Scrappin Bitz

....And again!

2010-04-19T12:17:00.002+08:00

I did this last Monday, right after my last layout, but it's taken me this long to photograph it and upload. I told I was no good at this blogging bizzo.

"Finders Keepers" is based on the Pagemaps sketch for this month and is my little man at his first egg hunt.

Not that he hunted - we showed him where they were, he sat down and tried to eat it. As far as he was concerned he only needed one!! LOL! We've still got a freezer full of eggs, Cooper had had enough after half a rabbit and Jack was sick on the day. So no one's really eating them (except for Dad, who would eat them all in one sitting if we let him)

More scrapping..... sort of. I altered Ebony's cast with some old rub ons. I was bored and I was looking at her thinking I don't want to see all sorts of crude drawings from her friends all over it.

Yes, one of my children finally succumbed to their acrobatics and really hurt themselves! Of course I didn't believe her and told her to put an ice pack on it. Sent her to school the next day only to be called up to bring her home. It's one thing to be told by a nurse it's broken and another to be lectured by the deputy principal that "it doesn't look right". In my defence it swelled up between home and school. But I have been told I'm not the first and I'm sure i won't be the last, to misdiagnose my child. (unless of course my gorgeous friends are just saying that.....) . So that was yesterday and now I need to go find my modge podge cos the rub ons are rubbing off.

Cheers Vikki

I finally scrapped something......

2010-04-12T14:18:00.006+08:00

that didn't involve copying from a layout or sketch. Granted this layout has been 6 months in the creating, but it's all mine. When I finished it I thought to myself, "That'll do it's done". But it's actually growing on me and I like it. You couldn't believe how good it feels to actually stick something down again. I have been so devoid of inspiration, so 'over' scrapbooking, I was actually considering chucking it in. But I can't, I still love the process, looking at what my gorgeous friends have created, I knew it was in there somewhere. Deep deep down, and finally it's bubbling to the surface again.

I also haven't had anything to blog about, boooring.... Truth be told I'm not very good at this, it requires an ongoing commitment and I'm realising that's not my thing. Commitment that is...

Being here every monday to write about what's going on, too much pressure.

So in a nutshell here's what's happened in the last few weeks anyway...

Ebony broke her arm, no photos yet. She's embarrassed.

Jack turned 6 and had a low key party at the park with his closest buddies..

and it was Easter. This year I actually managed to get to the shops early enough for some decent eggs. One big one each and a couple of crates for hunting. Of course it rained and the hunt was done inside, but once the sun came out, the kids took the eggs outside and did it all over again, and again and again!! I found one they'd missed when I was gardening the other day, it was like seagulls to a chip!

So basically that's it. I'm going to go try to do another layout now, from scratch, this will be an interesting test!. i think I know what I'm doing......

Look What the Kids Dragged In......

2010-01-18T20:47:00.003+08:00

Meet Tinkerbell, aka Tinka , Tink or Kitty. (although I think she should be called 'Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat'. Long live Calvin and Hobbes. ) White as snow and eyes of gold.

Those who know us know we're not cat people but she adopted us. To cut a long story short she followed us home when we went for a walk one night. 3 days later and she was still camped on our doorstep. I took pity on her and gave her some chicken, can't have her dying on my watch! And from that point she became ours.

We did take her back to the place she ran out from , but it's for rent and no one is ever there when we dropped in . The neighbour didn't want to know - yea thanks for your help. So if you recognise her 'sorry', but she's being looked after and she is happy.

You have to wonder why when you see pics like this....

I often wonder if she thinks 'what the hell am I doing here??' It's not unusual to see a streak of white flash through the loungeroom, followed by a child yelling 'Kitty, come here! I just want a cuddle!'

So now as a cat owner I must act responsibly, we keep her in at night, and she wears a rather noisy bell, but next on our list is sterilisation. Thankgod the shire discounts this. No kitty's for us - god Shaun would freak. (He reckons he hates the cat and won't do anything for it, but I've spied him scratching her ears while she lounges in our bed!!) I guess she's captured all our hearts..

Til next time

Vikki

Things I didn't know then but do now....

2009-12-20T20:58:00.010+08:00

Part 1 : Bali

So I'm sitting here today hating the heat and swatting away the endless swarm of flies and I had a revelation.

There are NO flies in Bali.

Well none that bothered us anyway. We had a bee who tried to drink our coke, ants that bit and heaps of bats. No flies. Which is astounding considering the amount of rubbish piled up here, there and everywhere. Maybe that's it, the rubbish is so plentiful they have no need to bug people. One thing is for sure the heat is bearable when you're not spitting flies.

So to revelation number 2, Bali does not have an organised waste disposal system. Apparently rubbish is chucked out the front door, in front of your stall or on the vacant lot next door, and then every now and then you'll put a match to it. Hotels and restaurants are the only places you can find a bin.

Bali is not Pram friendly. Kerbs can be anything from knee height to ankle high. If there is a hole in the path , put a piece of ply over it. My kids had to climb the steps to the shopping mall, they were so tall. Needless to say we carried the pram alot.

Along with a lack of building code seems to come a lack of road rules. Our driver tried to explain the road rules to us, but it pretty much sounded as if they were optional. As long as you beep first anything goes. As for scooters you can carry as much as you can hold! That includes a few chickens in a cage, a broom and a bag of clothes plus your infant child! Helmet if there's room!

People always told me, the Balinese love kids. LIARS! The Balinese are obsessed with children. Quite often we'd be held up for minutes at a time while a group of women would pinch the cheeks, and rub the hair, and exclaim how handsome our children were. Jack learnt very fast to hide behind one of us when groups of ladies approached. Even men would hi five the boys, and comment to Shaun how lucky he was. A few times we'd stop at a market to browse look up and find Trent 3 stalls up, being passed around and adored by a group. Freaky!!

You can buy Bintang beer everywhere. At the mini mart, the safari park, the waterbom park, the zoo, at the cafes in the mall or the ice cream shop. At the mini mart you can also buy ciders, and vodka mixes. So cheap! $2 aus will buy you a 750ml Beer or a 375ml Smirnoff. (I often wondered what would happen if I got Ebony to buy the beer.)

Macdonalds delivers 24/7. (with bintang if you so wish!)

Monkeys are dirty , horrible nasty creatures!

The monkeys are located near Ubud, which is an amazing town in the mountains. Here you'll find artisans converging from the smaller towns in the mountains. Women with baskets on their heads and men with weird deformities and growths we never suffer from because obviously of our proximity to modern medicine. It also has the biggest market place rubbish pile ever!

And in amongst all the chaos, and dirt, and jaw dropping sights there is the beauty. The absolutely stunning shrines in every home, the massive roundabout art and the guardians that stand out the front of hotels. Watching bats steal fruit from your balcony, or a Ulysses butterfly alight upon the Bougainvillea, the beaming smiles of the people and the stunning tropical forest. The WOWS certainly outweigh the ewws!

I really can't wait to go back. Without the kids, so I can explore further, spend more time getting pampered and shopping. Mmmmm, Mojito anyone??

Scrapping Boys

2009-11-25T15:28:00.002+08:00

Just a quick post today.
Here is my challenge for November's challenge at Scrap The Boys. Be inspired by the Poem Snips and Snails.

Nature 101 and a birthday

2009-10-27T20:49:00.005+08:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit of a nature nut. I can sit for hours and watch ants carry food home or birds bathing in puddles. It's a great way to waste time. So imagine my thrill a few weeks ago when a Willy Wagtail decided my knee was a great perch to spy bugs from. I was weeding the lawn at the time and stirring up all sorts of creepy crawlies. He really made my day. And then on the weekend we had such glorious weather I went and sat on the back lawn soaking it up. Who should pop in but Mr Wagtail. He never touched me this time , just hopped around my legs, and came right up to my fingers. Just jokingly I said to him 'are you waiting for me to stir up some bugs?' and ran my fingers along the grass. And he followed my hand. Cos I wasn't doing anything anyway, I thought I might as well find some for him. So head down, bum up and fishing through the grass like a junkie from a gangsta movie I searched for bugs. DS 5 thought I'd lost the plot, searching for bugs is a boy thing!!
Anyway we gathered a heap of bugs up and placed on the sacrificial altar (aka a piece of brick) , with their butts squished so they didn't wander off. Almost immediately Willy swooped down, filled his beak and took off. And was back in no time hopping around us both waiting for more. And oblige we did, he was picking them off as we were putting them on. So brazen. He wouldn't take them from our hand but some bugs never hit the brick he was soo close. DS tried a couple of times to touch him but he'd fly up to the fence, flash his eyebrows and chitty chat at us. It was really amazing how he had no fear of us, how he trusted us to give him this food. Would've been the easiest pay day he'd had I tell ya. In some sweeps he had 5 or 6 bugs in his mouth, I'd say he's got chicky's in a nest and took the bugs back to them. I just love this stuff - Shaun calls me Dr Harry (Better Homes and Gardens) in his dry, sarcastic way. Mr Wagtail hasn't been back, probably full up, or maybe we've exhausted the bug supply, we did sacrifice a few. LOL!!
And the more exciting news!!My baby turned 1!! Oh, where has this year gone???
Cake shots - Little piggy polished off two big chunks of cake. I think it's his first cake ever actually. How sad is that?? I'm such a naughty mummy!! He had a low key sorta day, blew up a heap of balloons, sat him in the middle and he was set - instant party.

So we're off to Bali on Friday, bit excited, a lot scared. Not of Bali so much but of not enjoying myself. Who's bright idea was it to take all the kids? Oh that's right, NOT MINE!! LOL, I'm sure they'll be too excited to be naughty! See you when we return!!

Cheers

Let's Get Shabby.....

