Living my dream

I've been waiting for this Friday allllllll week. LOL.

Yeha. Its Friday. That means several things:

1. Connect Cafe time and this week we're having a wee brunch for all the ladies cause we won't see them for a couple of weeks due to school holidays. Can't wait!

2.  Andy's home. Yep, he had to suddenly go to China. We found out Fri, he was on the plane Mon and back today. Had a wee bit of a crisis last night when he missed his flight, but he managed to get on another airline. Now that could have been a disaster because of number 3...

3. Scrapcamp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, as soon as Andy gets off that plane (poor guy), he's getting the kids and I'm taking off to pick up Donna. Then we're heading down country. I can't wait. But hear the weather forcast is NOT GOOD. Perfect for scrapping, not so perfect for that lovely grass mud pond outside our cabins. Girls pack your gummys!!!! LOL.

4. Tarisota Talk came out and with that my LO. Was so honoured to be asked by Tamar to create something for them, and then when I saw the kit was blown away. Now I love the Tarisota kits anyway, but this one was even more spec. Maybe its cause I love the colour combo so much? Several people were asked to do LOs in conjunction with Ngaires beautiful campaign. WOW! Talented ladies!!!!! What a priviledge to be alongside them! I had been planning on doing it and had even had my photo printed that day. LOL, so it was easy to say yes....anyway here is my LO......

If you haven't heard about Ngaires beautiful women campaign, head over. Its such an uplifting, fun idea and a great thought for inspiring you.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Looking forward to meeting everyone at scrapcamp.

C U THERE!

Climbing trees

Today was a nice day so outside we went. The kids wanted to see if the monarch chrysilus (sp?) are turning black - they're not! Oh dear. How long does it normally take? I'm figuring that maybe its just too darn cold?! Anyway, up they jump into the orange tree. Yep, I guess theres a first time for everything. But they kept saying they do this at daycare so hey, why not?! And heres a pic of Sarah. I did get several of Matt, but he just keeps moving! So everything is blurry as! LOL. Then the second picture isn't long after the first. Yep, she slipped and had a tumble. Big rip in her trousers and a bit of a scratch. Poor wee thing. But all is well now.........

And here is a wee LO done yesterday. Just cause. Its so totally different to what I normally do, very 'simple' but says everything I want to about this photo. BTW, its of my Dad holding me when I was just a baby.

I'm still deciding whether I like it or not?! LOL. However I do love that PP - Junkitz of course!

Later.

America's Cup

OMG, is anyone else watching this? Ok, so I'm not actually getting up at some crazy hour in the morning to watch, but I'm riveted by what is going on. Was so excited that we got through, and couldn't wait to get our first race done for the cup itself. I surprised myself at how disappointed I was when they lost that first race. Then to hear that they won this morning was incredible. Fantastic. Amazing. I mean I'd rather get beaten then win, than the other way around. Sooooo, anyone else keen? What is going to happen and OMG, when is the last race going to be???? While I'm at scrapcamp? NOOOOOOO! LOL.

Check out the official AC website.

Good luck guys. You are doing us proud over there.

So speaking of scrapcamp....you going? I'm so keen to meet everyone that I've been talking to online. Its gonna be a blast. Chris Miller from Aussie is coming, as well as Andrea from SBO, people I've been chatting to online for ages. But there are so many other people I'm gonna get to catch up with and meet as well. Please please please come up and say hi to me if you get a chance. Believe it or not I'm actually quite shy and find it hard to just start up a conversation. But I really want to. LOL!

And this weekend. Well it was blinkin cold. Did you get the hail we did on Friday? Big chunks of ice! No? Hmmmmm, then you're probably down South where is SNOWED like crazy. Always jealous of people that live in the snow! So we saw our neighbours getting wood delivered and decided to bite the bullet and went and talked to them and within an hour had the same guys deliver wood to us. Yeah! I feel better now. We keep getting told that if you don't have wood in Auckland, it can run out. HUH?! Seriously? Well we're safe now. Only thing is that we should have got it in in summer so it could dry. Nevermind. We live and learn.

So have you seen the latest comp at SBO????? Nic Howard has a book out. Man oh man, this lady is one talented chic. I can't wait to see what shes done. And darned nice to boot. From what I've read it sounds totally different to other books, that its in a dayplanner format? Ok Nic, if I've got this wrong, let me know! But I swear I want mine signed when it comes...ok?! LOL.

So, the comp. Well Nic has designed a sketch from one of her LO's and its up here. All we want you to do is do your version of the sketch and you might win a signed copy of her new book. If you just can't wait, make sure you put in an order. I hear they are selling FAST!

Ok, gotta go, kids are up and while I've finished a LO and scanned and emailed a billion things this morning, I've now gotta be a Mum.

Have a good one.

T

I "should" be......

Tidying the house (done the kitchen, but the lounge looks like a bombs gone off in it).

