Santa Claus Parade

This past weekend I went with my family to Downtown Whitehorse to watch the Santa Claus Parade. It was tremendously chilly ( a mere -14c) and I gotta tell ya, it was lovely out there till the wind started to blow. There were fire pits and marshmallows to roast and the Francophone Association had their traditional Sugar Shack where they boil maple syrup and then pour it out on to giant popsicle sticks resting in the snow. It turns into the most amazing chewy caramelized sugary toffee I've ever tasted. YUM! In the parade, there were numerous floats and a Chinese dragon. That was my favorite part - Seth's really into dragons right now too thanks to his favorite Thomas book but he wanted NOTHING to do with the one in the parade. Ray was really proud of himself for capturing this moment...
and I'm sure the boys thought they'd died and gone to heaven when we stopped at the fire pit to roast marshmallows...
And you know something...I wish I knew where kids got the idea to stick their tongues to cold metal but it's a universal constant in the North. Seth stuck his tongue to a metal pole (at the suggestion of a playmate who shall remain nameless to protect his identity and in an effort to save him gettin a whuppin' for leading his young pal astray!) and of course, it ended badly. It came off quickly but he was not unscathed. OUCH! He's ok now but it was a valuable lesson. Seth is my daredevil child. *sigh* This pic is me making sure he's ok.
It was mostly a fantastic family day. We got photos done with Santa and enjoyed hot chocolate and date squares for lunch - a mom's gotta do what she can to maintain her 'rockstar' status! I love all these new family traditions. I'm so happy in our new home. Happy Monday everyone!

Challenge 49

Hooray! It's December finally and that means that there's a new kit which was posted at the beginning of the month. You can see it here to get a better idea of what the gals used this week for their pages. Check 'em out! This sketch originated from the extensive sketch gallery at Little Book of Sketches and let me warn you, there are so many great ones, you'll have a hard time deciding!! Remember to scrap your own page using this sketch and you will be in the running to win your own FREE December Page collection. All you have to do is upload a photo of your gorgeous page to our Flickr group and we (the design team & I) will vote on our favorite. Betcha want free scrap stuff, right!?!


Jessi

Vanessa
Danielle


Tania
here's a little journaling for ya...cuz I know everyone always wants to read the journaling!!!

Sallie

Margaret

Christine
Christine's page is one of a two-page layout. See the second page next friday!

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah! For my friends celebrating this Jewish holiday, I wish you much love, health and happiness! Those of you who do not celebrate this particular holiday, Happy holidays and all that politically correct stuff! I do the Christmas thing myself and I can't even tell you how fun it has been so far. The tree is up, made a new advent calendar and a few paper pinecones...see this link for an easy how-to for making your own.

Today is a great day for making a page about some of your holiday traditions. Don't forget to check back on Friday for the newest sketch challenge. The Design Team has created some fantastic pages showing amazing ways to use the December Collection!

Brrrr!

DUDE! It's soooooooooooooooo cold! You know, I thought I knew what cold was but how wrong was I?!?! I though that twenty below zero was cold but manageable...WRONG-O!! I can't begin to tell you how nasty that kind of cold is. My fingers and toes are NOT impressed at all. I struggle to keep my appendages warm at the best of times. This would be a really good time for me to get some of those "Hot Shots" from the 80's - remember those? You smash the packet and stuff them into your mitts and they radiate heat for a few hours...sounds pretty good 'bout now. Hey, I thought I'd share this photo from my walk from the house to the studio the other morning. It was only about -15 and that was way more bearable than -25 (if you've never felt cold like that, just take my word for it! LOL)

This photo was taken about 9:00 am. The sun doesn't come up till around 10:00 am or so. Short days around these parts. But you know, even though it's friggin' cold, I LOVE IT!

We put up our tree yesterday. I love Christmas!! Have any of you got your trees up yet? I am looking forward to getting out the baking gear and of course the Captain Morgans & Eggnog. I'm all for merry-making around this time of year. I'll be making chocolates with Noah for his teachers (super yummy& easy truffles that I found here) It's the BEST site for comfort foods and quick-prep eats.

We also made a gingerbread house yesterday too. Actually, the night before I had a very difficult time erecting the gingerbread house (hoping to have it pre-built to make decorating it possible on Sunday afternoon). It fell down but we fixed it. Ray's clever problem-solving (gravity fighting efforts) saved the day. He got a few pics of me & the boys decorating it so I'll post some later tonight or tomorrow...

What holiday traditions are you planning for your family? I'd love to hear what you do to make the holidays special.

December's Page Kit NOW AVAILABLE!

December is here and that means that the Christmas countdown is ON! (24 shopping days left for you slackers out there! LOL) And because the new month has begun, there's another new kit for you to grab while supplies last. You'll receive four printed papers and two solid papers as well as three sheets of cardstock. The prints are a Creative Imaginations collection called Clark's Christmas- that is, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Also, your kit includes a two pieces of felt (green shown, cream color included too) in addition to a sheet of Judikins Shrink Plastic and several green & red seed beads. Click on the Judikins link above for great ideas on using this fun product. That's not all, either! You'll get brass photo clips from 7Gypsies, red velvet rickrack from Maya Road, green gingham ribbon, two journaling tags from 7Gypsies, and funky circle rub-ons from Luxe Designs. I'm tellin' ya, this is a fantastic, fun kit and I know you'll enjoy this one!