Living my dream

Its a week of birthdays

Happy birthday everyone! And by everyone I mean Andy's sister Sue (well she was last week), Andy's brother Ken, and Jo Kneller - she kept that quiet! - but for our immediate family, the big birthday is today. Matt and Sarah are 4! Yep, they went to bed yesterday as 3 year olds and woke up this morning as 4 year olds. They have been keeping a birthday chart to work out how many sleeps left and yesterday they were beside themselves that this was the last sleep. Sarah could hardly keep still she was sooooo excited. And I must admit we were too. We had organised some very cool pressies and needed to get some work done on them.

The first thing was putting up their new trampoline! OMG. We were nervous. It was meant to take 1.5 hours so we were figuring 3 hours and we weren't able to start until they were in bed and asleep (7.30pm). So we went out there and got started. First things first was sorting out all the pieces. Working out they were all there. Thankfully they were!

Looks daunting huh?!

Then we got started. And it was surprisingly easy. We had it up by 9.05pm which was only 1 hour 35 mins (5 mins over what they estimated! Yeah, go us!) and best of all NO arguments. LOL! Ok ok, so we were working by lamp light in the end, and our neighbours accused us of building the Taj Mahal! LOL! But we did it and were so proud of ourselves.

Next on the list was finishing off the cupcakes for daycare today. I'd already baked them, they just needed decorating. The kids ok'd my choice of faces and we set to, to make them. Andy's are the yellow bases, mine are the white bases. Quite chuffed with these....

We take them for morning tea at which time the kids wear their crowns (which they make), everyone sings them happy birthday and they blow out some candles. Then they hand out the cupcakes to all their playmates. This year I managed to get along to watch and take photos. It was soooooo good. I'm so glad I made it. And the kids were stoked too. They were so excited and pleased for it to be their birthday and for me to be there. Another big thing for them at daycare is when they turn 4 they get homework books. How cool. There is only one more week of homework books being done, but at least they can have one week of it.

And here they are getting their daycare crowns.

Back at home, first thing this morning they opened all their little pressies (from Dan and each other), then we took them outside to find their 'real' present. They were soooo excited and ran to it so fast! They were bouncing away on it quick smart with Dan too. He loved it so much as well! It was only just 7am so I felt sorry for our neighbours, but am sure they wouldn't mind for one day of the year!

So that's our day so far. Soon Andy is home early so we can spend the rest of the afternoon together. Bummer that its raining. But I'm sure we'll find heaps of fun to have!

I've got a heap of other stuff to catch up on, but it'll have to wait.

Have a good one!

If you've ever wondered how airbrushing works

Then check out this clip on youtube. I was quite amazed, in fact really amazed. I wish I had that ability in photoshop! LOL!

So have you seen the new BG? OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!! As most anyone who reads my blog knows, I LOVE BASIC GREY. Yep, I think I should almost start an addicts club its so bad. LOL! Well this line (two scoops) is sooooo up my ally - there are lots of pinks. I love pink. Sarah loves pink and I soooooo love this. I want it like yesterday. LOL!

Hey, did I mention I got to see part of the Wellington Santa parade? So cool. The Auckland one is this weekend. I'd forgotten and have arranged something just at that time. You can tell I'm going to try and postpone right? I don't normally do that, but this year the kids are so the right age. I so need to take them.

Also I got the kids invites done. Here they are. They don't look as good here, scanned, but in real life, they're pretty cool. Gotta admit I had a bit of help from an article in CK this month. Saw something in there that made me think felt base! Excuse the blanked out bits!

I had also planned to blanket stitch around the outside, but hey, life is short and time is getting close, so this is them.

Ok, lastly, I was tagged by Vicky a while back. Sorry its taken me so long to get there Vicky, but here you go....

7 Random facts about me:

I scrap beside a window that looks across to Auckland city.

I have lived in the same city since I was 5 (except for a brief OE venture).

I never thought I was creative. Then started to scrapbook. While I still don't feel very creative I certainly enjoy the process.

I have never had a favourite colour. There are just too many to choose from. However I do have momentary favs which turn up on my LO's, clothes and things.

My closest and oldest friend lives in Sydney and I miss her heaps.

I get grumpy when I don't exercise. Hmmmm, could say something about the last 3.5 years?! ROFL!

I have nearly died 3 times in the last 7 years. I'm hoping to break the 'every two year cycle' this coming year! I don't need the stress! LOL!

