Thursday, 15 December 2011

RIP Our Dear Holly Cat 30.06.1996 - 15.12.2011

This morning we had our sweet Himalayan cat, Holly put to sleep. After fifteen and a half years her heart had decided that it was too tired to go on. We feel so sad and have such heavy hearts at present but are remembering what a beautiful natured cat she was. In the early days of her life she was a little neurotic and used to go and hide in the drains. She would travel through the drain system in Bundaberg and we would find her up to a kilometre from home! She also wasn't very fond of men and would take off when they arrived. I think she used up her nine lives in those early days and from then on, Holly decided that the home life was for her. She decided to be lazy like our Labrador Zoe and lie around in the backyard and wait for food and cuddles. She has lived out her days in a lovely enclosed yard in Brisbane and enjoyed much love and cuddles from us all.
Bye beautiful Holly, you were very much loved.
xxxx

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Holidays Are Here ...

for the kids anyway. The end of the school year went well. Nick had a good report and Penny a good teacher interview. They have great teachers for next year.
Penny's dancing concert was lovely. The costumes were so pretty and she was so excited to get a trophy. It was a huge day (2 concerts) and we didn't get home until 11pm! My parents came up from Adelaide for her concert which she was very pleased about.




We visited Santa on Friday and the children made their requests known.
Craig has not been home very much lately but the countdown until Christmas holidays is on. We attended my work Christmas party on Saturday night. It was held at a Greek restaurant at South Bank which was very yummy and good fun.
I am still working through the holidays (except between Christmas and New Year) and so the kids are attending vacation care at their school. They are enjoying it so far with a Starwars and sculpture day. Tomorrow they are catching the train to the movies and having lunch at McDonald's.
Have a good week.
Rach xx

Monday, 28 November 2011

Busy end of year



Life is a little manic at present as I am sure it is for most. Penny spent all of Saturday morning at dancing practice and then we went to the dress rehearsal on Sunday afternoon (5hrs) for her concert which is on this weekend coming. I am one of the dressers so stayed to help dress the girls in their various costumes and apply and reapply make up. We came home feeling rather tired but pleased last night.
Craig flew home for 30hrs over the weekend so that we could attend his Christmas party. It was a lawn bowls party. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner followed by bowls on an undercover carpeted surface (due to rain). The children also came and enjoyed playing with the other kids.
I've pretty well completed and wrapped the Christmas presents. A job I unfortunately loathe every year as I have no idea what to get anyone. Certainly feels good to get it out of the way. Mind you it is a great feeling to give something that is appreciated. Just have to do my Christmas cards and letter now.
Penny and Nick had a rides day at school on Friday in lieu of the cancelled rides at their community day. They had a great time although Penny's little upper arms got so burnt and are still recovering. They had another lovely swim in the neighbour's pool on the weekend.
I've done a little more scrapbooking. Here's some of the latest.
Have a good week.
Rach xx

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Doughnut Cakes

Today, Penny and I cooked doughnut cakes which are absolutely calorie free (in my mind). They are delicious and so easy. We enjoyed a delicious lunch out at a local cafe today so no doughnut cakes until we got home.
Nick and Penny have made friends with the kids over the back fence and they have a pool so N & P were over there for 2hrs this afternoon swimming and playing. They did same last weekend. The boys seem to come and go between our houses but Nick tells me there place is way cooler with swings, trampoline and pool!
On the Friday before last we went to the Sherwood Community Festival where they close off the street and have stalls and three stages. The kids had their faces painted for free and Penny loved the baby farm animal enclosure - also free. We watched the Sherwood Arrows skipping team and Nick enjoyed the Tae-Kwon-Do. Penny's favourite was the Irish Dancing, another skill she wishes to acquire.

On the Saturday night, Craig and I attended a friend's 40th at a local Indian restaurant and had a delicious meal and a great night out. The kids also had a great night in with a lovely new babysitter.
I've been trying to get on top of the Christmas shopping before school breaks up.
I have also been doing a bit of scrapbooking lately and have many LO's to show. Here are a couple:
 I just love Washi tape (Japanese masking tape) at the moment as featured in the LO above - pink and white spot. I buy it on-line from a lady in WA - Sawyer's Place is her business name. I now have about 17 rolls with a few more on the way. She regularly has Facebook or blog specials - $3 for a 15m roll.



