Living my dream

A bit of what I've been up to

So it's been a fun wee school holidays so far and so I thought I'd tell you about some of our interesting goings ons....

How about today for starters...

We have alot of chickens, but are getting only 2 or less eggs a day. It's ridiculous. So I decided that it would be a good idea to segregate the chickens that I think 'should' be laying, to teach them this is where I want them to lay, and more importantly, to see just who IS and who isn't laying.

So Andy and I set about. We have a lovely house that none of the chickens are using. It's big enough for 6 chooks. But they all reject it to sleep on poles between trees. Go figure.

So we pop the house in an area that we can segregate off, dig it all up so it's flat, move a post, add in some fencing and dig a trench under one side of the house (the side with no door) so the chooks can get into the larger fenced area too (and once we unsegregate they will get into the main chook area via this route).

We're pretty pleased with ourselves. It looks great. They're using the little tunnel and we will know come Tues/Wed who is/isn't laying. Yes!

Until Andy comes inside after dark and tells me to go look at my 'Stoopid' chickens.

Off I trot with a torch. All bar one are outside the area they should be. 2 are sitting on the roof. 2 are sitting on top of the nesting box. 1 is sitting on top of a piece of rope that is holding some netting. WHAT THE?! So I carefully pick up each one and pop them back into the house on roosts that we specially built for them.

Gotta laugh right?! I can see tomorrow is going to be about how they get out!

What about earlier this week, we went for a bike ride and another volcano climb. We went out to Mt Mangere. It is beautiful. I think Mt Mangere is my new favourite place in Auckland. It was incredibly steep to climb, but once you were at the top it has the most amazing views and is also interesting. There were two trigs for a start. There was a little hill in the middle of the crater. There were rabbit holes and fallen over trees. It was fantastic.

Afterwards we went for a bike around the edge of the harbour. It was about 8kms each way from Ambury farm to the power plant and back. It was an easy ride. But it hurt! We later realised my bike wasn't working as it should (apart from the fact I'm not usually on it that long, grin). But it has meant I've now got a new bike. Yay!! In finding out what was wrong and trying to work out what we could do to fix it, we realised that the one I was riding is 20 years old! So it made it not worth fixing for me. Matt might inherit it. Grin. I know, any excuse to make me feel better about spending money on a new bike that I may or may not have needed. LOL!

Hmmmmm, what else? I've been churning out Scrapbooking projects. Preparing for SENZ, work for PaperHaus, Prima and of course the new event I'm going to be teaching at in June. Check it out here for more information.

And talking about scrapbooking, both Andy and I have been frustrated with the area I scrapbook in for a long time (years!). It's part of the lounge so can get really messy and while I try to keep things in order, and also by shifting things around, there is always any number of boxes hanging around plus the projects I'm working on. A few weeks ago, I'd really had enough and started to think about what I could do. I started searching Trade Me for units that I could use. On Friday, I found one. By last night, it was paid for, picked up, installed and my new area was complete. I even have an area to display some of what I've done. And best of all? You can now walk in that part of the lounge without tripping over things. I LOVE it.

I need to take some photos and will show once I do.

Hope you've had a wonderful week. Still one week of the school holidays to go. I think we'll try and take it nice and easy.

Have a good one.

Sunday Shake Up

Hey there, last week was about crying. This week, we're turning it around and focusing on the laughing.

Did you know that just by smiling you feel better. Uh huh!

So imagine what would happen if you deliberately laugh?!

So your goal this week is to spend 2 minutes a day laughing. Deliberately. Not because someone said something funny. But just because.

Wake up in the morning and start laughing.

I know! You are going to feel really weird laughing at nothing. But then you start laughing at yourself laughing at nothing and before you know it, you're laughing for real and you feel so much better.

It's so worth it!

Dare ya.

SENZ 2013

I've just added SENZ to my "Where I'm teaching" calendar right across there ->. I will be teaching 3-4 classes. One is super special where we'll be creating a series of 12 mini albums contained in a beautiful wooden box. It's going to be longer than a normal class, and slightly more expensive (so much product!!!) but will be well worth it.

The other two definite classes are my normal 'texture throughout' a 2 hour single layout class featuring lots of texture, layers, gorgeous papers and embellishments. Can't wait!

