The End of A Decade

What a special decade it has been for us with the birth of our two children. We have also endured huge loss with the death of Craig's father. It's hard to believe that this time 10years ago we were wondering if our clocks would stop or our computers would crash. Looking back, what a silly concept!

I haven't achieved all of my goals for this year but I wouldn't want to make it too easy. While my scrapbooking suffered for a while during the year, I certainly have returned to cardmaking and far exceeded my projected quota. Book reading has been enjoyable and I have a couple lined up for next year. Being positive and smiling everyday has been tough at times this year but I'm hoping to improve on that goal next year too. I'll put up my new goals for next year in the coming days.

This week we have enjoyed rainy showers everyday which have been beautiful and all is lush and green again. It rained quite a bit on Tuesday so I decided to teach Nick how to play the original Monopoly board game. Well he beat me very convincingly and wants to play it all the time now. Penny was the banker off and on.

I have worked for the last couple of days. Nick has been to vacation care in which he went swimming at the beach and tried out his new Christmas scooter at the skate bowl on Wednesday and then he went to Sizzler today and indulged. I also managed slip in a little scrapping too and below is the result.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2010!

Love, Rach xx

My Buzzy Bee

Penny received this dress up outfit for Christmas from my brother and his family and she just loves it. We think she looks pretty cute in it too. She has had it on at least twice a day since she received it. Nick has even had a try!! We almost bought the same outfit from a market stall in Coffs Harbour.Here's a picture of our furry daughters having a smooch and face wash. Holly (cat) was cleaning Zoe's (dog) face for her. They are just the best of friends.

Christmas Fun

Sanat's been!!!!

It is amazing how much preparation goes into this one special day and it seems to pass by in the blink of an eye. I think I started about 6 weeks ago but I felt pleased with how much the children enjoyed their day which is probably the most important part of Christmas for me. The children were up at 5.30am but we managed to get them to wait until 6am before we went out to see if Santa had been. Present opening was fun and then Craig's mother and sister, Annette arrived for some more present opening followed by a carving of the Christmas ham for breakfast. Toy playing, a visit to the neighbours to exchange gifts and then onto lunch with Craig's extended family. We then came home for a quiet evening feeling tired but satisfied and happy.

Penny and Craig's sister, Annette.

Penny and our beautiful Lab, Zoe who we didn't think would be around for this Christmas due to her cancer.

We are having a lovely restful long weekend catching up with friends and playing with our new toys.

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

This is one of our favourite Christmas stories which we read all year round but not tonight. We read a beautifully embossed story book about Santa's toys and a little fir tree. The children enjoyed it immensely. The reindeer food and water has been put out the front and Santa has a beer and biscuits under the tree. Sleep was not hard to come by for one little boy but as usual Penny is a little slower to sleep but is flat out now. We have been busy with the lead up to Christmas with work Christmas parties on the weekend leaving us a little jaded to say the least!!! Last minute wrapping has been complete followed by a very busy morning of work for me but a quieter afternoon. Now all we have to do is wait for the good old Santa to arrive.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Love, Rach xx

Christmas Spirit

My children have plenty of it at present! They are very excited but on the down side get quite testy at times. Nick was very happy to finish school last Friday and has been quite happy to do things around home. He is very interested in Pokemon books at present and has been writing about them which is quite pleasing. Penny is unsure of having Nick home as we don't have our girl time but she is enjoying Nick's company out in the yard where they have made a cubby in the back corner garden.

We had a quiet weekend which was lovely as we all needed a recharge and catch up. We did go out to a restaurant at the beach for breakfast on Sunday which was yummy and the kids had a play in the playground.
This week I have been good and frequented the gym although my muscles are letting me know today! We went to visit a school friend of Nick's who is camping at the beach on Monday and the boys had a great time in the surf on their boogey boards and swimming. Today, Nick tried out for level 5 at swimming in which the teacher stands out of the pool and the kids swim up and down the lanes. He did struggle a bit but really enjoyed it and so he will start next year in this group. He is going so well with his swimming and has decided that eating vegetables is important after all if he wants to have the stamina to swim and play his sports. I only hope he keeps going along this track.

