A Little Christmas Cheer......

From me to you.....
Click here....... http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1368310619

White Crap.....

This is just what I found when I opened my back door to let Baxter out.... snow covering my gorgeous in full bloom herb garden!!

"Leaving on a jet plane........

don't know when I'll be back again." Remember that old song from John Denver? Well, that was my 26 year old daughter Morgan yesterday. She boarded a plane to relocate to Calgary, Alberta (4 hour plane ride away from us) to continue her career as a Chef and to have new adventures. I sure am going to miss that girl of mine.

PRESENTING..........

Kate Anabella Winner!!!
Born November 7, 2007 weighing in at 10 lbs. 4 oz.

This is my brand new baby niece.... born to my niece Jennifer and her hubby Jesse! Isn't she gorgeous? Look at those chubby legs! LOL Here's a photo of the happy family.... Jesse, big brother Wyatt (22 mon.), Mommy Jennifer holding Kate and big sister Emma (3 yrs)....

Halloween.........

Baxter hopes you all had a fun Halloween!

WOW........ 29 years!!!

Today is Allan and my 29th Wedding Anniversary! How time flies!! We have been very blessed throughout our years, especially with our 2 wonderful children. I have been very blessed with such a wonderful man!! You name it, he does it! My Mother says I am very spoiled, and yes I agree. Not many men will work full-time, garden like crazy, cook, clean, laundry and still have fun times with their wives. LOL
I love you with all my heart Allan....... for infinity and beyond!!

Thanksgiving.....

This past Monday we celebrated Thanksgiving...... for my American friends that is when Canada celebrates it. Morgan and Taylor both came down from Toronto and spent 2 days at home. Since Sunday was also my birthday! Morgan actually surprised me by showing up on Sunday, as I didn't expect her till Monday. Taylor also brought his new girlfriend Jennifer, who we met for the first time. We really liked her and Taylor is soooo happy! :-)
So we enjoyed the turkey with all the fixings and had a wonderful time together. I am so thankful for my wonderful family and am truly blessed with 2 gorgeous, wonderful children and a fabulous, loving husband!
Here's a couple pictures to share from that day...........

My Brother Kevin.........

I just got this great picture of my Mom and my brother Kevin.... thought I would post it and talk some about him......
Kevin is 6 years older than I am and has been married for 30 years to Laurel and they have a 25 year old son, Travis. Oh yeah, also Barley - their cute yellow lab. Kevin is a licensed Pro Golfer and now lives way up North in "cottage country" running a fabulous golf course/resort. Laurel and him have been there for about 2 years now... previous to that he has run a number of golf courses in the Niagara area. Kevin is the "strong silent" type. LOL A lot like my Father and like my son Taylor. In fact Taylor is a Poole through and through, just like Kevin and my Dad and my sister's son Matthew. I see a lot of similarities between the 4 of them. Anywho, the first picture is Mom and Kevin, the 2nd is of the lake that Kevin and Laurel live on. Just beautiful area. The last is at the 18th hole at his golf course with my sister Pam, and Mom.

Guest Design Team Layouts

So..... for the month of September I have been a "guest designer" at The Scrapping Nook (my LSS) http://www.thescrappingnook.ca/
I created a mini-album and 3 layouts from the "Dream Street" kit they provided for me. I'm planning on doing 1 more layout (have enough paper left). I've had fun and thought I would post my layouts....

HAPPY 61st ANNIVERSARY.............

Mom and Daddy!!! I love you both so much!!!
I see I got this posted after midnight.... their anniversary is Sept. 7th. This is a pic I took tonight when Pam, Joe, Allan and I took them out for dinner to celebrate.

1st Day of School....

Okay, all the Mommy's are blogging about back to school......... well, my baby had his 1st day of school today at a new school. Okay, okay....... it's university..... LOL And he's almost 23 years old........ but it still was his 1st day at a new school! Taylor has already graduated with a diploma from Sheridan College and now he is working on another diploma at a new school. Here's some info on it.......
"The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) is Canada’s largest university for art and design, specializing in creativity and innovation. Established in 1876, the university has more depth and breadth in visual arts and design programs than any school of its kind in Canada. OCAD students enjoy a one-of-a-kind learning environment that combines an experiential, studio-based education with liberal studies, which is recognized with a BFA or BDes.
OCAD graduates are well known for their creative skills. Their work continues to enrich our country’s culture and add value to the economy and everyday lives of Canadians. OCAD’s research profile includes an institute for art and design education, the Beal Centre for Strategic Creativity at OCAD, an institute in design, creativity and innovation and large-scale projects in mobile content and technology."