Ok, I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you wanna join it that would be great. Leave a comment for me so I can come see.

Gotta go. We're all off to the doctors this morning. Yep, all four of us! Eeeek, we've had to book a triple appointment. Sigh. So wish us luck.

Tuesday morning.

Yep, I got through Monday even though I felt like I was going to fall asleep any second. LOL!

So thought I'd show a LO I did a while back. It was for Scrapbooks etc. A call they did to interpret someone elses work. Basically a scraplift. I chose Cindy Tobey's LO and turned it and changed the photos up a bit. Used my gorgeous Junkitz papers and a few embellishments and tada....this is what you get....

Its on a white background, so hard to see, but you get the jist of it. Also lots and lots of 'white space' which I'm so not used to. But I actually kinda like it. Love the pics. They were taken in July, but so Matt and Sarah. So much fun. I've actually used one of them for the kids birthday party invite. Speaking of which I've got to go finish off. Eeeek. LOL!

But before I do, wanted to mention my little boys plunket visit last week. It went really well. I really love Erin our plunket nurse. She is pretty hard, but tells it like it is, and helped save us when the twins were little and told me about Family Centre. That one day (or should I say two?!) changed my mothering experience. I got some sleep, found out the twins had reflux and colic and was given the name of a specialist to see and basically taught a lot about their sleep patterns and stuff. That was at 3 months of age, and after seeing the specialist we had our first full nights sleep and from there it continued. They literally changed my life. I will be forever grateful for ringing in desperation one day and booking myself in.

So Dan the man, is a big boy. Yes, we knew this, but it was confirmed! LOL! He is in the 95th percentile for weight, and 93rd percentile for height. He's 83cm tall, so I guess if he keeps this up, he's gonna be like his brother and sister height wise. We did that equation when they are 2 to work out heights and Sarah is supposed to be about 6"3' and Matt just under, but really for boys you're meant to do it 6 months later, so I figure he'll be taller or the same. Scary stuff! This house will be all arms and legs. Will be interesting to see if it comes to fruition.

I've been saving this little bit until I got a photo, cause its kinda cool. But Its never gonna happen, so thought I'd throw it in right now. The kids, particularly Dan are 'into' playing with my pegs from the washing line. I'm forever having to buy new ones cause I can't find any old ones. So the other day I pick up yet another one off the lounge floor, open the window and throw it down to the washing line. Ok, so whats so interesting about this you ask? Nothing, until you realise that it landed smack bang straight into the peg bucket! Wooohoooo! LOL. Now this peg bucket isn't big. In fact its just one of those old 'cookie time' buckets with holes drilled in the bottom. So it was kinda cool. I stood here smiling to myself. Funny how little things amuse me at the moment. LOL! So reading that back, I guess it was one of those 'you had to be there moments'. LOL, but hey it tickled my fancy.

Have a great day ok. Gonna be another nice one!

Crafting Connection Wellington - Stacy Julian and friends

Wow what a weekend. It was amazing. This was my first CC. The other times I've either been pregnant or out of the country. As everyone who was there knows, it ran so smoothly and was so easy to attend that I'm sure people will be talking about it for a very long time. Thank you David, Mary and the team at Kiwiscraps!

I think the tutors and everyone who came from the States made it incredibly enjoyable as well. I happened to meet several of them and they were all just sooooooo friendly and very happy to chat and hang out with all of us scrappers. Even the hubbys! It truely did feel like one big happy family. If you want a great run down by Kent (Renees husband), check out his blog. Lots of cool photos and an insight from him. Awesome.

I was there with my Fiskars hat on. And I have to say its so easy to work for them. Fiskars have such a great name with quality tools that there is a real respect for the product. I know that there are often 'issues' with the old version of the shape cutter, but now that there is the new model, with improvements due to these old 'issues' its really really easy to use and I love showing people this and seeing them 'get' it. I think that this time round the big hit was the stamp press. People often see it in its packaging, but until they see it work don't really understand it. Its incredible. And makes stamping so easy. I love to show a great tool like this. Put it together with some really funky stamps (that'll be in NZ around Feb) and its great!

I also got to meet a heap of people that I normally know 'online'. Hi everyone! It was so great to put a face to a name. I really enjoyed that side of things. Plus at an event like this you get to meet sooooo many people you've never met before. I shared a table for dinner on Sat night with some very cool ladies from Waiuku. We laughed our way through dinner which was lovely.

