Back from the Game!

We took Carter to his very first MLB game tonight. He looked so cute all decked out (and matching with dad) in his brand new Giants gear! It was Teddy Bear night, so all the kids got a Build-a-Bear giants teddy. So cool! :)

Don't you loooove those 2 year old smiles?? :)

Exciting Times!!

I am so over the moon with excitement! Literally, I was bouncing up and down in my chair when I read the email! :)

I was asked to be a designer for A Page In Time Scrapbooks kit club!

I am soooo anxious to get started! It looks like a great site, and the kits are drool-worthy! I also just can't wait to be a part of a design team again. I just love that it pushes me to think a little harder, and to really make the time to do something for me - scrapbook! Best of all, I love meeting people with the same love for paper and glue that I do!

The club also has a message board, come join the fun! Or...better yet, check out these awesome kits! Hope to see you around!

http://www.apageintimescrapbook.com/index.html

Happenings around town!

It's been a busy busy week here, so here's our week in a photo update! :)

WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday was the last day of the toddler program at Calvary Preschool. After class, Brooke, Bernard, and Carter went to have some year end fun at ChuckECheese. Carter was really excited to see Elijah able to join us as well!

Here they are playing Airhockey (well, they really had no idea how to play, but they liked shooting the puck!)
Carter on the mechanical horse!

THURSDAY:

On Thursday we went back to the Academy of Sciences with Sarah, Mason, Bernard, and Sean and their mommies. We managed to get a decent group shot of all of us in the cool play area they have there. Carter is actually jumping up and down in this photo, and the somewhat odd look on my face is because I'm yelling at him to quit it! LOL

Here are the boys all crowded in the bedroom area of the ship.

And again, the boys posing by the aquarium.

FRIDAY:

Then today (Friday) we went to the SF Zoo with Geoffrey, Susan, and their mom Sarah. It was a very fun day full of lots of running, lollipops, and junk food for lunch! :)

The zoo has a new baby giraffe, and he/she(??) happened to be sitting right at the edge of the pasture, so Carter thought it was cool to see.

But, it was even more fun to see Mommy just a few feet away munching on some leaves!

The two monkey-boys were all smiles with their new matching binoculars. :)

And finally a pose by the elephant. Can you tell how much energy these boys have? I took about 10 photos and this is the best one I got of both of them! :)

NAPPING:

and finally, Carter is fully in his toddler bed now (finally gave up that cozy crib - it's going into storage this weekend). BUT, naptime (still very much needed to avoid crankiness) is a bit tricky. To give him credit, he did actually fall asleep in the bed the last 3 days, but it took a looooong time. I checked on him today, and this is what I found! Too cute!

True Love...

So, my little monkey is actually quite the ladies man (he is a total flirt). At the ripe old age of 2.5 though, he seems to have set his mind on one particular one however! LOL

This is Carter and his little friend Brooke! I think I shall capture this photo "Score!" We were waiting to have dinner out at BJ's last night with Brooke and her mom Gina, and Carter managed to wrangle himself right into Brooke's lap. They had quite the good time! :) (So did I!)

Oakland Zoo!

On Sunday we decided we needed to get away from overcast and cloudy SF, and head to sunnier pastures. Who would have thought the entire bay area was clouded in darkness...Regardless we had a pretty good time at the Oakland Zoo. As far as zoos go, this one is pretty average, but Carter really enjoyed seeing his favorite animals again - the elephants, and riding the rides!

I always forget when adding photos, I should start at the end, and work back to the beginning - since that's how they load up on blogger. It's a PITA to move them all around, so...you get the priviledge of seeing our trip backwards! LOL

This is at the amusement park that's beside the zoo. Right before this, Steve had taken the wagon back to the car, and I was waiting with Carter by the rides. Poor little guy wanted to go on these cars soooo bad, but I had not a cent in my pocket, so we had to wait for Daddy to come back to buy tickets. He looked so pathetic, that another mom took pity on him and gave him a ticket to ride. How sweet! (I paid her back!)
On the "Teacup" ride. He looooves getting dizzy!

Carter and Daddy went on the roller coaster, and got the front seat!!

Carter was alllllllll smiles! He is a coaster lover! (unlike mom)

Carter's favorite - the elephants!

He told us before we left that he had to take his camera to take a photo of the elephants. (His camera is a $2 clearance piece of junk from Walmart that is obviously just pretend). He dutifully carried it around the zoo though, and ONLY used it to photograph the elephants! LOL

At the giraffe exhibit (which was very cool - they have 7 or 8 giraffe), Carter could have cared less about the animals. They had "Robots" there. For a good year, he has called these viewers Robots and is absolutely fascinated with them. Crazy kid!

Mommy and Carter at the Children's Zoo!