I have managed to complete my Christmas cards and letters and wrap and post the Christmas presents and managed to fit in a little bit of scrapping too.

Have a good week.

Our Pretty Ballerina

Penny performed in her dance concert (x3) on the weekend. She danced in 3 concerts, Saturday matinee, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. We watched her today. Penny's act was 3rd from the beginning so she was able to come in and watch the rest of the concert which was 3.5hrs long. She loved it all. Nicholas was quite interested too and didn't want to return home at interval time with Craig. Grandma (Craig's mother) also came to watch. Penny performed very well and seemed to really enjoy performing on stage. She received a certificate at the end of the concert. Her group is called Kinda dance and they all looked so cute. Dancing has now finished for the year and next year she will go up a group to the "Tinnies". I will not stay with her for her lessons which she feels most confident and excited about. We are very proud of our little ballerina.
PS - This is post number 100! When I first began this blog I really didn't think that I would keep it going. I enjoy writing it and hope that it gives our friends and family afar and near, some idea of what is going on in our busy life. I find it quite handy to refer back to previous entries when journalling in my scrapbooking.

Christmas Cheer...

entered our busy household this week as I mentioned in the previous post. Firstly, a visit to Santa in which I didn't need to be in the photo with Penny. She was quite happy to go and climb up on his lap. Santa is being much more environmentally friendly this year by giving out tomato seeding kits so that the children can grow tomato plants for the reindeer to eat. Good idea but unfortunately ours are still sitting on the table waiting to be planted. We better get organised this week otherwise the reindeer will go hungry at our house!We put the Christmas cheer into the house on Tuesday being the first day of December and put the Christmas tree up. Seeing as it has over 250 tips to separate and erect, I decided to put the tree up whilst Nick was at school and Penny was sleeping. The afternoon was then spent decorating. They did a great job this year.

Just Survivng

This week would be the craziest with a Santa visit and swimming on Monday, parent-teacher interview and Christmas tree decorating on Tuesday, dancing rehearsal on Wednesday, work today, dancing dress rehearsal and work tomorrow and 3 dance concerts on the weekend as well as a 40th birthday party to attend. I'm just taking it one day at a time and it's running pretty smoothly. I think our little girl will be pretty tired by the end of the weekend. She was quite disappointed that she wasn't on stage for long after her rehearsal yesterday and wanted to stay and go back on. The rehearsals are closed to the public so we can't see them rehearsing on stage and just wait out the back. We will go and watch her on Sunday.
I haven't loaded my Christmas/Santa photos yet so as I promised in the last post, here is a photo of Nicholas being kissed by a dolphin in Coffs Harbour in September. By the way, he had a good report from the parent-teacher interviews. Also finished my 40 Christmas cards- Yay!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

is what I have been which is very common for most at this time of year. School activities, dancing costumes, fun fair, swimming, Christmas cards, Christmas presents and silly me decided it is time for spring cleaning. Wow have I made some room in my cupboards by reorganisation and throwing out junk. I have sent piles of clothes to charity, put all of the baby toys away and reorganised the children's cupboards. The main stimulus for the clean was Penny's bedroom MESS. She is not great at cleaning up and so I have hopefully made it a bit easier by giving everything a place in a box in the cupboard. It was driving me mad. I have now moved onto my scrapbooking room which I share with the kids and we are working on making it a little more aesthetic.

We enjoyed the school fun fair last weekend. It went well despite the hot day and we raised approximately $4500 for the P&C. Penny had her face painted and looked gorgeous. She had to sleep with it on and ended up with glitter all over her pillow. I rubbed it off in the bath on Sunday night despite great resistance. Nick had a fun time going off with his friends to the rides. He even managed to climb the rock wall and ring the bell after putting some strategies in place after a couple of failed attempts.

Our friends, Marcus and Maree had a baby boy, Dylan during the week. All went well and we went to visit them today. He is just gorgeous and it is lovely to see them so happy and settled in their new home.

I made some more Christmas cards today and am up to 22 now so over half way.

