Living my dream

Today

Today - I woke up feeling dodge again - Dan's night terrors kept me awake. Nevermind.

Today - I made a decision to get a nanny again next week. Got to get better.

Today - I rang a fencing guy who is going to come over and quote on a new fence.

Today - I dropped off a note in our neighbours letterbox, organising a 'chat'.

Today - I plan on sitting on the lounge floor in front of the fire with a pile of our filing which I will sort into piles to be filed.

Today - I plan on sleeping.

Today - I plan on being kind and good to myself.

Today - I will be positive, that I will get better soon. LOL!

Today - I will take a 365 photo.

Today - I will sit in front of the telly watching shows I've taped.

Today - I will hug and kiss my kids, cause they are so special and I love them.

Today - I will sit in the sun and read a little more of the last of Vicky's borrowed books.

Today - I might sit at my scrap desk and see if I feel like scrapping yet?

Today - I might watch this youtube video again, just cause it makes me smile, and laugh and cry. And actually I just did. LOL!

Today - I will share this youtube video which has made me rethink BANANAS all over again!

Today - I won't worry if I don't do a single one of these things and just veg and do what my body tells me its ready for.

LO share

I had some lovely comments about that last sketch (thanks guys!), so decided I'd give it a go myself and this is what I came up with....

 

 

To create the stitched pattern, I enlarged the sketch til it was 12x12, printed it off, then laid it over the top of my LO and poked holes over the pattern using an awl.

Once the design was on the paper, I simply stitched it. Easy peasy.

As usual with a LO like this, where I don't want to put journaling on the front, you can find it on the rear.

And the gorgeous gorgeous papers? Basic Grey Lemonade. Gosh Love these! So bright and cheerful.

Also thought I'd share a photo I took yesterday while Andy and the kids were cleaning the car. Just love it.

 

You can see all of us in it! First family photo in ages. LOL!

And I'm feeling a little better. This virus is taking a long time to shake, but I'm lucky to have had last week and this week to rest, sit in the warmth read/watch telly and maybe this week scrap a little too?

Speaking of which, must go away from this computer and put my feet up. Later.

Look what I found in my inbox yesterday....

 

Love the bright look of issue 3's cover! Woweee.

And who is that gorgeous girl on the front cover? Dying to find out! Let me know if it is your work!

Now can't wait to see it in shops. Speaking of which, I was at my LSS the other day and they said issue 2 sold out very quickly. I hope they get more in this month?!

Ok, funny story from the McClunes.....

Background: Andy has been sleeping on the pull out couch since I've been sick. Apparently I've been snoring so much that he can't sleep. I've told him he MUST be mistaken, but apparently not?! LOL.

So the kids asked, why is Daddy sleeping out here?

I had to look them in the eye and say... "Well because Mummy is sick, her nose is blocked and she's snoring and Daddy can't sleep".

They all look at me with a funny look on their faces..... and Sarah says...."even more than Matt?".

At which I giggled and said "Yep, even more than Matt".

They all thought that was hilarious and started to pretend snore. Dan so much he fell off the chair he was sitting on.

Geee, so glad I can make them laugh. LOL!

Feeling much better today. Still sound croaky, but otherwise I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. yay!

Have a good Sunday.

Saturday sketch day

Last weekend was SENZ and so I missed my sketch. But this week, I have a new one for you.

 

You could use one larger photo with a hidden middle, or try two unusually shaped photos. Something a bit different for me huh?!

So I went to the doctor yesterday and after waiting with a mask on in a seperate room to everyone, I was finally seen and told I had laryngitis and a virus. Nothing they can do. The rest I've been having is good. And not to stress. Having 3 young children, I should expect to be sick all winter every winter until they get older. HUH?!

Now don't get me wrong. I love my doctor, but surely not? Anyone with older kids, can you give me your experience of children and colds and winter? I really don't want to have this to look forward to for the next few years! Eeeeek. Ta.