And the other definite is my ever popular '3in1'. I'm working on this as we speak and using the gorgeous new range by Prima called Engraver. It's fantastic because it will work for girls/boys, new/old photos and heritage as well! Another one not to miss.

SENZ is always a fantastic event to be part of. I hope to see you there!

Trying out a new cake design

Today is my nieces 12th birthday. Happy birthday Kathryn!

I was feeling the need to bake, so I rang Von and asked if I could make her cake. Kathryn is into knitting and water/the sea so thinking the knitting would be a little more difficult than I can handle right now, Sarah and I decided on an under the sea cake.

Earlier in the week we googled how to make a mermaid and came across this amazing tutorial. Very easy to follow and hey, apart from a little chubbiness, I recon our mermaid looks pretty good!

I made the mermaid, and some of the starfish and sea shells. Sarah made the octopus and pretty much everything else.

We crushed some vanilla wine biscuits to get a little sand.

We also used some molds to make the fish, the shells and some of the coral.

Sarah and I had a lot of fun decorating this cake. Even if there were some disagreements when I was doing quality control.

Inside it's blue.

I hope Kathryn enjoys eating it tonight as much as Sarah and I had making it.

I love to make little bags

I just adore making little bags. Especially for my classes. I fill them with goodies and give away as prizes.

This is one that I made for my class in Sydney at Scrapbook Superstore.

They are so easy to make and look quite cute. I especially love this yellow one.

I have basic instructions on how I made this bag over on the paperHaus blog.

Sunday shake up

Today is about crying. Sometimes we are like little children having a tanty and just being silly cause we feel hard done by.

Other times we need it. The full on bawl where we end up looking ugly.

But I think that crying helps. In those times of need and if you can't do it, the feeling wells up inside and becomes something else like anger.

Sooooo a bit of a weird one today but its to encourage you to have a jolly good cry. If you need it.

There's no shame in it!!!

Dare ya.

A new challenge for Scrapfest by the sea. We'd love for you to join in!

Hi everyone, Just wanted to let you know we've got a brand new challenge on over at our facebook page (and it was in the newsletter too!).  As always with a challenge, there is a wee prize involved. But the main thing is to get to know each others scrapbooking style and have a bit of fun doing something you might not normally do.

It's called a 'receipe challenge'. And as with with cooking, the challenge has a receipe for you to follow.

Check out the details below:

It’s time for another Scrapfest challenge and this time it’s all about the product. We have a little ‘game’ where whoever would like to take part is going to use the following ‘receipe’ to create a scrapbooking project. But as with all things, I bet they turn out differently! In fact we’re counting on it. How much fun will it be to see all the different takes on the same receipe?!
 
Once you’ve created your project be it a card, a layout, something off the page, or whatever you feel inclined to make, just link it up on our facebook page or Lyn's blog or Trina’s blog and we’ll draw a random name out of a hat to win a great little prize.. 
 
You have until 26th April to complete and upload your project.
 
Now here’s the receipe (you must use EVERYTHING on the list):

1 piece of cardstock (any size) 
At least 4 pieces of patterned paper (any size) 
(so that means you can use any of the above as your base (if a layout) and then use the others pieces in whatever sizes you want to create part of the design) 
At least 5 flowers 
A piece of thread/string/ribbon 
Some texture paste 
Some paint/spray 
A tag (any size) 
Something sparkly 
And 4 photos
 
We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

And guess what? We already have one completed layout up on the Scrapfest by the sea facebook page! Come and check it out!

Don't worry if you're not coming to Scrapfest by the sea. We're happy to have anyone participate in our challenges. And if you're not part of our group, please just search us and ask to join. One of us will link you up asap.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Prima's Artventure coming up in NZ

And if you're going to book, do it TODAY. You might just get a chance to win this gorgeous pack of Prima goodies....

For a direct link to register, just click here....

I can't wait, and I hope to see you there!

A pinata cake

A little while ago I heard of a pinata cake and I just had to give it a go. I wasn't sure how I would work it, but knew I wanted to cut into the cake and find a treasure trove of lollies inside.

So I decided to give it a go.

I baked two cakes in bowls so they would have a round top. Then once they were cooked, I dug the middle out of each side of the cake, filled the inside with lollies, then iced the middle inside edges and stuck the two cakes together.