So for all the Mommy's out there..... this Mommy envies you that you can hug and talk to your kids when they get off the bus or walk home from school today and everyday.... mine is 2 hours away from me and it's just not the same.

Fun at The Nook!!

I'm having fun so far being the guest designer at The Scrapping Nook this month. I started up a month long Bingo (since I am The Nook Bingo Queen ;-) I have a tendency to win the late night challenges, what can I say, I have a fast finger and am a night owl!) Of course a prize for the winner at the end.
Also I have 3 other challenges going on..... one is a "Labour Day" layout challenge ~ to do a layout of your "labour/childbirth" or to do a layout of how you labour at your job, in the garden, at home etc. etc. I've had lots of great entries into the challenge and someone will be winning a RAK!
Another challenge I have is to dump your purse on the counter, take a picture and then journal about its contents etc. etc. in a layout. Another RAK for this challenge.
Last but not least..... Button, button, who's got the button? challenge..... using tons of buttons on a layout... not 5 or 10 but TONS. Another winner will be drawn out of the entries.
Here's one I did with lots of buttons of Morgan when she was little.......

Guest Designer at The Scrapping Nook

I was so thrilled (and yes a bit nervous) to be chosen to be the Guest Designer at
http://www.thescrappingnook.ca for the month of September. I get to come up with some fun challenges for all the girls and to play with and design some layouts with some fun goodies! Looking forward to it all and to get "designing"!!

Froggie Heaven....

Yep, I am in froggie heaven.... we have 2 garden ponds in our backyard and we love to have goldfish and tadpoles in them.... this year has been the BEST for both. We must have at least 40 goldfish and 30 frogs this year and they are so much fun to watch. I so enjoy looking for them amongst the water hyacinths. They love to jump out of the pond and go investigating and them you can see them hopping like crazy to get back to the water before you get too close to them. The sit all around the edges of the pond sunning themselves or on top of the leaves of the water plants. Some are huge, others are small. Allan caught them all as tadpoles at St. John's. I hate for winter to come because I know they will be going away to find somewhere to hibernate, but for now they give me so much pleasure. If you click on the photos below, you can see them up close and personal! :-)

Bath and Body Works.....

This is what happens when you go to the States and visit Bath and Body Works.... I LOVE Bath and Body Works and we don't have them in Canada. Sooooooo, I love to stock up on the handsoaps when we are there. I got a good stash today, just in time as I had just run out of my last stash. Now we will have happy good smelling hands again. ;-)

If You Go Down To The Woods Today........

You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today,
You'd better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today was our Family Church Picnic and the theme was A Teddy Bears Picnic. We had alot of fun and I was crowned "Queen Den Mother Bear"!! I received a crown and a honey bear as my bouquet! :-)
I had the tables all decorated up etc. in the theme and got all the prizes for the games etc. We had a bbq with salads and desserts that everyone brought. Then games, prizes and lots of fun!
Here's a few pics of the day.

Okay, who stole my son??

I have this kid named Taylor.... a thoughtful, deep thinker, quiet, talented, observer of life...... did I mention quiet? He moves away up to Toronto to attend University.... to the big bad city from a small town.... will it gobble up my son and spit him out in little pieces? Or will it swallow him whole? Well, let me tell you .... it has done none of this...... instead this kid has turned into an outgoing, enthusiastic man of the city!! He has conquered it from one end of the city to the other, has blossomed and turned into the 22 year old (almost 23) he is today. Taylor is a very very VERY talented artist. He already has graduated and earned a diploma from Sheridan College and is now involved in another 3 year university program at OCAD to get another degree. Of course he is majoring in art/illustration/painting.
He has even mentioned becoming a teacher! My son?? The quiet thinker?? And you know what else this kid has become?? An accomplished musician/singer/writer! He performs with his friend Dani singing in Pubs! Taylor plays the guitar, banjo, harmonica, glockenspiel (yes, I said glockenspiel) all which he has basically taught himself. And sing.... this kid can sing!! I never heard him sing in his entire life till this year!! I love this kid... and I love the man he is turning into! I am very proud of him and all that he does! Of course he will always be my baby. And he knows it too! LOL Yes, my kids still continue to amaze me.

