The Days of our Lives....

What a week!

2011-01-15T17:41:00.000+08:00

Well it has certainly been a bizarre week in Australian history. As I shared with you the other day, Queensland has just experienced its most devastating floods in history and the drama is far from all over. Now the majority of the East coast all the way down to Tasmania is under threat of floods in the coming days or weeks. Thankfully we are safe here in WA but we could definitely use a little rain.

We have spent a lot of time watching helplessly as the TV showed footage of the carnage and tragedy over East but there came a point on Wednesday when we just had to occupy ourselves with something other than sadness. We went out in the morning and got school shoes and books for the kids then in the afternoon Janine and the girls came over for a swim and a glass or 3 of wine. That night Sarah stayed here and Taylah went off to sleep at Emma's house so all the girls were happy.

Thursday morning we got up and went out to the movies to see Yogi Bear. What an awesome movie that was!

After the movie some of us went to the Hog's Breath for a yummy lunch whilst others wandered in the shops because they had eaten too much during the movie and were not hungry. We then all came back here for another swim and yep more glasses of wine.

Friday Janine and I decided to take a bunch of kids to the zoo for the day. We left home before 9.30 and didn't get home until around 6pm. We were all exhausted but boy did we have a fun day. I took over 250 photos so have made up a collage of some of my favourites.

Today has been a quiet day at home, vegging out and catching up on some much needed tidying up and sorting out (on the computer as well as around the house). I will update my project 365 photos tomorrow (or sometime soon) but for now it is time to feed this hungry family of mine.

To all my friends and family who have had a tough week (in the floods or personally) I wish you all lots of love and strength for the coming weeks as you rebuild your lives, family and homes.

Kim ♥ ♥ ♥

Devastation...

2011-01-11T10:20:00.002+08:00

While we are sweltering with a very dry 35℃ in Perth the entire East coast of Australia is experiencing downpours like never before. I've been watching the TV since about 7am and just can't drag myself away... the flooding in Queensland is just incredible and over the next few hours it is likely to get worse especially in areas close to Brisbane.

Videos like this are being shown every few minutes on the TV but it doesn't get any easier to watch knowing that at least 8 people have been confirmed dead and 72 missing. Even the news reporters on Sunrise are in tears... so sad :(

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this horrendous situation and we hope that all our friends stay safe and as dry as possible.

Kim ♥

Goodbye Christmas...

2011-01-05T12:00:00.001+08:00

So today is the 5th January, the 12th day of Christmas. The tree is now packed away for another year and it is time to move on, get organised, lose weight and start thinking about the year ahead. Today I must start by writing a shopping list and getting my butt to the supermarket to stock up this house with healthy food... it is really bad when you HAVE to cook pancakes for the kids' breakfast because there is nothing else for them to eat!

Project 365 is coming along nicely... feeling very enthusiastic about it this year. My day 4 photo was Taylah and her gorgeous little friend Larnie jumping in the pool.

Today's photo had to be one last snap of the Christmas decorations before they were packed away until December 1st.

Well I must go and get started on that shopping list and the kids want to go swimming again so I'll move to where I can watch them in the pool. Till next time stay cool and take care...

Kim ♥

A Good Start...

2011-01-04T12:18:00.002+08:00

Well two posts in one week is a great start for the new year!

It has been a busy but fun few days with all of us on holidays. We have been out on the boat twice this year already, had lunch out another day and now the kids are busy planning their social lives for the remainder of the holidays.

New Year's Day we spent tidying up, playing with new toys and escaping from the heat until the sun started to go down. We then decided to take a ride in the boat along the canals in Mandurah to check out the Christmas lights. It was such a lovely warm evening and the canals were full of boats. I just sat back with my wine glass and my camera taking in the sights.

Sunday was another very hot, humid day but we braved the heat and went out to Betty Blue for lunch with the family. The food was delightful and my lunch was the topic for my photo of the day. Yummy lamb cutlets with Greek salad.

Monday was the New Year's Day public holiday and yet another very warm one. I really wanted to get out and do something different but we were struggling to find any one activity that appealed to everyone so eventually we decided on another boat run. We drove to Mandurah then took the boat towards Pinjarra down the Murray River. It was such a hot afternoon that I just about roasted and absolutely regretted not being dressed for swimming. Instead I once again watched with wine in one hand and camera in the other.

We finished off back in Mandurah, having fish & chips from Cicerellos and watching dolphins who were swimming right near us. It was a great day even if I'm somewhat sunburnt today as a result.

Today is a very quiet day. The girls are tidying their bedrooms, Haydn is playing computer games and I'm fiddling around with my computer and iPad getting things sorted for the new year. I'm still to take today's photo of the day but I'll leave you with my shot from yesterday. I hope you are all having a healthy and happy start to 2011 and that each day gets even better from here on.

Kim ♥

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:18:00.000+08:00

Well here we are at the start of yet another year. I love New Years, to me they are the ultimate new start. A chance to make up for last years shortcomings, an opportunity to dream about how good things could be. I love the 'newness' of January and all the hope and positivity that the new start brings... lets just pray that 2011 lives up to these expectations.

Once again I'm taking on a project 365. I was pretty good last year but there are some days I missed towards the end of the year (in October & November). I'm not going to obsess about that failure, instead I'm starting over with this new year and will aim to collect one photo for each day. I've already made a start with this photo of the New Year's fireworks that we watched from our back deck at home.

Along with my goals for project 365 I have some other personal goals that I'm going to work on this year. First and foremost is my usual 'lose weight and get fit'. That for me is a constant struggle but I'm just going to take it slow, eat less and move more. My second personal goal for the year is to do more things for 'ME'. I have another job in my sights which I will be applying for and I'll have everything crossed that it falls into place. I still have 4 weeks full time work starting on 20th January but after that part time would be ideal.

I have been so slack with this blog over the past year (or more) but I am not ready to let it go just yet. I am sure nobody looks for my posts any more but I do love going back over past years and reading about my life so I'll keep plodding along... and yes that is another goal I'm setting - to post more than I did last year ☺

On that note I'd like to wish all my family and friends a wonderful new year and I hope that 2011 is a healthy, happy one for everyone.

Kim ♥

Oh Dear...

2010-12-08T20:36:00.002+08:00

I am still here and I do still plan on blogging but life has seriously been getting in the way over the past few months. All is good and I will absolutely make an effort to get back here very soon...

Some more scrappy eye candy

2010-08-24T08:35:00.000+08:00

I am loving all the cute little handmade embellishments that are popping up all over blogland at the moment. This is another of my new favourites and they are having a giveaway too...

Go and check them out at Purple Pumpkin for your chance to win!

Kim ♥

A giveaway...

2010-08-20T10:29:00.000+08:00

If you would like to win some of the gorgeous goodies from My Little Bit of Whimsy go to their website and take a few simple steps... easy peasy!

A Special Request

2010-08-08T10:24:00.000+08:00

I just received an email from a friend of mine passing on a very sad story and a special request for her cousin's child.

I'm hoping that by posting this here that anyone reading may be able to spend a few minutes thinking some positive vibes for this terribly sick little boy...

From MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

My son, Joshua Webb is 7 years old. He has always been a very active
little boy. He is loving and kind, thoughtful and considerate, and a sweet
child, popular with all his family and friends, and loved dearly by his
parents and sisters.

Today he is lying in a hospital bed on life support, in an induced coma.
This is day 8....

(induced 30th July 2010).

7 weeks ago he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. After 4
weeks of chemotherapy, he had two weeks off before the next intensive phase
of treatment was to start, but that week, almost 2 weeks ago, he caught an
infection in his lungs. In the space of 5 days he was admitted to hospital,
then to ICU, and now in an induced coma because his little body was
exhausted, and could not cope with the work it had to do just to try to
breathe.

Joshuas family is requesting prayer please, from as many people as possible
around the world. His mother Kylie, elder sister Sharnhi, (10), younger
sister Nikkisha, (19 months), and his father Glenn, as well as grandparents,
aunts and uncles, and family and friends, would like people to pray for Josh
on August 8th, around 6.15 pm, Melbourne standard time. I know many of you
are already praying for Joshua, which is greatly appreciated.

Its not so much the time that is important, but the supportive prayers of
many going up that is comforting to our family.

Please, take a moment to pray for Josh.... even if its not something you
would normally do, your voice is needed. He needs all the support we can
possibly give him.

Joshua is a beautiful little boy, and has a whole lifetime of love to give
and we, his family, would like your help in prayer during this very critical
time please.

Thank you so much,

from Joshua and his family.

Fiskars Challenge - A photo a Day

2010-07-30T20:34:00.001+08:00

Hello,

Are you interested in joining me for a photo-a-day challenge? All you need is a camera and the desire to take a photo every day for the month of August. All the details can be seen here from 8am tomorrow (Saturday 31st July). If you are not craft minded you are also welcome to join in and I'll share your photos here on my own blog instead of the Fiskars site. I'm looking to get as many people participating in this as we possibly can. It is so much fun! If you are interested and would like more information please contact me by e-mail or leave me a comment here and I'll get back to you ASAP. We start Sunday 1st August so are you ready to start snapping?

Kim ♥

I'm really bad at this....

2010-07-18T09:53:00.005+08:00

I really am bad at blogging these days and it bothers me no end. I would really love to be good at recording things again like I was in the first couple of years that this blog existed. Oh well, I'm sure there is nobody that still looks for my updates but I will continue to try to improve and increase the number of posts because I do love looking back on my old posts to see what we have been doing and what I've forgotten about. I'm sure if I could get my passion for scrapbooking back that it would automatically spark the enthusiasm for blogging... a vicious circle really.

We have now moved and are beginning to feel settled in our new house and I have to say that I ♥ LOVE ♥ everything about it... ok except for maybe the sand that is still around in the absence of lawn. I love the size of the house, that the kids are using their end of the house in just the way we had hoped, the newness of everything and believe it or not (for the time being anyway) I am enjoying cleaning and keeping everything looking nice. I am looking forward now to developing new routines and seeing how our lives will change when the kids go back to school. Here are a few photos...

Even though we've been busy with the house through the school holidays we have managed to fit in a fair amount of social activities and I think the kids have enjoyed their break. Without a doubt, living closer to their friends has already had a major impact on the kids' social lives and I love that! Emily spent almost all week with her friend Hayley in the first week and had a big social week this week too. Haydn has been out riding his bike with his mates and has friends stay overnight. Taylah has had lots of invitations to go out with her friends and I've been less than popular on occasions because I've had to make executive decisions that did not fit with Miss T's grand plans. Even my social life is looking good since being closer to town and I've had lots of visitors this week, lots of laughs and (ooops) lots of bottles of wine.... gotta love that!

Emily celebrated her 13th birthday last Monday and was (as usual) one very lucky girl. We gave her an iPod touch which we ordered from the Apple store and had her name and a birthday message engraved. She got lots of money and iTunes vouchers from friends and family as well as DVDs of her two new favourite TV series, Dance Academy and Glee. Emily has been planning her birthday party for about a year, knowing that we would be in the new house and was determined to have a sleepover. She also wanted a 'theme' for the party so after much deliberation we decided on a 'Mad Hatter' party. All of the girls were awesome and really got into the swing of the theme. They all made their own 'Mad Hat' and lots of them dressed in the gorgeous 'Alice in Wonderland' themed clothes from Jay Jays.

Well there is probably lots more that I could blog about now that I've started but I think I will leave that till another day (hopefully not too long). Right now the sun is shining and I have lots of things to get done around here before we have more visitors after lunch.

I hope all is well in your house and that everyone enjoyed the school holidays. Till next time, take care.

Kim ♥

Some photos...

2010-06-13T10:33:00.010+08:00

Happy Sunday everyone,

I'm sitting in my jammies at 10.30am trying to decide if today should be a day of cleaning, washing, packing, cooking and decluttering or if I should enjoy a lazy day curled up with a book and perhaps one last crafty effort before the scrapping gets packed away for goodness knows how long... oh the conundrum...

While I ponder the above I thought I would share some of the photos I have taken recently at the house. This is where it is at right now so the next couple of weeks will see huge improvements as we get paving done, the pool lined, floors down, curtains up and so on...

The Kitchen:

The Laundry:

Games Room:

The Pool:

I'll be sure to take and share photos of the progress this week!

Kim ♥

Almost there...

2010-06-11T13:21:00.007+08:00

I am so ready for moving but I truly have to pinch myself to realise that it is finally going to happen... soon! Our new house is almost done! By this time next week we should have the keys in our hot little hands and we can get on to finishing things off to move in.

We've already given a list of things that we had noticed needed 'fixing' so the supervisor is working his way through those now. The tiling got fixed yesterday but there are still a couple of dents in gutters, chips in walls that need patching and repainting, and a couple of sliding doors that need replacing. The cleaner spent nearly a week in the house last week but hasn't returned this week at all. She is an older woman working alone and although she has done a great job... boy is she slow! I'm guessing the front yard will be cleaned up either today or Monday, the garage door installed, flyscreens and airconditioning installed and we are about done. I believe our final inspection has been booked for Wednesday - yay!

We went shopping on the weekend and bought a few things but decided on a whole lot more that we didn't have room in the car to bring home at the time. We'll hire a van or a trailer one day soon and make a trip to Ikea to pick up the rest...

We got Miss Emily a bed. This we did bring home but we haven't got a mattress yet. There are so many sales on at the moment that we figured we would get one locally and have it delivered (we need 3 new mattresses in total so will get them all together). Emily liked this bed and the silver grey colour timber should look really good with the other colours in her room. We are yet to get the bedside tables because we didn't see them in the store and only discovered them on the website after we came home but they are exactly what she wanted.

We decided on some furniture for the games room too and we are hoping that we will have space to utilise an Ikea Expedit bookcase that we already have here. We will put the TV on the single Expedit shelf (on its side), put the computer on the desk in a corner and we will accent the neutral colours of the room with the gorgeous red doors and drawers on the units.

As it was a long weekend here we also went out Monday... Poor Tom didn't know what hit him having to go shopping twice in one weekend! After a bit of a grumpy start we finally got Taylah interested in shopping for a new bed and we compromised with her on this one... I can't believe my 10 year old has such defined tastes but you had better believe that she was going to settle for nothing less than a leather bed!

I do have to admit that it will suit her other choices for the bedroom and should be a classic look that will carry her through the teen years.

We also bought an outdoor setting which will be delivered as soon as we have somewhere to put it. We have almost agreed on a TV cabinet for the family room and we need some furniture for my craft room but otherwise we are almost done. Now I just have to manage to get Tom to agree to go shopping one more time to actually collect the things we decided on.

I'll come back soon with some updated photos of the house...

Kim ♥

April

2010-05-05T14:58:00.000+08:00

Finally caught up. Here are my project 365 photos for April...

Looking for design help

2010-05-05T10:18:00.003+08:00

Oooh I could surf the net all day looking at gorgeous homes... check out some of these awesome kitchen photos I found on Flickr...

It seems like half of my life right now is revolving around our new house that we are preparing to move to and on top of that my thoughts are full of how I'm going to organise and maintain this house to best suit our family's needs.

At the top of my list of concerns is the kitchen and that is where I'd love help from anyone who can offer up ideas. I want to know what you love about your kitchen, what really works for you and also what you don't like and what doesn't work. I have a massive pantry so storage space will not be an issue. I'll really look forward to hearing your opinions - please!

One other thing that is really on my mind is cleaning this new house. The house is BIG so cleaning it will take a fair effort. We will have bamboo floors so I'd love to know what you use to clean bamboo or other timber floors. I'm thinking an Enjo mop might be the way to go but if you have other ideas I would love to hear them!

The last thing that I'll ask you for today is ideas for artwork... do you have a favourite shop or website to buy ready made artwork for the walls or do you have any brilliant ideas for inexpensive and easy decorating ideas that we can do ourselves? Please share!

