Summer sisters...

This is a layout that I did for Srapn'chat and I just loved how it turned out.  The journalling reads,

'Ryan, Lauren and Avery... Although they are seperated by distance all year, every summer at Nana's they get to be summer sisters'.

Since Lauren was born over 5 years ago my brother and his family have made the long drive from Cambridge, ON to Bathurst, NB every summer.  I am so thankful that they make the effort because I don't think I could handle the drive!

Thanks guys!

What I like about right now...

Another blog challenge from my on-line pals at Scrapn'chat!  Blog about the 'Top 10' of something.  Again I racked my brain trying to figure it out but finally thought, simple is better.  So here is my top 10...

The top 10 things I like about right now;

10.  My cleaner.... Last week I came out of the bedroom and Jason was sweeping the living room floor in his skivvies.  He looked at me and said, 'What?  Some people pay for this!.'  I laughed my head off.  I like this about right now.   (He told me I could not write about this - at all!  I guess now we'll see if he's reading the blog!)

9.  Playtime....  Ryan is rocking her retro Radio Flyer tricycle and her Leap frog scooter.  She gets on and says, 'Mama, I gonna scooter.  Watch out, this is tricky!'.   I love seeing her cruising around the basement or on the veranda.

8. Time management....  I have finally managed to figure out how to get to work on time.  I used to park in a garage a couple of minutes away and I was always late.  Now I park a 10 minute walk away and for the most part I am always on time.  Go figure. 

7. Fall food!  September is always a fun culinary month.  I remember all of the warm hearty meals from cooler days and I start to cook!  Sheppard pie, spaghetti, lasagna, beef stew, maple curry chicken.....  Mmm, yum!

6. Dance parties!   Almost every evening Ryan and I head to the basement and shake our tail feathers! Sometimes Daddy or Nanny join us but most often it is just Ryan and I, spinning in the chair and twirling around until we are too dizzy to stand up!

5. Friendships....  Ryan loves Lucy and Lucy Loves her.  Lately when we get home from work and daycare we let Lucy out.  Ryan runs ahead of her on the lawn and Lucy follows.  Ryan plops down and Lucy rubs herself against Ryan.  Ryan looks at me and says, 'Lucy loves me!'.  And then Ryan runs to another spot on the lawn and they do it all over again.  It makes you realise how important all these small connections are!

4. Independence...  I have enough time to incorporate ME time in my life and that in last few months I was able to read a dozen books and knit and crochet some hats and scrap book a little too...  Me time is great.  For the first few years of Ryan's life she was entirely focused on me, awesome to be so loved but a little overwhelming at times....  With her growing Independence comes a little more Independence for me too!

3. My job....  Although I could never say that I am living my lifelong passion through work - I really appreciate that I have a job that lets me leave it there at the end of the day.  When I am done and its time to come home I don't have to give it another thought.  It gives me time for my family and rewards me well financially. I  don't have to look around very hard to recognize how many people would love to have what I do. 

2.  My hobbies....  I am a jack of all trades and a master of none.  I scrapbook, knit, crochet, read....  I have very few original ideas but the joy I get from latching on to someone else's and recreating it for myself is invaluable.  I love to be creative in a tactile in tangible way.

1.  My family....  They make me want to pull my hair out, sometimes they make me want to scream but more often than that they make me want to say thank-you, thank you, thank you that the stars aligned and gave me Jason and then Ryan.  I couldn't dream up to better people to spend my days with. Unless, could I make them say yes more?  LOL - they wouldn't be them if they did....

But seriously folks....

How hard can it be to get a pic of everyone looking.... 

Or having a photoshoot without breaking a sweat and starting to twitch... 

Its damn HARD!!!! 

Ryan is still not in smile-for-the-camera mode....

Or in sit-still-mode....

Or in listen-to-mommy mode....

Maybe someday?

I still got a family picture out of it though!

Who's toes are those?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not really a girly-girl.

I don't curl my hair, wear make-up or jewelry and I definitely don't wear nail polish.  I didn't really think that Ryan was a girly-girl either, with the exception of her pink obsession.  However, society has been doing its job (much to my dismay - not that I think that there is anything wrong with being a girly-girl, I just don't want her to fall into a gender role trap out of some sense of obligation) and she is already acutely aware that the things that girls and boys do are different. 

For the last couple of weeks she has been asking for poshish (polish) and has been talking about it to anyone who'll listen.  I get updates when I pick her up from daycare.  "Mama's going to get me some pink poshish for my toes!'  So, finally we made it to the store. 

                                                

She also got some head bands - blue like Caillou's Mom and is pretty tickled with her transformation.  Who and I to rain on her parade!  Well actually I did rain on it a little this morning when she wanted ME to put on some poshish.  To that the answer was an unwavering NO!

Today was good...

I turned 34 today and had a wonderful day!  After having a dance party (with Ryan this morning with musical selections like Wham, Toto and Tiffany) Jason took little miss out to run some errands so I could have the house to myself for a few hours.  I almost fell asleep in the tub!  Then I had supper made for me :o)  Ryan was so excited about the day and helping Jason plan.  She said to her Nanny when she came in, 'Nanny, I bought Mama a birfday party.'  Ooh, I got an awesome new purse too, loads of well wishes, along with a scrappy giftcard and some lotto tickets.  Maybe I'll be a millionaire tomorrow?  Life will still be great regardless! 

Oooo, and I found out that after a tumultuous pregnancy,  my dear friend Christy had a baby girl on Wednesday - 13 minutes after she arrived at the hospital!  What???!!!!!  Welcome to world Scarlett, I can't wait to meet you!

A year in review...

Monday Ryan moves up to the 3's class in daycare.  Yesterday her wonderful teacher Val surprised me with a scrapbook of most of her artwork from the year as well as a book of their learning stories highlighting what they have done throughout the year and what impact it has on their development.  Here's an example.

'Ryan is a good friend'

When Ryan seres her friends their food or drink or passes them a toy and they say Thank you, she responds with 'your welcome' or 'my pleasure'.

Why it matters:  Ryan feels great satisfaction from serving.  She feels happy.  Being happy and appreciative of all the wonderful things in life especially the small ones are crucial to one's well-being.  It shows Ryan and her friends the importance of giving and receiving cheerfully to and from others.  Children learn by example from their peers and their caregivers.

Signed, your teacher. 

Alright Ryan, we know you have it in you!  Please and thank-you's all around please!  Actually, she's a pretty polite girl with a few reminders thrown in.  Looking back at the pics from last September I can hardly believe that she's grown so much!  I can't wait to see what happens this year....

Paper bag fun.

Ryan's having a sleepover with her Nanny tonight and Jason is across the street bonding with the neighbours (I can hear him laughing from here) so I thought thought this was a great time to update.

I wanted to make something special for Ryan's teacher this year because she is such a wonderful person and Ryan will soon be moving on to the next age group very soon.  I've made one of these paper bag albums in the past and loved it so I thought I would give it another go.  It's a great way to capture a memory all the while being economical and using up scaps.  It was also the first time I really got to make use of my Big Bite - I gotta say it was fun!

I used binder rings to tie it all together...

And a little bit of ribbon too...

I used 4 paper bags all together and on the open end of each I made a little tabbed page with some hidden picks.

There are five kids in the class including Ryan and each child had there own 2 page spread.  There have been enough events at the daycare that I was able to get lots of pics to complete the album.

I gave Val the album on Friday along with an 8x10 framed group picture of her and the kiddos.  I left it in the morning and when I picked Ryan up she said, 'I just don't know what to say - the work that must have gone into that!'.  I love it when a labour or love is appreciated :o)  Thank you Val!