so much to tell ....

i guess i should blog a bit more regularly .. i've been a bit slower since my trip ... the days go so fast ... then the week is gone! oh well .. i will fill you in on the past few days ....

to start, my vege garden is off and running again ... so i know it doesn't look very impressive, but bear in mind these are baby plants and they will grow (don't worry i plan to update you with my impressive veges when they are ready for harvest!) I had the girls help me plant these, so a few didn't make it in the transition ... a few got stomped on! such is life! LOL!

Yesterday i slowed down ... yes people, you read it right! Much to Gary's delight .. he is always saying i do too much (i can't see it myself) and another friend who is advising i take some "me" time ... i am listening for a change! so i did go for a run ... and i painted some outdoor pots for gary, and i played tea parties with gianna ... it was a fun day, not too stressful at all. Friends invited us their for dinner which pleased me even more ... not having to think about dinner .. YAY!

So this morning I dropped Katya at dancing at 8.15am (yes i know - its worse than the school hours) then went on to take Emra and Gianna to ride a friend's pony. She has two girls E & G's age .... it was so fun, the girls loved it. Emra is a huge animal lover, and wanted to get on and do jumps straight away ... much to Jane's shock! LOL! so i took a heap of photos for her ... the pony whos name is Lady, was so sweet .... don't you love the pink bridle and saddle blanket ... too cute!

so i'll explain the pics, the pink gear on Lady

Jane's girls ... Darci and Piper (i love this pic of them)

Emra and Gianna having a ride together ( i am so glad Gi got on - i thought she might be a bit scared)

Emra having a ride

Thanks again Jane for such a fun morning ....

So after picking Katya up again from dancing, the girls were off to a birthday party at McD's . .....

it was a pretty tame party (i've been to some hairy ones there! LOL) when we got home, i'd organised to have some mum/katya time - so we went shopping together. It was such good fun .. she's growing up so much. I want to do it more often ... we went to Diva and got some headbands and jewellery ... then to target to browse (which of course is always a problem)

It was full "work zone" around here today. Gary hired a jack hammer ... to lift up the tiles on the balcony ... dut dut dut dut dut dut dut dut dut dut .... HELLO! so glad i was out for most of the day! Our builder was here framing up the columns ... its all going really well ... so nice to see some progress! This place is such a major ... LOL! I mean, we new it would be ... but good to start pushing forward!

(please excuse the lack of clothing in the jack hammer photo .... i guess it was a hot day here in QLD today - LOL)

and finally for my scrapbooking friends stopping by ... i finished this LO last night of our visit to Dubbo Zoo (back in Jan - hello) i loved how the spray paint letters came up ... am loving the spray paint! its so cool.

so this is the first double page lo i've done for some time .... i realised that i have alot of scrapbooking to do from this year ... i guess i just take too many photos! LOL!

enjoy your weekend

wednesday already!

holy smokes ... can't believe its thursday tomorrow! so i've got a few creative things to share, this weeks Deck of Me card .. the topic this week is CHANGE! personally, i realised a few years ago that as a kid i think i loved the fact that nothing much changed ... the same people were always in your life ... things were constant. then you grow up and become and parent (even if you don't become a parent ... you grow up) then everything seems to start changing ... and i decided that i had to embrace it, or i would be in BIG trouble ... and i want to enjoy my life to the fullest.

So

i've done a few more pages of my USA album tonight too ... so much fun.

she loves fridays .....

that isn't my little quote from today ... i just made it up, but its true ... something about the end of the week, and the weekend comin
g that makes me happy. The girls get tuckshop at school on friday ... and often we get takeaway for dinner ... we didn't tonight - i made a chicken curry tonight instead. I got a late birthday present today too ... it SO made my day, the cutest pink clock for my scrapbook room ......

its been a busy night, the girls had their school disco tonight, and they were at different times which was annoying ... we managed to have to only do one drop off tho, as one of the girls is having a sleepover and another has a friend to stay .... so its all been a bit of organising tonight. All good tho .. they had lots of fun! oh to be young again .... how sweet!

i have been doing a bit of scrapbooking this week, doing a 8 x 8 album of my USA trip ... so have started on that. I have been playing with heidi's masks and spray paint too ... oh man, that is TOO much fun! its my fav thing to do at the moment .... last night i was spraying all sorts of stuff.

I helped at school this morning with the Grade 1's exercise station ... oh man, that was full on. I believe God realised i would NEVER be able to cope with being a teacher ... holy smokes, i was exhausted by the end of it .... i have been wiped out for the rest of the day - LOL! Teachers are amazing i say!

The Design Team projects for Craftonline are up you can see them here ....

a sneak peak of my San Francisco mini album is here:

the layouts shown are from my USA album i'm working on .... enjoy your weekend

She feels inspired ....

this is my quote from my "she" jar today ... and to live up to it... here is my deck of me card week 19 - SURPRISE!

I've had a great day, after finding it hard to wake up ... i totally woke up after going to my swimming squad! it was a tough day in the pool ... but good! felt so good after!

ok gotta run ....

