Fun friday

so today we needed a "fun" day! I needed a fun day .... he he!

so we had some ideas ... but due to gianna having a slight cold, and it being cold and windy ... we opted for Indoor Rock Climbing! the girls love it (well gi is too little ... but is a good spectator)

Katya decided i should try too ... so I did! It was great ... hard work, but great. I wasn't really prepared ... so i used my arms more than i should have ... and they were tired ... mainly because i didn't have the correct shoes on. I made it to the top (on the beginner track tho) the pressure was on cause Ems got to the top ... he he!

Hung out at Kathy's this afternoon ... did some work on our upcoming project! I am looking forward to it ... will tell more next week ... its a creative project tho! YAY!

I have Sarah's circle journal at the moment, its so cute .. i am almost done, it is a recipe CJ which i totally love the idea of. So i made a chocolate cake to photograph for it ... and will enjoy a piece myself shortly! YUM

edited to add ....

Deck of Me card ... week 25!

i am a bit late this week ... its just been one of those weeks, i'll blame school holidays .. but that's not really the problem. The prompt for this week was "favourite photo" and i had another one lined up ... actually, in all truth i have a tonne of fav photos ... i have taken photos since i was about 16, and i've taken alot of photos! seriously ALOT! so i have many favourite ones ... but this one is in my bedroom and it is so sweet. its of my sister and i as little girls ...

Favourite desert ....

at last .... all my yearning for that wikid desert is over! Last night we had a "date night" - one of my good friends and i have come to a babysitting swapping arangement .... so good. so we can both go on "date nights" with our hubby's once a month!

I have been dreaming about this since having it ... like 6 weeks ago - when we last went to my favourite desert restaurant Freestyle! They are individual brioche (with is a sweet bread) parcels filled with white chocolate and rasberries ... and deep fried (so they taste like little donuts) they are so heavenly! So it was a super quick trip there, before heading to the movies and seeing Oceans 13 .... which i reccomend you all see. Not only because Brad Pitt always looks so good in the Oceans movies - lol! but cause its a really great movie! so that was a highlight of my week so far!

School holidays started with the first two days .... RAIN! we so need it tho ... we have major water issues here in Brisbane. Can't complain about it ... i was just thankful for the little art station and the canvas paint sets i bought in advance! This was the action yesterday afternoon .... we all survived without much mess everywhere ... actually they did a really good job! it could have been a disaster now i think about it!

I finally did the bottom of my Y2R calender too ... it was really bugging me that is took this long ... but i had a bit of a creative slump ... to be honest i'm still coming out of it ... mainly due to lack of time right now ... i guess school holidays don't help! LOL!

I got to the pool today ... was game enough to go after finding out the pool was back up to 27 degrees ... and not 23 like last week! freeze! it was actually really nice ... but it was a hard session ... so i'm starting to fade a bit now! time for a hot chocolate i think ....

holidays are here ....

its sunday night .. how can a weekend go so fast????

the girls broke up from school for two weeks on friday ... a friend gave me this great idea with an art station for our breakfast bar ... so i set it all up on thurs night, as a surprise for friday morning ... well, i got a wonderful response ... "you are the best mum in the whole world" .... it was worth while! and they have been so busy there each day creating all sorts of wonderful things .... i am so so so glad i did it! (don't you love emra's hair in this photo .... bed hair - lol!)

So its been a busy weekend, i cannot believe it sunday night ... i am in shock already!!!!!

We had a big baking morning on sat morning ... i love to cook, but must confess that i haven't been making much time lately for it! so we had fun .... the girls helped me ice cupcakes to take to one of my best friends sister's bridal shower ... (phew) they did a great job, and love helping me in the kitchen (i think so they can lick the spoons and bowls ... but that was my motivation too when i was young)

The bridal shower was so fun ... they organised a lingerie party - really good quality stuff, and put on this beautiful "high tea" afternoon tea ... so awesome! I should have taken my camera ... it was a treat to look at! they played a few games, but the last was the funniest ... you had to design a wedding dress wtih a roll of toilet paper and dress one person from your team ... well, you guessed it i was the model ... why is that????? i ended up with a tea cosy on my head, and various other bits and peices it was so hilarious ... i will have to get a photo to post, i seriously looked a treat .. and won the competition!

