hairbrained schemes

Things that go bump...

  11:05 here and we're gearing up for our 2nd Annual Halloween Bash.

As usual, we have way too many people coming (the more, the merrier?).  Actually just way too many children coming (27?)

Our friend, Troy always goes all out with his costume.  And there is a huge circle of secrecy around his choice.  He even planted some false information (via Lucas, who everyone knows is incapable of holding in the beans).  Jason went as far as interrogating Noah (Troy's four year old son...Jason is shameless) to get the dirt.  Noah is to Troy, as Lucas is to Jason (as in Jason can't keep a secret either).

Good on you, Noah.

My plan next year, is to get his costume plan out of his wife and have EVERYONE at the party dress the same.  I think the look on Troy's face would be well worth it. 

I'm extremely bad at remembering to take pictures at our parties, so I made sure to take a few of the "before". 

Lucas picked this creepy dude out a couple of years ago - he guards the front door.

The one spider I can stomach.  His name?  Spidey. (We are what we are, in regards to naming stuff)

More creepy guardy type dudes.  The guy on the right is the one that Luke claims he's going to hide behind and make move...to scare the "little kids". 

The front of the house. Next year, when we're not all busy selling and building houses, I want to make the "graveyard" more elaborate.  Maybe some dirt mounds with various body parts poking out.

The kids get to guess the number of (gummy) worms and whoever is closest keeps the jar (which they are welcome to save until they get home...with the number of kids - mostly little boys - that are coming over I am going to try my best to keep the candy to a minimum.)

These are the clues for the "cemetary hunt"... the kids will be split into 3 teams (purple, orange & black).  The clues were cut into 9 pieces each and then rolled up and put in coordinating balloons.  So all the kids will grab a balloon, pop it, get their clue and then as a team put the puzzle together to find the next clue.

 

I'm quite the poet, aren't I? (Cool rhyming site)

When three teams have the next three clues (each one will be one word) they will put them together, it will lead them to the back deck where we will have the goodie bags set up to look like a graveyard.  J's going to move the fog machine to the back before we start so it will be tres spooky. 

I'll post more pictures (providing I remember to take them) tomorrow!

Nostalgic

I met my friend, Corilee, the other morning for a walk with the dogs and coffee. 

Cor and I used to work together at a radio/tv station/cable office (did I mention how small of a town I come from?).

We also moved to Kelowna together back in 1992 (whoa. I hate it when dates sneak up and suprise me with how long ago they were).

Man, we had some fun.

Anyway, I don't know why, (maybe it was the 80's flashback hour I was listening to on the radio and hearing the very Richard Marx song that this guy I went on a date with sang to me on a hotel room balcony - while my friends sat inside, with the door open LAUGHING their heads off, and I actually drew blood from biting the inside of my cheek so I wouldn't release the guffaw that was building, right in his face...maybe it was that...), but I was feeling very nostalgic. 

Music does that to me sometimes. 

Then I came home and was looking for something on my computer and came across this layout that I made a few years ago.

Totally cracked me up. 

He used to get FURIOUS when we called him Stinky Cheese Man. 

That kid has been stubborn right from the get-go.

Oh and I've been meaning to post this:

Brian Andreas Rocks the Kasbah

Last year my sweet husband actually kept one of the emails that I sent him "hinting" as to what Christmas gifts would be thoroughly appreciated and bought me the entire collection of Brian Andreas's books. 

Love. Love. LOVE them.  (and I need this one...*note to self* forward to Jason)

Kneedeep...

in Halloween costumes.

That was us yesterday. 

We're gearing up for our soiree on Saturday night and had to get all four of our costumes made. 

Once again, my husband surprised me.  I don't know why I let it suprise me every time he manages to dive into something he's never done before and pull it off.  Because he manages to pull it off 99.9% of the time.

The other .01%?  He baffles them with, you know....

By the end of the day they were almost all done.  Go Jay.

The boys tried to pit us in competition against each other. 

Jacob claimed dad was a better costume maker because HE was using a machine.