2009-10-15T11:11:00.003+08:00

Here's my take on this month's sketch challenge at Let's Get Shabby.The criteria was sketch and something Vintage. The little filigree heart was pulled off some old necklace, and the book page is from a 70's edition of Alice in Wonderland. The Roses are Prima which is vintage inspired! I'm really clutching straws here aren't I? And before someone screams sacrilege at destroying my precious books, the kids got there first! I have 4 kids, precious things are just not welcome in my house. I've tried and I keep failing. No where is high enough, no where is secure enough, give up Vikki! ;-)

About the photo, my Daughter 9 and her friend at a classmates halloween themed birthday party. Apparently big brother is a budding photographer and had a studio set up in the garage, where he took photos of all the kids, the girls obviously bugged him into getting a print out!! Which reminds me, I shoulda scanned it first - Doh! The grave images are from a stamping on Acetate swap we did through the group last June. Thanks charmaine.

Holiday Stuff

2009-10-15T10:30:00.010+08:00

oh, and I was doing so well. Hi I'm Vikki and it's been one month since I last blogged. ROFL!! I keep promising myself and you to blog regularly, and I fail miserably each time. So how about I just promise to blog occasionally and if you get sick of waiting, give me a hoy! ;-)

As always, there's a heap to catch up on, so there'll be a few posts today. First of all school's back! YAY!! We had a boring holidays, saving our energy and cash for Bali. I am however regretting that decision, I'm still trying to clean up the mess left behind from so many 'at home activities'. Sigh!

I managed a little me time, and made this for my girl.She came to me at the beginning of hols with a pad of scrap paper stapled together and a pic of a frangipani drawn on the front. It was her Bali Diary so she could show her classmates what she did each day. I took pity on her cos 1. no way her dad would let her drag a pile of scrap paper around with her, and 2. it would fall apart in two days. Besides this is an exciting time for her, our first trip overseas, to an exotic holiday mecca. She needed something a little special. Only thing I bought was the journal for 2.99 at a reject store. (I'm getting good at this scrap your stash thing) Heavily mod podged for durability. I've made some pockets out of old A4 protector sheets so she can add pamphlets and tickets etc to it. Which she will, she is the ultimate memento collector. If it's free she'll grab one. LOL. I'm quite stoked with it actually, I think I might just make myself one!!

My son, 5 must've wanted something really badly cos I got spoilt with two flowers in two days -
I'm not sure where the yellow rose came from, I don't wanna know ;-) . The poppie is my prized milkmaid from the front garden. I have one lonely plant with at most 3 flowers. But I sucked it up and accepted my prize graciously. Oh he is so funny, he loves giving presents and he does a funny little excited dance. Soo sweet. Never actually found out what he was after.

And check out this guy - not yet walking but he's always doing this!Climbing stuff! All my kids do it. And when you say 'climbing the walls' you take it literally in our house. They get the monkey gene from their dad. I have a heights phobia. And Shaun wonders why I'm high strung, it's cos I've always gotta be ready for this sorta stuff. The little guy has taken to food in a big way, see previous posts, and has decided Heinz bottled food just doesn't cut it and went straight to finger food. Loves Banana and roast potato ( not together but I'm sure if it was he wouldn't be too bothered) And he's discovered chocolate.....One of the downers about being a mum is you have to share the licking of the bowl! Now I've gotta fight 4 kids for it! Not fair!

And cos I'm all for sharing the love, an update on son 2. No more bottles, and you think he's happy, I don't know you tell me.......
PS, and before I forget, a quick update on my caterpillars. (for Rochelle). They still haven't emerged, so I tried to look up how long it should take and found out, they'll become moths not butterflies. Butterflies don't spin silk, moths do. Butterflies just go hard on the outside. Go figure.

On a Roll!!

2009-09-24T20:24:00.004+08:00

My followers will be falling off their chairs right now!! What's that - 3 posts in one month!! LOL!!

Just a quick one tonight. My What's Old Is New Challenge.

"Heaven Sent"

I'm so in love with this layout. It's just how I imagined it turning out. And us scrapper's know what a rarity that is! Used the new Websters Paper - I couldn't resist - I had to have those balloons. I actually got really creative, I'm a bit of a lazy scrapper really, if it's not ready now I usually pass. But this time I did a bit of masking with the angel wings, the tags were inked with several colours to get an aged/verdigris look and the bookplate was glimmermisted, rubbed back and aged again. Even got my long neglected Cuttlebug out (for the little heart).

Can you believe I was dreading this guys arrival?? For me he was the beginning of the end, I was devastated. 4 kids was just too many. This journalling is about how the angels had faith in us as a family, and how he completes us. He was 'meant to be'.

Thanks for looking!!

Just stuff....

2009-09-22T19:59:00.008+08:00

Just some stuff I've been meaning to share.
First up -

A2Z Sketch challenge layout..The Cap'n & T-Rex.
bookweek '09

Not sure how much I like this anymore. Nyyeh, it's only paper, I can redo it later if I ever get the inkling to. Hey, more stash stuff, not one newly purchased piece! I'm on a roll, not that it looks like I've made a dent in anything.

And totally unrelated, look who's got comfy at our house!!

That's a fluffy black caterpillar - sorry horrible pic.
And these two are coccoons...

So amazing. I love this stuff. I found these guys when I was weeding (caterpillars then) and showed Cooper who wanted to 'kill em'. So I saved them from certain death and put them in the bug catcher to suffer a probably worse fate of starvation. But lo and behold.. they ate the weeds I gave them and a week later spun coccoons! I watched them, utterly fascinating. They pull out their hair and mix it in with the silk and grass, sticks whatever they can gather up. Number three caterpillar has just made his coccoon - he wrapped a cabbage leaf around himself. Poor number one (bottom pic) I threw out his leaves thinking they were in the way. Look at that coccoon if I saw that in the garden I wouldn't look twice, just a messy blob of stuff. ( Monarchs I know, have a gorgeous green coccoon with golden spots on the cap) Probably had a hundred of these in the garden, just didn't know it. I don't know what butterfly/moth they'll become, I so hope they hatch. How cool would that be!! I'll keep you updated.

Switching topics again.. How cute is this!!??

Bubby's passport photo

Little bugger everytime the flash went off he'd go "ooooo!" making a little o with his mouth, then smile for the lady before playing with the train in his hands. Master 3 refused to have one, and was held against his will. Some incriminating photos are in the hands of the camera house ladies, better play nice!! Ha Ha!! Those passport approval people have obviously never needed to photograph minus 5 yo! The conditions for a good photo are soooo strict, and impossible to abide.
Thank the gods that the passport lasts for 5 years - oh the drama!! And there's a layout in that, when I calm down.

Final thing, this just arrived in store - Scrappin Bitz.

4 new collections from Webster's Pages! Very yummy!!! So in love with those balloons - it's great to see something a little different and new. And on that note I think I'm done!! See you soon..

What to do???

2009-09-13T20:32:00.004+08:00

Aaargghh! What to do?? My facebook is down, I can't get on. My life is over!! ;-P
I guess I could blog... hmmm, and I have scrapped this weekend, so I have something to share....
Alright that's what I'll do.

Hi there!!! Seriously, I do feel lost, I can't play my fave games, or reply to comments, and I'm devastated. I guess it takes something like this to find out your addicted (that and finding your 3 yo son sitting on the kitchen floor surrounded by vegies trying to find something palatable to eat!)

And yes I have really scrapped this weekend, well I've been working on it bit by bit over the week, finished last night. It's a bit bright for me but I'm loving it. Used more stash stuff, not a new piece in sight. Woohoo!! We'll see how long it lasts hey? This is for Aussie Scrapjack, Kim Arnold's layout. King of Hearts

and a bit of a closer look-see at my scrap pal Jodies' Sweet Vintage embellies. Finished off my page just nicely thanx Jodes.

Looking at that gorgeous face while snapping this layout, I had a revelation. This boy turns one in less than 6 weeks. And I'm still giving him formula as his main sustenance!! My other kids were sitting at the table eating what we were eating by now. He's still eating pureed fruit 'n' Farex and Heinz meals, everything is mushed up for him. OOOO,Waaaa! The poor guys probably starving!! He only gets one meal a day, and maybe a bikkie if we've got any. Now he's going to get a crash course in solid, solids. It's all rush rush now, I want him to be eating semi normal food when we're in Bali. (in 6 weeks). That is, cereal at brekkie, fruit and bread at lunch.

I don't know if it's cos I'm lazy, I've had too much to do, or am I subconsciously holding on to his babyishness. He is my last one, and he's so gosh darn cute, I don't want him to become a smelly monster. ROFL!! Well I've well and truly snapped out of my little fantasy now, he had a roast spud and some carrot for tea, using the old chew it up and spit it out method, tomorrow we add weet bix to the Farex! Wish me luck!

Cheers Vikki

Quick update!!

2009-09-09T20:02:00.010+08:00

Oh who am I kidding? I've got a month of catching up to do! Grab a cuppa, I'll try to keep it short.
Let's start with Father's Day.
Not too long ago the father of my children got this..........plus the new and improved exhaust pipes, a jacket, gloves, etc... Not that I mind; he earns the money it's only fair he rewards himself. My beef is he's got all the bits, his shed is full of tools, and toys and gadgets. What to get the man who has everything? I took the joker route and it was not well received. The kids gave dear old Dad socks and jocks and a shoot em up Wii game! It's his own fault, he should have left something for me to buy! Well that's the excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I didn't get round to seeing my Dad, though I do have a big, fat chunk of homemade Rocky Road for him. Can you believe I burnt the first lot of chocolate?? It's no secret that I can't cook, but honestly somedays even I shake my head at how hopeless I am!

About a month ago I came down with a dose of flu - really bad, once I got better though I found out the flu had swiped my mojo. So this next layout is 6 weeks in the making! You think that's bad - it's a CASE of a layout I saw on the Basic Grey Gallery. My mojo was that wiped out, I couldn't even CASE something. Spent hours just staring at bits and pieces , putting it down, picking it up, sliding it across. It just wasn't happening until last Friday! And all in a flash it came together, and I love it. I don't care that it's not my design, it's in my album! ;-)
(can you believe once again I forgot to write down the author of this beautiful work of art! Sorry, whoever you are)
Without further ado here it is...

and the detail...My 9 year being a typical 9 yo! Sulking over something silly. Just a part of our everyday now. Oh the joys - LOL!! But I do love that photo, if I didn't take it I'd say she was day dreaming, waiting out the time til it was her go. But hey, scrapbooking is about real life, right?? We do enough embellishing on our pages.

