Attempt at Digital Scrapping

While I was off having my elbow surgery, I thought I would enroll in a digital scrapbooking class to see how I liked it. I honestly thought I would have time to do the class during my time off. Who would have thought that recovering from surgery can put you in a "not in the scrapping" kinda mood??

Luckily for me, the classes over at Jessica Sprague don't expire!!

I finally found some time to go thru Lesson 1 of "Up & Running". It gave you the basics, a template to follow and basically I had to just put in the pictures. There is definately a learning curve, but here is the result of Lesson 1:

What do you think?

Bird Charmer

We had such beautiful weather this weekend, I wasn't about to let pneumonia get in the way. So we took Jonah to one of our favourite conservation parks, Lynde Shores in Whitby. There are so many birds and chipmunks and the scenery is just beautiful. We brought along some birdfeed (proper,safe birdfeed) to feed the chickadees and chipmunks. Jonah was quite the charmer and was able to get the chickadees to land in his hand.

Here is a small video of it. My (not so little) Bird Charmer :)

For Today

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ... there is a baby bunny who comes to visit at my patio door. It's like he knows I am about to grab a picture of him, so he hops away. I am determined to capture a shot of him.

I AM THINKING ...that trying to find a cheap(er) flight to Florida is going to get the best of me! ARG! So frustrating!!

WE ARE LEARNING … how to accept ourselves for who we are. All of us in the O'Hara household have been trying to overcome some challenges the past couple of months and I think we are finally making strides!

I AM THANKFUL FOR ... my son's school. I cannot stress what a difference it has been for him both academically and emotionally. Jonah has improved so much with his grades and attitude. We are working with a fantastic team at Blair Ridge!

FROM THE KITCHEN ... I am thinking it will be chilly since we are expecting thunderstorms.

I AM WEARING ... something so hideous, I won't even admit to it. Just be glad the webcam is not on.

I AM GOING ... to see the elbow surgeon again on friday. I am quite certain he will be impressed with my results. Now I just have to learn to be impressed with them.

I AM READING ... The Secret Daughter which was recommended by my friend Stacey FH. I am half way thru and I am LOVING it so far. And I am reading it on my KoBo. Have I mentioned how much I love my KoBo??

I AM CREATING ... nada. STILL!! My scrapbook room is still filled with boxes. We have just had too much on the go for me to be able to focus on that one very important room! But the good thing is that I will be going away in June for a scrapbook retreat! YAY!

I AM HOPING ... that the decisions I am making for my son, my family and my health are the right ones. I really need to just lay it down and let it be. I am very hard on myself that way. 

I AM HEARING ... the sounds of spring - lawnmowers, birds chirping, bugs buzzing - finally it feels like spring!

AROUND THE HOUSE ... it is coming together. Slowly, but it is coming together. We just need to find room for our stuff!!

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS ... trying NEW teas. I know...shocking, since I am not one to try new things. When I went to St. Annes Spa back in early May, they have tea time and always have samples of tea around. Now I am hooked. I have Grapefruit, Raspberry, Chocolate Spice, Cranberry and Peppermint. All of them I love!! You should try them!

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK ..f. movies with Jonah, hopfully a pedicure and finally get rid of this pneumonia!!!

A PICTURE TO SHARE...Jonah participated in Wacky Friday at School. Now he wants his hair to be red and blue all the time!!

Pancake Tuesday

A delay in posting these pics!
====================

It may sound corny, but I love Pancake Tuesday!

Yes, I know I can have pancakes for dinner any time of year,

but having a designated day makes it all the more fun!

It's like pumpkin pie. I love it but only eat it at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One year, things were kinda rough and I FORGOT about Pancake Tuesday.

How could that have happened??

My mom sent me an email this year to make sure I remembered.

It was a tradition she started with our family afterall.

So this year, I remembered.

Jonah was so excited to have pancakes for dinner.

He even helped Daddy make the pancakes, which was a first time cooking for Daddy!

A plus of being on disability ;o)

We stacked them up, smothered on the butter and topped them with syrup.

It was DELISH!!

Today......

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW  the sun is brightly shining! Goodbye Winter, you have overstayed your welcome. 
I AM THINKING  I have an addiction to ScentBugs from Bath and Bodyworks. I want a different one for each room!! 

WE ARE LEARNING that we have to be patient and not take things for granted.

I AM THANKFUL FOR the undying love and support from my family.

