River Run...

Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, we went to the local river for a barbecue and a quad bike adventure. We came home severely sunburned, due the ridiculous heat reflecting off both the sand and water, even though we were fully protected with sunscreen and stayed under the shade (almost) the entire time... But as usual I seem to come out the worst, but then I get burnt after just being outside for five minutes...

Anyway, the kids had a ball! And I think Mark was the biggest kid of all when he got on my brother's bike.

But despite the extreme heat and the sunburn... the kids had a great time in and at the river.

Photos of today will come later!

Merry Christmas...

Just wanting to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, filled with joy and best wishes!!!

May the season bring all you the very best and then some more with Christmas wishes coming true!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Dear Santa...

Today we've been writing letters to Santa. A little late I know, but I've assured Liam that if he put the letter under his pillow on Christmas Eve, Santa will get to see it!

We've also been sweltering...and sadly missing out on any rain that has come even remotely close to us...

...Maybe Santa can help us out with that too...

17 hours...a new record...

Okay, I've been absent after promising that I'd try and keep up to date...! But we are now on holiday, travelling to North Queensland in the car...with three kids...and my mum!

I tried to get on the computer at home before we left but I was hampered by a very hectic week of school break-up parties, more sewing for ballet, a ballet recital, my MIL birthday, a birthday party (on a separate day) for said MIL, a very slow Internet connection and then followed by a rash decision to throw all our clothes for a three week break into a suitcase less than 24 hours before we travel our record breaking distance! *sigh* I got that all out in one breath! Lol!

But we are here now...Finally!

It normally takes us over 19 hours of travelling to get to my parents' house but we were fortunate enough to have very little traffic on the road ... (except for when I drove!) and the kids were exceptionally behaved in the car! Well, Ethan wanted to keep stopping to do a "wee on the grass" but he managed to hold on!! Lol!

So the kids are now emerged into the animal feeding routines of life in rural Queensland, not missing their city slicker titles at all! The menagerie up here, much to the delight of the kids, includes ducklings, chickens and pigs, to name a few.

These animals have kept them occupied for many hours so far. That and the hose. Yes, that's right...no water restrictions up here! They had just about gone through every change of hastily-thrown-in-the-bag clothes, in one day! Aaaarrrggghhh! I'm supposed to be on holidays too! Not having to do ten loads of washing a day! Lol! All this, and I didn't bring any scrapbooking supplies with me to keep me sane during the holidays!

I'll be back soon with some more photos.

An early Christmas...

Because we are going away over Christmas, our family spent yesterday celebrating an early Christmas. Much to the delight of the six grandchildren...

They decorated the tree with much enthusiasm, then quickly rushed back to whatever computer game they were currently engaged in.

We persuaded them to take time out from Granddad's gadget corner and go for a swim before the fun stuff started and presents were opened!!

The table was laid ready for a feast ...

...which led to a good time being had by all!

2 awards, a tree and some scrapping...

It's been busy here. Really busy and about to get crazy! What with Christmas parties, birthday parties, school break-up and ballet recitals, I'm not sure which way to turn. So I'll start off with 2 awards!!!

Tahlia and Liam, in consecutive weeks both received awards on parade at school! Tahlia's was for confidence and being able to speak in public...

And Liam's was for persistence and doing great work with his letters and numbers! What a great job! And he received this certificate on his last parade day for school.

I don't normally go to parade any more but they were both performing with their classes and I had the camera ready. It was a nice surprise as both of their teachers had failed to let me know this was happening! I'm just glad I was there...even with everything being so crazy and busy!!

This week we also put up the tree. This is the first time I have stopped myself from giving the Christmas tree a little tweak after the kids have finished with it. They had a blast and even Ethan joined in until his interest shifted to throwing the "round" baubles around the room instead of placing them strategically on the tree!

And finally, I have done a little bit of scrapping. Okay, one page and a simple one at that, but at least I managed...TFL.

A little bit of fun...

A friend of mine passed this along and I found it rather amusing....

Let me know what you think! Lol!!

A monster...

We took a drive down to the Gold Coast yesterday, hoping to find beautiful, sunshiny weather. But we knew a storm was forecast and still we wanted to try our luck, to surprise the kids' Uncle for his birthday.

We drove down there with little traffic on the road (yay!) and expected to be bombarded by schoolies everywhere. But it was very quiet....even on the beach....until this beauty reared its head...

That's when we saw some activity. The surf life savers moved in record time to pack up, a bride and groom about to say their vows outside, had to find another venue...fast! And those brave enough to have hit the beach earlier, were moving at pace to get their cars under cover!
This monster moved quickly but it was fascinating to watch it come across.

Blogger Award...

Lookie here!! Two lovely people have given me this award. Thank-you very much Leanne and Nic! So, here are the rules...