More of the same this week- spring cleaning, card making, dancing bows etc, etc. I am feeling good though and on top of everything before school breaks up in a few weeks. I can't believe Nick will be finished Yr 1 so soon. He can't wait for holidays. Nick was moved up again at swimming this week to Level 5. He is just leap-frogging ahead now. I haven't included a photo of him for a while so will endeavour to do so next time. This is a very long post so shall sign off now.
Have a good week. Rach :)

Christmas Cards Started....Check!

Yes you've read correctly. I am already starting my cards for the Festive Season. My list has been whittled down over the years and I only have to make about 40. This year I have decided to use some die cuts from patterned paper that I have had for a couple of years and can't really use in a LO. The only drawback with this is that all of the cards are different. I usually mass produce the one design but am quite enjoying the challenge of different designs. I have only made 7 so the novelty may wear off halfway through. They are simple but I think effective.

Life is just speeding along as usual. Nicholas is becoming increasingly tired as the term wears on and finding homework a huge struggle. My fears were allayed the other night when I met with some other parents for our weekly fun fair meeting and found that all of their children are over it too. Speaking of which the school fun fair is on this weekend so we are hoping for a lovely day. This week will be busy with last minute organisational bits and pieces. The children are very excited and can hardly wait for the rides, lucky dip, fairy floss and much more. Penny received these gorgeous Dorothy dinosaur togs for her birthday and she looks so cute in them.

Yesterday, Nicholas and I went to see Astroboy at the movies. It was not on the top of my "To See" list but I have to say it was quite a good movie with some good messages. Not for the littlies though as some scary bits. Then home for a quick lunch and Penny and I went to see The Fairies stage show. She dressed up in her fairy outfit and loved the show, so much so that she cried when it was finished. It was well done and quite humourous in parts.

Have a good week.

Rach xx

Gingerbread Girl

Penny received this cute apron along with a matching pot holder (mini child size) and gingerbread man cutter for her birthday from Auntie Trudie, Uncle Richard, Alex and Lachie. We decided to try them out on Tuesday. Unfortunately I didn't have any ginger but we all think that they tasted better without it. The first batch were a little squashed as I put them too close to each other on the tray and the next batch ended up a little to browned as I forgot them. We plan to make another batch this week and I'm sure they'll be perfect as we are much more experienced. Penny didn't have the patience (nor did mother) to pipe on their faces and clothes so we just iced them in yellow and blue icing and added choc bits for buttons and sprinkles. Nicholas and Penny have eaten the lot so they must have been acceptable.We've had a reasonably quiet weekend as Craig has been away (in town) on a boys' weekend. I managed to complete the LO that I began last Sunday. I love this "Pennyroyale" pack from Kaisercraft it is so ornate and pretty. Petrina thinks it's just because it features my daughter's name. The name actually suits Penny as she thinks that she's quite royal especially when I ask her to tidy her room and she is too tired and thinks Mummy can do it.

I'm Getting Published!

After completing my blog post today I decided to try my luck with a couple of scrapbooking magazines and sent them the 2 LO's that I did yesterday. One of my LO's has been accepted by Scrapbook Creations for publishing early next year hence the reason for replacement of the LO in the previous post with a randy, hungry peacock that I photographed at Coffs Harbour on our holiday. I won't believe it until I see it in print as they can sometimes change their minds. I even get paid although unfortunately it won't buy me my next BMW. I was absolutely thrilled to receive the email. It made my day. I'll let you know if and when it makes it to the magazine for sale.

New Layouts

I went to scrapbooking with the girls yesterday for 5 hrs and had a lovely time. I didn't actually complete a LO but was able to put the finishing touches on last night. They are from 3 and a half years ago and very obviously I am a long way behind but over time the number of photos I have taken each month have reduced. I keep telling myself it is a work in progress so as to not stress over it. I managed to get another LO started and will work on that tonight and then I need to put it all away to write an educational newsletter for work and get onto the Christmas cards as that time of year fast approaches.

My Baby Is 4!

