the little things

oliver

Or.. Ollie for short.  He finally has a name (I think). ha ha!  Mr. Oliver.. yeah, it works. It was going to Wicket.. you know, the Ewok?  Cause he kinda looks like an Ewok (kinda.. a little bit anyway).. Laine wasn't too keen on that one though! ha!  She was like.. "what is an Ewok?"  Oh my goodness, must expose this child to the world of Star Wars! ha ha!  Having the entire family understand the coolness factor of 'Wicket' would have been a must if that were to be his name.. so it was definitely a no go.. (as she looked at us like we were insane). lol

This is Ollie (yeah, it suits him I would say) this morning.. not so patiently waiting for me to put some lettuce in his cage!  

 

Yes, all things 'rabbit' are new to me, so I think this is absolutely adorable! hee!  He definitely likes what he likes! ..and same goes for what he doesn't!  He is full of cute quirks! 

Oh.. and another thing (that I should probably fess up to), I may or may not have coordinated his cage to match our house... and I also may or may not have gone the fabric store to find this black and white gingham fabric to cover the red hammock that came with him.  Yeah, I may or may not have done that. hee heeee!

I also may or may not have issues. ha!  He also has a turquoise litter pan thing in the corner that you can't see in this picture.  Issues?  Nahhhhhh! hee!  

I mean.. he has to match right?  Having a rabbit in the house is one thing.. it has gotta match! ha!

Yep.. now you all know the level of my obsessiveness.  I am ok with that.  Or at least I think I will be. hee! ;)

I probably shouldn't fess up to the fact that I thought (briefly thought) that bringing home a hamster would also be a good idea, because the totally awesome hamster condo thingies at the pet store would have looked sooooo cool in Harley's room?  Yeah.. probably shouldn't admit to that.

Later!! hee! :)

and a bunny makes four...

Four critters in this house now, that is! ..2 dogs, a cat... and now, a bunny!

 

 

 

 

Ha ha!  Yep, we are definitely the crazy CRAZY animal people! hee heee!  He is soo sweet.. and soooo adorable!  We found him on kijiji, so he isn't a brand new baby (about 8 months).. but he is going to be a perfect fit for our crazy animal loving family!  He has so much personality, and he looooves to be held!  

We brought him home last night, so we are all still adjusting on this crazy little adventure... I have rolled my eyes at myself about 40 times already today.. thinking... "gee I am such a sucker!" ha ha!

A bunny!?  I am nuts.

illustrator help! ..and a few layout shares

Hey friends!  I need some help!  I downloaded the trial version of Adobe Illustrator CS4 a while ago.. and I only have 11 days left on the trial.  11 days!?  How did the time fly by already?  You see, I was going to play.. and learn and then decide if I could figure it out enough to justify the purchase after the trial was up.  You know.. be all smart about it and everything! ha ha!  

My main reason for doing it, was to get my Silhouette machine to work with my Mac.  I have been itchin' to use it for so long now, and I have had success finally!  But, now I want to learn more about illustrator.. it is just so cool, and I am not the type of person to purchase it and only use a small small portion of the program.. there is just so much potential there!  ..I really can't justify it, if all I am going to do is use it to make the Silhouette plug-in work!

So, I have seen the tutorials on You Tube.. and a few on the Adobe site itself... what I am wondering is, have any of you found like the must see tutorials or help websites... or books even!?  We only have a small bookstore here, so any book purchases I would be making on reviews only.. are there any books that are better than others?  I was thinking maybe this one.  I know ideally I should just take a class.. right!?

Seriously though.. 11 days?  I played the first day... so where the heck have the other almost 20 days gone already!? ahhhhh! ..maybe because Illustrator just down right scares me!? ha ha  Yeah, I am a wee bit intimidated! lol

Anyhoo.. since I neeeeeed to post an image with my blog posts, and since you have probably had more than enough of my Illustrator ramblings (hee heee!).. here are a few layout shares from the last 2 Peas Garden that I haven't posted here yet. :)

 

 

Details and more info can be seen here and here. :)

OK, better run for now.. my mental 'to do' list is growing by the minute... and I am feeling motivated, so I better get off of here before it all goes *poof*! ha ha! 

