Friday, 28 September 2007

Ticket to ride

Just to tease you all I will talk about my 'music in me' layout before the title of my blog post today.

From the first time I saw Neen's challenge this past fornight I could not get the coke slogan out of my head. I could not get past that to think about some other layout so I HAD to do it. Steve thinks it is wierd but then it is him. I had fun doing this, paint, ribbon, cutting paper, fun, fun, fun.



The holidays are going really well so far. The children have been keep suitably busy as to not have any 'I'm bored' comments. On Wednesday my sister and I plus our 5 boys went over to Wanganui. There are 2 really great things about Wanganui....Kowhai Park and The Scrapbook shop there.
On the way we were stopped for a routine police checkpoint. I felt pretty smug 'knowing' everything was up to date. The cop says 'just checking reg etc. Do you have a more recent registration than May?' me 'Parden? No, I had no idea!!!' Cop 'Do you have your drivers licence?' Me 'Sure, hang on' rummage around the car, knowing I had put it in there last week when I had lost my wallet, which was found outside the library after a night of heavy rain. I couldn't find my licence. now I am feeling very mad at myself. The policeman was a very nice man and very understanding. BUT, he still gave me a ticket. Understandably really! He said they may waiver it but I just have to give it a try. I know how it happened, after we moved, last August, we didn't change our address for car registration. I don't look at the date because normally I get a reminder. So when Steve got home I asked him to look at his car and sure enough his was back in May as well, DOH. Well now they are both up to date, whew.

On to Wanganui. First stop, Post Office to get car registration. 2nd stop the Scrapbook Shop. Before entering we 'bribe' the children with McDonalds if they behave and don't touch anything. And they were very well behaved. Tobyn asked the store owner if she had anything about holy socks because he would like to do a page about holy socks LOL!!! He wants to have a layout published...he will probably get one published before me LOL!
After that we went to MD's and then onto Kowhai park. I love Kowhai park because it is so colourful and there are so many photo opportunities, if the children co-operate.
Following are a few of my faves.

This first one shows how daring Isaac is! He climber this rock, by himself, to the top. And it is pretty high! He is very brave.


I just love this one.



I love this one because you can see how much fun they were having. I love Isaacs hair flying. Unfortunate about Tobyns expression though.




Isaac trying to get away from Aunty to join the big boys.





And a one of all 5 boys. I am really pleased to have got a couple of reasonable shots of them all together, not an easy task!!!






This one was fun. I loved the colours on the boat and the boys loved being silly!

Tomorrow we are off the Taupo. We were supposed to leave tonight but Steve had to go to Auckland today and doesn't get back until 7.30pm. Tobyn's friend is here already and they are having a ball outside with the water pistols. Crazy boys, it's not that hot!
So until next time, have a great weekend, ttfn.
A tip for young players, if you didn't already know, you can click on the images and it will take you to a larger image.






Monday, 24 September 2007

Holidays and stuff

Yay, it's the holidays. I love the holidays. It means I can do things with the boys on our own time. We already have the whole holidays planned. Today we had friends over for morning tea and then my sister and her boys came over for afternoon tea. Tomorrow we are going down to the cousins in Paraparaumu. Clare has a specialist appointment in Wellington so I will look after Hannah and Adam. Wednesday we are probably going to the zoo with the other cousins. Thursday Isaac has a playdate at the park, Tobyn will have to tag along, I am sure he will be fine he is so good with the little boys! Thursday afternoon my Sister and the boys are coming over so Annie and I can do our 'Music in Me' blog challenge. And finally on Friday Tobyns friend is coming to stay with us at the lake house. We are all going for the weekend and then Steve and Thomas will come back to Palmy with Steve returning again the next Friday. This is the 1st time Tobyn has invited a friend to the lake house and the first time I will be staying on my own with the boys. I am really looking forward to the break. It is nice just to be out of the norm.



Home news- we are in the process of having a big clean up!!! The garage needs such a huge tidy up, and that is Steves domain! He bought a big deck box on the weekend and put all the outdoor toys in it. Already it has proven invaluable! The boys were all out on the deck this afternoon playing with all the balls. Tobyn was even motivated to take the play tent and tunnel out for the littler kids (although truth be known I think was for him as well!) Yesterday afternoon Tobyn and I had a waterfight, FUN! Isaac sort of joined in although he was pointing the water pistol at his own face and giggling, very cute!



Scrapbooking news. The Scrapbook Essentials comp is over. Where did that 7 weeks go? It was such a great comp to do. Everyone was so wonderful, kind, thoughtful and talented! The winners were very deserving. I found myself challenged in ways I didn't expect. I have a new found appreciation of my scrapbooking. People have always said they like what I do but now I have a 1st placing in a pretty big comp. I am very proud of myself! And I think Steve is pretty proud of me too. It was quite amusing because he checked all the layouts out as well and whenever there were placings to be announced he was as impatient as I was. Pretty cool to have a husband so supportive!
And here's last weeks challenge layout. It took me ages to decide on what to do, but once I had it all fell together pretty well. I love the colours and after I had finished it I realised I could hang it in my living room and it would match perfectly! Our living room is the blue and brown and we knew that red was the perfect accent!