Lucas scoffed and replied, that was fine and dandy (I'm paraphrasing and leaving out the words poopy head while doing so), but MOM was doing it all by hand which is WAY harder. 

I'll share pics when they are all finished and ready to go.

We also finally made it to the pumpkin patch on Saturday.  We finally wised up and visited the one that every single school/daycare/preschool in the area doesn't go to on a field trip (it only took me 7 years to figure out why that one never had any good pumpkins left).

We also figured out the actual square footage of the house that we're going to build.

I'm embarrassed to say how big it actually is, but we are working with Shannon to pare it down.

Apparently, Jason lost the memo that discusses my feelings on housework.

Nerdy is as Nerdy does...

I just have to start this with a little bit of fun poking at my husband and his XBox posse. 

Last night was XBox night at the Overton's. 

This includes some of his nerds buddies bringing their XBoxes over (I'm not going to go on about the special carrying cases), setting up more than one tv (apparently the 116 inch screen in J's theatre room is not quite sufficient, obscene, but not sufficient) and giggling like school girls well into the night.

I'm not complaining at all, there are a lot of worse things husbands could be doing well into the night. 

But it still makes me laugh a little.

And you know, after J reads this, I'm going to get the speech about how I think I'm tooooo cool.  And how cutting and pasting photos and patterned papers is at least as, if not more, nerdy (which it totally isn't).

We pulled out the Halloween decorations yesterday and got started on the decorating.  We stuffed some of J's old work clothes to make a "guy" to sit on the front porch.  Lucas swears this is the year that he's not going to be scared to stay outside and hide behind the "guy" and move him to scare (and I quote) "the little kids". 

We'll see.

After Jake's guitar lessons we're going to meet some friends at the pumpkin patch to get our Jack-o-latern fixin's. 

My Auntie Karen made me this cool wall hanging a couple of years ago. 

I love it.

I wish I had the finesse for quilting.  She is so talented.

Lucas' gameboy finally gave up the ghost.  So they are now sharing Jake's.

So far, so good.

They have been told the first argument and it's game over (literally). 

Here they are playing (do you think the phrase "Jacob! Don't lick me!" should count as an argument? I'm reserving judgement until it escalates).

What some might call procrastination...

I'm going to call working well under pressure. 

Yah.  That's it. 

I berate myself at least on a monthly basis for not getting stuff done as it comes to me, but I don't seem to be listening.

I let things pile up and then dive into it head on (usually with the tv on, internet handy and a good book or magazine within arms length). 

Example:

to do:

• finish baby book gift (which was actually an excuse to buy a bunch of girly Basic Grey and pink ribbon)
• start calendar kit for store (Dawn, if you're reading this, by start, I mean it's practically finished and will be in your hands the next time I see you, or at least until we get our million dollars from your husband along with a handstamped card, preferably in Van Dyke Brown)
• find sample cards for Christmas card class I'm supposed to teach (along with working well under pressure, I like things to look neat, so I "tidy things away" aka stuff things in places that seem reasonable at the time, but often leads to problems finding them when they are needed)
• make stuff to sell at Leigh-Anne's craft sale (sticking with the whole procrastinating theme, this is the craft sale we have been talking about doing for 5 years)
• confirm with Jason that the puberty talk that he had with the boys last week didn't really include the words, "hair on your nuts". (good grief)
• make all of our Halloween costumes
• plan Halloween party, buy goodies bags and design a fabulous treasure hunt, in rhyme, for the ghoulies
• get pumpkins
• decorate house
• buy candy to replace the 3 bags I've already eaten
• pack

done:

I made this little haunted house with some Rusty Pickle paper that my fabulous friend, Jennifer Miller had RAKed to me (frankly, at this point, the candy levels are dangerously low, and my pants are mysteriously snug).

• sold house

Yup!  You read that right.  Last week we decided that being realtors wasn't for us (you know, all that effort we put into putting a sign in the yard and calling the paper) and we decided to list it with an actual realtor.

We signed the papers Thursday night.

Friday morning he had 2 showings lined up.

Saturday 10 PM we signed the papers.

