The Christmas Concert

The School had it's Christmas Concert yesterday! It was awesome cute! lol! It was Holly's first, and Taylor's first in the Choir, and they were both super excited!!

This year was a little different, they had 2 concerts, one in the afternoon for Grandparents and other family members, and one in the evening by ticket only, for parents. It cut down on crowds but made it a little stressful as we had to come up with a ticket for Annika to join us. Luckily for us, there was a spare ticket and we all got to go! Scott's parent's saw it in the afternoon show.

Taylor was disappointed that the choir outfit is a white shirt and dark pants. She wanted to wear her party dress.

Holly did get to dress up, and looked SO SWEET in her Halo and Angel wings :)

So we head into the Gym which was dark and I got to play with settings on new camera, which I need to stop calling the new camera since it's now a year old :) It's always so dark!

First in was the Choir. Taylor was last up and on the end of the crowd! they looked very professional in their outfits and apparently have lots of upcoming events that I sorta forgot to listen to, they are singing with other schools and stuff...LOL

There were some very cute little ones singing and the older classes do really well! The choir has some sorta bell group who did a neat song:) Wonderful singing!

Holly's class came up around the middle. Good thing they wait in their classes til it's time or they would be fidgety! they sang 2 adorable songs, something about ho ho ho and Pere Noel. They were in French, quite an accomplishment for little people!

I didnt catch a lot of photos with all the kids fidgeting around LOL but caught one of her leaving with her "friend" who she talks about a lot!

Taylor's class came soon after! They did a song thatwas singing then recorders playing then more singing. It was a pretty song, Petite Pere Noel.


After the older classes went, and the oldest did a play on the Origin of Silent Night, the entire school got up and did the finale. Wow on those who organised that! Holly has been singing this song all week so I wondered where it would be!
The song was called Douglas Mountain, and I am sure it was picked on purpose as this is the 50th year Anniversary of their School, Douglas Street School. Soon it will be no more as they are bulding new and joining 4 schools together. Some of the words they changed from Douglas Mountain to Douglas Street School. It was really sweet and I thought and awesome way to end the concert.
Most of the time I could not find Taylor in that crowd LOL but I did see Holly.

Photo sort of reminds me of those old Where's Waldo books, where you search through crowds to find Waldo. Where's Holly? Any Guesses?? might be something in it for you!

For your viewing pleasure, the last song, in an unprofessional video Lol

The Sloan Family Christmas Party

Ok On Saturday night the Sloan Family had a party! And this party was hosted by the Grammy, dear Wanda. This is a yearly event, started by the Ian Sloan branch, continued by the Jessie MacNeil branch, and passed on this year to the Valley crew! Loads of preparation goes into this event lol and everything was ready!

The house was clean and tidy in the morning. then the Tree was decorated, creating rather a lot of disorder. LOL the kids helped a lot with the tree.

As the girls got ready for the party, they posed by the tree for a photo.
It was cute to see them pose like I might have wanted them to. They rarely look right at the camera anymore ;) mommy always says look away look away!!

Taylor had no interest in my photo tree pics. The photo rebellion must be starting.

So despite the snow that had been falling all day and the day before, people start arriving at the designated time, and the food comes out, the greetings are exchanged, the Alcohol comes out :):):)


This is a good time to catch up and find out what everyone has been doing all year. the kids (there are 5 girls there now) disappear to play all sorts of games. There was lots of cops and bad guys play this year. Different......
Everyone is wondering, where is Alison et. Al.??? It's past time for party, we heard they are coming, roads are bad, people are wondering. Where is Alison and her little family??
Hmmmmm

Eventually Alison and family blow in like a little whirl Wind. Gifts are pulled out, kids are playing games :)














the girls cant wait to see Ben and Cameron from Montreal!

Family gets reaquainted and save some memories. Hey Alison apparently is considering Scrapping! Now lets discuss where she should start! These sisters will all be doing it soon!


The night winds down and people head out. The party was awesome, no one missed anything, tonnes of food, drink, conversation! A success, right Grammy?

Address Book

Ok First this isnt my original idea, I was given one of these address books by my SU Upline, and I am not even sure it's her idea, although it might be, she's pretty crafty *wink*
The cover is cardstock that was stamped in a background stamp and could have been decorated any number of ways. The ribbon holds it closed and was attached to the front.

Inside, the homemade address pages were printed from any word-processing program, cut out, and glued to the inside pages that are cardstock strips glued together in accordian. The cover has an inside pocket created by glueing other cardstock to it, and slipping the ends of the accordian folded pages into the pockets to hold them in, and replace them if it became necessary! Ive been known to tuck recepits into the pockets too, be careful of ripping up!