So what now? I am planning on doing the 'music in me' challenges and then maybe try and do some layouts that just take my fancy. I also want to submit to some mags and see how I get on. I don't feel all that confident but hey I deffinately won't get anything excepted if I don't put myself out there!


I may or may not get back to the blog until after the holidays! The lake house doesn't have internet access, so I deffaintely won't get on next week. What will I do without my fix? so have a greta holiday, those that have them and 'I'll be back' said in my best Arnold accent.

Friday, 21 September 2007

Tagged

Hannah tagged me last week and I have only just got around to doing it. So here goes....

Here’s how it works:
1. Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of their first or middle name.
2. When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.
3. At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag.
4. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they have been tagged, and to read your blog.
5. If I’ve tagged YOU (see below), please join in on the fun!

Y - Youthful - hmm, wishful thinking maybe?



V - Voluptuous - well.....when I was 22 a photographer said that to me and I took great offense. Now I would love for someone to say that!



E - Exercise - something I need to do a lot more of!!! I know the importance of it but I find it hard to MAKE myself do it!



T - Talented- Yes I do think I am talented. I love my photography and scrapbooking. I might not be 'the best' but I know my stuff is pleasing to my family and close friends and I love that!



T - Travellor - I LOVE to travel! I need my fix pretty regularly. This year I have been lucky to have done a trip down South with a very dear friend as well as travel to Oz with my family. 2 wonderful trips.



E - Entertainer - Aren't all Mums that? I feel I am constantly entertaining little people. And I love it. I love it when I do something that makes my boys laugh. I love it when I take them somewhere and they learn something new. I love that I am helping them along their life path. I also love to be entertained! I love going to live shows, movies, concerts and I am really looking forward to T's dance recital in Oct!!!

So thats me. I could have done my middle name, Maree, might have been a little easier. As for the tagging...I can't tag 6 people but I will tag

Fee

Jenny

Lainie

It is fun and we get to learn more about you.

My next blog post will have may final layout for the SE ultimate scrapper comp. I don't want to make this post too long, plus the little man is waking up.

ttfn

Thursday, 13 September 2007

The week that was

Here is the week 6 SE ultimate scrapper layout. This week we were challenged to use a 'technique' It took me a while to decide on what I was going to do. I love altering chipboard. I have done a bit of doodling on recent layouts, I could have done stamping, sewing and many other things. In the end it was the photo that gave me the inspiration. I thought with the ruined tape I could use ribbon to look like the tape ribbon. I am really happy with how it turned out! Steve had quite a bit of input into this one. He actually suggested the ribbon around the photo. Originally I had 3 4x6 photos but once I put the ribbon around the middle one I knew that had to be the focus.


This is the week 5 SE ultimate scrapper entry. We were challenged to do a double layout about a challenge in our life. I chose to do about our time in the States, so far away from friends and family and having Isaac early and the incredibly special nurses who have become very special friends. I am so happy to have this scrapped. I love the layout! It didn't photograph very well, I think the light background with the dark photos confused the camera, even though I was doing it manually. There is silver doodling around the photo of the hands which is very hard to see. The photo of the hands is Steve's wedding ring on Isaacs arm. The ring actually slid right up his arm! This photo was Nurse Sues idea so that we could send it home to family and friends so they could get an idea of how small he was.

Ilka, notice the silver butterfly? Isn't it just so cute! I recieved this in my PIF parcel from Ilka, so lovely.




There is only one week left of the comp and I am in two minds about how I feel about it. I will miss the challenges because I have learnt so much about how I scrap. I will miss the Wednesday morning reveals and seeing all the a mazing work on the site. BUT, my family will be pleased to have the house in more order. I started my spring clean last Friday and slowly over the next couple of weeks I will finish it. So far the kitchen is looking lovely and sparkly clean.

As for the PIF's only one person hasn't said not to PIF them, so Mrs Frizz if you would like to be a PIFee send me a pm on SE. Other than that I think I will PIF some new scrappers here in town.

My class went really well. It was so much fun. There were 7 people and I think I have got another 4 new scrapbookers out of it! I let them choose there own colours and it was so cool to see there personalitys coming through with what they chose. Even though they basically followed my layout they all looked so different and cool.

On other news, my big boy got onto the year 4 quiz team. He got equal top score with his best friend. It is so wonderful to see him blooming with his new teacher. He also had his final hockey game on Sat. They won, what a great way to end the season. They ended up being 5th in division 1, a great effort considering this was there 1st year in division 1 and it is a combined team from 2 schools and range in age from 8-11. Steve gave them all certificates and made them personal. He gave Tobyn Most Enthusiastic player, Tobyn was so chuffed with this!