This time 4 years ago I was blissfully aware at how clever I felt at producing a little girl to complete our pigeon pair. Penny had a lovely day yesterday at daycare with her friends where she shared cupcakes and baby meringues. Today she woke to a lounge room of presents and was in a rush to open all of them. She was very excited on Thursday when we came home to discover 3 parcels on the door step. Thank you to all who sent presents and phoned today. Then it was off to dancing where all of her friends gathered around her in a circle and sang happy birthday. We then met Nicholas and Craig out at Krazy Maze for a play and then across to McDonalds for lunch - all her choice. A sleep was desperately needed at lunch time to recharge the batteries so that she could get down to some good hard playing this afternoon with all of her new toys. Her choice for dinner was just plain spiral pasta and ice cream with ice magic and sprinkles. Very easily accommodated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL SWEET GIRL ;-)

Painful Exercise

I returned to the gym last week after an absence for a month and really suffered for the rest of the week. I couldn't return until 6 days later, although feel OK after the later session.

We're right into the swing of term 4 although already feeling tired. Nick has been put up to level 4 at swimming and now swims the length of the pool. Penny's dancing is going well with costume organisation in full swing.

We went fishing on Sunday morning in our little boat and caught a few whiting and bream in the river. Whilst it wasn't the most successful fishing trip in terms of yield, it was a beautiful morning on the water without a breath of wind.

Nicholas had a pupil free day today so he joined us to do the shopping and then we had friends, Lleyton and Aida over for a play this afternoon.

I have completed another LO over the weekend. I really like doing these picture type LO's that involves creating a background scene.

Creativity has returned ...

at long last. This week I completed 2 layouts and a house warming card. I have made a lot of cards in the last few months but haven't been able to show them as I haven't given them out yet.
Penny returned to dancing for term 4 and the countdown to her concert has begun. She will be involved in 3 shows over the first weekend in December. She was asked to try on and model the little skirt and this week we are going to source a leotard to match. She is really loving her dancing now. She can do all of the opening dance to Hi5 which is on the TV on weekdays at present. We tape the show and regularly catch her doing the dance. She tells us she is just learning the words to the song now. It is very entertaining.

Today we visited the pool where Nick and Penny have lessons for a play around. The kids just love jumping in and racing each other on the noodles. This afternoon I went to a craft market at the local gallery which was good. I think I might make some cards to sell next year.

We have a busy week coming up with school talks, dancing costumes and I am heavily involved with organising the school fun fair which is in 5 weeks. Also a night out at a friend's house for a viewing of a new range of clothes which will be fun.

Have a good week.

Pirate Penny

We attended 2 birthday parties on Saturday. The morning pirate party was for a little girl who Penny attends daycare with. As we had been away from daycare, we only received the invitation on Friday morning leaving little time to put together a costume. She still looked pretty cute, I think. The party was at a park at the beach that we hadn't discovered before so the children had a great time. After a much needed slumber that I had to wake Penny from we were onto the next party for our 5 yr old friend Lleyton. The children played lots of party games and had more fun.

On Sunday after I had cleaned the house and done a mountain of ironing from the holiday, we sat down with a few friends to watch the rugby league grand final which was a relaxing way to top off the weekend.

Goodbye Sam

Penny's best friend from daycare, Samuel left last Thursday to go and live on the family farm in NSW. Before they left, Sam, his sister, Jessica and mum, Merissa spent the morning with us. We were very thankful to be home from our holiday before they departed. The children enjoyed a party morning tea as an early celebration of Penny's birthday. Sam gave Penny a pretty silver and pink charm bracelet and ring which was the perfect present for our girlie girl. The children had fun playing outside together blowing bubbles, digging in the sandpit and making play dough cookies. We then enjoyed lunch together followed by cuddles all round on their departure. I think the Mums were sadder than the kids! Penny felt a little lost without her mate at daycare on Friday but the teachers were very aware of this and gave her plenty of distracting activities and cuddles. Penny tells us that she loves Sammy and she is going to marry him and live on the farm but of course Mummy has to come too! We hope to see Sam and his lovely family again when they visit us or when we venture back down to NSW again.

