Time for an update...

Phew...we have been busy around here for the past few days!!!
Last Thursday, we went ice skating. My girls LOVE ice skating (and so do I). We all had a fabulous time, even if my fingers went numb from the cold!!! LOL!
Here are a few happy snaps from the day!!


All the kids were so good. Cute little gremlins they are!!!
After skating we all went to this yummy food hall at a near by shopping centre for lunch. I had the most delicious curry- mmmm mmm yummo!!! Kim and I then wandered around with our kids (plus the two extras I had) and did a bit of shopping. Gotta love shopping! LOL!!! Of course the girls managed to get some new clothes/shoes!!!

After a well earned coffee at Gloria Jeans we then headed home. I still had the extra two kiddos with me however they all flopped on the lounge and watched a DVD - too easy for me.

Saturday and Sunday were very busy as Sarah has a basketball carnival. She is in the Under 12 Flames development squad. The first game was 8am on Saturday morning at Perry Lakes Stadium, which is about 50 minutes drive away. Needles to say- we were up and away very early. I took Sarah and Adam stayed home with Emma. The girls did very well. They won their first game 23-17, but drew their second game 21 all.

Adam and I went out to dinner on Saturday night. It was my friend Leanne's birthday so a group of us went to Thai By The Sea. What a delicious meal we had!! Great company, great food, great wine = a great night. Adam & I didn't have an ultra late night however because Sunday was another early morning (more basketball). Fortunately the girls won both their games. This meant that they made the grand final however again they were runner ups. Never mind- it was another fantastic weekend of thrilling basketball!!
Here is Sarah & Grace with their runner up medallions for the Redback Classic!!!

All of us were totally exhausted by Sunday night so it was an early night for the kids. I had to get organized because I had to go back to work yesterday. It was a student free day - that means lots of meetings and lectures etc for me.
My kids didn't have school either so Kim offered to have them for the day. My girls were so excited. Emma planned out what she was going to wear and packed a bag of doll's clothes to take with her. (she took her Baby Born too). From all accounts they had a wonderful time- Thanks Kim- you're a gem!!!

Before I go I have one LO to share. I did this one last week. It is challenge J2- scrap photo/s from this month.
I just love this October Afternoon paper- pretty yummy huh?

Anyway- must go.....be happy!


Love Janine xxx

Wednesday.

LOL- I couldn't think of a title!!!

Today has been a 'bitsa' day. I had a heap of little odd job type things to do so I did them all today. I felt like I was in the car for ages- driving here, driving there!!! Fortunately I only had one munchkin with me (Sarah went bowling with Grace and is sleeping over there) and my munchkin Emma was absolutely fantastic. She didn't whinge all day - what a good kiddo she is!!!

Here are my two LOs from yesterday. J6- scrap a LO about an event. Sarah's Holy Communion last year was a HUGE event in our house. Buying the dress was a major event too and I'm thrilled to say we ended up finding the perfect dress so I just had to scrap it.

Here is my April scrap jack. These are some old photos of Sarah on one of our trips to the Perth Zoo in April 2005!!! Nic Howard was the jackee- Thanks Nic!!! I love the Aussie Scrap jack site- I can't wait to see whom we can jack next month!!!

I'm so looking forward to tomorrow. Kim and I are taking our kiddos ice skating. I invited some other friends along too so at last calculations we will have 3 adults and 9 kids!!! Sounds like a fantastic photo opportunity to me!!!!! I'm hoping to be able to call past a scrap shop somewhere as I'm half way through a LO and don't have enough 'e' s - very frustrating!!!!! Never mind- my life could be worse!!!

I hope your plans for tomorrow go smoothly.

Stay safe.

Love Janine xxx

Lazy day...

The girls and I had a rather lazy day today ... don't you just love holidays sometimes!!!! In fact Sarah stayed in her jammies all day and only got out of them to have a shower and dress in clean jammies tonight!!!! Emma did get dressed but not until about 3pm!!!

This morning I lazed around. I did, however, do three loads of washing, fold yesterday's washing, do the breakfast dishes and I vacuumed. Blaaaahhhh!!

Then the girls and I watched Monster House together- a pretty good movie for a weekly rental!!!

