Why?

To scrap of course!!  With the added bonus of getting to meet Amber and her family and hang out with her...

I took 9 classes over the weekend, lots of fun projects!   Ideally I would have 47 hours in each day and I would have finished up all of my projects and took some fab photos of each, but alas...  24 hours is all I get so that's why this entry is so long in coming and lacking photos.  I did indeed upload some photos from the weekend into the Scrapaganza album... yay me!!

Friday night was our HS album, since I arrived only minutes before it started I was worried that I wouldn't find Amber, and a bit dissappointed that we didn't get to chat a bit before hand.  When I arrived at the door there she was with a seat for me behind her...We chatted a teeny bit before it started.  The class itself was a bit of a thumb-twiddler, but I guess that gave me more time to chat and go through all that stash!!  We got a cropper hopper thingy stuffed full and we'd only use bits of each product, Heidi rocks!!

Saturday started off by meeting Amber for our Scrapworks class at 8am, we did a fun summer-y page, with their cool perferated CS sheets.  Got some nice goodies and the projects was finished!!!  Amber had a class (with Karen B, I think) and I headed off to breakfast.

I met up with her again in our Van Gogh class, fun stuff with paints...  no real project here, so that was a bummer, but I did learn a lot and I think I'll be more apt to pull out my paints.  The teacher seemed a bit nervous but she knew her stuff and I learned a lot.

Next, quick lunch, then off to my doodlebug class without Amber.  We got some fab goodies, but it was all a bit really, really bright!!  Even for doodlebug.  The technique was very cool and there are lots of goodies left over.  The page is not finished so I think I'll tone it down a bit whenever I do get the chance to finish it...  the teacher was so fun and really made the class!

I had a bit of break until 4 when we had the second part of our Heidi album class, this one moved a lot faster than Friday night's and we did some really fun techniques with masks, modeling paste, chalk inks, painting rub ons and I'm sure there's more!  Really fun and again it was with Amber so that made it all the better!!

Another break for supper, and the whole pizza saga...  then off to my other HS class Think pink.  Amber had her's earlier in the day, the rest of my classes were without her, but I did meet Pascale and we had 2 together.  Again LOTS of HS stash, we took a frame kit and made it into an album.  Amber has convinced me that I NEED to make some for gifts (ok, my arm is total rubber in this case), but they are so stinkin' cool!!  Again, not finished here, but it shouldn't take much time.  Amber was waiting for me outside the class with my pizza so we got a piccie with Emily Waters and Liz Eaton and of course the pizza box.

a quick bite of pizza and off to Bazzill.  This was THE most organised class!!  Everything was pre-cut and it was the sweetest little mini book.  I finished it in less than 40 mins and had fun chatting with Pascale. I did leave a bit early so that I could munch on pizza, go feed Phil and have a quick minute at the raffle draw with Amber and Sara (another Canadian over here). 

Last class of the day, Chatterbox, started at 10:30, 30mins late because of the raffle draw.  I could barely keep my eyes open.  Becks was teaching and she was sooooo fun!!  LOVE her!!  It was about journaling which was great but the page itself was soooo busy!!  Again it's not finished so I'm going to take it apart and do it my way.  No need of wasting all that fabulous purple CBX!!

Sunday morning was our last class with the HS album.  I got there just as class was starting because I had been packing up our room as we had to check out right after.  Amber got us a table though...  we worked a bit more and tried to finish up the pages but, I didn't finish...  Actually, there were 5 pages in the class, but the album holds 40...  so lots of room to play there...

So that's it.  I know I probably bored you all to tears but I wanted to get this all down before it leaks out of my head!!  Ok, back to your regularly scheduled blog about my boys... at least until next year!

WHERE???

As in Where is Cara???  Ok, I had a nice part 3 post all ready to go and then Matthieu kicked me off before I could proofread and post it.  He NEEDED the computer for work...  well, he ended up crashing the computer with something that had nothing to do with work!! And since, poor Phil has been sooo clingy.  He's teething and has a cold so he's a bit miserable and that means that he's only happy in momma's arms!!!