Have a good week.
Rach xx

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Half Way

through term 4. Kids are tired with so much on in this term. Penny is almost too busy for school with her social commitments! She attended a birthday party and Halloween party last week and has another birthday party next week. Her dancing is also getting busy with 4.5hrs of dancing on a Saturday for the next month on top of 1.5hrs on Thursday in preparation for her concert in early December. She has 4 costumes, so I am assuming she will dance in 4 items and is really looking forward to it as we are.
Nick is busy with school work, tennis and Cantori (Sherwood's junior primary choir). Last Saturday we went over to Iona College where Nick sang in Cantori against other schools and they took out GOLD! The La Bella Voci (Sherwood's senior primary choir) took out platinum on Sunday and were invited to sing in the Mall today. Nick attended his friend, Thomas' party. They went out to Kingston Park go cart track and Nick was able to drive a go-cart BY HIMSELF. They also went on some rides and then topped it off with lunch at McDonalds. He declared it an AWESOME party.
Craig's mother, Pam has been staying with us for the weekend which has been lovely. I have just completed 8 wedding cards and 8 sky embellishments for the Bundaberg Simply Crafty swaps and Pam is taking them back to Bundaberg for me tomorrow. Then I get back other people's wedding cards and embellishments. I used to scrap with this group of lovely ladies once a month on a Sunday.
Here are some more LO's I have done over the last month.



Have a good week.
Rach :)

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Happy 6th Birthday Penny

Our darling daughter turned six on Monday. She had a wonderful 4 days of birthday festivities which included three cakes. We had a birthday party for her on Friday after school with eight friends. We decorated crowns, played pass the parcel and pin the tail on the pony amongst other games. I made the pony cake that Penny had found on the internet which looked easy but took me quite a bit of time to knead the colour through the fondant icing.
Penny got a new bike that she and Craig put together on Saturday. Unfortunately her first ride at River Rocks park was spoiled by an aggressive magpie that frightened the life out of her with a dive bomb. Everyone in the park knew about it!
On Sunday, we decided to open Penny's other presents as Monday was a school day and Craig had to leave early for a flight. Early morning present opening was followed by a breakfast out at a popular cafe near home. Next was a late morning swim at the local pool and in the afternoon, Richard (my brother), Trudie Alex and Lachie came over to celebrate with another cake. To school on Monday, Penny took 30 cupcakes to share with her friends and teachers. Rachael's patisserie is now closed for the rest of the month! She had such a lovely time but was asleep by 6.45pm on Monday evening.
Happy Birthday to my sister, Robyn for Saturday. It was lovely to catch up over the phone for a chat.
Poor Nick is battling a cold at present but is hoping to be better for the weekend as he is singing with his school choir in a competition at Iona College.
Hope you are having a happy week.
Rach xx

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Fun Weekend

Our weekend kicked off with a birthday afternoon tea at our house for my niece Alex on Friday. Cake and cordial for the kids and champers and sushi for the Trudie and I. It was also a celebration of my finishing 2wks straight of work. I am glad I achieved it but am quite happy to be back to 3 days this week.
Saturday morning started with a ripper storm which woke us up at 5am (2nd Saturday in a row) with loud clashing thunder and heavy rain. The children were mortified as it was their school's community day in celebration of the new hall opening. By 10am it was bright sunshine but due to the volume of rain most of the rides were unable to operate due to the slushy oval. The rides are returning in the last week of school for a fun day. We watched Nick in the junior choir 'Cantori' and he sang beautifully but was so serious. Penny also sang with the Preps and Nick sang again with the grade 3's. We really enjoyed watching the Sherwood Arrows which is the school skipping team and are the longest serving demonstration team in Australia. Penny assures us that she is joining the team. She'll need plenty of practice! We came home with some delicious fudge and rocky road, oh and some rum balls which I disgustingly devoured in one sitting because they were so delicious!
Today, Nick was busy with writing a couple of letters and school work this morning. He wrote a talk for which we also made a chainsaw! I find he is much more interested if we get really crafty and messy involving paint. He also had the motivation of a play date at his friend's place if all of the work was finished. Nick had a fun time at his friend's place swimming, building Lego and playing DS.
Penny and I were busy cutting out crowns to decorate for her party and planning a pony for 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'. She has picked out a My Little Pony cake which looks quite easy and only involves using the figurines and a round cake rather than creating a pony out of cake!
One day I'll dust my camera off again and take photos to show all that we have done. In the mean time here are some more LO's that I have done. Oh and by the way, my LO that was photographed by Scrapbooking Memories in May has now been commissioned for Vol 14No 4 - perhaps Jan or Feb edition next year.