Well as much as I would love to keep thinking about this there is another house here that I must tidy up, washing to hang out and a sick child to tend to so I must be off. Please if you have anything to contribute to the questions above I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment...

Kim ♥

March

2010-05-04T14:55:00.000+08:00

My project 365 for March

February

2010-05-03T14:53:00.000+08:00

My project 365 for Febraury

January

2010-05-02T17:44:00.000+08:00

My project 365 for January

It's been a while...

2010-04-30T16:29:00.010+08:00

The past few months have been totally and utterly crazy but today for the first time in I don't know how long I have a sense of peace, a calmness that is almost foreign and even a tingling of an urge to get crafty... life is looking up!

My project 365 is still going strong. I haven't been very good at updating it here but I haven't missed a single day yet. I'll make up some collages and catch up here and then I'll resume from yesterday's May 1st photo. In fact there is no time like the present so here it is...

Dad came for dinner last night and he brought dessert... it was so good ♥

Our new house is coming along really well and we are now less than a month off moving in. There have been a couple of small things that have not gone quite right in the past couple of weeks but they are now being fixed up and we are back on track. The painters have almost finished, just the walls to go now I think! The tilers have done the laundry and two bathrooms but still have to finish the ensuite and kitchen. The pool is now fully built and looks awesome... it is all coming together and feels a little surreal knowing that in a few weeks we will be living there. I can't wait!

We have this house on the market now so if you know of anyone who might be looking to buy in our area be sure to get in touch and I'll share the details. We've had two home opens now with about 7 families having been through. Of that there are possibly two potential buyers so we have everything crossed that it goes smoothly for us. There is another home open booked for next Saturday so who knows what could happen?

The kids are all well and have settled in to the second school term for the year. Haydn is still plodding along but he assures me he is doing well at school. He is now in probably the most crucial of all his school terms so far as he has to get good grades this semester to be able to select his choice subjects for years 11 and 12. Sailing has finished for the year and things are changing again for Haydn. His crew has now purchased a boat of his own so Haydn has taken on a new crew. Little Morgan is one of Taylah's best friends and she has never sailed before. She is a little nervous at the moment but we know she will be awesome once she learns the ropes. In their first ever race together Haydn and Morgan came 3rd!

Emily is really loving high school. She has made a lot of new friends and strengthened the bond she had with lots of her 'old' friends. She is taking every opportunity to participate at school and she is so happy. This week was the annual music camp and although Emily came home completely shattered from very late nights and early mornings she was really on a high about it all. Em's report for 1st term was faultless, excellent for almost everything and she received two subject awards of merit, an award for excellent attendance and a letter from the principal commending her on her excellent report. We are happy!

Taylah is happy at school this year too. She loves her teacher, has lots of awesome friends and is just the life of the party. She loves playing netball and dancing and is always on the go. I suspect Taylah is a little nervous at the moment about the prospect of moving to the new house and she's had a few issues with sleeping and doesn't like too much change right now. I'm sure she'll get over it so we're not making a big deal, just getting on with things...

As I said before I have been insanely busy getting this house ready to sell, organizing and keeping an eye on things at the new house as well as the normal day to day cooking, cleaning and chauffering that my life usually entails. It is such a nice feeling today to be relaxing, blogging and knowing that there are not a million things that I should be doing. The house is clean, my paperwork is up to date and the only thing I need to do is make up some cards and blog posts for the Fiskars Blog. For the month of May we are having a card a day on the blog so be sure to pop over there and check them out.

Today:

I'm thankful for... the peace and calmness that has come over me today

I'm feeling... happy and crafty

I'm hearing... the fridge humming and my keyboard tapping, otherwise my house is completely silent... bliss!

In my kitchen... there are a few dishes to tidy up from lunch and that yummy cake (see photo above) in the fridge that I think is calling my name

I'm reading... a great book called A Pressure Cooker Saved My Life

I'm wearing... daggy yoga pants and a white polo top... trying to motivate myself to put the joggers on and go for a walk.

The next few days... tomorrow a meeting with the tiler at the new house at 7.30am - eek! The rest of the week is pretty normal full of kids activities and housework. The highlight of my days will probably be Masterchef every night.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and go the DOCKERS!!!

Kim ♥

4 months down....

2010-04-30T14:57:00.002+08:00

How on earth did that happen? How did it get to be the last day of April already?

This is just a very quick post to let you know that I am still here, still planning to blog and that I will be back soon with a real update. I have been having a play today and giving my blog a little facelift. Now I'm really excited to use it again... but first there are children to collect from school.

Have a great Friday night...

Kim ♥

ooops... where did February go?

2010-03-14T15:56:00.005+08:00

Oh dear, it is a good thing that February was a short month with less daily photos and also an excuse for it to be gone by before I even manage to post a single photo.

I'm still going strong with my project 365 and am still really enjoying the process. I guess I am finding it easy this year with the new house progressing so well. Whenever I get stuck for a photo of the day I can always snap one of the house....

OK so to the start of February:

1st February: The kids went back to school... Haydn is in year 10, Emily is year 7 and starting high school and Taylah is now the only one left at primary school, in grade 5. All good so far, they love their teachers and are doing really well.

2nd February: This is where we find Taylah on a very frequent basis. She gets out of her bed and climbs in either Emily's bed or in this case the spare top bunk in Emily's room. We hadn't even gone to bed before she snuck in there this night.

3rd February: They started work on the roof!

4th February: While at the hairdresser I moved the wrong way and pulled something in my shoulder. It was so painful and I definitely made friends with the Voltaren gel and later the Voltaren tablets. Thankfully after about 4 days the pain subsided and has not returned.

5th February: The end of our first week back at dancing. We picked Taylah up from her ballet lesson and had to go back for Emily at 7.30pm... thankfully the times have now changed and they both stay there from 5 - 6.30pm.

I have to ice a cake and start dinner for now but I'll be back later with the next installment.

Kim ♥

The Rest of January...

2010-02-21T15:27:00.003+08:00

I've nearly finished updating my January photos and here we are almost at the end of February... oh dear :(

January 28: On returning from Busselton we were most impressed to see that the bricklayers had finished work at the house.

January 29: I bought a new 'apple processor' that peels, slices and cores apples in a matter of seconds and my kids loved it! We went through so many apples that first week!

January 30: This is Emily's insane crazy crab who likes to climb trees.

January 31: The last night of holidays and the end of a long weekend of sailing. We decided to treat the kids to pizza for dinner.

And that's it for January! I still haven't missed a day so I have another 21 photos to share for February.

I'll leave January with a collage which shows the month at a glance... love this!

Kim ♥

Another quick 5...

2010-02-08T14:48:00.005+08:00

Following on from where I left off last time...

January 23rd: We were out on the boat watching the kids sail when this awesome cloud caught my attention. It seriously looked like it had a hidden message, I just wish I knew what it said!

January 24th: Taylah has been learning to sail for just over a year but she has never raced. This was the first time that she was given the opportunity to finish a race and she was so proud of herself (and rightly so ♥)

January 25th: This is not the 'best' photo but the memories it will conjure up will stay with me for a long time. We were at the house preparing to cook our dinner on the BBQ when we got word that Haydn would be there in a few minutes with a mate to cook the fish and squid that they had caught through the day. It was hilarious to see this hoarde of hungry boys file through the side gate with approximately enough fish and squid to feed one moderately hungry kitten... they had two small squid and four fillets of fish that were goldfish sized... so funny! We ended up feeding the boys tim tams, sausages, bread and cordial before sending them on their way back to their camp (and awaiting dinners)...

January 26th: After the sailing finished at Busselton all our friends packed up to drive home. We had our accommodation for another day so we decided to take the boat around the bay to Meelup. It was such a hot day and this beach was just incredible. The water was crystal clear and it had such a fun atmosphere with so many people and Australian Flags everywhere.

January 27th: This was the day we had to go home. We packed up and vacated the house by 10am and then went for a drive before finishing up with lunch at 'The Goose' in Busselton. We took the kids there last year and their favourite part of the meal was the mocktails. I was so glad this restaurant lived up to our expectations with beautiful meals and awesome drinks.

Back soon to finish off January.

Kim ♥

Ooops...

2010-02-07T20:14:00.003+08:00

I can't believe how time flies! Has it really been 3 weeks or so since I blogged last? Oh dear, I'm not doing so well at keeping up to date with my blogging am I?

Since I was here last we've been to Busselton for the Australia Day sailing regatta, the kids have gone back to school, Haydn & Emily have sailed in the state championships and a whole lot more.

I'm still keeping up to date with my photo a day and am really loving it. I haven't missed a day yet although I will confess to getting out of bed to take some late night photos on days that I've almost forgotten. Here are a few more photos carrying on from my last post...

January 18: Emily eating ice cream after dinner

January 19: More progress photos of the house. They are slowly making their way to the front of the house :)

January 20: My extra exciting, absolutely monstrous, super awesome new pantry :)

January 21: We went to Busselton for the Australia Day regatta and this is the house we stay in ♥

January 22: Although we stay in the house above, our friends all camp at the yacht club. It is such a patriotic scene with Aussie flags everywhere!

Well it is Sunday night again and the kids need chasing in to bed right now. I'll try to get back tomorrow with more photos.... but you know how it is...

Kim xx

Tuesday 19th January...

2010-01-19T09:28:00.006+08:00

Another day at home for me today doing very dull and mundane stuff but it will all be worth it in the end... or so I hope! The mess around me is unbelievable so my task for today is to start sorting through it all and hopefully by tomorrow night I'll be able to see the floor and furniture in the family room. Today the guy from St Vinnies is coming to collect the old lounge & dining suite (amongst other bits and pieces) then the new carpet goes down in the front lounge and dining room.... the things we have to do to sell a house!!

I am really looking forward to Thursday when we finally get in the car and head off for a week in Busselton. It is our annual week down there for the Australia Day regatta and it is always a great, relaxing and super fun week. We will be back either Wednesday or Thursday of next week just in time to have a few days at home before the kids go back to school.

I've been keeping up with my photo a day and so far haven't missed a day even though I came close yesterday. I wasn't feeling the best so taking photos wasn't a priority but at 8.30pm while the kids were eating ice-cream my determination got the better of me. The photo is still on the camera but at least it was snapped. Here are the others that I haven't shared here as yet...

11th January: The progress on the new house.

12th January: The full fruit bowl after the Coles online shopping arrived.

13th January: My favourite wine at the moment waiting for my Dad to come and share it (and a BBQ dinner) with me.

14th January: Taylah hamming it up for the camera while I was trying to get photos of the house.

15 January: The gorgeous little Isla looking so pleased with herself after getting the empty Pepsi Max can off me.

16th January: The beautiful view of the sunset at the yacht club as we were leaving on Saturday night.

17th January: We had drinks at Tom's sister's house for her birthday then went to the foreshore for fish & chips. We all fell in love with Renae's gorgeous 6 week old Border Collie puppy, Cody... he was so cute!

Well I really should start moving on trying to sort this mess. I'm hoping Marnie is happy to take my kids out for a bit this morning because they are totally hindering my progress here. Whatever you do today have fun and take care...

Kim ♥

More daily photos...

2010-01-17T10:24:00.007+08:00

Just a quick post mostly to catch up some more of my photos of the day.

This week has been very chaotic and my house is screaming out to be cleaned up before we all drown under mountains of washing, get attacked by killer dust bunnies or meet some other awful fate. The goal is to have the house ready to put on the market by the end of the month... I'll let you know how we go with that!

So to the photos...

6th January: I spent the day cleaning and decluttering our room and this was the end result.

7th January: Taylah checking out the progress on the new house.

8th January: Taylah taking some time out to read a book (it was better than the other option of cleaning her room).

9th January: Gemma with her new 'puppy' that Tom and Haydn bought her from Ikea.

10th January: My gorgeous little nephews, Max & Blake at the park.

I'd better get moving and get onto folding this washing so I'll be back later with the next bunch of photos.

Have a great Sunday.

Kim ♥

Photo a Day... 365

2010-01-14T11:45:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone,

Well I think I'm going to give up on any thoughts of catching up from Christmas until now so I should just jump in where we are at now and share what is going on in the present!

I ♥ school holidays and although we haven't done very much that the kids have been excited about I am really enjoying some down time, without the rush that is my normal life. We've watched lots of TV, done some sorting and cleaning in the house, seen one movie and spent lots of time just chilling.

This year I am once again attempting to do a project 365 or 'Photo a Day' challenge. So far I haven't missed a day and am really enjoying it. I'm not pressuring myself to scrap the photos so much this year, just posting them in an album on facebook and here too if you want to see them. I do have a book to put printed shots in but the embellishing will be minimal, just a printed photo and the story that goes with it.

1st January: Our first BBQ for the new year... and new decade!

2nd January: Poor sick Taylah. We couldn't go to watch the big kids sailing because Taylah was sick with a very high fever. It was too hot to have a sick girl out on the boat all day.

3rd January: Taylah was still sick so we were not able to go to the presentation night for the Flying Ant Nationals. I was really disappointed not being able to be there for Haydn and Emily but my sick girl had to be looked after. I curled up with my book and a glass of wine for a quiet night in.

4th January: Emily's trophy haul from the Nationals. Both kids did really well but Emily came home with a stack of prizes that she was so proud of!

5th January: This is the day that we always take down the Christmas tree. I snapped this photo of Santa on his surfboard as Taylah was packing the boxes up.

That will be enough for one post. It is time to organise lunch for the kids and hang out the next load of washing. I'll be back soon with the next installment of photos.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-11T22:32:00.009+08:00

Oooops where did the rest of December go?

Is it really the middle of January already?

I had no idea it had been so long since I posted but I guess it has... I haven't done a Christmas post, mentioned the Nationals, or wished you all a Happy New Year... Not the best start for the year is it?

I guess I should go back to Christmas because no year can end without a Christmas Post. It will be modified somewhat as it all seems like a distant memory now but for my own records I need to at least share some highlights....

OK so this Christmas was always going to be one of the toughest ones we will ever endure. It was difficult, being the first one without Mum but I did my best to not get too sad and to concentrate on the moment which really helped me to get through. The day ended up being a happy one for the kids and I have to admit I even managed to enjoy most of it too.

We started the day being woken up by Haydn's mobile phone at 6.45am. One of his very excited friends wanted to share what he had received for Christmas... so our day began... Once I had made coffee we allowed the kids to see what Santa had left for them and as always they were not disappointed.

We hung out at home for a few hours, had breakfast and opened presents from under the tree before slowly getting organised to go out for the day. We went to Tom's Brother & Sister in Law's place for lunch which despite the heat was a great day. The kids love going there as they have a pool and this year all the cousins ended up in the pool... or at least wet!

Late in the afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed off to the other end of town for the evening shift with my family. Everyone had been at Aunty Jill & Uncle Max's place all day but there were still presents to be shared. My kids had looked forward all day to spending some of Christmas Day with their little cousins and as usual they had a blast. Here is one last collage of my favourite photos from the evening.

We got home about midnight that night, very tired after a wonderful day.

I did tell you at the start of this post that this would be a very abbreviated version of Christmas but it seems such old news now. I'll be back very soon to share the start of 2010.

Take Care xx

Kim ♥

5 days....

2009-12-20T09:08:00.009+08:00

The kids are getting more excited by the day and still I'm drowning in things that I need to do to get ready for Christmas. I think knowing that the day after Boxing Day is the start of the Flying Ant national championships for sailing is really squashing my motivation... I just know how exhausted we will all be and I'm not ready for that! I wish there was a way to bottle relaxation!

I am nearly up to date with my crazy end of year so with this post I'll share a few more photos and the last of the news...

Wednesday the 16th was Haydn's 14th birthday. I still can't believe that this boy is 14 and about to head into year 10 next year... surely I can't be that old!! As Haydn had already finished school for the year I allowed him to organize a trip to the movies with a couple of friends for the afternoon and then we had the family here for drinks after dinner. Haydn, Aaron and Michael went to see 'Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs' as Michael, who was here on holidays from Sydney had already seen most of the movies on offer. I think they enjoyed it though and they were impressed that they had the entire cinema to themselves. Tom picked them up for me, dropped Aaron home and safely delivered Haydn's cake home for the night shift.