More details? Email me!

The Photo Shoot 2006

Today was That Day. The day of the Annual Masters Girl's Christmas Photo Shoot. This is the one day a year that I put them in an arranged "set" in my living room and attempt a photo that is somewhat representative and decent enough to send to pretty much every one I know. I only attempt this once a year because I am sure one can imagine, it is challenging with a capital CHAAAAAAA.

This year there was more of a time crunch than usual. Some people who get these photos, we only see two or three times a year, so this is the one chance to give them their photo. Ya I could mail them, but it's always so hard to be sure they get there safe and unbent. The family party this year is a week early. And poor Holly has been battling another of her face-altering cold sores. It was a race to see if the cold sore would heal enough before the party...or if it would still be distorting her badly!

This morning was like the LAST CHANCE before the party. We left for the Valley today for the party (which is where I currently sit) and there was a snow storm so we wanted to leave early (not) and miss the snow (nope, negative) and I had to get the photos developed before leaving. So first thing, all kids into the tub. Clean faces, clean hair, clean clothes. Wash that toothpaste off the shirt and try again. LOL I move my living room around UNrecognizably, to maximize the natural light, since someone promised me a spotlight and then at the last moment realises it's Broken. So we have space in the living room and set up our screen hanging from the rocking chair with a Chip Clip and tucked under the stereo PLEASE dont pull this down, should the stereo come crashing down on top of you alL! Sheesh. The black background was missing for a while, I got the darlings to clean up some of Their Stuff and said material shows up. Hung. Blanket on floor. Ok kids come in for one last hair brushing and lets go. Change clothes to black shirt "Im SO sorry you dont like black. I hunted high and low for these things and this is what you have to wear for 5 minutes." Tears. "but I hateeee black". Threats. Bribes. Eventuall resignation that black is going to be the colour. Out to the stage, actors!

What makes Annika so sad? The first few minutes of the "shoot" start by attempting to get her to smile. Tears seem to flood from all corners of her eyes LOL for no reason. I think this is another quiet rebellion against my Photo session. She actually talks in her sleep and woke me up last night saying "i dont know WHY I cant be happy! Im SO Sad!" What a life I look forward to! Teen depression and angst coming my way! "Why doesnt he LOve me? Why doesnt he Notice me???"

We take a few practice shots. I am a firm believer that if I dont direct too much, and just keep snapping, at least one of those photos will knock my socks off. Usually works for me!
I had to redirect Scott a few times, remind the kids not to look at me, as I am not fond of those photos that have everyone sitting up straight and smiling at the camera, reminding Scott to stand closer to me and stop making them look to the side, and stop making them laugh so hard all I get is tonsil glare. Taylor is my drama queen, she tries to be all serious and "gaze off into the sunset" but ends up showing me her nostrils hahaha she's lucky tho, she always takes a wonderful photo! LOL



We took lots of group photos, and got some cute ones without any real AMazing ones. I played with a few settings on the camera and got some interesting results. I took some photos of them individually, while they were kinda milling around.

I let them goof off a lot, because it makes them sit better, and it makes their smiles a lot more natural. The struggle was keeping Annika from bursting into tears which apparently she can do at the drop of a hat. The background came down in one laughing moment, stereo remained intact.

It's sometimes hard to tell the success one is having in the moment. I was sure some photos were cute enough to "do in a pinch" but I was still waiting for that one that knocked off my socks.

More fooling around, more teasing, curtain down again...Taylor complained that she had no socks on and that the other 2 girls did, I told her it was ok because I was not taking photos of her feet...so they all proceeded to show me their feet for photos!



More wrestling and tickling, more curtain falling. I have to say, right at the end i got that photo. Not a posed one, but one I saw in an instant. Holly put your cheek here, Annika there and SNAP. Naturally I cannot show it. Too many peoplen who are getting this photo might see it. I'll post in the future. The photo session ended when the curtain fell a final time. "sigh". But I had my photo and some funny ones to boot.

So I alter and pick the one i want with some help Oh my goodness I could not choose! LOL and then I sent it online to be developed. AND I WENT TO PICK THEM UP on the way out of town. YUP, leave for 2 nights, delivering photos tomorrow. And they didnt print them. And they did not call to tell me they were not going to print them. Apparently Walmart ran out of matte paper, so they were just going to leave them unprinted til they got more paper. Been out since yesterday. SHEESH. NO phone call or anything! I was rather mad! After all ive gone through...not even a phone call! SO i cancelled the order, drove here in a snow storm, past accidents, past piles of snow, through blinding snow...3 hours to get here...and I sent them again to be printed and delivered to the Valley instead. Wonder if they are printing them.lol

What a day!!!