FROM THE KITCHEN we are sliding back into the convenient meals as opposed to the "better" meals. I can't use my elbow as an excuse anymore. Time to get back on track!!
I AM WEARING  my comfy jeans from reitmans. Love them!
I AM GOING to be better than I was 2 years ago, on so many levels. I have to continue believing in that. 
I AM READING  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - still. I stopped and started too many times. Now I am half way thru and sticking with it. 
I AM CREATING Not a darn thing. I need to get my room set up! Starting to annoy me frankly. 
I AM HOPING that I will be able to stay calm the first time I try out Hot Yoga. I am afraid the heat will make me panic. That would be an embarrassing first class!

I AM HEARING the birds chirping! A nice (and most welcome) sound of spring!
AROUND THE HOUSE  we are finding our groove and planning more changes/upgrades.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS is scrapbooking, but I haven't been able to do it (other than a class) in quite some time!

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND visit and shopping with my mom, game night with my fellas, church and picking up our buckets for March of Plenty! Enjoying the spring sunshine!!

A PICTURE TO SHARE - wonderful flowers I received from my parents. 

Maxine on St. Patrick's Day

Fun Time with 2 Ingredients

This Sunday we were reminded that you can have so much fun with just 2 main ingredients:

1.  Whipped cream in a can
2. LAUGHTER!

What started out as making hot chocolate with whipped cream, turned out to be a spray war in the kitchen!!

The weapons of choice:

Battle is on!!

The aftermath on the floor

The smiles from the laughter.

SO worth the mess!!

Life is all about having fun.

Life is good in the O'Hara home.

Gas Price Reality

True Scrap = A Giveaway!

I adore Lain Ehmann.

I adore her methods of inspiring others.

Craft Gossip is giving away a seat to Lain's Virtual True Scrap that is being held on April 7-9th.

So much talent, inspiration and creativity!

To enter to win a seat, go here: Craft Gossip Giveaway

Reflections of February

FEBRUARY 2011 - a big month for the O'Hara Family!

• I can hardly believe my little man turned EIGHT! Just seems impossible that time has passed so quickly. It was an exciting milestone for Jonah since technically he doesn't have to ride the car in a booster. He knows it makes Momma feel better if he does, so he obliges.

• I struggled with the fact I have an eight year old. Not that I felt "old", I just wanted to keep my little boy, a little boy. Is that too much to ask??

• We had a birthday party for Jonah. Not sure where my head was on that one. Total chaos! I didn't expect that I would have to implement a "No Kissing" rule either!! I quickly learned that Grade 2 is quite the soap opera!

• Had the chance to see some movies this month - The King's Speech, which was brilliant and so deserving of all the award nominations and No Strings Attached, which was quite funny and made me a little more drawn to Ashton Kutcher. I haven't really been a fan of his, but I really liked him in this movie!

• Saw firsthand how the tides of friendship can last decades. A very good friend of the family went thru a terrible medical scare, but he did not weather it alone. The arms of friendship enveloped him, gave him encouragement and a lot of positive energy. We are thrilled that the test results have all been positive and we keep the faith that it will continue to be positive. It still warms my heart that friends, who really are more like family can be each others mast in the storm of life.

• Figured out how to get over my dislike of the local grocery stores. Don't shop there! Brilliant, I know. I found out that Grocery Gateway (a grocery delivery service) uses Longos! I love Longos, but there isn't one in Durham. It costs me $9.95 extra to have my groceries brought to my door. I love it and don't care if people think it is lazy. It saves my sanity of having to shop in the local grocery stores. Happy girl is me.

• It has been a cold month! I am thinking Mr Groundhog got it all wrong!! BRRRRRR!! Even though it was quite chilly, what I found mind-boggling was all the cancellations around the city. Umm, hello? Is this not Canada??

• February also welcomes a holiday called Family Day. We spent the day as a family, with some close friends, The Lams at the local swimming arena. The kids had a great time playing while the parents had a chance to catch up. Dinner at McDonalds Playplace followed. Game night at home was a wonderful ending to a great day.

• We continue to reap the benefits of Scene Points and took Jonah to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was a cute film that had a good storyline. It still makes me laugh at the "adult humour" found in movies that are over the kiddies heads.

• I am completely in love with my KoBo eReader that I recieved for my birthday. I have downloaded some books, thanks to a gift card from my parents and sister it also has a fancy case and booklight. I am currently reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It is so easy to take anywhere, so easy to use and read from. LOVE my KoBo!!

• My elbow surgery date is finally here - last day of the month! March will definately bring on the healing lessons and test of patience. I have had a lot of anxiety about this surgery, more than needed really. The past two years have been a struggle for me, more than I have let on and I just want to have it over and done with - with good results. I know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but I will get thru it. I have had so much support from my friends and family it's overwhelming.

How was your February??