Haydn had been asking for months to have a donut cake so when his birthday finally came around I was more than happy to pay for it and save myself a tonne of work. The cake looked awesome but was way too big as only half the family was able to make it that night. Marnie had sick kids so they remained at home in quarantine and Dana was driving home from Kalgoorlie that night with her girls... we had 39 donuts for only 10 people - oops! I did give Marnie a tray of them the next day and the rest are in the freezer so they did not go to waste.

Haydn got spoiled as usual for his birthday. We bought him a new bike which he desperately needed. A lovely big black mountain bike which I'm sure will get plenty of use when we move and he lives closer to his friends. Of course he got the accessories with the bike too, a new helmet and a combination lock to keep it from being stolen. Now because he was given the bike early I still felt like he didn't have presents for his birthday morning so we went shopping on Tuesday and in a brief moment of insanity I caved and bought him the Wii band hero game and some new t-shirts from Jay Jays. He was definitely happy with his birthday haul this year!

Haydn's birthday was also Emily and Taylah's last day of school for the year so I went to watch the last assembly. It is tradition for the graduating students to sing their graduation song at the last assembly and I can tell you there were a few tears happening... students, parents and teachers. The song they sang was Miley Cyrus' The Climb and couldn't have been more appropriate...

After school the girls had appointments to have their hair cut. I said they could do whatever they wanted with their hair now that dancing is over for the year so Emily went for a particularly drastic effect... she had it all cut off! I love it and I think Emily does too, she is certainly getting lots of positive comments from her friends. What do you think?

Well that is about all of the craziness that we have had in the past few weeks but of course I still haven't mentioned the progress on our house... it is happening at last but way too slowly for my liking. The slab went down for the house nearly 3 weeks ago and we have pretty much all of the materials that are needed to build now so we have everything crossed that tomorrow will see the arrival of bricklayers. I am worried that if they don't get a start early this week we will be waiting until after the new year for the start of the bricking... that's just too long to wait!!

Now I can clearly hear the housework calling me so I'll finish up here. Enjoy the last few days before Christmas and don't get too stressed...

Kim ♥

6 sleeps!!

2009-12-19T09:08:00.007+08:00

I have so much to do today and absolutely no inclination to do any of it. I think not having any Christmas events at home this year has made me even less focussed than usual and I have a massive case of the 'can't be bothereds'. So here I am on the last Saturday before Christmas, on the sofa with my laptop and coffee, still in my pyjamas and blogging rather than doing the hundreds of things on my to do list....

So following on from yesterday's post...

The day after the graduation dinner was the dress rehearsal for the annual dance concert. I was to be helping backstage in the dressing rooms however Janine was asked to take photos of the rehearsal and volunteered me to help her... that was great fun as we got to watch all of the dances and I ended up with some pretty good shots. Normally I can't get photos of the concert so I was really pleased to be given this opportunity. The rehearsal went off well as did the two performances on Saturday. The only disappointment was that poor little Niamh (my niece) was supposed to be dancing in her first ever concert but their whole family (except Niamh) was down with the awful gastro bug that is running rampant here at the moment. Niamh was devastated to have missed the concert and I am sure she would have done an awesome job. Here are a few photos of my girls...

The next few days were filled with editing all of those photos from the graduation, burning disks and getting them distributed to all of the year 6 children on the last day of term. The end of the school year meant a busy week for the girls while Haydn spent some quality time :) at home with his Mum. Taylah went on an excursion with the year 4 classes, roller skating and a picnic at the park in Fremantle while Emily went to a high school welcome day. The last day of term was all fun and games for the girls and finished with the end of year assembly and a performance of their graduation song by the year 6's. I have some photos from the last day and as that was also Haydn's birthday I think I may come back again later and write a separate post. In the meantime I still have a never ending to do list that really should be given some attention. I would love to have all my Christmas wrapping done by the end of today so I'll need you all to wish me luck on that one!

I'll be back soon...
Kim ♥

Seven Sleeps!!

2009-12-18T12:34:00.006+08:00

That's right, just one week until Christmas! Are you ready for it? I know I'm not but I'm not terribly bothered either, I will have all the necessary things done by Thursday night and what doesn't get done will not cause the end of the world...

Right now I am enjoying a couple of quiet days at home. After the mayhem that has been our last few weeks the downtime was very much needed by me as well as the kids. As it turns out Taylah has been unwell with a gastro bug since yesterday morning so quarantine is also a major part of my plan. She is getting better and is finally eating again so hopefully tomorrow she will be back to her normal, happy, chatty self.

Boy I have had to fit in so much since my last post it is hard to know where to start. I won't get everything in one post or I will be here typing until Christmas but I'll make a start today...

Little Isla celebrated her first birthday (3rd December) on Sunday 6th December and as usual Marnie and Dan did a great job of preparation, cake making and entertaining for the big day. I took tonnes of photos as usual but here are a few of my favourites...

Monday 7th December saw the start of Emily's graduation from primary school. We had the graduation mass and presentation night in the church and I was super proud of my girl. Emily was given the Christian Leadership award for her class and for that I was so happy. Emily is a high achiever in everything she does, not the best at everything but she always does her best. She is thoughtful and caring, has lots of very good friends and she is a beautiful soul. To be acknowledged for this part of her nature is really a big thing in my opinion ♥

Thursday night was Emily's graduation dinner/disco at school. Janine and I (in a moment of total insanity several months back) volunteered to help out and to take photos of the night for the children. It turned out to be a massive task taking the photos, editing the shots, burning the disks (all 96 of them) and distributing them before the end of the school year but the response from the kids has been awesome and makes it all worthwhile! I've seen lots of our photos on facebook and some very positive comments from the children.

That same night unfortunately turned out to be the high school's awards night so I was unable to attend that event. Haydn, Tom and Taylah headed to Mandurah as we had received a letter to say that Haydn was receiving an award that night. Haydn had no idea what the award was to be but he came home with the 'Ubi Caritas' which we believe to be (believe it or not) a 'Christian Leadership' award for his house. I must be doing something right!! I was so proud of Haydn being recognised for being one of the 'nice' kids but quite upset that I had to miss sharing that night with him... maybe next year!

Well as usual my post has gone on for way too long so I think I'll finish up here. I still have more to share including the dance concert, Emily's last day of school, Haydn's 14th birthday and more but that will have to be another post... I need to hang out washing, go and get some photos printed and tidy up again but first I'm in need of a coffee.

Take care,
Kim ♥

At last....

2009-12-17T10:51:00.004+08:00

I'm so sorry that I've been so slow getting this post done! I actually did draw the winner of the competition on Monday night of last week but since then life has been crazier than ever and I haven't had a 5 minute break to write up the post!

Enough excuses... the lucky winner of the $80 voucher from Buyster Lighting is:

Congratulations Odette! If you email me I'll pass on your e-mail address and you will receive your voucher. Enjoy!

As I said it was a crazy crazy couple of weeks in this house and I'll be back later with some updates.

Kim ♥

Last Chance to enter...

2009-12-06T20:03:00.003+08:00

If you haven't already done so you now have approximately 24 hours to enter the competition to win an $80 voucher from Buyster Lighting.

All you have to do is check out the cool website and come back here to tell me what is your favourite thing in the store. The winner will be drawn tomorrow night.

I'll be back soon with a little update and some photos but right now it is time to get some children ready for bed.

Kim ♥

Happy December!

2009-12-02T21:04:00.005+08:00

Have you left me a comment for your chance to win an $80 voucher for some really cool lighting products yet? Scroll down to the previous post, follow the instructions and sit tight until next Monday when the winner will be drawn... too easy!

Well can you believe that it is December already? I mean where did the past year go? I know that I've had my head buried for a lot of this year and frankly it is one that I'll be glad to see the back of but I can't believe how quickly it has passed.

December is already in full swing and last night saw our Christmas Tree come out of its cupboard ready for another silly season. I must say that the kids are getting better at decorating the tree and for the first time in at least 12 years I didn't have the urge to rearrange the tree once the kids had gone off to bed. I haven't taken any photos of the tree yet as we are still awaiting lights.... my dear husband in his infinite wisdom put the lights on the tree, arranged them perfectly and then allowed the kids to have free reign on the decorations. It was only after the kids had finished and he plugged the lights in that he remembered it is always a good idea to test the lights first... I bought a new set of lights today so tomorrow night when Tom gets home he will have job to do :)

I think I have 'almost' finished my Christmas shopping - yay! I still have two presents to buy for Tom's side of the family but am waiting on wish lists from them... Otherwise I finished off the last one today except for a subscription that I must remember to renew this week. I want to have every last thing done by the day the kids finish school and then I can start the holidays without stress... how good does that sound?

The next week and a bit will be CRAZY to say the least. The girls are doing swimming lessons at school every day this week and next, we have just 4 more days of dancing lessons, a graduation mass, an awards night for the high school, graduation dinner and disco (that Janine and I are taking photos for), the dance concert dress rehearsal, the concert's two performances and Haydn finishing year 9. The girls then have another 3 days of school but I'll worry about that when we get there! As well as all that happening in my household we have a 1st birthday party on Sunday for this little cutie....

and a 6th birthday for this spunky one...

Now just so that I remember this for future reference I need to mention here how proud we all were of Emily and Alicia this past weekend. The kids sailed in the state team selections at East Fremantle Yacht Club and our 'Viper' girls finished in 7th place overall. The top 6 crews made the team and our girls missed a spot by a mere 2 points (and that was on a countback!) We are so proud of how far these girls have come in such a short time and can't wait now to see how they go in the Nationals at the end of the month.

Well this post is getting long now so I think I'll finish up here and have a hot chocolate while I wait up for my boy to get home. Haydn is out tonight at a course to sit for his skipper's ticket this weekend and his friend's Dad offered to bring him home for me - thanks Kev!!

Till next time take care

Kim ♥

A giveaway!

2009-11-30T14:32:00.004+08:00

I've been given a fantastic opportunity to have a giveaway on my blog just for my Australian readers - woohoo!

The very generous people at Buyster Lighting are offering an $80.00 voucher to spend in their online store and you could be in the running to win this. All you need to do is leave a message on this post telling me which lamp or light fitting is your favourite on the lighting website. You can get a second chance at winning this awesome prize by mentioning this giveaway on your blog and leaving a second comment with your link... easy!

Entries will be open for a week so the winner will be drawn randomly next Monday (7th December 2009). Unfortunately this competition can not be extended to those readers outside Australia as Buyster Lighting only ships within Australia.

Good Luck!

Kim ♥

Crazy time of year!

2009-11-21T10:59:00.004+08:00

I know that my life is pretty much out of control all year round with all the activities that my kids do and the extra things I seem to take on but this time of year always tests me to the maxx! Right now I'm trying to get all of the Christmas shopping done, prepare for the girls' dance concert, collect money to buy presents for dancing teachers, prepare for Emily's year 6 graduation, psych myself up for flying ant national championships and goodness knows what else! On top of that we are about to see things happen with the house construction, I've had a sick child home all week, I'm at week 5 of a 6 week weight loss challenge at the gym... and I wonder why I'm stressed???

So let me take a breath and I'll update a bit.

Back on the 9th of November my gorgeous little niece, Niamh celebrated her 4th birthday. We had a little party for her and she thoroughly loved being the princess for the day.

We have lots more birthdays coming up over the next few weeks so yay - lots of photo opportunities including little Isla's 1st birthday!

Dancing takes up a lot of our time all year round but this time of the year is particularly hectic. This year my girls are doing a total of 9 dances between them so I thank God every day that our dance school makes costumes so easy for us. The only sewing we have to do is to attach elastic to hats/headpieces, attach some shoulder straps to ensure correct fit and a couple of costumes needed hemming to ensure correct length... all the main sewing, sparkly bits and all the difficult stuff is done for us and you've gotta love that ♥♥♥ . We have had costume inspections for almost all of them now, I have all the shoes that we need so just a few more lessons and it will be concert time - woohoo! I've also once again taken on the task of collecting donations from families to buy presents for the dance teachers. This is a huge job as we have over 230 families in the dance school and people get terribly upset if they are not asked to contribute... I am spending a LOT of extra time there at the moment!

I sort of just realised yesterday that in a little over 2 weeks we will be sitting at the Graduation Mass for our big girl and suddenly I got a little sad. Not sad because she will be leaving that school because she is so looking forward to the challenges of high school but more so because she is growing up way too fast. They have Mass on Monday 7th and a graduation dinner & disco on the Thursday night... stay tuned for photos!

We finally got the call this week to say that the building of our new house will be starting next week. We are so excited about this as it feels like forever since we signed those first papers. We were a little unfortunate with our pre-start as the lady who we had to work with didn't really do the best job she could have so there have been a few minor problems. Thankfully the 'problems' haven't cost us anything more than a little time but as she is 'no longer with the company' our files have been moved on to someone more competent and have become a priority for construction! In the meantime we have replaced our side fence that was 'stolen' by the demolition company. The poor lady next door did not like having her back yard exposed to the world so I'm sure she is very relieved to have a shiny new fence in place. We also had the back fence replaced at our current house. Our ratbag of a dog was getting out by jumping the back fence and was annoying the neighbours so fixing that was a must. It wasn't a cheap exercise but it looks so much better now!

Well there is so much happening here that I could go on all day but I've probably bored you silly already and frankly this isn't getting my housework done. I've taken a quiet day to catch up on some washing while the rest of the family is out sailing so I really must make an effort to get it done.

Until next time take care and enjoy the lead up to the silly season.

Kim ♥

Fiskars Fun

2009-11-19T14:56:00.003+08:00

Have you checked out this Fiskars blog this month? We are having a great time and the challenge is so much fun! Lianne has posted a 'menu' for you to choose from, you email your choices to Lianne and she will send you the criteria to make your layout.

So far I have had two servings and am hoping to get at least another done by the end of the month.

This first one required me to:
create a 6 x 12" LO
Using red, black & white colours
Flowers & felt
3 different patterned papers.
Plain cardstock is an optional extra

My second layout turned out like this:

The instructions were:

create an 8 1/2 x 11" LO
Using pink, orange & aqua colours
Fabric & buttons
2 different patterned papers
Plain cardstock is an optional extra

You still have a few days left to get your orders in!

Fiskars are also having a special pre-Xmas competition with the most fabulous of prizes. Check it out here!

Kim ♥

Remembrance Day [11-11-09]

2009-11-11T13:55:00.003+08:00

Lest We Forget

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

we will remember them...

Lest We Forget...

How long till Christmas???

2009-10-23T20:33:00.010+08:00

I just can't believe how this year is flying by! How can it already be the last week of October and only a mere 63 days until Christmas? I am still waiting for life to settle down a bit but the truth is that there is NO chance of that happening until at least January...

So blogger of the year I'll never be awarded... perhaps I could run for slackest blogger of the year?? As usual so much has happened since my last appearance here that I would never be able to update it all so I think I might give you a quick rundown in dot points...

Taylah had her ballet exam on Tuesday so woohoo that is it for dance exams this year! Emily didn't do an exam this year as they are doing grade 6 over two years. Apparently there is a lot to learn in grade 6 and the guideline is that they have two lessons per week. Unfortunately the dance school (and us for that matter) can't fit another lesson into each week so they will spread the work over two years and do the exam this time next year. Taylah seems happy with how she went and I guess we will find out the results in a few weeks time. Now is the downhill run to the end of year concert.

Earlier this month I spent an awesome weekend at Boyanup with a fantastic bunch of ladies for the Scrapboxx Retreat. I finished every layout that I started and was really impressed. Thanks so much Sheree and Evana for the gorgeous class layouts which I really must take photos of and upload!