Later! :)

ETA: Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and help... I am not quite as scared now, going to plug away and keep on going! hee!  Thanks!

bumblebee boy.. part 1

The first part of Harley's costume is done!  I was actually quite surprised how quickly it came together!  I was originally going to buy a black toque and add stripes in fabric or quickly crochet some stripes to hand stitch onto an already made toque.  Then, when I went to Michael's yesterday to grab the yellow yarn to do this, I realized I forgot to grab a plain black toque at any of the previous stops.. and this was the last non grocery store type stop of an already very long day of shopping!  The thought of going into yet another store made me cringe a wee bit, so right then and there I decided "why not" ..and went ahead and grabbed the supplies to make the whole thing from scratch!  Ahhh!  

I sat down with it last night after the kids went to bed, and by midnight, I had a completed bumblebee toque!  Quite pleased with myself I am! ha ha!  It is made of really thick chunky yarn.. sooo cute! hee!  You can't really tell from the blown out photo, but the bottom folds up, so he can wear it down over his ears more if it is super chilly on Halloween.  Now all I need to do is add some pipe cleaner/pom pom antennas!  

I am loving the help and suggestions with the red boot dilemma!  Thanks guys!  I didn't find any boots, but I did find some sparkly red shoes... a trip to the spray paint aisle and the clearance boot section might be in order though! ;)  

Oh, I please ignore the bed head, and jammies.. it is just one of those days.  :)

Later! 

costume making.. here we come!

They are gonna be he cutest little Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy ever! heee! ;)

 

The inspiration for my munchkins Halloween costumes this year!  Laine knew she wanted to be this all along, and we finally decided that Harley can be Bumblebee Boy along with her.. he is obsessed with all things 'bug' right now... so it is kind of fitting!  And well, Laine is my little Lainey Bug.. so that one is just a given! 

Cute, simple and handmade.  Something about throwing things together and making things here and there to make up these costumes has me SUPER excited.. it is going to be so FUN!  Although I am wondering where the heck I am going to find my girl some red boots?ha!  Going shopping tomorrow.. then tutu making here I come! hee!

Just thought I would pop on here quick as I finish up my hunt for tutu and wing making tutorials (oh how I love the internet)! lol  I am all set!  I think I will be dreaming of fluffy red tutus tonight! hee! :)

Nighty night!  Sweet dreams! ;)

a few books you neeeeeed to read..

If you like light and fluffy chick lit that is.  Seriously funny books.  I liked the second one most I think.. I read it the other night... had to control my laughter at times.. so hubby wouldn't think I was a complete lunatic! ha!  Not that I should be ashamed of uncontrollable laughter, but when the threat of snorting from said uncontrollable laughter is near.. I will most definitely try to control myself! ha ha!  ..and yes, it was that funny! hee!

  

Seriously good.  I am definitely adding them to my 'must read again soon' list.. have to do the Twilight series again first though... after I read the 5 million other books on my 'to read' list! heee! Right now, I am on to this one.. it is pretty darn good as well!

There you have it.. my highly informative Monday morning blog post. ha!   Anybody else read these books?  What did ya think!?

Later! :)

such a cliché..

Don't ya think?

 

If a cat could choose her dream bed.. it would most definitely be a basket full of yarn right?  And that is what this particular basket full of yarn has become.. Molly's bed.  She loves it.  She is up there on top of my shelf right now.. snoozing away (and snoring I might add)!  It is that kind of day here today.. cozy.  She definitely has the right idea!

The kids are watching movies, curled up on the couch.. I am in my jammies, and my big cozy cardigan... and I have no intentions of changing any time soon. hee!  Laine is home sick today and Harley has the sniffles.. loooove this time of year.  If I didn't have so much to do today.. I would be cozied up on the couch right beside them!  Soon.. yep, I should be able to head that way soon!  Oh what I wouldn't give to curl up with a book right about now!

Speaking of cozy.. I picked up a pair of these yesterday... in grey, can't wait to wear them! They are like wearing slippers (I wore them around the house all last night) hee!  Loooove! 

