This life of mine

5 years ago today.....

2009-04-10T20:13:00.003+09:30

We were married!! It is our wedding anniversary today and unfortunately I have spent it on the lounge not being able to walk very well, I have done something to my knee which has caused it to swell up and be very painful, Mark thinks its a bit suss as he has just started holidays and I end up on the lounge not being able to do anything!!! in all seriousness though I dont know what is wrong with it and am hoping I wont be out of action for very long (I am secretly hoping I will be back at the gym next week and not the 6 week time frame my Mum gave me today!)

Here are a couple of OTP things, the first is a Heidi Swapp mirror album which I covered a bit with rub ons, I titled the front with 'the boy, the girl capturing 5 years' I havn't finished this yet but I will add photos and journalling from the past 5 years, I used Jenni Bowlin journalling cards for it.

The next thing is a box I covered with (Jenni Bowlin again) paper, I lined the inside with some felt, I also used a Delish rub on.

Well I really got to get of the computer and put my knee back up and take another dose of painkillers and some chocolate!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T19:58:00.002+09:30

Here are a couple of other things I have been doing lately, the box was a plain one I picked up from a discount store, I took the fittings of then painted it and covered it with paper which I can't remember who made it, I loved the boy and girl on it!

The next thing I have done is an accordian album in a box, a pre-made album which I covered, I used a thick felt black ribbon for the spine, this will be an ongoing album of random shots from 2009, titled everyday moments 2009,I added a quote on the inside from Macbeth
which I really like
'I wonder what I did for God today;
How many times did I once pause and pray?
But I must find and serve Him in these ways,
For life is made of ordinary days.

waiting for the holidays.....

2009-04-06T20:33:00.002+09:30

We are all counting down to the holidays this week! both Mark and Jake start their holidays at Easter, it will be nice to have Mark home again!

More girl layouts here, this post and the previous post are all the recent layouts from the past few weeks, I have also done a a few 'off the page' stuff which I will photograph in the near future, anyway first up is of Bethany titled 'I'm not your average girl' a few nice shots of Bethany.

'lovely little girl' is of Ella, she is wearing her beanie - mindless of the fact it was a warm day!

'capture the joy' is of the girls and I, they weren't that interested for a nice photo!

here's another one of Ella titled 'Beauty, and using probably the only photoshop action I can figure out! (changing some of the photo to black and white).

Last one is of Bethany titled '& savor every moment'.

Be back soon!

2009-04-06T20:20:00.002+09:30

'Memories' layout - this photo of the kiddies was taken a couple of days before Christmas, it is quite difficult to take a nice picture of 3 children together - I'm not sure why that is!

the next freaky photos are of Jacob, he recently had a scary school disco so Grandma took him shopping for a scary mask, which he enjoyed scaring his sisters with!

'A fine day' is a layout of myself with the kids, Mark and I took the kids to the Botanical Gardens on Adelaide Cup Day about a month ago, we all had an enjoyable afternoon out together.

'Picture perfect' is a layout of Bethany, the photo was taken about a year ago now but it is one of my favs, I have scrapped this photo before but I wanted to get rid of the paper and the scraps.

'I see you' is one of Ella, she was playing on her own with the sheets hanging on the line, so I got the camera out, which she wasn't to happy about!

back once again!

2009-03-20T23:47:00.002+10:30

Back again after a couple of months which flew by rather quickly!
I have already posted a few more layouts in previous posts just now as I can only upload 5 photos at a time, and Im waiting for Mark to come home after a full day at the clipsal - yes its nearly midnight! Im sure the cars have been in bed for quite a while now!

Layouts, first is of Ella and myself 'sweet moments such as this' I love this photo of Ella she looks so sweet!

'she loves to do puzzles' is of Bethany and her love of puzzles, she spends half a day putting a puzzle together only to take it apart and start all over again! I finally got to use my K&CO puzzle pieces with this layout!

'ellas rose' is of Ella and her rose which she received from her Daddy for Valentines Day! Bethany received one aswell but she was too shy for a photo! (Mummy received a bunch of Lillies!)

'love, merry and joy' is a Christmas layout I completed a couple of months after Christmas,

last up is 'moments I adore' another cute one of Bethany and Ella.

2009-03-20T23:37:00.002+10:30

first layout is of Ellas 2nd birthday - which was back in September last year,

'Holiday' is of our first family holiday together as a family of 5, the photos were taken a couple of years ago,

'that aint no kissy face' is of Ella, she has a blue mouth from eating a blue candycane!

'Time flies' is of another old photo of Ella - makes me clucky looking at baby photos!

and yet another old photo! 'time flies' a photo of Bethany, Jacob and tiny baby Ella!

2009-03-20T23:27:00.002+10:30

these layouts here were created a while ago (sometime within the last couple of months!)
'beautiful' is yet another layout of Ella - the only willing person in this family to pose for a picture!

'Bethanys teddy' is a layout about (surprisingly enough) Bethanys beloved teddy, she loves her teddy!

'follow your bliss' is of Jacob, the photos were taken of him last Christmas,

'love your life is of Bethany, one of my fav layouts I have done for a while,

last up is another one of Bethany 'little miss serious' and its the opposite of my previous layout - one of my not so fav!! I tried to do a couple of things which didnt turn out very well!

2009-03-20T23:20:00.002+10:30

first layout up is 'sweet' cute pictures of the girls showing some sisterly love with each other!

next up is of Ella titled 'the world always looks brighter from behind a smile.

'just smile' is a layout of Ella and myself, and yes that is a couple of paper doilies I have used!

last one is of Jacob and I taken a few days before Christmas 2008 titled 'friends forever my boy and I.

girl layouts

2009-01-13T20:43:00.002+10:30

Here are a few more girly layouts I have completed over the past month or so, first up is of Bethany and I titled 'thats no fairy face', Bethany has started pulling faces now whenever her photo is being taken, and in this photo she was wearing her fairy costume.

Next is of Ella titled 'a snapshot' just a lovely photo I took of Ella.

Another one of Ella titled 'smile', shes the opposite of Bethany when her photo is being taken, she quite happily smiles!

Next up is of Bethany and Ella titled 'forever my little girls' I love this photo of them both!

Last one is another of Ella titled 'look at your face' just a photo of her with chocolate on her face - not that exciting!

I have become very addicted to a nintendo wii game that Mark gave me for Christmas - Animal Crossing, I visit my town at least a couple of times during the day and spend my time fishing and going into the city, I will soon be able to pay off my mortgage and hope to upgrade my house, it does also make me feel young to still be able to play the nintendo!!

I really should update more often....

2009-01-06T23:23:00.003+10:30

I have alot to catch up on since the last time I wrote (1.12.08) so here are a few things that have happened.

Christmas was a fantastic day again albeit an early start with Jake trying to get up at 3.45 am!!

Ella is now in a big bed, she calls it her Upsy Daisy bed - she loves In the Night Garden!!

Mark painted our bedroom and ripped up the carpet and layed a floating floor down, with help from Andy, they did a very good job!

We had a New Years party here with a couple of other families, 7 kids were here and they all stayed up till midnight! including our girls! when everyone went home Bethany cried for about 5mins upset that the party was over and everyone had gone home!! they were very, very tired!!

Mark and I also had our birthdays on the 14th and 15th of Dec, we didnt do much as we had his Christmas work dinner on that weekend.

I finished off my December daily journal, I will post again with some pictures soon - before this year is out!

retreat layouts

2008-12-01T22:24:00.003+10:30

here are some of my layouts that I completed at the retreat - which will soon be one month ago - time has flown!

First up is 'me & you' a picture of Ella and I taken earlier on in the year,

Next 'its funny to be a bit silly sometimes' (the title is very similiar to a previous one of Jacob and I but I was stuck for a title!)

'Its your birthday today' is of Bethany taken on her third birthday back in July,

'you make my heart sing' is of Bethany again, I love this photo of her taken when we were away in October,

last one is simply titled 'I love her' Ella is quite challenging at times but theres no denying that I simply love her!

The Christmas tree went up yesterday and Mark totally surprised me by going of to buy some lights to hang up outside! I have been asking each year if he could put up some Christmas lights, and this year he finally gave in - they look really nice dangling from the roof gutters!

I am doing the December Daily journal that Ali Edwards is doing I finished of the finishing touches to mine last night, and I am really looking forward to completing this over the coming month, I will post some pictures of it soon.

Hi again!

2008-11-25T10:27:00.003+10:30

Apologies for another long break in my blogging world!
I have had a busy month, we had the scrap of faith retreat a couple of weeks ago, I flew up to Qld with Ali and Ingeborg on Thursday and we came home the following Monday, quite sleep deprived but it was all worth it! it was a great weekend getting to meet all the lovely ladies who I have gotten to know over the past couple of years, the weekend was filled with lots of laughter, fun and a little scrapping! I managed to do about 6 layouts which I still need to photograph!

So hear are some older ones, and I hope I haven't put these up yet,
first one is of Jacob and I with a long title 'I hope we keep this kind of silliness with each other, because sometimes we just like to take photos of ourselves'

Next 'all I wanted was a nice photo of us' is of Mark and I, I was hoping for a nice photo but of course Mark had another face in mind!

'enjoy your life' is of Bethany, I used a KI Memories transperant sheet thingy,

Next is 'Make me smile', a photo of Ella having one of her toddler moments,

last photo is of Bethany and Ella taken last week sometime, just a cute photo!