After that, this little munchkin and I decided to make cupcakes. Notice that she is still in her jammies!!!

I got the swirly pink idea from Fiona Carter's blog- I {heart} Fiona's blog- so many inspirational scrapping and other crafty ideas, including cooking!!

This is how they turned out- very YUMMY!!!!

I have done some more scrapping- J6- scrap photos from an event- DONE! I have also finished this month's Nic Howard scrapjack. I will photograph and upload tomorrow.

I hope your day is going wonderfully!!!

Love Janine xxx

Organize...

Remember this LO- I took a photo of it so you can actually read the journaling. Well one of the areas of my house I wanted to clean was the laundry. YAY - TODAY WAS THE DAY!!!! My laundry isn't particularly big however it is a dumping ground for anything and everything. NO LONGER!!!! I started by taking everything out- yes everything and then I only put back what I wanted. Eight bags of 'stuff' went. EIGHT BIG GARBAGE BAGS!!! I feel so good tonight. Towels, tea towels, sheets, doona covers, pillow slips, baby blankets, table cloths - all gone off to the Salvos. I found new towels that I had forgotten I had, so I washed them and they are ready for use!


Woo hoo- my walk-in-robe is next!!!

I was too busy cleaning to scrap today however I have one LO to share that I completed last night. This is challenge K5- a sketch from the Fiskars website.

Here is the sketch that I used. There are heaps of great sketches on this site- well worth a look!!!

I hope your day was wonderful.
I'm off to have a well earned glass of wine and watch Desperate Housewives!!!
Be happy and stay safe.
Love Janine xxx

Calmer...

Things are much calmer here, in fact today has been very peaceful and relaxing- just the way I like it!!
Woo hoo -I have some scrapping to share- YAY!

This LO is for challenge J9- use two or more fonts. Here is a close up of the little birdie!! I really like this quote too.

This LO is for challenge J4 Create a LO with an animal on it. This gorgeous girl is my cousin's little munchkin. Jan, her hubby Griz and this beautiful bunny Paige came and stayed with us over Easter. Gorgeous isn't she???
It is a bit hard to see but the bunny has been painted with a glitter glaze and I've used bling for the bunny's eyes!!!

Sorry about the 'not-quite-straight' photos but it is overcast and cold here today so I went out, photographed the LOs and was inside awfully quick!!!

Yesterday Adam and I did a heap of work in our garden. We pulled up lots of weeds, Adam mowed the lawns, trimmed the edges and we generally cleaned up- I love how when your garden looks better, that you feel better too. LOL- or maybe that's just me!!!

Adam, Mum and I relaxed last night and watched Ned Kelly. Let me tell you, Heath Ledger is yummy eye candy, even with a big bushy Ned Kelly beard!!!!

Mum is home a bit earlier from the hospital today and is making a big pot of delicious chicken soup for us, so I had better go and help.

Have a great day.

Love Janine xxx

Edited to add- The soup WAS indeed delicious and I've completed another LO- K5 is now complete- woo hoo!!!

Just quickly...

Life is still up and down here.

I did have a wonderful time yesterday. The girls and I went out to lunch with Aunty Lorraine. We went to Betty Blues and ..yummo...the lunch was DELICIOUS!!! We then went to see Nim's Island. It was fabulous- I loved it! I think my favourite part was the flying lizards-LOL!!!! Great holiday viewing!!! We then have coffee and cake at Pengo's- SCRUMPTIOUS!!!! It was really, a wonderful day!

Here are the two LOs that I did the other day. Challenge J7- create a LO with lots of journaling.

K1- use two or more stamps. I have used a date stamp and my favourite Hero Arts alphabet stamps.

This LO is in the latest Scrapbook Creations and I caught up with my friend Lian today and her two gorgeous girls. I gave Morgan a copy of the magazine because that is her in the middle of Emma and Taylah (Kim's DD). Morgan was over the moon and rushed around showing everyone who would look- very sweet. It was so nice to see.

Hopefully your day is sailing along smoothly. Stay safe.

Love Janine xxx

Blah, blah, blah but some scrapping too!

