Tuesday... this time in two weeks...

These are Liberty's lovely Hallmark ladies. My Dads cousin, Connie has sent them to her for the past 2 years. I think it is so lovely of her to do so. They are part of a series. Shawn also has some that I will post another time.

Today has been quiet busy, running around and actually getting things done for a change! I am off to Armidale this afternoon. Hopefully I will be able to say my Christmas shopping is done! (hopefully) I have a list and as long as I remember to check it twice I should be OK. :)

Happiness is...

This is the sweetest little book. It has hung on the Christmas tree a Mum's and now here. I must ask Mum where it came from.... Don't tell Matt that I don't know.... lol

I did this LO last night as my week 7 entry at Scrapbooking top 50. The criteria was to only use Green, Red and White colours. It was actually a tricky challenge not to let any gold or silver sneak in. I really had to hold back from doodling a black border around the scallops! lol

Today has been a bit of a non-day. Good weather for that kind of thing. This afternoon I met some friends down at the park to take some family photos. After my blogging adventures I will have a look and see how we went!

Matt has just gone to bed. He has been fighting a cold. Add to that the sore nose he has from basketball last week and the lack of sleep that comes with it...he is run down.

opps missed a day!

Sorry I missed yesterdays ornament, my computer was on go slow mode and I didn't have the patients to deal with it late last night..
This is my Christmas Stocking. My mother made this for me for my 2nd Christmas... that makes this stocking 30 years young! It is all made of felt with some embroidery, sequins and beads. You can see the love in all of her work.
Well Matt is making a cooked breakfast so I better go and see what I can do to help. Have a great day!

Skywatch Friday... sort of...

On my blog surfing trips, I often come across bloggers who post a 'Skywatch Friday' post... I thought I would look into it a bit more and then decided why not have a go myself!
Thou I must admit tonight I am cheating... I took this image a few nights ago. Everyone was all excited that the moon and two planets made a lovely smiling face. Sorry I don't remember all of the info about this event.
I took this image approx 8.45pm from my front stairs. I did eventually get out the tripod and played around with some different settings, but I do like this simple one the best. I have made no adjustments except to sharpen for the Internet!
This is the link to the site, from there you can access links to other blogs around the world. I recommend The Fishing Guy He lives near my family in America and I really enjoy the images he puts on his blog, remnds me of another home :) night x

20 more sleeps!

This ornament came from the wonderful city of New York. We were their about 4 Christmas' ago. On our 2nd day Shawn became quite sick with a bug. Matt and I would take turns in staying with him in the hotel room. Macy's was a 5 minute walk from our room so I would go and shop! :) This ornament came from Macy's and 34 Street is the subway station that we used most to get around.

A *big* dream of mine is to {one day} live in NYC... even if it is only a few months, just to be local and hang out. So much to see in this amazing Place.

When I was 7...

I made this ornament when I was 7, 1984. I spent this birthday and Christmas in America with my family.

I have about 6 of these left. I made them with my Great Grandmother, GJ. I can remember the day quite well. They are made from dough, mostly full of salt to preserve them. Each year I wrap them in foil and the next Christmas they are exactly the same as the one before. Not the prettiest of decorations, but some of the most treasured ones.

Introducing....

Smuggler... This photo was taken yesterday when he was very quiet in his new home. Today he is a different bird! He sings and moves around. Lets all of us touch him. He is delightful! Hopefully tomorrow we will get his wings clipped so we can let him out. If you are at all curious about the name and haven't figured it out click HERE. Yes, we have an odd sense of humor ;)

Another great day!

Today was another day closer to Christmas. It was a good day, nothing extra ordinary, just a good day... After school today Shawn received his Christmas gift from his girlfriend. A bird. A Budgie.

I knew he was getting it today, but he didn't. He is so happy! Liberty is a little unsure of 'that bird'. Once its wings are clipped and we can handle it more, she will never put it down! I am told he (think it is a he) is just out of the nest. I will load some pics tomorrow.

The Giraffe ornament actually came from Kmart last year. November last year, for my birthday we went to Taronga Zoo and fed the Giraffes, that is why we have him!

Well it is late. We are not long home from the park. It was Carols by Candlelight tonight. Shawn was a Wise man...or as I affectionately called him, a wiseguy. I actually saw a highschool friend of mine a carols, who only lives 20 minutes away, but I rarely see. I love catching up with him. He is one of my favourite people.

