Resurrecting this blog, thanks to the Get Messy Art Journal Community!

I am now part of a great online art journalling community, called "Get Messy". I've been scrapbooking for some time now and it is my "go to" creative outlet but I'm keen to stretch myself and explore the world of art journalling. I will post my completed art journal pages on this blog which will allow me to link up my pages to share with the Get Messy Art Journal Community. Sharing my first page here!! UPDATE: join me on creative preoccupation.blogspot.com where I share my artsy endeavours.

Tender Moments

Brynne and Poppie sharing some tender moments sitting in a coffee shop, after visiting the Museum of Vancouver. Brynne tries to deposit her shreddies into Poppie's caffe late cup and when that plan is foiled, lines them up in the crack between the tables. Poppie retrieves the shreddies and returns them to her and she lines them up again ... and Poppie's reward? A sweet kiss.

Brynne's 1st Year in Review

What a privilege it has been to not only welcome sweet baby Bynne into our family but also to have witnessed her development over the past 12 months. We have truly been blessed.

Gotta love her!

I am loving my time in Vancouver, spending lots of one-on-one time with my darling granddaughter, Brynne, who celebrated her first birthday on June 1st. When playing with one of her new birthday toys, I discovered much to her (and my) delight, that the Weebles fall out of the bus when you open the door. I couldn't wait until Rachel and Tyler came home to let them see and hear for themselves Brynne's laugh out loud reaction to our new "game", as captured in this short clip. It is sure to make you smile as well. :-)

Today my daughter celebrates her first Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Rachel!!

Easter Weekend ... it passed so quickly!

Time really does fly when you're having fun! Todd, Ruth and Cam arrived Thursday evening from Vernon (Todd & Ruth stayed with us and Cam was hosted by Erin & Lyden). Rachel, Tyler and Brynne arrived early Good Friday morning. Everyone got in on some "train" action, playing multiple games of Ticket to Ride (a highly addicting board game).

Saturday evening we celebrated my mom's 70th birthday (a couple of weeks early because she'll be vacationing in England on her actual birthday day);

Sunday, after church, we cooked up a big family Easter dinner...

and since Easter Sunday this year fell on Lyden's birthday, we celebrated his 24th birthday, as well!

Happiness is ....

Nana and Brynne, together again!

{Photo taken Mar 20/11}

Pretty in Pink - Feb 13

She's sugar and spice and all things nice!

Touring Vancouver's Chinatown with Sauyen

It was pouring rain, but that didn't stop us from touring Chinatown with our tour guide, Sauyen. We stopped for a traditional Hong Kong "mixed" coffee ... part coffee, part tea and milk at a bakery with a small restaurant in the back. While waiting for our table we viewed an array of baked goodies in the bakery. While we're always up for trying something new, we gave the "tuna fish danish" a pass (shown in the middle, top row of the last photo).

Curious Brynne ... with her Curious George board book!

Play Time Mosaic - February 9, 2011

Spending some quality time hanging out with Miss Bryne, the most adorable 8 month old on the planet!

Sushi feast in Vancouver - Feb 9-11

Sauyen treated us to a lunch of delicious sushi today (thanks again Sauyen!) which was in part just an excuse to eat sushi (that is, if one actually needs an excuse) as well as recognizing and celebrating the 7th day of the Chinese New Year, which marks the day to celebrate "everyone's birthday". Sauyen, Andy and I shared the raw seafood sashimi and sushi, while Rachel opted for the vegetable sushi and Brynne happily amused herself by chewing on Sophie.

Frosty Morning ... Feb 1st

These frosty winter images were captured by Andy this morning.

My girls - Jan 28, 2011

Sharing my daughter Rachel's post on facebook today:

"{I love} Fridays: all the homework, late nights, and stress of classes of the week has passed; it is a time to look forward to the week ahead, but most importantly, it's a day to cuddle, laugh with, dance with, read to, and stroll with the most excellent Miss Brynne without any distraction at all."

Can't tell you just how proud I am of Rachel (but I'll try): She's an excellent student (currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Christian Studies) while at the same time being a loving and attentive wife, capable, loving and confident new mother who makes time to care and share with her friends and family which is no small feat!

Winter Walk by the River - Jan 22, 2011

Andy and I took advantage of the "warmer" weather today and headed down to the river for a lovely winter walk.

Poppie's apprentice

Brynne gets a bird's eye view and first cooking lesson from Poppie on how to cook a delicious bacon & egg breakfast.... naturally, she required her very own spatula.

Brynne's 1st Christmas - quick clip

Andy filmed and edited this short clip.

Christmas images 2010

Age old truth

The wonder of Christmas is best seen through the eyes of a child.

Guess who's coming to Nana & Poppie's house for Christmas?

just three more sleeps to go!!

Christmas Chandelier

Andy threaded each of these ornaments with fishing line and passed them to me; I then suspended each of them from the dining room chandelier to add a little extra festive cheer. In keeping with our family tradition, the Christmas tree will remain ornament free until the kids arrive. It's mom and dad's job to put the tree up and affix the lights; the kid decorate the tree ... even if that means waiting until December 23rd this year ... no messing with Christmas traditions!!

