Happy 16th Birthday Jarryd!!!

We have had such a busy week!! We had visitors everyday since Saturday! Family visitors.....the kind who stay for lunch & dinner and even overnight!!!

We got to go out Tuesday night with 2 other couples (Joseph's relatives) to the casino and it was fun!!! Our first stop was caffeine and I headed straight to Coffee bean tea leaf and it was gone!!! I was sooo sad :( It is now called Cafe....owned by crown....not as good...but I was relieved that my favourite sofas were still there...right in front of the tv screen. We chatted for a good hour and a half before exploring the casino and settled on rapid roulette...minimum bet of 50c...rofl....it was fun. We didn't win but didn't lose too much either so that was ok. We finished the night off with a stop at the food court for some yummy chinese congee before getting home at 1am.

Jarryd, our middle son turned 16 yesterday. Yup...an Anzac Day baby! when I was given my choice of 3 days, I was amazed that the surgeons scheduled caesareans on public holidays and quickly booked for that morning. It's fabulous that his birthday falls on a public holiday. DH's aunty had stayed the night with us and MIL came around lunchtime and stayed all afternoon and we decided to go out for dinner....I was over cooking......over entertaining...we went to a fabulous chinese restaurant near our house and had a great meal....came home and our visitors didn't go home till midnight. when I went to bed....it hit me....omg....what kind of mother am I? I forgot to get cake!!!! WE didn't get to sing happy birthday at all!!! We wished him happy birthday, gave him his gift (money & phone credit) and took him out to dinner and made sure we ordered the requisite noodle dish for long life....but we forgot cake!!!

This morning....while cuddling with Jeromel in bed....another thought lit up in my foggy sleep deprived brain.....omg....we forgot to do Jeromel's 2nd head lice treatment!!!! It was supposed to be done a week apart and we should have done it wednesday night....arrrgggghhhhh....plus.....we had all slept in!! So I kept Jeromel home to treat his hair.......and it was good.....nothing to find!! Then I couldn't scrap....I did everything but scrap...I vacumned, unloaded the dishwasher, washed 2 loads of laundry, made lunch for us, tidied up....sigh....told myself...after lunch...I must scrap!!!

But life had other plans for me....lunchtime, I got a call from the vice principal at the high school....oh no....Jordan was really sick after his athletic events. He just about collapsed in the bathroom at school (ewww) and couldn't muster the strength to get up....the poor boy had to wait about half an hour before someone came to use the bathroom and discovered him. He was assessed by staff in the bathroom before they decided to take him home. It took two guys to take him out to the car...he could barely walk...could barely stay awake....could barely talk....pure exhaustion. It was pretty scary to see him like that. I rang the ambulance service to get some help and they told me that it was ok to let him have a sleep but to wake him up every hour to check on him. Jordan's girlfriend Felicity came home with him in the vice principal's car...so she helped to look after him as well. After about 4 hours...he was much better....he got up to eat something and have a shower.

By 4.30pm, Jarryd was home and everyone was ok...so I left him in charge and quickly dashed out to the shops to get something for dinner. Got some chicken breast schnitzel and some salmon & beans...and something for dessert to make up for us forgetting to get Jarryd cake.

Now....for something out of the blue.....Moxie Scanty Panty Liners - love them love them love them!!!

Cybercrop layouts.....

I decided to join in the 123 cybercrop a couple of weeks ago while DH was away......kids were working...I was a bit lonely and wanting some excitement on a friday night and this was as exciting as it could get for me. LOL It was fun and mentally I committed to doing all 3 of the challenges. So here they are:

Challenge 1 criteria - brown with a touch of blue, photo collage, sketch, paper tearing
I decided to scrap the beautiful photos I had taken when I went with Jeromel on his first school excursion. I had never been on a cruise on the Yarra before and it was absolutely awesome.....the sights were just simply spectacular.


Challenge 2 - mother's day/easter gift, transparency and wings. So I decided to make an explosion box....lots of fun to do and surprisingly quick. Each of the 4 sides of the box has flaps which store 5 photos so there is enough room for 20 photos on this small project!!
Challenge 3 criteria was visible paint, chipboard and a Scrap Therapy prompt...I chose food coz I love food. LOL!! yes, there is hidden journalling and my secret is inside that photo folder.....which I will reveal soon....although you may have to bribe me with a prize! lol
So those are my layouts over the last few days. Next on my list of things to do are my layouts for Scrapping Angels...for my kit.....omg.....soooooo yummy!!!

Is anyone elses child mad on the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles? I love how the dudes are back in fashion! They were sooo popular in 1989 when Jordan was born. I used to play that on the Nintendo with my brother in law. Jordan's 1st birthday cake was a teenage mutant ninja turtle cake. His first doona cover was teenage mutant ninja turtle. Now it's Jeromel's turn...he's obsessed!!! In the past 2 weeks, we have collected 3 ninja turtles from mcdonalds....he missed out on the first one, the orange one - Michaelangelo. Anyone got a spare???? LOL

An awesome month!!!