The plan for me was to work alongside Andrea who is the rep in Wellington (for Pelikan - Fiskars distributor), on Saturday. What a great lady she is. We had fun all day. She is full of beans so certainly brought alot of energy to our day. Then I had Sunday off. I ended up having another great day. I went for my 'walk' first thing (1.5 hours), then met up with Sharon and went on a photo walk where we found an amazing and very very old cemetary(1 hour), then wandered around the shops (2 hours), then walked down to Te Papa and back (1 hour) before catching a shuttle to the airport. So 5.5 hours of walking! My health kick has gotta love me for that! My body not so much. LOL!

So here are a few pictures.......

1/2. At the cemetary

3. A manhole cover

4. One of the many, many sculptures around Wellington harbour

5. The view from my window! Thanks Thomas!

6. Sharon and I caught in a reflection on a large building!

If you went to CC Wellington, and have blogged about it, please send me a link. I'd love to see your photos and how it went for you!

Andy picked me up at the airport and we came home together (he'd been in Matamata helping my family at a working bee). The kids were sooooo excited to see us. They are just so adorable. They had such a wonderful time with Linn - thank you soooooo much Linn - and we were so glad to see them too.

After we put the kids to bed, Matt got up to go to the toilet. And Andy asked him what the best part of the weekend was for him. he replied "when you came home". Makes your heart melt.

I had brought them a book each and a chocolate santa on a sleigh which they totally adored. They are such good kids.

Ok, gonna go now. Have a great day and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Later!

Kiwidares new dare

Kiwidares have a new dare up. It started last week and I've only just finished it. hehehe. Bit slow this time round. Its to go digi with your photo. Cool. To be really honest, I actually do go a little bit digi on most of my photos now. I'll tweak the levels a bit, the contrast, maybe turn it black and white. You know basic stuff. So I stuck with that for my LO. Here it is along with the original photo (which was enlarged to 8x10 as well before being cut).

I've used all my current favs on this LO including some Magistical Memories chipboard (who is sponsoring this fortnights prize, YAY!), so there is alot of stitching (those black circles took me two hours! What was I thinking?! LOL), bling, beads, strip journaling, tiny white tags (inked), rubons and of course lots of layers. I'm really enjoying seeing the end result of my LO's at the moment as I really don't seem to like them until I've just about finished. LOL!

And how lucky, this LO got accepted into the Basic Grey gallery! Yippee! Love that. And I notice some of Jaimies cards did in that 'intake' too. Yay Jaimie!

Speaking of friends. A huge happy birthday to one of my South Auckland buddies! Hope you have a great day Nic. Can't wait to catch up this weekend.

So a couple of other bits and bobs...

Overheard in conversation the other day:

Sarah to Matt while playing... "I am the sayer of all things". Jeepers. Another control freak in the family! Just what we need... not. LOL!

Matt to us all in the car across the harbour bridge... "Look at that toilet seat on top of that building". And he's right. There is a decoration on top of one of the cities buildings (we think Vero or some insurance company?) that looks just like a toilet seat. We laughed about it for ages.

We now have a birthday chart for the kids. A count down until their birthday. So they can physically see it and can count how many days until their birthday. They cross off one day each night (taking turns). They love it and can now see how close its getting.

Speaking of counting. Did I mention they (meaning M&S) can now count to 50? WOW! This happened a few weeks back and I was probably so proud I said something then, but hey, it won't hurt talking about it again ;)

They count easily to 30, then go all the way to 39 without hesitating. Take a little bit to remember 40, then go through to 49 and almost always forget the 50. So I think they 'get' that the numbers are the same inbetween. They just need to know what the big '0' number is and understand why they change. I'm guessing that will take a looooooong time?

And thanks to Andrea and the girls at Puke in the weekend talking about installing fonts. TOOO EASY! I installed all the ones I had sitting there waiting. LOL! You were right. Very simple. Ta.

Ok, gotta dash. Getting ready to head off tomorrow so want to get it all sorted. In between trying to get a LO completed, meeting up with Jo and looking after kids and stuff. Ya know. The life of a Mum these days.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

T

Have you seen this yet???????

Absolutely TOOOO cool! Grungeboard. Like chipboard, but more flexible.

Go check it out here.

I just have one question....how thick is it? Love the dimension of chipboard! But still, can you tell I'm excited about this? Two posts in one day! That's how excited I am about it!