Unfortunately both the girls have the cold/flu so the past couple of nights I have been constantly up and down throughout the night, mainly with Ella, so at the moment I feel very tired, I am very grateful that Mark has gone into work late so he has been getting Jake ready for school and taken him just so I can have an extra lie in - what a sweetie!

I have also fallen into the Facebook trap! I have found some lost old friends out there - some still not sure if I still need to keep them as old lost friends! lol!

Well better go, I better wish my sister Emily a very Happy Birthday for Nov 25th and also Karen, hope you both have a great day, this is the time of year when it flies straight past!

Hindmarsh Island holiday pictures

2008-10-24T10:02:00.002+10:30

We all had a great family holiday! we came home yesterday well rested.

The house we stayed in was really nice and quiet, there was a forest behind us and a vacant block of land next to us so we were pretty secluded, thats Bethany climbing on the rocks there with Ella on Marks shoulders in the background.

We quickly realised we had very frequent visitors which we fed at their demand! there were a couple of magpies and 3 ducks that stayed around until they were fed! the kids loved that especially Bethany! thats Ella and Bethany feeding the ducks, I took that picture on the last morning we were there, it wasnt even 7am yet and those ducks kept quaking and walking around the outside of the house so me being the mother duck I am I got up and we fed them!

We visited Urrimbirra wildlife park, I think that was the highlight of our holiday! we had a great time there with the kids plus there were only a few other people visiting! thats Jake with a couple of emus behind him.

Bethany loved feeding the Kangaroos, apart from this Kangaroo who was a bit impatient with Bethanys hand feeding, so he grabbed the Kangaroo food bag from her and tried to feed himself - there were quite a few tears from Bethany then! We saw crocodiles, snakes, Koalas - heaps of wildlife animals!

Here is Ella, Mark took this as we were leaving the park, we think she didnt want to walk through the bird cage again!

We didnt do too much else, took a couple of drives but we mainly just relaxed, which is what should happen on a holiday!!

another month gone...

2008-10-17T22:22:00.003+10:30

sorry about that! these days just seem to fly by!

A few weeks ago we celebrated baby Ellas 2nd birthday! and boy is she a feisty little thing! thats her in the first layout here titled adorable, she looks like a sweet little toddler but really shes a little miss bossy! I have given myself a little break for a few weeks by not taking her to the shops anymore - she really is a handful! she is starting to be rather unkind to her big sister at times and I have to deal with Bethany complaining about Ella hitting or pushing her around, so I am hoping she will grow out of this! she must get this attitude from her father as anyone who knows me knows just what a placid girl I am!

Next layout is another one of Ella titled 'Lifes a beach' this is one I did for Pencillines, in the school holidays I took the kids to the beach for a bit, we only live a few minutes away from there but we hardly ever visit the beach, so one nice afternoon I took them for a bit of a play.

next one 'Hes my funny dude' is of Jacob and I, I did this for another sketch site but I never got around to posting it in.

'she doesnt get that frown from me' is of Ella and myself, she has a real big frown in this photo, I know my Mum would say that she definately has my frown but I think its another thing she got from her Father!

Last up is an old photo of Bethany 'shes a day dreamer', I did some hand stencilling on this one.

Well thats a handful of layouts, I do seem to be getting my mojo back again, I just need some fresh photos and everyone seems to be less willing to be photographed! we are going on a family holiday on Monday for a few days to Hindmarsh Island, down by Victor Harbour, which we are really looking forward to, then in another few weeks I will be in Queensland on the Scrap of Faith retreat, which I am really looking forward to aswell!

Friday catch up

2008-09-12T22:21:00.002+09:30

Back again!! this past week hasn't been too good as I came down with this dreadful flu again - I cant believe how many times I have had this over the last couple of months, I still have a lingering annoying cough as well as the start of my hayfever season, anyway here are a few 'oldish' layouts, I seem to have gone off scrapping a bit, I cant really afford to tho as I have so much stuff to use! lol! so hopefully I can crawl out of this scrapping rut I am in!

First layout 'I love my sister is a gorgeous photo I took of Bethany and Ella, full title reads 'can you tell I love my sister'

next 'she is growing ever so quickly' is of Bethany,

last one is of Ella and her bouncy hair titled 'love those curls' I love her hair at the moment, it bounces as she toddles along!

Here is a photo of the girls I took last week, Bethany was rather keen for me to take a picture with Ella, who was more interested in eating her sandwich!

I'm hoping I haven't posted any of these layouts yet! apologies if I have! I will be back soonish with some recent ones!

I know I have been .....

2008-09-02T19:58:00.002+09:30

MIA for a long time now! procrastination is a big problem for me sometimes!

I will start of first with a few of my recent layouts, first up 'look mum' is of Ella, the full title reads 'look mum I just ate your flavoured lip balm!', the picture shows Ellas lips covered with one of my lip balms - which she destroyed!!

Next 'sweet baby' is a sketch taken from pencil lines
a baby photo of Ella.

'As good as it gets' is a family shot of Mark and the kids - for some reason I thought I would be able to take a nice family photo where everyone would smile and look at the camera! (dont know what I was thinking) - the sub title reads this is as good as it gets (photowise).

4th up is another one of Ella 'lil miss sweet cheeks', she does have the cutest chubbiest sweet cheeks! I used the new Scenic Route papers.

Last up is Jacob 'you are a wally', whenever I try to take photos of him he pulls a face at the last minute, it is seriously hard to take a decent photo of him!

The last time I blogged I said about how we were all getting better again after the colds and flu, well since then we have all had it again, with the girls and I getting it for the 3rd time, so I am so looking forward to warmer weather and sunshine.

Marks work had an award night a couple of weeks ago, the Steel Industry Awards, his company was one of the sponsors of someone who had won, so for me it really meant a really nice cooked meal, free drinks and the chance to buy and wear a new dress!! plus Jacob was excited when I told him it was hosted by Cosi who was a winner on one of The Biggest Loser shows, well thats probably the only exciting thing that has happened to me lately!

I WILL be back soon - within a week - I promise!!!

Friday catch up

2008-07-25T23:16:00.002+09:30

Back again with some more layouts - a few pink ones today!

First up is 'Pretty girl' starring Bethany - my little photogenic girl! I used KI Memories paper for this one, one of my fav papers to use!

Next one titled 'two sisters' is of Bethany and Ella playing around in Bethanys bed, the sub title reads 'who like to climb into made beds' at the moment they like to either get under the sheets in our bed or Bethanys bed during the day, which means I have to remake the same beds over and over!

Third up 'yummy' is a layout of myself and Bethany making her birthday cake - thanks to Jacob for taking the pictures!

Last one 'eating ice cream at Nanas' is a layout I completed for a challenge on the Aussie
scrap source blog, the criteria was that you had to use Tinkering Ink paper, I didnt realise that people can vote for these layouts and sadly no one has voted for mine yet (sniff sniff)
They have a great challenge over the next month if anyone is after a bit of a challenge, I have just about finished my next 2 - hopefully I may get a vote or 2 for those!!

Well thats about it for my week, school is back, the girls are well enough to go back in to the creche at gym, which means Im able to work out again pumping some iron, so life is in a routine again! - still there never seems enough hours in a day to finish things!

Friday update

2008-07-18T22:18:00.002+09:30

Back again with some more layouts - they mainly consist of Bethany!

First up is 'you glow with your beauty' its hard to tell through the computer but this picture of her seems to just radiate with her beauty - hence the title!

next is titled 'funny girls' a 2 photo layout! it is of Ella and Bethany, who are both pulling a face!

'Be still' is a layout which I initially completed for a Pencil line sketch, but it has taken me ages to photograph it and have probably missed the cut off!

next layout 'what are you thinking' is another one of Bethany, this photo of her was taken in April of last year, my sister Emily took this one of her, she looks so deep in thought!

and last one is of Ella titled 'this picture says Cuteness', she was wearing her red and white gingham top from Pumpkin Patch and she has a tiny little ponytail - cute!!

The school holidays are coming to an end, the weather hasn't been that kind - not complaining about the rain, but it does get a bit hard keeping the kids occupied!

It was Bethany's birthday last Sunday, 3 she turned! she received plenty of Dora and Strawberry Shortcake toys! she had a great day and was totally spoilt!

I am aiming to update with layouts on a weekly basis, I still have lots to photograph! I seem to be whipping them out in record time lately!

Chatterbox layouts

2008-07-07T22:03:00.002+09:30

A very cold and wet start to the school holidays today! I am back with some more layouts, all of these layouts (except for 'Play' one) were for a Blue Bazaar
Chatterbox challenge, the first one 'sweet' which is of Bethany is featured in the portal for the week and the other 3 plus another one was featured in the newsletter.
I was pretty proud of myself as it took me about 5 days to complete 6 layouts! I had 10 sheets of Chatterbox paper i had to use - very nice paper aswell! the 'Baby of mine' layout is like a fabric paper.

The 'Play' layout is of Bethany and Ella, I journalled about how they love to play outside, and the tiny photo on that layout is of Ella giving Bethany a kiss as she is laying on the grass - cute!!

Well just a quick one tonight as my hands and feet are freezing and Im longing for my nice flanellete sheets!

another month gone!

2008-06-30T21:43:00.004+09:30

Another month has gone without those extra postings I always say I will do! but I do have a good excuse tho, we all came down with the awful flu that is going around plus with the end of financial year Mark was working overtime plus! but thankfully we are all better now and things are settling down again for Mark, even tho Mark had been working so much he was still so much help to me when I wasn't very well and struggling a bit - what a blessing he is to me!!