Also whipped this one up (only took a couple of hours) on the weekend. Mojo came home with a point to prove! For the Artastic Challenge Blog, be inspired by the artist Kandinsky and his painting 'On White II'.

And exciting news this just arrived in store , eagerly anticipated and doesn't disappoint!
I've been neglecting the store a little lately. The kids school has swung into social mode, what with excursions and bookweek and dress up discos, birthday parties. On and on. Forever driving here there and everywhere, dishing out your last $20 to buy some kid you've never met a prezzie., and being expected to whip up the best costume ever! Then being sick, man I was so ill, I just collapsed in a heap and everytime I thought I was better it would hit again. Lost my voice a couple of times. Still have this nagging cough, and some days I crash around 4 from exhaustion. Not that I'm running marathons, I'm just not 100% still (what is it 6 weeks?) Blah!

So that reminds me Bookweek photos!T-rex and Little Red! I made the cape myself, no pattern. So proud. LOL, don't look too close though the stitching is shocking. Luckily polar fleece is very forgiving. Jack wanted me to make a dinosaur mask - thank you Google. This one was printed off from the Scottish Museum of Natural History website.

And that should just about do me for today, I wanna go scrap. Trent though is refusing to have his bottle and therefore fall asleep. He's getting more teeth. Sigh, fun times ahead. 9 oclock, he's usually been out for 2 hours by now. Hmmmm, not happy. Ok, I'll deal with this and we'll catch up again - soon! I promise!!

Cheers.

Prima's Top Picks

2009-08-24T22:26:00.003+08:00

Just some of what we can expect from Prima this summer! How GORGEOUS is this stuff??? So can't wait for it to hit Aussie shelves. Go check out the blog and see what the amazing DT have done with this stuff! Drool Drool!!

Thank You Becky Fleck

2009-08-13T14:14:00.003+08:00

I struggled with this layout for weeks before Becky's August sketch was posted. Pushing paper around, lots of sighing, cutting, disposing and nearly very nearly giving up. As soon as I saw the sketch it was like a lightbulb moment, a big 'this is it'. This is what I need to do. I sat down and ignored my family for the day and finished it off. So Ms Becky Fleck, thankyou!!

On another note- I completed this one weeks ago but have only just got around to uploading. Baby Trent's room has got Pooh's First Aquarium bedding, so I've continued the theme with fishy night light and mobile, and now his very own wall plaque. I'm really happy with it. The white bubbles are painted with clear glitter and are actually Buzz n Bloom Head Start Bubbles minis. Just cut them up into wonky strips. I paper pieced the fishies - there's spose to be 3 but I got sick of doing them - *shrug*.

I'm actually not feeling too good today, so I might leave it there and go back to sleeping. Mmmm, sounds good!! LOL.
Bye.

Exciting News

2009-07-16T21:46:00.005+08:00

My Scrap Buddy Jodie has started an etsy shop selling her gorgeous vintage bits. You really have to see Jodies work, she's one of a kind, and does vintage so well. Anyways she's having a little giveaway to advertise her new venture. See details here.
I'm more than happy to give a friend a boost, especially when they're selling something as exquisite as this! (I would love to stock this stuff myself, the offer still stands Jodes!!) Here's some of my faves.........

vintage chipboard buttonscrazy patchwork flowers

sugar pink pretties

You can see more lovely bits at her etsy shop.....

www.sweetvintage78.etsy.com

Til next time

It's holidays

2009-07-13T23:40:00.005+08:00

I didn't realise it'd been so long between posts. It only feels like last week. Time is just flying. Even these holidays which usually drag on - week two already, yahay!!! So what have we been doin??
A bit of this.
Some beading kits I picked up ages ago and just found. Glad they were on special cos they were sooo simple to do. In fact these are teacher gifts this year... Ebony also made a beaded duck but we ran out of string and he has no feet. She got cranky and hid him - of course it's all my fault.

I finished this one off....
Me and my bubba. Cherish this one people! I NEVER scrap myself, and rarely have photos taken of myself. So this is a double treat! LOL. I would show you what the kids did while I was doing this but I got mad at the mess and chucked it all out. I gave them a 'craft box' of scraps and glue and pencils, let them do as they will, but no one wants to clean up! Mostly Cooper gets the blame - "he had it last" Can you see a pattern developing here??? Boy do they test me! (6 days to go.. I can do it... breathe...breathe..)

Me and the youngest 2 have a cold so we've been a little anti social. It's raining anyhow, and there's NOTHING to do when it rains. Jack's in heaven playing Wii everyday. Oh and they've discovered the Back to the Future Trilogy. I watch it and cringe , but the kids love it! Jack can't quite grasp the concept (saying that Eb's probably can't either, but won't say so) but he is fascinated. The manure truck scene is a particular favourite, knowing my children that shouldn't surprise you. LOL!

We did go shopping today, Shaun finally bought me a dishwasher. And now there is a dishwasher in my kitchen taunting me, cos it's not plumbed in. How mean is that??? It's right there all shiny and new, full of promise, and untouchable!! Aaarrgghh! We also got Wii Fit (a bargain at $99) and just to shatter my already fragile self esteem the stupid program says I'm 46. 46!! That's soo not fair, especially as it also said my weight is fine. I'm tempted to take the dumb thing back. Except I really know I need to tone up, hopefully this will help me along. I have been doing weights every morning on the home gym. Thought I'd start out 'lightly' , it's on the lightest possible weight and my legs absolutely burn after 20 lifts. My arms are okay I can get 3 sets of 20 from each exercise before I'm pooped, but my thighs just scream.

And in saying that; if I'm to get up and complete my regime in the morning I should hot foot it to bed. 12.15am - and I'm wide awake. Bugga the holidays, now my sleep cycle is all screwy again.

Night......

2009-06-17T22:09:00.002+08:00

I had a bad weekend. It happens, every now and then I can't stand to be around people - which when you have 4 kids is , let's say trying. Most times Shaun takes the kids out and about and I sleep or cry or do whatever makes me feel better. But it was crappy weather and we were all holed up together. So I whinged... too noisy, too messy, not enough time, too many hugs and dirty nappies and feeds, and when do those kids ever stop eating! You get the drift.

This weekend I channelled my 'black cloud' into something creative and did two and a half layouts. I was still 'miss cranky pants' but instead of stomping and crying , I went on strike and just scrapbooked. And I'm REALLY happy with what I came up with .

This one is for the A2Z Scraplets Sketch challenge. Every day this dude does something new, and once again I'm reminded he's the last. It's sad, baby cuddles are so special, and at 8mths he's already too busy to just sit and snuggle. Sigh...
The Wow in Everyday is my take on Melissa Corbett's layout, featured this month on Aussie Scrapjack. Which, btw, has moved to the ning network. Need to update my links. This is Cooper, and he's at that stage where everything is just so amazing. From doing something himself, a picture in the window, a dog, a duck, a flower. Everything he sees, or accomplishes is the biggest deal ever. I wish that I could see the world that way again. And check out those amazing eyes. So lovin these papers- Crate Paper Lillian and Little Sprout. Sooo cute. And I can't get enough of those Collections letter tiles atm. I'm on my last sheet ; I'll have to order more in.

Still working on layout 2.5. It's there I'm still nutting out a title and final placement of elements. Usually the title is my inspiration for my whole layout, but this time I am stumped. Might move onto some atc's for a while instead. We'll see, I may be hit by inspiration in the middle of the night.

Til next time...

Oh and PS - 50 % off over at my store for the month of June.

Cheers Vikki

Retreat Stuff

2009-06-11T21:54:00.007+08:00

The girls at retreat

Well, I've been told off - so Jodes this is for you!! ROFL!!

We're back from a successful retreat. I think everyone had fun - anyway they're telling me they had fun!! ;-) I got 3 layouts done plus one class. It's not bad but I would've preferred to do more - I did a lot of sitting and staring and umming.

Jodes, Shara,Me and Roch in our Hawaiian attire!!U Got Spunk!
Used Crate paper Orbit range - LOVE the little alien paper. And robot studs by prima.
This is eldest son Jack 5 who is going through the silly face at the camera stage.
Instantly
A blatant CASE of a layout I saved from the Scrapbook.com newsletter. I really need to start writing down the names of authors - I always forget and then can't give them the credit they're due. My littlest ,Trent, cos I just LOOOOVE him!! :-)

Waiting
A hambly Transparency, some hand stitching and a date stamp. I wish my pics were smaller, but I printed these at HN and totally overlooked the fact that I couldn't trim them down. I was going for the clinical look. All about how long it took to finally get Trent! Longest weekend of my life!!
Summer Girl
This is the layout the fabulous Tania Davey taught. She has taught a project at all our retreats and is a wonderful, talented lady! We used some mirror corners from buzz n bloom, and the flowers have hand made clay centres. I would have never used these papers on my own, but they look fab on this layout! My eldest Ebony on Xmas day. D-R-E-A-M
This is the class I taught. I stressed over this for weeks but now it's done I love it!! We did boy ones too which looked awesome. I never took many photos this year... spewin, would love to show you the boy ones. We had rockets and robots blasting into space.
I have some girl banner kits left which I'll try to get on the web for sale asap!

And that is that for another year.... I know I'm already planning the next one.

2009-05-05T20:39:00.006+08:00

Gosh, I'm not too good at this, am I??? If I only checked in every couple of days I wouldn't have to write these huge blogologues. There's been birthdays, milestones, sports achievements and scrapping. I think today I'll just share my layouts - and pop back in tomorrow with the other stuff.