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees. OK here goes...........

Mandy : This lady is amazing! I love her work and she seems to produce a layout almost daily! How inspiring is that!

Lisa : A new blogger and I'm glad she is! We chat a bit at Scrapboxx and I absolutely love her style!

Sheree : This lady has a wonderful gift of just being able to produce the most wonderful pages. I love her work too!

Petrina : Check out this lady's style. She creates the most divine layouts! Plus she designs her own chippies! Sooo cute!

Tatum : This lady has so much talent...she blows me away with what she produces! Just gorgeous work!

Enjoy ladies! You all inspire me for different reasons and I love checking out your blogs! Have a great day!

Create...

Today I finished playing with this...

"Xmas" (round LO)

 

I wanted to try something different. And I came up with my first "round" layout.

Christmas themed of course!

A posh luncheon?...

I don't think so! Just our turn to play host for our quarterly get together with good friends. Remember this lot?...

Add one person, (Hi Bec!) and take away three (sorry you couldn't be there Liz, Louise and Peter) and you have a recipe for a casual lunch where talk IS NOT suppose to turn into full on work discussions!!!! Or anything stranger for that matter!

Talk does however, revolve around life in general, having a good laugh (usually at our husbands' expense!) and of course, what the kids have been up to. Oh and don't forget the constant banter about not burning the food on the barbecue! Sorry Geoff, that one is all yours! King of the BBQ and all that!!

And see Geoff, I haven't mention the glasses at all!

Throw in that competitive nature that men seem to bring with them in droves at a gathering, and it usually leads to something like this...

How many time can we keep the ball in the air, David Beckham style!!

What was the record fellas? ...Yeah right! Good luck next time!! Lol!

Create...

I seemed to have lost my mojo at the moment...But I did complete these two layouts in the last week.

Ethan loves to try anything his older sister or brother attempts. It's a clear case of "If they can do it, so can I!"... He makes a good effort at least, although, when it comes to climbing...I'd rather he wasn't so persistent! Lol!

 

"Juz skippin'"

This layout is one I wanted to do about Tahlia and her bike accident. Actually more about her getting back on the bike after having such a dramatic fall. As you can see, there is no journaling yet, but the space is there, ready for the words to be written.

"skid"

We have a busy few weeks coming up before school ends for the year, so I'll try to keep up with the blogging. I'm sure I'll have plenty to share...even on a slow news day! Lol!

And thanks to all those who expressed concern about our recent wind blown experience. We had just the rain and the strong winds, with very little damage around us. Others were not so lucky. But I thank you all the same. Take care.

I've been tagged...

Mandy has tagged me to share six random things about myself... So, here goes...

1. I have just finished writing a letter to my daughter's school to request a specific teacher for her next year...

2. I often host a Mums morning tea for a group of friends, who like me, often crave more adult conversation than the Wiggles or the Bob the Builder catch phrases we get at home!...

3. I am an iced-coffee nut. More specifically, Espresso Dare...

4. I do more clothes washing than I care for...

5. I am currently sewing several ballet costumes for the end of year recital, that my daughter volunteered me for (not even her ballet class)...

6. I have never broken a bone in my body or anybody else's for that matter...

Six random things about me. How boring are they! Lol!!

Back to other stuff now. The weather here has been wild. Really, crazy wild. Strong winds, lots of torrential rain, plenty of lightening strikes and one or two blackouts. And we are expecting more this afternoon. Some areas hit by the huge storm have been described as being like a war zone. It was pretty scary watching the storm pass over us. Especially when we saw our full garbage bins get blown down the street.

The kids were both fascinated and frightened at the same time. I think, they thought, they were in the middle of a "tornado". Lol! Trees were being blown down everywhere, so I can't really blame them for exaggerating the situation in their minds!

This tree fell at the school. Thankfully it was Sunday and not Monday.
Let's hope the rest of the week brings decent rain, but leaves the strong winds at home.

Humid weather...

It's quite hot and sticky here at the moment. The days are getting longer and the kids are enjoying their extra time outdoors. Ethan especially. He just loves to be outside...even if it is raining. The other day, in the cool of the afternoon, he was sooo excited to see the moon that every few moments, he would stop and let me know, quite emphatically, that it was still there. In the sky. I suppose he wasn't used to seeing it out while he was still playing.

He is in the habit now, of letting me know about everything he practically sees! So very cute and not annoying at all...well, yet!

As for the weather, I guess, some days I wish we were back here...

...even if the whole camping thing was a debacle, at least the water was refreshing!! Lol!

The mask...

This mask, hides the face of a boy, who is having way too much fun!!! Spiders, webs and costumes! A very popular birthday gift!!

Yesterday, the little things I was grateful for...

