Sunday 27 October 2013

Project Life: Week 43

Hi everyone :)

We’ve had some ups and downs this week.  On Sunday night Krystal was rushed to hospital with an extremely high temperature, terrible headache and stomach pain.  I rushed over to be with her and I’m so pleased that I did because sometimes a Mum just needs to be with her kid.

Speed through to this weekend and Krystal has been diagnosed with glandular fever, an enlarged spleen and her liver is also enlarged.  She’s home for the weekend and it’s been good to spend time with her while she’s resting.

Here’s an overview of this week:Full On Monday Krystal came back from Hamilton with me and she cooked a dinner for Mikayla’s birthday.  Grandma came over to join us and we had a really delicious dinner followed by a delicious chocolate cake.

Toby was very happy to have Grandma over for a ‘party’ too!  That night Krystal decided to sleep on the sofa because it was more comfortable for her and Toby decided to sleep right beside her.  He kept a close eye on her throughout the night and in the morning I caught him just watching her.  He’s been really protective of her this weekend as well.

In these technology filled days computers are getting more and more common but I had to laugh when I had all three laptops set up side by side.  One is my school one and I was busy doing some work before heading into school but the other two are both mine.  I’m still working on transferring all my stuff from one computer to the other but it’s getting there.

Here’s an overview of the start of my week:Left

On Wednesday all the senior classes at school started our annual swimming programme.   It was good to see the kids getting more and more confident in the water with just one lesson.  This week we’ll be swimming every day so by the end of the week I’m sure there will be lots of improvements.

Friday was a super busy day… I was at school all day and when I got home the mini skip I’d ordered had arrived.  Krystal came home on the bus just before 5pm and then we went and got the groceries.  By 8.30pm I was tired and ready for a bath to unwind. 

Here’s a closer look at the second part of my week:Right

On Saturday morning Toby was in 7th Heaven.  Both his big sisters were snuggled up on the sofa and he parked himself right in between them for some love and attention.  He was one very happy boy!

We’ve spent most of the weekend de-cluttering and the mini skip is filling up fast!  We didn’t seem to achieve much yesterday but today has been GREAT!

While I was at Krystal’s on Monday I saw Rachel Ray on Sky TV… which is a bit of a treat in itself because I don’t have Sky TV.  Anyway, Rachel was cooking Eggplant Parmigiana and it looked so good that I decided I wanted to try it. 

The silly thing is that I’ve never even eaten Eggplant before but I’ve always thought they looked interesting in the supermarket.  Turns out the recipe is AWESOME and Krystal and I really enjoyed our dinner!

Today has been fantastic!  I spent several hours tidying my bedroom while Krystal sat in my bed ‘supervising’ me.  Just as we were nearing the end a friend turned up with a fresh crayfish so it was definitely time to stop for some lunch!

I didn’t take a ‘before’ photo of my bedroom… trust me though it was pretty cluttered!  Now it’s all fresh, clean, de-cluttered and dust free!

my bedroom copy

I’ve actually got all the bedding washed and ready to go to the launderette and I’m just waiting for the last load of washing to go through the machine so I can go down and get it all dried.  Something tells me I’m going to sleep well tonight!

So that’s been my week.  I hope you’re all enjoying Labour Weekend xx

Friday 25 October 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

To be honest I need a bit of a Feel Good Friday this week.  It’s been a challenging week with quite a lot of worry!  On Sunday night I got a very emotional phone call from Krystal… and those of you who know my daughter know that she doesn’t ‘do’ crying.

Turns out she was feeling really awful… horrible headache, fever, chills, body aches etc.  She was rushed off to the hospital just after 10pm and I went over to be with her.  She had a multitude of tests done but there was ‘nothing conclusive’.

After several (daily) visits back to the doctor along with a multitude of tests… the poor kid is feeling like a pincushion now… it turns out that she has a rather bad dose of glandular fever! 

