New Year's Eve online crop at Scrapbookstar.ca

I started with Challenge # 21 - Non-traditional holiday colours. This picture is from Christmas 2002.

Time to start thinking about Christmas gifts...

The reason I don't like the Christmas holidays is the pressure I feel in pleasing the ones around me. With the boy's bday just before Christmas, it puts added stress on me financially. I did warn him that a party is out of the question this year. Sigh.

Now I just need to find some gift ideas for the teachers...

Reminding myself of the pics I hadn't unloaded...

So on my camera SD card the finder would find almost daily pics of my kids in front of their school, a picture of Miss C with the skeleton makeup, fall raspberries, and plenty of spider pictures.

A scrapbooker without a camera is much at a loss...

I'm struggling to accept that I could have been so stupid as to lose my camera. I am very upset with myself for not unloading the camera card. I had set the camera on the pc desk to empty the card, but never got around to it as I don't like the desktop.

ARGH!!! Anyone who can help me retrieve the small camera I dropped in Orleans I would be ever so greatful. I need to be able to rest my head. I can't stand living with myself. ARGH!!!

Lost digital camera / Caméra digitale perdue (Orleans)

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I lost my camera in Orleans, Ontario on Halloween night. If you found a small Minolta (or is it Konika?) camera on your walk on Saturday oct. 31 or Sunday Nov. 1 on Prestone Rd or Deawy Way, would you be so kind as to email me. I am offering a reward. This camera has no monetary value anymore, it is 3 years old. I just want the pictures back and since it's a special battery the finder needs the charger to use it. If you know who found it. Please have them contact me!!!

Thank you!!!

****

J'ai perdu ma caméra digitale le soir de l'Halloween. Si vous avez trouvé une petite caméra argent (Minolta ou Konika, pas certaine) dans un étui noir soit sur la rue Prestone ou Deawy à Orléans en banlieu d'Ottawa, j'offre une récompense pour la récupéré. C'est une "vieille" caméra donc peu de valeur, il faut un chargeur pour la batterie spéciale. Si vous connaissez la personne qui l'aurait trouvé, s'il-vous-plait contactez-moi!!! MERCI!!!

Halloween films... Cirque du Freak

I can't wait for this film to come out! The books are pretty good, but I'm not done reading them. For once, it's not a romantic vampire story since the main character, the human, is a young boy. Here's the link for Cirque du Freak font.

Go see the preview.

Halloween website links

Haunt World: Find haunted houses in your area and much more! A must visit site before Halloween.

Haunted Houses is another huge Halloween site which includes, what else, haunted house information. Lots of links. Another awesome site.

Let's not forget about pumpkin carving! This site is full of basic information from choosing your pumpkin to photographing it.

I like to carve my pumpkins using a stencil, my favorite is Zombie Pumpkins. It is not a free stencil site, but for $5 you can choose 25 stencils. For $2 you get 2 stencils. After doing 2 or 3 pumpkins, I've usually had enough because it takes me a whole evening.

Here's a picture from a few years back of 3 pumpkins I did. A scary clown for Mr. Clown Man, Snow White and Malificient for the kiddies.

Homemade Candy Corn

I don't like candy, but nowaday you can find all kinds of candy flavor. Last week-end I bought creme-brulée candy-corn, Smores candy corn and another kind I can't recall. Well, I love Serious Eats and they currently have a homemade candy corn recipe. I could try it with bubble gum or candy floss (cotton candy) flavoring

Cool skeleton makeup video

Cool Halloween drink...

Parents magazine, just like Family Fun magazine, has some fun homemade treat ideas. This Slime punch makes a cool drink. But, in all honesty, I think the coolest thing is the drip of blood, the drink can honestly very much vary.

Cute Halloween craft idea of the day!

For instructions : http://www.pennyblackinc.com/display_card.php?PID=5046&CAT=Challoween

Don't like coffee, but love pumpkin pie flavor?

Well, Starbucks currently offers the pumpkin pie series of drinks. I don't like coffee, but I love pumpkin pie flavoring. Well, how about asking for a white hot chocolate with pumpkin flavoring? Even better, the cream based frappucino, yum!