today i went to the markets and loaded up on fruit and veges ... in preparation for the week to come and also with the kids being home, want lots of healthy fruit for snacks .....

went for a 10km run this afternoon ... so am starting to fade now! have just picked up the phone ... its my little sister calling from England .... so so so nice to hear from her ... i miss her! they are just having an amazing experience .... gotta go and chat!

inspired by this .....

this morning i went to the hairdresser - intending on just getting a trim and colour done, i pick up the latest copy of Instyle Mag and this was on the cover .... next thing i'm like ... lets do it!

so this is me now .... might take a bit to get used to the lack of hair around my face ... but hey, a change is as good as a holiday! looks like i'm in holidays then ..... LOL!

enjoy your day!

edited to add ... this project i just finished for my big picture class with heidi. Its an altered mirror, you spray paint over the bird mask then embellish as you desire ... came out so cute!

happy mail & circle journal ....


so today i was greated with mail ... i love mail! it brightens my day! I got the Circle Journal ... Sarah's one arrived ... it is so cool, i will show you a pic tomorrow - i am looking forward to adding my bit to it! and i got happy mail from Kristy .. which totally made my day, she sent me just the cutest butterfly notes and these cute notebooks ... they are awesome, thank you so much Kristy i love them!
I made it to swimming this morning ... even tho there was a cold wind blowing ... i was totally giving myself a talking to the whole time, making myself appreciate just how lucky i was to be swimming - the sun was shining ... there was much to be happy about. Its amazing how your mindset can over-ride how you can feel .... for sure it pulled me thru, and i did a really good session ... granted i am tired now, and want to go to bed ... but my lack of creativity over the past week has been bugging me, so i'm going to sit and my desk and see if i can do something fun!
So i have a super busy day tomorrow ...the girls both have things at school they want me to be there for ... so i have to get sorted for that so tomorrow runs smoothly! I am taking photos of my friend's new baby girl ... it will be good practise, so hoping to have some great photos to show you tomorrow night! fingers crossed!
bye for now .....

carnival festivities ....

what a huge day yesterday was .... the girls were so excited, and couldn't stop talking about the school carnival all weekend. They did some jobs on saturday to earn some money to spend at the carnival ... it was great to see their enthusiasm!

They both did dances with their classes through out the day.

I had been working with a group of girls to contribute to the "Gift Shop" which was a concept dreamed up with Sonya ... once classy lady, who didn't want to see the normal "nana" crafts at our carnival ... instead some class and style. She totally outdid herself, making our stall spectacular ... with a white picket fence and gorgeous trees out the front. We were so busy ... i was wiped out last night ... it was such a fun day! I found it hard to get to sleep last night dreaming up ideas for the next time ....

i have a few pics from yesterday ... i caught gary shopping at our Gift Shop ...

there was heaps of rides and games for the kids ... emra did everything (just about, they forgot to do create a cupcake .. which was a shame as that looked so cool ... i wanted to do one - LOL)

Gianna loved the jumping castle .. isn't this photo so funny!

and i caught Emra on the ferris wheel .... she loved that.

Katya's class did the Shrek dance for their performance ... so cute, with their ears on!

gary caught Monique and I hoovering fairy floss ... what is it about fairy floss! Monique was one of the team on the Gift Shop ... she made heaps of stunning jewellery ... she is a gemologist by trade so is super clever ... makes amazing jewellery! and shes so much fuN!

we were all in bed early last night ....

DECK OF ME ... week 24!
This weeks prompt is .... Remember when ....

mum sent me this photo recently ... she has had it in a frame beside her bed for as long as i can remember .... it is a photo of me and my siblings ... at our family beach house! don't you love my hair! oh, photos capture it all hey! note .... more of the cool ribbon i got ... and some of heidi's cute ribbon too!

saturday fun

so i couldn't get up for a ride ... the combination of cold and dark is not appealing .... i am soft! its ok if i am meeting someone, the commitment always gets me up ... but by myself - nah! i'm slack! i did go after lunch tho, when it was sunny and 20 degrees .... it was so nice enjoying the day - even if my legs didn't agree - LOL!

gary had an early job interview - we are employing a new staff member - he ended up being great and he offered him the job straight up - we are stoked! its been tough lately getting good staff ... i guess you go thru stages.