Then yesterday I got another call from her with a new development… her spleen is currently FOUR TIMES the normal size!  She’s a very unwell young lady and thankfully she’s coming home later this afternoon for a bit of ‘Mummy attention’ for the weekend.

Meanwhile, Mikayla shared with me a photo she’d found on the internet and I absolutely fell in love with the idea…

photo

Basically it’s an old light bulb that’s had the ‘innards’ removed and then been turned into a mini vase… pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Sometimes that’s all it takes to get my mind working so I did a bit of ‘image googling’ and found lots of other examples and here’s what I came up with for this weeks Feel Good Friday:

week 43 - light bulb vases

I’ve found quite a few tutorials online about how to actually do this project so now I’m just waiting patiently for one of my lights to blow so I can try it out!

I hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy weekend xx

Sunday 20 October 2013

Project Life: Week 42

Hi everyone :)

Well another weekend is drawing to a close… but what a weekend!  Yesterday my ‘baby’ celebrated her 19th birthday.  Actually celebrated is probably too big of a word because all we really did was go out for brunch.

It’s certainly not difficult for me to recall the day she was born and, in truth, it doesn’t seem all that long ago!

Tomorrow night we will have the real celebration because Krystal is coming over to cook dinner for her sister and Grandma is coming over to join in as well… I’m looking forward to some much needed family time!

Meanwhile, His Royal Highness aka Toby has heard the work C.A.K.E. and has been hounding us for treats ever since!  Heaven help that he might actually miss out on something!

Here’s an overview of my week:Full72
As I was coming home from school on Monday I noticed ‘something’ on my back windscreen.  Turns out that one of the kids had made a ‘sand bomb’ and got me… still it could have been worse!

If you saw the Feel Good Friday this week you’ll know that my class was involved in an event at Rainbow Springs for Save the Kiwi week.  I had so many great photos that I really had to include them in this weeks pages.

The story has been in the local Daily Post and the  kids were pretty impressed with the fact that they are now ‘famous’!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:Left72

When we arrived at Fairy Springs everyone had their hand stamped with a kiwi and since we had rather a long time to wait (20 minutes) before the photo was taken I got some of the boys to put their hands together for a photo.

We also had a class photo taken and then they added some kiwi and tuatara before printing it off for us.  The kids were pretty enthusiastic about seeing the photo but one young fellow is still wondering how come he didn’t ‘notice the kiwi right beside him’… we can’t all be rocket scientists I suppose LOL

Of course the Big Splash was the thing that most of the kids wanted to go on.  A few of the boys didn’t want to have a go so they stayed with me while the others queued and waited… and waited… and waited.  In fact they were in the queue for almost an hour before getting the 10 minute ride!  I did get some great photos of people coming down the Big Splash though!

Mikayla got the all clear to donate blood this week.  Last time her iron count was too low and she came home quite disappointed but this week it was back to normal again.

Here’s a closer look at the second part of the week:
Right72
On Thursday night I got the opportunity to go to another writing workshop… and while it’s true that all this Professional Development eats into your own time it’s also true that it makes a big difference when you get quality PD!  My kids wrote some amazing poetry on Friday and I’m looking forward to getting the wall display all organised tomorrow.

Toby is a bit ‘snaky’ with me at the moment because his bed has been moved out to the lounge.  The ‘little blighter’ keeps sneaking up onto my bed during the night and it’s not helping my back at all so now he’s sleeping in the lounge.  That being said… he’d rather sleep on the sofa than on his own bed… he’s such a *boy* sometimes!

Of course I had to include the photo of Mikayla’s birthday brunch… totally delicious way to start off her day!  That was followed by a little ‘window shopping’ at various stores.  When we saw the sign from The Dog we had to get a quick photo because I’m sure Toby would LOVE a sign like that!

I’ve spent most of today with my friend Chris from school and although we had some ‘important business’ to attend to we actually spent rather too much time talking, laughing and trawling around the internet.  But that’s what makes for a good day sometimes!