The school holidays came and went very quickly as they always seem to do. Haydn and Emily sailed for the whole first week but they really learned a lot and seemed to enjoy the (day) camp. We did a little bit of catching up with friends, shopping and managed one movie but the two weeks went way too fast!

Sailing season is now in full swing. We still have Haydn and Kane sailing Equalizer but we now have two flying ants to watch in the afternoons as Emily is sailing with Alicia on Viper. The girls are off to an awesome start with a first (on handicap) in last week's race! Emily is still sailing Flash (the minnow) in the mornings and now Taylah has her own minnow called Purple Haze which she is sailing. It is full on right now but the kids are loving it!

I've been reasonably good for a few weeks, getting to the gym when I can and watching what I eat but now I've stepped it up a notch and joined a 6 week challenge at the gym. We need to exercise 5 times per week (at least 3 in the gym), follow a recommended eating plan and commit to being weighed & measured once a week. So far I've done really well having lost 1.3kg in the first week! I'd love to be looking and feeling better by the time summer really starts!

Marnie and I have started the dreaded Christmas shopping! Last week we made a pact to have all the shopping done by the time the kids finish school which is also when her 12 weeks of daycare finishes so it is essential that we achieve this goal! We've been out two Fridays in a row now and have done a fair bit for the extended families but I really need to find out from Tom's family what is happening this year and who we are buying for. With lots of birthdays between now and then it is certainly a crazy time of the year!

Last week Miss Emily went on her year 6 camp and had an absolute ball! They went to Waroona and did all sorts of confidence boosting, team building and awesome fun activities. She came home totally exhausted and covered in mud... you should have seen the clothes that she wore for the mud fight - I actually threw them in the bin after two washes, three days in napisan and a good deal of scrubbing... that mud wasn't coming out at all!

Speaking of Emily, I can't believe that she will be graduating from primary school in a matter of weeks. Emily is really looking forward to going to high school next year and I think she is well and truly ready for it. She loves school and is really excited about trying new things next year. Oh I just remembered that I have a surprise for her that I forgot to tell her about - I picked up a gorgeous dress for her graduation today, I just hope she loves it as much as I do and that it fits her!

Now I can't remember where we were up to on the house when I last posted but the demolition is now 100% complete. The trees are gone, as is the driveway and this week we have organised to have the side fence replaced ready for the builders to start. We are getting a little frustrated now as we are still waiting on the final plans for the house but they are due any day. I hope next time I update we will have some progress to report on.

So as you see that is a glimpse into what my life consists of lately. Nothing overly exciting but added together there is hardly a minute of downtime or so it seems.

To finish off I have a few scrapping layouts that I did a couple of weeks ago and haven't shared with anyone yet.

This first one is little Kurtis enjoying his cake at his first birthday party...

This next one is the demolition process as we cleared the old house from our block to prepare for the new house...

And finally this one was just using up some old photos from earlier in the year when the kids sailed for a few days at Nedlands to compete in an interschool sailing event...

I think that is about enough for tonight. We have an extra little body in the house in the form of Taylah's friend so I need to chase some kids towards their beds ready for another busy Saturday.

Have a great weekend

Kim ♥

Ooops...

2009-09-21T11:31:00.008+08:00

Hey I'm back again and yes it has been more than a whole month since I blogged but I guess I was tricking about having a quieter life for a while... I should give up all hope of that happening I think. I did spend nearly two weeks of the last month in bed sick with a virus which then progressed to pharyngitis (or the tonsillitis you get when you don't have tonsils LOL). Thanks to the wonders of antibiotics I am now back to 100%.

Since my last post lots has happened so I'll just run through it as quickly as I can in no particular order...

I'll start with yesterday, Sunday 27th September... what a fantastic day! It was the opening day of the sailing season for 09/10. We had to be there for 11.30am and drank pretty much non-stop until we left at 7pm last night! It was a big day but lots of fun and dare I say it, I think I am actually looking forward to this season! When we got there the champagne was already flowing and as we were 'invited guests' it was all free. The opening ceremony was short and sweet then we all headed down to the end of the jetty to watch the annual sail past and 'blessing of the fleet'. All the juniors from the training camp joined up with all the other yachts and it truly is quite a sight!

After the sail past we enjoyed LOTS of yummy finger food and more free drinks and eventually we moved back to the bar to catch up with friends for lots of laughs and ... a few more drinks! It was a great day, made all the better for the fact that we had NO KIDS with us! Haydn and Emily were at Westsail, the sailing camp over at the yacht club's annexe and Taylah went out for the day with my family - thanks Rodney & Dana!

The kids are now on school holidays and I'm looking forward to some quiet time this week. The sailing camp goes until Thursday so it is just Taylah and I at home. I guess we should plan to do something in the second week of the holidays or the kids will feel like they've only done sailing... hmmm what to do???

Last weekend we celebrated Kurtis' first birthday with a party which was great fun. I got some gorgeous photos of some of the kids but the big ones managed to elude me that day - I didn't get a single photo of any of the eldest kids from each family - no Haydn, Oliver, Lachlan or Caitlin! These are just a couple of cute ones that I did get and the rest will be appearing on scrapbook layouts very soon!

Kurtis the birthday boy:

Isla who wasn't very well but still managed to be super cute:

Blake who was being so cooperative for photos - this kid is too cute!:

Grace:

Yes just before the photos you did read that correctly - I have started scrapbooking again! I haven't done much yet but you can't rush these things. I've done a few layouts for the Fiskars Blog and a couple of others. I must say that I'm loving it again and am really looking forward to the Scrapboxx Retreat in less than two weeks time!

In the past month netball season finished too. Both teams did really well but our big girls finished the season runner up for the 12A division, quite an achievement especially given that half of the girls they played throughout the season were 'head and shoulders' taller than our whole team! Emily came a long way this season, having never played a game of netball in her life prior to this season so I am so proud of her!

Progress has also finally begun on our new house! We were so excited this week to see the excavator on the property and to watch the old house disappear in a matter of hours!

Well I guess I could go on for days with all the little things that have happened this past month but that would just bore you to death so I'll finish up here. I'm planning on scrapping some more today so will be back SOON to share. Have a great week and take care.

Kim ♥

And another one gone...

2009-08-23T19:54:00.008+08:00

Weekend that is!! Where are the weeks going this year? I can't believe that we are now heading in to the last week of August!

Although I am starting to panic about the end of the year approaching so rapidly I must admit that I am glad the past few weeks are now behind us. This is such a chaotic time of year with dance exams, the performing arts festival for school, along with everything else... the next month is somewhat more relaxed...

Since I last posted here my other super clever girl brought home another gold medal for her jazz exam and along with it an outstanding grade of 92.5% - woohoo Taylah, I am so proud of you! We are now just awaiting tap results...

Friday night the girls danced in the Catholic School's Performing Arts Festival at the Perth Convention Centre. They danced superbly, looked sensational and really did the school and us proud. Don't they look stunning?

Saturday morning I had to drag a couple of very tired girls out of bed to get Taylah to her last netball game of the season. They had a fantastic season, played really well as a team and I am very pleased to say that Taylah has picked the game up really well in her first season (the other girls have already played together for a couple of years). Saturday afternoon Emily had her last netball game of the season too and woohoo they now have to play finals next week! As far as I know her team finished 2nd on the ladder - a fantastic effort girls!

This morning we got up and organised to be at church for 9.30am. Taylah's friends were making their first Holy Communions today so we went to celebrate with them. Emma and Morgan looked absolutely beautiful!

After church we had another special occasion to celebrate. My gorgeous little niece, Grace turned one on Friday and had her party at lunch time today. The poor little chicken wasn't all that happy today as she has a broken collar bone from falling off a chair on Friday. She did enjoy eating her cake and chocolate frogs however and I got LOTS of stunning photos of all the kids...
I'll leave you with just a few of the photos I took today. I'm totally exhausted and still need to get school uniforms ironed before I can get to bed tonight.

Have a great week!

Kim ♥

Dinner

2009-08-19T19:50:00.003+08:00

I just made the yummiest dinner tonight and thought I should share it around... It was so quick and easy to make and my three kids all loved it. To make it a complete winner it is reasonably low in fat and also low in artificial additives - woohoo!

The recipe came from this website.

Ingredients:

1 x 420g can Campbell's Condensed Cream of Pumpkin Soup
2 tbsp red curry paste
400ml coconut milk
500g skinless chicken breast fillet, cut into strips
150g green beans
1 cup frozen peas

Method:

In a large saucepan or wok add soup and curry paste, mix well. Place over medium heat, add coconut milk and stir, using a whisk or fork, until smooth and well combined.
Add meat, beans and peas. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until meat and vegetables are cooked through. Serve with rice.

All fixed...

2009-08-19T12:24:00.002+08:00

I have just spent all morning trying to sort out the problems my blog was having. The blogger help forums were awesome - thanks to everyone who offered suggestions! So as you can see my sidebar is now back where it should be and since I was 'rescuing' I decided it was time to do some 'renovating' too. Let me know what you think of the new look! There are still some things to be added and if you have a blog that you would like added to my blog list please let me know.

Kim ♥

Lots happening around here...

2009-08-13T19:55:00.006+08:00

Yes as usual my life is totally out of control, I'm stressed to the extreme, doing the single parent gig and trying to keep up with all the scheduled activities that these children desire. How I long for a simple, quiet life!!

Last week Emily and Taylah started the cycle of dancing exams for this year with Jazz and Hip Hop and then today they both had their Tap exams. So far the results are in for half of the exams and once again I am incredibly proud of them both. They both got gold medals for Hip Hop and Emily has done really well in her Jazz... we will see how Taylah went on Monday!

Sunday was a big day with Taylah making her First Holy Communion. We went to Mass at 9.30am then had all the family and friends back here for lunch. We all finished up at around 4pm and then went out to dinner to farewell Wendy (my cousin) and Matt who are moving back to Kalgoorlie. It was a huge day and we were totally exhausted by the end of it but our girl looked absolutely stunning and had the most wonderful day. Here are a few of my favourite photos...

This week Marnie and I have been making an effort to get to the gym and managed to get there Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we had a 'day off' and today I was busy with the dance exams so tomorrow we will back into it. I'm looking forward to seeing the difference in a few weeks time.

Not much has happened this week on the house front, in fact it appears that there is already going to be a delay in the demolition as the council had not received the application for the demolition permit... grrrrr

I know this is already a big post but if you can bear with me I have some scrapping that I was going to share with you. I made these three layouts this week for the Fiskars Blog and boy it felt good to be sticking photos onto paper again after all this time. I got some yummy new product this week so stay tuned for some more layouts very soon...

Tonight is definitely a good night to head off to bed early. I'm so looking forward to curling up with my book and an episode or two of Scrubs... but first I must chase these children to bed and iron some uniforms for tomorrow. Have a great Friday and I'll be back again as soon as I get a chance.

Till then, take care.
Kim ♥

House photos...

2009-08-06T13:14:00.006+08:00

Yes I finally got around to taking a photo of the old house that we are about to have demolished. I know I have taken photos previously but I can't for the life of me find them on my computer... perhaps they are still on the girls' cameras??? Anyway this is what we have to work with...

Today the demolition company have gone in to the house to lay down rat/mouse baits which is something routine that they are required to do prior to demolishing. I think they have to be in place for 10 days and then the fun can begin - yay!

We are still having lots of fun at the Fiskars blog and the colour has now changed to PINK. Pop on over and see what everyone is up to and if you feel inclined please share your PINK photos with us. Just two more days of PINK and then we will find out what the next colour will be. Here are my photos from the past few days...

:

As we head towards yet another busy weekend I have lots of plans to make, cleaning to do and food to prepare. Taylah will be celebrating her First Holy Communion on Sunday so I'll have all the family here for lunch after mass on the day. Taylah is all ready with her dress, shoes, headband etc all ready to go and we just need to make a final decision on what we are doing with her hair. This morning I went shopping to buy her a present (for Haydn & Emily to give her), clothes for me to wear and a present for our Godson, Jayden who will also be making his First Communion at the same mass. Now I need to get the house ready and decide what cooking I need to do - oops and I'd better organise a cake - eeeek!

On that note I really should get a move on and get some of this washing folded, ironed and put away.

Take care,

Kim ♥

Happy August!

2009-08-03T07:44:00.007+08:00

Wow can you believe that it is August already? It is going to be one heck of a busy month for us and then without a doubt we will be on the downhill slide to the end of year mayhem and the inevitable silly season - oh boy!!

I don't have much time this morning but wanted to pop in and say hi, and to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a very special someone. Janine, I hope you have a great day today and get totally spoilt by your family. I'll see you a bit later this morning and hopefully we'll get a chance to do coffee sometime through the day - on me of course!

We just had the most fabulous weekend. It seems so long since we had a fairly quiet weekend and sadly yesterday was the ONLY day that was totally free on my calendar for the entire month! Sometimes I wonder how our lives got so out of control! Saturday we had the usual running around for kids which now involves netball games at 10am and 2pm. Taylah's team played really well and won their game but Emily's team didn't get to play as the other team forfeited with too few players. Instead of netball we went shopping! We then had to go to church to celebrate a friend's confirmation and that was followed by a very pleasant night with lots of food and drinks at their house. Sunday morning Haydn and Taylah had plans to spend the day with friends so we dropped them off at the respective meeting points and Tom, Emily and I headed off to the beachfront cafes to have a yummy breakfast. It was such a beautiful day here that I could have sat there all day! We then went off to look at some display homes for decorating and furnishing ideas... Late in the afternoon we went to pick Haydn up from his friend's house but we had to wait as the boys had conveniently disappeared (they knew we were getting there at 5pm). We had a few drinks with our friends and then that turned into a few more drinks and stack of pizzas for dinner. I totally love impromptu visits like that!

Today sees the beginning of this year's dancing exams for my girls starting at 9.50am with Taylah's hip hop exam followed by Emily's hip hop at 1.20pm. Tomorrow and Wednesday the girls have jazz exams and then next week we have tap exams.... I am sure they will do well but I'm always a nervous wreck on these days!

The new house has been keeping us very busy this past few weeks. We have made most of our big decisions now, had the last of the finance approved, been to our prestart meeting and have organised demolition of the old house. Now we wait for things to start moving! I was just going to post a photo of the old house on the block so I can start recording the process here but I can't find the photos on my computer hmmmm - another job for the to-do list today! I have a few little things that I need to do for the house in the next day or so like talking to the fridge sales people about the size of the space for the fridge we will be buying and I also need to decide exactly what microwave I'm getting so we can have the space for that made the correct size... there is so much to think about!

Well it is now time to get these girlies moving so I'd better get off my backside and chase them to the shower. I do want to mention however that we are having some fun over at the Fiskars Blog this month. Annette is running a photo a day challenge in a COLOUR ME HAPPY theme. Each day has an allocated colour and today it is RED. All you need to do is take a photo of something red and upload it to your blog (or e-mail it to Annette if you don't have a blog) at the end of the colour Annette will make up a collage of all the photos collected and post it to the blog. There is also a scrapbooking challenge to go with the theme so be sure to check it out.

I will leave you with my photos from the past two days...

Till next time take care...

Kim ♥

Happy Birthday and Back to School...

2009-07-19T21:46:00.006+08:00

Oh how sad that the school holidays are almost over for another term... Emily goes off to a high school orientation day tomorrow morning and then both girls are back at school on Tuesday. Haydn's return to school is Wednesday and we have every intention of tightening the reins this term and making improvements in lots of areas...

The past week has been taken up with sailing. Haydn and Emily both had four days of sail training on the flying ants and despite the horrible weather they both appear to have learned a fair bit and are now looking forward to the nationals in December. It wasn't my favourite way to spend the holidays so I tried to fit in as much as I could into the time that they were there. On Tuesday Tom and I went out looking for tiles etc and getting quotes for air conditioning for our new house. Wednesday I did spend all day at the East Fremantle Yacht Club watching the kids. Thursday Taylah went to stay at a friend's house and I spent the day catching up on housework and ironing while a friend took the kids sailing. Friday, Tom and I took the kids sailing then went off to appointments for the house before going back to pack up the boats and bring the cold, tired and wet kids home again.