Once that was done, I was able to ice the outside. I wanted to keep it pretty plain since I didn't want to give the surprise away....

And I think it looks pretty good still. You still think ok, that's an interesting shape for a cake.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of what it looks like when the cake is cut as this cake was for my 'because you are special' kids. But I can imagine.

What a fun cake! And super simple! Now my kids want one for their birthdays. Grin.

Sunday Shake up

Ok, so I'm not as bad as those programmes on tv where you can't get into a house for all the stuff a person has. BUT, I do tend to hoard things. I might just need that piece of paper with 'x' on it one day. It's a terrible habit and in a small house like ours, it doesn't make it easy to keep it tidy.

And I think because we thought we were going to build a new house with lots of storage, I didn't worry about it too much. But now, knowing we've got a way to go before we have lots of storage, I realised I needed to do something.

So over the last week, I've been slowly putting things in the rubbish. Finding homes for things. Getting rid of old boxes and generally making the house more usable and less cluttered.

One of the best parts of the house I've been working on is my scrapbook area. I have boxes all over the place. Most of them with class product in them, and they're ok because I know I'm in the process of using them. But it's the boxes of stuff that were just hanging around because I didn't know where or how to store them that were causing a real issue.

As of today, I have emptied 5 boxes, BIG boxes, into a fabulous storage unit that I can easily access the product and see what I have to use. I feel so much lighter. So much freer. And on top of that, I found some ultra cool product that I forgot I have!! I can't wait to use it.

So my challenge for you this week, is to go through one part of your house and give it a tidy up. Why not try your scrapping area like I did. Feels so good. Or it could be the kitchen cupboard that is always too full to put things into. Or the laundry cupboard where blankets fall out everytime you open the door?!

Just one little bit. I know you can do it!

Dare ya.

PS: Just don't blame me when you get the tidy up bug! Cause once you've done one area, I guarantee it'll feel so good you'll want to do another!

Cupcake fun today

Just down the road from us is a fabulous shop (The Homestore) that has awesome kitchenware, lots of baking equipment and each weekend they have different cupcake classes. Today Sarah, Esther (my niece) and I went and learnt how to make cow cupcakes.

Oh . my . goodness. What fun we had!!! Lex has amazing ideas and there is a stand which shows all her different classes. I just want to do them all. And for just $10 it's a bargain.

Here's what we made today. A cow. It was good cause we learnt how to make the round shape. Plus of course the head, ears, eyes, nostrils, tail etc etc.

And then on the inside was a little garden.

Just adore the little leaves we made, plus the handmade roses and of course the grass. That grass nozzle has got to be one of, it not my favourite nozzle ever.

We've booked in for a combi class in a couple of weeks, and then a poodle class. Too fun! I really want to do the ballerina tutu one. It was last week, but we were away. I might try and organise a private one.

An hour well spent.

Thrilled to include The Colour Room in my Scrapbook resume

Really am so very thrilled. I've loved The Colour Room for so long now that it was such an exciting email to open. I actually couldn't believe it. But there you go.

If you're like me and love The Colour Room, then why not have a go at being part of the team? They've having a DT call right now. Check out the information right here.

In the meantime, they've got a new palette up for some inspiration. I gave 'her room' a go with a divine peach/pink palette.

And here's my take on it...

with a couple of close ups

LOVED using the new Prima chevron stencil

The Colour room releases a new palette each fortnight along with samples from the design team. So even if you don't like the palette for that fortnight, the team will show you how to use colours you may not normally use.

If you haven't already, then check it out!

Kittens in da house!

Meet Oreo (left) and Swedey (right). The newest members of our family. We got them yesterday and they have already stolen this families hearts.

It's soooo cute watching the kids with them. They are just soooooo much smaller than Toast was and Dan in particular isn't used to handling something so small and delicate. But he's trying really hard to be good!

It's become a bit of a tradition to call our cats after food so meet Oreo. Pretty obvious why he's Oreo. Sarah thought up his name and everyone loved it immediately. Oreo is a boy. And he's very cuddly.

He has a beautiful personality. He is much more cautious than wee Swedey. Yes, that's our little girl. We were trying to think of foods that were silver/grey and couldn't think of any, and someone said I wish we could call her Sweetie. And I said, what about Swedey? You know the veges that are swedes? But then it still sounds like sweetie. So that was it. Perfect.

