Project 365 Day 143

Uncle T took up running just before Christmas and has been diligently working on his endurance.  Today he ran his first half marathon and, despite having a chest cold, finished the race a full 15 minutes ahead of his anticipated time.  You rock Uncle T!  We went to cheer him on at about the 3/4 way point.

Many thanks to Auntie E who fed us breakfast after the cheering session :)
Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 142

We've finally had some lovely weather and are enjoying spring.  With the enjoyment, comes some chores, however.  Here's dd aerating the back yard.  A neighbour rented the aerator for the day and almost everyone on the street did their lawn.  I'm looking forward to some more green to go with the lovely yellow dandelions that have started to show their heads.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Project 365 Day 141

Here's to ...
having a good friend
spending time together
having lots to eat
and a comfortable place to share it in
being thankful on a lovely day

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 140

My Mom and Dad came to take dd out for a bit before we go away next week. They came home with a strawberry milkshake from McDonald's and a new Tinkerbell suitcase. Kyra was very happy... should I say McHappy?

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 139

This was another lovely present from my family (the flexible tripod...not the camera).  It's gorilla great!  Do you think they've recognized my photo obsession?  I think so.  Now, to think up all the things I can photograph that I couldn't before...hehehe.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 138

Today was a perfectly normal and ordinary day.  All of the regular routines for a Tuesday and nothing else special.  It was a lovely day.  Dd played hockey with her friends both before and after school and had ballet class.  Dh worked as usual and went to volleyball after supper.  I savoured my quickly dwindling work free days with laudry and making supper.  A very special ORDINARY day.  I love these.

Wishing you all some ordinary days.

Project 365 Day 137

Today I am going to open my brand new Wacom Bamboo pen and touch.  I have heard that a tablet is an awesome tool for digiscrap, but that it can be a bit challenging to learn to work with it.  I'm gonna give it a try.

Have a great day!  Maybe you too will try something new :)

Project 365 Day 136

I had a happy birthday today!  I slept in late, had a visit from my bf and her family, a family supper with my Mom and Dad, my sister and her family and dh's sister and her hubby.  Ice cream cake topped it all off perfectly.

Dd was a little concerned when she remembered my birthday this morning.  She said, imagine shocked pouty face of 5 yo who loves her mommy..."But...Daddy and I didn't make your cake yet!"  I am not a huge fan of cake in general, but have been making homemade and personally decorated birthday cakes for for family for a while now.  Knowing that peanut allergy was no longer a concern for us, dh decided to get one of my all time favorites...an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  Despite having felt obliged to make me a cake, she quickly came around to the value of an ice cream cake with a chocolate fudge and crumble center.

She was a great assistant when I was blowing out my candles :)

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 135

PEGNL had their annual conference, AGM and awards banquet yesterday.  We got back to our hotel room very early this morning and the view through the rain covered window was very pretty in the darkness.  I was trying to take a picture of the church across the street, but with the camera set on auto, it accidentally focused on the rain.  I was pleased with the effect and decided to use it for my pic today as it coordinates with the Gotta Pixel prompts from yesterday, which I skipped, and today.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 134

Today was kindergarden concert day at my daughter's school.  If you have never attended such an event, I highly recommend it.  They were too adorable for words...each pronouncing their part so carefully and attentively.  I was very proud of my sweet girl.  She loves school and has had a marvelous experience this year.  Today's pic is of my dd and her wonderful teacher.  I will be forever grateful to this teacher for this lovely introduction to school life.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 133

Macro???  Today, Stacy from Gotta Pixel got me thinking again.  Her idea was for us to make an attempt at using macro for our pics.  I read the tutorial link she provided, and when everything was clear as mud, headed out into the garden to see what I could find.  here are some of my macro treasures:

I think a birdie may have encountered some trouble near the sand box...

These little plants are less than 1 cm tall!

Finally, this is my pic for the day.  A tribute to Stacy who runs toward tiny creepy crawlies with her camera set on macro.  Thanks for the challenging prompt today :)

Hoping your discoveries today are large...

Project 365 Day 132

The prompt today from Gotta Pixel was to use mirrors in the photo.  I made a few very "interesting" and bizarre images before I started to realize where the light was going and how I could use it to make interesting effects in a mirror.  I finally settled on taking pics of a pair of Happy Glass artisan earrings purchased while on holiday with my dh in PEI.  The metal strands around the hand made glass made for interesting reflections and I'm pleased with the result.  Here's my pic:

Have a happy day!