Anyway I have tons of layouts (not literally!) heres a few that I have photographed first up is 'My daddys loving hand', is of Ella holding Marks hand,

next 'a toddler moment' is of Ella again throwing one of her tantrums, which she is famous for especially at the shops, I had one of those moments with her the other day at the shopping center, we had been there a while as I was birthday shopping for my Mum and by the time I was in the last shop she was out of the double pram wanting to walk so I had to pick her up which started one of her screaming rages and as she went all stiff I had to carry her under my arm while pushing this awful pram, every now and then I had to put her down as my arm was killing me and I thought it may stop her crying but no she proceeded to scream and lay down on the ground - by this stage I was past caring what people were thinking! and I was a bit like Moses parting the sea with her as everyone just got out of my way!! thankfully Bethany was as quiet as a mouse and just sat in her seat!

'feel the sunshine' is of Bethany, she loves looking at my layouts, especially the ones I do about her,

'you make me happy' is of Jacob,

and last one 'my dear children' is obviously my children, Bethany is on top then Ella then Jake - I love that photo! and the paper, its one of the new Sassafrass Lass lines, I loved the dear, reminds me of Bambi.

Thanks for looking!! and a big Hello to Leanne, wheres your blog hey?

I cut it!!

2008-05-31T22:01:00.002+09:30

Well I cut my long locks of!! A week ago I went to the hairdresser for my usual colour and word had got around (thanks mum) that I was ready to cut my hair, so as not to dissapoint my hairdresser I said 'ok we can cut it today!' - I was going to dwell on the thought for a couple of weeks! she really thinned it down and layered it, and now a week later I love it! I have had it so long for over half my life, it took a few days to adjust to my reflection and not see so much hair! I do miss my long ponytail though, like when Im at the gym and Im doing high impact stuff and my ponytail resembled a horses mane running a race and now my tiny little ponytail begins to fall out during my workout! anyway enough of my hair, or as Mark says stop looking at yourself and stop taking pictures of yourself!!

Here are a couple of older layouts first is Blessed is what I am, the photo is of Bethany and I, I was taking a self portrait of us 2 and I accidently took that photo of us and I love how happy I look!

Very ladylike is of Bethany, you probably cant tell through here but her little jeans are halfway down her little bum and I couldnt resist taking a shot of it! I also loved the new Daisy Ds range of paper which I used for this, I also have journalling on the side of the photo but I dont think its that noticeable through here.

I do have so many more layouts to upload and finish, I tend to leave the journalling to do at a later date, so at the moment I have quite a few that need journalling as their finishing touches.

another post!

2008-05-22T21:49:00.004+09:30

Im back within 2 weeks of my last post!!

I'll start first with some layouts first up 'precious' is of Ella (obviously asleep!) I have been having some 'trying' times with her lately - you wouldn't guess by her 'sweet' chubby little face!!

Next 'you shine' is of Bethany, I have been taking some real gorgeous photos of her lately, and shes starting to tell me to get the camera to take a picture of her if shes doing something!

'Cherish the moments' is a photo of Mark and I on the balcony of the Rendevous in the city, where we stayed for our anniversary back in April, because of Marks dark complexion its hard to make him out! - or its my poor photography skills!

Next another one of Bethany, she was behind a pole which is why theres only half of her in the photo, I love her whispy (unbrushed) hair and her delicate features.

last up another one of Bethany I think I titled it Happy, just another beautiful photo of her I just had to scrap!!

Not alot to mention, I am contemplating on getting my very long thick hair cut - and I mean CUT! - more on that on another post maybe!

Little 20 month old Ella has been testing my patience, when something doesn't go her way she throws whatever is in her hand (or whatever is close to her) then throws herself to the ground - at first I thought it was cute but now its starting to test me as it is happening more and more!

Well thanks for reading, will be back soon!!

After a long absence...

2008-05-03T22:21:00.002+09:30

I have returned! I thought that maybe a month had passed since I had last blogged but I was surprised to see it is nearly 2 months!

So what have I been up to lately? not a great deal, a fair bit of scrapping! on last count I had finished about 40 pages so far this year, I think I have come to the point where I just need to get rid of all the new accumulated products that just seem to find a way to my desk!

I have posted a few photos of the kids, Jacob turned 9 a couple of weeks ago, we gave him a couple of hermit crabs - another thing to add to my feeding and cleaning list! the kids and I have grown quite fond to 'herbie and hermie'!
Ella is growing so quickly and I seem to get asked if Bethany and Ella are twins! they are so cute together although I have noticed lately that they are starting to annoy each other a bit, I usually hide in another part of the house! lol! I am so blessed with my kids especially Jacob and his sweet natured spirit - he is such a blessing in helping me with the girls and keeping them entertained.

Here is also a layout of the girls I did a while ago titled A priceless photo, Bethany was all dressed up in her princess outfit and Ella was in her wiggles tights, her squeky shoes and a fairy skirt (a mismatched outfit!) they just looked really cute but really daggy at the same time!!

Well I better be of, Mark just got home from the footy, I dont want to find out if his team won - because I really dont care! lol! and he just told me they did, doh.

I am planning on returning regularly to the cyber world after a bit of a break, I will also be off to Qld in November for the Scrap of Faith retreat which will be quite exciting!

Anyway till next time - and it will be within a couple of months! lol!

I survived the heat wave!!

2008-03-19T22:53:00.002+10:30

I am so glad that the weather has returned to a very comfortable temperature! it was the first time last night that the ceiling fan wasnt on while we were asleep in over 2 weeks, and I was awoken by the sound of quietness! I woke up around midnight and it was dead quiet!! I had got so used to the humming of the ceiling fan that I forgot just how quiet it does get at night - until Ella woke! my nights lately are so broken with her waking, it is becoming so tiresome.

Here are some more layouts, they are of the girls, I seem to be scrapping Ella more than anyone else, she features in all my layouts here, I love the photo in 'Lean on me' Bethany (the older one) is leaning on Ella, I know I have said this before but I just love watching them play together they are the best of friends!!

Well it is a quick update tonight its 11pm - way past bedtime, one day till the Easter break and from tomorrow night my hubby and I will be on opposite sides again! lol! footy is back!!! my team plays tomorrow in a rematch of last year grand final, and as like any other Port fan I do not want to relive that awful moment!

I will leave with a message for my Mum, it is so nice to have you home again, I did miss you when you went on your long holiday! (and it wasnt because I needed a babysitter!) I love you Mum!!!!

back again-

2008-03-07T23:05:00.002+10:30

with some more of my creations, first up is one of Jacob titled Be of good character Jacob, I used Romans 5 v1-5 for the journalling and used the gorgeous Basic Grey two scoops paper,

next is Silly but Sweet, I was preparing tea when I turned around and found Jacob had sat himself and Bethany up on the kitchen bench - I had 2 options - tell him of or scrap it! lol!

next, you & me is of Mark and I, photo was taken last year sometime, I cut out the flowers from an American Crafts paper after I bought it at Spotlight, as I didnt need any more paper I bought it on the condition I would use it straight away! hence a real easy layout!

Found You is a layout of Bethany, I took the photo of her while she was trying to hide in one of the trees out the back,

last one Vision of Beauty is another one of Bethany, she posed for this beautiful photo, she was pretending to be asleep while she was sitting on the back step - it is one of the most gorgeous photos of her!

I still have heaps more finished layouts, Im amazed at how much I have been scrapping lately - I think I have found my groove!

I am settling in to the gym, I absolutely love it! I love hopping on the treadmill with my new ipod that Mark kindly bought me, I love the time out and the freedom to just exercise, I am having a couple of sessions with a personal trainer so I can do some weights and build and reclaim my toned body! LOL!!!!!

Its the start of a long weekend here and we are in a heatwave at the moment, we are starting to lose quite a few established plants now due to the water restrictions and the fact we have had no rain for months, our front lawn is gone and out the back I have lost a few rose bushes, sob sob. so over this heat!!

Nothing much else to add, I went to the Clipsal a couple of weeks ago with Mark, poor man, he usually goes with his work mates in a corporate box but this year because I asked he took me, and as he said to me when we left before it had ended (because it was a bit boring) he said 'now you know what this is like, next year I can go back with my mates!' and I said 'thats fine dear!'

Once again....

2008-02-22T22:52:00.002+10:30

sorry for being a slack blogger! lol! it either means my life is rather busy or rather boring! - well its not really boring anymore so it must be because I lead a busy life!!!

I had my first acceptance with Scrapbook Creations yesterday, it wont be till issue 57 which I dont think will be till August or so, I was pretty chuffed when I first read the email! and I guess I better delete the layout after I post this! its one of Bethany asleep titled Sleep (strangely enough!)

I have some more layouts, first up is '2 sisters' I love these photos of Bethany and Ella, the main photo looks like a mirror image - and yes I do like to dress them the same!

Next is 'Good things', the sub title reads God fills my life with Good Things, and the journaling reflects the title, its an oldish photo taken about 6 months now, of Mark with Jacob and Bethany when we went to the beach.

'Beautiful' is of Bethany,

'Loving the moment' is of Ella, I took this photo of her a few weeks ago while she was playing around on our bed - she just looked so cute!

and last one 'marvel' is a baby one of Ella.

