Holidays At Yamba

We have recently returned from 7 days at Yamba on the northern NSW coast. We discovered this lovely seaside town last year and decided to return for a longer visit this time. We stayed in a townhouse at The Sands which is right on Pippi's Beach. It was beautiful and the complex included 2 pools and 2 tennis courts all for a very reasonable price. The weather wasn't fantastic and included a few days of showers but we still managed to go walking. Craig took Nick to the movies twice and Penny once so that I could get in some good shopping time. The shops are lovely and very boutiquey (if that's a word). Not that I could afford many of the clothes but it was lovely to browse. The scrapbooking shop - Simply Crafts, is great and well stocked with new products and they have an on-line shop. It was lovely to get away. BTW, the tooth fairy found us in Yamba. Nick lost a top front tooth.

On our arrival home we had a message on our answering machine from our real estate agent indicating that he had some people interested in buying our house. The house isn't even on the market yet!! We had planned to prepare the house over the next week to put on the market the following week. So speed cleaning with emphasis on speed is what is happening here in amongst golf days and a lovely ball which we attended last night put on by the Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. The night was great fun although at Craig's work events I often end up on the stage as part of the amusement. In the past I have been a magician's assistant. Last night I was an 'air' drummer for the comedian along with 2 other men who were an 'air' guitarist and 'air' keyboard player. It was all good fun and thank goodness for the few glasses of champagne for courage. At last I was able to wear this dress which I fell in love with earlier in the year and just had to buy. It is navy and white and very soft and easy to wear.

My darling little niece Alex is still very sick in hospital so we are hoping and praying that the little bit of improvement in the last couple of days goes ahead in leaps and bounds. Keep going brave Alex you are a true champion.

Love Rach xx

Sending Special Get Well Wishes

to my niece, Alex who is battling illness and has been in hospital for 10days with more to come. She is being very brave and is coping with all that is dished up to her. Keep fighting little one. I went to scrapping on Sunday afternoon and decided to complete a LO with baby Penny and little Alex.

Nicholas lost another tooth on Saturday night. He lost the upper tooth to the right of his front right tooth. His speech is quite affected and he tends to lisp a little. He assures me that the front right tooth is also very wobbly.

On Sunday we all attended Nicholas' friend's 8th birthday party. It was at the go cart track so the Dad's had to come and take their son's around the track. The boys looked hilarious in their huge helmets. It was a lovely morning and we had a sausage sizzle and cake to finish off. I made a pedal go cart card for Angus.

Soccer is over for the year which is a relief in one sense as the season is so long but it was also a little sad to say goodbye to Nick's team mates and their families.

Spring has certainly sprung in Queensland. We have been enjoying some beautiful warm days. Unfortunately allergies and hay fever seem to be much worse this year which I have been battling.

Have a happy week.

Rach xx

Tooth Fairy Visiting

Well the dentist was so right. He indicated 2 wks ago that Nicholas would lose a tooth very soon and hence the photo shoot just over a week ago. Tonight Nicholas lost one of his bottom front teeth. He has had sore, wobbly teeth for the last few days and whilst cleaning his teeth tonight, one popped out into the basin and he assures me that he only just stopped it from going down the drain. The tooth fairy, whom Nicholas informed me was a man (???) better remember to visit tonight.

We had a quiet weekend as Nick and I had colds and Penny had conjunctivitis which decided to flare last night resulting in us having a day at home today. Craig was away for Father's Day so the children gave him their presents when he was home last Thursday night. We did attend Angus' 5th birthday party on Saturday morning at a local playground/park which the children and I enjoyed.

Just trying to get the house ready to put on the market next month. Still working on the mountain of cards (one below).

Holidays soon. Can't wait to visit Yamba. Hope all the rain has disappeared.

Lots of Happy Birthday wishes to my SIL, Trudie, my godson, Lee, my great friend and photographer, Petrina and my Dad.

Have a good week.