Having lunch - yep its after 2.30 and I still haven't. My tummy is rumbling. I need to go eat.

Creating a LO.

Emailing a few people.

Going to the post office......

But hey, I'm here. I'm just so darn proud of my two cherubs yesterday I couldn't wait to tell how their photo shoot went. And it went sooooo well. They were amazing. They did everything they were asked and there wasn't a single cross word, angry snarl, talk back or anything. They chatted nicely with the photographer and lady from Little Treasures and played with the games like they were meant to. The photos were so cute. And we've been told they will appear in either the next issue or the one after. I'm not sure exactly what they are being used for, but am assuming its some kind of advertising. Can't wait to see them.

And just cause I can, here's a photo showing what our weather is doing here right now. Love that rainbow! Ooooo, I lie, its suddenly gone nasty. Big squalls of rain and no more rainbow. Was nice while it lasted.

And heres one of Andy and I (and my new red coat! - did I tell you I've been wanting one for about 8 years! Long time to wait huh?!).

Later.

Sleep - Argh!

Or lack of it. Doesn't matter whether I go to bed at 1am or 10pm, I wake up after the same hours of sleeping. Usually around 6am. But lately its been before 5am. What's with that?! Good thing is that I get a fair bit done, but bad thing is that I'm constantly tired. And it seems the earlier I go to bed, the earlier I wake up. Kinda like my body says, ok, that's 6 hours sleep. Thats enough. Just for the record, its not enough! LOL!

So last night Dan started walking properly. And not just once. There were many attempts all lasting approx 5-10 steps. He was so wobbly, but so proud. As were his parents. Way cool.

Got a wobble on. In correction mode.

Taking the next step or two.

So proud!

I tried to get some of him walking towards me, but he loves the camera too much and would drop and crawl. Sigh. LOL!

He also decided to start signing back to us last night. He was drinking his milk and his little hand was signing milk while he was drinking. I had thought I'd seen him signing before, but this was for sure. So exciting.

Monday was one of those days you want to forget so I decided to treat myself and booked a facial. I'm having that today. Can't wait. Its been soooooo long! I'm surprised I was still on their books. I also had my hair cut yesterday. Long overdue. Last time was in March and with short hair? Lets just say I looked like a shaggy dog. LOL. Feeling much better now. LOL! And tell me if I've talked about this before, but I'm sure the hairdressers mirrors make you look bigger than you are! I mean there you are with your whole body covered up and a head sticking out of the top of an apron and well, it always looks terrible! LOL. I also brought some new clothes yesterday. Eeeeek. I haven't brought clothes in such a long time. But this long red coat was calling my name when I walked past a shop window yesterday and I just 'had' to buy it. LOL. While I was in there I brought a couple of pairs of trousers and tops too. Wow. I feel like a new woman!

Best part of it is that Andy and I are going out tonight. Just us. For dinner. A date. And I can look and feel good. I can't wait to just sit and chat with my man without being interupted.

Today I'm taking the kids for a photo shoot. Yep, a proper modeling one. Eeeeek. Ages ago at a mother/baby show I met a woman on the Little Treasures stand. We got talking cause I had the twins and she asked me to send in a picture of our twin group. So I did. That was two years ago. Fast forward to last Monday when I pick up the phone and there she is asking if the kids would like to play a game and have their picture taken. Hmmmm. I thought about it. Why not? I mean they are so used to the camera anyway, and they are overcoming their shyness quite well. Openly talking to people now. So I warned her that it might not work, but sure, we'd be there. I've been talking to the kids about it all week. About how they would be asked to play a game, photos would be taken and mostly likely there will be lights. They seem non phased by it. Will be very interesting to see how we actually go.

So on that note, I'd better go and sort all their stuff out.

Later.

PS: Today is two weeks I've been sugar free and I'm still doing it! I haven't had any sugar for two weeks. This must be a record! LOL. And on the good side of things I've lost another kg and am now 3 kgs lighter! yeah!

Thinking positive

So I'm on a sugar free diet for 3 weeks (done 1.5 weeks), my knee is still giving me grief after 6 weeks, I can't seem to sleep much and well, I'm tired. BUT, I've lost 2 kgs just from eating healthily (no sugar really does make a difference!! LOL), a friend who is a physio took a look at my knee today and told me its fixable. I just need to do 'x, y and z', so I've got a plan there! and well sleeping....at least after going to bed at 1am yesterday I slept til 7am. For me, that's a huge sleep in. Its all good! And its all about the way you look at things huh?! Well I'm telling myself it is.

Nothing to show cause well things are in the process of being created as we speak.

But I can't wait to get my stampin up stamps that I ordered last night. Go Janine. She did an amazing presentation (no pressure) and I've gotta say the stamps are way cool. I spent far too much and still didn't get all the ones I wanted. So I'm planning on having a stampin up party (some time soon). Soooo, if youre in Auckland and you wanna see these in the flesh and maybe even order some, let me know. You can't buy them anywhere but from the demonstrators and they really do have some wonderful ones!