Well I think i will be naughty and get some chocolate icecream and go to bed and watch some telly. x

A winner...

I discovered this morning that this scrap page won me $30 to spend at Scrap With V. It was a sketch on Aussie Roadmaps. This is another page I did at camp.
Anyway just thought I would share my excitement... Have a great day!

Never a dull moment

This is my favourite page that I did at camp. I think the papers are Bella! Very nice to play with!

Well quite a lot has happened in our house the last two days... For anyone who is interested this is the quick run down...

Shawn's girlfriend wants to give him a Budgie for Christmas...

Shawn is going to be pageboy for his Godmothers wedding, he is most excited...

I am going to be the photographer at the wedding...

Matt had an elbow delivered to his nose at basketball...

We have all had haircuts... (about time I say!)

I am going out to dinner...

That is all that is coming to mind for now... I thought there was more...oh well!

This ornament was for our first dog as a couple 'Dini' a beautiful German Shepherd. This ornament came from a craft market over in Pennsylvania.

First day of Summer.... at last!

I thought up until December 25th I would post some of my treasured Christmas ornaments. This particular one is a cable car from San Francisco. Matt and I purchased this one about 6 years ago. We always "discuss" where we think it was from. I am certain it came from a shop upstairs at Ghiradelli Square... Matt's story changes each year! It really does make us smile. Each ornament on our tree has a special meaning to one of us. Putting the tree together usually makes me cry... mostly happy tears.

A lot has happened today, but I have a stack of things to be doing so I will report tomorrow and post some scrapbooking creations from the weekend!

Bye...

Well I am off to scrap camp this weekend. I am not going to far away it is a local one. I will sleep at home and go for the days, thou I do work tomorrow morning... So I am sort of going to scrap camp...

Have a great weekend everyone. x

Budget day!

This morning bright and early Matt had a meeting with one of the head honchos at our place......... Every year the reps get the 'budget talks'.

So Shawn, Liberty and I headed out just after 8am. We walked up to Grandmas where Liberty stayed for the morning. Shawn and I headed over to the school. I displayed some photos of "Jungle" in the foyer. It is quite a fun display. While there I got asked to take some more photos today of a dance group that was to perform at the assembly. So I had a lovely morning over at the school.

This photo is of a 'Christmas Conversation Starter' that I made awhile back. It was made using some Kaiser products that was sent to me in a kit from Julie's Scrapping Jewels. Julie has actually closed the shop until the new year. She is busy with her new bundle of joy. I took this box to dinner for my work Christmas party. It is filled with little questions about how you spend your Christmas. Thinks like 'What is your favourite Christmas food?' ' Favourite Christmas Song' things like that. Anyway it made for great conversation, better than talking about work stuff all night!

One month away...

Today marks one month until Christmas. On the weekend our tree went up and tonight I started wrapping.

This morning Liberty and I did some stuff around the house then we went to play at Pam's.

While Liberty had her nap I sorted through some scrapping stuff. This weekend is scrap camp in Uralla.

After school Shawn and I headed off to the pool to join in celebrating Nash's birthday. Not very good pool weather, but kids don't really mind...

That is pretty much how my day went, hope you had a good one too. x

Hello! This a a page I did yesterday for a Scrapbooking Top 50 comp. The challenge was to stamp. Isn't he a cutie?
Over the weekend we had some wild weather, perfect indoor weekend. So Matt climbed into the roof and dragged down the Christmas boxes. Saturday evening we spent 3 hours putting the tree together. Sunday we spent the morning decorating the rest of the house. I must say I really enjoyed decorating this year. Both Shawn and Liberty are a lovely Christmas ages.
Today Liberty and I spent the morning in Armidale. I needed to get some photos printed, the rest of the time we just wondered around, stopped for a donut. We had a lovely girly time.
This afternoon we planted the veggie garden. Beans, Tomato varieties, Spinach, Strawberries and some herbs. Still a few gaps to fill. Shawn's girlfriend also helped... it was a lovely bonding session for us all :)

Jungle

Uralla Central School has been working on the play "Jungle". This pic is Shawn and his mate Nash. According to Shawn they are animals...he means to say cannibals... This is the boys with there wild hair. (They LOVE it!)