It has turned into an absolutely awesome month. Rach told me that I am also in For Keeps this month!! I was absolutely gob smacked.....this means I am in ALL 4 magazines this month. Mich called it a Quadrella..............*happy dance*.
This layout is a Awards for Excellence layout. I entered last year and obviously didn't win but FK kept one of my layouts for future publication....which I guess is now! Since then, FK haven't accepted any of my layouts.....sigh!

Anyways, I love this layout...love the scenic route, the 7 gypsies stickers, dimensional dots, and I fell in love with the scenic route chipboard alphas then. Flowers were cut out and 'popped', 7 gypsies stickers were mounted on chipboard first to give them more dimension.

Yikes, I nearly forgot that Michelle Tan tagged me! Which reminds me that Adeline tagged me many moons ago.....same kind of tag....reveal little known facts and idiosyncrasies.....

Here's the deal, I list 7 random facts about myself and then choose 7 people to tag to do the same thing on their blog.

1. I have an irrational fear of snakes. I can't even stand looking at pictures of snakes....I recoil immediately in repulse and freeze up inside. And I 'swear' that whatever brief glimpse I have of a picture of a snake.....it actually moves.

2. Each time I get my mail from the mailbox, I always check the stamps...just in case Australia post haven't 'stamped' it....which means that I can re-use the stamps. When I find one of those stamps....I'm happy...even if it's 50c....coz it means that I have a free stamp to use. LOL...sad case!

3. I am the most unphotogenic person ever!!! I look crap in 97% of photos. My friend Susan Darcy actually took some unbelievably great photos of me last year and I have overused them.....DH keeps telling me that I have to book another photoshoot.

4. I am not very girly. I don't like shopping for clothes because of how big I am...I get depressed when I have to go and shop for clothes for an event. I don't like buying make up or perfume. I don't like girly shoes.....like strappy high heeled shoes with bling....don't like them....because comfort means everything to me.

5. I don't enjoy cooking. Yes, people tell me I am a great cook and that my food is tasty....but 90% of the time, I don't enjoy cooking meals. I enjoy baking...but not cooking everyday meals. I cook very simple nutritious meals for my family and I must be doing something right because they are sooo tall and healthy looking....I am going to knock on wood and have a little brag....but my teens have no acne. And it's definately not attibuted to great genes because Joseph and I still suffer from acne!

6. I have had 3 c-sections. My first was an emergency c-section after being in induced labour for 13 hours....Jordan ended up getting stuck. He was average size.....head circumference of 36cm & 51cm long. It was found out that my pelvic outlet is smaller than 'average'...so it only opens up to about 34cm which is why Jordan got stuck. With my subsequent pregnancies...I could have tried VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean).....I declined....lol....chicken! Luckily I made that decision because as far as my body is concerned, it produces very consistent babies....all my babies have EXACTLY the same length and head circumferences. BB1 and BB3 are even the exact same weight 3590gms while BB2 was only 20gms lighter.

7. I scar very badly.....I suffer from keloid scars and with my first c-section my scar was like a really thick knotted rope.....it was horrid. Plus pregnancy hormones had me breaking out in acne on my back and chest and I ended up with huge (and I mean huge) keloid scars all over my back....which is something I am very self conscious about.

Ok....that was soo revealing.....while having breakfast...I was wondering if I was going to be able to find 7 things....and once I got going...I could have kept going until I got to 100....lol

I am tagging....
Shirley, Vita, Felicity, Jasmine(Jazz), Sofi P, Jane Fitchett and Kylie Wise ;P

Published layouts!

This month is an amazing month!!! I am in 3 magazines!!!

My first time being published in Creating Keepsakes!!! I had submitted about 10 layouts to them before this one was picked up. This is my 30 min layout...very simple...I guess that's what Creating Keepsakes likes.

This month, I am in Scrapbook creations with this 'Dare to Dream' layout. It is actually a rejected layout from the FK Awards for Excellence. LOL...I love the A2Z papers...wish I could get them in Australia.


And yes, I'm in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 8 No.10

I pretty much did a *happy dance* when I got the email from Krys at Scrapbooking Memories inviting me to take part in the Pink Martini product review. Quickly googled Pink Martini and then decided that all papers were fine for me to work with .....except maybe the purple range Flirtini. I find purple challenging. OK...it's a nice colour...but whenever I try to do anything with it....it just doesn't look right to me. I prayed hard 'not purple, not purple, not purple'....God must have only heard purple purple purple coz when the package came from Scrapbooking Memories....flirtini stared back at me....*blink blink*. So I spread out the papers and embellishments on the dining table...for the next day...each time I walked past, I would add some embellishments and photos for 'consideration'....until late that afternoon when all of a sudden...a layout materialised in my head...yes...this happens quite a lot....I did a quick sketch before that mental image could disappear. And thus...that layout was born....I like it....it's very purple....but I like it....I can get lost looking into Jeromel's eyes.