Life has pretty much settled back in to a routine of work (for Mark) and school, its hard to believe its nearly March! I joined a gym! I go in on Monday to have a tour and the girls are having a trial in the creche - which Im sure they will love, I have become so unfit since Ella and I knew if I didnt start exercising again
I would soon regret it.

Well thats it for now, I know I say this all the time but I will be back soon with more layouts, theres still about 6 I haven't photographed yet!

Back to School

2008-01-30T21:13:00.000+10:30

Well we are back in the school routine, Jacob was more than happy to be back at school, hes in a year 4/5 class this year, it doesnt seem that long ago when I had to run out the classroom while his teacher held him because he was so upset at me leaving him! and Bethany is excited as she knows that playgroup starts up again on Friday.

Here are some layouts I completed a week ago before I had a few days of a big slump! I had been doing so well with my scrapping that I knew it was only a matter of time before I would hit a wall! lol!
I have done a 11 x 8.5 layout 'enough with the photos mum' is of Bethany and I, she was getting fed up with me taking shots of us both!

'Real Beauty' is a layout of Ella,

'Love U' is of Mark and I taken on Christmas Day,

'me & daddy loungin around' is of Ella and Mark,

and the last one 'my big baby' is another photo taken on Christmas with Ella - whos not really a baby anymore!

now that my scrap urge has returned, I will return at a later date with more of my stuff!

more layouts!

2008-01-18T14:06:00.000+10:30

Back with some more layouts, I have been neglecting the computer a bit lately and have spent my extra time scrapping! lol!

my first layout 'we adore you' is one of my favorite ones of Ella as a tiny baby,

next one 'devoted' is of my devoted husband of mine, I used a few of the Basic Grey Christmas line paper with that one,

another favorite photo of mine is of Jacob holding Ella titled 'he loves her this picture says it all', when I showed it to Jacob he wasnt impressed that I used pink on the layout!

this bright one of Bethany titled 'your deep blue eyes' is a close up of her pointing to the camera, which is why half her face looks distorted, I love how blue her eyes look,

and last one is of Ella title 'sweet, not always', such a sweet looking photo of her but I journalled about her mood swings, I used My Minds Eye paper with this one- beautiful paper!

Well better go do some housework, Mark has been back at work this week, trying to get back into a routine, we are back to getting out of bed at 7.30 and after a few weeks of sleeping in Im feeling rather tired at this time of the afternoon!

layouts!

2008-01-10T21:08:00.000+10:30

Thought Id update with some layouts I have done over the past week or so, I have been able to do heaps of scrapping lately with Mark still on holidays, the kids unwell and with the weather we have just been hanging out at home lately, hes back to work next week so it will be back to getting out of bed at 7ish (this morning we got up at 9am!!! even with 2 toddlers!!) and back to a routine of housework, shopping and cooking! Mark is a bad influence at tea time lol, I cant count how many times he has said in the afternoon 'do you just feel like getting takeaway for tea tonight?' - what a very dear man! lol!

Anyway the layout 'Cool' is of Ella, she likes to wear Marks sunnies and hat,

'family' is of us taken at Christmas time, I used Autumn Leaves paper for that one - gorgeous range that line,

'1 empty box, heaps of fun' is of the girls playing in the box that our new washing machine came in, a very simple layout,

'The sweet things in life' is a photo of Ella with my mum, a photo of them both taken at Christmas, trying to take a photo of my mum is as hard as taking one of Mark!

last one 'Charmer' is of Jacob, the photos of him were taken back in April when it was his birthday - and he really is a charmer!!

Well thats all for now, I still have a few more layouts to upload so hopefully will do that over the next few days!

scrapjack entry

2008-01-07T20:04:00.000+10:30

Heres my entry for Aussie Scrapjacked, a sketch from Kim Archer, I love these photos of Ella taken last week, the main one she is poking her tongue out, I managed to capture some cute shots of her!

Christmas Catch up

2008-01-03T10:30:00.000+10:30

A New Year has begun, the celebrations that occur in December have all been celebrated, so now we are all in relaxation mode!!

Mark is still on holidays till the 14th Jan, it is nice to have him home, and we have been spoilt with sleep ins, usual get out of bed time at the moment is 8.30am! although I wont mention I have had a few sleepless nights with the girls, Im hoping it was the heat and them both going through one of those stages!

Our birthdays were good, that was a few weeks ago now! mine was on the Saturday of Marks Christmas work function, so we stayed in a hotel in the city, we managed to have a wander down Rundle Mall and spent too much money in Haighs! - anyone from SA who loves chocolate would know all about Haighs! (not to mention how expensive it is, but well worth the money, lol!)

We had a beautiful day for Christmas weather wise, and our lunch was enjoyed by everyone, the photos here are all from Christmas, Jacob is in one opening up one of his Doctor Who toys, I could here him around 5am, going through his stocking which I filled with lollies, and at 6.30am he was so happy it was time we could all get up, I did have to tell Mark a few times to get out of bed lol! and I had to wake both the girls up, which explains why Beth and Ella both look bleary eyed!

The other shots is our family photo, and one of Ella and I, wish I had taken more of Jacob and the girls.

Well thats an overview of my life over the last week, I have begun to scrap again after a bit of a break, not to my doing, but the business of life! lol!

I wont mention our New Year celebrations, not after Mark got out the shower with a few minutes to the countdown and told me he was going to bed cos he was tired!!!!! needless to say I wasnt very happy with him, and as Ella had awoken beforehand and was up (it was VERY hot still) and Jacob wanted to stay up for midnight, I took them out the back to hear all the cheers and see if we could see some fireworks, but it was very quiet and we didnt see anything, so Jacob said it was the most boring New year ever!!!!

scrapjack

2007-12-29T10:50:00.000+10:30

I finished this layout for this months Aussie Scrapjacked
using a sketch from Sarah Vanwijck, titled 'be like that then' I used a photo of Jacob, and seeing I find it hard to take shots of him without pulling a face, I scrapped one where hes poking out his tongue at me!
I will come back later and post up our Christmas and show of some photos!

gifts

2007-12-14T20:10:00.000+10:30

I was inspired by the girls from Scrap of Faith to make Jacobs teacher a gift, which he gave her on the last day of school today, its a pen holder for her desk, Jake said she was quite impressed when she found out I had made it, I put boxes of smarties in it, because she was a good teacher and she made the kids a lot smarter because of her teaching! I thought that was clever of me to think that! and I told Jake to make sure he tells her what the smarties meant, but he forgot!

My next gift is a gift I treated myself to a - Clip it Up, I have had my eye on one for ages, but as they are quite pricey I knew Id be waiting for a while, until I stumbled upon one on an American ebay shop, I bought both tiers plus a cover for it and all up including postage it cost me $140 compared to $110 from Blue Bazaar just for the bottom tier and not including postage, plus I received within 10 days!! so it was an early birthday present for me!

I will finish up with a couple of layouts 'peace, joy, love' is just a Christmas one of Ella I did.

'When we were young' is one of myself and Ella and the quote I used is one I just love by Dorothy Evslin - 'What is the price of an afternoon when a small girl is soothed in your arms, when the sun bolts through a doorway and both you and the child are very young' - so that explains the title! lol!

Well its Marks birthday today and we are about to sit down and watch a dvd, Im just waiting for him to tell me to "GET OF THAT COMPUTER" he says that in a nice way of course!!

December

2007-12-03T21:25:00.000+10:30

December already! I love this time of the year!! so full of celebrations, love, presents and fun! I am so excited about Marks Christmas work party - which happens to fall on my birthday! we have our hotel room all booked and Mum is staying over to mind the kids, Mark and I can have a full day and night to ourselves!
We had the kids party on the weekend with Marks work, and the kids received a present from Santa, such fun!

I have a few more layouts 'blessed' is of Bethany and Ella taken on Mothers Day,
'Slow down' is of Ella, the photo was taken a few weeks ago not long after she began to walk, I used the wall in the photo to write the journalling and used a rub-on,

and the blue one 'moments like this I love', the girls were sitting together on the chair swing outside, just giggling together and kissing each other, so I just had to photograph them and scrap it! the journalling is just how much I savour and love the moments I have with them!

I really must start scrapping Jacob, at the moment whenever I try and take a photo of him he pulls a face - very frustrating!!!

scrapjacked entry

2007-11-29T20:09:00.000+10:30

here is my first entry at having a go with an Aussie Scrapjack comp. with Celeste Vermeend being the inspiration, I have been admiring her work for a little while now so I found this one quite easy to do, Bethany is the little angel in this photo with her fairy wings, I also used a quote from Allen Beck which I really like and fits Bethany very well ....
A little girl can be sweeter (and badder) oftener than anyone
else in the world. She can jitter around, and stomp, and make funny noises that frazzle your nerves, yet just when you open your mouth
she stands there demure with that special look in her eyes.
A little girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.

I used Rhonna Farrer paper with this layout- which is just gorgeous looking paper!

more, more and more layouts!

2007-11-23T20:27:00.001+10:30

Here are some more layouts from me, 'moments to cherish' is of a photo of Mark and Bethany, a lovely photo I took of them just at the right moment!

'tis love' is of Mark and I, I was just playing around with this one, wanting to use up the Basic Grey paper I had and the 7 gypsies tape which I used as a border for the photo

I took these photos of Bethany ('spring rain') when it began to rain one day a couple of weeks ago and as it doesnt rain here alot I let her play in it for a few minutes - and she loved it!!

