Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

This week I’ve been catching up on my night classes and both the Tuesday and Thursday groups were here.  Apart from catching up with everyone it also gave me a chance to ‘look’ for some things that I had put away in a ‘safe place’. 

While I was looking for things I also came across some of the laces and ribbons I’ve been collecting for various projects and they really were quite beautiful so I thought it would make a good theme for this weeks Friday Feel Good.

The internet really is a wonderful way to loose a bit of time and I really enjoyed searching for this weeks photos.  Here’s my finished layout:

Over the years, both my girls have enjoyed times when there were allowed to go through Grandma’s baskets of laces, ribbons, buttons and ‘stuff’… and that’s what this weeks layout reminded me of.

Take care, Shell xx

Project Life: Week 8

Hi everyone :)

Well after three weeks of living on a roller coaster things are starting to settle down into a ‘new kind of normal’.  There is so much that goes on ‘behind the scenes’ that is just too personal to share… but your love, kindness and support has been absolutely wonderful and I want to personally thank all the people who made this step in our lives just a little bit easier for us.

So many people have been asking how Mum is getting on and the answer is… she’s getting up every day… she’s taking it one day at a time… and she’s learning how to live a different kind of life than she expected… and she’s loved.

It was actually really hard going back and trying to catch up on the last three weeks… and to be honest I’ve only finished doing Week 8 today… but I do know that when I look back on these pages I’ll be pleased that I’ve done them.

Here’s an overview of Week 8:

My week started off really well… how could it not when I was able to save a whopping 40c per litre off my petrol!  You really do have to take advantage of special discounts and offers when they become available!

I had a writing course on Monday and it was really good… of course it’s even more work on top of everything else but I know it’s going to benefit my kids and that’s why I do what I do.

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

Harold was visiting our school and no matter how old the kids get they always love it when Harold turns up.  In our region we also have Bernie and she’s a phenomenal teacher and motivator!

Toby features heavily this week too!  He decided that in spite of our ‘talks’ and ‘discussions’ the call of the duvet inner filling is just too much for him and it MUST be pulled out at every available opportunity!

Luckily for me, Mikayla is quite good at getting photos of my boy when I’m at work and I usually come home to photos of his daily antics!

We’ve been putting a bit of effort into our fitness programme at school and I’m happy to say that the kids are all now actively participating in the programme each day which is great!

I’m sure most dog owners can relate to the dog sitting on the stairs! I’m pretty sure he and Toby must be very close friends because Toby gives me that ‘look’ very regularly!

Here’s the second half of the week:

Of course this was the week that I got the call from Mum to say Richard was not going to be coming home.  It was such a shock to us and completely unexpected because just the night before we thought he was coming home in the morning.

Krystal and I rushed over to Tauranga to be there with Mum and Richard and I feel very blessed to have been able to sit and be with them both during this time.  Krystal took the photo of Grandma and Poppa holding hands while they were sleeping and it’s a really precious photo to all of us.

Krystal and I also spent a little time watching old family videos and it was a really special time.  Krystal was pretty pleased to see herself as a flower girl for her Auntie and Uncle… and I have to admit that it was the first time I’d actually seen the video myself.  

So that was Week 8…  I’ll be back with some more Project Life soon xx

Feel Good Friday–catching up

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s been a real roller-coaster of emotions, thoughts and feelings over the past couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago (on Friday) I got a phone call from Mum that truly shocked me.  Although Richard was in hospital, we were fully expecting him to come home but sometimes life throws you a huge curve ball and it must have been our turn.

Krystal and I rushed over to be with Mum and Richard and I feel very blessed that we were able to get to her so quickly and spend some quality time with them.  Richard and I have enjoyed sparring with each other over the years and I hadn’t realised how much that meant to me.  In fact his first words to me when I arrived at the hospital were… ‘You thought I was having you on didn’t you!’  And in true form I responded with… ‘Yeah I did a bit.’  We held hands and had a bit of a laugh and it felt good to just be with him and talk.

While Richard was in the hospital I took some photos of the garden that he and Mum have worked on, argued over and shared so my Week 8 layout is dedicated to Richard.

Week 8: Richard’s garden

By the following Friday Richard had passed away and we were planning a funeral.  Thankfully he had already put most of it in place himself and he got everything that he wanted. 

Richard had asked me to do a eulogy for him and he gave me two very strict instructions…

• I had to put some ‘funny’ stuff in – there was definitely lots of things to choose from!
• I wasn’t allowed to make him look bad – he told me this with a laugh and I knew exactly what he meant!

I like things to be clear cut… it takes all the guess work out!  Thanks to Richard’s instructions I knew exactly what to put in and exactly what to keep out. 

White roses are just like that too… they remind me of honesty, defining moments and truth… so my layout had to be focused on white roses.

Week 9: Keeping it real

I had fully intended on having this post done yesterday but between being at school for well over twelve hours… coming home to lots of phone calls and messages and then feeling really tired it was all a bit much.  I knew that I needed to relax a bit so that I don’t burn out and what better way to do that than by having a bath.

Week 10 – It’s time to relax!

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages, texts and emails.  Your love and support has been greatly appreciated xx

A quick update

Hi everyone

Just a quick update to let you know that Richard passed away at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. 

If there’s one thing I know about Richard, it’s that he didn’t mind being in the limelight and getting a little attention.  He also loved to dress up and be silly… and if he could get Mum to join in that was even better!

When William and Kate got married the pair of them wasted no time getting their ‘outfits’ ready and on the night of the royal wedding they were in fine form. 

Richard followed my blog through Mum and I’m pretty sure he’d be quite happy to have a small post dedicated just to him. 

Richard’s funeral will be held in Tauranga on Monday followed by the burial in Auckland on Tuesday. 

Thank you to everyone who has left messages, texts, emails and phone calls.  Your love, prayers and thoughts have been a real strength to both Mum and myself over the past week.

Take care xx