The long way around!

We are moving back to Alberta via Ottawa, Quebec City, and the Maritime Provinces! We will be on the road for three weeks as we take a family vacation (truly a family vacation as my Mom was able to fly into Ottawa and join us!). God has faithfully seen us through three years in Toronto and Daniel has finished his Master of Divinity degree so our time in Ontario is over and we will be moving in with Daniel’s parents while he applies for a church to pastor.

Ottawa - We just finished three days in Ottawa and enjoyed seeing our capital city! We were blessed to stay with two different families and share a meal with a third family (thank you to the Duckering and Constant families!)

Here are some highlights of our time there:
Day 1: The Canadian Tulip Festival - the world's largest tulip festival commemorates Canada's role in liberating the Dutch during WWII. The tulips were beautiful and the sun was shining as we strolled through the park at Dow's Lake.

 

The Canadian Museum of Civilization: We were really impressed by this museum! We enjoyed the First Peoples displays (including the special touches like the ceiling being in the shape of a canoe). The Canada   Hall with its realistic buildings covering the history of Canada from the Vikings to today was amazing! We could have spent more than an afternoon there.

In the Museum of Civilization there is a Children's Museum that the kids loved! We sped around the world in an hour but barely scratched the surface of the activities. The kids loved dressing up as they stamped their "passports" at each "country".

Nathan in Nigeria

Noelle in Japan

Noelle in India

Jeremy in Egypt

Day 2: Parliament Buildings - We thoroughly enjoyed our free tour through Parliament - even though there was so much to take in that we feel like we could go again right away. The detail in each room is amazing and the history so rich that we would have enjoyed spending more time there. 

Our Canadian kids up in the Peace Tower

We were disappointed that it rained most of the afternoon so we couldn't walk around Parliament and along Rideau Canal but we did enjoy our time in The Currency Museum - something we wouldn't have done otherwise! The kids enjoyed the hands-on activities and seeing all the different types of money used over a few thousand years. Nathan has a coin collection so he was particularly interested.

Building a loonie puzzle

A mosaic made of shiny and dull pennies!

Our next stop is Quebec City!

Three New Tools!

Close To My Heart introduced three new tools this fall that I am excited about! I don't have them yet but they are now on my wishlist. Check out this short video to learn how to use the quilling tool, rub-on tool and chalk marker! If you have a Cricut and want a super easy way to make the rolled 3-D flowers then you need to watch this video!

Zoo Trip!

We went to the Zoo way back at the beginning of October and I've been meaning to share pictures of our great day with you ever since! I am actually already working on a scrapbook layout of our day on Studio J (thanks to the inspiration from my sister Janine who said I should work from most current backwards! It is rewarding to see pictures I just took scrapbook and journaled!)

We were able to participate in a Keeper talk at the Elephant enclosure and it was really exciting for me to watch all three of my kids ask great questions of the Keeper!

White lionness

 We were really this close to the Polar Bear - I did not zoom in on my camera - but there was a plexiglass in between us!

I find jellyfish one of God's more fascinating creatures!

Digging for dinosaur bones!

Ending the trip right - with Elephant Ears - one caramel banana and one Nutella! Yum Yum!

Christmas cards

Same layout - two different looks! I chose a layout from "Make It From Your Heart Vol. 1" and used CTMH's new Pear and Partridge paper. I love the sparkle from the self-adhesive Silver Shimmer Trim! The stamp set on the top card is C1510 Merry and Bright  - I stamped it in Olive and then a second time in Cranberry. I cut out the flowers and ribbon and adhered to the Olive wreath. I added a pearl to the ribbon. To make the bird I inked my stamp with sponge daubers using Cranberry pigment ink and in Cashmere pigment ink and then stamped. I added cocoa marker for the eye, beak and legs and cut it out.

For the second card I used D1483 Glory to God - my favourite Christmas stamp! I simply stamped the manager scene in black, the star image in yellow and added sparkles.

Let me know what you think!

New Organizing Tools

If you are like me and have wondered about CTMH's new organizing tools - what size they were, how much they would hold and so on, or if you need to organize your crafting supplies, then check out this short 1:49 video!


I love that the new craft boxes are larger so I can organize more than just brads or eyelets! When my supplies are organized scrapbooking and crafting are even more enjoyable.

Digital scrapbooking even faster!

Close To My Heart has introduced Express Collections that make digital scrapbooking with Studio J even faster! Express Collections are groups of layouts that are designed for you. Examples include "A Year in Review", "Travel", "School Days," Little Miss", "Little Man" and more.

I have been loving these new layouts - I used the Travel collection and within a couple of hours scrapbooked 8 layouts from two of our cross-country trips! I can't do that with classic scrapbooking. Drop in the pictures, edit the titles, add journaling and I was done.

Check out this video to see how Express Collections work:

A Week at One-Room School House

We had a chance to experience 1860 pioneer life at Black Creek Pioneer Village at the beginning of September. The kids and I spent four days in school with seven other homeschool families participating in a one-room school house. There were 35 children altogether, ranging in age from 4 to 17  - a true one-room experience!

Jeremy learning how to spin wool

 

Highlights of the week included a visiting the blacksmith, flour mill, a spelling bee, learning a dance (the girls enjoyed this anyways), and bread, butter and jam sandwiches for our pioneer lunches.

Jeremy during his math lesson

Our group

Dancing