I've got to admit that I do feel slightly better today, however my voice still sounds like sandpaper. And at least I have a script for antibiotics in case I'm still not well by Sunday.

I've also made a call to rest again next week. I need to look after me so that I can look after and be the super dooper Mum I always hope to be. So that's what I'm gonna do.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to sit and scrap in the warmth of the lounge. We'll see.

Have a great Sat!

Big Picture Scrapbooking - Nic's class

A little while back Nic asked if I'd do a couple of example LO's for her class "Point of view" at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I was really thrilled and excited, and over the last few weeks have seen it unfold on the BPS site.

Boy oh boy, what a professional site this is! If you haven't taken a class through BPS yet, you must go and have a look. There are so many different classes and ideas coming up all the time. And as usual with all things Nic does, her class is so professional and informative. I am lucky to be able to call Nic a friend and have learnt so much from her. Yet every time I take a class with her (live or not), I learn something new. Cor, if I'm not careful I might even rave so much about her that I could be called a stalker. LOL! 

Anyway, here are some of the LO's that I created:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun doing these, they are all about the journaling (to see this, click on the picture and it will enlarge).

Later.

Where I'm at

Well, I've got lots to catch up on. Including a sketch, but with a hectic weekend and a voice that is no longer, I'm taking it easy.

I can't believe that I'm sick again. And as I've been doing everything I can possibly think of to get healthier (vitamins, doctors - normal and hippie type, healthy eating etc etc), the only thing that I haven't been able to get is rest. Soooooooo, I booked a casual nanny for the times the kids aren't in school/daycare and I'm staying in bed all week.

OMG!!!!!

I can't believe I did it. But I have to. This year I've been incredibly sick. Far too much to be normal. So I need to do the only thing I haven't been able to. Rest. And its been good so far, but also a little nerve racking. I find it incredibly hard to stay in bed and do nothing.

So I have to admit I've been doing a little project while lying in bed. Putting photos into sleeves. I'm making my 365 album. I've got the photos, the journaling, it all just needed to go in the album. And now it has. And I'm up to date. Yay.

 

I started this project late, at the end of March, but its so rewarding to have what I do, written down, supported by a photo of each day. And tonight Sarah found it and was intrigued and pleased with it. It made me feel good.

So the next question is what shall I do while recouperating tomorrow? Argh! LOL.

Later.

SENZ

So who went to SENZ today? What was it like? Tell all!

PS: I'll be TAing in Rachel's classes tomorrow, so will be hanging around in the middle of the day sometime, make sure you say hi!

First one done

Yep, first one of me done in my new monthly challenge to myself. I'm even going to make a little chart to put by my scrap desk so I can tick off each month to keep me honest.

Here it is...

 

This one is about a tradition I used to have as a teenager with my friend Ramon. He would come over every Thurs night and we'd make fudge and watch Dynasty. He played an important part in my life and I will always treasure that.

Those two photos up the top have me in them. The larger one I'm with the dark hair (back to the camera), and in the smaller one I'm on the right hand side.

I'm really glad to have this done. And thanks to Mum for bringing her album down so I could take the photos out and scan them!

Ok, off to get all of my 365 photos so far printed. yay! Just waiting on the album and sleeves to put them in after that. So excited.

Later.

LO's to share...

Went to a crop on Saturday and got this LO done...

 

I sat down at the crop, and didn't move for a while, just enjoying the comradeship of being with some friends. I realised that I was really sick of doing LO's with 'cutsy' photos in them for no reason. Actually this has been coming to me for some time, but it really hit home, when I looked through my photos trying to work out what I'd make that day. What story I would tell? Cause at the moment, that's what its all about for me. Sure, I LOVE creating beautiful LO's. Goes without saying, but I really want each one to have a story. I want the little and big things of our life in my albums, I want to turn each page finding hidden little gems each time.

So in the end I had the above 'cutsy' photo, but have paired it with the story of our new lawn and the kids enjoying it, and its given me the pleasure of both. Yay!