I am soo loving the cartoony/illustrated style of scrapping atm. And paper piecing making a comeback suits me perfectly. Not that I've scrapped a storm mind you, just been plodding along.
First one...My guys - love em. Using Basic Grey offbeat papers. Collections letter tiles, assorted fonts and the sun is a Cosmo Cricket paper. Before you ask - Cooper has red icy pole around his mouth. LOL. That's my guys - they're ALL boy.
Number two....
Cooper playing on the swing in the backyard not sure when. All I know is it's after we got Stanley but before we got Trent- Again using Offbeat, again doing the cartoony thing. Used the Fisher Price slogan as my inspiration. Need to journal on this so will have to look up the date stamping or something. Just add it to the UFO pile.
Number 3...
My spunky chick at the Human Nature concert. This was while we were waiting for them to come on. It's a layout about 9 yo cool. The Veronica's clothes, bold makeup, chunky jewellery, and of course the MP3 glued to her ear. I also love doing things a little 'darker' than you'd expect for scrapbooking.. For someone who has trouble layering, I think this has come together nicely.
Finally...A canvas/pin up board for a friends 7 yo daughter. After scouring the shops looking for a 'funky pin up board' with no luck, she asked me to do something. In her words ' you're the only crafty person I know' She was happy with and more importantly her daughter loved it.
Jun loves to cook and she's very good at it, so when asked how much she owed me I said I really really like pavlova. Cos I just can't cook. Her pavs are SO divine. She's one of those people you go to ALL her Tupperware parties even when you don't need anything cos you know the spread will be exquisite. Oh, I'm SO naughty, she's a lovely person too. LOL!!

Now before I go I had better put a plug in for the shop - retreat's in 3 weeks (aarrgghh!) nearly organised. Finally finished my class for this. Should I show you a sneak peek..... no, haven't photoed it yet. Too much fluffing around. I've seen 3 of the projects available and they're all to die for. This is going to be a good one.

In the meantime I thought I should try and clear some stock and get some exciting new stuff in for the weekend. So until May 12 there's 20% off EVERYTHING. Woohoo!! You can find my store here .

Thanks for stopping by....

Vikki

He's Sweet Like Chocolate.....

2009-03-19T22:30:00.003+09:00

And that he does. My baby Trent at 2.5 months (waaaay back in Jan!) He's growing so fast and I can't believe it's already 5 months now. It feels as if I've known him forever, but still time is flying. Every single milestone I want to put a 'Freezeframe' on. You know what I mean, the snuggly stage, the sleep all day stage, that first gurgle of delight, the first roll over......

This boy is just a delight, a little piggy but a happy one. He's always smiling, always chatting away and he's got a full on hearty chuckle. It's the sweetest sound. Maybe it's cos he's DEFINATELY my last but I just can't get enough of him!! LOL!! Poor guy he just gets smothered by this whole family and I'm the worst offender. Hey did I tell ya - he sleeps ALL night. I know - I love rubbing it in. It's just bliss, down at 8.30 pm up at 7 am.

And because of this I'm scrapping again! Yahoo. So here's some more stuff I've been doing...

How cool is this - Ben 10 visited our Shopping Centre over the XMas Holidays. and he bought Wildmutt with him!! Cooper was so funny. He was all cool with Ben but when he saw Wildmutt ...
He just kept pointing and going RaaHHH! And told anyone who'd listen RAAHHH!! .
And this one is a bit special. My four cheeky monkeys. This is the day after Trent's birth. I think the title says it all. I used the word heart instead of a heart, because I was spose to have a heart underneath the word, but it didn't look right. Pulled out the old chalks to recolour the rub on circle for this. It's been years since I've used them but it worked so well, watch out for the one woman chalk resurgence. LOL!!!

Thanks for looking.

Guess Where I've Been??

2009-03-01T22:22:00.007+09:00

Had the best night out last night. Went to the Human Nature concert!! Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! (insert girly squeal) . The guys were awesome. Any notion I had of them being daggy have been washed away. All singing, all dancing, comedic act. I went cos I loved the Motown songs.
It rained a little bit but otherwise the night was gorgeous, under the stars at kings park. I think a lot of atmosphere would've been lost indoors.Went up with my mum and took Ebony and my nephew Liam with us. The kids had a fantastic time. First 'real' concert for both of them. At the end we let them storm the stage!! The poor security guy would've been packing himself, one man was all that stood between Human Nature and a pack of screaming women (of all ages). So glad I'm not a drinker anymore, some real embarrassing behaviour going on.

REACH OUT was my fave. They rock that song. You gotta love the dance moves, Ebony loves STOP! IN THE NAME OF LOVE, I think because they taught us the dance moves. NO there is not a video of us doing that!! LOL.
Here's some more pics of the concert........

Liam, Ebony and me. I did some hard cropping here, I looked so fat. The boys looking very spiffy!
Ebony - proof she was there!!

By this stage we'd been there for 5 hours and had wilted in the heat, messed ourselves with mad dancing and clapping in time to the music. Got ourselves an autographed CD so I can see that making an appearance at show and tell this week. I haven't stopped singing all day. it's likely I'll be humming to myself for weeks, even breaking out into song and dance while doing the housework!!
Let's just say I'd highly recommend seeing these guys LIVE. AWESOME

And a final word tonight.......

Remember ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

Til next time.

I'm Baaack!!!

2009-02-10T22:45:00.003+09:00

And with renewed zest for life. I know don't faint - but I actually sound happy. LOL!
The kids are back at school, it's much easier to love all of them when you only see them for 6 hours a day. Oh I'm so naughty. I do love yas, you know it!!!

Anyway I've joined up with the aussielayouts girls to do an online photography class using this webpage as our guideline. I'm only up to lesson one but already my eyes have been opened to new ways of photographing things. I look at stuff a whole lot differently that's for sure.

So here's a few pics from Lesson 1 Assignment 1: Composition.

Love the lego shot! Need a tripod!! I get awful camera shake. The other pics are of cardboard pizza boxes bundled together, and the clam shell in our fish tank!! Adore the texture on this and have wanted to photograph it for a long time!!

Let's hopw me blog doesn't go unloved for that long.....

Cheers

Please Say Hello.......

2008-10-29T11:13:00.003+09:00

To our newest cuddle bug.

This is TRENT ARTHUR.

Born 7.32 pm Sunday Oct 26 2008. Weighing 3280g (around 7lbs)

At home now and we're both well. He's a good boy sleeping well. And of course his big brothers and sister are ecstactic.

Another Layout

2008-10-29T11:00:00.004+09:00

Just popping back to share my Aussie Scrapjack for October. The original was by Kathie Link. I love, love ,love how this has turned out. There's some journalling behind the photo. Jack was still on a high from sports day and was sooooo excited to buy his first pair of 'runners'.

Thanks for looking.

Roadmap!!

2008-09-28T23:22:00.005+08:00

And here is my layout based on the sketch over at the Aussie Pubcalls Roadmaps site. (link in the sidebar)

Our dog Stan, though if he doesn't stop digging up the garden he won't be ours much longer!! ROFL!!

The roadmap ........ and the layout.....

Thanks for looking!

Long Time No Blog!!

2008-09-28T23:05:00.003+08:00

It's been ages, but I'm back! If only for a quick second. I finally scrapped for myself, using my fave blogs as inspiration. So I'm just uploading my September ScrapJack, and I'll be back later to update you with what's been happening!!

This is based on Nikala O'Brien's gorgeous layout. My baby no longer, Cooper at Sport's day and how pleased does he look with himself?? Balancing on a bench - all by himself no less!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Vikki

THE BITZ RETREAT 2008

2008-07-15T21:55:00.006+08:00

I can't believe it's all over. And man have I landed on the other side with a bump! Retreat was awesome, I didn't do as much as I'd hoped but I was creating. Someone else was cooking my meals and doing my dishes - and every now and then someone else would make me a cuppa!! Bliss. Then I had to come home. To mess, dishes, noise and a mound of unpacking. Sigh!!
Never mind there's always next year to look forward to!! Here's a shot of all the girls at the Pyjama party. The girls really got into the spirit of things and dressed up their gowns, rollers in hair, even sleeping beauty and princess pooh bear. Thanks ladies!!

We had a few workshops including a gorgeous mini canvas from the very talented and wonderful Tania Davey. I haven't taken a photo of mine yet, so I'll use the pic she supplied us for promos.

And pics of the girls getting busy in the workshops.

Of course we had the challenges and here are our winners.

Sketch - Michelle Outside the square- Danelle White and green - Margaret.

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Feedback so far is positive. I'm sort of relieved it's over- the planning and worry over making sure everyone is happy. I don't enjoy that. Kudos to Rochelle, who is very good at that and took over where I couldn't. Thanks buddy. Whew! A nice long post but before I go one last thing....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my angel RILEY who should have been 3 today. Miss you!! xxx

Cheers Vikki

2 New Layouts

2008-06-27T15:04:00.004+08:00

And just in time it would seem. Entries for this months Scrapjack close on Monday. It would seem to be an easy layout to jack but I struggled. The pirate one is my first attempt which failed miserably and ended up nothing like the Jack. (or how I planned) - U2 is my entry. I wanted to stray away from the flowers and swirls the DT's were using. I could've made it easy on myself and added a bit of QCo Felt.

Lots of Opalling here. Couldn't be bothered with paint. (Gawd I'm soo lazy sometimes!!). Lurve Opals to death but the thing is once you Opal one piece it sticks out like dog's you know what's, so you need to do other pieces as well. And if you're not careful it can look like a psychedelic vomit all over your page. I also ran the Collections Birdie and Swirls through the cuttlebug after I opalled. Lovin this look!!

My Dad and My son - camping at Alexandra bridge Easter 2008. Those two have a special bond more so than the others, which is sweet, but boy look out when they get together. honestly there as bad as each other, teasing, tricking, playing. Whatever you do don't get caught up in the crossfire.

And this is the Pirate layout. I like it now, it was a struggle to get here though. I made the pirate map which was my background. Hated it, ripped it up, tried to use one piece. Hated it even more. So tried to stick it back together. And thought that's it! Done. LOL!!! I really wanted a piece of pirate scarf to make it look like a collection of old clues. But the paper will have to do. most of the time Scrapping is about finding a compromise. And this is my compromise which, is slowly winning me over.