We're back from holidays...

and what a great time we had. We visited the northern beaches of NSW. There are so many lovely beaches and towns within very close proximity of each other. We had one night in Tweed Heads, 2 nights in Ballina, 2 nights in Yamba, 3 nights in Coffs Harbour and then returned to Qld for a relax in Noosa for a couple of nights. Our favourite town was without a doubt Yamba. It is only small but has great beaches, fishing and gorgeous boutiques as well as a scrapbooking shop. We have a plan to return with our little boat and spend a week there. I would've liked to spend more time in Byron Bay to have a look around -put that on the to do list. The children loved the Macadamia Castle just north of Ballina which had put-put golf, a little train to ride on a fantastic tree house to climb and many animals to feed and pat. They also enjoyed the Pet Porpoise Pool at Coffs Harbour with the usual dolphin and seal shows but more hands on in that they received dolphin and seal kisses and were able to hand feed fairy penguins. They were just terrified of the overly friendly and rather large peacocks who were feeling a little peckish. It was very relaxing in that we ate out so I didn't have to cook and I read 3 books.
The girls out fishing the boys (4 to 2) at Whiting Beach, Yamba.

My Little Cowboy

Nicholas has been attending parties every Saturday for the last 3 weeks. The latest party was a cowboy party which he had fun dressing up for. His friend Darcy lives on acreage and has horses so all of the children could have a ride. They played lots of games and seemed to have a good time. The other parties have been at an indoor play centre for children and the local bowling and leisure centre where they played laser tag.

I had a good trip to Sydney. The conference was interesting and I caught up with some old work friends and uni friends from Adelaide. I also caught up with an old school friend, Kate who I haven't seen for 15 years. We had a lovely couple of hours catching up over a couple of champers on Sunday afternoon. I came home very tired so have really just been existing and doing the usual jobs.

We had a good father's day last weekend. We visited the bowling and leisure centre where we all bowled, even Penny. They have a special stand for the small children to push their bowl off. The children then enjoyed a play on the big slide, jumping castle and other equipment.

This weekend has been very quiet. Penny has been very ill with what began as gastro on Friday night (until Sunday morning) and has turned into a temperature and sore throat. She has been very flat and has slept on the couch for most of the day today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for her.

Nick enjoyed his last game of soccer for the year on the weekend and scored a goal and 2 near misses so he was very satisfied and plans on returning to play next year. Poor Penny was mortified to miss her last dancing session for the term and will have to wait 4 weeks before the next term begins. No doubt we'll be putting on our own concerts at home.

Holidays begin at the end of this week which we're all looking forward to. Hooray!!!

It Feels like Summer

The weather at the moment is quite unseasonably warm for the end of winter. Today it was 28 degrees Celsius and it will continue tomorrow. Penny decided it was warm enough to put on her togs and dance under the sprinkler whilst I washed the car this morning. She had such a fun time although was a little chilly by the end due to the wind. Nothing a nice warm shower couldn't fix. We also painted pictures and made pink and blue iced cupcakes today along with a visit to the gym/creche. Our day began very early with a trip out to the airport to send Craig away to Sydney and Melbourne for the week. I'll be busy getting ready for my trip to a conference in Sydney, leaving on Saturday and returning next Wednesday. Getting ready involves lists, lists and more lists, cooking food, washing and ironing up to date and did I mention lists. I have a husband who has been way too spoilt by his mother and wife!!!

We had a busy weekend with 2 birthday parties at McDonald's and the Botanical Gardens which involved a train ride, out to dinner with friends on Saturday night and I managed to get in a couple of hours of scrapbooking with the girls on Sunday. We also had the usual dancing and soccer (Nick was player of the week). The children were still a little tired tonight so it was early to bed considering our early rise this morning which didn't allow for any sleep ins.

Dragons and Kites

Another week has flown by. I worked 3 days last week which seems to help the week rush by. The weekend had us at dancing and soccer (Nick's goal scoring run continues) and then on Sunday we visited a beach festival of kites. The wind was a little tame so it was quite difficult to get the big kites up but there were still plenty to see. The day was really warm and Nick and Penny just loved getting out on the beach. The sand dragon fascinated the children especially when they lit the fire in his flared nostrils. We saw camels and Nick found his new pet, a very tame miniature horse. We had a look around the market stalls and the children enjoyed a jump on the jumping castle. Penny was a little unsure at first but once Nick showed her around and took her down the slide a few times she was right into the action. We then followed up with lunch at the river cafe in town which was very pleasant.I am back to 2 work days this week which is very civilised. Penny and I had a lovely girls day today, with shopping, playing and cooking. After we picked up Nick, we came home and had a picnic in the backyard which we all enjoyed especially our dog, Zoe and cat, Holly. They love us being outside with them especially when food is on offer! We enjoyed freshly home baked pumpkin scones and pikelets. My kids just love home baking. It was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