'little ray of sunshine' is of Ella taken funnily enough out in the sunshine!

and the last one 'this makes me smile' is an older photo of Ella and Mark a simple layout but I love the photo and Ellas gorgeous smile!

life is becoming more busier lately as we head nearer to birthdays - my little sister with hers on Sunday! and each weekend from now until Christmas is all booked up with something on!! and only 3 weeks till school holidays (and my birthday!) how fast has this year gone?

I'll try and be back soon! I have been doing a few of the page projects lately and have had trouble finishing one before starting another! lol! at the moment Im doing a ribbon holder I picked up from Spotlight from Kaiser, have been after something to store my ribbons and at $10 this should turn out pretty good (Im hoping!)

quick update!

2007-11-08T21:45:00.001+10:30

wow another post from me within a week!!

have added a couple of layouts, this one of Jacob 'my love for you is unconditional' was finished a few weeks ago when I had a few days of those 'testing times' that I'm sure other 8 year olds put their mums through at some time! - although it was school holidays and he was getting a bit bored alot!

'live out loud' is of Bethany, I took this photo of her when I was hanging out the washing, she was playing with one of the towels that was flapping on the clothes line - she was having an absolute ball and was laughing her head of! and I managed to take the perfect photo of her! so cute!!

These photos are of Ella feeding herself yogurt, shes getting to the stage where she wants to feed herself and on this day I let her!
not that much fun trying to clean her all up though! lol!

We are taking the kids to the Christmas pageant on Saturday - which will be fun! I was quite surprised when I asked Mark about taking the girls and he said yes - he may think again when it comes around next year! lol! Jacobs the one who doesnt want to go now, he thinks hes to old!

I have finally updated!!

2007-11-06T13:50:00.001+10:30

I have been meaning to update my blog over the past couple of weeks but I don't need to convince anyone just how quickly the days seem to go by!

I fell into a bit of a slump with my scrapping - just after I had written how well I was going with it! I seem to be using a lot of 'fresh' coloured paper (if that makes sense!) must be the change in seasons!

The first one 'Who do I love - You' is of Mark and I taken on our wedding day,I did this one a while ago now, I used Love Elsie paper and the matted photo lifts up to reveal hidden journaling, I have also used burgundy ribbon and Heidi Swapp ribbon.
The 'dad' one I used a sketch from Creating Keepsakes - not entirely happy with it but I love the photo of Mark and Ella.
Another dad one! lol! 'my daddy' is of Ella and Mark again - another simple one for me again! pretty sure I used Sassafrass lass paper for that one and a Heidi Swapp ghost shape (the love heart)

'two' is of Bethany, I love this photo of her, I have scrapped this a few times now and it was actually taken when she was about 18 months old, the layout is all about who she is at 2 and what she likes and says etc. I did this one a while ago now, I think I used Creative Imaginations and Collage Press paper.

The last one 'garden girl' is of Bethany I caught her playing in one of the bushes out the back, so I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped away! the photo is a bit blurry and it doesnt show the brightness of the layout, I used Scenic Route paper and a really nice pink linen cardstock, well thats the scrap talk out the way lol!
Ella is now walking just about everywhere! just over the past week or 2 she has really taken of! Bethany seems to have a lot more fun with her now, she likes to go into her room and call Ella and once Ella makes it in the room Bethany closes the door and they are both content to play in there for a little while! usually they pull out all the books and sit there and read them!

I love this time of year with only 7 weeks till Christmas, school holidays, Marks birthday then mine and summer just around the corner, I can't believe how fast this year has gone!

Well I promise I will update very soon - still have more layouts to share, I'll make sure I wont leave it a month next time! lol!

still more layouts!

2007-10-11T22:09:00.001+09:30

I really feel as if I have settled in to my style of scrapping and I am now able to scrap s0 much quicker than I used to - I reckon I have been completing at least 3 each week for the past month or so, which is quick for me!
'My rugged man' is of Mark, he looks rugged in the photo as he hadn't shaved for a couple of days, I like that photo of him - would have been better if he had taken hi sunglasses of!
I did something funny this evening with him (well I had a bit of a quiet chuckle), I was at my desk and he was in the lounge watching tv and as my phone was with me and I knew he had to get up to get his, I sent him a text message for him to get me a drink while he was up! he did eventually! I think he thought it was kind of funny to!

this one is of Bethany titled 'whisper in your sleeping childs ear I love you' which is a quote I really like, she looks so sweet when she sleeps and this is her sleeping position!

Not a lot to mention , Jacob has had a couple of sleepovers, last night he stayed at mums and tonight hes at Marks mums, I look forward to when all 3 kids can stay at their Nanas!
Well better head of to bed, have been so tired lately and my hayfever has really been quite bad the last few days, just when I thought it was starting to subside, as much as I love spring I could really do without all the pollen and stuff in the air, thats enough whining for me tonight!

more layouts

2007-10-06T22:13:00.000+09:30

We are in the middle of school holidays here, so I have been hearing a lot of 'Im bored mum', 'Is this all we are going to do today mum' and my favorite (not) 'whats for tea mum?' which I answer 'Jacob we haven't even had lunch yet so please don't ask me that yet'!

anyway here are some more layouts 'mine' is a photo of Ella and I taken when we took the kids to the beach last Monday, it was a gorgeous day for a public holiday, to cold for the beach but the kids had a ball building sandcastles and Ella eating the sand whenever she could lol!

the one called 'Natalie' is obviously a layout about me! dont really need any other explanation!

and the last one 'love you girls' is of Bethany and Ella, they are just the perfect pair together, Ella has begun to develop a 'little Miss Attitude' lately - she only just turned 1!! at times I can tell that Bethany is just not quite to sure about her feisty little sister!

Till next time!!

Not happy!!

2007-09-30T20:01:00.000+09:30

What started yesterday as a day of excitement and hope for my footy team ended in total disaster and humiliation! we lost by a record loss ever in a grand final, by the end of the game all I wanted to do was to go and hide in a very dark place! and watching the game with Mark in the room I began to feel rather small! as hes a Crows man there was probably no greater game that Crows supporters could've watched with absolute glee!!! I just had to recently apologise to him for my behaviour, so thankfully footy season is over for us all now!

Heres another layout I have recently finished titled 'In his arms' I took this photo of Mark asleep on the lounge with Bethany.

The next one titled 'beautiful, lovely' is of Bethany looking at herself in the mirror (which she often does!) I used a gorgeous Delish Design paper with this which has very delicate lovely designs on it in shades of pink and soft green (you cant tell with this photo) I glued beads for the title and I played around with photoshop to get the picture like that (not sure I could do it again though!) the poem reads 'when in the mirror of his love I look at my reflection, I accept myself for who I am with all my imperfection.' When I was a little girl I had a poster on my wall with that poem and the picture was of a girl looking at herself in the mirror, so I thought that would be the perfect photo for that!

Well thats all for today - I've done well over the past week with all my posts!!!

feeling excited!!!

2007-09-28T22:43:00.000+09:30

Heres another layout I finished a while ago now of baby Ella taken just after she was born, I matted the photo on swatches of material and folded the flowers to make them stand out a bit.
The layout titled 'happy' is of Ella again, the photo was taken about a month or 2 ago and the layout was done not that long after - very simple one that one!
and the other one is of Ella again - 'lil blue eyes', this is a recent photo and layout and its about her blue eyes! I love this photo! and another quick layout!!

Well I better get some sleep before the big day tomorrow Ill leave with another GO POWER!!!!

layouts

2007-09-25T19:45:00.000+09:30

Thought I would begin to update with some layouts, this one of Ella titled 'oops' is about her throwing herself all over the flip out sofa!, a couple of weeks ago when she began to be more confident on her feet she started climbing and throwing herself over this sofa and I would just find her like this just in her own little world - so cute! the rub on qoute I used is 'enthusiasm is a divine possession'

The other one titled 'sisterly love' is of Bethany and Ella, I used some gorgeous papers from Rita Marie and also used it to cover the chipboard letters, the border around the border is bits of pastel netted ribbon ties
I couldnt resist adding this lovely photo -yeah Port Adelaide made it into the grand final!!! unfortunately I wont be making the trip to Melbourne this time - too expensive, so my cousin is taking my spot and going up with my Mum and sister , will have to make do with watching it at home!

Still have more layouts to add over the next few days - so stay tuned! Emily leave me a message so at least I know someone is reading about my exciting life! lol!

Been a while (again!)

2007-09-21T22:50:00.000+09:30

Well its been a little while since I last posted, I have been waiting to post up my latest layouts but for the life of me I can not figure out how to re size them through photoshop, there is only a few days left on the trial so I will wait till then as I have been on a good roll with scrapping lately!

Have been so excited this week with all the excitement leading to tomorrow, with Port Adelaide just one win away from playing in the grand final, I am of to the game tomorrow and have spent all week (actually 2 as we had last week of) counting down the days - I just hope we win!!!!!

Less than a week till my baby turns 1, both her and Bethany are just beautiful together! they play so well together and they bring me so much joy and bring many smiles to my face each day, I have managed to put up this photo which was taken a week or 2 ago - Bethany is so affectionate towards her little sister!

One more photo to share, a layout of Jacob which didnt go through photoshop so I was able to re size it, I want to do more boy and manly ones as have been doing lots of girl ones lately,

Anyway its after 11pm - way past my bedtime, a big day for me tomorrow, must get my beauty sleep!! Go the Power!!!