Yesterday, with my head just about ready to explode from the incessant runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes, it hit me full force that hay-fever season is upon us. Not that the season tends to be any more significant for me, because my hay-fever rears its ugly head every two-three weeks! Now, the only difference is, with the wattle blooming and every man and his dog needing to cut their grass every three days, my allergy has been exacerbated. AAAaaarrrgggghhhh! Just to be rid of it!!!!

So yesterday, me being able to function, was at a minimum. Liam was still jumping around excited about birthday prospects and not wanting to go to school....Tahlia was lying on the couch, moaning and groaning about her tonsillitis and didn't go to school...and Ethan was being his usual two-year-old self..."Mummy, can you read this?...Mummy, I need you!....Mummy, Tahlia won't let me...Mummy, Mummy, Mummy." Lol!

Being able to drive to and from school twice, was a miracle. Being able to put dinner on the table, was just as surprising, because there is nothing I can take to relieve the symptoms. Trust me, I've tried everything! I'm one of the lucky ones!! (Yeah sure!*grumble, grumble* add more sarcasm!).

So, getting back to the point of my title, yesterday I was grateful for shoes that were easy to find, "pollipops" for entertainment, very little traffic on the road, green traffic lights, an open chemist, and a school where the ladies in the office took one look at me and no further information was needed as to why I was taking Liam home early!

It was definitely the little things that helped and I have to remember this in the future!

Happy Birthday Liam...

This boy is SIX today!!! Six years old and I can hardly believe we have travelled this distance already. I mean where does the time go? Seriously! Happy Birthday to my big boy. Born on Remembrance Day...11th day of the 11th month, in the year 2002... and here's the kicker, at 11 minutes to 2pm! 11.11.02 at 1.49pm! And I'll throw one more coincidence into the mix as well. It was the obstetrician's birthday too! Lol!!

So today we have presents to give out, Happy Birthdays to sing, cupcakes to take to school, more singing, a play date after school AND... a special dinner of Chicken Stroganoff!! Oh, and probably another birthday cake too! This one, made on ice-cream and some add-ins like Marsbar and Malteasers!! Whatever the "Boy of the Moment" wants! Lol! Well, he's only been waiting for his birthday to come around since...ummm...July! And now it is his moment to shine!

Oh, and by the way...The subliminal message of Ag-pipe in the background of these photos, was his idea! That's my boy! Always thinking ahead for photos Mum can use on the blog!! hehehe...

Create...

Just sharing a few layouts I have completed over the last week.

A layout for a Scrap Therapy challenge.

And some layouts for the Boxx.

Two scrap lift challenges... ("Not Bad" - scraplift off of Roz and "Rainbow Skies" - scraplift off of Leeann Pearce).

The October "Book of You" challenge about friends - This lo was the monthly winner! Yay!! I won a B.O.Y kit from the Boxx (still looking through them at the moment, to choose one!)

And a weekly challenge entry about food and traditions! Thanks for looking.

Grrrr! Computers again!!!!...

Yep the computer is on the blink! AGAIN! Again I am typing from my FIL's machine. At least he is handy for something!! Lol! I'll be back soon.....I hope!

Bravery award...

Guess who went to the dentist today...and wasn't looking forward to it at all!

But when he got there, Liam was so brave that he realised there wasn't anything really scary about going to the dentist after all. Now if only the rest of us could steal some of his bravado!!! The Dentist even said that she wished some of the Year Seven boys would act like this. Not bad for a Preppie.

With such bravery, can't you tell he's almost six!!! Lol!!

Some favourite photos...

I have been playing a little bit, with my new camera. And the kids have been (somewhat) willing models!

Hmmm. I can't seem to find Liam anywhere... Okay, so he wasn't a willing subject! In the mean time, I've fired him and moved on! Lol!!

And this is Ethan's "If I squeeze my eyes really tight, she might go away and stop taking photos of me" look!! Something here tells me, I'm playing way too often with my new toy!

Christmas is coming...

Look at what I've been busily making over the last few days...

I have well and truly been inspired by Ali Edwards and I am planning to be organised this year! This talented woman knows how to take a step back and enjoy the season. I want to take a leaf out of her book and follow her example. Be organised and enjoy. I want that to be my motto. All I have to do now is take the photo and write the journaling.

I can hardly wait to begin!!

Create...

Here are a few layout from this week. The first one is an updated version and used in a challenge at The Boxx, where we had to scrap lift some one we admire. I love Helen Karanfiloski's work and used her ideas of colour, uneven hand-cut lines and big stitching. It was very hard to be able to choose only one artist to lift!

The next one is also for a challenge at The Boxx. It is for Charmaine's October Sketch. This page came together very quickly.

And lastly, a layout completed for Stuck?! Lots of fun here too.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking.