website part 1

Ok I had my first intensive lesson with one of Chris' friends who is a graphic artist, on using dreamweaver today, and we made a very basic front page woohoo!
Digital Muse if you're interested! The links don't work yet because I ran out of time but ... hey it's a step! We did it all static(no fun flash) because well one thing at a time... but I've got fun ideas for rollovers over the "muse" lol (chris' idea)

Hope everyone has a great Canada Day tomorrow!!

photo day

Thougth I'd just share today 3 of my favourite 100 or so(yep! you read right!) photos I took of Ian today. I just kept clicking and these ones are SO going on a layout!!!

I can't believe he's almost one!!
where has the time gone???

Maya Road is here!!!!!!

This is my second post of the day but I had to share.... Caroline, you hooked ME UP!!!! She sent me this most generous RAK for participating in one of her S! challenges! Girl, you are so so so generous! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the awesome stash of your incredibly beautiful ribbons, slides(omy gosh I am in LOVE!) and caps... I don't know how she does it... she just had a baby like a month ago??? business lady, mom, wife, +++
Ok so now I have to devise a way to display these gorgeous ribbons! I suppose I could actually use them... but the hoarder in me is not so convinced.
check it out!
Lovin the orange, blues, browns ok so I just love it all!

Thank you again so much Caroline, you've made my day!!! :)

46 things

46 Things you probably could care less about
I totally lifted this from Patti T's blog,

1. FIRST NAME? Patricia2.
WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? at the wedding on Saturday, I'm a sucker for weddings4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I don't mind sliced turkey/chicken
6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 3 of them! 2 here, 1 in heaven.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'd hope so!
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just my blog
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not as much as I could... I have become too serious lately... I need help out of it!
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, they're exactly where I left them
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?Not a big fan of heights, so probably not
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I don't currentlyown a pair that require tying... so nope! summer time=flip flops!
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? depends on what them mean by strong... I am physically fairly strong... emotionally not so much
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? I'll take pretty much anything in the ice cream category.
16. SHOE SIZE? 9
17. RED OR PINK? one or the other.
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my poochey belly
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My grandpa and gran
20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? October 18, here in Burlington
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? barefoot and pj's
22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Cheerios, I'm anticipating coffee very soon
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Hi5 is in the background as well as Ian yelling about something
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple is always fun, too bad they don't have a plaid!
25. FAVORITE SMELL? freshly cut grass, and baby's breath(not the flower)
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? Christopher
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? teeth & eyes
28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I'm really good at putting my foot in my mouth(no not literally)
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Diet coke followed closely by coffee, no wait it's coffee followed by diet coke... ok I can't make up my mind!
30. FAVORITE SPORT? to watch: Hockey & Giant Slalom skiing
31. HAIR COLOR? brown with grey peaking through time to colour!
32. EYE COLOR? blue
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no
34. FAVORITE FOOD? pizza/caesar salad
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy Ending
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The new pride & prejudice(highly recommend it!)
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? brown
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
39. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Cheesecake
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Flash MX Bible(how to learn flash, it's over 2000 pages, I should ahve it done by the time I'm 80!)
42. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? star wars scene, and a calculator!
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The ocean waves crashing onto the beach
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME: Australia
46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULDTHEY BE? really anyone who can feed themselves!! love my kids, but I'd love to have a hot meal again that I could enjoy without having to stop and shove a mouthful in someone else's mouth!

photo inspiration challenge

I have been trying to keep my camera with me as often as possible! It isn't nearly so "slip-in-your-purse" friendly as my little kodak was, but I don't want to miss a thing!! So today Ian and I went for a walk to my parent's place and along the way, attached to the fence, was this old rusty lock! I don't know why, but I just found it fascinating... something rather out of place, and obviously it's been there for a while and I've never noticed it!
If you're looking for a photo challenge, try taking your camera with you on your daily day to day routine and see if you can spot something ordinary, but out of the ordinary??
Link me up and let me know! I'd love to see it!
Here are my funny lock photos.

Kindergarten celebration!