So i had the chance to sit and enjoy my hotcakes this morning while flicking thru some books ... my sister gave me this book ages ago ... and i'll admit i don't think i've read it properly ... its cute, and has some funny things to make you smile! i will read it more regularly now as i think you need to smile more and more thru your life! here is a page about friends ... it says every woman needs one friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry. so true!

so after picking katya up from dancing, we had to drop our decorated cake box off - filled with a homemade chocolate cake - to the school ready for the carnival tomorrow. We ended up staying for a bit and helping out ... gary was there already helping unpack stuff.

this afternoon we went next door to the school and had a hit of tennis ... we live right behind a school and the tennis courts are seriously 50m away ... i think i'm going to take up lessons, so we can play more regularly - as gary knows how to play (of course, there is not much he can't do - he's one of those naturally sporty guys) i always wanted to play when the girls went to school ... but why wait ... so i am going to look into it this week.

we are doing a video diary to send to our friends in the USA ... so we started that today ... it quite hilarious trying to video your life.

we started a new system today ... i made this box a while back .... so the idea is that during the week we can post "love notes" to each other and then on sunday night we read them out ... another idea to promote postivity within our family!

ok .. time to get the kids to bed ... bed day tomorrow! I can tell i'm going to be in bed early again tonight ... its becoming a trend - LOL!

tired body ....
so i have launched back into exercise full on this week ... it feels good, but man i'm tired! I have swum, riden and run .... phew! the plan is to get up for a ride in the morning too ... so seen as i'm totally fading ... i'm going to bed, and hopefully i'll be up and at em at 6am tomorrow morning with all my winter gear on to ride! its cold now in the mornings, so it takes a while getting all the winter gear on .... oh well, the things we do! i'm going to get my bike and gear out now, before my motivation waves ... and the sleep in becomes more appealing!
the downside to all this fitness is that i have not had any extra energy for scrapbooking ... so nothing exciting to share, hopefully tomorrow i'll have a play - before the school carnival on sunday - that is going to be a huge day, i must remember to take my camera!
we have had a quiet night in tonight, it was so fun tho we watched some old home movies on the big screen ... so funny seeing katya and emra little ... man, they grow up fast.
enjoy your weekend ....

long weekend fun ....

it was a long weekend here in Australia (this weekend just gone) we didn't go away ... but did lots of fun things instead. We all went and saw Shrek 3rd at the movies on Sat .... its cute, they have baby shreks ....

we visited two lots of friends who have had new babies ... so sweet to cuddle a brand new baby, they are so so so tiny ... you forget how little babies are when they are first born. I have so many friends having babies at the moment ....

On Sunday Kathy and I went to the Scrapbooking Convention that was on here in Brisbane. It is a good one, i've been before ... i got some really cool ribbons, and some stamps ... met a few cool people, it was fun. Afterwards I met Gary and the girls at Southbank and we had lunch together.

Yesterday I decided to blow out the cobwebs and get back on my bike, so i rode up to Suttons Beach (about 30kms ... nothing amazing, but a start) and met gary and the girls there for a picnic (our favourite hot chicken in bread rolls) and the kids played at the beach. We had a game of bolles ... and this photo which was staged - was supposed to have everyone throwing their balls at the same time .... had trouble getting that co-ordinated however! We also took the baseball and had a hit (i got this cute pink mit and balls in USA ... aren't they cool) i had a bad run with batting and couldn't seem to hit anything! Even pros have off days!!!!! LOL! Gary wanted to go to the beach all weekend, and to be honest i didnt' feel very motivated to go as we had very cold winds on fri and sat, but sun and monday was really stunning weather ... Em and Gi went for a swim ... hello, its June already - have put a photo in just so you believe me! LOL! it was a beautiful day out.

I have just finished my Deck of Me card for this week ... this weeks topic is "right now"!

which for me ... is about gettting back to normal life after such a busy start to the year, and my trip to USA ... which was totally fun and exciting! I have been doing some soul searching and its good ... good for the self development! I used one of the new ribbons i got on the weekend ... i love them they are so cool.

well, i went swimming today ... and i'm tired now, i am fading ... so i am going to bed!