I've also realised I need to do more about me. Recently I moved some of my albums into the main house. The kids like to get them down (with supervision) and go through them. One time Andy was too. And he leaned over and said "I really like seeing you in the albums". Funny that there aren't that many of me in there though. I need to do more. I've decided I want to try and do one a month of Andy and I. Our stories. Individually and together. Hmmmm, maybe we can even set up a group to encourage each other through our blogs??? What do you recon?

And I found this paper in a store in Hamilton "Create" while there. Loved it. Had to buy it and knew the story as soon as I saw it.

 

Its not my normal style, but its done. And I'm pleased about that!

Have a great Wed!

T

We're back

Took off for a mini holiday for a couple of days with Andy and the kids. The kids had a great time. We think.

On the way home I explained how I was thinking of a scale from 0-10. With 0 being really bad and 10 being really good. I explained how the numbers in between were all a different rating to show how much you like something. Then I asked them how they rated their holiday. Matt immediately said "10". Bless him! Sarah being her usual contrary self said "0". Andy asked her what she meant? That she had enjoyed the spa pool, enjoyed dinner, enjoyed the motel, enjoyed meeting up with Kaya and Arlo and playing in the park, so it couldn't have been a '0' as she liked some stuff. She thought about this for a while, then amended her original choice to a "1". ROFL! I'm hoping she just didn't get the whole scale thing, but in reality think she was just being contrary.

And in hindsight, it wasn't that much of a break. Long story short, Matt has an ear infection. We forgot his antibiotics, Andy was going to drive home, and we decided there had to be a better way. We managed to get a script sent to a local chemist, and picked up the new antibiotics, by which time it was really late. Andy went to give it to Matt, although he was in bed asleep and unfortunately he can't have woken up properly, and gagged on it and before we knew it he vomited everywhere.

Got it all cleaned up, off to sleep again. No probs.

We took the kids to the circus. It was a horrible failure. LOL. They all got quite scared by the 'evil' lady trying to cut peoples heads off, and the dragon. We left at the half time interval.

Next morning Andy wakes up sick as with a nasty cold - the one I had the week before. Bugga. So he stayed in bed all day and we did other things.

But we realised while staying in our favourite motel, that it was so much warmer than home. It was freezing in Hamilton, but I was still sleeping with just a sheet. The motel was newish, so different to our home. We started to put 1and1 together to realise that all the talk of insulation really does make a whole lotta difference.

It was reinforced when we got home and it was colder inside than outside. 9 degrees in our house! What the? So we put on the fire and got warm.

It has made us realise we really do need to get on with rennovations sooner rather than later. And perhaps this is part of the reason I've been so ill for so long? Who knows?

And at the end of the day, it was lovely. It was nice to get out of Auckland, nice to catch up with friends, nice to do something different and always a treat to stay somewhere nice.

The kids reaction to being home was lovely too. running through the house, saying 'oh hello ....., hello .....'. I think they may have missed their 'normality'?

I've got a couple of LO's to share, will do so shortly.

Later.

Saturday sketch day

Here's this weeks sketch, plus my take on it....

 

 

I have to say I love the ribbon around the semi circle.

I actually started this LO off with a different photo (or set of photos), but they didn't work. I had already decided this was the paper I wanted to use (which is a little different to normal. I usually choose the photos first), so I then had to swap my ideas around on what photo to use. But this one of our old cat Pudding (doesn't he look regal?!) soon felt right and his story is now told.

As it turned out, his story is much bigger than I thought it would be, so on the tag I put 'if you want to read Puds story, please see back of layout'. Then typed it on an a4 piece of paper and attached there. I often do this if the journaling is just toooooo much for the design of the LO.

Well, its meant to be stormy today and tomorrow. I kinda like that. Hope you have a good weekend.

The good news and the bad news

The good news is that Dan is no longer having nightmares about spiders. Our letter worked.

The bad news is that he's transfered his nightmares onto dogs. Last night we were up for hours as he went in and out of sleep/night terrors.