Saturday Tom and I had a funeral go to. Another beautiful lady, taken way too young. I have everything crossed and pray to anyone who will listen that this is the last funeral we have to attend in a very long time! I really have had enough of sadness and sorrow in my life, I need to focus on the happy and positive things around us and truly hope that we get a break for a good long time now....

After the funeral we took a few hours to head out to look again at display homes. We have a lot of decisions to make in the next week or so and were hoping to gain some inspiration. Not sure if I was really inspired but I do know what I like and don't like so now I feel a bit more confident making decisions on kitchen & bathroom designs.

Today we celebrated Tom's birthday which is actually tomorrow. The family all came around at 3pm and my brother, sister and their families have just left not long ago. We had lots of drinks, lots of nibblies and I am so proud of the cake I made!

I've never attempted a sponge before as all I've ever heard is how 'temperamental' they can be and how sponge baking is an 'art' but today I felt adventurous and felt the need to show MIL that I did spoil hubby every now and then so decided to put the kitchenaid to work. I was so impressed at how well it worked out and everyone (well almost everyone) loved it! I think it is probably the easiest cake I've ever made so will be definitely doing it again!

So that's it for another week. I'll be back soon but till then please stay safe and hug your loved ones tight...

Kim ♥

An Update at Last...

2009-07-13T22:08:00.009+08:00

We have now had a week of school holidays and have one more week to go. I so love holidays even when the weather is miserable and cold and when the kids niggle and fight all day long. I love the slow starts to the day, lingering over my coffee and blog hopping while the kids sleep or laze around watching television.

We have been to the movies a couple of times. Last week we went with Janine and a bunch of girlies to see Hannah Montana. Yes it was a kids' movie and yeah it was pretty predictable but I loved it! I got the soundtrack for my girls and they've been listening to it ever since.

Today we went to the movies again but this time with Marnie and her 3 big kids and we saw Ice Age 3. It was good but poor little Cody got a bit scared with some of the dinosaurs. We were supposed to be going out for lunch after the movie too but Tom had phoned and asked me to meet him at an appointment in the afternoon and poor Lachlan wasn't feeling very well so we gave lunch a miss and headed home.

The other big event of our week was that Emily celebrated her 12th birthday yesterday. I can't believe that this girl is going to be a teenager and in high school next year... how time flies! What a difference 12 years makes!

Emily celebrated her birthday with 5 of her very best friends. The sleepover was a bit disorganized and chaotic but I think all the girls enjoyed themselves...

We then had the family here for drinks in the afternoon and by the time they all left last night we had one very tired but very happy birthday girl.

This afternoon Tom and I met up with the builder to sign our contracts for our new house. We now have a busy couple of weeks ahead with several appointments to be had prior to our pre-start appointment in two weeks time! I'm so excited about building this house so watch this space for updates as we make progress.

I think that is about all I had to share for now and I really should be getting to bed. Haydn and Emily are sailing for the rest of this week so holiday fun is pretty much over - very sad! I will leave you with a few more photos that I took on the weekend, a couple of shots of Taylah and then a couple of Haydn since it has been so long since I've really shared anything much.

Hahaha don't you just love the beautiful one of Haydn with Niamh's pettiskirt on his head... I think one of those is top of his Christmas wish list this year!

Till next time, take care...

Kim ♥

The Wizard of Oz

2009-07-03T21:30:00.005+08:00

Today has been a bit of a tough one - no reason in particular, but probably the lowest I've been so far. I'm sure tomorrow will be brighter...

This morning Taylah's class did their assembly at school and Taylah was one of four girls who were chosen to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. They did a great job and the performance was very good if I do say so. They even had their year one buddy class as the munchkins... too cute! Here are a few photos...

Goodnight xx

Kim ♥

Hello World! It's me!

2009-06-30T20:54:00.003+08:00

It has been such a long time since my last 'happy' post that I think I have almost forgotten how to blog... What I do know though is that I miss keeping this blog up to date and recording the little things...

Can you believe that tomorrow is July already? This year has flown by despite the fact that so far there hasn't been a lot to celebrate. My goal for the rest of the year is to try to make every moment count and to work on improving everything that has been so drastically neglected over the past six months.

My first goal is to get myself active again, get back to being fit, hopefully lose a few kilos and find some energy and zest for life. The stress I've been under this year has really taken its toll and I am finding myself constantly tired, depressed, lethargic and cranky.... I really need that to change! Marnie and I have joined a new gym and I finally feel enthusiastic about doing something. We had our second workout and a weigh/measure today so I expect to be a little sore again tomorrow but in a very good way!

I'm sure I've mentioned it previously but we have undertaken another exciting venture in the past couple of months. Tom and I bought an old house in Rockingham that we will be demolishing very soon and then we will be building a beautiful, big, new home for our family. We had been planning to stay where we are until the new house was finished however circumstances have changed and we feel it is now best if we sell up at the end of this year and rent for a few months... not ideal but we will survive and hopefully the early move will mean that we will get more for this place than if we wait the longer time.

There is lots of things that I could share but for now I need to chase some kids into bed. I really just wanted to touch base with you tonight and let you see that July is the new start that I need. I'll be blogging more regularly and I'm even contemplating starting up my project 365 again (even if I just take the photos and blog them rather than scrap them).

Now just because it has been so long since I've shared any photos with you, I will leave you with a pic of my new favourite possession. This absolute beauty arrived yesterday and I've just made my first batch of super yummy cookies!

**Photo temporarily removed - kitchenaid**

Have a great day tomorrow and I will be back to share 'the little things' really soon.

Kim ♥

Checking in...

2009-06-10T19:14:00.003+08:00

Just a quick post to say thank you to all my beautiful friends who have sent me messages, flowers, cards, e-mails, blog comments and anything else over the past couple of weeks. Your love and support means the world to me.

Now I also wish to apologize for the cryptic message in my last post. A lot of people knew what was going on but there were lots of people who didn't know that my Mum was ill. Sadly my beloved Mum passed away on Friday 29th May after a tough battle with cancer. She was diagnosed in January and the illness was terribly aggressive making her weaker with every week that passed.

Right now I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that my Mum is gone and every day is a struggle. I'm trying to get my life back to some state of normal and to make up to my kids (and hubby) what they have missed out on while I've been an emotional void these past months. At this point there is still no scrapping happening but I'm hoping the urge will strike again soon and that at least I'll feel like dusting off the camera again very soon.

I don't want this post to be too long and dreary so I'll leave it here. Once again thank you everyone for your love and cyber hugs and a special thank you to my beautiful real life friends for being so wonderful. I'll be back soon with some updates on happy things that have been totally overlooked these past weeks.

Take care

Kim ♥

I will be back...

2009-05-20T17:35:00.002+08:00

Yes one day I will be back, I just cannot tell you when.

I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I'm OK... not great, just plodding along. Right now our family is going through undoubtedly the biggest test we've ever faced and it is taking all of my strength to get from one day to the next. Thank you to everyone who has been e-mailing and sending me facebook messages, I truly appreciate your thoughts and kind words.

For now I just need to take time out... no scrapping, no blogging and no unnecessary commitments. I am totally in survival mode right now. I will come out of this on the other side and I hope you will still pop by when that time comes...

Take care and enjoy every precious moment with your loved ones...
Kim ♥

Shock... Horror!

2009-04-14T14:55:00.010+08:00

Yes, I am still here, plodding along and neglecting my blog for way too long. I finally have some down time this afternoon so thought I'd drop in and say hi.

There has been way too much going on here to catch up completely so I'm giving myself permission to not stress about it and just to tell what I can... my life isn't that interesting anyway so a quick rundown will be sufficient. I even think I'll start with Easter and work back a bit...

Easter was busy but very much fun. We went on Good Friday to Garden Island with the yacht club. The kids sail over on the flying ants and all the adults pile onto power boats and meet up on the island for a picnic. This year our picnic consisted of salmon patties, zucchini slice, salad, homemade bread and homemade hot cross buns - yummo! We ate, drank, played tug-o-wars, watched the kids have an easter egg hunt and went for a very very very long walk (well it seemed like it anyway!). We left home at 7.30am and returned home about 12 hours later - a very long day but oh so much fun. Here are a few photos...

Saturday morning I went shopping with Marnie for breakfast foods for Sunday and then in the afternoon Marnie & Dan had the kids for us for a few hours so Tom and I could do some things that we needed to do. We even managed to go out for a very late lunch at Hillarys.

Sunday morning we had all the family here for a yummy BBQ breakfast. As usual we had way too much food for the number of people but geez it was good! Bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes on the barbie as well as toast, pancakes, cereals (cocoa pops & fruit loops no less), juice, croissants, homemade hot cross buns and of course chocolate! I'm certain nobody was hungry! I took lots of photos but with the dreadfully harsh lighting and the equally awful shade the photos left a lot to be desired.

Everyone stayed until about 2pm and soon after they left we became aware of a bushfire somewhere near us. As it turned out it was a couple of km away but it was HUGE and very scary! I took photos from outside our house...

We then went to the top of the hill at the end of our street and this was what we could see from there...

We went for a drive that night just to make sure it was nowhere near us and to ease the kids' worries and this was what the emergency services were dealing with...

Easter Monday we had a BBQ lunch at Tom's sister's house. It was a quiet one but quite a relaxing end to the wonderful weekend we had. I hope your Easter was a happy and safe long weekend and that you took some time out to reflect on the true meaning of Easter.

Just before Easter we had a very special day when our princess turned nine - yes NINE!! I can't believe that my baby, my youngest is now a nine year old and that I'll never have an eight year old again! Geez time flies! In true Geling style Taylah's birthday went on for 3 days and she was spoiled rotten! First we went out to dinner with Tom's family on the Friday night. We went to the Steel Tree Restaurant and had a yummy dinner as always.

Saturday was Taylah's birthday and it also happened to be the wind up/fun day for the end of the sailing season. Taylah went for a ride on a minnow that day and had a great morning. After lunch we met Taylah's friends at the local indoor pool for a pool party. We all had a great afternoon with the inflatable obstacle course, swimming and finally a sausage sizzle and cakes to end with.

I took loads of photos - that is just a few but watch out for the rest on scrapbooked layouts soon.

Sunday we finished off the birthday celebrations with a fish & chips picnic with my family. We met everyone at a park in Mandurah and had a yummy dinner. I took lots and lots of photos but that is for a secret squirrel project which I will share at a later stage.

Well I think that's probably enough for now... I have a stack of project 365 layouts to photograph and upload and a few other scrapping layouts too. I haven't spent nearly enough time doing things for me (or for my DT commitments) but hope to rectify that through the school holidays. Today has been a recovery day but I'm itching to get scrapping... so watch out for it!

Right now I'd better go and buy something for the kids to put on their homemade pizzas for dinner. Emily has a friend sleeping over and that was their dinner request. Till next time take care and have fun...

Kim ♥

It has been way too long!

2009-03-29T19:34:00.011+08:00

Yes wayyyy too long and there is no way I'll ever catch up with all the things that have happened around here in almost a month!

I'll try to make it quick but you know how I waffle on... you might just want to make yourself a cuppa and settle in...

Well all that time ago when I blogged last we were getting ready for Emma's 9th birthday. Janine and Adam hired a mini bus to take a gaggle of girls to Fremantle and I was lucky enough to be invited along. The girls played two games at Q-Zar, went to Hungry Jacks for dinner and then to Cold Rock for dessert... a great party by all standards! My poor little chicken though had to leave half way through and she was not happy with me. Poor Taylah had been feeling off all day and the heat of Q-Zar was just too much for her. She came out of the game saying she felt ill and then promptly was sick... thank goodness for Janine's preparedness - she had an ice cream container handy 'just in case' for the bus ride, we never dreamed we would need it on solid ground! I phoned Tom and asked him to come and collect Taylah. With Emily being unwell for the two days prior I wasn't taking the chance of Taylah spreading more bugs to all her friends... She was NOT happy with me! Janine & I have promised to make it up to Taylah in the holidays and believe me Janine she hasn't forgotten!!!

I guess the next thing I should mention was the fact that I got another year older. Boy I had so much more fun on Emma's birthday! I got spoiled rotten by my wonderful family again with a new Pandora bracelet (with a gold clasp this time), two pairs of Peter Alexander PJs, lots of cash to take to the Scrapboxx retreat, a voucher for more Pandora and the most gorgeous scarf from Mum & Dad that I will treasure forever! It was so nice to have all my family and some very good friends to share my day with. I love you all!

On the 12th March the girls had their school swimming carnival. They both did really well and I was such a proud Mummy that day! Out of 8 races we came home with 8 place ribbons and both girls were runner up to the champion girl for their age groups. I do have photos of the medal presentations but they are on Emily's camera and I can't locate the cable to get the photos onto my computer right at this minute... remind me later and I'll be sure to share them! Janine has e-mailed me some photos of the actual day however so these are Janine's pics.

The next big event in my life was the Scrapboxx retreat. Oh my what a weekend! I only have a few photos and am still waiting on more but WOW just doesn't cut it! I did 5 fabulous classes, laughed, drank, ate, scrapped, won a challenge and basically just had the BEST weekend ever!

Ok well I think this has probably been more than enough for one night. Hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow to get back and catch up the remainder of the month and perhaps even share some of my scrapping (not that there has been a whole lot going on).

I hope all is well in your world,

Kim ♥

I'm still alive....

2009-03-19T07:37:00.002+09:00

Just in case you were wondering!

Things have been crazy, mad around here with lots of good and some not so good things going on. I keep meaning to get in here and update but life just keeps getting in the way! I have had a birthday, been to the Scrapboxx retreat, got two little champion swimmers and lots more to share so stay tuned. I've got Haydn home sick today so will be spending the day not doing too much but trying to play catch up - you never know the blog might make it on to the to-do list!

I hope all is well in your world!
Kim ♥

I should be cooking dinner.....

2009-03-05T17:26:00.004+09:00

But.... since I haven't blogged again in days I thought I'd stop by and post a few of my February layouts.

I'm struggling this week, I have so much to do and I really don't need the dramas that are going on around here right now. The thing that is bugging me most is the infestation of mice that we have in our house! Anyone that knows me knows that I hate mice almost more than anything else in this world and knowing that they are cohabitating with us is just doing my head in! I've had 8 traps set for 3 days and we haven't caught a single one yet. We know they are here because the little buggers are not shy and they keep running around tormenting me!

Anyway as it really is time to get dinner started I'll share a few of these pages. I've got lots more that need photographing so I'll have to have a big catch up soon.

February 1:

February 2:

February 3:

February 4:

February 5:

Back soon.

Kim ♥

A Bit Early...

2009-02-27T22:22:00.002+09:00

Yes, I know that for once I am early with something. I haven't totally lost the plot, just nearly. I had a couple of free hours tonight so I've redone my blog banner and posted it two days before the start of March. Never mind it will be here in no time!

A quick update on Miss Emily. She is still not good. She still has a high fever and feels really unwell but now she's getting an awful cough and sore throat. I'm not sure if it is what I had last week or if she is brewing up a dose of tonsillitis. I guess the morning will tell and then if needed I'll be looking for a doctor on a long weekend - fun!

Have a great weekend!

Kim ♥

More 365 layouts and other stuff...

2009-02-27T09:17:00.005+09:00

Today I'm home again achieving very little. I've been sick for the best part of the last week but now Emily is really unwell today. The poor little chicken has a high fever, headache and is vomiting (probably from the fever). I have everything crossed that she recovers quickly because we have a huge weekend ahead of us and I don't know what I will do if she is too unwell to go out!