Project 365 Day 131

Today, dd's ballet class got their first look at their recital dresses and tried them on over their leotards.  They were all very cute, but this is a pic of my fave. :)

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 130

My dh left for work this morning without getting me up...sweet man.  Our dd was also asleep...woo hoo.  So, I took advantage and closed my eyes again.  I woke up again a while later to sounds of dd playing legos.  I crept out quietly to catch her playing on her own and maybe to surprise her.  I was the one who was surprised when she turned and smiled at me with a mouth full of blue teeth.

Apparently, she did not want to wake me from my nap and went downstairs to get herself something to eat.  She was looking for chocolate chips, not exactly the breakfast of champions, but how do you blame a 5 year old with free reign of the kitchen.  Unsuccessful in her quest, she did find decorative sugar...you know...the kind you sprinkle on cupcakes and shortbread cookies.  She poured some out in her hand and feasted on blue sugar.

I couldn't resist taking a picture.  I love this look of happy guilt with a dose of michevious joy!

Hoping you all had a sweet day!

Project 365 Day 129

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!  :)

Today I got to sleep in late, had my breakfast served to me, played glow mini-golf with my family and then had supper with my own Mom.  A great way to spend the day.

Here is my joy.  I love my family.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 128

I am addicted to my Google Reader because it allows me to easily and quickly read through the postings from my favored blogs. I have several that make me smile everyday. One of these is 1000 Awesome Things. Focused on identifying simple everyday things that bring pleasure, it is a great diversion and stress buster for me. In April, the author of the blog published a book by the same name. I picked it up this week and am enjoying a book that can be read in small chunks of 5 minutes. A good read about awesome simple joys.

Have an AWESOME day!

Project 365 Day 127

One goal I set myself for this year was to eliminate much of the excess junk we have collected in our basement.  Two years ago dh and I went through everything and stored it all in one room so that we could paint the floor.  The intent was to then shift the stuff to be kept into another room when the floor was dry and to finish painting the floor.  For one reason or another, that job just kept getting delayed and the junk pile grew.  This week, we cleared out the room, moved much of the junk to the garage for a sale and I finally painted the floor.  Dh captured the last moments of a job that has been on the to to list for a very long time.  I'm so glad to finally be able to check it off!

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 126

Today is my sister's birthday.  What more could anyone want for their birthday than this?

Have a happy day!

Catching up on Weekly layouts

Here are my layouts from March and most of April :)

Project 365 Day 125

Here's my pic for today. Dd was very excited to find that her friend had left a toy at our house. It was not just any toy, it was a real treasure...a diamond. My dd is a rough and tumble girl made to be outdoors. That said, she LOVES anything sparkly. This one is a veritable treasure in her eyes.

Have an exciting day!

Project 365 Day 124

Classes were cancelled today at dd's school due to a teacher PD session.  We took advantage of the free day to invite a friend over for a play date.  The girls had fun dressing up and making chocolate chip cookie snakes and suns.  The part that I laughed at the most, however, was making milk bubbles.  I haven't done this since I was a kid.  I think milk bubbles are fun in a cup...what do you think?

Have a great day.

Project 365 Day 123

Today was a fabulous day outside.  DD had school, of course, but spent the entire afternoon playing imagination games on the play set out back with one of her friends.  When Daddy came home from work, he didn't even get to change his clothes before being drawn into a game of street hockey.  We had to drag her in for supper, and as fast as she could eat she was back out through the door.  It's so great when the weather cooperates.  Thank you sun for shining today...Please come back soon. :)

Here's dd and dh playing hockey

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 122

Hula anyone???   Hula hooping that is.  One of my co-workers is a hoopin' mama and actually makes hula hoops for exercise and for fun (Hot Hoops)  DD and I each have one and have a blast.  Watching her learn to hoop brings back many happy memories of childhood and the tricks we could do after some practice.  I can still do many of them (Woot - Go Mommy!) but they take more out of me now than they did then.  Here is our sweetie and her first hoopin' action of the summer.  (She can do 12 rotations now!)

Have a hoopin'...oops happy day :)

Project 365 Day 121

On Saturday, we were again pretty much housebound by the weather.  No problem...lots of toys to play with, crafts to make and Curious George episodes to watch and rewatch.  Fortunately dd had a swimming birthday party to attend in the afternoon to break things up.  When we got home, however, it was cleanup time.

This one is her "but I am tidying Mommy" look.  Still cute :)  And I can see some of the floor.  I guess that is tidying a bit.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 120

Well, I know I'm late with these posts, but it has been an incredible weekend of scrappin' fun.  My favorite digiscrap site participated in a huge way in iNSD activities (interNational Scrapbooking Day...what else???)
I did three speed scraps, a journaling chat and bought lots of digital goodies at fabulous prices!  Woot!

