Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Its a Birthday Challenge!

Well, its Prettie Wednesday but today is extra special because we're also celebrating another Prettie Girl's birthday!  Yeppers, Wendy is our birthday girl today!  Here is what I "cooked" up for Wendy:





May your birthday be full of sweet treats my friend!
This week's challenge, issued by Jackie was to use buttons on your card.  I managed to use 4 and it still doesn't look obnoxious!  This card was made with our Made With Love set.  Both Made with Love and Dream Boat are on sale for 20% off this week only!
We'd love to see what you come up with so play along with us and upload your creation to the Paper Pretties gallery in the Weekly Challenges album using keyword PWC88.
Now, hop on over to see what Julie has in store for Wendy's big day and don't forget to stop by and wish Wendy a happy birthday! Pin It

Friday, January 22, 2010

BIG Sale

Did you know?  Have you heard?  ALL the clear stamps at Paper Pretties are on sale for 35% off - this week only!  Run don't walk over there to get them while the gettings good!! Pin It

Showing Off My Treats

I received a few beautiful Christmas cards this year that I wanted the opportunity to show off!  Here they are:
This first one is from Charmaine and uses our own Mistletoe Kisses what a nice treat!:


This cutie patootie is from Wendy:

and this last one is from the girls over at Canadian Scrapbooker!:

I just LOVE getting hand made cards - they all made me smile!!!  Thanks girls!
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Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Sad Day in Kindersley

Written On January 8th, 2010
This morning we all got up and everyone headed off to school and work as normal.  At 9:50 am I got a call from Andy (he of course is an EMT and Firefighter) to tell me to look out our living room window.  When I looked what I saw was amazing.  Before I show you the pics let me explain a little bit about the town we live in.
Kindersley has a population of 5000.  In saskatchewan hockey and curling are our major sports in the winter and a huge source of revenue for the community.  I guess one would really have to visit here to understand how HUGE these sports are.  They are more than just winter entertainment and revenue builders.  They are a huge part of our culture here.  My Grandpa played hockey and curled and Isaiah actually has Grandpa's curling trophy in his room.  You can see that when I say its a part of our culture it has been that way for generations.  Even for families like ours who aren't directly involved in playing these sports, they are nevertheless a big part of who we are.
In Kindersley, there is the main part of the town - and then there is what many of us fondly refer to as "the burbs".  This is a new subdivision of houses called Rosedale.  It is across a small highway from the main town.
Rosedale is where we live.  It is still very close but far enough away that at night when we sit on our deck in the summer, we can see the sun set over Kindersley and the haze of lights in the dark that circles over the town.
As many of you know, we just relocated to Kindersley in June, so we've only been here about 7 months but have really come to feel at home here so, it was a huge shock and a HUGE loss to our community when our ice rink - which is attached to our sportplex and swimming pool and right across the street from our boys elementary school and the high school burned to the ground this morning.
As I write it is 4:26 pm and our emergency services staff is still fighting the fire.  Our highschool and the boys elementary school as well as the entire 1/2 of the town closest to the rink were all evacuated before lunch due to the smoke infiltrating the buildings.  The high school was more severly affected than the elementary school and the kids there had been moved to the mall by about 10:00 this morning.
The 911 call came in around 9:38 this morning and by 10:00 the rink was totally engulfed in flames and a state of emergency had been called.  400 people needed to be evacuated from the rink since the Scott Tournament of Hearts was already in progress when the fire broke out.
These first pics are some that Isaiah took with his phone as they were leaving the high school:

This was shortly after they heard the fire had started.  Looking from the front of the high school toward the ice rink - which is clearly visible even on a stormy day.


The above pic and the ones below are taken from behind the high school as the kids were leaving.  You can clearly see from the pics how quickly the fire progressed:


 
 
This was my view from my deck - you can see here as well how over the course of about 10 minutes the fire progressed dramatically.


 
 Here you can see the flames coming out the roof.


That big orange building to the right of the rink is our sport plex which is attached to the rink.  In this complex we host hockey and curling like I said - in fact, the Ladies Provincial Curling championships had just begun last night.  We also host a summer rodeo, a small circus, figure skating competitions as well as skating lessons, and many wedding dances and receptions.





 
 
You can see to the left of the fire in this picture that our pumper truck was shooting water onto the fire.  In comparison to the size of the fire it seems like kind of a futile attempt.  Firefighters and their trucks came from 4 other surrounding communities to help extinguish the fire.  They expect that there will be severe smoke damage to the events center, the pool, the high school and possibly the elementary school.