Now about the picture, this is me and Jack on my birthday. He was going to the kindy's Heroes and Legends Disco as Jack Sparrow. How cute is he. He had a ball there though it was more contained chaos than a Disco. Did a bit of photoshopping on this just to make it look old and disguise how old I look. Besides it's a pirate picture, how many clean pirates have you seen??

Anyways thanks for looking and let me know what you think!!

Cheers Vikki

More Blog Inspiration

2008-06-22T13:01:00.002+08:00

Love this layout, inspired by the music video by aussie band Chasing Bailey. Just for the Aussie Scrap Music BLog.

My 3 pieces of inspiration were:

The barcode

The mosaic background

The title.

Hope you like it too. I don't do white backgrounds very often so it was hard to stop where I have. Even now I feel the urge to ink the edges. LOL.

Thanks for looking.

Aussie ScrapJack

2008-05-19T22:12:00.003+08:00

This would be why the newsletter is soooooo late, in fact I'm thinking of waiting until June now. My MOJO has returned with gusto, and I'm busy creating. No time for housework, there's art to be made. So here it is

Scrapjacked from a layout by Dee Heath.

I took these photos shortly before my camera died. Notice only one natural pose, the other two have no idea what 'be natural' means. LOL!!! I've used the new Basic Grey SUGARED papers, letters and chip stickers. (I know I bought the whole pack for that little birdie!!) The letters are DM'd to make them pop a little more. Now off to find some images for some ATC's.........

Cheers Vikki

Mum's Day

2008-05-19T21:54:00.003+08:00

A little late I know but the camera was out for the count!!

It was a pretty laid back day. NO SLEEP IN!! Grrrr. My kidlets woke me with parcels wrapped in paint splattered butcher's paper. Handmade cardboard photo frames, two beautiful posters with magnets on the back for the fridge. Eb's was a poem all glittered up and Jack's was a hand print rolled into a flower holding a heart, above a little poem. So sweet. Plus a little photo box that use to be filled with bikkies (LOL, Jack Couldn't wait, but did save me one!!) All handmade of course. I tell you those kindy teacher's are amazing the stuff they can conjure up out of nothing!!

I made my mum a 12x12 canvas, note to mum, SEND A PHOTO OF IT!!. The camera chucked a wobbly and stopped working before I took a snap. Had a pic of the kids on it above their hands imprinted in texture paste. And all scrappied up.

Made myself a little canvas too, my prezzie to myself. This one is slightly smaller than A4 and the crown hangs off the edge. I'm really, really happy with it. Bonus is it was all from stuff in my stash!! Not a penny spent.

I hope everyone had a great day and received lots of special handmade gifts!! (wink, wink) Thanks for visiting!!!

Aussie Scrap Music Blog Challenge

2008-05-06T13:20:00.003+08:00

A new blog for me to stalk - FANTASTIC!! I love challenge blogs. And May's challenge really got me excited - USE John Butler Trio's Music Video as inspiration. And here is my result.......

The 3 biggest bits of inspiration from the video were

1. Monchromatic with splash of red

2. Flourishy bits fro mthe edges

3. The Title "Good excuse"

This is Ebony in her bookweek costume. (I cut out the wings in the photo) Dressed as a Ulysses butterfly. She looked gorgeous and shimmery and while I'm taking photos she starts climbing things shouting 'take photos of me flying'. Then she's a statue from 'the hunchback movie' . Once she jumped and crashed and said I'm a dead butterfly. oh man, She is such a Boy for such a pretty little thing . The any excuse title refers to her need to climb stuff -all the time. I guess that comes from being Dad's best mate.....

Cheers Vikki

Back Again!!

2008-04-22T12:47:00.004+08:00

Phew, been awhile! I've been a little energyless lately and have only been doing the bare essentials. So a few spare minutes and thought I'd better update and let you all know what's going on.

I am pregnant. I am not happy, and the decision on whether I keep this baby has been made for me. I can't see my doctor until the 3rd June!! How ridiculous is that?? Even then it's just a 'prelim checkup' and no guarantee that he'll actually take me on as a patient. Great! So I rang the midwives and they won't see me until I am 20 weeks which is the 3rd of June. Fantastic! Health crisis? What health crisis???

I mean this is pregnancy 5, child 4. I know what I'm doing, but the facts are I'm 33 and I have never been so ill in my life. I'm worried about having a child with a disability, which I really can not cope with. I have 3 active, stubborn, intelligent children who require my constant vigilance as it is. On the upside Shaun and Ebony and my mum are ecstatic. It's alright for them.

I've been trying to explain to Shaun that his life continues on regardless, for me it's another tee total birthday (5 in a row now), another 16 years of someone totally depending on me. Another 18 months of breast feeding and being permantantly attached to the child. My aging body is already protesting the changes taking place, I still haven't lost my Cooper tummy, I'm ill, I'm tired and I've got eczema which I've never had before in my life. Soooo itchy!. Waking up at 3am every morning to pee or dry retch, and by Xmas it will be 3 times a night to feed the babe.

It's purely selfish but I'd just reached the stage where Jack was at school, Ebony is quite happy to get herself to school and back, and Cooper has finally let me go and attends Creche once a week. I found a job that I like, that's cruisy and flexible to my family. I was becoming free again, I was rediscovering myself. Now I'm pulled right back into the depths of being just mum.

Oh, I'm an old grumble bum aren't I?? Hmm, what else has been happening??

Ah, master Jack had his 4th birthday in March. He's still so little, Cooper is almost as tall as him. LOL. Let's see if I can find a pic from his bday.

Why he's not wearing a t-shirt I do not know. My children are always in various stages of undress. Even today I'm shivering my butt off in jumper and socks and they're running around in shorts and tees. Just strange that mob.

On the scraping front, I've been very unmotivated. It just seems to much hassle to get it out and pack it up. It's a messy craft!! I did finish two projects for my store newsletter.

The top pic is Jack's ABC daycare photo. What a pain this photo was. That background is soo hard to work with. I'm happy with what I finally came up with though.
The pink canvas is a present for Ebony's BFF's Mum, Rebecca. She got married in January in Sydney. And such a lovely giving person, she really deserved it. She's always doing me favours like picking Eb up from school, and stuff. She's got 4 kids of her own but it's never a hassle. Total star. Anyway she absolutely loved it, and that makes me happy.

I did some ATC's on the weekend. But I've still got two CJ pages to do, I'm a bit behind I think. Everyone else is nearly done and I'm only halfway. Think I overcommitted myself but it had been so long since I had been in a swap for this group I felt obligated. Kicking myself now.
WHERE IS MY MOJO???????

Also co hosting a local scrap crop in May. Need to come up with a demo for the day. Really stretching the brain matter with this - I mean everyone has pretty much seen everything now haven't they?? I've got my prize sorted, well planned, need to package it up. Might set up a display of past class kits and of course plug the retreat! Not long now for that!

Got an email from my intrepid adventurer mate Deanne. She's home in 2 weeks. Aaaarrggghhh! I haven't finished her prezzie yet! I thought I had heaps of time. Looking forward to catching up and seeing heaps of piccies! Hint hint! I'll get on to it, it's always hard making something for someone else. And I want to get it right. I've been so wrapped up in myself I haven't emailed her for ages. I'm sorry my friend, I do think of you and read each update you send several times. Revelling in your dry humour and reading between the lines to make sure you're really ok.
I also forgot my mate Donna's bday. I'm so awful, so Donna this one's for you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

And on that note I really should get back to doing my BAS. Ewwww. Another thing I have neglected is my accounting so this is going to be a long drawn out process. Hee hee.

Take care people.......

A Bleak Week

2008-03-14T13:24:00.002+09:00

A quick update on my tenant troubles.... We went to the courthouse where our tenant approached us with a Tenants advocacy rep. He suggested we meet and talk. Lucky for us, he provided us with a lot of info and really helped us out. I think that pee'd her off. So we settled out of court ,she forfeited her bond so we could pay her bills and due rents. She moved out a week before the court date. So it's all done - it's over.
I did snap a little though- a lot. I yelled at her and said she was lazy and selfish. We've lost money, opportunities and she's ruined my home. She tried to play my game 'it's not my fault. I work so many hours' etc etc. I owned a business, working 6 days a week, I was pregnant and had two under 5!! I managed!! Shaun said later ' why'd you get so snappy for?' and I said cos 'I was overwhelmed by how much I hate her!' He said ' well you never have to see her again. ' Good point, unless of course I need something from Aspenz Homewares store.

This week I'm sooo drained. Just physically exhausted. I can't focus on anything, I'm getting flaky. Not sleeping well at all, and by the time I get settled into deep sleep the alarms ringing. I'm hoping it's stress. But there's other stuff happening and I'm not really wanting to go into further in case I scare the bejesus out of myself. But I'm also ill, constantly. In the mornings I'm on the verge of vomiting and the rest of the day my stomach just curdles. I've got major face break outs, which is rare for me. I mean put all this together with a late cycle and you know what I'm getting at. Like I said I hope it's just stress.

thanks to the reserve bank, money is another stress factor around here. I've gone back to 'paid work' on a casual basis. The work's pretty cruisy, I quite enjoy it actually, I like working alone, I know what I have to do, and they leave me alone to do it. 4-7 pm. Perfect. Or so you'd think.
It's just another excuse for me and DH to argue. He finishes at 3.50 and refuses to pick the kids up from my mums. He also expects me to have tea cooked and served ready for him to heat and eat. I don't mind preparing tea, peeling spuds, cutting veg, defrosting meat, but he's more than capable of cooking it. For someone so keen to see me out in the workforce, he's not playing fair.
I gave him the chance to say 'no those hours are crap, the pay doesn't do it for me, don't take the job'. but he waited until I had applied and accepted a position before saying something.