Ok...I am searching for Creative Memories replacement blades for the 12 inch trimmer. Anyone know of a consultant or even better, somewhere where I can get it cheaper?

Single Mum.....

Yes, I'm a single Mum.....how dare he go and leave me? And during school holidays too!!! Can't wait till he gets back on Tuesday. LOL.....DH has just gone overseas for work. I'm missing him lots and we're talking for at least an hour a day which is helping. During the day, it's easy enough to pretend that he's at work but the evenings are when I miss him the most. Sigh...roll on tuesday!

I've had a nice week...
Tuesday I went over to Kylie's and she made us pancakes for lunch. Yummo! Jeromel had a great time playing with Jessica and Hannah. It was fascinating that they would go outside and play in the sandpit and I believe they were building a castle...then they would run inside to the girls bedroom and play dolls house...then back outside again.

Wednesday I had an impromptu lunch. Vita emailed the day before asking if she could come over for a visit and drop off a couple of card making idea books to me in the morning. So I asked Mich if she would mind coming over on wednesday instead of the thursday we had pre-arranged. And then on the spur of the moment, I invited Felicity as well. It was great....we got to have a really good chat and the kids all got along well....although there were some tears when it came down to sharing trains. It was Felicity's first time to my place and she was keen to see my scrap room.....lol....there is no scrap room...there is only scrap space...she was amazed at how little stuff I have. LOL...it all fits on one table. I had a big cull not long ago and rakked a lot away and sold some at the trash and treasure stand at crop for kids. I am officially paper poor....am down to half a cropper hopper full of paper....and half a cropper hopper full of bazzill. Yes....half!!! I think I have rectified that though....I shopped online!! LOL

Today, I had a mini date with my little man ....we went to Chadstone to get some photos developed and I shopped. I had retail therapy.....this time....with non scrapping and non food and non kids related stuff. I bought a pair of shoes from Colorado and two tops. Came home in the evening with some take out for dinner and realised that my email was stuffed up. I couldn't work out what was wrong....I rang Mich for help and her DH finally helped me work out that my computer had run out of memory. I rang optus help line hoping that they would have a backup of my emails....sigh.....no luck. So if you have emailed me anything yesterday (thursday)....then please email it again.

Ok...scrapping....

This layout is of my 2nd son Jarryd.....@15 it's just a matter of style. Jarryd loves clothes....fussy about clothes....labels matter and he's only 15!! Luckily he will save his pocket money and money from his part time job at the golden arches to buy his clothes. The boy saved all his tags for over a year...he pinned them onto his lamp until the whole lampshade was covered!! He came out of the room last week with a handful of tags asking if I wanted to use them for scrapping...bless him....he's a well trained scrappers son. I couldn't resist doing a layout on him for the Aussie Dares blog challenge
Eversince the inchies topic was raised in BB and Vivian Bonder showed her inchies....I was mesmerised....what a cool name...what a cool idea....I mean....decorate a square inch? yah...I can do that!!! Maybe not as well as Vivian Bonder....but I was going to give it a shot. When Mich was over yesterday she brought up the inchies topic as well and I raided my stash and gave her some to do a layout as well. I've had these photos and papers for a while now and finally got around to scrapping them last night. Thought that the inchies would make nice embellishments for the layout. And I was right! I love the effect....I'm going to use inchies again!! Where's your inchies layout Mich??

I'm in lurve!!!!

yes..u read it right...I'm in lurve....feel deeply and madly in lurve with a piece of furniture. ...yes..something that will not lurve me back. But that's ok. DH and I have been married nearly 20 years...and we've never owned a new lounge suite. We've had handed down lounge suites and 2nd hand loungesuites for years....our current one has been in the family for about 15 years!!! And in our house for 10 years!!! It's served our boisterous boys very well...and it's past retirement age and DH and I have been shopping around for a replacement for a while now. We're fussy....we had to have leather...nice leather...not slippery smooth cold leather...but leather with a bit of texture, softness and warmth to it. It has to be firm ...it has to be long...it has to be large...it has to be comfy. I kid you not...we've tested over 100 couches!!! A couple of weeks ago, we ordered this beauty from Bay Leather Republic. Meet Verona...and pls don't be horrified...we wouldn't order a white lounge with 3 boys....we ordered it in chocolate brown. We got a 3 seater and a 2 seater. I *heart* it mucho mucho!!Scrappingwise.......not done very much because it has been a bit busy in this household. DH was home sick this week and with everyone home...it was great...but threw all routines out the window. I did this layout for Aussie Dares
for the Freestyler scraplift challenge. I was inspired by all the layouts....didn't know which one to pick...so I set out to scraplift Nic Howard's layout....loved the way she layered the alphas in the title and wanted to give that a go...and then when I finished my layout...I realised that it also had a sprinkling of inspiration from Wendy Redshaw-Bruhns with the curly arrow. So maybe it a fusion freestyler scraplift....I had fun...I scrapped a layout which I absolutely adore and in the end, what matters is a moment and a memory was captured. Mission accomplished!! Also very proud to announce that I am now one of the contributors for Aussie Dares. I also made a couple of cards, an easter gift box and a double layout of Jarryd...and a circle journal.....so all in all...not too bad I guess!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Hooray for School holidays!!!