It has been a pretty average week around here. As I mentioned I have been sick but mostly that was a cold type of thing that left me feeling pretty disgusting. I woke up with that on Friday morning and knew then that I should stay in bed. My Friday got worse on the drive to school when I noticed a funny noise coming from my car. I pulled over at the first opportunity and sure enough my tyre was flat - totally dead! I arranged for Janine to come and pick up the kids for me and for the RAC to fix the tyre so all in all it wasn't too bad but I really didn't need a start like that to my day!

I haven't had my coffee machine for over a week either so that is not helping my week go smoothly! The grinder seized up on it last Thursday so I took it in for a service... still waiting to hear that I can pick it up!

I had my eyes checked on Monday morning, something that I've put off doing for oh so long. It had been 2004 since my last check so was a bit overdue. I came away having ordered not one but two new pairs of glasses, it seems old age is catching up with me. I have always been short sighted, not terribly much but enough that I don't like driving at night without glasses so I needed to have those updated. Now it seems that I also need different glasses for close up computer and reading work as well... I guess that is the getting old bit! I paid a not so small fortune for the two sets of glasses but I guess it was money that I needed to spend... sigh....

I mentioned in my last post that Emily was sailing in the minnow state championships last weekend. The weather was awful for them for the entire weekend! Saturday was hot hot hot and there was NO wind - zilch, zero, none! They managed to get two races in for the morning session but towards the end of race #2 the wind died. They came in for lunch and the wind disappeared entirely! We had a postponement of about 4 hours and finally the officials decided to fit in another two races after 4pm when the wind picked up just a tiny bit. It was 7pm before the kids came off the water, such a long day for them. Sunday was the exact opposite - it was way too windy! Emily's fleet actually didn't do another race that day so it was a good thing that they had done 4 races the previous day. The more experienced kids did their races but it was rough out there... we just can't win! Emily finished in second place for the novice fleet, a brilliant result considering the challenges the weather posed.

So that is a very rough catch up of life in our house. I'd also just like to say thank you to all those beautiful people who have e-mailed, called, and sent various other messages to see how my Mum is going. Mum started some treatment this week and so far so good. She doesn't seem to be having adverse reactions to the treatment as yet and she is in good spirits considering... It means so much to all of us to know that we have so many friends sending positive thoughts. Thank you to each and every one of you!

I have a tonne of things to do around this house today so I'd better get moving. I'll leave you with another stack of 365 layouts to bring us up to the end of January.

January 22:

January 23:

January 24:

January 25:

January 26:

January 27:

January 28:

January 29:

January 30:

January 31:

Some catching up...

2009-02-21T08:03:00.004+09:00

It seems like forever since I blogged and I don't really have a lot of time this morning either so I might do a quick post to share some of my project 365 layouts. I have been keeping up with the project and I am loving the process so hopefully the momentum will last the whole year!

When I look back I realise that I haven't posted any layouts since the middle of January so here are a few more for now...

January 11:

I'm not posting January 12 as that was the day that we found out about Mum's illness. It is a very personal page that is really just for us... it was done though!

January 13:

January 14:

January 15:

January 16:

January 17:

January 18:

January 19:

January 20:

January 21:

I think that will probably do for today. I'm going to go and spend a few minutes attacking the mess that is Taylah's bedroom while the kids are out and then I'll get ready to go and watch the sailing - yes, just for a change! Emily is sailing in the Minnow State Championships this weekend... I just hope the weather is good to them!

I've still got lots more 365 layouts to share so stay tuned for those in the next day or two. Have a great weekend!

Kim ♥

What a tragedy!

2009-02-09T14:42:00.004+09:00

Australia is today in a state of crisis over the devastating bush fires of Victoria and NSW. The latest news reports are saying that over 130 people are confirmed dead, over 750 houses destroyed and the worst is that they expect these figures to go way higher as more towns become accessible for investigation.

Here in the West we are safe from the fires but there are things we can do to help including donating cash for the victims and donating blood and plasma which will be needed like never before over the coming months.

There are many organisations collecting donations so if you are in a position to help here are some details.

** The National Australia Bank (NAB) has established a $1 million relief fund for people and communities affected by Victoria's bushfires.

Donations to the fund can be made from Monday, February 9 at NAB branches or by transferring funds using internet banking.

The BSB number is 082-001 and the account number is 860 046 797.**

**The Australian Red Cross is collecting donations through their website here**

**If you are able to consider giving blood then please check out this website**

And we will all hope and pray that these devasting fires come to an end quickly and without claiming any more lives. My thoughts are with anyone who is affected by this tragedy.

Kim ♥

Another busy week...

2009-02-08T19:43:00.004+09:00

Come to think of it when is it NOT a busy week in this house? I'd be kidding myself if I thought I could update everything here on my blog so I'll try to remember as much as I can of the last week in no particular order...

First of all I have to say that I am so proud of my boy! He just competed over the last two weekends in the Flying Ant State Championships and he finished in 11th place! Yes there were 10 boats ahead of him but this is Haydn's first year skippering his own boat, his crew's first season on a flying ant, they had boat trouble in one of today's races, they had challenging weather conditions over both weekends and today his poor crew was not 100% well. All in all they did really well!

Yesterday before we went to watch the sailing at Mounts Bay I had to take Emily to have pointe shoes fitted for ballet. I was really impressed with the girls at the shop where we had to go and definitely recommend them. They tried just about every shoe in the store on Emily, made her do all the ballet moves in the shoes and absolutely found the right shoe for her feet - now the poor little chicken should love pointe much more this year with correctly fitting and much more flexible shoes... yay, one happy dancer and one happy Mum!

As I said in my last post, the kids all went back to school last week and they are all happy. Haydn is really looking forward to getting stuck into his optional subjects this semester, especially the marine studies which includes... yep you guessed it... sailing! He is in the extension maths class and has the head of English as his English teacher so I'm expecting a good year!

Emily is extremely happy with her class for the year. She has the same group of friends as last year and two wonderful teachers. She has already started working hard and is wanting to do really well in her last year of primary school.

I have a few reservations about Taylah's teacher but so far so good. Taylah seems happy for now so I'm keeping an open mind and just going with the flow. I'm not terribly impressed with the group of kids that are in her class but there are a few nice girls that are her good friends so hopefully they will stick together and keep clear of the more undesirables.

Well right now I'm waiting for Dana (my SIL) and the little girls to knock on the door. They are coming to stay for a few days while they find a house to rent in Perth. I should go and make up the beds for them and chase my little treasures into their beds because it is back to school tomorrow.

I've got project 365 layouts to upload so watch for a big catchup post soon.

If you are in Victoria or NSW I hope and pray that you are safe from the fires and for those in Qld I hope you are not affected by the dreadful floods.

Till next time take care.

Kim ♥

Back to School....

2009-02-03T09:15:00.010+09:00

Yes, the school holidays are over and all three of my kiddos headed off to school today. The girls started yesterday but Haydn went back today. I'm a bit behind here on the blog so I'll take you back in time to where I left off last week and try to catch up.

Monday's sailing was very exciting to watch, if not a little nerve wracking. Haydn and Kane were fighting it out to the end for another 3rd place but got pipped at the last mark by their friends and biggest rivals. Emily had a brilliant start but unfortunately she capsized and had some trouble getting back in the race so she was disappointed despite actually sailing really well. That afternoon we had presentations for the regatta and Miss Emily was awarded her first flag for the regatta. On handicap she got 2nd in that last race so she was happy with that. Haydn astounded us all by winning the flying ant division of the regatta! We hadn't realised that the entire event was handicapped so it was a great surprise when his name was called in first place. I didn't get any good photos as it was all a bit rushed and I was not ready at all.

As it was Australia Day all the kids were dressed up in their red, white & blue. There were lots of flags, tattoos and very patriotic children. It was a great day! After presentations all the campers had to pack up and leave the yacht club. Some of our friends came back to our house for a drink and nibblies before their drive home and then we were left to continue our little holiday.

Tuesday we went out to some wineries and just did the typical Busselton tourist stuff. We had the most beautiful lunch at Amberley Estate winery and had a fabulous family day out.

Wednesday we drove out to Augusta. We stopped at Watershed winery for lunch and then decided to do the guided tour of the Leeuwin lighthouse. It was an awesome sight from the top of the lighthouse and I couldn't believe how strong the wind was - I'd hate to be up there in a storm!

Thursday was the day we had to come home, much to everyone's disappointment. We didn't have to rush though so we took the kids out to the end of the Busselton Jetty to see the Underwater Observatory. I had never been there before and was quite impressed. The tour guide said that it was the best day they had seen in ages in terms of visibility, the windows were clean and the water was incredibly clear. We saw loads of fish and it kept the kids entertained for ages!

We had lunch that day at The Goose Cafe right at the foot of the jetty. The food was amazing and the kids were totally thrilled with their choice of mocktails!

I think I'll leave this post here. I have stacks more to catch up but right now I'd better get the washing hung out and the floors cleaned. I'm going to try to get my housework sorted today so that I can do some scrapping later on. I'm still keeping up with my project 365, just a little behind in photographing and uploading the layouts. I promise that will be a big catch up in the near future.

Have a great day and try to keep cool - or warm if you are in the UK!

Kim ♥

A quick update!

2009-01-26T06:18:00.003+09:00

Happy Australia Day!

We are on holidays in Busselton and having a fantastic time. Tom and the two big kids drove down on Thursday afternoon and Taylah and I came down Friday. Haydn and Emily have been busy sailing so we've spent the last two days on the beach and haven't done much else. I'm so pleased with how well our kids have done in the sailing so far. They still have one race left this morning but they've done amazingly well! Emily has finished all of her races and believe me some of them have been very challenging, particularly the one yesterday afternoon. It was a really long, hot course for the poor little kids and there was absolutely NO wind! Emily has had two 5th and one 4th place so she's doing really well! Haydn has had an amazing regatta and I'm just about bursting with excitement for him. At presentations last night he collected two FIRST place flags!

I have a tonne of photos and I'm keeping up with my project 365 photos so I will share them later in the week. Right now I have one photo that I think is pretty awesome. This yacht sailing off in the sunset is actually a remote control boat that was a few metres in front of me. I think it could pass as a Sydney to Hobart yacht though!

Today there is more sailing followed by presentations late this afternoon. Mum and Dad will go home sometime through the day and I think we might see if some of our friends want to come here for a BBQ dinner tonight. The next few days will be real holiday mode and I'm really going to make the most of the last week of school holidays. When we go home Thursday it will be full on again with the girls returning to ballet on Friday :(

OK time to get the kiddos moving. Have a wonderful day however you spend it. I'll be back soon with stacks of photos!

Kim ♥

How a week can change things....

2009-01-18T16:14:00.005+09:00

Yes I have been MIA and thank you to those people who have e-mailed me to say they want to see more of my project 365. I have been keeping up with the photos and the layouts but haven't had the energy or inclination to share them this week.

I don't want to go into too much detail here but our world has been turned upside down in the last week. My dear Mum is sick and to say that the whole family is devastated is a total understatement. I'll keep you posted on her progress but at the moment we are still finding out the details and waiting to hear what her treatment plan will entail.

This hasn't been much of a fun week of holidays for the kids but they totally understand and they have been really good. Last weekend we had a fun day out on Saturday. Tom and I decided we wanted a day out so took the kids up to Hillarys for the day. We had a beautiful lunch at Portofinos, did some shopping, Tom and Haydn dreamed about the huge multi million dollar boats in the harbour and on the way home we even had time for an hour of wandering around Ikea. It was a great family day out and it formed the topic for my layout of that day.

Sunday we had a 'home day' and the photos that I used for my layout were just ones that I took outside late in the day. Our kids love to play outside just before dark on a hot night and I get some of my favourite photos of them at this time of day.

Monday was the day that we found out about Mum. I did put together a layout but I would rather keep that fairly private right now, it was a tough day! Tuesday afternoon Taylah decided that it was time she got brave and tried to ride her bike again. Taylah got this bike for Christmas 2007 but it was really too big for her. It has sat in the shed for a whole year unused and now it is just the right size. It didn't take long before she was off and riding unassisted - yay!

Wednesday we spent the day at Marnie's with Mum. The kids played in the pool and I loved some of the pics I got of them that day. I even remembered to get one of little Isla!

Thursday we spent the day at home and I attempted to get the girls to clean their rooms. They were not even phased that they were the project 365 topic for the day - name & shame is not a game my kids succumb to - the rooms are still not really done!

Friday I took the kids back to Marnie's. Marnie had to take Cody to an appointment so my cousin Wendy and I sat with the other kids while they went out. We all went swimming and despite the stress of the situation (waiting for Mum to have tests done) we had a great day. The kids are all so good together and how could you not smile with this little cherub around? I stayed for fish & chips with Marnie and Dan that night while Tom took the kids to his sister's birthday drinks. I am sorry I missed seeing Liddy but I hope they can understand that I just wasn't up to seeing people that night.

Saturday Haydn had sailing in the afternoon, the first race since before Christmas. He didn't do well at all in the race but it was nice to be back at the club with friends and doing what feels normal. Janine and Georgie came down to see us and to have a few drinks and I'm so glad they did, I felt so much better after chatting and laughing with you girls. Taylah and Georgie took some photos for us so that was the topic for my day #17 layout.

Today we've done nothing again and I haven't even taken a photo of the day yet. I have no idea what this week will bring but I do have a class at JS on Thursday night I'll be heading off to Busselton first thing Friday. I'm so looking forward to our little holiday even though 3 days of it is full on with sailing - lots of photo opportunities!

Over the past few weeks I've been given a couple of awards so I'll have to put some effort in and acknowledge them in the correct way. I really do appreciate them girls and I promise to pass them on... soon!

Till next time take care and stay safe.

Kim ♥

I love school holidays!

2009-01-10T09:58:00.007+09:00

These holidays are going too fast! Even though we haven't done a lot I can feel them disappearing and before we know it we will be getting the kids ready to go back to school. A few weeks left yet but I wish it was longer.

Thursday morning I asked Janine if she wanted to join us at the movies as we were going to see this...

We met at the cinema at 1.30pm with 7 girls and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was such a beautiful story but the ending was very difficult for us to watch for us having lost our gorgeous girls only a couple of months ago. After the movie we decided to go to McDonalds for a coffee and to try to get some more photos of the kids.

Yesterday Marnie asked us to go to her house for a swim so I grabbed a tonne of food for lunch and we headed off. The kids love playing there and for the most part they all get on really well so it was quite an easy afternoon for us.

I've been keeping up with my 365 journal, I haven't taken a photo of yesterday's page though so will do that when I finish up here. This is Thursday's page.

Today I've got a 'to-do' list a mile long. I've already filled the washing line and have at least that much more to get through. My family is now almost all out of bed so I think I'll try to enlist some help. My goal is to get caught up on my DT work for Just Scrapbooking today so I can deliver it tomorrow and then to try to do something to contribute to the Fiskars blog.

Whatever you are doing this weekend have a good one and stay safe.

Kim ♥

January Day 7...

2009-01-07T20:11:00.004+09:00

Wow already a week gone of the new year. Somehow I don't think this one will go any slower than 2008 did - what a shame!

Today I did decide to go to the funeral. It was the father of one of my good friends. I didn't actually know him apart from having had the obligatory introductions a couple of times over the past few years. I met another friend at a central location and we drove to Fremantle together. It was a very emotional funeral which as funerals always do, made me think long and hard about my life and what I really want out of it.

I came home to find that the trampoline man had arrived to fit a new mat to our 9 year old trampoline, a pretty good life I'd say for one mat that has lived in the sun for it's entire life. Taylah's friend Alicia was also here by the time I got home so it was all go... I made the kids lunch, did tonnes of washing, tidied up and then did 2 more layouts that needed to be crossed off my DT to do list... yay I'm getting there Jordie!