 
Now, there is nothing left standing, just smoldering ashes.  This is a huge loss for our small community.  At the time the fire was raging I had gone to a local pizza shop to pick up a small pizza for the twins and then I was planning on taking it to the elementary school for lunch for them.  The gentleman that owned the pizza place seemed quite shaken up and told me that his family moved to Kindersley when he was a child for his father to play hockey.  His Dad died 4 years ago and he was the only hockey player in Kindersely's history who had ever had his jersey retired.  It had been on display in the rink and now was gone.  He commented that he and his wife were both on our 100th anniversay celebration committee which was supposed to be taking place in the summer, now, there would be no complex in which to host the celebrations.
I am VERY proud to be a member of this community that really pulled together - Tim Hortons took around 20 dozen donuts and 500 cups of coffee.  One of the pizza places sent over 20 extra large pizzas and our local bakery sent over about 150 sandwiches and 5 or 6 dozen donuts for all of the police officers, ems staff and firefighters who were working to contain the fire and maintain safety. Since most of you that visit my blog are American, please keep in mind that it was -9.4 degrees farenheit this morning while these people were outside working.

As I was heading out the door of the pizza shop, he said to me - you know the kids aren't at the school anymore right?  He directed me to the mall so I headed over there to retrieve them.  When I arrived at the mall it was crazy.  Parents trying to find their kids, children wondering when their parents would be coming for them.  Teachers as guards at the door to be sure that they kept close track of all the students so no one would be injured or lost.  Isaiah came running up to the van right away and hopped in and asked where Jacob and Eli were.  I was shocked since I had expected them to be there at the mall.  I ran to the teacher with the clip board and calmly asked where the elementary school children were to which she replied, "I don't know".  No one seemed to know...
Now I don't want to blow this out of perspective because it was a recreational facility that burned to the ground.  No one was hurt thank God but not knowing where my children were really caused me to think about what it would be like if there were a war nearby us.
We did eventually track the children down at a church downtown but man, I have to admit it was very scary not knowing where all my boys were and the feeling of panic of not caring about anything else except finding them.
I am so thankful that while we are bombarded in the news everyday by tragedy, we live in a country free from war.  In a time when our community has suffered loss, I will choose to focus on how blessed we are and how grateful we should be to the men and women who sacrifice their lives everyday so that we can live in safety and freedom. 

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

PWC 87

Welcome to Prettie Wednesday Challenge!  This week our challenge was hosted by Kristy!  Here is the challenge:
"Since my favorite color is PINK, I think we should do a card using Pink, White and one of your favorite colors. The card also must have ribbon and some sort of technique you have never tried before. Have fun!"
Here is my card:
I've never tried this quilting technique before but I love how it turned out on this cute little card!  I also love our Simply Special stamp set!  You can purchase Simply Special and Unknown Blessings for 20% off this week only! 
Now its your turn!  Join us in the challenge and upload your card to the Paper Pretties Wednesday challenge gallery for your chance to win a $15.00 gift certificate to our boutique.  Be sure to enter PWC87 in the keyword! 
You're next stop on our hop is Julie!
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Trying My Hand at Some Photography

Some friends of ours from Rosetown have a daughter who is married to an American marine.  She is expecting their first baby and he has been overseas.  He just returned in time for the baby's birth and while they were here in town I offered to take some pics for them since they likely hadn't had a chance to have any pregnancy pictures taken as Dad had been away.
Here are some of my favs:



 
 
 
And my very favoritist!!!
 

Look at his tatoo - it is so poignant since he is a marine - in case you can't see it is a very elaborate cross with the words protect us above it.
This was so much fun, I've been wanting to try my hand at some portraits so I hope they enjoy the pics! Pin It

Monday, January 18, 2010

Merry Late Christmas

Wow, nothing like posting Christmas pics a month late but I wanted to share them nevertheless :0).
We had a really nice Christmas this year.  It was late - we had ours on the 27th since Andy had to work the 25th and 26th.  The boys opened their stockings on Christmas Eve:

 
 
Then on Christmas morning we all opened gifts together and Elizabeth - Isaiah's girlfriend was able to join us for Christmas as well which was a nice treat!


The little boys got new transformers from Isaiah.


 
Isaiah and Elizabeth enjoyed more grown up gifts like t-shirts.


