Forgot my Camera!

Can you believe it? We went to Canada, spent time with my mom, dad and my sister, Cory's birthday was celebrated up in Canada and I didn't bring my camera and have no pictures of all the fun things we did and saw. I should be stripped of my blogging privileges!
We had a nice relaxing vacation this time, we didn't stay as long as we planned but we did have a really nice time. I don't get to see my older sister very often and usually it is with a larger group, this time we spent time one on one and it was great. My sister Angie and I are closer in age but haven't been close most of our lives. I have always loved her and looked up to her and wanted to be close but we have always been so very different and it never happened. Our lives took such different paths that we went our separate ways and never looked back. I have always regretted that but accepted the reality that it might never change. We are still different but now I think that maybe one day we will be closer, maybe we can be more like sisters.
Cory's birthday was quiet...just like he prefers them. He hates it when I make a bid deal and the only time I have ever thought Cory was going to say something mean or back hand me was when I got them to sing Happy Birthday to him at a restaurant. I just don't get it! Who doesn't like being the center of attention for 5 minutes? For years I thought he was just being modest and didn't want to make a big fuss about his birthday but he hates it! One day I will throw him a huge surprise Birthday party and he will be mad but when I say it was more for me and the kids he will forgive me.
Later dudes!
One Canadian L

Birthday Girl

Jonece has grown so much this past year...she cut her hair off and it has grown back! She is in third grade and writes in cursive all the time. (Even Cory doesn't write in cursive yet!) She got baptized last year and she has become such a lovely young lady. She had a party last Saturday and even though most of her friends couldn't make it she had a blast.
Looking back at her 9 long years I remember simple things, like her love of her binkies, her lack of fear when her brothers would take her for a spin in her stroller while wearing rollerblades. I remember how afraid we were when she was born and was having trouble breathing, she looked so tiny in the NICU with all those tubes and wires. She is a fighter! She has always loved water and would stay in the pool/tub/cooler forever if I let her. Jonece has always been soft spoken and funny. As she gets older she still makes me laugh and I am in awe of the peace that surrounds her. She is precious and I am the lucky one who gets to be her mom. I look forward to another year with this wonderful little girl. Let's face it how many more years do I have before she is a teenager and no longer thinks I am cool!
Please excuse my attempt at making a movie...I am not sure why the music doesn't play and why certain letters are missing...but hopefully you get the idea.
Loving you all,
One L

As Promised

I promised I would post some pictures of the projects I have been working on and I am actually doing it! I know, I know how unlike me.
The first picture is the first grade book I made for Dene's teacher...I started doing a little book about our field trip to the Children's museum and the Aviary but then I decided to include the whole year...Dene's teacher is giving me more photos tomorrow at the open house so I can finish the mini book for now.
The second picture is of a card I made...I am loving these envelopes...they are so fun to alter.
The third picture is a little pencil case/box I made for a friend who had a birthday...but I haven't seen her for weeks!
Last but not least Jonece's birthday party invitations for her party this Saturday!
When oh when does life slow down...I want to stop and smell the roses or at least have time to plant some!
Gotta run it is late and I have to make treats for Jonece's class tomorrow so I have to get up early...wish me luck!
Love you all
One L