Late this afternoon Tom called me to pass on a message that he had received but before I got to return the call another of my friends phoned me to tell us her terribly exciting news. These friends have been trying forever to have a baby and have been waiting almost as long again to adopt a baby from overseas. This week their phone call finally came and they will be travelling to China in a few weeks time to collect their precious 20 month old girl.

This news was so uplifting but I couldn't help thinking how unfair life can be, how paradoxical that one of my friends is so sad while another (and they know each other too) can be celebrating the happiest day of her life.

My photo and layout of the day tied in so well with these deep thoughts I was having, Emily was blowing bubbles, quietly and alone, it was all very serene actually. I took some fantastic photos and while doing so I realised how similar life and bubbles are... if you can read the layout you can see for yourself what I was getting at.

So tonight we've had takeaway pizza for dinner, I'm on my second glass of wine and the kids are still outside playing at 8.30pm. Alicia is still here and will be until tomorrow sometime but that is all good because (for the most part) the kids are all occupied and behaving well. I'm thinking I'll get the girls' beds ready then have a shower and curl up with my book (I finally started Twilight last night).

Have a great Thursday everyone and give your loved ones an extra hug tonight...

Kim ♥

Tuesday....

2009-01-06T21:15:00.006+09:00

I didn't get here yesterday as we had a pretty busy kind of day. We started off with an early morning trip to the beach with my family. It was a gorgeous morning, very warm and calm and a couple of hours slipped by very quickly. I mainly stayed at the coffee shop that overlooked where the kids were playing and 'babysat' the gorgeous little munchkin, Isla. Just check out this bundle of cuteness...

After the kids were done swimming and playing on the beach we headed home to do some tidying up and to pack away the remains of Christmas 2008. I whipped up my very quick layout for my project 365 and then we had to go out again.

My brothers Darrin and Cameron have been here, staying at Mum & Dad's place for the past month but the time has gone way too quickly and last night it was time to have a BBQ to say goodbye to them and their girlfriends. Christie flew out at 5am this morning with Cam following on a flight 12 hours later at 5pm this afternoon. Darrin and Melanie leave tomorrow. We will miss all of you guys but Darrin & Mel I'm so glad that you were here to share your special news with us at Christmas... shhhh don't tell everyone but there will be Grandchild #12 for Mum & Dad in the middle of this year! How darned exciting!!

We got home about 10pm last night and at 2am I really regretted the fact that I'd had just another glass of wine to finish off the bottle. Haydn woke up sick and let's suffice to say that it was not a pleasant thing to be dealing with at that time of the night. Thankfully his stomach settled quickly and he felt better but I was wide awake after all that and couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. I'm struggling a bit right now for it!

Today I wanted Haydn to have a quiet day so was pleased when Tom said he was going to work at home. It gave the girls and I an opportunity to go shopping and spend some vouchers that we had. Everyone got something from our little shopping spree but my favourite purchase of the day was a gold bead for my Pandora bracelet. That was the topic for day #6/365.

I'm still trying to decide what to do tomorrow. I'm a bit torn to say the least. I made arrangements for Taylah to have a friend over tomorrow but have since found that my good friend's Dad's funeral is 10.30am. I think I'll mull it over tonight and see if I can work something out. Right now I'm feeling rather tired due to my major lack of sleep last night so bed is looking pretty good!

Have a great day tomorrow.

Kim ♥

Back again...

2009-01-04T18:12:00.003+09:00

Here are the two layouts from yesterday that I photographed today.

Today we had another quiet day but the kids are starting to get a bad case of cabin fever. Tomorrow we are going to the beach in the morning and then to Marnie's for a BBQ tomorrow night. My brothers are just about ready to leave so I think I need to work on getting some photos of them with the kids. Things could be very different the next time we see them!!

My day #4 layout for project 365 is about one of the new board games that the kids got for Christmas. Today I was sooooo mean and made them turn off the computers and TV and told them to entertain themselves. It took a while and a whole lot of whining but eventually they decided to play this game. Technically it didn't follow the rules as it was a DVD game and required the TV but at least they were playing together and hopefully learning something about sealife at the same time.

I wonder if I'll find some enthusiasm to scrap again tonight. I'm really looking forward to giving the new camera a workout at the beach tomorrow morning! Till then take care and have a great night.

Kim ♥

My favourite layouts from 2008

2009-01-04T09:49:00.004+09:00

As I was blog hopping yesterday I saw that Kathie had uploaded her favourite layouts from 2008. I have done this in the past so she has inspired me to look back over last year and gather together my top 10.

I'm sure there are lots of other favourites from last year but for some reason a lot of them don't seem to be accessible. I think these ones represent a good variety of what I did though even if most of them are not 'my' family. Are you going to show us your top 10? If you do so please leave a comment and a link for us to check them out.

I scrapped again last night so I'll be back later today with that and day 4's layout for Project 365.

Kim ♥

A Scrappy Day...

2009-01-03T17:58:00.005+09:00

I really need to be cooking dinner but I thought since I haven't started it yet then what difference will another few minutes make?

We've had another very quiet day here with Tom and the kids vegging out for most of the day while I did some much needed scrapping. I still wasn't motivated to attempt any of the things I 'need' to do but I had some fun and hopefully I've found my mojo again (or at least his little sister LOL!)

I caught up to day #3 of my project 356 journal and I'm so looking forward to seeing how everyone else is tackling this. If you are doing a project 365 please feel free to put a link in a comment and I'll be sure to check it out! So without further ado here are my next two mini layouts...

I've also completed two 12 x 12" layouts in the past 24 hours and I'm actually quite happy with them. I have another very close to finished, just need to decide how to add journalling to it.

Well as I said I really should get dinner started or I'll have a mutiny on my hands. More scrapping is the plan for the rest of the weekend so stay tuned!

Kim ♥

Day #1/365

2009-01-02T14:14:00.003+09:00

Yay I've started my daily album which has been nicknamed 'project 365'! The book I'm using is nothing fancy, just a blank A5 art journal and I'll use my abundant scrapping stash to decorate each page as I go. I'll probably keep my pages fairly simple and maintain the focus on the photos but who knows, some days I may be more energetic than others.

This is the cover of my album:

My day #1 photo is Emily jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers on. It was late afternoon and a very warm day. I love the idea of my big girl 'jumping into the new year'.

Just hanging around again today, totally loving the fact that there is nothing we have to do. I think Christie is coming over to see the kids later so they will love that. I think I'll go and plan my day #2 photo.

Enjoy the rest of the day!

Kim ♥

A new beginning....

2009-01-01T15:20:00.003+09:00

Don't you just love the start of a new year? As I mentioned in my last post it is one of my favourite times of the year. I love nothing more than I like a fresh start and am full of energy and enthusiasm at the start of January... How long will it last I wonder?

I really just wanted to pop in today and wish anybody who visits here a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's to a wonderful 2009!

I'm going to embark on a little project this year whereby I will endeavour to take photos every day for the full 365. I will then be keeping a journal of these photos along with my memories, feelings, plans, grievances and inspirations. So as not to make my task too daunting I am aiming to have a minimum of 52 journal entries, one for each week of the year although if I can manage more then that will be more than good! I've made up my journal today and as soon as the cover is dry I will be able to share it and start working on my first entry. This is something that I've seen done by several people over the past couple of years but this year I think Becky Higgins is the inspiration.

New Year's Eve was a relatively low key affair this year but a most enjoyable night too! We had my family, Mum & Dad, Rodney & Dana, Darrin & Melanie, Cameron, Marnie and all the kids here for a BBQ. Our good friends Kim & Peter came too and I hope they had a good night (I'm sure the boys did). We ate too much but thankfully I didn't drink a huge amount so I didn't feel any worse for the late night when I got up this morning. I took a stack of photos and here are just some of what I got but I think it sums up our New Year's Eve pretty well.

Now I have just one more photo that I need to share. Take a good long look at this next photo because it is highly probable that this is the cleanest you will ever see this room! I don't clean my scrap room very often and as any of my good scrapping buddies (yes Janine, Maursie and Kylie) will attest I am a very messy scrapper! It has taken me 3 days to get this room clean and organised and I totally love it so perhaps I should make a New Year's Resolution to keep it clean (hmmmm that would probably involve giving up scrapping all together so not really an option).

I think I'll leave this here, make a coffee and grab my book. I've got about 10 pages left to read and the Twilight series is calling me very loudly! I'll be back when I've done my first page of my 365 journal...

Till then enjoy the new beginnings...

Kim ♥

The downhill slide!

2008-12-30T09:05:00.004+09:00

To use the words of an old favourite song...

Another one bites the dust!

Here we are on the second last day of 2008 and I'm still wondering where it went. It was a good year for us, nothing phenomenal happened and we had our usual ups and downs but all in all it wasn't a bad year.
'
I love the start of a new year, the hope and the 'newness' of it all is just so inspiring. I'm not going to make any rash resolutions for 2009, I'm just going to continue working on making everything even better than it is now. I want to spend more time with my little family, I want to get our home fixed up just the way I want it, I want to continue my efforts to lose weight and to increase my fitness and I want to prioritise more me time into my life...

We have spent the last few days hanging out and doing very little. Saturday Taylah spent the day at Alicia's house and even slept there for the night. We went out and did some things that needed doing through the day and then spent Saturday night playing Tom's new Wii game...

Soooo much fun!!

Sunday I got up with the intention of cleaning my house however in a moment of insanity I decided that I should start with my totally out of control scrapbooking room. I started by trying to tidy it up but soon realised that there was no way I could ever get it clean without a full overhaul! 3 trips to Howards Storage World and many hours later I had a whole wall of cube storage and a much more organised system (although still a work in progress). I'll finish it off today and try to take photos. While I was busy inside Tom spent all day in the garden, tidying, pulling out dead and overgreen bushes and mulching. What a difference that has made!

Monday I was planning to clean (hmmm see the pattern here?) but got a call from Marnie asking if we wanted to go for a swim. Of course cleaning up didn't stand a chance given that option so we packed up and joined the rest of the family for lunch and a swim. We stopped off at the shops on the way home to get BBQ meat for dinner and we finally found a slip & slide and a blow up swimming pool (at Red Dot) for the kids to use on New Year's Eve. After dinner the kids and Tom were playing basketball so I grabbed the camera and had a play in the beautiful dusk light. The basketball very quickly turned into a water gun fight so I had 3 very wet children!

Today we are going to have drinks with friends this afternoon but this morning is definitely the time that I HAVE to clean up! This family room is still covered in the kids' presents and the washing is piled high on the couch too. The scrapping room is almost done so I'll finish that and try to resist the urge to sit and mess it up again - oops!

Tomorrow I'll spend all day getting ready for our New Year's Eve gathering so I'm not sure if I'll get back here again before next year. To anyone who reads my little blog I wish you and your family a safe, happy and healthy 2009.

Kim ♥

Can you hear the peace???

2008-12-27T17:56:00.006+09:00

My house is so quiet today, totally blissful with relaxed, calm, cooperative children (well only two children because one is having a sleepover). After all their hype before Christmas I was seriously wondering if I was going to be able to bear the rest of the holidays but now I'm far more optimistic. Emily is playing with her new Wii Music game, Haydn is clearing out his desk and setting up his laptop and new stuff in his room and Tom is outside fiddling with the sprinklers so all is good in my world.

OK so perhaps my house is a tad messy LOL - hmmm perhaps that is the understatement of the year... check out this mess! This photo was taken yesterday but not much has changed except a little of the mess on the floor has been binned. Tomorrow I really must have a good clean up session!

Last night was fantastic as I had anticipated. It is always lovely to catch up with my cousins and was wonderful to meet the new bubbas and to see some of the others that have grown so much since last year. Here are a few of the photos I took. I was worried that they would be too blown out by the big flash on my camera but now I'm happy I used it (and will use it way more often). These are how the photos came out of the camera (except for the red eyes that I fixed).

Once again we ate too much, drank enough (but thankfully not too much) and came home just before midnight totally exhausted and ready to fall into bed. Thanks Marnie for two fabulous days, I know how much work it is and one day I'll take my turn (any time anyone wants to make Xmas here!)

Today we've had a quiet kind of day. I got up this morning to take Taylah to her friend Alicia's house. She was supposed to go there to play last Saturday but she was just too sick and we didn't want to share bugs with friends in the week before Christmas. After dropping her off I went on a mission... with no luck :( If anyone knows of anywhere that I can buy a slip & slide (water slide) and have it in time for New Year's Eve I would be most appreciative of a heads up! We went out and did a few things this afternoon and then when Tom got sick of 'shopping' and came home Haydn and I headed out to finish what we wanted to do. We went to the shops, did what we needed to do and still had a bit of time before the shops shut so we went 'browsing'. I came home with one of these gorgeous jackets

Haydn did OK too - he came home with 5 tee shirts from Jay Jays and one that he just had to get for his Dad (let me tell you Tom is not terribly impressed but I thought it was pretty funny). Haydn cracks me up these days. He is growing up so fast and his sense of humour is developing wayyyy too well! I love spending time with him on his own as he really is a different kid without other people around.

The next few days are looking pretty good for us. We are going to catch up with our friends Kim & Peter, have another day out (and party it seems) with my brother Darrin and his partner, clean up the house a bit and get ready for New Year's Eve. The weather is going to get warm so it will be how the school holidays should be!

Right now my family is asking if we are having dinner tonight so I'd better go and get it organised. We are only having ham and salad so totally easy! Enjoy the next few days and hopefully I'll get back to share some scrapping really soon. Take care...

Kim ♥

And so that was Christmas!

2008-12-26T12:17:00.006+09:00

Wow, I can not believe that Christmas has been and gone already! With all that effort and planning over the past few weeks it is now a stack of great memories, lots of blurry photos and a huge mess of new goodies that need to find homes.

We had a fantastic day, so much fun from beginning to end. The beginning was 6am when Haydn's alarm went off - yes he set his alarm just in case he forgot to wake up!! Within minutes the kids were all up closely followed by Tom and I. I made them wait while I made a coffee and then the presents started flying!

I was the lucky one who got the first present and boy was I happy when Tom handed me this...

I also got two lenses, a 55-250mm IS f/4-5.6 and a 10-20mm f4-5.6, screen protectors, and filters. I am sooo happy!

The kids were ripping into their presents frantically and I was trying to keep up with them but I was pretty unsuccessful. The light in the family room at that time of the day is awful so there was way too much blur going on. Tom's Mum and Richard came around at 8am to see the kids and to watch as they unwrapped the presents from under the tree. We had coffee and croissants and even a glass of champagne before they headed off to John & Ann's for lunch, leaving us to get ready for the rest of our day. As I said the photos were pretty dodgy but they are what I have. I'm sure with a bit of time and the magic of photoshop I can make them a little better but these are what came straight off the camera...

Instead of going through everything that the kids got I think I'll take photos later today when I've tidied up and sorted out a bit and you can see their stash for yourself.

We had Christmas lunch at Marnie's which was a chaotic day for sure but oh so much fun! With 17 adults and 13 kids the house was FULL but we wouldn't have it any other way. Christmas is a huge production for us but everyone enjoys it and everyone contributes in some way to lighten the load. I took tonnes of photos but again lots of them are less than great. Here are just a few shots I got of the fun and madness!

We got home about 10.30pm and the kids all fell into bed totally exhausted. We were not far behind the kids but first I had to check out the photos I'd taken and figure out a couple of the Nintendo DS games that the kids were having trouble with. All in all a very happy and exhausting Christmas Day!

Today we are all relaxing a bit amongst the aftermath mess. I've got piles of presents all around me, the girls are playing with the new Wii games and dressing baby dolls in their new clothes. Tom and Haydn have just gone off to spend Haydn's Xmas money on a new PSP game and memory stick (and a new bigger memory card for my camera). It is nearly 1pm and I'm still in my jammies!!

Tonight we are going back to Marnie's for the annual Yates family Boxing Day BBQ where all my Mum's family get together. It is always a great night and the kids have a ball! Every year there are more and more kids and this year I think we have 5 new babies - I'll be in baby heaven!!