We're looking forward to re-visiting our local zoo this Friday with Geoffrey, Susan, and their mommy! Hope it's a nice day! :)

Long Time...no post!

Been busy around here, but dull...so I haven't had much to report. Glad to have had requests for updates though! :) Thanks for all the great comments recently...LOVE getting comments! :)

It was my friend Cel's bday on the weekend. Happy Birthday Cel! Here's the card I made her with the new Cosmo Cricket line. I don't know how much I'd personally use this line for layouts, but I LOVE it for cards! I am especially happy with the cute double sided envelope I made to match! :)

Otherwise not too much else is new. Had a great long weekend. Visited with friends, ate well, and hung out with the family. Pics from our Sunday outing to the Oakland Zoo coming soon to a blog near you! :)

Dum Dum Dum Da Da Da Dum Dee Dum...

Okay, that catchy title is supposed to get you humming Star Wars music. Not the theme...but the march! LOL ;)

This is a smattering of what's been keeping me busy the last few days! Clone Trooper Party invitations for a 4th birthday! These were fun, but HARD to do. I had to come up with a pattern, and then each one is individually cut, hand drawn, and the details hand cut. Because each one is slightly different I had to cut each piece for each one. I hope Geoffrey likes them...and forgives me for not knowing the difference between a Storm Trooper, and a Clone Trooper ((blush)). Actually, I still don't know. I shall have to get him to enlighten me the next time I see him! :) What a cutie!

Off to finish the rest...lots more cutting in my future!

Newest Layout!

I usually scan my layouts since the detail gets shown off so much better...but the trim on this one is so thick, I had to settle for photographing it.

This is for the weekly challenge at Scrapbook Nook. It's the third week in the challenge, and it's been pretty fun! I just took a peeksie at the master total list and looks like I'm tied for 3rd place! Woot!

Sadly, I doubt I'll go much further in the contest. Sounds like it's all about voting from here on in. I hate sounding pessimistic, but I don't have any personal friends on the board there (and all scrappers know that it really does all start with being popular). I also love my own personal style, but the DT there seem to all have a similar style - lots of distressed, trim, flowers etc. I love that look, but not for my albums. This is much more my style!

Regardless though, I'm having fun and I'll keep going! It's been inspiring! Lots of eye candy, ideas, new blogs to read, and people to meet! :) So there is definitely an upside!

Preschool!

Carter and I have started attending a toddler program at Calvary Preschool every Weds morning. It's an introduction to preschool, and lasts 1.5 hours. Carter loves it, and each week when we go he asks me to "go away, and leave him like the big kids". I guess he likes it!

Here he is in front of the school with his two best preschool buddies - Bernard and Brooke

Snack time!

Peeking through the windows of the playhouse

Playing puzzles with teacher

Doing art with the other teacher

Carter and I!

The coveted Firetruck! Not a week goes by when we don't play with this, and not a week goes by when he doesn't ask for one of his very own!

Next week is the last week of the toddler program. We get a few weeks off, and then towards the end of June school starts up again, and he's going to go 3 mornings a week by himself.

I'm going to be sad to not stay with him...but thankful for the time I have to catch up on stuff!

Oh, and a note of thanks to my blog readers! I got an email yesterday that my blog has been viewed over 100 times! Woot! I'm glad I'm not just spewing my thoughts out randomly!

...at 500 posts I'll draw for a prize, so keep reading! :)

...drumroll please...

Here it is! I finally got around to uploading my layout from the Camp Cropping contest in April! I love this layout, and I guess others did too since it placed 2nd in the layout contest. I was pretty happy! I got tons of prizes from Karen Foster (some of their new lines for summer, and enough mini books to keep me designing for years), and a very cool rolling crate from Bo-Bunny.

I was hoping that Canadian Scrapbooker magazine (who chose the winners of the contest) would also choose this LO to be pubbed in their magazine, but sadly I never got a call. Their loss! LOL The layout tells the story about the last time we were at the Old Port in Montreal - about a week before we moved. Carter is looking out at the boats here. I'm sad that he won't remember his friends from Montreal, but we'll remind him!

Here are a few photos of Carter! Last night I went out with Sarah and Denise for a few drinks, while the guys stayed home with the kids. What a great night away, and the perfect day to enjoy appetizers and drinks on the patio.

Carter loves playing at Geoffrey's house...I think mainly because he enjoys two coveted toys there. The drum set, and his Geo-trax train! :) He can really rock that drum set! If I wasn't so scared of the noise I might even break down and get him one! The train...maybe for his bday!