It was our worst experience so far. He wasn't awake. We couldn't reason with him or talk to him. He could see things we couldn't. The whole works. It was so awful as a parent to sit holding him and/or watching him go through this.

It has in the past gone in cycles. Night terrors one night, then nothing for a night or two. I'm desperately hoping he doesn't have any tonight.

I spent most of the day in bed today. I've slept hours and still feel exhausted. Thankfully Linn was here to look after the kids for the afternoon.

I was talking to Andy about being ill this year and said, how long haven't I been sick this time? A month? He thought I was being generous. I did see a homeopath on Monday, so giving the alternative a shot. Lets hope things start looking up soon. I'm tired of being sick! LOL.

Later.

School holidays

So far we've had 1 and a bit school holidays in my childrens short school lives. And so far, I've been sick for, well, all of them! What the?!

Although this time around, I'm not letting it stop me. We've had a great couple of days. Catching up with some of their friends, ferry trips, a visit to the maritime museum (its free if you live on the North Shore for the next little while!!!), and of course swimming lessons....

 

My two little fish have been wanting swimming lessons for a while now, but unfortunately during term time I haven't been able to find classes. They're all full! So it was super exciting to get them in these classes now.

They are loving them.

Dan was most disappointed that he couldn't also get in the pool. After all, its 'his' place for swimming. And he kept saying he wanted to get in. Poor wee tyke. At least his classes will start again after the holidays.

And here's a sight from yesterday. Oh wow. The hail was incredibly strong and big.

Dan stuff

For me, some stuff I want to remember:

• Daniel eating dinner last night, leans over to Matt and out of the blue says:
  

  
  I like you Matty Moo Moo

  Andy replied: Do you like Matt do you?

  Daniel: Hes my best buddy
  
  Ahhhh, love it.

• Dan has been waking up at night with either nightmares or night terrors. I asked the ladies yesterday if they'd experienced this and if so what they did. They came up with a great idea. Write a letter to the 'scary thing' and tell it to please stop.
  
  So this afternoon Dan and I wrote a letter to all the spiders asking them to please stay outside and not annoy Daniel in his sleep.... He doesn't like them.
  
  I then went and posted it in our letterbox. Here's hoping it does the trick.
  
  When I came back in, Andy told me Dan had said "I'm better, I'm better, I'm better" as he walked back inside. How cool. Crossing fingers now.

• Naughty Mummy story. I was driving on the motorway the other day when a guy just pulled in front of me without indicating or anything. I muttered under my breath....Tosser.
  
  Dan in the back seat, had a suggestion: Beep the horn Mum.
  
  Oh dear! LOL.

Oh, and yesterday I created the following LO.

 

I used that Prima sketch from my post a couple of days ago. That is Daniel. And by golly, he still has the same look now when he gets annoyed!

Its one of those LO's that just doesn't look 'finished', but the story is told and that's a good thing!

Here's a close up....

 

Used lots of Prima papers, ribbon, felt, and butterflies. Adore those butterflies! Actually I see they've got some attached to their new vines in the new CHA releases. Sigh. Can't wait to see them IRL.

Later.

Running update

 

This morning I got up early to meet alot of the people running to free childhood slavery in India. It was good. The plan was that our different lengths of runs would start progressively so we could all end together and have a coffee. And it worked really well.

I only ran 3 kms this morning. Which feels so little, but my poor legs are feeling it. LOL.

I remember in the good ole days I wouldn't bother putting my shoes on for anything less than about 6-8kms. Cor, how times have changed!

Anyway, I did it. And I'm pleased. While I've been doing my own small training from home, it was nice to get together with a few others, and I've now made contact with another lady and we're planning on doing a bit more together. Yay!

I found out today that to buy a slave only costs $90. Now I'm not sure what currency thats in, but either way, its just unbelievable that a person can be brought for so little. Its not right!

If you haven't made a donation and would like to, please click on the link in the top left of the sidebar. There is alot more information there so have a look if you haven't already. Any amount makes a difference.

Later.