I survived the heat wave!!

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-

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....

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!