Ok, back to ScrapaGanza!!!

WHERE
In a small coastal town about 45 kms north of Amsterdam...  The hotel was HUGE, I mean massive, I got lost soooooo many times!!  Amber and I got lost looking for a bathroom, found one really close to all the scrap classes, then we needed to go again and could NOT find it... then finally we did, or so we thought!  It was a completely different bathroom and we never did find that phantom bathroom again!!!

In other news...

It's Mother's day here today...  fun, but typical Sunday, Matthieu takes the boys so I can catch up on housework.  We had MIL anbd FIL over for lunch.  I made her a mini album (don't be jealous mom, I made one for you too, but you have to come get it!!!). 

The boys were so sweet.  On Friday, Jacques came out of school with something behind his back.  He then tried to put it in his school bag, but was having trouble, so I had to do it with my eyes closed!!  Then Matthieu took the 3 of them shopping  and ended upleaving the bag in the middle of the kitchen floor, doh, where I tripped overit and swept around it and pretended not to see it!!  They holed themselved up in my scraproom all morning and made a fun little hangy thing with their photos on it.  I kept hearing little voices coming from my room, 'Mommy, Daddy's cutting my neck!'  He cut out their photos!!  In school Jacques made a beautiful beaded bracelet and it was wrapped in a package they made tehmselves and there was a poem on a card that he learned, soooooo sweet!!! I'll post photos once the lunch dishes are finished.  Just hopping on here quickly with Phee on my lap, he was getting tired of his walker and Mommy not letting him pull plate out of the dishwasher!!!

SaG Part 2

WHAT
Scrappin' and shoppin' of course!!  I had tonnes of fun classes and made lots of projects, most are unfinished and all need photos, so as soon as I get a spare minute I'll finish some and get some photos up.   Hopefully my camera will cooperate.
Shopping was so fun!!  It's great to be able to actually see the product, touch it, flip through it, drool on it, lol, instead of just what you see in mags or online.  Early Saturday after my first class, I went into the room where the stores were, I think there were 5 or 6...  I just looked at everything, ran my fingers along papers and picked up lots of embellies and just had fun.  I went back with Amber on Sunday just before we left and bought the things that stayed in my mind (a sure sign that I really liked them) and then some!!

WHEN
I had 9 classes total over the weekend, one Friday, 7 on Sat and one more on Sun morning.  I almost didn't make the Friday one... It was at 8:30pm, so we left home at noon, about 500 km, should have been plenty of time with a few stops for a late lunch and then a snack and I'd be able to meet up with Amber before our class.  Lots of little things, Jacques got carsick and we had to stop to clean him up, we took a wrong turn but the worst was when we hit a traffic jam around 3pm, bumper to bumper!!  It took us an hour to go about 15 km!!!  I was so upset because I figured I'd miss the class which was part 1 of the HS  album.  But, the roads cleared, it was an accident, and we passed it and Matthieu did some very 'french' driving (got tooted at a lot!!) and we got to the classroom at about 8:26!!!  Phew!
Saturday was full!  I started at 8am and went straight to about 11:30 with a few breaks for meals and nursing, and I did have one longer break and I got to go to the pool with Matthieu and the boys.  By the evening I was so tired because I didn't sleep much the night before because I was tooooooo excited!  Funny thing was, for once Phil slept til 6 and it wasn't him that kept me awake.
Sunday was the last of the HS classes at 9:30, then Amber and I tried to do some make n takes but only ended up doing one with the MM lady.  She was super nice!!  We over heard her say something sweet to one of the other scrappers and I said 'I like her!' to Amber, which she over heard!  I'm glad she did because people should hear when you say something nice about them.  Then, Amber helped me shop (she was waiting until her classes were over to see what she'd get in her kits) and showed me some her LOs in some books they had for sale.  Then I had to run and meet Matthieu and  the boys for lunch before we left.  So we had to say good-bye. 
The drive home was super smooth of course...