Sorry it is not a great pic. I always try and keep away from posting photos of children that are not mine. Nash isn't mine.... but his mother loves me :)

So, anyway today was a matinee performance and I went over and set up the video camera and then took 287 snaps. I must say I was impressed with my little D60... about time!

Tomorrow night is the last performance. It will be a sold out production. Shawn will have 8 supporters cheering for him! He loves it up on the stage... My little George Clooney...

Happy 80th Mickey!

Today Mickey Mouse turns 80 years young. What a party that would be at his house!

This morning I had morning tea with some of my wonderful friends...THANK YOU for the yummy cake Meg, sorry you couldn't enjoy it with us x
This afternoon it was time for more cake, this time with my Mum and Grandmother.
Because I hadn't eaten much today... We went to Armidale for dinner at the White Bull. I think this is my new favourite place to eat out in town.
The rest of this week is pretty busy. Sorry if I don't make it back. :)

I did this LO of Jess last Thursday. It has a good splash of pink Kindy Glitz on it, but the photo doesn't pick it up.

I had my work Christmas party last night. We had a great night! Amanda was down for the weekend so she came along as well. It was a lovely girls night out. I am sleepy today :)

* This page is the week 4 entry in Scrapbooking Top 50's 8 Weeks to Christmas comp. I have really enjoyed the challenges. This week is stamping....not my strong point at all! 2 Weeks ago I was lucky to win a stamping pack, hopefully that will help! lol

Can you 6x6?

Do you have any scrap scrapbooking supplies?
Do you have some spare time to put together some 6x6 basic blank pages?

If so Southern Cross Kids Camp could use your help!

Have a look at this wonderful ladies blog for more info. www.juliestone.typepad.com/crazycaterpillar_/

Cindy's Blog Candy!

The very talented Cindy is giving away some of her Laser Cuts. To enter go and check out her blog HERE "To celebrate the release of our brand new fairies I'm giving away ONE chipboard Fairy and ONE Fairytale Castle embellishment to one lucky winner." Easy, you gotta be in it to win it....

Also if you haven't checked out this months 123 Challenge the criteria is...
1. Lace
2. A scary Face
3. Monochromatic

Also there are still a few more days to get your 123 CC entries in!

This is the view from our hotel room last weekend. Our room was one floor under the dining room, so this was also the view while we had some meals. This photo was taken approx 8am. Apparently this Bay is twice the size of Sydney Harbour.

Weekend Review

Matt and I had a wonderful weekend away at Port Stephens for Matt's work Christmas party. This is a part of the Aussie coast will will visit again.

We drove down Friday and since we made good time we went into Newcastle to the shopping centre. That night we met up with the Wurth team and had dinner at a local pub. The next day we wandered around the marina before we all met up for lunch and a dolphin watching cruise. We did manage to spot a few dolphins, but I as blocked by foreign tourists and didn't get any good photos. We had a few hours by the pool and in the hot tub talking American politics before dinner at the hotel. This photo was taken from the dining room. To the right was the bay, beautiful views. I love how this looks like we had 2 moons... Very Star Wars of me! lol

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home on our 5 hour drive.... It was a relaxing, fun, stress free weekend.... Loved it!

Thanks to my Mum for staying with Shawn and Liberty x

Dolphins here I come!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Matt and I are off to Port Stephens tomorrow for his work Christmas party. Saturday we are going on a dolphin cruise. Sounds super!

Hopefully I will get some good photos to share when we get back! x

History

Today was a wonderfully historic day....
Americans voted on their next President. Lets hope he is the right man for the job....

He had my vote! If I had voted....

Election 08

Not sure how this will work but lets give it a try! It will hopefully save me from looking at US news sites for info. Lets hope the right person for the job wins!

Rainy day

Today was a lovely rainy day! I did very little and loved every moment of it :)

Sorry for the really dark image... Not sure what is happening at the moment. When I download from my camera the images appear much darker through my PC/monitor...hummmm

Anyway.... Yesterday when I was busy cleaning carpets at my Mum's, Matt pulled things out of our bedroom so it could be cleaned. I walked in the door and discovered this! Rost Off is like DW40, Wurths "handy thing" product... It is also in a can strong enough to prop up a queen bed! Matt needed to prop up the bed so the cleaner would reach all the way under. He is a clever boy my Matt!

