Anniversary dinner

This is what I cooked for our anniversary dinner. First I made the salt & szechuan pepper chicken spare ribs and served half with fruity mayo (hongkong style).....then the other half got cooked with okra and nonya sambal. This was surprisingly so quick and easy and tasty that I will be making it again ......sooon!!!!

Gosh....has it really been that long????

It's my wedding anniversary today......19th anniversary....yah...can you believe that? 19 years!!! We find it hard to believe ourselves......it doesn't seem like that long ago!! I have spent half my life with Joseph.....so blessed to have found love so early on. We were truly very young when we met and married 6 months later......and no...it wasn't a shot gun wedding because we didn't have our son till nearly 2 years later. LOL...just had to clear that up!

Anyways....I so happened to be picked for the November Guest DT for Scrap-Pile and what better way than to kill two birds with one stone and do an anniversary album with the gorgeous Junkitz box bookz and my favourite Scenic Route papers. So you are all in for a giggle and a laugh while you take a wander down memory lane with us.The journalling and the title are the lyrics from Nat King Cole's song 'Too Young' . This is 'OUR' song because we were always told by family and friends that we were too young...but we've proved them wrong. Anniversary plans....no plans for tonight because we have a meeting at the primary school where Jeromel will be starting Prep next year....so we will do something another time.

Asides from that....I had a crop here on Saturday and Vita, Shirley , Mich and Jane came....had an absolute ball and I did one EDM layout....lol...yes just one layout....I was too busy chatting and being a hostess. Again we had Rendang but this time with chicken flavoured rice and wasabi potato & prawn salad. And dessert was Mango and sticky coconut rice...and there was a bit of durian too. Yum yum!!!

The things he says !!!!

In Sydney....Jeromel came running up to me and gave me a really big hug around my belly....he really squeezed me with all his might.....took my breath away!!!

I said....wow...that's a big hug! Jeromel steps back with a big look of pride on his face...puts his hands on his hips and says 'yes, I squeezed you so tight you're lucky your head didn't pop off!!'

rofl....where does he get these lines from???

This is my Arty Pants layout with the same Scrapbooking Australia Christmas papers.....relieved to have finished with them. As much as I didn't like these papers.....I actually really like my layout and the gift box. I'm a magenius!!! LOL

We're back!!!

We're home...safe and sound.....we have flat bums and I have amazingly arrived with my sanity intact.

We had a really really good time........the drive to Canberra was a breeze....I drove part of the way and quite enjoyed doing 110kph!!! We stayed at the Carotel Canberra in a family cabin....2 bedrooms in really nice surroundings for $155 per night. Had dinner at a buffet place and did a bit of sighseeing the next morning before driving to Sydney. On the way to sydney we bought a box and a half of huge luscious sweet fresh cherries from a road side stall.....and then further along....a box of mangoes. Delish delish!!!

Our Sydney apartment in Parramatta was just gorgeous.....really really beautiful and luxurious!!! Masterbedroom had ensuite & queen sized bed, another bedroom had a QS bed and the last bedroom had 2 single beds. Big living area and gorgeous balcony overlooking the golf course. We did have a hiccup in that the air conditioning didn't work, there was no foxtel (as advertised) and the TV didn't work because the antenna wasn't connected. Consequently...I had bored grumpy teenagers....it was a bit on the warm side for us Melbournians who just had a cold snap....which resulted in the little one's asthma playing up and he also got a massive bloody nose which meant that he moved from the bed he was sharing with his grandma to our bed.

After a few complaints in the morning...we moved to another apartment in the next block ($50 cheaper)....slightly smaller living area (no balcony)...but there was airconditioning and there was foxtel which the kids were rapt about. The lovely lady also refunded us what we paid for our first night's accomodation...so all up I paid $189 for two night's accomodation. What a bargain!!!!

We did lots in Sydney.......highlights:

1. Temasek Restaurant in Paramatta - yummo and the chef made a special meal for Jeromel when he was notified about Jeromel's peanut allergy.

2. Exact change toll booths on the motorway.....love throwing the coins into the basket and watching while it counts then opens up the boom.....we threw coins in one by one.....Joseph said it might even start busking for us. LOL

3. Driving over the Sydney harbour bridge....what a buzz...what an experience.....we did it a couple of times just coz it was so much fun.......nah...we got lost and somehow ended up going over it again.

4. Making a wrong turn into the opera house parking lot meant that we had to pay the $28 parking fee....omg...how exxy???? I ran to the pay booth and explained the problem and the nice man said that he would let us out for free!!! What a nice man!

5. Our last night we drove all around the city and did the harbour bridge again, the opera house, took in the sights of the bustling city lights....most of the christmas decorations are up already....we drove to Kings cross too!