Well yesterday was the celebration for the JK & graduation for the SK class at Brianna's school. OH MY GOSH how cute are these kids!?! I could just eat them up! They sang songs that they had learned all year to a captivated audience of mums & dads, grandma's & grandpas etc. You could just see the intense longing for approval in the kids eyes, "mom are you watching me?" "Daddy can you see how good I'm doing". And not to turn this all sad, but my friend who passed away in her house fire in March, her son was standing there, doing so great... His dad has really stepped up to the plate. Just makes me sad, she is missing all these milestones. I took some good photos of him too(hope to slip them into his backpack tomorrow), I just feel like the other parents at the school really need to step up and help(if possible). That whole statement about, it takes a village to raise a child... so true!

But... on another note, look how cute these kids are?!


I really can't believe how grown up she is looking, I know, relax patti, she's only 4!! But man time is passing so quickly. I am so happy we've made this decision for me to stay home, I don't want to miss a second!! oh and the tears are coming again. I shouldn't blog emotional stuff. Sorry.

Happy belated fathers day!!

I tried posting yesterday but something was up with blogger so I gave up! I hope all the dads out there had a special day! We had a nice one, going to my parents house and saw both my brothers and their families. We all only get together probably 2x a year so that was pretty special to all be in one place!! It was stinkin hot yesterday too so of course a waterfight broke out, I hid behind my camera and so they took pity on me and let me stay dry! lol Here are some of my favourites from yesterday!
the first one is of all 5 cousins! Again very rare to get everyone together! and get this Ian was the only one actually looking at me! lol The next one is a pic of my dad!















Here is my middle brother and his daughter. I'm so proud of her, she just cut of 10" of hair for locks of love!







Here is the 3 of us together
and one from the waterfight!!
It was a fun day!!!

6 years!

6 years ago today and about a half hour ago in fact... we were married!! wow where has the time gone? I am shocked that that much time has passed and really I don't feel like it has. Well some things have changed... we now have 2 kids and one on the way...

(just kidding thought I'd mess with ya a bit! lol), a mortgage, a car payment. A new hobby that has taken over my dining room and most of my free thoughts. We have grown and changed too... (me my stomach, Chris, pretty much stays the same.).
Things I have learned?
~As much as I'd like him to know what I'm thinking, unless I've given him his morning mind reading pill, he doesn't have a hope unless I tell him!
~It's true to never go to bed upset
~I don't have to "nag", if I preface them with "loving reminder" it's all good!
~we need a bigger shower!! ;)

We're going out to Jake's Boathouse here in Burlington tonight for a nice dinner! My parents are coming to baby sit the kidlets. I'm so excited, I love jakes!! We're then going to wander chapter's aimlessly and come home to watch The Notebook(after Chris saw Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdam's in Home depot yesterday, now I want to see that movie again!), it's a good romantic chickflick... perfect for an anniversary I think!! lol!!

ladies night turned poker night...

Ok so since before I was married, so about 7 or 8 years I have gone over to my friend Julie the photographer's house on Thursday nights. It started out with it being Survivor night! We'd watch the show and chat the night away... well it continued on... even when the show isn't on. And it's grown. She's now lived in 3 different houses, and it's no longer survivor night, it's now become "Ladies night". All the husbands wonder what happens at the mysterious ladies night. Mostly laughing and eating jalapeno poppers... but we won't tell them that... well last night, we made it into a poker night! LMBO! None of us know how to play, how crazy is that?? Well apparently it's super huge crazy popular nowadays, and who are we to miss out on a trend! lol so while we were waiting for her poker shark sister to come over(who I recently introduced to S! and she signed up for a 12 month sub! woohoo!), we were all sitting aroudn the table reading the rules that came with the fancy poker chip set! SURROUNDED by food. There were 6 ladies, and uncountable #'s of children on and off...eventually mos tof them fell asleep or went to bed in their own homes. We were there for 3 hours and played 4 hands!!!! LMBO!! How pathetic is that??? yep, that's what happens when 6 chatty ladies play poker.