We are getting ready to head to the Valley for the Annual Sloan Family Christmas Party. This is the first time my mother as hosted it, and she's gone to a lot of preparations. Ive done pretty good doing things on my end all week but of course it comes down to a little bit left at the end. Today was the Busy day here!

We didnt have school for the kids so they were all here. I dont mind that I actually think they were pretty good today. Last night I worked on Christmas cards so they were just needing finishing today. OF course I worked on it on and off, and it took til tonight.

So today I got up and put on bread dough (Love my bread maker) and by the time I had done 4 batches, Id made 2 sorts of rolls, garlic bread sticks, and a loaf of bread. Nice!

Got ready to got out, I had a gift Cert to have my nails done and I did that today! It's pretty cool, they are LCN gel nails, not glue on stickies, and I think they are pretty sturdy. They will have to be, I am already testing them on all sorts of things!



These took almost 2 hours to do. There was a rather surprising amount of discomfort lol but all in all it was relaxing and nice to see afterwards. I still have some filing to do but I did good to even be using them today so we are leaving it at that!

We had Parent-Teacher interviews today, starting with Holly who is doing really really well in her class work, I was more concerned about her social interactions but her teacher assures us that she's no more "difficult" socially than any of the other kids...she doesnt see at school some of the things that worry me at home, like Holly's difficulty relating to some kids (not all) and her trouble seeing how some things she says and does might be seen by other kids as Unfriendly. FOr example, she and a friend were playing, and when Holly was done, she said OK you can go home now. and she cannot see why that might have been upsetting to her friend! LOL Apparently that's ok in school, not a problem. We will continue to monitor and tell her to be a nice friend etc etc.

Taylor is also doing really well in school, she's reading great in English and French, doing well in Math, and all the other topics too. She is taking English Language Arts this year, she thinks that is funny. She does need to slow down a lot, read things more throughly, and work more independantly. all in all I think these were very positive interviews. NICE!

after the interviews we went to grocery and got things for the many Squares I need to make for this week and next. Exchanges! What was I thinking? Cant wait tos ee what others make!

Then home, supper, kids to bed, and I finished our cards. Im stinking tired!!!!!

It's bed time now, Bye now!

A Snowstorm

They said this storm was coming. Not too bad. Then it was going to miss us. Then it was rain. Well Shocking, this is Nova Scotia! It came as snow and in some places, lots and lots. Here there was just enough to make roads slippy. And in the first storm of the year Naturally people have forgotten not only how to drive but, where their brakes are. "sigh"


So after preschool yesterday the rain turned to snow. And it snowed til I went to bed. This morning it was Gorgeous. Because it came so wet, when the cold came, it turned to ice. And the ice on my trees was awesome to photograph. I took loads but I will spare you the agony.


So after school today, Aleah stayed late. Taylor had Piano lessons and I like to get the kids out of the house so she can have those in peace. Because it was Gloriously sunny and not tooooooo cold, outside we went! I dug out the sleds and away they went.



The hill behind our house is awesome for sledding. We only have to go out the back door and up into the field. It's a greenspace shared by the people in the neighborhood, and the kids love it!



Holly was brave and excited. She was up and down that hill and so funny she cracked me up on every run! She would bounce around and hop up, saying Dont' go down 2 hills backwards, you'll go over your head like I just did!!!"


Annika went alone this year her first time. She went sideways and rolled head over heels and I was sure she was going to cry, but she smiled right away and went up and down more times! I havent seen her in such a good mood in ages! It was nice that she wasnt fighting, she's been calling me her Best Buddy all day Hehehehehe

Aleah was out with us and I dont think she's been out a lot! lol she didnt like the snow much, she cried when she touched it, she cried when she fell, she cried when she was too far away from me, and when her first very gentle sled ride landed in a very gentle roll over, she cried a lot. LOL



The kids stayed out til we were all frozen and quite wet.

There was a gorgeous sunset going on when we finally went in for hot chocolate and snacks.

Annika Starts Preschool!!!

After waiting 3 months on a waiting list, we finally got a call Friday that there was a spot for Annika opened up at the Preschool at L'Ecole D'Acadienne de Truro. So this morning Annika got up early, dressed nicely, packed her knapsack, and headed off to Preschool!


Before School she had some time to colour, and she was SO excited about going to school! She's Begged since September to get to go!

Ready to head out the door, starting to be a little nervous!

Sitting up in the car waiting "take my picture again mommy!"