Well I have a hot date with my iron and the Winchester boys....bye....

November!

Well since my last post we have all been very busy!

Thursday Shawn had his school Halloween disco. He dressed as the fantastic Captain Jack Sparrow. He wore the wig we coveted from Disneyland and I made the vest and belts, quick and easy!The primary dance finished at 7pm but I stayed on to supervise the secondary students. It was a good night!

Friday was a bit of running around in the morning ready to kick back for the afternoon. The wonderful Miss Walsh (Shawn's teacher last year) and Pam came for afternoon tea. We had a lovely afternoon. Tanya is taking a teaching position in Dubai next year.... she will be missed!

Saturday I worked in the morning. That evening we had 18 for a BBQ dinner. It was great! So easy. Each family supplied their meat and a salad to share. Add to that the nibbles and we could have easily fed another 18! Only 3 casualties. Nash ran full throttle into the glass sliding door. Door is fine, Nash has a large bump on his forehead. It doesn't look to bad because you can't see it for all the hair! :) Next up was my carpet and Megs pants.... Rach decided to throw coke all over Meg... Not really, it was a total accident, but that makes for a dull story. :) Love you Rach x

Today. My wonderful children slept in past 8am!!! We bummed around for awhile, Matt woke up with a nasty head cold. About 10am we thought we would clean the carpets (as mentioned above) We just hire the ones from the supermarkets and do them ourselves. So for under $50 we did all of our house the couch and dining chairs. Then I went up to my Grandmothers and did all of her rugs and 2 big rooms. Then I did Mum's rugs and carpet. I am really impressed at how well our dining chairs came up. Now Matt and I are exhausted. I don't know about him, but I am off to bed very soon.

Before I go, I had a scrapbook win! If you would like to see the page click on this link.

Busy, Busy!

Today has been fairly productive. Not a lot of jobs got done, but a few big ones did. I cleaned off the computer desk. This also included sorting through the bundle of paperwork that had to be tossed or filed. I then moved onto some boxes of 'stuff' that I had in the office to 'one day sort through'. Today was that day! I now have a box to go to charity, a box of recycling, a bag of stuff and 2 boxes to go to the school and a bag of rubbish. I also have a box of stuff to give to you Mum :) The rest I just put on Matt's desk! lol

In the last few days I have been scrapping... it feels good. It had been awhile since I had scrapped multiple pages in a row. Life should slow down a bit more now...should.... School P&C stuff will get slower (it better!) The Thunderbolt Festival is over for this year, although we now run a Christmas lights comp. I will find out more about that next week at our meeting.

Well Shawn will be home any minute now and Liberty should wake up from her nap. I then need to make a start on dinner. I have some VIP guests coming tonight. Hi C, M & H they are harsh cooking critics! lol

Hope you had a good day too! x

A day @ home... fantastic!

Today I stayed at home.

I went to the mailbox and as far back as the clothesline. I love it!

Molly came for a jump this morning.

I scrapped while Liberty napped.

Then the Baldwin girls came for a jump.

Had leftover roast for dinner.

Then I had a jump!!!!

Perfect day!

This pic is from the weekend festival.

Fantastic Weekend!

I have had a wonderful weekend. Saturday's Thunderbolt Festival was fantastic!! I was busy running at times but I also had time to sit back and catch up with friends, make new ones and listen to some great music. I took just over 200 photos. I didn't know which one to post, so I went with my fave part of the day. This is the Axemen, the last band of the day. They are a popular local pub band. They usually don't play day gigs. The crowd had dispersed and they called for requests. I have a new appreciation for them and musicians in general now. To be thrown a song, that they had never played and do it so well was very impressive.

It was a wonderfully warm day and since I didn't get time to visit the markets, I have a red sunburn as a memento.

My 'baby' of the event became the street parade. I think it went well. Being my first year, I can see what I will do differently next year and what groups I would like to see included. I am looking forward to it! I also enjoyed the perk that came with it. The pic of the beautiful 'Fairy Tale Tours' was my transport from the marshaling area to the park. The carriage always goes last in the parade. I quickly snapped this pic as I jumped out to move onto my next 'job'. That is Matt, Shawn and Liberty in the carriage. Matt was a great help Saturday. He helped me cover the parade and also set up and pack up the park. Thanks Pooh x

Well I am beat... I am sure I will post more pics tomorrow. night x

One more sleep!