It’s actually been brilliant here today and my washing is still on the line and in the sun… and it’s 5.30pm!  Just a few weeks ago it was almost dark by this time!

Best I go and get the washing in now while I’m thinking about it!  I hope you’ve all had a great weekend xx

Friday 18 October 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)
Well it’s Friday again which means it’s time for another Feel Good Friday. 
This week we did a WHOLE SCHOOL trip to Fairy Springs to help them celebrate Save the Kiwi week.  We weren’t the only school invited and it was a pretty awesome event.
Here’s a photo and a few details from the local paper:c2dc8767e8c1e67490502af881bb79fa42827f1c_460x231
Hundreds of school children helped celebrate Save Kiwi Week at Rainbow Springs yesterday. Photo / Stephen Parker
School children donned beaks and helped Rainbow Springs celebrate Save Kiwi Week with a special visit.
About 800 children from Horohoro School, Kaharoa School and Selwyn Primary School gathered yesterday for a celebratory photo.
The aim was to get 1250 children, one for each of the kiwi chicks that have been raised at Kiwi Encounter and released into the wild. Wild weather on Tuesday meant the visit had to be rescheduled.
Since we’ve been talking a lot about kiwi’s at school I thought it was a good idea to ‘go with the flow’ and use some beautiful kiwi images for my album and here’s the results:week 42 - kiwi My album is getting quite full now and I think it’s going to make a really nice ‘coffee table’ album to browse through.
I hope you’re all having a good week xx

Tuesday 15 October 2013

One Little Word: September Update

Hi everyone :)

Somehow the last few weeks have flown by without me updating my One Little Word project and it’s already half way through October.

This month Ali asked us to interview someone about our word and the progress we’re making with it.
I decided to ask Mum for her input and she was happy to do it… but she was also worried about getting it ‘wrong’.  In the end we sat down together at the retreat and spent some time just talking about my word.  It was a really nice time to connect with each other and she did a GREAT job!

As you know, I went to visit my sister last week.  Tracey didn’t actually know that I was doing this project and doesn’t read my blog so she came at the interview from a completely different angle.  The funny thing is that both of these interviews really resonated with me.
Here’s my first September page (6x8 size):PAGE 1 copy_1

And here’s the second page which actually contains the answers to the interview questions:PAGE 2 copy_1
I’m really quite pleased with how it all turned out in the end.  The October prompt is much more creative so I’m looking forward to spending some time on it!
Hope you’re all having a great week xx

Sunday 13 October 2013

Project Life: Week 41

Hi everyone :)

This week has been great!  I’ve had a break away with my sister and her family… had my hair coloured… been on an impromptu picnic… bought a few art supplies… blobbed in front of the TV… and had some visits with friends!  It’s what the holidays are all about :)

Here’s an overview of my week:Full_1

On Tuesday I headed down to Gisborne to spend some time with my sister and her family.  I’m super pleased that I got the opportunity because it was a wonderful time! 

I actually remembered to take the birthday card I made for her with me and on Tuesday night Tracey and I went out for dinner… a ‘grown ups’ dinner… no kids… no McDonalds… and we had a blast.  We started off at one place with a drink but decided the music was too loud for talking… either that or we’re both getting old! LOL

We moved on somewhere else for dinner and were surprised by how full it was… turns out it was ‘pub quiz night’… and it was great!  We found out that between us we knew lots of the answers and it was a bit like being on the set of Nothing Trivial LOL

On Wednesday I got the opportunity to go with my nephew for his swimming lesson and he did such a great job!  He’s starting to get quite confident in the water and was keen to show Auntie how much he had developed since he started on Monday.

Here’s a close up of the beginning of my week:Left copy_1 After the swimming lesson we hung out by the pools for a while and then spent some time in town.  I managed to get some really candid shots of the kids while I was there and knew I wanted to include some of those precious moments in my album.

