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This past weekend I visited my hometown for Thanksgiving (Canada).  While there I went to visit one of my favorite spots – the border crossing between Canada and the USA.  Even as a kid it fascinated me that  all that separated the countries was a river (and in some areas nothing more than an imaginary line).

Today I thought I would share some photos for those who have never been to this area (Sarnia, ON Canada / Port Huron, MI, USA)

The above photo was taken from the Canadian side and shows the two Bluewater Bridges.  When I was a kid there was only one bridge but there were always huge line-ups so a second bridge was built in the late 90’s.

I am standing in Sarnia, ON and looking across the St. Clair river to Port Huron, MI. This river is very deep and allows tons off shipping to come through (Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes, is just to the right of where I am standing).

The river is pretty swift and it is crazy when I think about how I used to swim here as a teenager (teenagers are not always very bright!).  We used to jump in further upstream and float down to this point under the bridge and get out.  The whole time you kind of had to keep swimming to stay close to the shore as the currents are wicked (our parents used to scare us a kids about the dangerous currents but as teenagers we promptly forgot!)

I spent a lot of time as a child crossing between Canada and the US.  Both countries felt like home to me – just different colored money!  LOL  Funny to think I only needed 50¢ and a birth certificate back then to cross! 

Above is a view from under the bridge looking up-river to Lake Huron (Lake Huron flows into the St.Clair River).  The USA is on the left and Canada is on the right.

One of the best things about Sarnia, On is the beaches. This photo was take not too far from the last photo (bridges are off-frame, to the left). Port Huron is across the water and to the right, Lake Huron opens up.

The above photos is just a slightly different angle from the previous photo. It was a cold and blustery day but was it ever nice to see all that water again!

This photo was taken from the same spot – just looking to my right.  Gorgeous, gorgeous lake!  Lake Huron is my fave of all the Great Lakes and I spent MANY hours in this lake as a child.  Great temp, sandy beaches (looks yucky now but that is just ’cause it is Fall)  and stretches as far as the eye can see.

Thanks for coming down memory lane with me!

I {heart} my Sizzix Big Shot for many reasons – it cuts through just about everything, including chipboard, I can emboss with it, it takes every die out there…  But there is another reason I {heart} it.

It is as easy 1,2, 3.  Let me show you.

One.

Two.

Three.

It is so easy that my five-year-old has got the system down!  No excuses that it is too hard to figure out the adapter!

His favorite die?  The monkey of course.  He can cut monkeys for forever and a day.  Just give him a pile of scrap papers and he is happy, happy, happy. 

We currently have about 632 monkeys loose in the house…

Hope everyone out there had a great weekend.   I spent the weekend with my nose in a book (loved, loved this book), lounging by the “pool”.  LOL

I have another page to share today. I dug into my stash for this one – some paper from Prima from 2006 or 2007(?) and the last labels from a package of Martha Stewart labels.  (Don’t you just love finishing a package of embellishements off?)

To enhance the background I stamped this stamp randomly over the paper with some of this yellow paint.

(Foam letters are by American Crafts.   Ribbon by Basic Grey.)

Pretty quick to put together – I like to keep things pretty simple for a quick moment in time like this.

Today we are having a fun day just hanging out. Later we will be having a 4th of July BBQ to celebrate with our American guests.  This is a first for me.

Been taking pictures of the kidlets which I haven’t been doing as much of lately.  Loving some of the new pics.  This one makes me giggle…

Austin pretending to be a blood sucking vampire.   Magnus looks very afraid doesn’t he?

I love that I captured this photo of Harper.  It seems every time I turn around she is reading.  So happy she has picked up this habit.  This photo will definitely be added to her summer scrapbook album.

And then every once in awhile you get a priceless photo.  One single second captured that just sums up your child so perfectly. 

This photo captures Magnus so perfectly – as he is right now – looking a bit more grown up, a happy, carefree smile and a twinkle in his eye.  Priceless to me.

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends out there.  Have a safe one!

Did you have a kid table for big family dinners? We did.  When I was little I loved it.  When I was thinking I was big enough to be at the  adult table I hated it!

Today I added a new kind of KID TABLE to our home. A permanent one. Not something that is pull out to hold the overflow at family dinners. A different kind.
A crafting kid table.

It is actually something that I have wanted for a very long time but space has never allowed for it.  Now I have the space.  (You can see my table directly behind Magnus.)  This means I can leave my stuff where it is (Harper had a permanent spot directly across from me but it doesn’t work with my new table shape) and not have to shuffle things when they wander in and want to be near me – crafting or reading or having large Star Wars battles with my buttons….

A few weeks ago my hubby switched out my crafting table for a new (to me) glass dining room table.  I have loved this change.  The table has little visual weight because it is clear and it leaves my crafting room feeling very open.  Then there the dilemma of what to do with my old table (a dining room table also).  It was decided it would go into storage in the basement until a need arose.  It never made it ’cause I suddenly realized that if I took out the center piece I could make it into a small table – perfect for the kids. 

Today I cleared some of the mess in my scrap space (hey I’m human!) and set up the table.  It took Magnus about 1/2 a second to realize this meant he could come and craft when I was working.  Out came the stamps, some printer paper and some ink and he was a happy little dude!

I have to admit it was tiny bit distracting but in the best possible way!  I cannot resist watching him play and make noises and craft-  all at at the same time.  He totally knows how to do it all – how to ink his stamps, how to clean them with a scrubbing pad and how to get darker and lighter images.  

And since he knows I go away to teach he then explained his techniques to me so then I could share this with my classes (his words!).  He was very serious about the whole thing.  He even volunteered his samples so I could show my classes.

According to Magnus – sometimes when you want a really, really good stamped image it is best to stand so you can really “push off” all the ink.  LOL

Seriously.  Could he be any cuter? 

THIS is the reason I wanted a kid table in my crafting space.  I am sure Harper will have some gems like these for me to love.

(I am now on the look out for fun containers and baskets to hold some of their supplies so they can really feel like it is their space.)

Today is Magnus’ last day of school (Harper’s is tomorrow.)  I almost forgot to take a picture of him this morning but at the last minute I did. (He was actually being driven there today because he had to bring a plate of snacks for the party – I had to get him back out of the truck to snap some photos.)

Junior Kindergarten done.  WOW!  It has gone by so fast.  

Seeing these two photos together has made me decide to make a “before and after” scrapbook page.  I have never really done this type of scrapbook page before as my pages usually centered around one particular event but I think it will be kinda nice to show how he looked on both his first and last day (basically the same – just a taller and a little leaner but his body language is so much older now).  Will you be doing something similar if you have kidlets?

Now I am off to get ready to leave for the Great American Scrapbook Convention - I leave tomorrow.  I have received lots of emails from excited people attending – can’t wait to see  you all!  Two more sleeps…

I now share my wedding anniversary with my new nephew.  Yesterday, on Father’s Day/my anniversary, my  nephew, Ayden James, was born.

We had a long day at the hospital but we are super happy he is here and everyone is healthy.  No pictures yet but I am sure you will be seeing him on scrapbook pages soon!

Off to take a morning nap (yup it is only 10am here!) but I need to catch up on some sleep before the kidlets return home (almost the last day of school for them).  Be back soon.