Bonbon

My 2008 Christmas kit BONBON at Little Dreamer Designs.

Neighbor Ladies

My neighbor ladies went out for our annual Christmas supper at Earl's. I ALWAYS have such good quality time with this group. Before moving to our house almost 5 years ago I specifically prayed to develop authentic community with my neighbors. I never expected that God had this diverse group of caring, supportive and funny women in store. I am thankful......and....CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement SUE (& Ken, too)!

Oh My.......

Delightful eye candy! Kathy Murray and I indulged ourselves and ordered this fabulous fabric from CristaQuilts. I have been wanting to 'brighten up' my space. Cheery and fresh......to maybe try to in some way start anew from the mess I have found myself in these past few months....wow......come to think of it, things have been upside down in my life for about 9-10 months already.

My friend Ange, gave me this card that said: "Live imperfectly with great delight. Life is tough. I recommend getting a manicure and a really cute helmet."
Ahhh, my helmet is on.

Trick or Treat

This year we went trick or treating further than our little row. The kids were old enough to walk further carrying their overloaded bags and the weather was perfect. Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the house with Charlie to hand out treats at our end.

Decorative extras by Michelle Coleman and can be found at Little Dreamer Designs.

Park City, Utah

Back in September, I flew down to Utah and joined a group of 16(?) FABULOUS ladies from the Little Dreamer creative team and design team. We had a lot of fun creating, EATING (the food was amazing!), walking about Park City, shopping at the outlet malls, and getting to know these ladies in person who before now I've only known online.




Group photo compliments of Michelle Coleman.

Determined to catch up....

1st day of school back in September........

In COLD denial....

Actually, just generally in denial (for those who know me know what I mean). This is the week we brought out our winter parkas - mitts, toques, the whole bit. It is pretty darn chilly in the wee morning hours that we've been heading out since I've been going back to work. Anyway, on a warmer note, here's more catching up from the summer with some random everyday pics from July & August.





Products I used to adorn these summery good pics are, of course, mostly found in the Little Dreamer Shoppe.

Fairies & Toadstools

New in the Little Dreamer shoppe .....
This kit seemed to take forever to come together but I'm really pleased how it turned out.

Going back a bit...highlights from Radium/Edmonton

Since I haven't blogged for so long I should backtrack a bit. Here are a few pics highlighting our road trip to Radium Hot Springs (where we met and camped with my folks). From there we joined extended family at Ryan & Cherie's wedding in Edmonton, Alberta. Mark (my brother) and Crystal shared their hotel room with the kids and I. It was cozy and fun. Their dog Daisy stayed there too! The photo frames are Leora Sanford's design and can be found and purchased in the Little Dreamer shoppe here

yay!!!! My blog is prettier! :)

My friend Kathy has been 'encouraging' me to decorate my blog for awhile now.....and finally.........here it is! I'm really bad with data-lingo so she was kind enough to do it for me.....THANK YOU KATHY! Looks much more like home now.

been awhile......

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted. I guess that's what happens when there's a newborn on the scene! Charlie is doing great, sleeping well at night, which makes all the difference. Can't believe he's 2 months already.

Last week the weather was beautiful, we were able to walk Ella to school everday. I actually got out for a run twice (this is quite funny and very unusual - I'm sure that if people saw me running by they'd know right off the hop that I am out of my element running. The first clue being my Nike runners circa 1990.....oh my.....I just realized....my runners are 18 YEARS OLD!!!!!) :O

Brent tuned up the kids bikes and they took them out for their first spin.......

This week, http://www.littledreamerdesigns.com/ shoppe is celebrating their 1st birthday with a big week long sale, blog challenges, freebies, prizes. Be sure to catch the last couple of days, there's some pretty sweet deals. :)

Here's my latest kits in the shoppe:

And a few of my lastest layouts:

Tonight I'm going to my monthly 'block scrap' with my neighbor ladies........usually not too much crafting happens........but always plenty of snacking and a glass of wine or 2! ;)

Surprise! Charlie's here.....

div>Last Tuesday (Feb 26), 3 weeks before my due date, our beautiful baby boy Charlie decided to surprise us. He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 3/4" long. He is absolutely dreamy and we are all completely in love with him. Here are a few pics......



Looks like Brent is the one in labor........

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Valentine treats now in the LDD shoppe....xoxo

Here's a few new Valentine goodies I have in the Little Dreamer shoppe. Valentines really snuck up on me this year. Made some Valentine sugar cookies with the kids this afternoon, they love decorating them and I must say the process gets more hygenic every time we make them. We no longer have to 'flag' the ones Ben decorated! ;)

Hey Tweetie!

A couple of new paper packs I put the the Little Dreamer shoppe recently......

Sweet Mugs!

Check out these sweet Valentine mugs we picked up at Starbucks....ah, simple things make me happy....

Sweet and Saucy Aprons!

Ange made these funky aprons for her friends this year. Here's me, Christy and Ange modelling these nifty domestic little numbers....

Christmas!

Ok, just a brief note to say that this past Christmas was simply wonderful. Filled with good stuff but at the same time didn't feel rushed or hurried. The kids are at such fun ages and of course the were excited about the whole Santa thing. They were so surprisingly in tune with the whole baby Jesus aspect of it, too. It really brought that out in me too as I saw things through their eyes and really contemplated Christ's birth and God's gift to us. Refreshing......
A few favorite pics through the holiday...

The Sawatzky side celebrated Great-Grandma's birthday and Christmas in Altona...

Mark & Crystal came out from halifax for Christmas this year. The kids absolutely LOVED spending time with them (as we all did of course!)


Played a little Dutch Blitz (das gut fon yo?) and celebrated Dad's bday...


Christmas morn at our place.....

And Christmas at Nana & Papa's!

growing and growing and GROWING!

Oh my, I have been the most negligent blogger.....New Year's resolution - to become a better blogger? Well, I'll try but that could just be added to the many other things on the resolution/things to do before baby arrives list.....



Yes, it has just hit me. It's January and this little one will be here in 2 more months. YIKES.

In December my girlfriend Ange and I went to Thistle Lane for coffee and snapped a few photos...

I must admit this December I have really been homesick for small town life, the simplicity, the slower pace. Getting out to places like Thistle Lane just seem to foster this sort of homesickness. Don't get me wrong, I love our life in the city but it's just different from what I know growing up, but I don't necessarily think that is a city/small town thing but rather life in general has changed.