6. StarCity....we went there for dinner thinking it was a big complex like Crown and it is really small...not many places for us to have dinner at...so the boys ended up having subway and playing pool while we went to the noodle place and has some really good asian food....huge servings.....when I say huge...I mean huge....a plate of noodles was big enough to fill two large rectangular take away containers. Parking was a killer though $17 flat rate !!!! We didn't play at the casino....Joseph went upstairs to get his poker chips...he's collecting $1 and $5 poker chips.....we will try and get the ones from all around Australia. Can anyone help? We've got VIC, ACT and NSW and are looking for other states......we will pay of course!!

Photos....yup....got some.......will share later! The 10 hour drive home was a bit of a killer though....Joseph was a hero and drove all the way home....I kept asking if he wanted a break but he insisted he was fine....we did stop every 2 hours for a toilet break and for everyone to stretch their legs.

I will leave you with one of my Arty Pants November projects. I was given quite a few sheets of the Scrapbooking Australia Christmas papers...and again, really not me at all...but a challenge is a challenge and I am never one to back down when issued with a challenge....so I used most of the papers for this decorated gift box and have another layout on the drafting table ready for a photo.What do you think?

And we're off.....

And we're off for a bit of a road trip....driving from Melb to Canberra...staying overnight then driving to Sydney and staying a couple of nights there and then back to Melb.....by the time we've crossed the border....I will have had enough of being on the road...will be sick of driving...but it will be too late to turn back.
Thought I better post a few of my little projects.....I've just sent my first two Circle journals off.....felt like such a nervous mother sending these two babies out. Can't wait till they are back home.

That's 1, That's 2......that's 3.....that's it.....TIME OUT!!!

Photography by Susan Darcy
This is Susan's daughter Jaime.....absolutely adore this photo...it is sooo her....she's girly yet very cheeky and although she's painted like a girly butterfly......she's still her cheeky self. I had so much fun doing this layout........esp doing the butterflies and putting in a glittering flight path.

Now for my Arty Pants DT Projects for October

This month...I was given Scrapbooking Australia Chocolate Box papers to work with....very very challenging as these papers are totally not my style. That is why it's a challenge....I plodded on and am very proud to say that I made them work for me. Very happy with what I did. The whole middle section of the 'Stay sweet forever' layout has been mounted on chipboard so it's like a framed photo.


With the Peppermint Chocolate box papers....I used it to alter a CD tin. I find that this green goes beautifully with bright bright colours....the Prima itty bitty bag of flowers were perfect for this.This It's my time layout was our challenge layout...inspired by Ali Edwards to pick an hour and then scrap about it. Very simple layout using the 3 bug paper and scalloped bazzill. I've been told that my layouts recently are quite 'clean'.......and yah....they are.......I'm in a 'clean' simple phase atm.....I have a layout on my scrap table with all the letters of the alphabet on it....it's busy busy busy and I still can't bring myself to stick it all down....so it's waiting for me to get into a 'busy' mood. LOL
This month....I am Guest DT at Scrap-Pile
I've been given some fabulous products to work with and they'll be done in a days....I will upload them on the 15th....so go and check it out. This time out layout is a challenge set by Mich to use at least 2 pcs of chipboard (not counting alphas). I adore this photo.....love his pout....love the angle at which I took the photo....love the colours. Chipboard wise....I mounted the tick tock tick tock sticker strip and the T is for Time sticker onto chipboard for some added dimension and used the Collections reos.


While on the subject of Time out.....I use the Time out method with Jeromel as his main form of discipline. A couple of years ago...I did the 'How to talk so your kids will listen' short course with Kylie and it was fabulous...an eye opener. And this time out works sooo well with Jeromel. When he is doing something wrong....he gets warnings....I tell him what he is doing wrong....then I say 'that's 1..................' then he is given the chance to stop......often...he is having fun with whatever he is doing wrong, so he doesn't stop....a few seconds later....I'm in his line of sight again and holding out two fingers....I tell him 'that's 2.....'

If I get to 3....then he knows he goes to time out. But in 95% of cases....he's already stopped at 1 or 2..........which is why I love this....because he gets the opportunity to stop this behaviour because he knows what the consequence is.

So where is his time out spot? I don't have a naughty spot like the Nanny.....I don't even like labelling a child as naughty.....really dislike that word. ok....that's another story....

Jeromel's time out spot is on his bed. He always has a basket of books next to his bed and he sits on his bed and reads books while he waits for the timer to go off. Timer???? 1 min for each year of his life....so he gets 5 mins set on the timer in the bedroom. He can hear the tick tick tick of the timer and he knows what when the bell rings...he can come out.

Do I ever have to drag him there kicking and screaming? When I started time out.....we had to do that 2 or 3 times initially ....that's it....and time out doesn't start until he's calm....and I started off with a very very short time out so he got used to the whole concept of time out.

This time out method has been my sanity saviour.......I'm so grateful for this method. Thanks Kylie for asking me to come along!!!