The closer we got to the school, the more strangness I hear coming from the back seat. "Mommy will you stay? Mommy will they play with me? Mommy do I have to go??" She started getting nervous for sure!

We got to the school and She said she didnt want to go in. So I said we would just peek in the door. There were one or two kids she knew there. We started for the door and she hung back...didnt want to look in the door lol. IN we went, and the teacher greeted her cheerfully! She hid behind me. We kept talking and moving and she did eventually take off her boots and coat and put her sneakers on, she was looking around Very nervous!


Then the teacher suggested there were some farm animals that needed to be put in order. She got her to play in the farm with the animals, with some other little ones, and she took right off.

When I told her I was leaving to go home and would be back soon, She barely looked up at me and said Bye Bye Mom!

And when I did pick her up again, she said Mommy Mommy I didnt miss you at alL!!!!!

Fire's Burning

Our quiet Sunday night was disturbed when we took Taylor to Skating, discovering the downtown area was closed by a large fire. After we picked Taylor up we got the kids warm and walked down to look. Ya we had nothing better to do LOL and I thought it would be a good chance for the kids to see the Firefighters at work doing their job of keeping us safe.


The building burning was an old abandoned Church. It was a beautiful building, and so sad to see it burning. The firefighters were only keeping it under control, it was far far too gone when they arrived to go inside and couldnt really be saved. They worked all night to keep it from spreading to nearby buildings. There was a huge crowd present watching and almost a cheerful atmosphere. Apparently the building has been empty for about 10 years, and was waiting to be torn down to make room for Condominiums, if the owner could get past the Heritage committees trying to save the 100 year + building :(


News today suggests squatters trying to stay warm set a fire that took over and burned the building down, too bad they didnt report it when they ran away as the building may have been saved, although it sounds as tho this is a good thing for the owner who will now likely even have the complete clean up covered by insurance instead of a costly demolition. It makes me sad that no one was crying over this burning building. Another piece of the town gone, to be replaced by apartments and parking lots, but it seems to be a relief to be going away now.

I'm Up to my Ears in.....

Things to Do!!!
Im doing it again. Every single year, I create vast lists of things I need to do. And they are all things that need to be done. And every single year, I put them off knowing i have lots of time, and then something happens to show me that I DON'T. I have 20 million things to do, and some things are for me, and some things are not for me. But they all need to be done. And I am sitting here again not getting them done. I dont even know where to start. I need to start really at what needs to be done first and work from there.

Where is my Christmas planner? LOL

Priorities this week include things I need to have for this weekend. Gifts for people I will see at a party this weekend. Things I need to mail out. A Stampin' Up! party I am having Sunday night! OH it is a week from Hell! Scott is going away for 3 days (jerk lol) and I will have my 3 kids plus whatever extras wander their ways through here. There are always a few. so when I think I have lots of time I really seriously only have a little bit. And that makes me wonder why I am so incapable of getting up and DOING these things!

this week I decided after working at it, tearing it out, restarting, and working again on a poncho for 2 years, I was going to finish knitting it. And working a bit here and there it only took me a little over one day to finish it. Why do we put things off that are not really that hard? But that was time I spent on myself when maybe I should have been working on something else.

Ok I need to order some photos. I also need to take some photos. I need to plan a Photo Shoot for the kids. I need to get a family photo done. Someone just needs to push the button. and Scott needs to be home. that's actually the hardest part to plan, when are we all going to be here at the same time? And can someone else really push that button? HAhahahahhaah! lOL

I need to do a few craft things. I also need to finish a layout. I am seriously behind on it because I cannot quite decide how to finish it.

And I need to gather and get a few presents together for this weekend. I am not even sure when we are going now, I had hoped to go Thursday but it's not looking good. Poor Holly is going to miss Hockey this weekend.

Anyway I need to go dig myself outta this hole for a bit. Gotta get the pile down from my ears.

Blog Challenge from Scrap That Moment 11/30/06!

Sleigh Ride
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling, too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, 'Yoo-hoo!'
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go
Let's look at the show
We're riding in a wonderland of snow
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, it's grand
Just holding your hand
We're gliding along with a song of a wintery fairyland

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we
We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go
Let's look at the show
We're riding in a wonderland of snow
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, it's grand
Just holding your hand
We're gliding along with a song of a wintery fairyland

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we
We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
Sleigh ride together with you
Sleigh ride together with you
Sleigh ride together with you

I cant even remember when I decided this was my favorite Christmas song. It might be the nice upbeat rhythm, or the fun lyrics, but this is my song of choice for Christmas Songs!