Hmmm, I'm whinging again aren't I??? Sorry, but I had to tell someone. If any thing else pops up I'm gonna have a melt down I'm sure!! And all of this is leaving me less than enthusiastic about the things I usually love. I've lost my scrapping groove. Instead of reading email - I'm glossing over it. Can't get into my mags or books. The gardens fading. And kapoooie to housework. (not that I love housework, but I'm usually on top of it!)

Anyhow that's enough from me, I might go have a nanna nap before school's out and I have to get ready for work.
Thanks for listening
Vikki

The Blame Game

2008-02-26T22:30:00.002+09:00

We were just talking about this today, our coping mechanisms. I blame people, everyone but myself. And I'm at it again. What did I do to deserve this???

We have tenant troubles, and before you think nasty landlord lady, we're not. We're landlords because we can't sell our house. We gave this chick a chance, referred by friends, newish to town and having troubles finding a place to live. We''l rent you our house if you keep it tidy, and pay the rent. That's all we asked, we left her alone to do her thing. And it was 6 months later after family and friends starting asking us "what's going on at your place?" that we did an inspection. Which took us a motnh to do because she kept re scheduling.

That was our first mistake, she wasn't looking after the place. The garden was a jungle, the bore was broken, sprinklers broken, lawn dug up from burn outs, walls re painted, fences broken, a window broken and slats removed from the base of the house. Ok, I accept that was our fault, we should have done more inspections.

Six months later the lease is up and we give her ample notice to move on, she rings up a day before deadline to let us know she can't find anywhere else. Turns out she doesn't read the mail all that often and only found out a week before that she needed to move on. Our fault, we should've touched base to see how she was going. In our niceness we extended her stay by a fortnight. When we did an inspection (which was spose to be the final one and key handover) it came to our attention that she hadn't even packed anything in readiness for moving!

You have to keep in mind we've organised new tenants who are expecting to move in first week of Feb. We've now lost them.

So here we are 26th Feb, and we go to court on the 11th March. She's given up trying to get in our goodbooks and the garden is again a mess. They're now collecting car bodies. She sent us a letter in response to our court order. She won't pay the rent increase, cos I didn't follow due process. She's not moving out because we haven't fixed the bore, electricity, plumbing, flyscreens, leaky taps and sprinklers. Hello, why weren't we told they're not working!!!

She's tried to intimidate us by getting her ex husband to ring up and lecture us on our responsibilities to her. Played the it's not fair, I'm working two jobs, the car broke down, and no one will give me a house card. She lives with her 3 children. Two of whom are working full time. And the rent is still always late, the electricity is behind, and she still hasn't paid a water bill from 6 months ago. I'm sure the 3 of them could scab up $40 each for the damn water!!!

I know the real reason she won't budge. Should I say??? I'd love to just out her and tell the world but one court appearence is enough thanks. She keeps asking for an April extension, because we worked out that's when her marijuana plants would be ripe for picking!! See another thing we overlooked, we just let her go, looked the other way. She's not hurting anyone we thought.

I'm so mad, and really all this is just a quick over view, there is so much more to tell. I don't want to go to court and drag in neighbours, and real estate agents and friends to testify. I want her to go away and leave my home, I really couldn't care less at the state of my precious garden. Last year the bottom fell out of our real estate market, we had a whole 3 enquiries over our house, you know how many made it through the door?? 1. One lonely viewer. Thankyou you sellfish cow. We had the for Sale sign replaced 3 times and they ripped it up and trashed it 3 times.

So I accept blame. We should have used an agent, but we couldn't afford to be giving away 10% of the rent. We should've watched her closer, we should've been meaner, and I should have dobbed her in for the hooch plants. There goes my dream for being a property tycoon. I honestly don't have the stomach for it. My anxiety levels have skyrocketed, and now We have to worry about her getting vengeful and trashing my place.

If we had sold it, it'd be like too bad, that's there choice to trash it. It would have been upsetting but out of my control. We still own this place, this place I had my babies in, where all my best memories are. The place I still call home. I feel violated and abused.

I really truly hate her!! And I accept responsibility for those feelings. I also accept that i contribute d too our situation. And tomorrow I ring the police and let them know about the monet trees in the backyard. And I start gathering evidence to support my claim for breach of contract and monetory restitution (is that hte right word??) .

Wish me luck......

Beautiful Things

2008-02-14T13:47:00.004+09:00

Deanne's been at it again! Spoiling me! These bracelets are just exquisite and they scream Portugal to me. I guess that's because that's where they come from. My souvenirs. And the bag too is just so pretty, I can see that as a scrapbook paper.
All those pretty beads and washers and stuff and they've all got something engraved on them - little flourishes, cave art, flowers, celestial bodies. THANKYOU SO MUCH D, I LOVE IT. And the flower choker/bracelet. still trying to get the knack of tying it properly but will do it my way until then LOL.
I also got a postcard today, all the way from El Generalife , Granada. A pic of a gorgeous garden, I am so unworldly, it's sad. I'm living the adventure through Dee, and read her emails several times over. Have fun my lady and we'll see you home soon. (oh no she says. ROFL)

Vikki

The Big Catch Up

2008-02-14T13:07:00.005+09:00

Hmmm, I've been a bit slack haven't I?? I keep meaning to pop in and update but before I know it I've shut down the computer and I've forgotten again. So this will be the big catch up!!

Not that a hell of a lot has been happening, god we're not that exciting. But ...

Last week of school holidays we snuck in a trip to Adventure World. Which for the non Waussies is a theme waterpark. It's ages old and some of the stuff has been there since the beginning and looks a little run down but there's some new stuff too. Last time I went was for the Year 10 break up party in 1990. That's telling my age isn't it??

There's a new kids section (well I think it's new - I wouldn't have bothered with it when I was 15 so it's hard to say how old it is) and we hung there nearly all day. Ebony and Shaun disappeared for a while to do the big rides. Poor Eb's is 10cm too short for her age and Shaun had her tippy toeing most of the day. 120cm is the minimum for most rides.

But the kids had a ball - even Cooper who's only 18 mths was going on the water slide. He had a huge smile all day, running everywhere. He even floated a few times (nearly drowned a few more) . The poor guy fell asleep as soon as we ut him in the pram to go home. I hardly saw Jack, he was up and down the water slide, finding friends in the pools, swimming!! (he finally swam without his vest! I think the 30cm depth of water gave him some confidence) He even went on some of the kiddie rides I thought he'd be too scared to do. It was a fantastic day. Expensive -$118 without paying for Jack and Cooper as they're under 4. So here's some snaps of the fun

And in other news... Our Jack has started KINDY!! Yay, he was such a good boy. No tears, no worries. I think it helped that his friend from daycare (2Jack) was there. His uniform is way too big for him, but do you think I could find blue shorts in size 2. The teachers seem nice, and apparently Mrs Phelps is the one you want, and we got her. They're gonna need to be tough if they're looking after Jack. He can be a little headstrong at times. So here he is - our schoolboy!!

Another Jack!

2008-01-23T23:03:00.000+09:00

Slowly getting back into the swing of scrapping. Where would I be without the challenge blogs??

Thisi s my Jack of Kim Archers layout from Aussie ScrapJacked.

My son Jack took these photos of his brother Cooper. I think they're brilliant.

He's either

A): Intently reading Raymond Feists Silverthorn

B): Reading a comic book hidden within the pages of Silverthorn

C): Contemplating which pages he should rip out and stuff in the filing cabinet

Thanks for looking

Catch Up

2008-01-12T22:05:00.000+09:00

I'm cruising along in holiday mode at the moment. The kids are home and my whole routine has gone out the window. I'm feeling very uninspired and very very lazy.

Christmas and New year were a total non-event for us. I think the chrissy tree went up the day before Xmas Eve. We woke up opened our prezzies then veged. Very unexciting. No pavlova, no roast, no sparklers, and no one got pissed!! LOL.

New Years, me and Ebby sat up scrapbooking together , while Shaun snored on the lounge floor. Then at 12 we went outside lit some sparklers, said cheers with a cup of ginger beer, took a photo and came inside and watched the fireworks on telly. Woo hoo!! I'm sure it was very exciting for eb's. I've had better, I'm sure if only I could remember??!!!?? Haa Haa.

So here's the snapshot of the kids and Santa after I scrapped it. Cooper didn't want to be there and it took a good 10 mins before Jack was getting on that knee. Is the photo with Santa something parents delight in?? That traditional torture of your offspring. Not one family in line didn't have trouble, screaming kids everywhere. Poor Santa.

And finally Ebony and her sparkler...

No resolutions for me this year I couldn't even uphold the pathetically simple one I made last year. Unless, you count auditioning for extreme makeover. But that my friends is another post!!

Ciao!!

Vikki

A Special Day

2007-12-17T23:12:00.000+09:00

Now today - or yesterday really is a very special day!! (it depends whereabouts in the world you are. For Deanne I'm hoping it's today.)

For today is my bestest of bestest buddies birthday!! YAY!! And I'm hoping she takes time out to check her mail and blogs before embarking on her latest adventure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEANNE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

And I'm the one getting the presents. I received my gorgeous gift on Friday thankyou my lady!!
Although... remember back in June when you sent me that huge box packed with prezzies for the kids, and me, that said Xmas and birthday all together cos I don't know where I'll be at Xmas???? Hmmm??? LOL, well too bad, I really like my gift so I'm not giving it back. Haa Haaaa. I'm trying to scam my mum's china cabinet so I can display all my wares like a Penhalgions counter. That must be the most divine shop, I don't think any aussie stores have there own paper and ribbon.

Gosh chicky, I wish we were closer so we could do something spectacular like down a bottle of GLenfiddich. Though seeing as I have 3 kiddies, you would drink most of it - and I bet practising with all those Scots would mean you could drink me under the table quite easily.!! LOL. Doesn't take much to get me tipsy anymore, and I'm not game to try a hangover. Sigh, I'm so old.
Even a cynical conversation over a cuppa and totally calorie laden cupcake about the "w******" in our life would be great.

Ok so - I'm still in the process of making your prezzies (I've got this great idea, I'm so excited about it!!LOL) but seeing as you have no return address , you hobo you, that's not a problem. But I will need your parents addy for when I am finished in a week or two.