Hope everyone is staying warm (and cozy) today! :)

I soooo can't wait for this to get here..

If you haven't heard of Ketti camera bags.. you MUST check them out!  I ordered this one and have been obsessively tracking it's progress as it makes it's way up here to me.  Right now it seems to be zig zagging across Canada, which really makes no sense at all! ahhh!  Gotta love Canada Post.  I sure hope it gets here soon! 

A camera bag that looks like a purse.. and better yet, can act as a purse, as well as safely carry my camera!  Right now I find I either don't take my camera at all, or I say a little prayer and put it in my purse along with everything else that has to leave the house with me when we are out and about!  The only time my camera seems to make it into my camera bag is when we go on a trip.. how wrong is that!? ha ha!  I thought about buying a point and shoot (which I still might do someday) to carry around, but this just seems to make more sense.. it is a win win if you ask me!

Anyhoo, I came across these a while ago.. and knew I haaaad to get one!  By the time I finally went to order one though, the one I wanted was gone out of her shop.. so I did what any sane person would do... and stalked her shop until another came in! heee! ;)  Looks like they are selling as fast as she puts them in there though, so if you want one.. you might have to start stalking her too! hee heee! Check out her sold items to see all the pretty camera bags.. yummmmm! 

There you go.. some Etsy enabling for you! hee!  I also came across these ones after I ordered the Ketti.. might have to keep my eye on those as well, every girl needs a little variety right!? ha!

Later! :)

last day of our looong weekend :(

We had a 4 day long weekend here for Thanksgiving, and today is the last day. :(  Bummer.  We have had a great weekend so far though!  Stayed in our jammies most of the time! hee!  It is cold and snowing and jammies just seemed like the right thing to do! lol  

We had our big dinner on Saturday.. roasted chicken (instead of turkey), stuffing, potatoes and gravy.. veggies, and pumpkin pie! yummmmmm!  Altogether too much food! ha ha!  I sooo overdid it! lol  But of course there was room for pie.. always always room for pie! heee!  Sooo yummy!

Laine and I crafted up a storm this weekend, although she got way more accomplished than me (including a hand sewn dress for her Cabbage Patch doll!).. I just seemed to go in circles without really finishing anything! ha!  

We played games.. Hotels in particular. 

 

 

Such a very cool game!  This was one of James' favourite games from his childhood.. I sooo would have loved this as a kid, the hotels are the cutest little things ever!

 

James kicked our butts.  Of course.  He always does.  I was out first.. like waaaay first! ha ha!  Laine hung on for quite a while before losing everything.. daddy the hotel tycoon... whooped our butts! heeee!  Someday we will win.. someday! lol

There was a lot of toy playing.. Harley is very into Little People right now, and that consumed his ENTIRE day yesterday.  There was some Webkinz (Laine), Sims 3 (me), and World of Warcraft (James).. some chalkboard drawing... and some hand drawn horses by Miss Laine.

James finished up the school bus shelter for the end of the driveway, and we moved it down there last night.  Now it just needs to warm up enough for me to paint the front door (turquoise of course.. as requested by Laine heee)!  Not too sure if that will happen this year or not!  It is the cutest little bus shelter ever though!

Yep, we had a very nice relaxing weekend! Full of crafting, building, eating and playing.. in our jammies.  Perfect! heee! :) 

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Later!

ummm..

How 'bout you keep those eyes on the road my dear!? heee!

 

As she zooms by me on the driveway.. obviously focused on seeing how close she can get to her poor mamma who is sitting on the driveway trying to get a photo of her crazy children! ha ha!  Harley was beyond thrilled that they finally got the buggy to move.. hard to tell from the blurry picture, but he had the hugest grin on his face.. hugest grin ever!

It needed a new spark plug.. so, daddy got that rigged up, tuned it up.. only for it to break down again.  You see.. my girl likes to ride the brakes while pushing on the gas (the go cart doesn't like that very much it seems ha ha!)... now we have to special order this silly little rubber piece.. if it's not one thing, it's the other right!?  Oh well, they had a blast while it lasted... maybe by spring it will finally be 100% again! ha! ..now that there is snow on the ground!  So much for Fall!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!! :)