Friday again ....

hi people ... hope your week is a fabulous one! i will be honest, earlier this week i was a bit down in the dumps .. i think it was an overflow from being sick, and i hate it when i can't get perspective! so glad i am back to "happy chanel" again! i have so much to be thankful for ... i have so many wonderful people in my life ... i had flowers from a friend thru the week, and today one of my sweet friends (who knows me well and how much of a sweet tooth i have) dropped some homemade fudge in for me ... it totally made my day! Its amazing how an act of kindness can make you feel so special!

I had a funeral to go to yesterday ... one of my best friends, her grandmother died. It was a hard day for her and her family ... i was really proud of her tho, she did a speech at the funeral and it was so meaningful, such a hard job ... but she will never regret it. I always contemplate my own mortality when i go to a funeral ... its a strange thought. I do always want to tell the people I love, how much i love them .... and so yesterday i did! family and friends randomly get calls from me like that ... i'm sure i spin them out, but i think its good to tell people how you feel about them

So i have my art challenge for this month's Y2R class done. I think i've freaked people out about getting it done so fast ... but the thing is, at the

beginning of the year when i took this class i decided to make a comitment and do my homework every thurs ... and that is what i do! So it gives me something to look forward to, and also i am getting the most from the money i spent on the class, which i think is fantastic (and i'm not just saying that because heidi is a friend)

here are some of the tins i am doing for the school carnival ... they have to be finished by tues! and a LO i completed before of when eric and suz were staying and we went to my favourite desert restaurant .... we found this new desert, it is totally to die for (of course i had to photograph it - to remember ... and pine for it!)

I also got inspired to scrapbook Blair and Lisa's wedding which was earlier in the year. Such a great day ...

Enjoy your weekend!

kite surfing ....

is what i want to try ... that is this weeks prompt for the Deck of Me Challenge. For a long time it didn't interest me so much - i have a background in windsurfing ... anyone who knows me very well, knows that gary and i spent alot of our relationship b.c (before children) windsurfing. It is a very cool sport ... however after i finished racing, and had kids i guess i just cherished the time i did have to windsurf when we went ... i wasn't interested in trying another sport that i new would take some time and effort to master. Gary has got into kiting, then sold his gear when Emra came along (as a trade off to buy a new bike tho!) . He is keen to get back into it too. A friend of ours was staying recently and he went for a lesson ... and he was so ampted after it ... it made me want to try! So thanks eric ... i will now officially learn to kite surf!

I have a theory on mid-life crisis' too ... i think if you are still doing things you love and things that are fun ... and new stuff ... that you won't get into a rut and have a mid-life crisis! I guess time will tell if my theory is right - LOL!

here is my card for this week ... i got this pic from the internet, thought it was cool ... maybe one day i'll have a similar photo with me on it instead!

being sick sux

so i am sick ... can you tell how happy i am about it! its not that i am sick so much as that i have been SO healthy all year ... i was trying to beat the bugs, and seems that i couldn't do it this week! Emra came down with a virus at school, seems all the grade 1's are falling like flies with it ... and poor old me got it too! i can say that, cause i am feeling a little bit sorry for myself ... poor me! you know, you are allowed to be like that when you are sick i think! In all honesty it hasn't bothered me too much, except today i have been very tired ... so i'm going to bed right now ... and i'm going to sleep very well (not like last night) so this virus is quite nasty ... it knocks you right out ... i was in bed for most of the day yesterday - i seriously cannot remember the last time that happened, made me think back to when i was a kid and you were off home sick for the day! so today hasn't been so bad, but still feverish, with hot/cold sweats ... rather yuk! and this really horid cough which was bringing tears to my eyes yesterday! my poor Emra went downwards again today and had to go to the doctor tonight with an ear infection, poor wee thing ... she's had a bad week! its so horrible when they are unwell ... especially her, as she's usually so full of beans.

so this is a tin i have altered for our up coming school carnival ... we have 25 to decorate ... and i was playing with the spray paint the other night and got a bit carried away with this one .... i was not joking when i said i'm addicted to this spray painting thing. i was told off today ... and i now have an official spray painting area ...ops!

so had to share this photo i took of Gi this afternoon, she fell asleep on the beanbag .... how sweet!