Our heads are still kind of spinning.  But in a good, twirling-around-on-the-lino-kitchen-floor-while-you're-supposed-to-be-doing-the-dishes way.

• bought Bobcat

And yup!  You read that right, too.

My thoughts on our new Bobcat (which when I asked the boys to name it...her? they came up with the ever unique "Bob", which actually is pretty funny because my dad's name is Bob and it's always fun to tease Bob.  Like the time my 4 year old nephew said, "Heeey....b-o-b spells Bob....and b-o-O-b spells BOOB!, but once again, I digress...), right, my thoughts on Bob

       1.  It's not a motorcycle.

       2.  It's not a motorcycle.

Here are the pictures we took for the MLS listing.

I'm kinda going to miss it. 

Good thing we're just moving next door. 

 

Grumplestiltskin has left the building.

Jacob woke up in a fabulous mood today! (like flower petals and fairies skipping along behind him good mood)

The last few mornings the kid has been growly and cranky the minute he rolls out of the wrong side of his bed. 

I can't really fault him totally because rumour has it, his mother can be like that on occasion (I haven't seen it personally, but his father swears it is true).

See that smile?  It's genuine!  Love it.

Now that turkey day is over we've begun to plan for Halloween.

Which means that I've already made my way through the first bag of candy and a bag of Kraft caramels (which I'm totally blaming on Dawn because I bought them to make caramels apples and "she wasn't feeling creative").

We sent out our Halloween party invite the other day.  I used this digital kit and my rudimentary digital scrapbooking skills.

I can't wait!

We're having our big Creative Retreat for the store this weekend (I'm supposed to be prepping my class kits right now). I'm teaching 2 classes and plan to drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of bad for me food (I never get anything done at crops, so why even keep up the pretense?)

We're having a local stamp company come and do some make & takes, I can't wait to see their product. 

Remember my favourite new photo?  I had to scrapbook it.

The Only Thing Better than Turkey Dinner.

is when your friend cooks turkey dinner and invites you and your family over (thanks Tanya and Rod!)

On the menu...

turkey

lazy cabbage rolls

homemade buns

mashes potatoes and gravy

spinach salad (with lettuce instead of spinach, for obvious reasons, but still just as good)

corn

stuffing

(and no gallbladders attacks after, double points)

Oh, and the dessert that I slaved over all day (picking up from the store).

We broke out the Texas Hold'em after dinner. 

The best part was Tanya slipping me money under the table after I lost everything about 10 minutes into the game (now that's a good friend).

Jason was on to us, but he let it slide (subtle, we are not).

Now we're gearing up to have a SUPERHAPPYFUN afternoon with the Kerns (and by gearing up, clearly I mean, sitting here in my snowman flannel pajamas, eating the Kraft caramels that I bought for Dawn and I to make caramel apples and drinking coffee).

I still have to clean the house, but I figure I work better under pressure anyway.

And because I like to see pictures when I look at other people's blogs, I thought I'd share my new favourite photo.

Competitive Reading.

Our family is not a family of athletes.

We ski/snowboard, the boys play soccer and we all know how to swim (kind of).

Yesterday, Lucas introduced me to the World of Competitive Reading.

Sitting the car, having just left he library with a stack of books each, waiting in the line, each reading a book, him talking non-stop about the book he's reading, about 10 minutes into it he says...

"What chapter are you on, mom?"

"Page 2"

(tries to unsuccessfully hide a smirk) "I'm on chapter 9."

"So does that mean you're winning?"

"Pretty much."

I plan on kicking his little butt in Clue later to redeem myself.

I love to read.  I love going to the library and coming home with a huge pile of books.  And nerdiness be told, my favourite thing is deciding which of the huge pile books will be first in line to dive in to.  (I know, I admitted it's nerdy)

One of my favourite books is The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.  A lot of her books are a little heavy for me (I prefer my books in the mid-fluffy range, kind of like my tv, I want to be entertained, I'm not here to think too hard) but I grabbed The Penelopiad yesterday and can't put it down. 

