Breakfast...

Love IKEA.....

Tentree... who knew?

Today we planted ten trees in Madagascar.  Seriously!  

My dude bent on fashion decided that he did not like the cool hat we picked out for him for his birthday and wanted one he had seen in Nova Scotia.  So off we trotted to MEC in Ontario to find his cool hat and to sing a fine "Happy Birthday" in the car.  What we did not realize, was that Tentree will literally plant ten trees internationally.  The fashion conscious dude logged on with a code inside the hat, answered a few questions and was shown a map, in Madagascar, of his ten trees.  He was pretty impressed!  

I admit I am not a fashionista, but I will get behind clothing companies I admire - MEC's line being one of them.  I have added Tentree to my personal list.  I checked out their site and had the opportunity to check out more of their clothes at MEC and I can honestly say I will support them in the future.

Here's to planting many more trees!!

Laundry.... Sigh...

Nothing says "I love you" like clean laundry.  However, nothing says, "I love you more" like knowing the person who did said laundry spent an hour in the local laundromat on a beautiful sunny summer day.

The bigger question is... Will Miss Penny appreciate it?

Nothing beats...

FREE ROOT-BEER!

Sucking it back on HWY 50's A&W!

In my world, root beer tastes like toothpaste... in the world of these dudes, root beer tastes like heaven - to each his own.  The A&W's all across this neck of the woods were handing out free drinks to all who would belly up.  We won't mention that this is before 10:00 a.m. - as that would truly imply a positive parenting moment - "breakfast root beer"... but we will mention that the guys has a good time and free root beer coupons are available for a few more days in August.  Needless to say, we won't be getting "breakfast root beer" on those days!

Rotaryfest...

Working with my dudes... Love it!

Today's Layout...

I have supplies written down, but cannot find them... I feel like Mary and her lambs...

This layout was a quick one and, while not the best photograph in the world, it does give a pretty good picture of the sugar bush.  Sometimes we have LOTS of snow and sometimes not so much... but either way it is a great way to spend a spring day.  If we are lucky, at the end of the day we will have a taffy pull on the snow - the kids insist on making their own "sticks" no less.  In many ways, a great look at the Canadian spirit, but not too many people are able to get the 40:1 ratio of sap for syrup... we are so lucky!

Today's Card...

Lawn Fawn Die; Avery Elle Stamp; Bazzill, American Crafts and Neenah Cardstock;
Versamark Ink; Unknown Embossing Powder

First of all, this was not my idea... I first saw this technique done by the wonderful Jennifer McQuire and have seen it here and there on other websites.  She used Stick It to make her own paper and, as you can see here, you can make two cards for the work of one (so to speak). 

I admit two things - first, I had trouble as I was working from memory and secondly, Jennifer's are more polished... but, when I figured out what to do and manipulated the materials I had on hand, this was rather easy and I am happy with the results!  I made a number of cards and have a few sets of five to pass on to friends who need them.  So friends, let me know if you are in need of cards!

On the water...

... this is happiness.

This guy spends more time at the cottage on the water than he does on land.  He started to canoe with Scouts and is formally hooked... ORCKA, Canoe Camp, Duke Bronze Trip and Tripping with Cairn in Ottawa are all under his belt and he can't get enough.  He has been around our little lake more often than anyone else at the cottage and now he is working on finding ways to leave to other lakes in the area.  Paddle on, dude!

Lunch

As my father would say, "The lunch of champions"... I always wonder how boys are able to make themselves lunch during the summer but during the school year, making lunch is near impossible... I wonder if it is the different selection of options at home in the summer or just the day to day bordom of sandwiches during the school year... No matter the reason, the inner chef appears during the warmer months of the year.

July Layout

Bo Bunny Paper, American Craft Cardstock

Here's my most recent layout found at One Crazy Stamper in Bolton.  I have three graduation layouts to put together, we will see who's graduation ends up on this page!

And so it begins...

And so it begins... adventures in blogging.  Where this will go is beyond me... however, we will see how my little corner of the cyber-world goes.  As I like to say, "Welcome, to chaos.  It's all good!"