While I was staying in Gisborne I also bought myself a new laptop.  It was definitely time for a new one and it’s super speedy!  I’ve got quite a few of my programs loaded on it now and I’m getting used to the way it works.

I was also lucky to have an entire queen sized bed to myself.  At home I have a double bed and the queen really seemed to be a LOT bigger!  With all the rugby heroes on the wall I wasn’t short of company either LOL

When I left Gisborne I knew I had to make it back to Rotorua in time for a hair appointment.  Somehow I never seem to get their on time when I’m at home but even with travelling close to 300km I made it back with 15 minutes to spare… how on earth does that work???

Here’s a close up of the second part of my week:Right_1 Before I left my sisters place I asked the kids to have their photo taken with me… the youngest nephew was totally up for it but the eldest one wasn’t so keen.  I told him that we could also do a silly photo and that changed everything.  There are definitely some ‘crazy’ genes in our family!

Poor Toby missed me while I was away.  He sat up on my bed all day watching out the window for me to come home and wasn’t too keen to move from his spot.  Luckily for me Mikayla got a few photos because they turned out really well.

On Friday I took Toby on a bit of a road trip to make up for missing out on going to Gisborne.  He really loves going in the car and when we stop for ice cream he’s even happier! 

We had an impromptu picnic at the Kaituna Cut and the weather was perfect for getting some good photos.  The fishermen were catching a few good fish too!

I spent a little bit of time on Saturday working on some mini houses for my Christmas Village… the brain cells are working overtime with different ideas I can use so I’m sure you’ll see some progress over the next couple of months.  In the meantime, here’s what I’ve started with:

IMG_0360_1 IMG_0361_1I’ve still got lots to do on it but I’ve had fun so far!

Today I had a really lovely visit with Sheree and we got busy with molds and resins.  So much fun and we found that we like lots of the same things.  Sheree arrived with mini quiches and coleslaw for lunch too… total bonus!

And now the end of the holidays are upon me and tomorrow it’s back to school, kids and reality!

I hope you all have a great week xx

Project Life: Week 40

Hi everyone :)

Gosh the school holidays have flown by and tomorrow we start the final term for the year… and you can bet it’s going to get crazy around here!

I’m still working on transferring all my files across from my ‘old’ laptop and having a few ‘issues’ as I’m sure anyone who has been through the process will understand.  I’ve even had a couple of times when I’ve basically ‘thrown my toys out of the play pen’ but I’m making progress LOL

Here’s an overview of Week 40:Full_1

The first week of the holidays  turned out to be pretty good… I would exactly call it relaxing but it was definitely FULL!

On Monday, Toby and I headed over to Tirau to meet up with Esther for the day.  We had quite a good poke around in the Christmas Heirloom Shop there and I finally managed to find the ‘perfect’ Santa for me!  He’s really stunning and pure vintage which is the look I’m after!  While we were there I even found a beautiful lamp post… complete with flickering light… that simply had to come home with me!

After doing some shopping we headed to a restaurant for lunch and ended up both getting extremely good lamb burgers.  I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last time I have lunch in Tirau!

I also managed to find a gorgeous clear glass vase that I really like.  It’s got an unusual shape and I’m planning on using it lots over the summer as the flowers bloom.

Here’s a close up of the beginning of my week:Left copy_1

After having such a wonderful day on Monday I was devastated to pull a muscle in my back on Tuesday morning.  I felt quite crippled by it and knew that it was going to take more than just one visit to the chiropractor to get it all fixed but Nicola is amazing and she worked her magic!  By Friday I was actually feeling a lot better!

I finally got the last retreat layout done and loved getting a bit more creative with stencils and paint.  My poor Silhouette Cameo worked overtime during the week and I re-sprayed my cutting mats several times to get everything I needed cut out but it worked out well.

A BIG thanks to Nina who helped me out for several days… during her school holidays too!  We cut die-cuts… made embellishment packs… sorted papers and cardstock… counted… counted and counted some more but we got all the retreat packs done and dusted with a fair amount of team work.  Thank you so much Nina for all your assistance!