Swedey is very curious and not so cuddly. But she's started to follow Oreo to me for a cuddle when she sleeps (Oreo finds me and settles on my knee).

I can tell they are going to be a loving part of the family.

It's funny because I didn't want a black and white cat. And when I saw them in the shop, I wasn't sure. But the kids knew. After I'd seen them, I didn't say anything about their colours. But I did ask the kids what colour cat they wanted? When they said black and white and tabby. I knew instandly we'd found them.

So we went for a drive straight after school and got them from Animal Ark in Browns Bay. It's where we got Toast from all those years ago. The kids were so excited, but also were very good letting them get used to the house without too much over stimulation. I was very proud of them.

So you may see a little more of these two on the blog from now on.

Later.

Sunday Shake up, on a Tuesday

Well, I was a slack one this week wasn't I?

So a quick easy one to shake up the week....

Spend some extra time with your pet, if you have one.

Give them that extra cuddle they so love. Or buy some special food for them.

Not only will it be nice for them, but they give back and you'll find yourself feeling instantly better.

Dare ya.

Dealing with lifes challenges

A little while ago, I alluded to the fact that one of our kids is going through some health issues. They aren't life threatening, but have awakened us to the idea that what we thought was 'weird' is in fact a real issue to be treated with care and thought.

We are still undergoing testing and assessment to work out exactly what it is, and thus how we will treat things, so for now I'm not going to give it a 'label'.

But I just wanted to talk about how things like this affect you.

How for years I've thought something wasn't quite right, but could never put my finger on what, and it was never 'bad enough' to do anything about.

And that over Xmas, the final straw in this camels back broke when no matter what techniques I tried as a parent, nothing worked and I really seriously thought I was going insane.

To have someone turn around and say to me that no I wasn't imagining it was such a life saver. Literally. I felt like suddenly I had a life raft to cling to in the stormy ocean that was my life. To realise that the mother instincts were once again right was amazing. To confirm that I know my child better than anyone else, reassuring.

But in saying how it was a life saver, doesn't change the day to day reality of how to live with this, what it means for us as parents and for his siblings. How do we treat them all the same, but with allowances? Is this how it works? And why am I after two weeks still so shell shocked and in turmoil.

In telling a few friends, we've had some interesting reactions. The typical "oh it's just boys" or "what tests have you had done" haven't been helpful. And the ones where you tell them and they don't even reply were probably the worst. But the question "What do you think? Do you feel this is right?" was the most helpful, supportive one I've had. Because yes, this 'diagnosis' feels right (no matter how much we don't want it to be). And really at the end of the day, whether it turns out this is a 'real' condition or something in that direction, it's something we are having to live with and deal with every single day and it's an acknowledgement that this is hard. That we're not bad parents.

Because this morning as I sit here typing, my stomach is a rolling ball of worms. Wriggling and jiggling so that I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I can't begin to tell you how this morning was in my house. It breaks my heart.

But the hugs once everything calmed down. They were healing. Huge hugs of comfort that we all needed. And the forgiveness that came with them also much needed. 

You see I put my all on the line for my children (as most parents do). So when they are unsettled, unhappy & in crisis, I am too. (And if fact often worse as I put my own spin on things and yes, I'm trying really hard not to do this!!!).

And I'm left sitting here with a million and one things to do, not wanting to do one of them. Wondering if a day in bed wouldn't be easier? (of course it would!), but what would that achieve? And hey, I may be many things, but I'm not a quitter!

And so I carry on. I continue to eat the chocolate easter egg Andy gave me (No Trina that won't help either!). I have a shower and get dressed. I tidy the house. I put the washing on and hang it out. I go to the gym. I do those million things with a smile on my face because that's what I know to do.

**Edited to add an 'author note'. I try to keep my blog uplifting and happy. I don't always share the 'crap' that I go through because often it's over and done with and I've forgotten it long before my words on a screen are. But, I also like to keep my blog real. And this is my life. And it is real. I'm not looking for you to feel sorry for me, but perhaps to understand why I might be a little aloof or distant or any other number of things that happen when alot is on a persons mind. Thanks for your support and friendship.**


Peace amongst the madness