We got all 3 of the little boys a Nintendo DS to share as well as Disney Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii:


 
 
How intense do they look?  They were so into it.  FYI the second time they played the dance mats didn't work and I would not recommend this game to anyone.  We were very disappointed in the interface and how user unfriendly it was.  On the bright side, we ended up taking it back and exchanging it for Wii Resort Sports and we all love that game!
The boys all got new clothes:


 
 
 

Look at the little cherubs - how cute are they!
After dinner we all played a fun game of headbandz:


 
And the next day we decorated our gingerbread house!


Hope you all had a great Christmas too!

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Show & Tell

Just before Christmas, Jacob was very excited to take Andy to school for show and tell!  I went along and helped out and it was so much fun. Andy took the ambulance to show the kids as well as some other medical supplies and they were so excited!




Here is Jacob introducing Daddy and telling his class what Daddy does for a job.

1st up for display is the sp02 monitor.  Jacob gets to put it on his finger and Daddy shows the children how it measures the oxygen in your blood.


Next is the oxygen mask and tank.  Jacob shows the class how the mask fits over your face and you breathe in oxygen.  "It doesn't hurt and if someone in your family needs the ambulance, you might see them wearing one of these".  Each of the children got a chance to try on the mask.


Here is Eli hooked up to the heart monitor.  Daddy shows the class how the machine records your heart beat and how the Dr.s, nurses, and EMS staff can tell how well your heart is working from all the zig zags that show on the screen.  Each of the children got a piece of the rythym strip to take home.
Next it was out to the ambulance for the really exciting part:


It was so much fun to be able to share this with the grade 1 class and take some of the mystery and fear out of what happens if the ambulance comes to your house!
Thanks sweetheart for taking time to share your day with the children!
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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Bundle Up Cooper

We had so much fun at our party last night!  We gave away prizes, showed off some new cards, and giggled together as per usual!
Here is the card I revealed last night.  I used this card for my clue card on Wednesday and it is also my challenge card - which was to use stitching on a card.

I just love this new little guy!
You can hardly see the stitching - it is faux and is all the way around the perimeter on the dp!
Upload your card with stitching into the Prettie Wednesday challenge album for your chance to win a $15.00 gift certificate to our store!
If you weren't able to join us last night be sure to go and check out our release HERE.
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Friday, January 15, 2010

Tonight's the Night

Join us tonight in the Paper Pretties forum to celebrate our 3rd anniversary!  Wowsa, time has flown by and we are celebrating in true Prettie Style. Here are just a few of the promotions we have in store for you:

Purchase the entire release and recieve 15% off TONIGHT ONLY.
First customer to make a purchase will win the stamp set of their choice from the release!
First visitor to log in to the party tonight wins their choice of 1 jar of shimmerz or blingz from our store with their purchase.
Anyone who uploads a prettie card into our gallery will win a roll of american craft ribbon with their purchase.

All of that in addition to the usual laughter, chatting and fun we have every party!
We'll see ya tonight in the forum at 7pm cst!  All of the Prettie Girls will be posting the full cards of their PWC cards that we used for our clues! Pin It

Thursday, January 14, 2010

A Fan-tastic Peak

Hi Everyone, I'm back today with another Prettie Peak for you!  We're so excited to preview our Fan-tastic Sophia for you. She will be our February stamp of the month!


Be sure to stop in and see what Jennifer & Heather have whipped up for you today and don't forget to join us in the Paper Pretties party forum for our release party on Jan 15th at 7pm cst.  Did you follow through the blog hop yesterday to collect your clues and enter to win our entire release.  All the details for that are in yesterday's post! Pin It

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Anniversary Blog Hop & Prettie Wednesday Challenge

Welcome to Paper Pretties 3nd Anniversary Blog Hop! We're celebrating in true Prettie style and you won't want to miss out! Remember that on the 15th at 8 pm EST we'll all meet in Forum at Paper Pretties to celebrate and find out who the grand prize winner of our Blog Hop contest is!

This hop is not like our typical release hops, instead the Design Team will not only be showing you previews of all the wonderful stamps we will be releasing this month, but we will also be show casing one super cute stamp that you get to try and guess what our adorable Cooper is doing! In order to win our super cute Cooper from this hop, you'll need to collect all of the clues from the blog hop - 10 in all and submit your answer to Jackie babitoons@gmail.com. Answers must be in by 8am on the 15th to qualify.

My clue is BUNDLE and here is a sneak peak of my card:

Your next stop on the hop is Julie!
Our challenge for you this week is to stitch on your card.  You can't see my stitching in the pic above but come on by to our party on the 15th to see my whole card!
If you'd like to play along with us you can upload your card to the Pretties' weekly challenge gallery for your chance to win a $15.00 gift certificate to our store!
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