Many things happened to me and my family during 2008. As we enter the new year I thought I'd take a moment and reflect on a few of the things that the previous year has meant to us in a little (actually more like huge) photo montage...

My baby turned 4...


Sami started to really enjoy helping with baking...


Happy Easter...


Sami started soccer...


Our first trip to Woodstock...


Sami found a passion for gardening, like her Mom...




Happy Canada Day...


Trip to PEI...



Trips to the park...



My niece was born...





I went back to school to obtain my BEd...


Fall...




Christmas 2008...





If you have managed to stick through all the pictures, thank you! =) It has been a pretty good year. There have been many ups and downs, but I honestly cannot complain! =)

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful evening and a fantastic Christmas day!

I brought in the "Family Portraits" that I made and some of the teachers I work with really loved them and have asked me to make some for them. As a going away gift to the teacher I was working with, I made her one! She loved it. She loved that both her boys were holding footballs b/c they played high school football and that the dog is beside her daughter b/c their dog is always by her daughter's side. I am so happy that she liked it!

Yesterday was my last day in the classroom until April. Boo! I am not looking forward to going back to university next month at all. I honestly did not realize how much I missed teaching and being around the kids until I went back in the classroom. As a going away gift, I made a little something for each child in the class. I cased danadejeu's Tic Tac Holder from Splitcoaststampers. Instead of using packages of tic tacs, I bought some cello bags and Scotch mints from the Dollarama and used them. The children absolutely loved them! They especially liked that they were personalized.

Chelle is celebrating over 1500 hits on her blog with some blog candy! Check it out and enter for a chance to win!

I fell in love with the Mr. Twigster set when I first saw it and had to have it. The crazy thing is that until today, I haven't used it. This is what I came up with today:

I have been having a really hard time finding things for my brother this year for Christmas. I typically have no problem, but I'm sick of buying him really nice things, only to have them sit in his closet, still in the boxes, never used. This year, I have a few gift certicifates for him to various places (Home Hardware, C'dn Tire, Princess Auto) that I know he will love and I have a golf game.

Today, I was playing around with my stamps and came across my All in the Family set, which I haven't used in ages. I think I came up with the perfect gift. I am going to buy a frame for it tomorrow. What do you think??

Sami saw this and absolutely loved it, so she wanted me to make one for her of our family. Of course, Nan and Grampy are there too! =) Here it is:

I wish that I would have thought of this set sooner. I think I would have made a few more of these and mailed out with the packages that have already been shippped.

Today was my last day of classes! Yahoo!! Tomorrow, I will be back in the classroom. I honestly did not realize how much I have missed the children. It will be so nice to see them again. I spent a little time getting cards ready to mail out when I realized that I was short. I did up some very simple cards tonight. They are very basic, but I still think they are cute! Now that I will not be busy with schoolwork, I am hoping that I will be able to get more crafty over the next couple of weeks.

I absolutely love snowmen! The first Christmas Roger and I spent together, he brought me a huge stuffed snowman. Every Christmas since Sami has been born, I have taken a picture of her with that snowman. Here they are:

We had out annual Christmas photo shoot. Rather then going out and getting them taken professionally, I decided to take them this year, which I have done in the past. I think that they turned out great. There were three great shots of Sami this year. I had a hard time picking just one so relatives will get a mix of the three.

I finally had a chance to play with my Pink Cat Studio stamp sets that arrived. I came up with three different cards and added Stickles to them all somewhere. I really love this stamp sets and can see myself becoming a repeat customer. =)

Today is my last presentation of the semester! Yay! One semester down, one more left. My last official day of classes is Monday. I am then in the classroom starting on the 9th until the 18th, then have 2 weeks off for Christmas Break before it starts all over again.