Layouts

2007-09-04T21:09:00.000+09:30

Heres a few more layouts I have managed to whip up over the past week, this one is of Ella, I gave her some nappy free time and her just sitting there like that was just to cute to forget about!
The Sweet Dreams one is of Bethany who refuses to nap in her cot during the day but quite often find her fast asleep anywhere in the house!
The other one -Your blooming smile is of Ella, I took the photo a month or so ago, just after she begun to pull herself up and she started playing peek a bo with me outside in the cubby house!

Not a lot going on at the moment, we are at the end of footy season, getting a bit nervous with both my team and hubbies team in the finals - and am really hoping we dont end up playing in the grand final together - which hopefully is highly unlikely as Port is just to good for the Crows! lol!

I have had to stop myself from checking out ebay on a daily basis as it was getting a bit expensive - in just under 2 weeks I have picked up some bargains!! 3 billabong jeans a top and a brand new Rusty jacket! I am getting a bit embaresed when the delivery man shows up combined with my scrapbooking parcels he comes here quite often now! lol!

Allergies, sleepless nights, ebay and yay John Butler!!

2007-08-29T09:13:00.000+09:30

With spring just around the corner and this gorgeous weather which has began I have been taking the kids outside alot to play - which they love to do, but on the down side Bethany's allergies have sprout again, just as we thought she may have outgrown them, she is scratching herself so much lately and at night has been waking up squirming from being so itchy, so sleepless nights have started up again and tiredness and exhaustion has been my friend again! plus my hayfever has started as well!

my goodness ebay! what a mistake that has been for me to delve in to! in a week I have bought a Billabong top and 2 pairs of Billabong jeans! yes I love the surf wear brands! although Im beginning to wonder if Im getting a bit to old for these brands now! and how frustrated did I feel when I was outbidded on another pair of jeans - frustrated enough to bid and win another pair! lol! better stop talking about this for fear of incriminating myself!

We had a busy weekend, with Phils birthday on Saturday, Mark at footy on Saturday night, Church then my footy on Sunday then Emily took me to see Josh Pyke and John Butler Trio, John Butler is just amazing to see live, I have seen him perform at one of the Big Day Outs a few years ago but his performance was just stunning on Sunday night, I took some photos on my NEW! fuji, but I left my memory card at home and I cant figure out how to transfer photos from just the camera

Ill come back later with some photos, we are trialling photoshop and I cant figure out how to resize photos through that, poor Jacob has to have a tooth pulled out today, I never got around to changing the appointment as I didnt realise mum is at work today so I have to take the girls in with me! - that will serve me right, I did make this appointment 3 weeks ago so I have had plenty of time to change it!

been a while!

2007-08-19T10:56:00.000+09:30

I have been a bit slack with my blog lately - sorry Em!
We have all recovered from the flu and its taken me all week to catch up on all the housework and shopping!

Mark and I went out to tea last night with his company, it was a nice night and it was great to get out of the house and enjoy some yummy food, it was a banquet style meal which was finally served up at 9pm - I was STARVING by then, after having bacon and eggs for breakfast and skipping lunch knowing we were in for a big tea I saved my hunger for tea but gee it was a long wait!!! I wasn't brave to use the toilets as one lot was a unisex one and the toilet doors were clear glass until you locked the door then changed to a frosted look, another lot of toilets had fish in the cistern so when the toilet was flushed the water for the fish would disapear then rise up again! it was a big place - even had a driving range for golf players, there were 16 of us and the bill was in excess of $900, its good that his company does things like this for them, after tea we went to the bar for some drinks and finally got home at 2am, my poor mum was looking after the kids so thanks mum!!

Well not a lot else to rant about, I signed up on ebay yesterday and am hunting down a camera, what a huge world it is in ebay lol! I wasted a good couple of hours yesterday on it just looking! - probably not a good idea to join! lol!

I better get some housework done before I sit down and watch Port play, then of to mums tonight for tea while Mark goes to his footy, more yummy food for tea tonight!

sympathy please, I'm sick!!

2007-08-08T20:20:00.000+09:30

Over the last week all of us has been hit with this awful flu, with Mark and I the last to deal with it, hes been home from work all this week, I feel so tired and unwell and having to deal with a toddler and a baby on the move is very tiring!! Jacob went back to school yesterday after nearly a week of and Bethany is returning back to her stubborn self lol! she was the sickest one, on the day I took her to the docs she spent all day on the lounge laying down poor thing, so anyway hopefully in a few days we will all be back to our normal healthy selves!

On another note heres another layout I finished a few weeks ago, I love this photo of Jacob on our wedding day - (Mark and I), Emily took this of him after he had had enough of the day and all the photos that were taken!

Well I think I need to rest and put my feet up, the kids are all in bed and all I feel like doing is going to bed too!

layouts to share

2007-08-02T22:46:00.000+09:30

here are a couple of layouts I finished a couple of months ago, I am still having trouble resizing images at the moment, so I will have to seek advice (again) from my better half (Mark) lol! The 'angel' layout is Ella positioned on a pile of towels - an image I tried to recreate from an Anne Gedes picture (emphasize tried!!) I also used rub on angel wings and the journaling is the poem ' Where did you come from baby dear?'
The 'sweet heart' is Bethany, I just used left over scraps with this one.

the chop

2007-07-31T22:27:00.000+09:30

well today I finally got my hair cut! not all of it but practically half my hair is gone, I still have the length at the back but it is layered all over - it feels so much better and so much lighter, both Melissa and Wendy were so excited when I walked in to the hairdresser, my hair was at least half way down my back and really thick which created a huge pile of hair! I was at the hairdresser for just under 3 hours (I had a colour as well)!!!! but well worth it - I feel like a new woman! it is a bit hard to see in this photo how much I had cut of, but it was A LOT!!
If it wasn't so late and if I wasn't so tired I would upload some layouts but I will do that later, the girls woke a fair bit during the night last night for some reason, so I need some sleep!

lost - yes I am!

2007-07-26T22:43:00.000+09:30

I have just finished watching the last episode of Lost, which I have stuck by and watched after the last few years, but tonight is the first time I have had to check up on the web site to figure out what on earth was going on!!! and when I did and proudly told dh he replied 'you didnt figure that out yourself?' - apparently he did! so now I know what is going on I will eagerly await the next season! lol!

The last few days have had a touch of spring in them, the weather has just been gorgeous, so much so that I have walked to school to pick Jacob up, 30mins each way, add an extra 10mins with Jacob and all the 'why did we have to walk home' and 'I hate walking', so I think I'll leave the walks without a tired school boy! lol! I have spent most of the last few days outside with the kids, they all love playing outside and its been nice just pottering around in the garden,

Ella finally began to crawl properly today and she likes to head straight for Bethany and grabs whatever she is playing with - its so cute! I don't think I'll be thinking that in a few weeks though! shes also trying to stand up and she does if shes got something to help pull her up, shes 10 months old tomorrow - shes growing so quick.

well my brains a bit sore from all the Lost theories so I better head of to bed!

cutting back

2007-07-21T21:19:00.000+09:30

I have really cut back my computer time over the past week, I was getting to the point of leaving it on for most of the day and simply wasting time on it, so this week I challenged myself to only turn it on at night after the kids were in bed, there have even been a few days where all I've done is checked the e-mails, I have been missing what has been going on in forums and blogs though, but it was something I had to take a step back from for a little while, so hopefully when Jake goes back to school next week I can begin to manage a 'disciplined' computer time!

the computer has also been playing up again and I have been unable to access photos and loading up images etc. which is a real pain, Mark has tried a few things but to no avail so it will still be a while before that will be fixed - I need photos for scrapping!!

Jacob has hardly been home over the last week with sleepovers at both his Nanas and tonight at his dads house and gee I miss how helpful he is with his little sisters! Bethany is missing him now when hes not at home, she calls him 'Doe Doe' and she calls herself 'C C' which we have all began to call her now! lol!

We have passed the halfway mark of winter and I am dreaming of the gorgeous spring days which will be back soon, I have had the heater on during the days lately and my hands are constantly cold.

Well I think its time I head of to bed for a decent sleep actually Mark just got some lollies out so time to snuggle and eat his lollies!

Happy Birthday Bethany!

2007-07-13T22:39:00.000+09:30

our gorgeous little baby has suddenly (lol) turned 2! where the time has gone I'm not to sure! she was oblivious to what was going on, we gave her a few presents before Mark left for work, then Emily came over followed by Daniel and mum for lunch, I think Bethany was getting a bit overwhelmed that whenever someone came over she was given new toys! I think mum was a bit shocked that I had put a dress on her! lol! she looked so cute, mum caught her staring at herself in front of the mirror with her dress on while I was out!
for tea we had some party food and sang Happy Birthday which freaked her out a bit! then she opened up the rest of the presents which I bought today - I know I am very slack! then just before bed Sam came and dropped his present off, so by the time she went to bed her and Ella were both so tired.

I am spending way to much time on the computer lately and not accomplishing a lot else (in my spare time - I'm not on here all day lol) instead of scrapping I waste it on here, mainly with myspace lately, I have a few more friends now (blush) and commenting back and forth gets a bit addictive!

well I got to go to bed, one worn out mother here! how fast has this week gone! one week of school holidays left, its so nice not to be so rushed in the mornings!

The Wedding!!