Nick and Penny have Vacation Care tomorrow as it's a pupil free day but usually really enjoy it and I'm not allowed to arrive before 3.30pm as they have yummy afternoon teas supplied :)
Have a great week.
Rach xx

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Term 4

is in full swing. Nick is busy preparing talks every week and Penny's latest school activity is skipping (they're all mad keen on it at Sherwood) and being a social butterfly attending many birthday parties. I had a lovely 5 days to myself in which I worked 3 of them. It was good to get the house back in order before I flew to Bundaberg to join the family. It was lovely to catch up with friends although whirlwind seeing as I was only there for 3 days. The kids had a great time attending 4 birthday parties and swimming in the pool at Grandma's complex.
I am busy at the moment working full time (school hrs) and planning a little miss' birthday party.
HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY TO MY NIECE ALEX for Friday. Have a fantastic day - you deserve it!
Not much else to report. Here are some more LO's.


Have a great weekend.
Rach xx

Monday, 26 September 2011

September Holidays

Goodness this blog really is suffering from neglect!
The children are having great September holidays. They spent the first week with Granny and Gramps who were up visiting from Adelaide and they are spending this week with Daddy and Grandma in Bundaberg. In the first week they went to see Spy Kids at the movies followed by McDonalds and a shopping expedition. They also went ten pin bowling with friends and had good times riding their bikes and scooters at the park.
This week in Bundaberg, they have attended 2 birthday parties and one still to come, swum in the pool and been out fishing. They'll need to return to school for a break.
I also have had a lovely break with a whole weekend to myself. I am working this week but am enjoying looking after just myself. I have achieved lots in the house and have washed and washed and washed all of the winter woolies and blankets. Hopefully the cold will not return. I have also managed a little scrapbooking too.
My niece, Alex has come through her major surgery very well and is resting up in an attempt to return to school soon.
Some photos of Miss Penny riding her bike and the kids ready for the school disco - theme "black and white". Penny insisted that she needed some black and white clothing to wear so after going through the material box we found some material and I whipped her up a skirt the night before and a little broach to wear on her shirt. She had so much fun dancing and Nick had fun mucking around.
Some scrapbooking from August.
Have a good week.
Rach xx

Sunday, 11 September 2011

About Time ...

for another post. I was waiting until I had edited some photos but I haven't 'found' enough time. Poor priority of time is probably the answer.
What have we been up to? Well I have worked 9 out of the past 10 working days due to holidays and illness of other sonographers at my practice. Of course Craig has been away. Penny has been busy with ballet exams and thoughts of aspiring to a stage career as well as thinking about what to wear and how to dance at the school disco. Nick has had a facial altercation with the fireman's pole at school and still has bruising and a swollen face 2 wks on but no fracture thank goodness. He also decided to have illness consisting of a cold and temps which was in my very busy working week but we managed. He was my helper at work. Today Nick received a trophy at his soccer break up and was also chuffed to win the raffle which is a Roar jersey with his name and number and all of the team's signatures on. Makes up for all of the bad luck he has had recently.
My parents arrive on Tuesday to help out with holiday care and to see our Brisbane house which will be lovely. Also a special good luck to my little niece, Alex who goes in for major surgery on Wednesday all being well. She has already had a false start after becoming unwell 2 days before this surgery was scheduled a week ago.
Here are a couple more LO's. I haven't done too much scrapping recently but plan to get back to it soon.

Have a happy week.

Rach xx

Monday, 15 August 2011

Tapping Queen

Here is our little tap queen who did her exam last week. She loved it and was not nervous at all. Bring on the ballet exams in September.
Craig and I enjoyed a trip away to Cairns over the weekend thanks to his company. I travelled up with Craig's boss' wife on Friday. After a beautiful dinner on Friday night we  ventured out to the Innisfail race day on Saturday. Whilst we didn't come away winners, we had a good day. Another memorable dinner on Saturday night in Cairns and after a morning tea visit to Craig's sister we flew home. The children stayed with my SIL, Trudie and their cousins. They had a pretty busy weekend and Penny slept for 13hrs last night!
I haven't scrapbooked much in the last week, but here are 2 more recent LO's.

The children only have 3days of school this week due to the show holiday and a ministerial holiday (pupil free day). We plan to venture to the Ekka on one of the days.
Have a good week.
Rach xx

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Things That Make My Heart Happy @ Present

First up are flowers. I am buying flowers for my kitchen every week. As a child, our house was always filled with roses for most of the year as Mum had over 100 rose bushes and when they were dormant we had daffodils. These roses are from the flower markets just down the road bought for me by my good friend, Joanne.