Finally a photo of Miss Liberty on her birthday. (Yes, new hat!) I took this at about 7am as Matt opened the curtain so she could look out and see her Trampoline for the first time. She was tired and the sunlight bothered her eyes, but once she focused on the trampoline away she went! Today she could hardly walk she was in so much pain. I could tell it was her legs as they were bent and she wouldn't straighten them.... I think it is from all of the jumping.

Sorry...

Sorry I have missed a few days... So, so busy!
Liberty's birthday was great fun! Liberty jumped on her trampoline (her birthday pressie) starting at 7.15am her last jump was at 8.15pm. Her birthday party was at an indoor play centre where she jumped on the jumping castle for 2 hours. She slept well! I have not had a chance to download any photos yet... maybe tonight.

This Saturday is the Thunderbolts Festival if you happen to be around this is a snippet of what is on...

9-10.30 am Newcastle Knights coaching clinic and signing

11am Street Parade. Opening with 200 Harley Davidson bikes...

Noon Markets, Music and food in the park. The Jumping castle (lucky Liberty), bikes, merry-go-round, rock climb wall are all FREE!! Rod Rods, Classic Cars, Ural bikes all on display.

3pm Billycart derby

This weekend is also the Newcastle to Uralla Turkey Run so we have a town full of bikes.
Lots to see and do. It actually makes me feel tired... so much to do! Bye....

One more sleep!

Tomorrow this beautiful little girl will be 3 years young.

I love her so very much....

Need sleep....

It is almost 4am and I have been awake for over an hour. I neeeed sleeeep....

This picture is of what we did this weekend. Through the week we had 100 railway sleepers delivered. We spent most of the weekend stacking them out of the way. Once we get a bobcat in we are going to start on our retaining wall. We put the sides of the veggie garden up, just need soil and plants now! I am looking forward to having a little veggie garden, it has been awhile. I hope the dog leaves it alone......

Well I need to try and get some sleep. Miss Liberty has her 3rd birthday on Tuesday, so I have a busy few days ahead.

Night/Morning :)

Kitty

This post and the song change is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine. Her husband recently surprised her with the gift of a kitten.... It was a true surprise... more of a shock than a surprise really.

I thought a good name would be Diamonds or Pandora (as in the Jewellery) because those items would have made for a great surprise gift! Last I heard she is going to be Coco... I guess that covers chocolate and perfume :)

Well we are heading out to go and see some friends. Will post with more happenings (and change the song) soon. lol

Thursday...

Hello!

Not much to report on really. I have been keeping busy. My JSJ DT kit arrived yesterday and I have been working my way through that and making some 'christmas things'. I have also been busy with the Thunderbolts Festival, but it all seems under control now.

Just thought I would post another pic of Floriade.

Thanks for stopping by, night x

Halloween Flowers

Shawn came home with these flowers today... His girlfriend gave them to him, along with a card. I think she is the perfect girlfriend, because the colour of the flowers works perfectly with my Halloween decorations... She has good taste this girl! LOL
I added some testosterone by putting the flowers in a Hot Wheels egg cup of water. :)

So sweet and innocent... may it never change....

Decorating

This afternoon we put up our Halloween decorations. I must admit, it has been many years since they all went up. The outside ones are inside for now, closer to the day we will hang them out. Just like the Christmas decorations, I could tell y0ou something special about each item.
The day started in a lovely way. Matt cooked a BBQ breakie (yum!) Then I called Dad, and through the magic of the internet, Dad & Matt looked at cars together, 16 hours time difference between them.
I then went up to help with the last of the garage sale stuff, then home to hang out washing and prepare the house for decorating.
Matt cut grass while the kids and I cleaned up the worm farm. The local Preschool is going to have it for awhile while the children learn about recycling. It has been neglected for awhile and there are not many worms, but it will be a start form them.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend also :)

Oh, almost forgot... The wedding went well. I think the photos will be suitable after a little bit of computer magic :)

Floriade layout

This is the double layout I created following the sketch in the post below. It is nothing like I pictured it would be!