I hope you have a fantastic day , and surround yourself with as friend or two, enjoy Bavaria or wherever you are right now. (insert green eyed monster), and stay safe. Remeber no falling asleep in trains and don't whatever you do watch Hostel!! No, do watch hostel and use it as a guide for what not to do.

Happy 32nd birthday you old duck, loves ya!! Vikki

Riley's Xmas

2007-12-17T22:59:00.000+09:00

I'm feeling a little emotional and completely drained ATM. Tonight I went to a SIDS and Kids Memorial Service. My feelings are soo conflicted - it was just the most beautiful heartwarming service, but here I am sharing my most personal grief with 49 strangers. I've got a huge headache from trying not to cry. I shed a few tears but if I had let go, I wouldn't have stopped. I haven't felt this much since Riley's funeral.

The Candle Lighting ceremony was just so beautiful. Before the service began everyone wrote a short note to their loved one and tied it to a Xmas Bauble. At the Candle Ceremony, a guy named John, read out each message, and then the parents/aunty/sister, would hang their bauble from the tree and light a candle. So many personal thoughts and feelings, John did a great job of holding it together. I was gone at the first message.
My Message read:
"Dearest Riley, I miss you baby and think of you every day. Always on my mind 4eva in my heart. Fly high Angel. (heart) mum. "

Some sad poems were read and meaningful songs sung, some beautiful words spoken. And then after, tea and coffee. And the really nice thing was people went out of their way to speak to us- they recognised we were new, and made us feel welcome. It was nice. Especially for a wallflower like me.

I'm glad I went. Merry Xmas Angel.

It's Xmas

2007-12-05T21:46:00.000+09:00

Sat down with the kids last night and made Chrissy cards. They had a ball. You know I really should be doing this sort of thing more often but I'm so anal!! It's the mess that gets me - craft is messy and kids make BIG messes. Too much glue! Watch with the glitter! Don't touch that!!

I'm surprised they're still smiling. But they're pretty proud of their cards. I on the other hand had visions of stamped images matted on red and silver on white cards. Deftly glittered highlights and subtle chalk shading. But I gave up when Jack insisted on Orange 'Yea, my Favwite!" and Ebony needed a cacophony of fluoro pink, blue and purple.

I'm the sort of mum that lets the kids decorate the christmas tree and then waits til they're sleeping so I can rearrange it all. So defeats the purpose but I can't help it - the decorations need to be balanced. Thanks to my wonderful best buddy Deanne, my decorations are looking a lot flasher these days. Since she's been living it up overseas she sends the kids a new deco each year and they are just exquisite.

Having a flash, co-ordinated tree is something I aspire to but there's always something more important to do/buy/pay. But I have taken a leap out of D's book and for the past two years have bought the kids a commemorative ornament. Just something special they can take with them when they leave home. Riley gets one too, just so he knows we're thinking of him. This year large red baubles with their names and date in glitter. So gorgeous and sparkly and oh so very Xmas!!

So if I don't update before then - MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. Stay safe and wishing you all the very best.

Layout Share

2007-11-26T22:02:00.000+09:00

I'm taking the plunge and going international! LOL, this layout is for the Category Stories blog. The girls do some fantastic work and the entries are spectacular and I finally had a layout that fit the challenge. Plus I've got a bit of dutch courage after winning a Sketches Oz challenge. Woohoo!! Basic Grey Fruitcake papers, Heidi Swapp letters and Collections Flourish.
Thanks for looking..

I'm Jacking!!

2007-11-13T22:31:00.000+09:00

This is my entry for this month's scrapjack at where else but Aussie ScrapJacks. I was totally lost when Sketches Oz took hiatus and was bemoaning this to my very talented buddy Pippa. She said to me have you tried Scrapjacks?? So I checked it out and lo and behold this month's scrapjack was similar to a layout I had just started and got stuck on. Serendipitous as Pip would say. So here it is my Jack of Celeste Vermeend's layout. (which is very beautiful, much better than mine)

Hmm, it's not a good photo is it?? This is my two eldest at a trip to Wellington Dam. I'm not real sure what's going on here - they were out with nanna and pop - knowing those two I don't think I want to know.

I won these papers- they are called Pink Squirrel. When I first got them I was like ewww!! But here cut up and used minimally they look really good, still bright but not horrid. Don't know what I was thinking with the dotty letters but they're stuck there now. Got the title from a show o Foxtel called 'Wild On......' and then would be the name of the city they're in. It was all about wild parties and places where girls wear very little. Needless to say it was one of DH's most watched shows. LOL!

But how much can I crap on about one layout.?? I'm off to try to finish another - a sketch that's just not doing it for me!! Send inspiration NOW!!

Shop Challenges

2007-11-07T22:09:00.000+09:00

The newsletter is out so I can share with you this months challenges. Do the sketch and go into the draw for a prize. Or complete the sketch plus the 4week rewards and get a $5 voucher to spend in store - http://www.scrappinbitz.com.au/

Thanks to Sketches Oz and Mardi for this sketch.

Make it yours:
*Substitute one of photos for journal block
*Swap journal circle for large flower
*Use A4 photo for background and layer elements over it

4 WEEK CHALLENGES -
1.Use the sketch as a guideline to complete a layout
2.Cut out elements from your patterned papers to use as embellishments
3.In the spirit of Melbourne Cup – be inspired by a jockey’s racing silks!
4.Use a large photo corner
5.Add a touch of yellow!

Maybe I'll get around to completing a few of these myself this month. I've already got a great idea for the sketch. Leave it with me.

Vikki

Exhausted!!

2007-10-30T21:19:00.000+09:00

What a day!! Up to Perth yet again for stage 2 of the op on hubby's wrist. He had to check in at 7am which meant we left at 5am- which is really 4am seeing as we're fiddling with nature and calling it daylite saving!
Gave the kids brekkie in the hospital carpark then hoofed it off to Garden City Booragoon. Which is a huge shopping centre (well huge for us country folk). Now people who know my family are already going uh oh!
And yes it happened - in the blink of an eye - I LOST JACK. Or rather Jack lost me. One minute he's behind me while I discuss teething with a chemist (whole different post just there!) the next gone.
Not on the escalators, not at the car, not at the toy shop, the Nat Geo shop, not watching ladies make rock candy and not at Kmart. Not on the escalators still, at the pet store? No. The water feature? No. In the men's toilets? No. Ladies? No.
By this stage my mind is making up horrible stories and I'm on the verge of tears. Where the hell do you start looking in place that has 4 levels??
And finally it came. That call over the loudspeaker. '
'Can Vikki please come to the info desk in the fashion mall!'
And in my awkward high heels, in achey feet I ran. Thank the gods. There he is talking shop with the security guard and info lady. Casual as you like he pipes up and says
' Mummy you lost me!'
Found outside Kmart by the cleaner (thankyou!!) who remembered seeing the 'little cutie' at the other end of the mall and thought he'd run off.
So if my hair is greyer you know why. That boy is going to be the death of me.

It's only 9.30 (8.30) and my eyes are lead weights. So much to do- but it's gonna have to wait. Please god, let Cooper sleep through tonight!

Hang on.....

2007-10-23T22:40:00.000+08:00

Forgot to say we're having a bit of a sale at the shop

http://www.scrappinbitz.com.au/

50% off ALL CHATTERBOX & IMAGINATION PROJECT products.

I'm hanging out for some Figgy Pudding, Peppermint Twist and Sweet Skully, so have to make some room!!

Finally a quick snap that's sure to break a few hearts.....

This is the Wellington Dam overflowing here in WA.

Take care guys, and thanks for stopping by.

What's going on????

2007-10-23T22:09:00.000+08:00

Not much apparently. Have done a few layouts for blog challenges, I don't know why I don't do my own challenges?!?! Maybe I should try that.

Went to our ex-neighbours wedding last Saturday. A simple but beautiful outdoor affair. Denise and Clem are the nicest people who would do anything for anyone. They babysit my kids so many times and everytime I felt guilty, I'd try to pay them in some way and they were always like "no don't worry about it!!!" So here's the prezzie I made them- a canvas featuring Scarlet's letter.

The Title 'finally, I do" refers to the fact they've been together 14 years and have 4 kids. It was bought up often in the speecehes, LOL. Anyway Denise loved it and said it was their fave present. I'm glad, I felt a bit cheap actually- but what do you buy a couple who's been living together for 14 years.

I participated in another ATC swap, but forgot to take a snap of my work. So I'll have to wait until it comes home. So in the meantime here are my two layouts for the blog challenges.

This photo was taken at the wedding - When I'd realised the night before that I didn't have a photo of all 3 of my kiddies together. (I know, bad scrapper!!)

And this one is the other side to my ugly penny page. I still miss herMack has settled in to life at the maher manor. He is a little bit spoilt andenjoys the couch, let's see that in a few months! his legs have just shot up, all lanky. He's not scared of anything, he'll tackle anything new. The kids however have had enough of being hunted. I'm getting sick of telling the dog off and the kids. I keep saying 'growl at him, show him who's boss'. I guess it's easier for me seeing as he only just reaches my knees.

I've joined MYSPACE. LOL. and I haven't any friends, my sister however is pulling the guys in. Having a profile that says newly single is obviously an irresistable drawcard. Hmmph! Not an option for me- if I happened to put single down and hubby stumbled upon it I would be single, for real. LOL. I don't get my Space at all - it's like a giant nightclub where everyone's on the lookout for sex or something. But I guess some people don't get blogs. Each to their own. My life is out there- no more secrets.

Catchya

What's happening at Scrappin Bitz

2007-10-14T21:53:00.000+08:00

So the new challenges have gone out. If your interested here they are.

1. The Sketch:

2. Scrap a grungy layout
3. Use 3 cardstock colours and 1 patterned paper PLUS ribbon and buttons on a layout
4. Scrap an Action Photo
5. Incorporate your title into your journalling.

I hope they get your brain working and your mojo revved up! Deadline for the sketch is 28th October, and we'll put it to popular vote, and the rest of the challenges need to be completed by the 31st.