Kool kit... to make with kids!

Fun pretzels decorating kit to make with kids for their friends or teachers.

Easy kool Halloween drinks

Want black Kool-Aid? Just use a pouch of orange and a pouch of grape Kool-Aid drink mix. Make according to instructions.

Want to have glow-in-the-dark ice cubes? Just freeze some tonic water! (don't forget the black light!)

Don't forget the hand in the punch bowl! Clean a surgical glove, yes, clean it first! Fill it with water (or tonic water to make it glow, under a black light)

Want to make (perfectly edible) glow-in-the-dark jello-o? Replace the water with tonic water (boil the tonic water for hot water and use cold tonic water in place of cold water). Make the Jell-o according to the packaging instructions, you may want to add some sugar since tonic water can be bitter.

You can use your black Kool-Aid to make a black gelly, just use gelatin. Making a solid (twice the normal amount of gelatin) gelatin, you will be able to cut out scary shapes using cookie cutters.

Must see Halloween movies...

I haven't seen any of these movies yet, but I really want to.

Zombieland with Woody Harrelson, he mades a good killer, so killing zombies will be right up his alley.



Cirque du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant I really want to see, I'm currently reading the first book in the series (Vampire's Assistant is the second one). I can't imagine John C. Reilly in the role of a vampire!

Creative Halloween cupcakes

The Celebration Shoppe has some cute Halloween cupcake suggestions. Creative and easy.

Anotical chocolate hear

Yet another cool chocolate find! Bluelips has cool Halloween finds.

Planning ahead.. Disney World's Not so Scary Halloween...

2010! That's the goal. Now I need to start saving. I think it would be an awesome gift for Miss C's bday.

So the plan is to save for a trip next fall.

So you wanna build a coffin for Halloween...

Wayne of the woods has a coffin plan for you!

You can even make it into a book shelf. If you want more ideas for coffin furniture, Coffin it up has has some cool stuff. Casket Furniture is another place to find a true casket that will be used as a piece of furniture until you need to use the caket as a final resting place.

Cutest ever pumpkin pies!

I think Bakerella is the most creative baker. Last year, she had the cupcake bites, this year it's tiny pumpkin pies!

What about this Etsy piece?

This dress is awesome! I wish I was a better seamstress.

This one is for Mr. Clown Man

You find all kinds of cool stuff on Etsy. This
scary clown painting is just the kind of thing Mr. Clown Man loves.

Check out the seller's gallery, awesome stuff.

Must have camera!!!

Why oh why do camera companies do this to me!!! Here's the new Samsung camera with a screen in the front and the back. I want it!!! (Santa, can you hear me beg?)

Another chocolate skull

This one is from Dylan's Candy Bar. That store was on my must visit list when we went to New York, but we didn't get to go. Next time, no excuse!

If I still had a figure...

That is the costume I would like to wear.

Cool kid witch shoes!

I really like these witchy shoes. I wonder if they are comfortable. $29 is pretty cheap, obviously, they are not leather, but still. I wish my feet were one size smaller.

Kiss concert - Montreal Oct. 1, 09 - Part 2

Mr. Clown Man and Mr. F went to see Kiss. They were in the first row!!!

Kiss concert - Montreal, Oct. 1, 09

Chocolate skull! Oh my!

Wow! At $120 this skull is amazing! From Chocolate Skulls, it's sure to be the it of any party!

... " Doesn't this skull made from a blend of Cuban and Mexican Dark Chocolate look delicious? Oh it is, but trust us, you'll probably want to share it with some friends; This is a 2.5 kilo, life sized, solid cast of an ACTUAL HUMAN SKULL!..."

Baby cousin

Trapeze girl

I have yet to get good pictures at circus school...

Halloween countdown.. more chocolate!

From the Royal Sarcophagus Society, it's made by Creepy Christine. I love the coffin shaped boxes they sell, reminds me of the many hour I spent making coffin boxes for candy for the skool kids a few years back. Had embossed each coffin and never even took a picture of my handy work!