Rach xxx

Too Busy To Blog

OMG. Three weeks since I have blogged! We've been busy meeting real estate agents and the bank. Also going through all of our cupboards to find things for the garage sale which by the way was very successful. We made close to $400 which was only made possible with the help of my friend, Shane - she's the garage sale guru! Amazing how one person's trash is another's treasure.

Last week we had a couple of coffee dates with Penny's good friend, Angus from daycare and his Mum, Jolene and also my good friend Petrina. Coffee always tastes better with friends.

I took the children to the dentist last Monday and the dentist suggested that we have family photos within the week as Nick has 8 wobbly teeth!! I knew about one but 8. Poor child is going to have liquefied food! Petrina took some fantastic family photos for us at the local swamp on Saturday afternoon. We haven't ever had professional family photos and who needs a professional when I have such a talented friend who takes photos like these. I am just so pleased with them.

This week I am onto card making as we have so many friends and family with birthdays in Sept/Oct. Not a whole lot of scrapping going on. I just can't get into it at the moment. Too much else to think of. Craig is home for one night out of the next ten so I am trying to be very organised. Wish me luck.

Have a great week.
Rach xxx

Big Decisions

have been made around here recently, hence my absence from blog land. The big announcement which many of you already know is that we are moving to Brisbane. Craig has received a promotion in his job which will require us to move. So many more decisions need to be made before our move in December. Will we rent or sell our house? What to keep and what to dispose of. We've been in our present house for almost 13yrs and so have accumulated a lot. Thank goodness I had a throw out a couple of years ago to ease my pain. I think a couple of garage sales will go on in the next few months. We have many sad goodbyes (although we'll only be 4hrs away) but many happy beginnings ahead.

Onto other things now. Thought I'd just show a photo of the tutu I sewed for Penny a couple of weeks ago.

I spent the afternoon with my scrapping friends today which was very relaxing and I'll show some photos of the simple LO's I completed later in the week. I certainly will miss this group of friends but hope to return for the annual retreat next April.

Have a great week.

Rach xx

Hustle and Bustle

Not much to report here. Just very busy with work, Craig being away and school and day care. We are all looking forward to our holiday away to Yamba in eight weeks time. We'll be in need of a good break. My slow cooker is getting a real work out as there's nothing better than getting home at 6pm with 2 hungry children and a meal already cooked. I've made a few batches of pea and ham soup (aka farty soup as the children have named it) which are delicious as well as curries and stroganoffs. I can highly recommend the new Women's Weekly slow cooker book which I purchased this year - great recipes with source-able ingredients.
I sewed a tutu for Penny yesterday and am planning to add the finishing touches this week so will share then. Dancing returned on Saturday after a lengthy break and Penny couldn't have been more excited. Nick is busy with school and soccer although his interest in both is waning at present.
Below are some LO's that I have completed recently.

Have a great week.

Rach :)

Memories Of Adelaide

Can you believe that it is a month since we visited Adelaide? I had some photos from our trip printed today. Between Dad and I we took some lovely photos. Nick stuck many of the photos into the diary that he wrote each day and his teacher and class mates seemed impressed. I had planned to do another post with more photos, so here it is.
One of the many miniature steam trains.

All aboard!

Face painting at the steam trains.

Chris and Nigel's (my aunt and uncle) superb farm in the Adelaide Hills.

Penny on the rope swing at the farm that they had a tree lopper erect around a very high tree branch. The 106 yr old Speedwell that Nigel built. Mum and Dad together with Chris and Nigel drove in a rally (for cars over 100yrs old) in England a few years ago in this Speedwell.

Gorgeous dessert at the farm for the kids.

Wang Wang, the new male panda at the Adelaide zoo. Funi (female) was happily sleeping inside on heated rocks.

My sister, Robyn and her partner Ian who we met for the first time on this visit. Lots of fun.

Nick at his favourite wooden playground which we always visit when in Adelaide.
There you are, just a small snapshot of our visit. I didn't take any photos at the reunion - as they say "what happens on tour stays on tour"! No not really, it was a very tame evening compared to in the past and Robyn and Ian had me in bed by midnight. We really had such a lovely trip catching up with my family and friends.

Happy Wednesday.

Rach xx