actual pants that they are promoting in this unfortunate ad...if we're talking about that, please add a little more fabric to the bottom...the 80's were bad enough the first time)

I have a Plan.

A house plan that is!  (witty, aren't I)

We went to see Shannon last night, our uber-talented, gorgeous and newly pregnant plan drawer (I'm sure she's a "draftsperson" or something equally official, but it just sounds weird to me).

Jason and I had drawn out the basic plan and we tweaked it with her and she's going to start drawing it up very soon!  I can't wait.  We also signed the papers for the lot this afternoon. 

Jacob ended up staying home from school today.

Somehow the fact that none of us are morning people flew out of my brain a couple of weeks ago and I made appointments for the boys to get cavities filled at 8 am this morning (lovely way to start the day). 

They were up late last night (because of all the plan drawing excitement) and Jacob was just an emotional mess this morning.  And trips to the dentist are not conducive to jollying someone out of a cranky mood (trust me, he is his mother's son). 

Apparently his foot hurt too (mmmm hmmmm....) so I decided to let him stay home with me for the day.

Jason is leaving tomorrow morning for 3 days of fishing and mushroom picking (he's on the fence about the mushroom picking, but his friend Troy insists once he finds one he'll "catch the bug").

While the cat is away the mice have a very pajama/movies/take out superhappyfunweekend planned.  Jacob told me today that he thinks this weekend might even top Christmas in fun. 

Speaking of superhappyfun, a few months ago I made this little minibook for Simple Scrapbooks and I received the issue it was in last week. 

This is the issue (and know I'm somewhat biased - but YOU NEED THIS BOOK!)

(No.  Really.  You do.)

Here's the cover of the little book I made.

Now I must go and read the new Cathy Zielske book that I FINALLY got my hands on. 

She is my Captain Underpants.

(you probably need to have spent time with 7-10 year old boys to get that reference).

And there you have it.