I also have 2 African Violets in my kitchen that sit by the sink in front of a window and they are flowering like they're on steroids. I think I have my mother's touch when it comes to these.

The music from the Dr Zhivago musical features highly.

My gorgeous 15yo cat, Holly is my little darling. She is such a sook and always so pleased to see us. Here she is enjoying ice cream on her birthday in June.

Next is my soccer player Nick. We returned to the soccer fields on Sunday for photos. It never ceases to amaze me how they make these little boys put their arms behind their backs so that in their ill-fitting tops they look like they're armless. I think the zoomed photo of Nick's face looks much better although I had a great laugh out of the other photo!

My Penny also makes my heart happy. She has a cold at the moment but is on the mend.

Lastly, of course my scrapbooking fills my heart. Here are a few LO's.

Oh of course I must mention my significant other if I could remember what he looked like as he's away so much at present. We have a weekend up in Cairns together planned in August which should be lovely and WARM!
What is making your heart smile this week? :)
Rach xx 

Sunday, 31 July 2011




I went to see Dr Zhivago this afternoon with my friend, Penny who lives around the corner and I have to say it was superb. It was so sad and stunningly beautiful. Anthony Warlow was supreme as Yuri Zhivago as was the beautiful Lucy Maunder who played Lara (Yuri's mistress) and the pretty Taneel Van Zyl as Tonia (Yuri's wife). The special effects were brilliant incorporating a little cinematography. The sadness and pain of the war and poverty in Russia in the early 1900's was portrayed with such realism. The music is lovely and beautifully portrays the love story. I think this musical is probably one of my favourite of all time. If you haven't been to see it, you really must. It is only on in Brisbane for another couple of weeks.
Rach xx

Sunday, 17 July 2011

The Baker Going Ons

School is back in and the holidays seem but a distant memory. On the last weekend of the holidays Pam came back to look after the children whilst Craig and I attended the horse races at Eagle Farm. It was a cold day and we didn't come home winners but a fun day out with friends. We then picked up Pam and the kids and went to watch the fantastic Rugby Union Reds game on our friends' Pay TV. I didn't think I could get excited over such a game but it was great. My workplace images the Red players when they're injured and they are BIG guys.
This weekend I attended a Think Pink high tea at one of the school mum's homes with 70 other ladies. It was a fun afternoon and I even managed to win a prize of a voucher from a new boutique furniture shop in Paddington. Can't wait to go and check out their wares.
Craig has taken to the cycling phase and has bought a bike and all the gear. He is struggling a little in the botty area at present but has verbally signed up to do a charity ride to Longreach next May (@ 200km/day) so he's really going to have to ramp it up as he's only at 1-2km/day at present!
In other exciting news, Penny has lost the trainer wheels on her bike. We took her down to the park today for her first session without t/wheels and she got it! She still struggles a little to do a standing start but will have it in no time. I think the ballet may have helped with her balance perhaps and possibly the lure of a new pink bike for her birthday.
Not much else to report. This coming week I am off to the dentist and hope to keep my clean filling-less record and also to the optometrist where I hope not to come out with 4 eyes although between you and me, a needle is becoming quite difficult to thread. I have been doing some more scrapbooking. Here are some more LO's.

Have a great week.
Rach xx

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Bundaberg Friends

We have had a great holidays catching up with Bundaberg friends. On Thursday the children and I drove up to Petrina's parent's beautiful place near Mt Nebo for delicious afternoon tea and a play with Petrina's kids and their cousins. They had a great time digging worms out of the garden and feeding them to the chooks next door and playing in the mud. On Friday the Petersons came to stay with us for a night. We had a great catch up whilst the kids played. I cooked pumpkin soup, red curry slow cooked lamb shanks and a sticky date self saucing pudding which were all well received.
On Sunday Craig's mother arrived and the kids have had a lovely time with Grandma whilst I have worked this week. We are hoping to catch up with some school friends for the remaining days of the holidays and then it's back to school next week.
Happy Birthday to my brother Richard and my cat Holly who turned 15yo last Thursday. Richard was home on Sunday so it was great to catch up over a coffee and yummy cake.
Here are some more LO's that I haven't shown. I am really liking the templates (that I bought at the Scrapbooking Expo) that I have sprayed glimmermist over (flowers in 1st LO, houndstooth in the 2nd, butterflies in 3rd).



Have a great Thursday.

Rach xx