Of course he's also quite fond of Geoffrey (he told us several times on the way home that he missed him already). He also is extremely in love with Geoffrey's new baby sister Susan. How could you not be in love though! :)

Yesterday we also went to the Touch-a-Truck event in Burlingame. What a great event! It was a preschool fundraiser, and tons of people came out to support it. The kids were allowed to go in and explore all sorts of cars and trucks. Carter was singing "Mighty Machines!" :)

They had a firetruck, a police car and van, a SWAT van, a rescue boat, a mail truck, a few diggers, and even a traveling vet!

The only slight damper on the day was that it was SO hot! I'm not complaining about that :P, but the metal on the trucks really heated up!

Please help support MS!

My sister and my cousin Stacy have signed up to do a charity walk for Multiple Sclerosis next month. I know so many people (including my cousin Donna, Stacy's mom) who suffer from this terrible disease. I think it's a great cause to support!

Since I don't live in Calgary, and can't do the walk with them, I'm helping to do my part by rounding up donations! :) Please consider giving what you can to help cure this disease!

If you make a donation to my sister's pledge page, please add your name in comments here, or email me. On the day of the walk, I'll draw a name and send out a RAK (random act of kindness)to one person who donated. :)

Please help!
https://msofs.mssociety.ca/2009WALK/Sponsor.aspx?L=2&PID=1135868

Potty Time!

...okay, so if you're not a fan of toddlers and their antics/activities/etc you may want to skip reading this post ;)

I'm pretty excited though. My 2.5 year old little boy is about 98% potty trained! I say 98% because we did have a little accident yesterday...but it was after a 2.5hr nap, and I just wasn't on the ball quite fast enough. Oops, my bad! Overall, the whole experience of potty training has been MUCH easier than I thought. We just waited, and one day - tada, he just decided to start using his potty.

Yay to the end of diapers...but sad my little guy is growing up! :(

Gift Card holders for Carter's preschool teachers! I've seen these cute ice cream bar holders on a few blogs/galleries now and I knew I had to make one! Harder than it looks - not to make, but to pick out just the right papers. Good thing I have a good stash of scraps! ;) I hope they like them - and the bookstore gift certificates too! I also hope Carter doesn't spill the beans before he even gives them to them...he's become quite the surprise spoiler of late! :)

Here's my layout for the 2nd weekly challenge at www.myscrapbooknook.com. The challenge was to create a shaped layout - it couldn't be square or rectangular. I love doing shaped layouts, so this was a good challenge for me!

The photos are from last November when Carter first dipped his toes in the Pacific Ocean. He did the same thing last May in the Atlantic. I think he's pretty well travelled for 2 years old! :)

In other news it's been a pretty dull day around here. Just a regular day. Carter had preschool this morning (he goes every Weds for 1.5hrs). He loves it. He's gearing up for their summer program which runs 3 days a week. Should be fun...for Carter AND for Mommy ;)

My Scrapbook Nook Contest...

Well, this morning I was doing pretty well in the contest...but alas, points came in for the weekly challenge, and I didn't get chosen as a favorite. I'm not super surprised, but still...that little bit of hope kinda settles in there...oh well!

The next challenge was announced. We have to make a shaped layout. That should be easy for me since I love doing that. Whether I'll be a favorite next week or not...we'll see!

I'll be back to post my layout here once it's done! :)

We went to the SF Academy of Sciences today. Steve decided to take the day off so we could go. Despite it being open on the weekends, and there being several free days every month, the museum is just too busy on those days. I can see why! It was really fun! We bought a membership, so we can go back several times this year - and I'm sure we will! The only thing that saddened me was that Carter was too young to go inside the Planetarium. I was really looking forward to it. He has to be 3...so another time!

Here's Carter and I outside the museum. Carter is proudly showing off the flower he found on the ground! LOL. He carried it around the rest of the day...
This cute turtle was enjoying his lunch!

The highlight of the trip for Carter was these Sealion statues! Figures! Kids! A whole museum of exploration, and what does he love?? :)

Carter and I on the Living Roof. Very cool, and great views!

These upside-down Jellyfish were cool!

Inside the museum - looking at the Rainforest exhibit

This is a silly one I snapped of Carter and Steve. I don't remember what was going on, but Carter looks upset, and seems to be asking "why mom??"

Butterflies!

Inside the Rainforest

Looking down at the aqaurium from the rainforest.

So...here's just a few of the 155 photos we took. Yup, 155! I just downloaded them! There were lots of dark places you weren't allowed to use the flash though. We also have a lot of Carter "action shots" - meaning he moved just as we're taking the shot. :)

We finished off the trip to go get the rest of Steve's bday gift (his birthday was Tuesday). Carter and Daddy got matching Giants hats and shirts! Now we just need to go to a game! Soon...

And, last, but not least...we're going to Red Robin for dinner so Steve can collect his free bday burger (and they do make gooood burgers there!).