T

More odds and sodds

We had a lovely weekend. The sun was shining and it was warm. It felt like summer had hit. I'm hoping it stays that way. We decided to take the kids to Mt Victoria. Sarah loves it. Says its her hill. And they all love the little mushrooms on top.

So we get up there and play hide and seek (behind those very small mushrooms!), running/jumping races, and of course the best one of all. Running along the line of mushrooms sitting on each one. Winner is the one to get to the end first. Andy bet me. Sigh. I never thought I was a competitive person until recently (last year or so). But even with silly races between Andy and I, I feel stink when I lose! You've gotta just relax and laugh right!!!!!!!!

When we first got to the top. We were looking out over the city and Matt and Sarah are chatting away. I kinda tune out sometimes when I'm busy with Dan or doing other things. The same had happened here, but then out of the fog of my brain I hear two little voices suddenly very big.....

Sarah: The cars look like toys

Matt: and the houses like dolls houses.

They had seen this view many times before, but this time they 'got' the perspective. Love these kids. Love how they are growing (as an aside, with summer coming up, how do I take good pictures of the kids with their hats on???).

Talking of growing, do you think cat biscuits are good for a little boy? Nah, me either. But until the last week or so, Dan has thought they are the best thing for little boys. The number of times I've forgotten to put Toasts bowl on the bench and go into the kitchen to find Dan's mouth stuffed full of cat biscuits is silly! Thankfully he seems to have stopped now as I don't like putting my fingers in his mouth anymore! Very sharp little toothy pegs! LOL!

After lunch, Andy got the paddling pool out. They had played under the hose the day before and being so sunny, we thought it would be a good idea to have a more permanent water source. And so did they. They couldn't believe their luck and just loved it. Matt at one stage had to be forced out with bribes of a cuddle from Mum, he was shivering so much. But it did give me some really lovely one on one time with him.

Daniel has recently taken to shouting. He's not angry, just loves the sound of his voice. Actually all our kids are like that. They just love noise. So when Dan gets like this its totally and utterly full on. He's commited to his shout 150%! Normally its in the car (Sigh), but today in the paddling pool I was able to see what it really was all about. The pictures are in order of being taken (l-r, top then bottom)

Scary stuff! LOL!

Speaking of Dan and shouting. Yesterday he walked into the door between our kitchen and our lounge. There was a relatively big 'donk' and then he stood there. Wanting to cry, but really annoyed. Then very slowly he walked closer to the door and whacked it while saying just one of his nonsense words. I couldn't believe it. I stood there and giggled (under my breath) as we really don't want to encourage that behaviour, but I also wondered where he got it from? We don't hit our kids, or for that matter anything out of frustration. Ever. So how does he know that that's how frustration is sometimes released??? I tell you these kids are humbling and amazing and totally teaching me things.

He is also getting to understand what it means to be good at something. We often clap him and say 'good boy' when he's done something good. He is now putting things on the ground to clap himself when he's proud of himself. Very cool.

Best little thing hes done lately is signing more. He actually understands us asking if he wants more and understands the sign for more and when we ask if he wants more food, more of a swing, more of anything he will either sign more (if he does) or do nothing if he doesn't. YEAH! We are communicating with him. I didn't think it was working, but it is and I'm stoked. The frustration levels will go down for both of us from here. And I've realised I perhaps haven't been feeding him enough of 'some' things. He just LOVES fruit and will eat and eat and eat it! I hadn't realised that! Too good.

Ok, last little thing for now. I mentioned on SBO that I'd been reading a book called 'chicken soup for the scrapbookers soul'. Here is what it looks like...

It has heaps of different stories from real scrapbookers. Its all about what it means to them, and how it has affected their lives and relationships. It was inspiring as it had so many feel good stories about how scrapping was about the story. Which at the end of the day is really why I scrap. It even inspired me to scrap some 'not so great' photos for my DT work at SBO. After all they are the 'real' photos, 'real' moments that we all have!

Oh, and I forgot, the best part is that they are all little short stories a page or three long, so you can read one or 2 or more. Fantastic for us busy people nowadays.

Ok, really have to get off this computer. Have a great day.

T

Poor Toast

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready to go on a crop I caught a glimpse of the back leg of our gorgeous cat Toast. There seemed to be a big hole at the top of it. It didn't look too bad, but I rang the vet and asked Andy to take him off there. Just as I'm getting set up Andy rings to tell me that Toast had a massive absess which popped and this was the remains. He had to be kept in, operated on and we have to take him back in a few days then another week on. It was quite major. Luckily the vet said we wouldn't have noticed until it popped as it would have been hidden under his fur. Whew I've been feeling quite guilty that the poor little guy has been in pain with no help. He was meant to have one of those big ugly cones on his head, but he hasn't even licked the wound once so he's lucky. Heres our boy having a wee rest a couple of months back.

