I’m back…Welcome to September!

It’s been quite a while since I last posted and lots has been happening.  I spent the last days of August savouring every last minute of the best summer that I can remember in recent history.

We spent several weekends, including the long Labour Day weekend at our cabin in Little Goose Pond.

We went to the Keith Urban concert at Mile One Centre.  The concert was amazing and Mr. Urban is quite the entertainer and is very engaged with his audience.  To top it all off, L had an experience that she won’t soon forget at the concert.  She went there with a friend and ended up going home with Keith Urban’s guitar.  He pulled her out of the audience and gave it to her.  The guitar strap reads “I went to a Keith Urban concert and all I got was this lousy guitar.”

She became something of a celebrity for the few days after the concert and appeared on CBC Radio and CBC’s Here and Now.  You may have seen her…we were very proud as she spoke very well and was just soooo excited!

B & I spent a weekend in Toronto with our friends and saw Bruce Springsteen at the Rogers Centre.  Bruce Springsteen is amazing!  He is 62 years old and is in better physical shape than most 30 year olds that I know.  He played for 3 hours and 41 minutes, non-stop!  A few songs from his new album and lots of oldies to keep the audience entertained.  We had dinner at Restaurant 360 at the CN Tower and did some shopping and exploring.  It was a great weekend!

The kids are back to school with A’s last first day of school as he started Grade 12.

A has a new car…his hard work all summer finally paid off.  We are very proud of him as he set the goal to save enough to buy a car and with a little help from us, he is now the proud own of a new-to-him Honda Civic.  A to learn to drive a standard shift and has been doing remarkably well with that!

And since school started last week, we are back to the routine.  Dance and piano have already started for L with voice starting up this week.  A has already started refereeing and hockey will start up next week.

And I have been keeping up with Project Life and will have a massive update post for that soon.

Here’s a LO that I made for a recent LO Tag…It features some of my favorite photos of the summer.  Love the misting and the wash tape and the wood veneer shapes and words and those thickers and those badges!  It was great to dig into the stash and use a bit of this and that!

I am looking forward to getting back into the regular routine and getting a few more layouts done during the cooler autumn months.  Lots of exciting classes happening at The Paperie and, of course, their Fall Retreat will be an excellent opportunity to scrapbook the massive number of photos that I have taken over the past couple of months.

In the meantime, we have spent the last two days securing items, moving patio furniture and other summer toys in preparation for the impending Hurricane Leslie, scheduled to make landfall here sometime tomorrow.  And while the kids and my teacher friends are excited for the already announced day off, I will be busy at work hoping that the damage to municipal infrastructure will be minimal.  Hope you have stocked up on supplies and are able to spend the day safely tucked away in your nests!

12 on 12 – the July Version…

It’s that time of the month again where I am participating in a challenge to take 12 photos on the 12 of the month.  The summer is passing by so quickly and the weather, so far, has been amazing.  I love this challenge as it forces me to focus on the details of my life for one day a month and it always produces interesting results.  I was awake very early yesterday morning and even tweeted a reminder to the usual suspects who like to play along with this challenge but often realize the date later in the day and miss some good photo ops in the early hours.

Here’s a peek at how my day look and some of the things that I saw as the day unfolded:

 Lots of stuff happening on this day (from the top left corner…):

1. Max stretching as he woke up in the morning.  These hot summer days he doesn’t like to sleep in my bed and opts for the much cooler downstairs in my husband’s office.

2. Romo is sleeping while he sitting up.  He has had a very stressful week (more on that later).

3. My new chairs for the family room were delivered.  We are in the process of moving some furniture to the cabin and taking some older stuff from the house and replacing it.

4. A lunchtime trip to the Paperie to pick up my Studio Calico wood veneer people that I have been waiting for, for what seems like forever.  And, of course, I picked up a few more goodies while I was there!

5. This is Karma.  She has been staying with us for a few days while S visits.  She is the reason why Romo is so stressed out.  She has taken over the house, his food, his toys, and she teases him constantly.  Normally she lives in a 2 bedroom apartment but is currently loving the spacious surroundings and all of the interesting stuff and the new food!  She normally does not venture outside but has really enjoyed spending time on the patio basking in the sun with her leash on.

6. A trip to the post office.  No happy mail today!

7. A trip to downtown St. John’s with L and there is a Tall Ship visiting.

8. L waiting in the car while I snap a few shots of the Tall Ship.

9. L’s frozen yogurt from our trip to Menchies.

10. A chillin’ at the Janeway while having his blood transfusion.

11. This is the cake that L and her friends made for K’s going-away party. GIven L’s past baking experiences, I was quite impressed!

12. The laundry room at the cabin is complete and up and running.  This is the first finished room…we are getting there!

It’s Friday!  Enjoy the weekend!

Monday, Monday…

It’s Monday again, already:( Seems like it was just Friday an hour ago.  The weekend was very busy.  A. had a couple of hockey games, L. had rehearsal for the upcoming Caberet show, DH was running around like a chicken with his head cut off getting ready to go skidooing for a week.  On Sunday, I headed to The Paperie for a class with Sara.  We made these….

So much technique in these, but so much fun and so messy!  My hands were covered in ink when I got home, a sure sign of a fun, creative and productive day.  I am so pleased with how they turned out!

Then last night, I spent some time editing some photos I took on Friday of some of the St. John’s Maple Leafs Major Midget players. These photos are to accompany an article in and upcoming issue of Newfoundland Hockey Scene Magazine.  I am happy with the results….what do you think?

I am participating in the 12 on Twelve challenge today.  Basically, you take 12 photos of your day on the 12th of March.  I will post my photos tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Busy night tonight as A.’s playoff hockey continues and L. has dance, piano and voice.  Lots of photo ops, though!