Mother's Day

lucky me ... i awoke to a glorious start to the day. Gary and the girls made me a cup of tea and breakfast in bed ... Gary is a breakfast cook - and does a wikid omelette ... he put mushrooms in my one this morning ... so yum!

Katya and Emra made me gorgeous cards themselves ... just so special, i cherish their creativity! I read, wrote in my journal, read again ... ate my breakfast ... it was so nice. I even ate chocolate straight after breakfast ... just because i could and i felt like it! YUM again!

After i finally got out of bed, i went and finished my project for the Craft Online Design Team ... i can't wait to show you, it came out so well ... i love it!!!!

I then did this clock which heidi gave me when i stayed with her, i just bought an ikea one and took it apart. I took this photo today of the girls ... so it was my Mothers Day gift to myself! I love how it turned out ...

So it was a very laid back kinda day. I chatted with my mum this afternoon ... Happy Mothers Day mum ... you are the best! and we went to church tonight before coming home to a roast pork dinner ....

so i am in a very relaxed state of being ... so relaxed that i need to go to sleep now .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

she follows the imagination of her soul

this is the "she" card i pulled out of my "she" jar this morning ....

this was our homework this week for heidi's Y2R class (i photographed this as soon as i finished it, so the kindaglitz is still wet) we had to create "she" statements about ourselves and then each day we pull a new one out ... i love the idea! its golden!

I have also been catching up on my Deck of Me cards, i am just waiting for Gary to finish "his" one ... then i'll be totally up to date ... for now here are the ones i've been missing

week 14 - birds

week 15 - your parents

week 16- get someone else to contribute (waiting on gary's masterpeice)

week 17 - your bedroom

week 18 - nature

so i've had a totally cruizy friday ... have so loved having some time to just BE and catch up ... i realised i really need to do this more often!

Enjoy your weekend ... we are having indian takeaway for dinner .... so YUM!

thursday .... and a happy husband

well 34 is feeling good ... as if it wouldn't - hello!

I have had a great start to the day .... i am supposed to be working, i guess that is why its been so good till now - as i have only just come into the office and its almost lunchtime ... ops!

Katya's year did Mother's Day litergy for us this morning, i am so glad i went it was just so sweet and I felt so loved and special. They gave us all "spoonfuls of kisses" .... too cute! A friend at school gave me some earrings she had made me for my birthday ... i love handmade presents, they are just so special and thoughtful - thanks Selina!

From there I went into the Valley, as i needed to go back to the peircing shop to get my nose stud re-fitted. they didn't open till 10am, so i had a bit of time to browse my favourite shops down at James Street and go to my favourite Jocelyn's Provisions ............

as you can see from their card, the food is seriously amazing and i totally get so inspired to want to go home and make delicious food ... it all looks so spectacular. So i did get us a few yummy's for lunch ..... so so so good (that always makes me happy - eating good food)

Went and got my nose stud re-done, he had to take it out ... so i came close to fainting again (stop laughing heidi - she saw me the first time) so that is all fixed up ... yay!

had to go to my favourite furniture shop freedom (again) just to get a couple more goodies ....

and i come home to find this ................

does not look like we are doing much work today ..... hmmmm! he is so happy to have the new tv here, he's been waiting so long for it. I am thinking i might not see him for a while - till the novalty wears off .... well will it??????

So i'm thinking i better do some work now ... before the whole day disappears and i've not got anything done! naughty naughty!

had to share this picture of my birthday cake the girls made. it looked so sweet ... but it didn't taste so great (sorry suz I think you used the sea salt) the kids loved it!

enjoy your day .... can you tell i am!

34 years [young]

today is my birthday .... i am 34 today! and it has been a lovely start to the day. I had sleep in ... the girls went downstairs and watched tv for an hour till everyone was awake (bliss) then presents in our room (that is a family tradition which we used to do when we were growing up at home ... all pile into mum and dad's bed) I got some cute gifts, an ipod (when i was in usa) and these very cute mugs with pink butterflies on them ... i love them. Gorgeous black jewellery, cd, writing set, phone charm, recipe book .... already so lucky! Mum put this cute party hat in my package, so sweet ... so don't i look in the spirit of things! Then our american friend made us french toast with hawaiian bread (which i made yesterday ... that is a story into itself) was really yum! Gary surprised me with a homemade card he made last night with some help, Suzanne captured it on film ... she was in histerics watching the boys make me a card - funny! Its the gifts like this that mean the most ... i was thrilled with his creative work! thanks hon!

Its been a fun weekend. Suzanne (one of my best friens from melbourne) came up on sat to spend the weekend with me for my birthday.

We went to my favourite desert restaurant on saturday night (thanks for babysitting bronte) i found my new favourite desert ... oh man, so so so good! i can't remember the name, but they were little brioche bread pieces with white chocolate and rasberries inside ... oh man, amazing! here is suz enjoying her new york baked cheesecake!

Suz helped the girls make me a birthday cake yesterday, you can imagine the mess everywhere ... you are such a good girl suz! It was all go with the chocolate mixture painted on evryone's faces ....