Mmmm.... Butter Tarts

My mom and I made butter tarts today: 53 of them, to be precise. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love a butter tart, have you? Butter tarts are the quintessential Canadian dessert. In fact, as Canadian writer and icon Peter Gzowski said: “They're part of who we are.” From the research I've done, the butter tart's history traces back to the arrival of the filles de marier (marriageable girls) who emigrated from France to Canada in the mid-1600s. The imported brides had to improvise with whatever they could find, ie: maple syrup or sugar, farm-fresh butter and raisins. Butter tarts soon became a staple of pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain to be identified as a Canadian pastry. In fact, did you know the butter tart is considered one of only a few recipes of genuinely Canadian origin?

P.S. My mom brought these tart liners over today. Because I am not a big pastry person (my mom mixed this batch of pastry up from scratch), I had no idea these liners existed ... but I can tell you they make for easy clean up!! Just line them up on a cookie sheet and away you go!

Norman is rockin' the Santa suit!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The countdown is on ... just 8 more sleeps until we Rachel, Tyler and Brynne come home!

Singin' the sling blues...

ok, it's been a week since I had my arthroscopic shoulder surgery ... a week to adjust to not having the use of my right arm, a week of wearing the "Slingshot 2" and immobilizer 24/7. The only time it comes off is to shower, or when I do my exercises. The sad news is I have 5 more weeks of sling wearing until it can be banished!

A week is sufficient time to compile a Top 10 list of the things I hate about wearing a sling 24/7:

1. I can't pick up & cuddle my grandbaby Brynne (even when she comes home at Christmas);

2. keyboarding with one hand (it's slow and tedious);

3. sleeping on my back;

4. not being able to use 2 hands to wash my hair in the shower;

5. not being able to style my hair without assistance (Andy holds the hair dryer, I work the round brush with my able hand);

6. not being able to use a knife to: spread butter, cut my food, chop veggies;

7. not being able to drive;

8. wearing only button up shirts (of which I only own 3);

9. not being able to do anything crafty (scrapbooking, sewing, card making, or playing with photoshop) or decorate the house for Christmas; and

10. not being able to cook or bake anything that requires separating eggs, peeling, use of a can opener, rolling pin, or scraping of any kind. No rolled & decorated Christmas cookies this year!

*sigh* ... I have been trying really hard to make peace with this sling ...

to S-L-O-W down. Who knows? I may even read the book "In Praise of Slow" Rachel read this summer, and left with me to read. It still sits on my bedside table. Looks as though I'll have the time to read it now!

All tuckered out

Saturday night ... after a busy day running errands with her mommy and visiting with Tyler's extended family, Brynne finally gives in. I love how she snuggles in with the Cat in the Hat, tenderly laying her right hand on his face, before drifting off to sleep. How adorable.

Rachel and Brynne flew home early Sunday morning, much to Tyler's delight. While I couldn't pick Brynne up with my arm in a sling, she was just the "get well" tonic I needed and kept me amused with her fake cough and all manner of exaggerated noises. The upside: I'll see the whole family in less than a month @ Christmas!

Brynne's "safe place"

Cushioned on all sides, and surrounded by all manner of teething toys. Pure happiness at Nana and Poppie's house.

P-P-P is for Piglet!

Description: Brynne in her Piglet (a very timid pink pig, about 10 inches tall) inspired clothing
Piglet’s Style: Likes to wear a long striped shirt
Piglet’s Original Address: lives at Trespassers Will, 100 Aker Wood S.W., In a Beech Tree, South of Pooh's House
Brynne’s Current Address: lives in a land far, far away from Pooh’s House
Piglet's Best Friend: Winnie-the-Pooh
Brynne's Best Friends: Wallace, her green croc and Alphonso, her pink rabbit
Piglet’s Favorite Food: Haycorns
Brynne’s Favorite Food: Milk, milk & more milk!
Piglet’s Favorite Things to Do: Adventures with Pooh
Brynne’s Favorite Things to Do: Play with daddy, making gurgling/yelling noises reminiscent of a baby Chewbacca, jumping in her jolly jumper and swinging in her swing!
Brynne's Other Favorite Things: Enjoys having books read to her, and just like Piglet, she loves bright colors and balloons.
What She Does Every week: Hangs out at the Starbucks with her mommy and spends quality time with her friends Sauyen, Matthew and Renata.

David's 50th Birthday Mosaic

All the siblings were on hand to celebrate David's birthday together - a good time was had by all!

MMMM.... homemade mini donuts!!

We are hosting David's 50th birthday party tonight with a pig roast. We wanted to give the extended family an opportunity to re-live Erin & Lyden's wedding rehearsal pig roast with all the fixin's, but this time, without the turkey and Andy's mate's turkey fryer. We served yam fries at the rehearsal dinner, but without the turkey fryer, we were thinking we'd have to break down and buy a deep fryer, but then Erin told us her workmate had one and was looking to give it away, so we volunteered to take it off her hands. After spending some time last night cleaning the fryer, it was ready to go! I decided to try my hand at making donuts ... something I had always wanted to try my hand at, so I looked up a recipe and made some mini donuts as a little treat for people to enjoy as they turn up for the pig roast. Because I'm always looking for ways to incorporate more fibre into my recipes (and the recipe said I could), I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 regular white enriched flour ... and they were delicious, especially hot from the fryer, but I suspect using all white flour would undoubtedly make these little gems a bit more tender, a melt in your mouth experience. What was I thinking using 1/2 whole wheat flour?

Another Wedding Mosaic

...created from some of the professional wedding photos.