2007-07-08T16:10:00.001+09:30

Well yesterday was the big day for our cousin Carmen when she married the man of her dreams, we all had such a great day and I remained stress free all day! (I had a reading to do - a small one!) the reception was so much fun thanks to my younger brothers and sister and we learned that Sam can't be trusted with a portable camera! lol!!
The weather held out, it poured when we were in the Church and Emily said it was freezing for the photos, Carmen was the most relaxed and excited bride I think I have ever seen! it was just such a beautiful day for my Aunty Veronica and Uncle Nicky after all they have and are going through and it was even more special that Uncle Nicky was well enough to walk Carmen down the aisle, after all the photos I took the majority of them came out blurry and I only got 1 of Mark and I! and Daniel most of the photos you either had your eyes closed or pulled a face - not happy lol!
It was great to catch up with the extended family and we all had a fantastic day and night, by the end of it my face was sore from laughing (mainly to all the mischief Sam was getting up to!)
The reception was held at the Port Adelaide club rooms and unfortunately we lost and more misfortune when Adelaide won so a few Crows supporters including my dh delighted in rubbing it in!
I'll have to start scrapping some of these photos of my family!
Emily you made a BEAUTIFUL bridesmaid, I said to Mark after that I can't wait till you get married and I will be your bridesmaid!

I bought a dress!!!

2007-07-05T22:12:00.000+09:30

I found a dress for Carmens wedding on Saturday! I prayed God would lead me to the right one and I found it in the last shop I looked in! for a while I thought I would just have to end up wearing whatever looked decent in my wardrobe! its a gorgeous black one - plus it was a steal! marked down and my size!!! I just need some shoes and stockings and I'll be all set to go! I think the last time I wore a dress was at my own wedding, I am so looking forward to Saturday and Mark bought a suit for it too! I'll make sure someone takes some nice photos of us.

The girls seem to be better now and Ella is just on the verge of crawling - still! I think I said that last time lol! and Bethany just gets more adorable with each day, she has begun to say 'wuv you' when I tell her I love her , at the moment she loves to stare at herself in my mirror (I dont know where she gets that from) she just stares at and talks to herself, this photo I took she had been staring for a good 5mins! she loves to go in my (our) room and look through my bedside drawers and now she can reach my perfumes, I usually find lipbalms and perfume around the house now , the door is missing its handle so we can't close it, I can't believe she will be 2 next Friday! where has the time gone?

Jake starts school holidays tomorrow - I love school holidays!! and not being rushed in the mornings, I asked him if he is excited about the holidays and he said sort of, he likes school now!

more stuff

2007-06-30T22:19:00.000+09:30

The dreaded cold season has hit our household, Jake has been fighting it over the past week, and now Ella and Bethany are showing signs of it, Ella's poor nose has been running non - stop today.

I took this picture of Bethany after she was fascinated at the rain drops on the leaves of the plants, typical that the only decent photo I managed to take half her face was covered by the plant! lol! and her shirt reads My dad is a hunk (rofl) well I think hes a hunk!!

I still have trouble posting photos on here, the other photo is Bethany playing (pretend) the Xbox with Jacob and yes I know hes sitting to close to the tv!

Well we are on the countdown now till Carmens wedding (my cousin) and today I cut out around 90 hearts for her bon boneire(spell), my arm just about fell off during the process! another week to go, I have to find something to wear this week for it, right in the middle of winter to, so praying the weather will be ok for it.

Well better trod of to bed, a great day topped of with my beloved Port winning, hopefully dh wont be as happy tomorrow when he watches his team! lol! I know I'm a bit mean!

finally some sleep!!

2007-06-24T21:16:00.000+09:30

I am trying not to be too excited here but Ella has begun to sleep through the night! over the past 7 nights now she has had 3 nights of full sleep I'm talking from7ish till 7-8am, its not every night yet but a huge improvement from what she has been doing, I have still had a couple of nights where I have had to just let her have a cry then she settles down and sleeps! as pleased as I am about her sleeping through I am realizing that as she is our last baby, its a stage of my life (the sleepless baby stage) that I will no longer experience, she is growing so fast! I feel so blessed that I have been given the gift of raising 3 beautiful babies.

It has been so cold here that I am soo looking forward to spring - we aren't even halfway through winter yet! I'm just not a winter person - unless its raining (but then theres the dirty floors to clean from wet muddy shoes)

I had my first big shopping trip yesterday on my own, I had Carmens kitchen tea in the arvo but before that I was able to go to Westlakes on my own, Mark took the kids to his mums for lunch so I didnt have to worry about coming home to feed a baby, I was gone for 2.5 hours!! I even found a pair of roxy jeans to buy which I promised myself after Bethany was born and they were on special! so all in all a great day!

coming home to have a holiday

2007-06-17T15:48:00.000+09:30

Well our little mini break is over - not alot of relaxing with a baby and a toddler, but it was still a great holiday and so nice to get away!

The cottage we stayed in was just gorgeous, we had a farm next to us and it was in the middle of paddocks - so we were pretty secluded, the kids all shared a room and Ella was determined to keep me awake all night so the last night we were there I caved in and she slept in our bed, so it was great to come home and get back in to our routine!

Bethany had Hi5 withdrawals so we had to find a Hi5 dvd to buy! which got played at least once a day, the photo is of the girls watching it!

It has been a busy weekend, we had Carmens hens night last night, we had so much fun! plus so nice to get out without the kids - hey Leanne!!! only 3 weeks to got to the big day now! and Emily yes you deserved that award that you handed over to Kat - although it was pretty close!

Holiday mode

2007-06-10T20:43:00.000+09:30

we are in holiday mode here, Mark has just started his week off work and we are going away in a couple of days - we are so excited!! Jacob has been away all weekend as well, he had a sleepover last night at a friends house and tonight he is at his dads house.

Well my organizational skills haven't improved too much, I had to book the car in for a service before we go away and well because I left it to the last minute its booked in on the day we are leaving - whoops, I forgot to pay for Jacobs swimming lessons at school so I will have to pay that on the morning we leave and i had to get Bethany's eczema cream and because I am not at all organized couldn't book her in till the morning we leave - so its going to be a big busy day when we leave, if we ever leave lol! I must pack tomorrow!!!!

I did have some layouts to post but I need to photograph them again, instead I have a couple of Bethany, on the weekend while Jacob was playing the xbox, he called out to me to show me what Bethany was doing - blowing on the glass cabinet door! looks so funny!!

a little bit of cuteness!

2007-06-07T22:04:00.000+09:30

I was taking photos of Ella and when I went through them I noticed Bethany in the background - oblivious to anything but HI-5!! thats where she sits and watches her favorite show- a little bit cute!!!!!

disorganized life!

2007-06-05T10:10:00.000+09:30

I am trying to find some organization within my days, I can remember a time before marriage and children where every area of my life was organized, my days were all planned out, there was no urgency for food shopping, no need to work out what I was going prepare for tea for the week, I could let the washing pile up for a week (or 2), I could stick to my budget (actually I didn't really have one!), my purse and my handbag were cleaned out every few days- I prided myself on my organizational skills!

Now I get to the supermarket at 3.30pm with a shopping list I conjured up at 3pm in a rush to pick Jake up from school, walk around the shop with 2 bubs in a trolley, Jake asking for anything that takes his fancy and me still trying to figure out what I am going to do for tea, then getting to the checkout thinking surely I must have had time to better prepare myself for this while wondering if I have overspent on the budget, then I look around and see that I don't look like the only mother who is thinking the same thing!

The washing is starting to pile up here- not of any fault of mine! it has been wet just about everyday now, such a huge change for this part of the country, and winter has well and truly begun it is so cold now at night and Mark wont let me put my sleeping system on the bed - he gets to hot when I put it on- just as well I love him! lol!

Well I must organize something might start on my desk.

Just stuff

2007-05-31T22:26:00.000+09:30

wow I cant believe how fast the year is going! the last few days have felt like winter, it has been rather chilly and wet,

we lost one of our big shady trees the other day- well it wasn't ours it did grow on the footpath, but it was the tree I parked under in summer, the roots had broken one of the water pipes, not very interesting I know but it was a big tree and I'm pretty sure some birds lived in it!

yay we are going on a little family holiday in less than 2 weeks, we are staying just out of Victor Harbor in a little cottage called Frangipanni Cottage, at first dh said he is not staying in a place with that name but I think the spa won him out lol, it looks really nice and lonely (theres no other houses near by) and its only a few mins drive from Victor and Im sure there is a scrapbook shop there that I havn't been to before!

I am getting alot more sleep lately, although Ella is teething and it seems to be waking her, she has her 2 bottom teeth but one of her top side teeth is about to break through which seems a bit unusual, she is so cute, she sits now all on her own and she has just started to stick one arm out to me if she wants me to pick her up, she loves Bethany, it is just beautiful watching them sometimes, a couple of times in the car I have noticed them holding hands!

Bethany is into Jacobs old Hi5 videos mainly the Animal Adventures one which would have to be about 5 years old now- as Nathan has all his hair lol! and everyday I have the songs playing over and over in my head, and I cant get them out!

well I think it must be time for bed, busy day tomorrow- arnt they all when your a mum!

sisterly love!

2007-05-25T22:25:00.001+09:30

I was in the girls room yesterday when I heard Bethany calling out to me and when I came to see what she wanted she was putting her arms around Ella and giving her a kiss!! of course I had to capture a picture of that - after a few more kisses to get the perfect shot she had had enough!

Ella is now sitting all on her own - she is growing way to quickly! she is also sleeping a whole lot better- whew!!!!