Here’s a close up of the second half of my week:Right_1

After getting all the retreat stuff done I gave my hairdresser a quick call and thankfully she was able to fit me in for a cut.  It was absolutely divine to be able to sit down and be pampered after all the packaging was done.

The retreat itself was AWESOME!  Thanks to Nina (yep she really is that good!) we were all done, sorted and displayed by 2.30pm and we actually got to have a wee break before everyone turned up.  My favourite display was the Christmas one… probably  because Mr Claus took pride of place along with his lamp.

Loreen made a fabulous haunted house which took hours to put together.  It’s completely made of paper and looked stunning!

Mum brought over her boot complete with mini album and I’m sure it gave everyone a few ideas!IMG_0226_1

Of course we had our group photo which ended up being on our Sunday layout.  The sun shone and we spent some time outside relaxing.  Donna and Tanya even gave the swings a go!

I found this retreat the most relaxing one I’ve ever done… everything went well and it was a wonderful time to spend with scrapping friends. 

In fact I even did a little ‘scrapping’ myself!  I’ve got an idea to create a vintage Christmas village to go on the mantelpiece and over the weekend I managed to get two of my trees done… thanks Hazel for loaning me your glimmer mist too!  Totally love how vintage it turned out!IMG_0233_1 

I’ll be back this afternoon with my Project Life update for this week.  Catch you soon xx

Friday 11 October 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

Well I’ve finally taken the plunge and bought myself a new computer.  I’m now in the process I’ve copying everything over, locating all my program disks and transferring things… I think it might just keep me out of trouble for a while LOL

Meanwhile, it’s Friday again!  Since I’ve just done a road trip down to see my sister and her family I thought I’d look for some pictures and Google images came up trumps!  Here’s my layout for this week:week 41 - road trip copy

I actually love driving and I quite enjoy having some time on my own in the car too.  Having just done 550 km in the last couple of days I’m ready to chill out at home before school goes back on Monday.

I’m hoping to get my Project Life pages ready and blogged tomorrow :)

Have a great weekend xx

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Belated Feel Good Friday and a quick retreat update

Hi everyone :)

My computer is playing up big time at the moment so the Feel Good Friday didn’t make it onto the blog before I headed off to the October Retreat but it’s here now.

On Monday I spent the day in Tirau with Esther and it’s amazing how one little town can have so much to look at!  As most of you know I love plain clear glass jars and on Monday I bought the most beautiful glass vase… you’ll have to wait for my Project Life pages to see it! 

So here’s my layout dedicated to glass jars:week 40 - glass jars copy

I saw lots of clear glass while I was in Tirau and those apothecary jars and lolly jars on pedestals seemed to be quite popular with other people as well.

Now for a quick update on the October Retreat!

It really was a wonderful weekend spent with like-minded creative ladies.  We had a lot of laughs… plenty of scrapbooking and the whole weekend just seemed to flow really well.

On Saturday afternoon our host, Mark, took our group photo outside… the weather was gorgeous all weekend:

group 1

The theme for this retreat was Halloween and Loreen made this fantastic haunted house and brought it over to share with all of us… it’s made completely out of paper!

DSCN8228

On Saturday night we had our a bit of a dress up time and Mum got this photo of some of the ladies who went all out to look as spooky as possible!

DSCN8247

Of course we had to get another group photo as well… there’s a few ladies missing from the photo but most of us are there!

group 2

Patricia came over with this fantastic plate of goodies… fingers, spiders and bones with a dipping sauce!

DSCN8250

And check out these chocolate crackles (love them!!) on the spooky cake stand:

DSCN8253

Now it’s time for me to enjoy a bit of R & R before the school holidays are over and I’m heading down to Gisborne to spend some much needed ‘Auntie Time’ with my niece and nephews!

Have a great week everyone xx