My present to myself is (drumroll)

my tidy and organised scrapbook desk and area ... i am so delighted with how it has come together. I have finally cleaned the desk off so i have room to work ... i am a messy scrapbooker and always end up with the tiniest amount of space ... its insane! It took alot of work ... but it is so worth it ... and a great birthday present. of course gary was the first one to try it out ... i'll ask him his thoughts - LOL!

I am going to Queenie's for High Tea at lunchtime ... there will be more photos to post from this as the food is spectacular. i am looking forward to seeing my girlfriends .... should be fun. Then we are hitting the mexican restaurant for dinner ... since being in america and indulging my passion for mexican food ... i have been craving it, it would be rude not to go ... don't you think?

(edited to add pics from my High Tea)

i had such a fun lunch, having High Tea at Queenie's Tea House.

The owners gave me a crown to wear for the day ....

don't i look like a queen?

the food comes in the traditional high tea plates stacked three high ... so good.

It was so nice chatting with my friends, and having a good laugh - i want to thank each of them for spending the time with me, and also paying for my lunch - which was such a shock, but a lovely gesture that really touched my heart so much ... i was so soilt!

Friday yay ...

you know i love fridays ... although today has been alot busier than my normal friday. I watched the start of the school cross country .. my girls both did really well, so proud of them - it was a hot day today too, so they were tired tonight.

Then went swimming, fridays we always do distance stuff, so i knew i would suffer from being unfit - i wasn't too bad actually, but it was hard work. Finally got to clearing out Emra's room - i hadn't been able to face it since getting back, it was such a tip ... however, i had decided that i was going to take a trip to Ikea this afternoon and figured i might need to pick her up some more stoarage things .... that was the motivation. So glad its behind me, she seriously makes alot of mess.

So i picked the girls up from school after paying some bills first, and was going to head to Ikea, called in on a friend to borro $5 to get over the bridge (its a toll bridge) and the big girls stayed for a play ... so Gigi and I headed off, Ikea is on the otherside of town to us .... BUT i was on a mission ... and I HAD to go today! OK! So its a long weekend here ... and everyone that has a life (not us) is going away to enjoy the beautiful weather and 3 days off. Can you imagine the traffic situation????? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Can i tell you that is was really really really disastrous! but for some reason that was ok ... and i was completely calm about it! We got there (like an hour later) it was really quiet at Ikea (one bonus - you know its usually so damn busy it makes you sick) so that was nice. I took the wrong route home, and came upon an accident ... needless to say, i didn't end up getting home with the girls till nearly 7pm - picked up indian takeaway on the way home ... that was SO GOOD!

The boys have gone to the Bronco's game ... so its so peaceful, i haven't even got music going .... i am really enjoying the peace (as i know any sec they will rock in and it will be over) My cousin had her first baby yesterday on her birthday ... how sweet. She is only 3 lbs - how tiny, so happy for Jane and Derek!

So I have just finished my Y2R homework, heidi is going to be so happy i've done it ... and i really loved this one, it just had so many things that caught my focus and attention and i just lost myself in it. We had to use something old from our scrapbook stash, so the brown floral piece and also the word "cherish" are two things I've had for a while. We had to handmake a flower embellisment, i used callico as i was going for an aged sort of look ... so i inked it too! The old photo was taken on my christening day, so i was only 2 weeks old. The new one was taken in March at my brothers wedding and it is the 4 generations, my nana, my mother, me and my 3 daughters. So i had to share as I just love how this has turned out.

Have a fab weekend ... i know i will!

time flies ....

so thought i'd better catch up ... hello, where do the days go (well after being away for two weeks ... i have alot to catch up on) its hard bloggin when i'm half trying to watch Prisonbreak ... man, this season is so exciting!

So its been busy busy busy ... trying to get settled again after my amazing adventure. I have so much scrapbooking gear to find homes for, that i am going to completely re-organise my space .... and of course that will take some time, so its a mess for now! and that bugs me!

We a friend staying this week ... so have been doing a few things to show him Brissy ... went for Fish n Chips at Sandgate on monday night, Gary took him to Goldclass movies last night ... they were so into that .... funny! We are planning to go to my favourite desert restaurant called Freestyle - its so good, there will be photos for sure!

I finished my circle journal and got that in the mail .. i was a day or so behind which totally made me feel so bad ... so it was awesome to post it off today. I am so excited about this, as its going all over the world and i won't have it back till maybe christmas time! so cooL!

I got back to swimming yesterday, i was worried that i would really die after being so long out of the water ... but it wasn't too bad ... i was tired last night, but thats always a good feeling - a good tiredness (which is carrying over to today, as i was up scrapbooking late last night)

I have all my Deck of Me cards to catch up on, was going to try get to that tonight ... but alas no, that will have to wait till tomorrow.

Gianna went to a 3 yr old party today, it was at Little Peoples Parties seriously so cute, i was kicking myself for not taking my camera ... so had a few snaps from my phone, but managed to delete the good ones ... hello! It was a "yellow" party .... too sweet!

The usual dancing run after school today - the sunset driving home was amazing, unfortunately i missed most of it ... couldn't get home fast enough, just captured the end ... so amazing! will try and post my cards tomorrow .... wish me luck!