Hooray for holidays...hooray!!! Ok ok......I can hear all the WTF?? all the way to my house. Yes, not many people like school holidays....but I do. Why??? Coz I get to sleep in.....I don't have to wake up at 6.45am to get myself and the kids ready for school. It also means that I can plan to have a pyjama day....a day where I don't have to get out of pyjamas until at least after lunch. School holidays are easy for teenagers.

Jordan is a night owl....so he goes to bed after midnight and can sleep until lunchtime. He's grumpy if he has to wake before lunchtime year round...so during the school term...he's always grumpy.....he's always in a much better mood by the time he's home from school. And the chirpiest when it's around 10pm.
Jarryd is a bear....he likes to sleep....hibernate.....he will wake up relatively early....have breakfast...and then watch tv or play on the computer....then if I am out of my bedroom...he will go and crash in there for an hour or so...if my bed isn't available...the couch is his next choice....he likes to have naps. He's the bear.
Jeromel is a typical 6 year old.....no naps during the day...in bed by about 9.30pm during holidays and is awake at about 9am. This boy likes to sleep too! He was never like this for the first year of his life...he was a baby cat napper or is that a kitten napper? He would do short 30 - 40 sleeps...and would only fall asleep when he was in the sling or in my arms. We thought he was totally spoilt....until we took him to the chiropractor.....omg....what a difference!!!

Jordan and Jarryd love school holidays...they get to sleep in...they get to play on the computer...they get to laze around....they do extra shifts at work......and thus..have social lives....they go out....they shop...they lunch with friends...they go to movies....they don't get bored.

Jeromel was devastated when he was told that he didn't have school for 2 weeks....the teacher said that most prep kids are very sad about this...so she only told them a few days before end of school. This morning, Jeromel asked what uniform he should wear and I reminded him that it was school holidays...no school....he was quiet...but accepted it. We went out on errands today....one of which was to the Nestle Peters Icecream factory....omg..if you live in Vic...you have to go...my first time...usually, my cousin or my friend buys for me...but now they both work...so...today, after much persuasion from my boys....I decided to go....a box of 24 nudie Berry icypoles for $10 and a box of 18 choc top cornettos for $15!!! My boys were happy.....they had their holiday treat! On the way home...Jeromel asked when we were going to holidays. I said he was having school holidays now....but he kept asking when we were going to go on holidays.....to stay at a different place kind of holiday...then it clicked.....he thought school holidays was when we were going to go away. He has been on holidays before...overseas holidays, interstate holidays....and little overnight holidays in Victoria. Then he was silent for the rest of the way home...when we drove past the school, he had a look down the street and he said....the school is still there...it didn't go on holidays.....and then wanted to know who came up with the wise idea of 'school holidays'. Sigh!!

LOL....if you're all still reading and haven't gone....then I suppose I should show you some pics...sadly...no food pics to show...but I have some layouts!! These are all from my One Page At A Time April kit....hurry...there are still some left...but they are bound to sell out quickly. The alphas are by Around the Block..they are called Shrinky Stickers (Doodle).....if anyone can find them....please let me know...I want another pack or two....I love them!!!!

One other thing I had to do today as to deliver a stack of Trinature brochures to Wendy and Jess for the Crop for Kids Good Friday appeal. The brochures will be going in the goodie bags that everyone will receive when they go that day. From what I hear...there will be a lot of yummy things in the bags.....yummy things like AC ribbon....and a Fiskars apron....and lots and lots of other things....and of course....my Trinature brochure which gives you 10% off all orders placed until the end of June. What is trinature? No...it's not a scrapping product....tee hee....Trinature is an Australian company that makes enviromentally safe biodegradable cleaning & personal products. Two of my kids are asthmatics and suffer from eczema as well...a few years ago, to my relief, I found Trinature and loved their products...loved them so much that I decided to join up and sell them...or back then it was just to buy them at a cheaper price. If you are looking for any trinature products or want more info...please send me an email or leave a comment! Ok...shameless plug done. LOL