On that note I think I had better get the BBQ meat out of the freezer and have a shower. I want to start tidying this mess up and have a salad to make for tonight. I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas Day. I'll be looking forward to seeing all the photos and reading about the big day as I blog hop over the next few days.

Stay safe especially on the roads and enjoy your last few days of 2008!

Kim ♥

It's almost here!

2008-12-24T08:19:00.003+09:00

Well it is almost Xmas day! Yep the kids are wound up like springs, my to-do list is 3 mile long, my brain ticked over all night with all the stuff that I need to do so I slept about 3 hours and the jolly fat guy in red comes to visit tonight!

I finally managed to get photos of my 3 little horrors yesterday. It took a fair amount of bribery to get them to cooperate and lots of the photos are really fit for the rubbish but I eventually got enough photos to create a really quick, easy digital Christmas card.

Last night we had friends over for drinks and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. I remember last year feeling really down and miserable because I felt like everyone else was 'celebrating' Christmas and I totally missed it so this year I took it in my hands to make sure I had some fun! We had heaps of wine, loads of nibblies, pleasant (even though it was cool) weather and 8 well behaved children which all just added up to a great night - thanks everyone!!

Today I need to get moving... Amongst other things I need to do grocery shopping, baking, cook prawns, make at least another two calendars (last minute gifts), wrap more presents, clean my house, double check that I have presents for everyone (my worst nightmare is forgetting somebody!) and getting everyone to Xmas Eve mass by 6.30pm. Perhaps I should start by doing the calendars while the rest of the house is still sleeping???

So on that note I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas. Here's hoping all your wishes come true and please remember that your family is your most precious gift. I will be especially thinking of my special friends (and family) that have had such a sad week - I tell you 3 lots of very sad news in the week before Xmas is more than enough for me! This Christmas will not be the same for three families but I do hope that you all manage to find the joy in whatever way you can. Hugs to you all!

Take care everyone!

Kim ♥

More Christmas Goodness...

2008-12-21T12:29:00.004+09:00

Although I'm enjoying the down time I really am starting to get frustrated with having to sit around the house waiting for Taylah to get better. She still has a high fever today and is talking like she is all choked up in the throat. Poor little chickie... It looks like we wont be going out this evening for the BBQ.

In between loads of washing and spurts of enthusiasm for cleaning this house up I've been getting my dose of Christmas spirit from the Grumpy Old Men & Women.

I love these DVDs and they always manage to make the scrooge in me feel so much better.

Anyway I was just popping in to share some more of the gorgeous Christmas goodies I found on Flickr...

Enjoy the rest of your day!
Kim ♥

Some Christmas Goodness....

2008-12-20T20:27:00.004+09:00

I've been sitting here listening to Emily play Christmas Carols on the piano and suddenly I found myself looking at some of the Christmas eye candy on Flickr. Check this out...

If I get a chance I'll be back with more tomorrow...

In the meantime, Taylah is still sick and I am thinking it is a feverish throat kind of virus. Hopefully she'll be better by tomorrow or we wont be joining my family for my brother's birthday BBQ, I just can't risk sharing bugs with all the other kids in time for Christmas.

Had another really quiet day today with some chilling, some crafting and a whole lot of reflecting. I got some very sad news today so please Kylie know that we are all thinking of you and Craig tonight. I also have another friend who is very close to losing her Dad and this is all just weighing heavily on my mind right now. It just makes me realise how much I treasure each and every member of my family and how important Christmas is to us.

On that dreary note I think I'll leave this here, go and tuck my sick girl into bed and head off for a nice hot shower.

Kim ♥

Just what I don't need!

2008-12-20T08:57:00.004+09:00

I've been enjoying a few quiet days, chilling out and catching my breath. After what has been the most hectic few weeks possible it is lovely to have some down time before the final onslaught of Christmas.

When Tracey came to pick up Shane on Wednesday she offered to take Haydn home with her for a night and then she called the next afternoon and said he could stay another night as well. The girls loved that they had the house (and moreso the TV) to themselves and it gave me time to do a bit of scrapping.

I have done 3 layouts and am nearly finished a 4th this week but the first 3 are DT work so a sneak peek is all I can share just now.

Yesterday morning Haydn came home so I had all 3 of the kiddos home for the day before the girls went out with friends last night. Emily had been invited out to dinner and a movie with a friend from school and this friend's younger sister had asked if Taylah could go too. They went to chinese for dinner and then saw Madagascar 2 before arriving home around 9.30pm. As I was standing at the front door talking to the Mum who had brought my girls home, Taylah ran through the house saying she was going to be sick!! My poor friend was horrified as Taylah had not mentioned feeling ill but sure enough I had a huge mess to clean up when I returned back inside... grrr! The poor little chook is still not well today, she has a high fever and says she still feels sick in the stomach even though she hasn't vomited again... I have no idea where this illness could have come from! We haven't left the house since Tuesday!

On happier news I'm pretty excited about the fact that our little Jacaranda tree has its first ever flowers! We planted the tree last year and didn't expect to see flowers this summer at all.

OK I'd better move... Tom just asked Haydn to make a cup of tea and I don't think he has a clue what he is doing so I'd better go and rescue the situation. Have a great day!

Kim ♥

A teenager!!

2008-12-17T16:55:00.006+09:00

I promised to come back and tell the rest (or at least some more) of our story from the past couple of weeks so here I am. I'm waiting for a friend to come and pick up her son so I have that much time LOL.

Well probably the biggest and most exciting thing that happened in our house this week is that our boy became a teenager. I'm still not sure how I feel about that, very mixed I think. So proud of the young man that Haydn is becoming and that I get glimpses of every now and then but on the other hand I can't help but feel sad that my only son is not my baby any more.

His birthday was yesterday which was also the girls' last day of school for the year. Haydn was up REALLY early, totally excited and full of hope that he was actually going to get the present of his dreams. Of course we did indulge him this year (as if we don't always) as a boy only turns 13 once in a lifetime! His one and only present from us was one of these little beauties...

He did need access to a new computer in the house as our two desktop machines are now beyond dinosaurs and it was getting very frustrating for me having to wait in line to use my own laptop so we decided that this was the best option. Being the brand new, just released MacBook it will last his high school years easily and probably into whatever further education he pursues so we see it as a good investment. Let me tell you he was one happy boy! The girls gave him a Wii game, a DVD and a couple of tee shirts so he did have more than one gift to unwrap and then he got spoiled last night when all the family came to see him.

I didn't get any decent photos of Haydn yesterday. It was such a busy day and the only time my camera came out was the early morning and the photos were less than flattering. I did however get some great shots of him on Monday. I had to do my homework for the camera course I was doing and Haydn offered to help me out.

Can you see his hair properly in these photos? Haydn asked me weeks ago if he could get blonde streaks in his hair so we made a deal that he could have them done on the first day of the school holidays and that way they would be grown out by the time he goes back to school in February so that is what we did. On Wednesday Haydn and I had a lovely morning at the hairdresers, sitting together having foils in our hair. The poor kid was mortified when he realised how they did it and how long it took but as soon as he saw the result he was totally stoked! His mates are so envious of him that it is hilarious to watch them with him - they keep touching his hair!

Well I'm sure Tracey will be here any minute so I will finish up again here. I do have just a bit more to update - nothing terribly exciting so will get back when I can.

Kim ♥

School Holidays - Yay!!

2008-12-17T08:55:00.006+09:00

Oh how blissful is this? I can't remember the last time I just got to have a quiet day at home, to let the kids sleep in and to not have to be anywhere at any time. I'm certainly going to make the most of these school holidays! Life has been so busy this last few weeks I wondered several times whether I would actually survive it all... but so far I have and I think the worst is over.

I'll try to update as quickly as I can...

Tuesday last week was Haydn's last day of school. I can't believe that he has already finished a full year of high school and that he only has 4 years of school left. He's had a fantastic year and loves the school we chose for him. His teachers are fabulous and for the most part his results are very good. We got Haydn's report in the mail this week and although there is room for improvement (if he would put in just a bit more effort) in English the rest of his report was glowing. I was most impressed with the 'A' he got for maths and we have a deal that he will work harder on English next year. I can't ask for more than that.

The girls have had a very busy last couple of weeks at school with swimming lessons, class parties and all the usual end of year fun. For the first time in 3 years I've been happy with the way swimming went and they both had a decent teacher! Both of them passed their stages easily and came home smiling and bearing certificates. I'm still tossing up whether they will do vacation swimming this year and we have conflicting opinions... Emily wants to do it but Taylah doesn't.... I'll think about it and see how I feel when it is time to start.

The two girls both brought home excellent reports - I am so proud of them both! Emily has come a long way this year, she is happier, more confident, has built (and rebuilt) some beautiful friendships and all of this is reflected in her academic achievement. She is definitely my most driven child! Taylah's report is great too but you can definitely see the different personality. For Taylah school is far more social and she has been a bit of a class clown this year. Her teacher is constantly telling me how 'funny' Taylah is and how she turns on 'the blonde' when it suits her. Her grades are all either at target or above target so I'm very happy.

On Monday the girls found out their classes for next year. Miss Emily is extremely happy.... Taylah is moderately happy LOL. Emily's class is being kept together and they have the two teachers that Emily really wanted! They will have the teacher who has been the male deputy for the last few years for half of the week and then an older, very experienced, very lovely female teacher for the other days. It should be a winning combination and I'm really looking forward to seeing the result! Taylah actually has the teacher that we didn't really want....eek! I've made the decision though to just go in with an open mind, not talk about it in front of Taylah and just to go with the flow. This teacher has a reputation for favouring the girls so we have that on our side and also she is the teacher that coordinates the dance for the performing arts festival every year so hopefully Taylah will be in her good books for that too. Only time will tell but then in the scheme of things it is only one year and Taylah will be OK. She has a couple of good friends in the class, even if they are not the friends she was hoping to be with.... she'll be fine...

Dancing is finally over for another year - yay! I love that my girls dance and that they are both so good at it but I was honestly over it all by the end of the concert this year. It has been really full on towards the end of the year but the results were absolutely worth every minute. The concert was brilliant! I helped backstage at the dress rehearsal on Friday and then again at the matinee performance on Sunday. Sunday night was my reward and I got to sit back and watch the show! I didn't get a lot of photos but I am hoping that Janine will share if she got any shots of my girls. Here are a few that I did get...

Well I'd better finish this post here as the natives are getting restless. Haydn has a friend here and I've promised to cook them breakfast. I made them wait until the girls woke up so now I guess I'd better follow through on my promise and feed them all. I still have at least another post to go before I'm up to date so I'll be back...

Have a great day!
Kim ♥

Busy days, ballet & bum fruit...

2008-12-08T11:45:00.007+09:00

So much for my effort to blog every day in December... I really am hopeless! As usual it has been a crazy busy week but I haven't really achieved all that much. I did hang out with Mum and the kids a bit while Marnie was in hospital but I can't recall doing much more than that - I assure you I did it, just don't remember it!

Friday was the girls' last real ballet lesson for the year and boy what a relief it will be after Sunday's concert when we finally get our afternoons back. I love the girls dancing but this year I am really over the driving back and forth that is involved. Next year we have 4 days of it so I'm going to really enjoy this break! I have to share my 'proud Mummy' moment from last week. The girls got their ballet exam results on Friday and I was so pleased with how they both did. Taylah did her grade 2 exam and got a great score which resulted in a high merit. Emily however totally blew me away when she handed me her certificate for her grade 5 exam.... see for yourself how this girl did!!

We are so proud of her!

Saturday the kids had sailing as usual so I stayed home and caught up some washing before I went to meet them at lunch time. After lunch two of the other ladies and I took 9 girls to the movies to see High School Musical 3. We all really enjoyed it and I was so happy to see a movie with the kids that was wholesome and fun but not full of sex, swearing, and super skinny girls. The kids have the other HSM DVDs but although I'm sure I've seen all of them in bits and pieces I don't think I've really seen one from start to finish... now I want to watch them all so that's on our to do list for the days before Christmas. For the most part the kids were really well behaved. Certainly the 6 that I was in charge of were fantastic... the other 3... well lets say I was very glad the other Mums were there LOL!

Saturday night Emily went out with Hayley to a Christmas party so she was super happy. I dropped Emily and Hayley at Hayley's house after the movie and headed back to the yacht club. A while later Dad came to collect Haydn and Taylah and took them out to a Christmas party... so they too were happy! Tom and I had a few childfree hours but totally wasted the time watching TV at home.... hmmmm...

Sunday Tom and Haydn took some minnows (boats) to a yacht club in Perth as a demonstration. This club is looking at taking on some minnows so it will be a great boost for the Minnow association in WA if they do. Taylah and I had a lazy day at home and I finally got some scrapping done... well I made an OTP Christmas tree using Cloud 9 papers.

While I was sitting working on this at the kitchen bench Taylah suddenly cracked up laughing. Seriously I worry about the intelligence of my children at times and this one example takes the cake! She was just about rolling on the floor and it took her ages to get it together enough to talk and tell me what was so funny. Eventually she managed to get out the words... It looks like a BUM!! This is what she was laughing at...

Definitely a worry!

Sunday afternoon we went to see Marnie & Dan so that Haydn and Tom could meet little Isla. She is such a little sweetie but I didn't think to take the camera with me. It was so nice sitting there. We had a glass of wine, cuddled the bubba and the kids all played (for the most part) nicely. We went home about 5.30pm in case Miss Emily had decided to come back to us but at 6.30 she finally called to say she'd had dinner and could she sleep at Hayley's house again??? Normally I would never let the kids sleep over on a school night but the girls had it all sorted and the truth is that she would have been in bed earlier at Hayley's than she would have here so there was no harm. Hayley is a gorgeous kid and I'm more than happy to encourage their friendship. I just had to pack Em's swimming stuff and school shoes and deliver them to her at school this morning.

So this coming week is going to be a blur. I'll blog when I can but I can't promise anything! Tomorrow is Haydn's last day of school, Wednesday I have a hair appointment and my brothers arrive from the UK, Thursday I HAVE to go shopping for presents for the dancing teachers and for my last two Christmas presents, Friday we have the dress rehearsal for the concert, Saturday is Tom's family Xmas dinner and then Sunday we have two performances for the dance concert... I don't know about the kids but I know I will be exhausted by the end of the week!

Have a good one and enjoy the last few kid free days!

Kim ♥

Introducing....

2008-12-03T22:18:00.002+09:00

My newest and littlest niece, Isla Jayde!

Isn't she just the sweetest little doll?

Isla was born this afternoon to my sister, Marnie and her husband Dan. She is a little sister for Lachlan, Cody, Niamh, Max & Blake and is bound to be one much loved little bubba. I took the girls up to the hospital this evening after their dancing lessons and they are both totally smitten with Isla... hardly surprising!

Stay tuned for plenty more photos of the little princess over the next few weeks. For now I'm off to bed. Night!

Kim ♥

This Boy...

2008-12-02T20:18:00.003+09:00

Yes this one with the really bad hair and the too tanned, shiny face.... the one who used to be my baby boy.... can you believe he is a teenager in two weeks time???

I tried to get some photos of the boy this morning for a layout I have to do for a class at Just Scrapbooking... shame the photos really are not scrappable! I'll have to try again tomorrow or go looking for a smaller, cuter boy... or two LOL!

I spent today doing a bit of this and that, some cleaning, tonnes of washing, some scrapping and then some shopping. I even managed to get to the pool to watch one of the girls' swimming lessons (I'll have to do the other girl tomorrow or Thursday). Tonight I'm agonising over what to do with the layout I started today... Miss Maursie yes it will be on its way just as soon as I decide how I'm going to fix my dilemma (it is OK I just ran out of alphas and can't get any more as they are out of stock everywhere I've looked - eeeek!).

I wonder if I can keep up blogging and taking photos every day for the whole of December???

Kim ♥