I recommend it.

Yesterday I did this:

I bought the little utensil box at IKEA last weekend and use Crate Paper on it.  I think the little label thingy is by K&Co.  I think I'll put candy in it.

I also made a little mini-album in one of the acrylic boxes that the Doodlebug flowers come in.  A friend from the store, Andrea, has the sweetest kids and one of her girls made a mini-album in one of these a few weeks ago.  Her girls are so talented!  (thanks for the inspiration Breanne!)

My parents and my boys. Chatterbox papers and I think the flower is ironically not Doodlebug, but Prima.

Thankful.

Conversation with Lucas while waiting in the McDonald's drive thru today.

Luke: It's a good day, mom.

Mom: Yup

Luke: It's a good Thanksgiving.

Mom: It is, pal.

Luke:  I'm thankful, mom.

Mom:  For what, buddy?

Luke:  I'm thankful for life.

Well, doesn't my 6 year old son kinda sum things up in a nice neat little 4 word package?

Here's some things I'm thankful for:

This guy

the ratties (and by ratties I mean angels, of course)

These lovely people (love you, m&d)

Our funny looking girl, Bella (who helps balance the estrogen/testosterone levels in the house)

And even Stupid Cat (Kitty for those of you who don't know her)

These girls.

My friend and boss, Gina, for having the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met before (and with Dawn's help, I'm sure her organizational skills will soon be up there, too) and giving me the opportunity to have THE BEST JOB EVER.

My friend Dawn, for talking me down.  (WWDD bracelets - they WILL be the next big thing)

For lip balm, baseball hats, jeans and tshirts.

For funny people (Dane Cook, Steve Carell, and my boyfriend, Jon Stewart)

For music (Foo Fighters, Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, Blink 182 and the song Big Bottomed Girls)

For finding 3 new Captain Underpants books in the library today, which equals peace and quiet for the rest of the afternoon.

For Simple Scrapbooks (I'm totally going to sneak this in right now and see if anyone is actually reading it) and this HUGE news.

The other day I received an email inviting me, and 8 other amazingly talented women, to be a part of Simple Scrapbooks' 2007 Simple Gal Team.  I'm still in shock but am extremely excited and honoured to be able to be working with them.  The rest of the girls are:

Tia Bennett

Tina Cockburn

Teresa Olier

Stacey Sattler

Margie Scherschligt

Amy Stultz

Amy Williams

Yolanda Williams

I know.  Right?  (crazy talent in that list!)

I really am thankful for this life. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Patch and the Shoppin' Hos

So that's the name Dawn came up with for our shopping trip. (I knew she wouldn't let me down).

Poor Julie came out of the house with a curling iron burn about 2 inches long right above her eyebrow.

It was funny that all of us knew exactly how she acquired the wound (been there, done that and while I didn't get the tshirt, I do have the scar).

Hence the name Patch. 

I think Shoppin' Hos is kind of self explanatory.

We stayed in the Hilton by Metrotown (as Christine put it, from our window we had a lovely view of the mall's butt). I am not typically a fan of the mall (and/or shopping), but I was still able to do some damage with my credit card.  And because it was "vacation" I took full advantage of hitting every Starbucks I went past. 

It was a fabulous weekend. 

On Friday I got an amazingly exciting email from my favourite magazine.  I can't spill the beans yet, but I seriously jumped for joy.  (Really, I did...I may have even high fived my husband...and I am not a high-fivin' kind of gal)

I even got a bit of scrapbooking done, here's a page with the new Crate Paper. 

I love that stuff!

I'm also working on a little project for the store. We have our big Creative Retreat next weekend and I'm making little "sanding tools" (glorified emery board) for everyone's goodie boxes. One of the classes I'm teaching has some sanding involved so I thought this would be a fun way for me not to have to keep handing out sandpaper (for some reason pieces of sandpaper always seem to get lost in my classes, drives me nuts) 

I finally used the Cropadile to punch the holes and set the eyelets in these.

Man, that thing is amazing.

(I take back all the snide comments I may have previously made about said tool).