Melancholy.....

I think that's the word that describes me right now.......... we just found out that our beautiful talented daughter is moving to Calgary, Alberta to further her career as a chef. Morgan is 26 years old now... a young, strong woman on her own - good of heart, talented and well loved. But in my heart she is still my baby. I so remember the day she was born... how I wanted a little girl so bad - that had her Daddy's dimples... I was so blessed to get just that and way more!!
Calgary, another province....... 40 hours of driving or 4 hours on the plane to see her........ not just so close that I can reach out and touch her, hug her, kiss her.
I am so very proud of the woman she has become. I love her with all my heart. I wish her all the best and pray that God protects her on her new adventure. I'll miss my baby girl, my friend, my love..... but I am soooooo very proud of her and know my love will never ever change - no matter how far away she is - she is always close to me in my heart. I love you Morgan Leigh!

100th Scrapbooking Layout for 2007!!

Yep, as of this layout posted I have finished 100 scrapping pages in 2007! I have never scrapped so much as I have this year! Maybe it's because I have no kids at home anymore and I have my own scrap-room now.... ??? I do know though, that all the challenges from The Scrapping Nook and from Classy Coordinates, that I am kept very busy and they are so much fun!
This is Morgan Leigh at 13 months... hard to believe that was 25 years ago! I love lilacs and I love my beautiful bald blonde baby!! ;-)

Blue Jays Game

Allan and Morgan went to Toronto today to enjoy some Daddy/Daughter time together and saw The Jays play The Yankees....... they had a great time even though the Jays lost. Their seats were in the nosebleed section in the hot and humid weather.... poor guys. Glad I didn't go sweat it out! LOL

I've been "Scattergoried" tagged!!!

Tara from The Scrapping Nook tagged me...... ;-p LOL

The game is SCATTERGORIES ... and it's harder than it looks! Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
* They MUST be real places, names, things ... NOTHING made up!
* If you can't think of anything, skip it.
* You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can't use my answers!

Once you've completed your tag, tag 4 others!! Have fun and I can't wait to see your answers!!!

My Name is Margo:

1. Famous singer/band: Madonna
2. four letter word: Milk
3. Street: Main St.
4. Colour: Mauve
5. Gifts/presents: Magazine subscription
6. Vehicle: Mazda
7. Things in a souvenir shop: Maps
8. Boy Name: Mark
9. Girl Name: Mary
10. Movie Title: Mr. Mom
11. Drink: Milk
12. Occupation: Mailman
13. Celebrity: Mark Walhberg
14. Magazine: Memory Makers
15. U.S. City: Macoomb, IL
16. Pro Sports Teams: Montreal Canadiens
17. Fruit: Mango
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Make-up crisis
19. Something You Throw Away: Milk bags
20. Things You Shout: Move!
21. Cartoon Character: Mickey Mouse

Okay, now I am tagging....... Melonie, Patti, Sherry

Flying Flowers.......

I love Butterflies, especially in my gardens. I was lucky to be able to get up close pics of this Monarch the other day. They are just amazing, beautiful creations.
Oh yeah, to prove how much I do love butterflies.... here's my permanent butterfly who goes everywhere with me. ;-)

I'm Done!!

Harry Potter has been read, devoured and enjoyed!!!! :-) I read it non-stop from beginning to end....... it's a wonder I can still see straight!! :-)

Tomorrow..................

NEW SUMMER DO!!

It has been so blazing hot these last couple days and my hair was driving me nuts! So I told Julie, my hairdresser, to thin, thin, thin it out today! I have thick hair and she has to razor it like crazy to thin it out.... when she was done I said more! LOL So here it is, me sitting outside in 90 degree weather (but they say it feels like 102 or more) with my new thinned out hair. It may not look different then other times but believe me, it feels like a weight has been taken off of my head! Now, if she could only thin out my body!!!! ;-)

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS........

When you try and have a Canada Day photo shoot with your dog, who isn't in the mood for it.......