I finally started a bit of a fitness routine - a lost love of mine, jogging well sort of, I did 10 laps of the backyard, I had to stop as Ella wasn't to sure what I was doing and started to cry in her bouncer and Bethany was trying to chase me, if any of the neighbours were around we looked a bit funny! it took all of 3minutes I think! not much but a start! lol!

I had to go back to Coles yesterday as they are clearing blocks of Lindt chocolate for $1 so over the last couple of days I have bought 4 blocks of chocolate and a box of Roses for $2.50! which I bought for dh, so he would stop rolling his eyes at my vast amounts of chocolates that I have, not to mention I still have a few Easter eggs! I think I better increase my backyard laps to 20 tomorrow.

Bit of a bust weekend coming up, I get to get out of the house tomorrow albeit with dh and the kids in tow, but its Westlakes mall so I cant complain, I will just cover my ears when I hear all the grizzles about all the shops I want to go to!

Have a good weekend!

advice?

2007-05-22T20:53:00.000+09:30

can someone please give me some advice on how to move the slideshow to the side of my page, so it will be there instead of a blog entry? please!!! I am clueless with this computer! I did manage to work out how to put photos on the slideshow though! and can I make the numbers on the bottom disappear?

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-05-22T20:35:00.001+09:30

feeling refreshed!

2007-05-18T22:35:00.000+09:30

a quick post tonight before I go to bed and Mark comes home from the football, I cant believe another weekend is just about here!

I have had great improvement with baby Ella and her sleep- ear plugs are fantastic! lol!- no I think she is developing her sleep pattern now, she slept from 11pm till 5.15am last night, I was up at 6.30 this morning and I haven't felt too bad today! amazing what a good night sleep does!

I received my first poppy ink kit from blue bazaar yesterday, some nice stuff in the package but nothing is really inspiring me yet to use it, heres a layout I have just recently finished, the paper is American Crafts which I thought looked pretty cool, I took the photo of myself after we bought our first digital camera- I thought it was great that I could take pictures of me just to see what I looked like then delete them! the novelty has worn off now! I liked this one so I kept it and I put it in an old photo frame of Marks (I removed a Kylie Minogue picture first though- dont ask) and sits on his bedside table, I think when he first saw it he did think I was a bit vain!

well Marks home and I need to get of this computer and get some sleep!

mothers day

2007-05-15T10:11:00.000+09:30

I was totally spoilt on Mothers Day! after a not so good night with baby Ella, Mark took Jacob and Bethany of to Church and I went back to bed while Ella had her nap so I was able to catch up on some sleep- what a huge difference it made! for the last couple of days I dont think I have been grumpy with either my kids or with hubby! Mark cooked me bacon and eggs for breakfast and he gave me a bag of Darrel Lea chocolate and a bottle of caramel baileys (mum that will take me ages to drink that, and I wont drink it before I need to feed Ella) and Jacob had spent all week at school making me gifts so it was a really nice day! I even managed to take pictures of the kids, I hadnt planned on dressing them all in white and blue either! unfortunately when I asked Mark if he would also wear his white shirt he said no lol!
For lunch we went to Marks mums and had KFC and for tea we had yummy pizza at my mums so we were pretty stuffed by the end of the day!
Well that was my Mothers Day hope you had a great one aswell!

I did ask him to be honest.....................

2007-05-13T12:16:00.000+09:30

I recently bought myself a pair of skinny jeans and while getting dressed to wear them yesterday, I asked my darling hubby how they looked, expecting him to say 'wow, you look great in those' he raised an eyebrow and said 'your not 15 anymore dear', Ouch that hurt, needless to say I wore something different and will reassess my wardrobe at a later date!

energy reserves running low

2007-05-11T22:30:00.000+09:30

another weekend about to begin, ahh sleep in- I am so blessed to have a wonderful hubby who gets up every weekend as soon as the babies wake so I can sleep in just that little bit longer! I am so looking forward to bacon and eggs on Mothers day plus a good excuse to get takeaway for tea!

Baby Ella is still waking every few hours- even after praying each night for a nice peaceful sleep! lol! sooner or later my prayers will be answered! so each day this week the mornings I have felt like a bit of a zombie

Another layout I have recently finished of my little babies, they are so cute together, Bethany likes to help me out by giving Ella her dummy or a toy- even a bite of her biscuit which she gave her when I wasnt looking, I was alerted by bethany saying uh-oh lala (Ella) and just got the biscuit out of Ellas mouth before she choked! I love being at home with them and Bethany is such a joy.

well I think its time to hit the sack- Mark is waiting to play some game of guessing which album covers belong to what band on this game site and I really need sleep- big day tomorrow which includes going to footy!

Please if anyone is reading would love to hear a hello!!

till next time

crazy kids

2007-05-09T21:02:00.000+09:30

I have been on a scrapping roll lately- even managing to finish a couple I had put aside to do 'later', this is a photo of my younger sister Emily and Jacob- this photo must be a couple of years old now and it really shows the special bond they both share, for nearly 2 years she was a teacher in a rural aboriginal community called Ampilatwatja- I hope i have spelled it right, I missed her like crazy as did Jacob, but she is home now and shes here to stay!!
Still not getting alot of sleep thanks to Ella- every few hours she is waking at night, when we get home from school in the morning she is ready for a nap so I am able to snooze on the lounge- as best as i can with Bethany climbing all over me! well she has awoken again and Marks out on a business tea- I keep asking why can't wives come out aswell! lol! so I better go and settle her

Blog Challenge #3

2007-05-03T22:21:00.000+09:30

blog challenge- fav spot-
ok heres my favorite spot in the house, the family room, its the room that most of the day is spent around as the kitchen and dining room is next to it so we use this room most of the time- and of course my scrapping desk is in the corner! you can't tell in this photo but that window is my fav spot to see things- from where I took this photo we can clearly see freight trains and huge ships that go out to sea via the Port river, I remember the first morning after we moved, back in January last year- the start of a 40 degree heatwave, I had very little sleep, boxes everywhere and Bethany was really unsettled in her new room (she was 6mths), I went to try and settle her and when I went past and looked out the window I could see the sun rising- it truly took my breath away, even now at night when I have to feed a baby I will sometimes stand here and look at all the lights or watch a huge fishing boat go out in the dark- it amazes me how blessed we have been with buying this house, and everyday I am so thankful for this house and this room!!

I did it!!

2007-05-03T10:49:00.000+09:30

I just figured out how to post the photo of me- with Bethany jumping around in the background! I can do things concerning the computer on my own after all!

bleary eyed

2007-05-03T10:22:00.000+09:30

have been so tired lately, Ella is waking during the night still and it is becoming soo exhausting!! when she wakes she is just wide awake- last night she woke at 11.15pm and went to sllep again at 2am!!! because she shares a room with Bethany I tend to get up to her a bit more than I would usually- I love babies but I am looking forward to when I can sleep ALL night in peace!

I am still trying how to figure out how to put photos up here but I need some help from my darling hubby or you Emily- I just can not figure it out

I havn't done alot of scrapping lately, I am doing a fiddly layout- actually its just covering chipboard letters and filing them with my new basic grey precision file set- which I Love! and combined with lack of motivation and tiredness I am having trouble getting anything done lately! I did finish my layout which I started on Saturday night with the SS girls I am quite happy with that one

Bethany gets her first haircut tonight! which I am looking forward to! I wonder if Mandy will mind if I take lots of photos! lol
ok the dishes are calling me

my weekend

2007-04-29T21:46:00.000+09:30

Another weekend over and back to school tomorrow, which means getting up and ready on time- what fun!
have had a pretty busy weekend for my not so busy life (outside my home that is), Friday night was spent at the footy in the pouring rain- we got so wet! at least Port won!
Saturday night I met up with some girls from Scrapbook Station, I found it a bit intimidating to try and scrap alongside of Nic Wood, Kathie Link, Kate Mason and Samantha Dorn- girls whose work I have admired since I began scrapping! all week I swore I would be prepared so I would have an idea of a page I could just whip up- but no I wasnt really prepared and had left half my supplies at home! lol!
It has been raining everyday since Thursday now, its so nice to have all this rain and to see our lawn green again,
well I had hoped to scrap tonight, I bought more supplies last night- on top of my Tarisota package that arrived the day before so I am itching to use all these gorgeous papers but my brain is just tooo tired to create tonight, oh well Theres always tomorrow!!

not doing much.......

2007-04-27T14:33:00.000+09:30

but so much to do, maybe a blog isnt such a good idea lol! I dont need to waste anymore precious time on this computer but I do need to sit down for a few minutes!
Finally we have been receiving decent rain since yesterday- as much as I love summer its nice when those cold wet days are around the corner, just hoping we dont get to wet at the footy tonight! - go Power!!
I better go and do something now, probably start with changing a stinky nappy from a little toddler!
my tarisota package finally arrived today so my brain has been filling with inspiration to scrap, probably should finish using up the papers from the last package first, so much to do and so little time- rephrase that - must use my time more productively, and learn to spell correctly so my sister Emily (who is a teacher) wont tell me off!!

why go there?

2007-04-25T14:26:00.000+09:30

Hi there!!
well I have started my own little blog, here I will record all the details- well not all, just the ones that will be of interest of the life I call my own, which happens to be based upon God and my faith, and my beautiful family dh Mark, ds Jacob, dd Bethany and dd Ella.
Not knowing alot about computers this may take a little while to get in the flow of things here, hence my title- why go there? I enjoy reading about other people on their blogs so I hope people will enjoy reading mine- even if it will just be Emily reading!!!