Yesterday was a stunning day and the kids spent alot of time in the garden. They helped me mow the lawns on Friday too. This house has been the best thing we could ever have done for them. So much space to run around in and so many new and interesting things to look at. Daniel is especially in love with the sandpit. Sand everywhere! LOL! So great!

And with the twins turning 4 in a few weeks we decided to give them a tramp for their birthday. Yay! I ordered it on Friday and it'll be here the day before. They say it takes 2 adults 1.5 hours to put together. I'm figuring it'll take us 3 hours! LOL! Wish us luck.

So with an absolutely hectic week this week I managed to get my DT work for SBO finished at the crop yesterday. I have to say I'm not that happy with it. I love the papers and product I had to work with Divine. But after reviewing it again this morning wonder if its the photos. You see for any type of DT work I use only my 'best' photos, but after reading 'chicken soup for the scrapbookers soul' I've decided I really do need to start using my 'real' photos too. After all they are part of what we do, part of our lives, part of what I want to record. Maybe I just need to change them to black and white or something? But for now its done and here it is:

Ok, the kids have just come running out asking to watch the netball (lucky we taped it last night for them!). So better go sort them out with the game and their pancakes too. Have a happy Sunday.

Nice surprise

When I opened the latest SM yesterday. There was a LO I'd done for a Prima challenge a while back (thanks for the email Ann!). Its one of those LO's that I just love. Its quite simple (apart from all that handcut journaling! What was I thinking? LOL), but I think really effective. I adore the photo of Dan. He was actually leaning on a firetruck, but I cut that out for the sake of the LO. LOL!

Here it is. The flowers are all Prima and have been layered, then a french knot stitched into the middle of them.

Well, its coming up 'that' time of the year and my twins will be having another birthday. Just a few weeks away now. Eeeeek. Can't believe how quickly this has come around! Ever since Daniels birthday they have been talking about their one, and the party they are going to have and what cakes they are going to choose and, and, and....we were going to try and get away with a smaller party this year, but I don't think that's going to happen. They are already giving me a list as long as my arm of all the people they want to invite. So I think for the next little while it will be party mode around here. So far they have chosen (and this year stuck to) the same cakes. Sarah wants a fairy house and Matt a whale. I thought he'd want a dinosaur, but no its got to be the whale! He keeps going around saying 'because I love animals'. LOL! And he does (pity he doesn't consider dogs to be animals! he hates dogs, LOL). He gets it from his Grandfather. My dad is a real animal magnet, and so far Matt seems to be the same.

Other than that, things are humming along but I'm looking forward to the weekend when I get to crop with my buddies in Puke.

Have a good one.

Can't contain my excitement...

Fiskars have brought Lil Davis. Check out the official press release here.

Hair update (and other stuff)

So first thing yesterday morning we went off to get Sarahs hair cut into something semi decent. I tried to take pictures of before, but didn't work out too well. So I've just got pictures of after. Even when she was younger she suited a short hair style and I remember not really wanting her to grow it longer. But I also know how cruel children can be, and going to school we thought it 'safer' for her to have longer hair. For some time now shes been asking me for to have it short again and yesterday she got her wish (and I've gotta say she does look cute! Just like a little pixie), but once again it reminds me that they are little people, and perhaps I should've listened to her sooner and we might not have had "the hair cutting incident of Nov 07". LOL!

Oh, and yes, I had forsight to grab my camera. I actually ran to get Andy, he was in the garden and I wanted him to see what the kids had been up to. I asked them calmly to please stay still (and they did!), then ran for Andy, and grabbed my camera at the same time. Didn't want to make it 'ok' but did want the pics. Sigh. Its a worry.

I've been walking a bit lately. Trying desperately to loose some of my excess baby weight which seems to have just become part of me. LOL! I struggle with weight. I have all sorts of excuses, like its my metabolism, I've got a sluggish thyroid, etc etc, but really at the end of the day...its what I eat and how I exercise (or not). So for a while now I've been buiding up what I do (my knees are finally starting to play nice) and I've been walking every day. The min I walk is 30 mins. The max so far was 100. I love it. It gets me out in the fresh air (and let me add some days are really fresh with all this

rain about! But it gives me some breathing space too. The days I just do half an hour I also do weights. And very slowly my shape is changing. I'm still not loosing weight, but it'll happen once I get my eating right. And that's changing too. Much much better of late!