The coolest Halloween Cookies I've ever seen!

From the Rolling Pin Productions, they are $10 each.

Awesome digital stamps!

I really like Dusting Pikes digital stamps. This set is $5 and you get 8 images. Can't beat that! And if you have a laser printer or a photocopy machine, you can use your Copics to color in the images.

Oh my, what a wonderful way to decorate cupcakes!

Using Dustin Pikes digital stamps.

Must try Halloween treat...

Found on Foodzie. Yummy! Pumpkin marshmallow.

You know you don't care for your class...

when one doesn't care to get their homework done. ARgh. I have to finish my homework for tomorrow's class, but I'm soooo unmotivated. My Friday night class is very motivating, thus my homework was done last week-end. sigh

Currently reading...

A book I bought for my 10 year-old. It's really cute. A different twist on the vampire life. I noticed their are fallow-up stories, so I'm sure I'll get more. That book is great for 10 year olds. The kids in the story are 7, 11 and 13 or something like that. Highly recommend for pre-teens.

Can't post pics with no camera :(

Mr Clown Man has been the holder of the small camera since Saturday. That explains why I haven't posted any pictures.

Sewing...

Miss C's wasn't happy when I bought this pattern for $3.49 Instead of the Simplicity one which cost $15.50. I personally think they are pretty darn close. I should be done tomorrow since my model is sleeping.

When did taking a day off from sports become punishment?

My overachieving daughter has a lot on her plate. For an 8-year old, she is very, very active. I wanted her to take a day off. It would have allowed us to relax and do some house cleaning. Well, when I told her she couldn't go to water polo, she pulled on the tears. Well, almost. She hadn't had a snack since school ended, so I offered her some pieces of pear and apple and we took her to the pool. The one condition was that she only stay for one hour. Well, they were the only kids in their group, the other 3 kids were from the experienced group. That's not what one calls a full house!

Can't wait for her dr's visit next week to find out if we are doing right by her.

Week-end posts are a hard thing to do...

Week-ends seem to be going from crazy to crazier. From Friday night class to Saturday activities. Sunday's starts to quiet down, but starting the day at 9am sure is crazy!

Day 25é365 - Bento Lunch

I've been using cookie cutters for sandwiches way before Bento became a trend. Mr. F. used to get his sandwiches cut when he was in daycare, that was 8 years ago! Anyways, this is Miss C's lunch. She got cream cheese and jam, with strawberry slices. It only took me an extra 2 minutes to make a cute lunch. I forgot to ask her what her table mates thought of her lunch.

day 24 - Our squatter

This white and orange cat has been coming over for over a week. At first he was hard to approach and looked like a normal domestic cat with a collar. Now he's very cuddly, no collar and pretty dirty. He sleeps in a box we left on our balcony. He's always there when we come and leave. He's supper sweet, but can't come into our house.

I love digital stamps!!!

And Pink Cat Studio stamps are really cute. I'm so happy they released their new collection in digital stamps.

First off, digital stamps are so much more ecological: no rubber, no foam, no packaging, no mailing, no paper, no baggie... no ink! Second, they take a lot less space.

I can use my Copics when I've printed on a laser printer. I love digital stamps!

Just go take a look : Pink Cat Studio Digital stamp store

Walking part II

Despite the grey sky and the wet pavement, I decided that I would walk today. But the puddles reminded me that my summer Malindi Crocs weren’t very appropriate. So instead, I went with the Alice Crocs. Without shoes. I walk 3k to get to work. So shoes that haven’t been worn in a while, with no socks to top it off, not a good idea. My feet are killing me. I’ve got blisters galore.

And my daughter was complaining because I gave her socks to wear in her rain boots. I envy her for having socks.

Today's whine is brought to you by the Letter W

W, as in why in the world is that wacked up woman walking to work.

Well, this vent doesn't include today. 'Cause today, the weather people called for rain all day. But no, it didn't rain when I was supposed to be walking. No, it rained before I got to the kids's school and it rained after I got to work. It didn't rain while I rode the subway with other sweaty people heading to work.