Ok, I'm off to create. I've had this one LO on my desk for a couple of days and its just gotta be stuck down. Now I've got the chance.

Have a great weekend.

PS: Erica G, if you're reading, send me an email girl?! I've lost your new addy and am missing our wee chats! Hope you're good!

Catch up

Ok, so I've been slack! Whoops. But theres been a heap going on. Not to mention that my email has been playing up. Thanks extra special DH for fixing that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So have you checked out No 8 Wired???? The dare this fortnight is cute critters. And boy are they fun to make. Just grab some fabric and your embroidery thread and you're away. And this is speaking from someone who really has no idea! Just ask Andrea! LOL. So here are mine. Happy Sarah, the big pink one with a yellow smile is guess whose?! Yep Sarahs,a nd named by her! It was done for the blog and is based on one of Sarahs drawings of a person. Yep. Too cute! But of course I couldn't do one for Sarah without doing one for Matt, so the Shark is his. We went and brought material especially. He wanted a yellow shark with purple teeth and spots on its tail. I think we covered those bases! LOL.

So Sat I was out in Puke again. Laughed so hard I nearly cried. LOL! Nearly but not quite. LOL. And Tracy came up with a fantastic idea. We're going to do a CJ. I haven't done one of these in ages. And not with a group that is all friends. Can't wait! Even have my topic picked out. hehehe.

Sunday was a yukky day weather wise. So we treated the kids to a movie. We got duvets out and all cuddled up in front of the fire and watched cars. It was brilliant. But to be honest I think Andy got more out of it than the kids. LOL! Check em out....

And on Sunday Dan turned 10 months old. Wow. 10 months. Just two more and he's one! EEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's one of the shots I took......

And last of all, if you're not a subscriber to Tarisota Talk (The Tarisota newsletter), go join up. The next one is due out 15th......

Quirky bit of info

Today around lunchtime its going to be 12.34 05/06/07. Cool huh?!

Magistical Memories who are a very cool chipboard manufacturer are having a DT call. Go check it out here if you want. Open to internationals too.

We went to the sky tower yesterday. What a fantastic time. The kids have been asking to go for sooooo long. It was a bit showery here at home, but fine over there. If anything a bit glary for photos. The kids loved the lift with the glass floor/doors, the glass floor at the observation deck, standing underneath it outside and the huge waterfall in the hotel lobby. Here's a couple of shots:

Queens birthday

Yep, that time of the year again. The last NZ holiday until October. Whewee. I hope you're all gonna enjoy it.

We've got a heap planned, just for a change. LOL! Tomorrow is 'clean up' day. You see we've got some very important visitors coming on Sunday (aye girls?! ;) LOL) and well I'd better make sure its up to scratch (or at least passable). Then Sunday we've got those 'visitors' and on Monday we're taking the kids out. They've been asking to go somewhere for about a month. And this weekend is the time. Hopefully I'll have photos for you early next week.

I've also got a ton of scrapping to do, but happily I've got two sitting on my desk half finished. Both were started, for one reason, then I realised it would work better for something else and I had to start the original one all over. LOL! Now I've got that original one finished I can finish these, well after one last assignment. At least I got one page done and dusted today. Its our April page. Now I actually don't like it very much. Last night I hated it. But hey, its done. And I'm sure the kids will love it when they are 45 and are trying to remember the stuff they did when they were little.

Speaking of scrapping. Have you been across to SBO today? There are a heap of new LO's up by the DT as its the first of June and yep, my first ones too!

And this weekend we've also got a fun challenge for everyone. Andrea's been busy sending out stuff to people, so keep an eye on your letterbox tomorrow then join in the fun!

Ok, so what else? I joined up with the Fiskateers today. After working for Fiskars on the weekend, I just had to go check it out. And there's already a heap of people on the forum that I know, so its pretty cool!

Other stuff: We had our first fire 3 nights ago and have had one every night since. Lovely. I forgot how nice it is to actually hear the fire crackle. Ok, ok, I admit I miss just being able to flick a switch for that instant heat, but this is cool! And the kids love it. And yep, we have got a guard!

Did you see the moon tonight? Man was it huge or what when it first came up?! I tried to take pics, but they didn't work. Sigh.

This weekend is special and unique to me/us for two reasons. Two years ago something really cool and something really hideous happened. Happy birthday to wee Emma, my good friend Janes currently youngest daughter. Sorry we'll miss the big event, but we are thinking of you!

The other was how we lost our wee baby. Ok, so alot of people wouldn't even call a 10 week pregnancy a baby, but I do. And I still think about that little person and what would have / could have been.

I suppose a time of reflection.

Must dash. Have a good one!

T