OH and a little FYI ...
ScrappersAnonymous is having a contest for May/June, check it out...

SCRAP-A-GANZA!!!!!

hi all, sorry I didn't update lately but I really didn't want to advertise that our house would be empty for three days, and since all that I did before we left was prepare... there was nothing else to talk about!  Ok, so Scrap-a-ganza...  so FUN!!!  Had a total blast and I'm doing it again next year for sure!!!  I'm going to tell you about it in installments (5W's) since nap times are only so long and there is still a tonne of unpacking to do.  so first, the WHO...

WHO
I met so many fabulous people...  top of my list is definitely:

Amber We had super time together!  It was just so comfortable to be with her, like we had been friends for a long time, not just meeting for the first time.   We have a lot more in common than I realised!  She is such a fab scrapper too, well the HOF thing sorta gives that away, but I'd be stuck on something and she'd have a really fab idea right away!  I wish we didn't live so far away, but I know we'll get together again, and it's a lot easier (ahemcoughcheapercough) to call her than Canada so I'm sure we'll be chatting lots on the phone as well. 
We had 5 classes together, did make n takes (um well, we tried), shopped, ate and just chatted, fun fun fun.  I loved whenever we'd meet up and she'd flash me one of her beaming smiles, so happy we got to do this, to inteact in real life and not just emails and blogs!

Georgia and Sven too!  She's just so stinkin' cute!  Funny the difference in girls and boys shows up right away, she's just so dainty!!  I never realised just how rough and tumble my little guy was.  We put them together and they were completely interested in this other little person.  Jacques loved G too, except he kept getting in her face, just jealous, so normal...  he wanted to eat breakfast with her yesterday, and about 10 minutes after we got there, they came so he got his wish!!

Fun Scrappin' gals, there were about 500 scrappers there over the weekend!!  I met two other Canadians that live in Europe (Geneva and Dresden), though I think I might have been rude to them the last time I saw them as I was sooooooo tired and didn't know if I was coming or going, sorry guys!!  I met a couple of really sweeet Dutch ladies, including Pascale who I sat with in Bazzill and one of my HS classes, the pic is a bit yellow, but I was too tired to play with the WB.

Teachers lots of big names from the States and the UK and I did have one Dutch teacher as well.  Emily Waters and Liz Eaton taught all the HS classes and since one was an album tract that makes 4, so we got to chat with them quite a bit.  They even gave us pizza advice!!  Marti Jones and her husband (who own Bazzill) taught their Bazzill class.  I also had classes with Becks Faqq and Michelle Grant, both really fun.

For some reason PS will not give me my photos, so I'll post this now and come back and add those in when my camer/computer are behaving!!

Musical Cars

I'm now driving MIL's C3 pluriel which I hate.  It's such a cute spunky car, but once you get in it, it's dark and gloomy even with the top down and it's sooooooo small!! It looks like it should be a zippy little thing too, but it's soooo slow to get going and usually I could care less about those things.  Plus, it has 0 cupholders, lol!! Anyhoo, I'm just pissy that she took my new car and my son!!  Anthony went to Spain with her and Papy and some cousins for the week.  Miss him already!!

Getting excited for Scrap a Ganza this weekend!!  I was talking to Amber on the phone and it was so fun.  It's funny how you imagine someone's voice being different than what it actually is.  I've heard her voice before on a video, but it's not the same when she's talking to me!  We have our first class together on Friday and about half of the others together, should be so fun!!

We went to a communion yesterday, the party afterwards was so extravagent, it was like a wedding, lots of fun!!!

Skinny little...