If You Go Down To The Woods Today ...

you're in for a big surprise. You guessed it, we had a teddy bears' picnic last Wednesday at Penny's daycare centre. The kids had yummy party food followed by stories and a search to find their hidden teddies. Wednesday was the only day Penny wasn't booked into daycare last week but we had to attend the party with her bear, Gundy. She had her outfit all worked out a week in advance.

Not a lot to report from the week as I worked 4 days of it. No scrapping but I've almost completed an educational newsletter for week. Now onto cards as I have many birthdays in September and October and a few new babies arriving too.

We had a good weekend beginning with a night out on Friday night with the kids at the Mexican restaurant. Dancing and soccer (2 goals for Nick - woohoo) on Saturday and then a girls afternoon out at "Hats and High Tea" for me on Sunday. My good friends, Linda and Joanne and I enjoyed a fashion parade of lovely clothes and hats and yummy delicacies. More work today and a couple of quiet days coming up. Nick is back to his fit, cheeky self thank goodness.

The Ball...

was a lot of fun. We enjoyed champagne cocktails on arrival and a delicious 3 course meal. The band were from Brisbane and quite entertaining. It was a good opportunity to get out and socialise with my work friends. The children stayed with Craig's mother last night which was great so that we could have a sleep in. I can't remember the last time I got out of bed at 9am!

Yesterday was a very busy day with running around to dancing, a birthday party and then onto the hair dresser whilst Craig took the money at the soccer gate. Unfortunately Nick wasn't well enough to play soccer so he has had a quiet weekend. He has a chest infection and is a bit flat. He had Thursday home from school and we're wondering about tomorrow.

Here's a quick card I made for the birthday party.

Layouts Galore

Shock, horror! I have produced 3 LO's in the last few days. I think my mojo is returning. On Sunday, my monthly scrapping group celebrated Christmas In July. We dressed up, ate Christmas fare and swapped little presents. I received a most gorgeous feathered scarf in pinks and oranges - thank you secret Santa. We had a lot of fun. I produced 2 LO's and then I did the "bowl cut" LO for this month's scrapjack last night.

Nick received worker of the week last Friday which he was very excited about as we were proud. Penny's curls have returned - just add water!

I've had a lovely pamper day today with having my hair and nails done. We have the medical ball to look forward to this weekend so primping and preening has begun. Hopefully I'll have time to take photos of us all spruced up.

Who Is This?

Doesn't Penny look different with straight hair? Family members please respond with whom you think she looks like particularly the one of her in the toy car. The reason she has straight hair is that her hairdresser decided it would be easier to cut. She is now Penny's new best friend and Penny wants her to come over and play! I thought she might be a bit worried about losing her curls, but was clearly wrong. She doesn't want to wet her hair tonight and has planned to wear a shower cap in the bath. The curls will be back tomorrow though with swimming lessons in the afternoon.

Player of the Week

Nicholas received this award on Saturday for his prowess at taking knocks in soccer! He was quite tired after the first week back at school which was very evident at his lack of enthusiasm on the field. Mind you he was not alone, they all seemed a bit dreamy. The knocks included a ball at fair speed into his abdomen and a ball at great speed into his forehead. No tears, just a few wobbly legs. His certificate entitles him to a free rental DVD which he's very excited about and has lined up for next weekend.

We had a reasonably quiet weekend as Craig played golf for most of it. We did enjoy a bite to eat on Friday night at a Mexican restaurant. We took the children and they thought it was very special.

I am madly cutting for our Christmas in July meeting of the scrapbooking club this weekend. We are having a swap where 10 of us make an embellishment x 10 and then swap them. The Cricut cutting machine is coming in very handy. Also on the list are Secret Santa presents and a Christmas delicacy for afternoon tea. It should be a fun and festive afternoon.

Here is a LO that I completed last week.