NO, this vent is about all the other days. The mornings when I have to watch my step for fear of tripping over the cracks in the sidewalk. Oh wait, it did happen. I fell flat on my face like an idiot. I'm talking about the mornings when you need to cross the street while no cars are coming, but wait, as you set foot on the asphalt a bike cuts you off going the wrong way on a red light. I'm talking about the construction crews wrecking the streets only to fix them and tear them back down again only six weeks later. That means you have to dodge, run and jump to avoid the truck that's going to hit you because the driver is busy talking on the phone. What about the crew lifting a staircase through a window. They haven't blocked off the sidewalk and this thing might fall just as you walk under. Oh, don't forget the window guys who changed the broken window in our office. They were breaking glass with not a care in the world as to who might be walking past on the sidewalk below. No, again, talking on the phone is more important then the safety of the innocent.

So again, I ask myself why I walk to work every morning?

Well, because walking at night by the canal is not much better. You got the scary teens walking in groups with their spray cans. Yes, I'm a chicken shit. You got the bladers, the bikers, they don't care about a poor person walking or running, they'll just run you over. What about the dog owner letting his dog loose? Will that dog be the one to bite your ass? or will you be the one walking in its crap 'cause its owner was too lazy to pick up the shit. Oh wait, at least he's not lazy enough to stay home with his dog.

I don't know why the heck I walk, maybe it's just to be able to plug in my iPod and get away from the crazyness of everyday life. I walk because even though I'm inhaling more pollution in that half hour then I would in a week on the subway, I get to see things I wouldn't otherwise see. I get to have some kind of exercise, not worth much, but it's better then nothing.

Today's daily picture is brought to you by the colour pink

The shoe on the right was washed with a brush for a good 30 minutes. The one on the left wasn't yet washed. Why i feel like a dumbass for buying pink velvety Croc shoes!

Catching up... I think I need to give up on week-end posts...

Monday Sept. 21, 2009
Are we the worst parents or what? A birthday cake 4 days late. Plus, she's the only one who didn't like the cake!!!


Saturday sept. 20, 2009
Miss C wanted to wear her princess dress so it was out of her closet. But Mr Cat thought he would look cute in it. I was the only one up to see him, so had to catch a picture.


double Friday...
We got these 2 giant pumpkins for $5/each. They are huge and I can't wait to cut into them!


Day 19, Sept 18 2009. This is the La Presse clock. I pass by every time I take the subway. It is where my father worked until he retired in June.

Food allergies and accomodation...

Reading on someone else's blog about food allergies and lunches made me wanna post about us parents of kids who are lucky enough to not suffer from any known allergies. I say 'no known allergies' because allergies can spring up anytime.

Anyways. Today was my daughter's birthday. I love to bake cupcakes, can't really tell from my blog 'cause I just forget to take pictures of my cupcakes. So a birthday in my mind = cupcakes.

The little girl in my daughter's class always attends any party she is invited. That way, she is never excluded. I have known her since K, the girls are now in the 3rd grade.

Well, I am an accommodating and very understanding mom. I bought a vegan cupcake book recipe a few years back just because she was coming to Miss C's bday party that year.

Well, that first time, I realized that the challenge was bigger then I expected. I had used margarine... it had lactoserum... not good. This time, I called the mom to make sure all my ingredients were safe.

You know what, my kids seemed to like the vegan cupcakes better then the original, butter laced, full of eggs ones.

The vegan cupcakes were prettier to look at, all round at the top and the strawberry soy and strawberries made them extra yummy.

So you see, even a milk and egg-less cupcake can make someone's day!

Daily photo - 18/365

Here's our sushi platter for a late supper. we bought enough that the kids will be able to have sushi for their lunch. It was their second supper after all...

Happy birthday to my lovely daughter!!!

Here she is before going to school.


On the subway platform, with her Beding-Bedang bag which is filled with cupcakes.



Our daily picture on the school steps.


She is soooo happy to be having sushi for her bday!!!

Sept. 16 - 17/365

We went apple picking today. We went to Jude Pomme. It was our second visit this season. This time, we picked Judeoka yellow apples.