It's official!  I'm a soccer mom!  No Jacques hasn't started soccer/football yet, but we bought a van.  Don't ask me all the "boy" stuff like horsepower and stuff...  I talk in colour and cupholders when it comes to cars (dark grey and about 50 million, now if only had Tim Horton's!!).  We got it yesterday and besides being enormous on these bitty European roads it's ok.  I was sooooooooo attached to my little 306, I even named her Mandy.  It was my first car and we had it for over 5 years.  It still rocks, just our family has outgrown it.  Yeah, I cried I'm a sap!!

Oh, the title which seems to have nothing to with cars...  I'm thinking of spelling this out in letters stickers above my new licence plate...  it's 147 ARZ 57

More Birthdays!!!!!!

I want to wish my dad and brother Andrew a happy happy birthday!!!

Sweet 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTHONY!!!!

I can't believe this little guy is 3 today!!  Time goes by so fast.  Trying so hard to hang onto these fleeting days!  That's what's so great about scrapbooking, it helps you bottle time...

Here's a page I did tonight of my guy...  He's in the process of giving up his 'soobie'  which is basically an empty playtex nurser.  He gave it up cold turkey himself about a week ago and was doing really well so we hid them all.  Lately though he's been asking for it and even sneaking the baby's soothers!!!  So hard to be 3, he wants to be big but he also needs to be babied!!

TAGGED!! twice!

My fab friend Nicola tagged me with this first one and Judy, Vanessa and Krista all tagged me with the second one!  When it rains it pours, eh?  Such fun!!

5 Things in my fridge:

1. Orval cheese, went there today, long story, I'll save it for tomorrow
2. About 14L of milk, seriously, there's no corner stores here...
3. fresh pasta
4. fromage blanc, don't know how to discribe that...  yummy!!
5. lots of kiddy yogurts

In my closet (wardrobe)

1. Jeans
2. a new pair of pants, I got to go shopping with SIL yesterday, we bought the same pair!!
3. St. James sweaters, love those, need 'em too, it's been super cold lately
4. stripey socks
5. things all still one size bigger than I was before Philippe, getting there

PS.  Nic you have to show us the wig!!


In my purse

1. my lime green leather wallet!
2. sunglasses and hand cream because I have sensitive eyes and skin
3. diapers and wipes
4. about 4 lbs of hot wheels
5. 3-4 cute notebooks

In my car:

1. an extra pair of sunglasses
2. carseats and booster
3. shopping cart cover for the kiddy seat
4. umbrella stroller
5. junk, garbage, crumbs, needs to be vacuumed!!

No TIVO here either so I'll list some things I watch

1. Alias on DVD
2. um yeah...
3.
4.
5.

ok, so that's all I watch...  French TV is weird...  the boys love the backyardigans, does that count

OK, I'm it... again:

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. cashier at Needs Convenience (hi Dad!!)
2. student assistant with the RCMP
3. cytotechnologist with amniocentisis
4. SAHM, totally the best one so far

Four places I have lived:

1. Antigonish, NS
2. Quebec, PQ
3.  Memphis, TN
4.  Versonnex, FRANCE (near the Swiss border near Geneva)

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Alias
2. 24
3. Friends reruns
4. yah, see I don't watch TV in France

Four places I've been on vacation:

1. PEI
2. England
3. Austrian Alpes
4. Spain

Four websites i visit daily?

1.  two peas
2. scrappersanon
3. shoebox
4. a bunch of blogs and my email

FOUR FOODS  I LOVE TO EAT:

1. choclate, the GOOD stuff!!
2. did I mention the yummy fromage blanc, kind of like yogurt with lumps
3. ice cream
4. cold cereal

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Nova Scotia
2. anywhere in Canada
3. a spa day would be nice
4. CKU or something similar (though I am going to Scrap-a-Ganza in 19 days!!)

Four Friends that have been tagged that I think will respond:

Consider yourself all tagged!!  If you don't have a blog you can play by putting it in my comments!!!

Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Notting Hill
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. The Sound of Music
4. Dirty Dancing