Last night and today have been horrible. Without going into much detail, things here have reached 'out of control' point and the family member staying with us is no longer here (through his own choice). I have had 24 hours filled with anger, fear, sadness and relief. (relief that he is safe and receiving professional assistance)

I found myself unable to concentrate on much today- lucky I'm on holidays!! The girls are blissfully unaware that anything has gone on and have been absolutely fantastic today. I need to give the person involved credit- my girls have no idea that 'issues' are happening right under their noses!!! I know the person involved loves my girls and would never ever intentionally do anything to hurt them.

Late this afternoon when I was made aware that things were calmer I managed to scrap. I have scrapped two more LOs for the K&J challenge. K1 & J7 are now complete- woo hoo!!!I'll upload them tomorrow.

I am absolutely shattered after my lack of sleep last night so I'm off to bed- Goodnight and sweet dreams to all. Please stay safe and tell your loved ones you love them.
Love Janine xxxx

Ups and downs....

Life is throwing all sorts of things at our family at the moment- some good and some bad.
Let me start with to good!!
Friday 4th- Sarah represented her school at the Inter school swimming carnival. I wasn't able to go due to work however she was thrilled to bits even to be going. She swam in two events. She was in division B for the year 5 girl's backstroke and came 5th. She then swam backstroke in the medley relay- woo hoo, they came third so she was tickled pink to receive a ribbon. Our school, Star of the Sea, won the swimming carnival so everyone was wrapped!!
Emma's basketball team competed in a round robin type event to finish off the season. Emma was so excited because she got a goal in one of the games- only her second for the season!!! She also received a medal (all the kids did) for her efforts thought out the season!
Sarah's team played an awesome semi final to win comfortably and go through to the grand final next week.
Saturday 5th- Despite the dreadful weather Emma had two birthday parties to attend. The second one was Taylah's party (Kim's DD). Sarah and I went too and boy, was it a great afternoon. The kids had a fantastic time. Kim had organized lots of crafty things to do and it kept them occupied nicely!
Kim, another friend Lian and I had a glass of wine (or two) after the party and that just topped the party off beautifully.
Sunday 6th- We had a quiet day and late in the afternoon the girls and I took the dog's for a walk. Right near our house we have 'Lake Cooloongup Reserve'. We had a wander and I took a few snaps.


Monday 7th- Sarah received a medal at the school assembly for coming equal third at the school's swimming carnival for the Year 5 Girls. Believe me I was as shocked as her! I thought she was joking when she jumped in the car at the end of the day and told me!!!
Thursday 10th- My partner in crime and I went on a shopping day!!! We firstly went to one scrapping shop, then another and then off to a major shopping centre for lunch and some retail therapy- it was a FANTASTIC day...I stocked up well and truly on yummy scrapping supplies and it was a good girly shopping day- so thanks Kim, I really needed a day like that!!!
Friday 11th-Last day of tern one- woo hoo, school holidays begin!!!!
Sarah's basketball grand final. They had a few hiccups- one player was in Qld on holidays and another failed to turn up until half time.... so unfortunately they went down 13 to 27. I really don't think they minded too much. It was the team's first grand final game and they all got a medal!!


Now the downs- I can't say too much here however a certain family member has been going through a rough patch (close friends and family will know who I'm talking about) so we have moved him into our house while we try and sort his life out. Some days are better than others, however we will keep trying. We have been riding the emotional roller coater and life in this house hasn't all been plain sailing. Enough said.

Talking of family members - Dad is continuing to improve. He has been doing regular physio and the doctors, although they say he still has a long road ahead and very pleased with his progress. Hopefully by next week he will be up standing and maybe even taking a few steps. Mum is still staying here too so my poor little house is a bit overcrowded!!! Never mind- family is more important that anything.