It was a lot of fun, although I am very very bad at it! Thankfully there wasn't any real $ infolved... But would love to try again. I'm a sucker for cards I think! Gran would be proud! ;)

so-so news

firstly, thank you all so much for your input on the card, I will fix it up later! I really appreciate your honesty!!! I can't tell you how much!
My meeting today was ok, mostly just information. The place I had to goto today is a sub contracted group for HRDC... so she told me the nitty gritty.... sounds liek it's going to be a long drawn out process... why am I not surprised?

I need to:
a)quit my job(although I'm on mat leave, I'm still employed, and it's only for people who are truly unemployed and on EI), although I can't quit, as then I woudln't qualify for ei. I have to tell them I can not return to my job due to the evening and weekend hours taht are required as I won't have daycare then for my children.
b)I have to go take a bazzilion aptitude tests to see where my skills "belong"
c) spend a week in milton doing so. Oh and all the while, since I'll be on EI I'll have to be looking for work, work that I dn't actually want and won't be able to accept(Isn't that insane?)
d) after going through all that, apply to the agency in Mississauga that supports peopel trying to establish their own business. They will expect me to come into Miss. for 4 weeks. I am not looking forward to that! I hate driving in rush hour traffic!!! Maybe I can take the GO train. It's not a guarantee that I'll even be accepted to attempt this.
e) then hopefully after all of that, I can actually get down to working on the business.

I'm very nervous. I am scared to quit my job. I am scared to take this leap of faith, what if I fail? What if I can't do it? What if I mess up?
it's scary doing new stuff isn't it?? All in God's hands right?!

1st draft of my business card

whaddya think??

I tried Jessica Sprague 's tip/trick on blending modes for the "custom web design" part. Nothing like putting the cart before the horse hey? (I like to dream big!! don't go to my url ... I don't have it yet! lol)

Planning is all a part of the fun! If you're the praying type, please say one for me as I goto meet with the gov't folks tomorrow about making this all happen!!

Can I be any more nervous/nauseous ??? lots is riding on this!! Will update after my meeting!

my escape artist!!!

I forgot how much fun it is to try to change the diaper of a 10 month old who all he wants to do is get up and go!!! does someone have some duct tape I can borrow??? Seriously!!! I turned my back on him for a minute... and he was off... so I grabbed my camera of course lol. He is my bumless wonder!!!
Beware b u m ahead!!

not this time...

Ok so I'd be lying if I didn't admit I am a bit dissappointed about not making the Scraptivity design Team.... but on the other hand, I'm so happy for those talented & lovely scrappers who did get selected!! A couple I don't know very much about, but should be fun to see what they can come up with! It's always awesome to have new inspiration!!
Gotta give a shout out to shutterbug Sue!! SOO happy for her!!! I am thrilled to bits to see her name picked!! AWESOME!!

SO, that is that, onwards and upwards... Can't wait to see what happens next!!

Anyway, here are 2 of my lo's that underwhelmed. All the best to the new DT!!!
(ps, click on the pic's to see them larger, click again in the lower right corner to actually read the brown coloured one :) )
cheers!!
p.
edited to add, I'm going to revamp one, so I'm removing it for now! :)

my new venture!

I feel like I have been living and breathing my new idea for the past few weeks, so I guess it's time to share it on here. My mat leave is quickly running out, I'm due to return to work August 8th. Well that's not going to happen. I have done some research and found out that the gov't will provide a second year of employment insurance for people who have been off on mat/parental leave if they establish their own business. This sounds like the perfect plan! And so now I'm in the works of creating a business plan and hopefully getting it approved!! I'm so excited and nervous both at the same time!
I am currently in the process of learning flash & dreamweaver so that I will be able to do web design... no I don't currently know how. Lol but hey I'm a quick learner, why not?!
My friend has leads and has already had a job for me to do, but darn I don't know how to do it yet! I'm very excited about this opportunity!! As much as I Loved my old job and working with the elderly, there really wasn't any more room to advance unless I usurped my boss! lol. This way I can be as busy or as not busy as I would like, and still be home for my kids, which was the main goal!
So excited!! (let me know if you need a web page! hehe, I need the practice!!)

Quiz time!