I have just finished doing a Blind Crop over at Scrap Therapy. I love doing them, but I seem to have had other things on the last few times. I do like the page I came up with, I think it is the colours. I will post a pic another time.

Tomorrow I am a wedding singer.... opps, sorry photographer. It has been almost 12 months since my last 'job' and I am all excited but nervous. I might be able to show you a sneaky peak over the weekend ;) Hope my camera and I play nice....

I better go and get some sleep so that I am well rested! Before the wedding I have a garage sale at my Mum's to help with. If you are in town swing by and pick up a bargain! LOL

House keeping.

This is the double page sketch I designed for this months Julie's Scrapping Jewels comp. If you are the lucky winner you get $20 to spend on any scrapping goodies your heart desires from JSJ! What scrapper wouldn't mind that? :) Entries are due 31st October. If you have any trouble loading yours on the site, leave me a message and I will help out :) For anyone who may not know I am a member of the JSJ Design Team, it is another Julie who owns the store... What a great name we have :)

Hey you just have to love my computer challenged sketch effort! LOL I will load my page latter, it is still drying...

A message from the 123 team....

The October 123 Cybercrop - Monday 13th October 7:30 AEDST

This month we will have 3 Cybercrop Challenges - not 4 making it easier for you to complete them ALL.... and to complete the main October 123 Challenge too! There'll be BINGO & maybe a few DIFFERENT games too! Chatting in Chatzy of course ;) MORE DETAILS WILL BE POSTED ON THE CYBERCROP BLOG http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123_cybercrop/

A party invite from Charmane :)

ON FRIDAY 10TH OCTOBER I WILL BE HAVING A BLOG PARTY FOR MY 30TH....I WANT EVERYONE TO COME AND WISH ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY - I'LL BE HAVING A COUPLE OF GIVEAWAYS AND CHALLENGES AND PRIZES TO WARM YOU ALL UP FOR THE 123 CYBERCROP ON MONDAY.... NOT TOO HARD THOUGH ;)http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/our_bright_stars_and_us/

Well I think that is it for now. Later today or tomorrow I will post some pages :)

Old Man Matt

Matt thinks he looks old in this photo with his sun glasses down on his nose. Since he is away, I thought I would post it on the net for the world to see!

I took this pic while we were watching the ski race on the weekend. He is a great photographer.

Yesterday I met with Candice to talk wedding photos. This Saturday I am taking her wedding photos... We ended up stalking all of our friends and ended up having our catch up at Megs... (sorry to bombard you Meg, we had fun though!)

Today we had an impromptu dinner with the wonderful Baldwin girls. I traded them some spaghetti bol for some baby sitting while I had to be somewhere for a little bit.

Now my children are in my bed and it looks like I will have a night of kicking or go and climb into one of their beds! What a long night it shal be..... night x

Long weekend

We spent the long weekend with Lucas. We hadn't seen him since he was born, eight weeks ago. Isn't he so very cute? He is a fantastic little baby!

It was also the weekend of the Grafton 'bridge to bridge' water ski race. Matt, Shawn and I had a great time playing with our cameras :)

Well I can't stay and chat, 'Supernatural' starts back on TV tonight...priorities!!! :)

Floriade

This was the first photo I took at Floriade and it is one of my favourites. (I have not edited it in any way) I had fun 'playing' with my new Nikon DSLR. We still have a long way to go :) I love close up images with depth. In my experience only an SLR will give you this every time, no problem!
Click HERE to read more on Floriade. It is an amazing flower show in Canberra. I was suprised at how many things to do there was. Shawn often commented on what a great place it was.
Today we headed off to the park to meet up with the local gang of mothers and kids. We had to go a little early as Liberty had her first appointment with the speech 'doctor'. Liberty would go to a 'doctor' every day if she could. He was good with her and gave me the feedback that I was after. Liberty is still young (19 days until she turns 3!) So we will look closer at speech therapy early next year.
Well I am going to get back to my scrapping now. I should be folding clothes, but that is not a very fun job.... night.

This was on a wall at the Raymond Terrace McD's. I couldn't help myself but go back to the car for the camera. Top image is the original, taken quickly while people looked at me oddly :) I played with it and came up with the bottom image while I had a snack. I will have some fun playing with this one! Hope you all 'enjoy' your day :)