My switch off to all the stress around here has been scrapping. Yesterday I managed to finish two LOs-
Kim and I are actually doing a 'school holiday challenge'- we have come up with 10 challenges each and over the holiday we see how many of the 20 challenges we can complete.
Here are my challenges-

J1. Create a LO using product/s we just bought on Thursday. Can use other stuff as well but MUST have some of our new goodies on the page!
J2. Create a LO using photo/s from this month.
J3. Create a LO using product/s over 12 months old. All products, all pp, embellishments etc must be over 12 months old. Card stock and photo -only things newer than 12 months allowed!! And adhesive of course!!!
J4. Create a LO with an animal on it. This can be a photo or embellishment.
J5. Create a single LO containing more than 3 photos.
J6. Create a LO using photos from an event!
J7. Create a LO with lots of journaling. (And I mean LOTS! – 100 words or more!) Journaling must be visible.
J8. Create a monochromatic LO. (Oh my- I haven’t done one of these in ages!)
J9. Create a LO using two or more fonts.
J10. Create a LO about YOU!!! (Including a photo of you!)
And here are Kim's-
K1. Create a layout using two or more different stamps
K2. Cut a photo into a shape (eeek) and use it on your layout - obviously squares and rectangles do not count lol
K3. Use paint and ribbon on the same layout
K4. Create a double layout – totally free choice
K5. Create a layout based on a sketch from the Fiskars ANZ blog - http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/sketches/index.html
K6. Scraplift a layout from SM Vol 9 No 12
K7. Scrap a photo/s that you did not take
K8. Create a layout using only stuff that is on your table right now and without opening any new packets - one new sheet of cardstock allowed
K9. Use a transparency somewhere on your layout
K10. Create a layout using one or more of those LOUD patterned papers from Tarisota collections – you know the Tinkering Ink or Urban Lily ones that are not really our style.

Feel free to join us - the more the merrier. We are doing it so we get lots of scrapping completed over the holidays!!!

This is challenge J1- using product we bought on Thursday!

This is challenge J10- a LO about me!

That is about all for today- I'm off to lunch with a group of teachers so I'm looking forward to that.

Stay safe and be happy...

Love Janine xxx

EDITED TO ADD!!!

I didn't want to do a second entry for today so I'm adding to this earlier one. I had a wonderful lunch today- of the 30 or so teachers at Pengo's only four of us are currently teaching at Bungaree. It was such a 'blast from the past'- IYKWIM!!! The lunch started at 12 and it was well after four o'clock by the time I left- great food and great conversation!!!!

I know this is a terrible scan however here is another LO that I have completed for the 'holiday challenge'. Kim's challenge #6 was to scrap lift a LO from SM Vol 9 No 12. I have scrap lifted Belinda Venables' LO called Patience. (page 106) I loved the LO as soon as I saw it!! Thanks for the inspiration Belinda!!!

Okay-this is definitely IT for today!!

Nighty night,

Love Janine xxx

April already!

Boy, this year is really zipping along!! I honestly am struggling to believe that it is April already- however saying that, the April school holidays are only just over a week away and I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THEM- BRING THEM ON!!

Okay, back to reality. (thud!)
Tuesday saw this gorgeous fur baby turn 13.
This is Chloe, our now 13 year old Jack Russell. She is so beautiful and we sang Happy Birthday to her on Tuesday. I love this photo of her, she looks as if she is smiling! This photo was taken by Sarah on Sunday!! Happy Birthday Chloe!!!

Here is my March scrapjack for Aussie scrapjack. Suz Doyle was the jackee. Thanks Suz-I loved your LO and loved scrap jacking you!!!


In other news- I spent the day today at the hospital with my Dad. He had to be on dialysis for over three hours so I sat with him, talked to him and comforted him. Dad really dislikes hospitals and for him that is the worst place he could be so, mentally he is struggling a bit. It was a bit sad seeing my normally strong, independent Dad dependant on nurses. I know that he will be longing for the day to be out of there. Sadly that day is quite a way off yet.

Some better news- my friend Sally invited myself and another friend Leanne out to dinner last night for a wine club dinner at Emma's. I can honestly say that I haven't eaten such delicious food for a long time- it was melt in your mouth, yummy-scrummy DELICIOUS!!! The wine was fabulous as well- I had such a wonderful girly night and it was so good to switch off life (IYKWIM) and enjoy a delicious dinner out with girlfriends- it was SO what I needed!!

I think I'll leave you on that yummy note. Have a fantastic day tomorrow and HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY TAYLAH (for tomorrow).

Stay safe,
Love Janine xxx