Just got this one from Melissa

I AM: a work in progress. I mess up a lot, but trying to learn from my mistakes.
I WANT: to be a SAHM, and have a small business on the side, that is fun and profitable
I HAVE: 2 gorgeous kids!
I WISH: we had a fenced in backyard
I HATE: crowds, arguments, weeds, loud neighbours in the middle of the night chatting outside my bedroom window & skateboarders.
I MISS: friends I have lost touch with
I HEAR: the windchimes outside my back door, and the birds doing their thing
I WONDER: what is going to happen over the summer, with regards to me quitting my job, and starting up this new business.
I REGRET: a lot of poor decisions I made in my late teens and early 20's.
I AM NOT: good at taking criticism
I DANCE: to make my kids laugh
I SING: loudly, but only when no one else is around to hear
I CRY: a lot, when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm angry... I wish I didn' t cry so much
I AM NOT ALWAYS: right, despite my original thoughts
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: yummy sundried tomato veggie dip which I'm eating right now!
I WRITE: too much sometimes. I don't want to forget any details
I CONFUSE: myself when I try to do too many things at once
I NEED: to call my brother's more... I miss them.
I SHOULD: go and check the mail to see if there is a box from Scraptivity!! lol
I START: a lot of projects at once, and get excited about all of them, then have difficulty completeing them.
I FINISH: other people's sentences... a very bad habit that I am trying to stop.

Come, play along!! and let me know that you did!
thanks for that Melissa!

JK teachers...

are the best aren't they? I jsut love Brianna's teacher. She just cares so much, and has the patience of a saint! I'm kind of sad though, she is transferring to a new school!! My first child's first teacher... how dare she leave! lol
I snapped a quick shot of her this morning... I can't believe school is nearly over! For something that began so traumatically for me(3 weeks post partum, with my first "baby" going to school.. I was a wreck!)... I'm goign to miss her going. Brianna just loves school, and I am amazed at how much she has learned! I always knew she was clever, but I'd have never thought at 4 years old she'd be able to read!! yep she can read most 3 letter words, and does a great job at sounding out bigger words. Most nights she reads to me!! She's great at drawing and loves talking about patterns. Soo soo neat!

Here is Brianna and our favourite JK teacher, Ms. Grim. Isn't she just the best? Well I guess you can't say that just from the photo, but she is! I'm so happy she was Bree's first teacher!

time to train???

I have been reading my book by the baby whisperer lady: "The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems". It's actually a pretty good book, dealing with sleeping issues, eating issues etc. She suggests starting toilet training at 9 months. How insane does that sound?? lol. Her reasoning is that most people wait too long and their children are already very comfortable doing it in their diapers and don't want the change, and on top of that they're already in teh terrible 2's/3's. So she suggests trying it now, and if they go, make a huge fuss and it will grow to be a familiar thing for them, so once they are capable of holding it etc. they'll know what they should do. She said babies usually go pee 15-20 minutes after having a drink, and to watch for their facial expressions/cues for #2. Most babies will go at the same time every day. So. I thought, hey maybe I'd try this and see what happens... crazy book lady... I was feeding Ian breakfast and saw him make his "I gotta go" face... so I quickly hurried up and took him to the toilet(and she said don't bother with the potty, just get the seat that fits directly onto the toilet and a stool, it's one less transition they'll have to make), striped him down and plopped him on the seat. He thought I was nuts, as did I... so I start singing him a song as he is yanking on the toilet paper... and he went!! I praised too late though, I didn't realize he'd done it!! lol. Anyway, I just thought that was the funniest thing, sounds incredibly crazy, and I'm not sure I'll totally follow it, but hey, if it helps get rid of the diapers sooner I'm all for it!!

I had the incredible honour to be Scraptivity's June Guest Designer!! OH my gosh I had so much fun! And the mojo was a flowin!!! I gave it my all and I am really pleased with how the 5 layouts I did turned out!! Here they are : If you click on the image they should pop up bigger in a new window. Scraptivity is having a call for new design team members... shhhhh don't tell anyone... I'm going to try out!! That would be such a huge blessing to be involved in such an incredible company and to be apart of such an inspiring team! Here is to hoping!