Busy Busy Busy

I have been so busy with life this past few weeks, I went to see Romeo and Juliet with Reita and Stephanie...way cool! I can't remember the last time I saw something artistic with Cory. His idea of going out to a show is seeing the latest stupid comedy! I am sorry but Anchor Man is just not funny to me! I suffer through his idea of entertainment but we never go to plays or musicals. I think this will have to be a "girl's night out" activity because I do not see Cory changing anytime soon. Thank goodness I have daughters and can look forward to many years of sharing my love of the arts with them. I have been working with my friend Mandi, she teaches CPR and first aid classes and I am her lovely assistant. I printed off the PFO newsletter this week and it is all distributed, and I have to start it all over again next week! Lindsey came over and we finished her letters and they turned out just fabulous if I do say so myself...I hope she posts a picture on her blog because I forgot to take a picture before she left. Had lunch with a few friends and managed to shop and cook but not clean.
I started seeing a dermatologist and let me just say he is amazing...I came home and told Cory I loved my doctor and he asked if he was cute...NOT! but I love him because he listens and you feel safe, that he knows what he is doing. My psoriasis has never really bothered me...well not enough to do anything but lately it is making me crazy...burning and itching.
My options for treatment are wide ranging and we are starting off at the minimum...the ones on the other side of the spectrum include treatments that have horrible side effects like lymphoma!
I am using some creams and going for UVB light treatments. My first treatment was only 1 min and I got burnt. They had to re classify my skin type to the most fair. I am the fairest in the land...he he he. I have only had 2 treatments and I am so impressed...it is working!
I have been more scrapbooking lately...making presents for teachers, sisters and friends. I am excited by the projects I have done...cute cute cute even if I do say so myself! I'll post some pictures later. Gotta run, another busy day getting nothing done. Love you all!
One L

Totally Cool!

My sister found this t-shirt on line and it is pretty darn funny...it looks like the periodic table but it is all Canadian things. It is hard to get a picture big enough so you can read all the funny things they have put on this shirt but you can tell it wasn't a Canadian who did it because they got a few things wrong. I just noticed that if you click on the picture it does get bigger and you can read all the squares! My favorites are Bx (Boxing Day), Cu (Curling), Dd (Dudley Do-Right), Tb (Timbit) and last but not least Tq (tuque, which I think is spelled touque).
My friend Mandi made this towel for me with One L embroidered on it...don't you just love it? Can you believe some people who know me fairly well still spell my name with 2 L's! I know I am a little fanatical about it but come on! I can not be the only one who is a little obsessed about the spelling of their names..can I be? My friend Mandi gets peeved when people spell her name with a Y instead of an I at the end! I know some of you out there are particular...right?
Well that is all for now!
your friend,
One solitary L

Gratitude

My father has shared with me over the years many great snipits of wisdom and I can't tell you how many times I play them over and over again in my head. It makes me aware of how much our children do listen even when we think they are zoning! I am making a little book for him and inside the pages are the pieces of advice and the wisdom he has shared. This has been a work in progress for years...I cry a lot when I remember the drives and the late night talks and my heart is filled with gratitude. My dad says that gratitude is the secret to happiness...and as I get older I see the wisdom in this statement. I used to think he was...well let's just say wrong. I have thought a lot about gratitude lately. I see the numerous blessings everyday that I am blessed with and try hard not to take them for granted.
I have some of his words of wisdom that I thought were worthy to share with my friends in the blogging world.
1. No one is better than you are and you are not better than anyone else. People may be better at a certain thing than you are and in turn you may be better than them at something else...basically talents are given equally. It is up to you to find them within ourselves and master them.
2. When we stand before the Lord and we are held accountable for the lives we have lived, it won't be the bad things we have done that will stand against us as much as the good we choose not to do!
3. Someone somewhere has it worse than you! Be grateful for the trials you have to face...you could have had to face worse!
4. It is not a sign of intelligence to explain a complicated concept using big words...it is a true sign of intelligence when one can take a complicated subject and explain it in simple terms!
5. When you are down to your last dime...give it to someone who has less.

I jokingly tell Cory that he will be the defining man in his daughters lives and that their self esteem and sense of who they are and how wonderful and important they are will all come from their father and how he treats them and how he builds them up. That if he fails...they will have poor relationships with men their entire lives...he says "no pressure". In all honesty I know that my father and his opinion of me has always meant the world to me and the fact that he has always thought that I was all that and a bag of chips has made me who I am today and for better or worse I thank the Lord for such a wonderful father.
Today I am grateful for my dad. I am grateful and I am happy.
Later my sweet friends
smooshes
One L