On Sunday we took Tobyn and his friend Thomas to there 1st rugby game. It was Manawatu vs Otago. Manawatu played really well and it was a draw. the best thing about the game for the boys was when they caught one of the balls kicked into the crowd. After the game they took the ball and got the players to sign it, the players were surprised to see 2 little boys with a ball! They will remember that for a long time!

Have a great weekend everyone TTFN.

Wednesday, 5 September 2007

PIF a Class and a cutie

There is a fun thing going around the place at the moment call Play it forward. I guess a take on the Pay it Forward idea from the movie of the same same that I enjoyed. So what happens is someone sends me something or does something special and then I do the same for someone else. So for anyone that leaves a message on my blog I will pick 3 people to PIF to. The only catch is that you then PIF to 3 other people. It is fun and people love being treated special once in a while.

Tonight I am teaching a class at our Mums group. I foolishly suggested to Kaila that maybe I could do a page about me with them. We usually talk about our parenting and how we can be better parents, so what about us, a leagacy for our children. Kaila said 'Oh what a fantastic idea, what about our next meeting?' I had been stressing about it! I have never done anything like this before. Will they like it, what do I do, how do I organise the stuff, how many people will turn up and on and on. Last week I was lucky to find some paper very cheap at Spotlight, nice American Crafts stuff it was too. Yesterday I finally put the page idea together, see the pic. I like it. It is very simple, but I don't know if it is too simple. I will let you know after tonight how it goes.



Look at what Isaac spent a lot of yesterday afternoon doing. He spent ages puting these tiny little Mickey Mouse characters in and out of the cab of the truck. Opening and shutting the doors. He was so engrossed he didn't know I was taking pics for ages.



A funny thing that happened with Tobyn this morning....

He went to his room to get dressed and there was a cockroach on the floor of his room. Steve went in and told him that he should keep his room tidier and make sure there wasn't any food in there. Well of course Tobyn wasn't happy with that comment because he never takes food into his room. I on the other hand said it probably came in the open toilet window from the woodshed. His room is right next to the toilet. He liked that idea better. After that he spent a few mins tidying his room. He came into the kitchen and we had the following conversation...

Tobyn: 'I think I know why the cockroach came into my room'
Mum: 'Why'
Tobyn: 'This book was on the floor'

Holds up a kids cookbook with a picture of an icecream sunday on the cover

Mum: 'Oh, why'
Tobyn: 'I think it liked the look of the picture on the front and thought it would taste good'

I couldn't help but laugh and write it down for the future!

Sunday, 2 September 2007

Isaac and Apollo, so cute!

Man this was just so cute I had to blog about it, deffinately a memory to keep alive!

After his bath tonight Isaac always likes a 'cuggle' with Mummy. So I took him and sat on the couch just as 'The Zoo' was starting. Apollo came and climbed onto Isaacs lap and made himself comfortable. Steve got the first couple of photos because it was so cute. Next minute Isaac is saying 'Yummy', Apollo was licking his face. I said 'Apollo is giving you a kiss' so then Isaac was giving Apollo mouth kisses! He doesn't even give me a 'proper' kiss, always turns his head for me to kiss his cheek. He must REALLY love Apollo. SO cute!





The Music In Me

This is my layout for the first challenge at Neens The music in Me blog. Neen has started a blog with 2 challenges each month all to do with music. I know I am going to get lots of inspiration from this one!

This layout doesn't have wonderful photos on it! These were taken back in 1995 before we had an SLR and before I really knew much about how to take good pics! But the challenge using the title 'Ice Ice Baby' was perfect for these photos! So thank you Neen for a wonderful blog!

And I am so MAD, I just realised I spelt Melbourne wrong, ARGH! And the letters are stuck firm, they will be hard to change!!!

Saturday, 1 September 2007

On a HIGH

I am so excited! I got 1st equal in this weeks scrapbook essentials ultimate scrapper comp. I am in shock! There were so many amazing and deserving layouts and I can't believe mine got chosen. Woohoo, doing a little happy dance!

Thank you for your kind thoughts for Isaac. He is much improved. After 1 dose of ibuprofen and a 3 hour sleep he was much better. He is now back to his cheeky rat big self. He still has a horrible chesty cough and an icky nose but I can will take that over the listless, sad little munchkin he was for 2 days. Last night I got my first night of full sleep in a week, so I am happy about that too. Unfortunately though I now have a horrible cough as well. C'est la vie, goes with the territory of being a Mum.

We have a very quiet weekend here, which I need after the last week. Steve is planning on taking the boys out this afternoon and giving me some space for an hour or so. Aaaah, looking forward to that.

ttfn