Enough about that :)  I did, of course keep up with my 365 pics, and here they are starting with Friday:

It has been cold and wet outside for longer than I care to remember, so to cheer ourselves up, we have been looking forward to our trip to DisneyWorld this summer.  As we recalled the fun we had in the pool last summer, dd wanted to "pretend" she was swimming in the pool here.  On went the swimsuit and the "pool" aka tub was filled.  This is her "don't I look cute in my swimsuit" look.  She sure does...my sweetie.  She makes me laugh every day.

Have a great day and a good laugh!

Project 365 Day 119

It was a beautiful, but busy day, so tonight we are taking it easy.  Daddy is out of town with work and dd does not have school tomorrow.  So...we bought some snacks and borrowed a movie from friends and she and I are curled up on my bed for a "sleepover".  Fun!

Have a great evening!

Project 365 Day 118

Here is my sweet girl waiting patiently as I check out her library books today. Don't you just love the kids chairs at the local library? I'd like to have a set of these for our playroom.

 Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 117

I did get a picture for today. I was volunteering my time at my school to judge an 'Invention Convention'. (Some pretty cool ideas out there!) Unfortunately, the camera belongs to a friend of mine and I need her to email it to me (the pic, not the camera - hehehe). Hopefully, it'll only be a day or so.

Project 365 Day 116

Today, my BF came over for a visit.  We spent some time making reply cards for her sister's wedding and then the inevitable photo admiration and scrap session began.  You can't beat an afternoon of scrap, laugh and tea!

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 115

Yup...that's SNOW!  Enough said!

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 114

I think I surprised these ducks who were puffed up and cuddled in for the night.  Sorry duckies!

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 113

This is my favorite time of day.  Dd is coming home from school and today is Friday :)  She usually comes flying off the bus with her hair flying and arms open.  I have tried to get that pic for several days, but I can't get one in focus.  Instead, here is her bus - it moves slower than she does :)

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 112

After school today, my daughter and her friends wanted to walk to the park. There are two great play structures at the playground, but they had the most fun wandering through the trees collecting fallen twigs and "planting" them in the gravel back at the play area.

I admire the simplicity of youth and their ability to find joy and pleasure in everyday things. My dd reminds me of the kid inside myself and to take note of the important things... like twigs.

 
Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 111

Sticking with the theme of where we live, today's prompt was to take a pic of something unique in our area.  This is a fishing stage in a small village about 2 km from downtown.  I just love the bright colors often selected to paint these buildings and indeed many houses in our province.  It certainly brightens the FOG!  Yup, it's still here :(

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 110

We are completely and utterly surrounded by FOG!  I find this type of weather so discouraging.  It's too wet to go outside and always seems dark.  I need bright light.  The prompt today at Gotta Pixel was to take a picture of where we live from on high, to get an overview.  Normally, from Signal Hill, we get an absolutely fabulous view of the harbour on one side and of Cape Spear on the other.  This was the view today.

Can you see why I am so eager for the weather to change?
I hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

Project 365 Day 109

Although it was beautiful, warm and sunny in Alberta, it has been cold, wet and foggy here for too long.  The humidity is very high and everything is completely soaked.  When the rain let up for a few minutes this afternoon, the water on our birch tree was bright and sparkly.  It was beautiful.  Shortly after, the sun came out for an hour and every house on the block exploded with kids coming out to play.  Hopefully the fog doesn't last too much longer.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 108

All good things must come to an end...on this day we went home.  Another seven and a half hours on a plane, but we're home again safe and sound.

My favorite part of flying is that it is always a fine day above the clouds.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 107

APEGGA sure knows how to throw conference events.  Tonight we went on a cruise - well, sort of.  They had a gangway set up to enter the ballroom.  Blue lights flickered on the walls to create a water effect.  Table centerpieces included candles floating in blue water, sand dollars, sea shells and tropical flowers.  Patio tables and lounge chairs decorated the "lido deck" where on board entertainment took place.  A fun time for sure.

Have a great day!

Project 365 Day 106

Today I went to the Art Gallery of Alberta.  It is very new and certainly a unique addition to the downtown skyline.  The first exhibit was a sound installation called a Murder of Crows.  There were 98 speaker each producing a different sound to accompany the interpretation of three dreams.  I'm not used to this type of presentation and found intriguing.  Next was an exhibit about Yousef Karsch.  His portraits are striking and seem to peer into the personality of the person they represent.  If you ever get the chance to look up some of his pieces you'll see what I mean.  The AGA also housed exhibits by Goya and Degas.

It was not permitted to photograph the exhibits, but that was okay.  The building, itself, was interesting enough.  The structure was designed to represent the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  Its curves and waves along side the industrial windows and zinc and wooden walls made for an interesting study on a sunny day.  The first pic is the one I chose for my photo of the day, but I could not resist displaying the others as well.

From the outside:

From the inside:

Other interesting shots:

Have a great day.