If you're new to the challenges it works like this- join our Yahoo group. Contact me for an invite. Each month complete all 5 challenges (upload to groups) and receive $5 credit to spend in store and/or do the sketch challenge and upload to groups to be in the running for a prize.

Too easy!!

Catch you later....

I'm Back....

2007-10-14T21:13:00.000+08:00

and all is well. I had the maddest week last week! It was my lucky week- the shop had a $600 order from a craft group that I teach sometimes. So needed that. PLUS!!

I won 3 comps! All in one week! How cool is that.

I won 2 CD's from two comps in our State paper. Foo fighters and James Blunt. Gave the Foos to my brother- I didn't like it much- shame I loved the old stuff. Haven't listened to James properly yet, but my sister has put her hand up if I don't like it. :-)

The other comp was the Freestyle Scrappers Blog Sketch Challege. Love this blog so I was really happy to win . A set of 5 gorgeous little flower pots. Here's the layout

This is Cooper learning to walk. He looks so cute!! I shoulda called it Happy Feet. LOL. He looks like a little penguin.

We started building a deck at the end of the pool this weekend. Nearly done- or the hard bits done, just the decking to go. I hated the grass up that end, the kids would dive from there and get grass and sand everywhere. So this is going to fix that! Can't wait to show you the finished thing. I'm going to get a big double reclining lounger for christmas and eventually a thatch hut over the top. So I can lay back relax and watch the kiddies.

Bit tired actually, not that I did the hard stuff, but it was hot today. I was standing in the sun for most of it, a bit burnt and dehydrated. I know, I'm naughty.

So until next time, take care and thanks for visiting!!!

Say Hello.....

2007-09-29T22:02:00.000+08:00

To MACK! The newest member of our family. He arrived Wednesday.

Mack is a bitzer- bull mastiff/bull arab x ridgeback. Mack's sole purpose apart from looking cute is security. I'm not expecting him to kill anyone but a nice deep bark and a menacing presence will suffice.

Ever since we were broken into - while we were home mind you! - I don't feel entirely comfortable here. And with Shaun working away regularly his presence will be welcome. It's too soon for a new dog and I'm really enjoying our poop free yard, but we do need a guard dog. The kids adore him of course, except for Cooper. He screams as soon as he sees him. It's so funny, he'll walk into a room with a toy or something laughing gaily then see the dog. He'll drop the toy, throw his chubby little hands above his head turn and waddle out, screaming, 'Eeeeeeeeee!'.

That boy has been trying me today. Sigh!. He wanted to be picked up all day, but not while I was sitting. He just followed me around crying. And grabbing my legs as I walked past. I'm so glad he's finally sleeping and in bed. Days like today , I could pack up and leave everyone. I know, mean mummy.

I scrapped today, a layout that's been a week in the making. Can't share it's a competition entry. It's not that great, but hey you gotta be in it to win it! So I'll share one of Cooper I did a while ago. This is also a sketch challenge layout.

Thanks for looking. And before I go, got some new stuff at the shop on Friday. Some cool little chippy shapes that are a really great price. See you soon

xxx

My New Addiction

2007-09-16T22:08:00.000+08:00

I've been bitten by the bug. The ATC bug that is. I adore these exquisite, little, pieces of art. I've browsed blogs, googled and browsed until I could no more. I'm holding off joining a dedicated ATC swap group because I barely have time to scrap, but it won't be long and I'll be out there. My mind is swimming with ideas. I hosted a swap on my own little Yahoo group just to taste the fun - and this is what I came up with.....

Ok I'm no ATC queen but I really like what I've done. So quick to do too, once you've got the idea. I may make a few more one offs this week just for myself!

I scrapped 3 layouts this weekend so I think I've earned some 'other craft' time. Hee Hee. I'm really happy with those 3 layouts too. I'm on a creative roll atm. I've really been inspired by blogs and sketches, I don't really expect to win the comps I'm entering but by doing so I'm forcing myself to complete a layout before the due date. So I've been averaging a layout a week. I'm really loving the whole process again. I may share some later, I'm not to sure about comp entries and sharing!! (shrug)

I also cleaned up my ribbons (gasp! shock! horror!) I'd been storing them in large plastic fruit jars. You know the SPC two fruits ones. But every time I needed a ribbon I had to empty out the whole jar. They use to be colour sorted into boy/girl, but I got lazy, so lately I'd been emptying 2 containers. Wasting time!! So I spent one night winding them all onto bobbins to store in a tackle box. And Dah, Daaaaa, here's my result....

Actually, stole the idea of my mum, but it so works. I've still got a jar full of fibres and scraps, but I'll probably never use them, so they can stay there. Some where a little too thick so were cut into managable lengths or rolled and stored on end in the corner compartment. *****Thanks MUM****. One day I may actually get around to doing the chippie storage I keep waffling about.

Anyhow, back up to Perth tomorrow for DH to get his plaster changed and some new drugs. He's developed a 'resistance'to the ones he's got. I told him ask for different not stronger. Last thing I need is a pain killer addict on my hands.

I'll catch you later.

A Good Dog

2007-09-11T22:29:00.000+08:00

Tonight I am in mourning. We lost our Penny. Up until yesterday she was fine, Shaun took her for a walk and she just collapsed. This morning she was up and about again, a little stiff but walking. Tonight she seemed restless but ok but in the space of 10 mins she had passed.

The first feeling is guilt. That horrible feeling of why didn't I?? Take you to the vet, let you sleep in the lounge, watch you closer......The second feeling is disbelief. She looked fine and if it wasn't for the absence of breath she was. Maybe if I poked her hard enough, opened her mouth and let air in. tickled her tummy just so.

And again with the guilt, why didn't we play with her more?? Instead of teasing her about her 'fried brain' why didn't I cuddle her and say 'silly dog' like I did just then.

I didn't want to let her go, I squeezed her hard for ever but it still wasn't long enough. And in the morning I get to bury her and I don't think I can. A hole in the backyard doesn't seem good enough. Especially here where I still don't feel like home. But burying her means no more good byes.

She was a great dog. And I know I hated the poop all over the backyard and the drool on my leg. But she loved us, protected us and made us feel wanted even if we didn't return the favour. She was dumb, man was she dumb. And even if the goozy was gross she wasn't ugly. She was my big, fat teddy bear. And I miss her sooo much.

Rest Peacefully Penelope bear, my big fat cow. We love you........

Our Little Out of The Ordinary Week

2007-09-09T21:46:00.000+08:00

Now the weeks calmed down, I can tell you a little of what we've been up to. First some background.... My partner Shaun injured his wrist at work ages ago and finally the company has coughed up and said go have the op you need, so he rings to make an appointment and they tell us 'we operate tomorrow or you'll have to wait until end of October' (He's got a dying bone or something and they need to reattach a blood supply) So being in agony he opts for tomorrow. My absolute life saving angel of a mum came around at 5am to watch the boys while Shaun, Ebony and I drove to Perth. Which is 2 hours away from us.

We hung around until it was time for him to go into theatre and then Miss E and I went to the Egyptian display at the Art Galleries. Oh, I was in heaven. I am fascinated by Archaeology, Egypt particularly. To think I was cm's away from this stone that is 2000 years old, and looks like it was made yesterday. Ebony being 7 whipped through and said I'm finished, so I picked her up started from the start and picked out all the interesting bits. The little organ jars with dried blood on the rims, a burial shroud with body stains, explaining that the jewellery was made from the flax growing in our garden. The Granite sarcophageus with the goddess carved into the lid was our favourite, and the little mummified cat! There was no phototaking which was expected but still disappointing. Ebony was a little worried about France keeping all the stuff and not returning it to Egypt, I bet that was my fault though. LOL, I'll have to rememebr that she takes things a little too literal. Hee Hee.

My Little Archaeologists hard at work, digging for treasure

I had the best time though. As for Shaun we popped back in to see how he was, a little groggy still. Ebs and I kept laughing at him when he'd ask the same question over and over. So we left him to come home- no sooner there than I get a phone call saying he's coming home the next day! So up we go again 2 hours there, turn around 2 hours back. Blah!! I bet he regrets it now, the painkillers really aren't working and it's another week before he sees the dr again.

Psst, anyone wanna swap places for a while. LOL

Take care Vikki

Don't Panic...

2007-09-06T23:00:00.001+08:00

I found it! I don't know why I don't just use the same password for everything. I always have to go and pick something so creative even I can't guess it. What am I talking about?? My Blogger password is what, I couldn't update because I forgot the password. Doh!
I always make a note of passwords - on a scrap piece of paper next to the keyboard that has about 10 other passwords on it. You'd think I'd be organised wouldn't you?? I think it's the Gemini in me. I'm so anal when it comes to being organised and tidy but on the other hand I'm also very lazy. It's an inner conflict I've yet to master. So right now my first job is to set up a proper notebook for all my passwords and usernames. Ok my first job is to find a notebook.
It's late and I've got 3 kids to get ready tomorrow- more on that later.
Thanks for dropping by

Hello World....

2007-09-03T21:54:00.001+08:00

Well I've done it! I've joined the blog revolution. Why I'll never know, the most exciting thing to happen to me is catalogues in the letterbox! (Don't laugh, I love junk mail.) I'm guessing that since a gallery is too expensive to set up and I can't edit my website myself, yet, that this would be a good way to showcase new products, latest layouts etc etc. Though even this is pushing the boundaries as far as my tech knowledge goes.

I don't proclaim to be a class one scrapper but I do have flashes of genius and most of my layouts are okay. I am certainly far beyond paper piecing and CM restrictions. I'm a simple scrapper, I've tried doing freestyle and shabby chic, cos these are the styles I love to look at but I can never get it right on the page. But simples good, my photos will never get lost on a page, that's for sure. LOL!

Hmmm, I'm thinking it would be a good idea at this point to save this page to my favourites or I'll never find it again. I'm actually doing something out of my ordinary tomorrow, so had better hoof it to bed early.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you are still awake, lol