On one of my walks I got to see nature in action. A wee sparrow was chasing a moth. It was dusk and the way the light glittered on the moth I thought it was a gonner, but no, it managed to get away. I find things like that incredible. The food chain, how the world works, all that. Wow.

Daniel said a new word the other day. "THANKS". What a great word to have pop out of his mouth. I actually almost dismissed it as not being what I thought it was so unexpected. Then I heard Andy say, hey, I heard that! And later he said it again, but in the right context again. Awesome.

Scrapping news: SBO are having a fantastic competition right now to do with Xmas, the lead up to our next Cybercrop and Xmas. The prizes are amazing, so come and join us. Lots of different challenges and ways you can win 'raffle' tickets. Just like a big gala fair.

And here is my latest DT work for them. I wanted to use up some scraps from the Sept kit.

 

Kids crying must mean the morning is starting.

Have a good one.

Another weekend gone....

Hope you had a good one. We did. Was busy and I guess now that Nov is here it'll only get busier. Eeeeeek. Xmas isn't too far away! Are you ready? I'm sooooo not. Last year we didn't do cards. I had a new baby, plus we packed up and moved in 2 weeks so it just didn't happen. This year I kept telling myself I'd be organised and do cards. Hmmmmm, maybe not?! LOL!

So this weekend. We went to the kids cousins daughters birthday. Tyla is a gorgeous little girl with the most stunning curly hair. She turned three, and had a lovely party at the beach/park. At one point they all went to look in a cave and Tyla came running up to M&S asking to hold their hands. Too cute!

We had a relatively good afternoon, but the kids have been a bit naughty. Come to dinner time and they get downright defiant, on top of the naughtiness. So the final straw came when Matt pulled down the hose in the shower squirting water everywhere, including on Andy. The fireworks we had planned was postponed until today (if they were good). From the screams and tears you would have thought something really bad was happening. Sigh.

So this morning we had it all planned, second chance fireworks. Until this:

They decided to cut hair. Or should I say cut Sarahs hair! Oh my goodness! There was hair everywhere and Sarah looks like shes got a mullet. You know where we're going tomorrow right?!

And see the next photo, with all that hair in Matts hands? Well, that is only one handful. There were two others like this already put into the rubbish! So as you can guess, fireworks were put off tonight too. Goodness knows if we'll have them now?! I think it might just be an Andy and I thing. LOL!

Ok, gotta go. Been busy scrapping and now its time to sit back with a cuppa and a good book....and that book just happens to be 'chicken soup for the scrapbookers soul'. Its really good. You can read a little story here and there and they are all really touching. Loving it.

Later.

 

It was amazing

The halloween party I mean. I couldn't believe when we got there just how much had been done to organise it. Totally incredible. As we walked in the front door there were grave stones and with smoke, lots of spider webs, a hanging ghost that shook, spooky noises. And that was only the beginning. It was truely incredible.

I think a little bit overwhelming too. But I'm glad we were one of the first to arrive as in the end there were more than 50 kids there and to have arrived into that would have been too much for my shy ones. As it was they grew into it and it was great.

They watched bobbing for apples, took part in eating donuts off string, dressed up one of the dads in toilet paper (as a mummy) and went trick or treating. They had a ball! And I've got to admit, I really enjoyed it too.

I even went out at the last minute to buy costumes. Literally last minute. We were in the toy shop at 3.45pm and the party started at 4.30pm. Eeek. Its just I had tried to buy costumes earlier and they were all those horrible scary things and my kids are not even 4. I didn't want all of that for them. Sigh. So we did the last minute dash and got some that were great. Sarah looked every bit the glam girl she was and Daniel was the hit of the party. Absolutely tooooo cute in his teletubbies outfit.

When we got home, we piled out of the car 1.5 hours AFTER their bed times (they were shattered) and got called into the neighbours. Too cool. Then we thought whats another 5 mins and went across the street to the neighbour who had decorated his house. Was definitely worth the extra 5 mins.

Here are some photos.

So apart from that, I went for a photowalk with Donna and Sharon. Was great fun. The day was perfect, the company great and well, I won't say too much about my photos. Not sooooo good. I'll put some up if I remember in the next couple of days.

Later.