Christmas Eve

One tradition we have is that each of the children puts the angel on top of the tree...sharing is important! LOL

Our family after Mass on Christmas Eve!

Christmas 2007

The whole family likes to have a stir of the pudding and add the coins..we have many traditions at this time of the year. I don't even mind this photo of me..one of the latest ones I have!

Once again Ben made a wonderful gingerbread house! He is so clever.

Brenda comes home!

Here she is isn't she gorgeous??? Amanda and brenda together at brenda's welcome home party at Trudy's. And here we are...Brenda and I. The patch on Brenda's eye is proving so helpful as the eye is starting to improve by itself! Welcome home Brenda..belated I know but we love you.

An update

I know I am finally back..sorry for being so slack!

I have a few things to update so will start with Ellen's Year 12 Graduation and Formal. She had a beautiful Mass in the morning and it was lovely having ben in the Guard Of Honour when she walked out. Here he is standing in line waiting to see his sister.

This is my Mum with Ellen and Ben. Mum came up from Sydney to go to both Ellen's Graduation Mass and Brodie's service.

And this is my gorgeous daughter who looked absolutely stunning at her Formal that night.

She designed her dress and a friend's DD drew it up then we had it made..simple but elegant. It has a big bow at the back as well and a small train at the bottom.

Here we are with Ellen before the formal.

Some Layouts

These are recent layouts I have completed for a competition at Country Papercrafts. My partner in this race is the lovely Deb Hosking..she is such a sweetie.

This is a LO of my children's Primary School and also where I teach. The other LO is of Simon using some of my favourite Crate Paper.

This is Ben at his 7th birthday party.

Tag Your It

Rules are: copy and paste this into your blog and tag 3 bloggers to put it on their blog.

You've been TAGGED, now you have to go to scrap the stuff leave a comment AND submit a page or OTP.Tag 3 friends and leave comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.

Well thanks so much Lisa!!!!

I tag all those who haven't been tagged! BTW there are some great layouts there so go have a look!

An Update on Brenda

Brenda is hoping to come home in about a weeks time. I am over the moon and so looking forward to her returning home. She has agreed to speak at Amanda's 21st next year and this is even more exciting. Amanda went down to see her last Wednesday and had a good chat which was wonderful.

It has been a while!

These are some recent photos of my children and some of their cousins at celebrations in the family we have had lately.

This is a photo of just some of the grandchildren and great grandchildren in the family.

The other one is Amanda holding her baby cousin Gene who is turning one in about 5 days, he is simply gorgeous and steals everyones hearts straight away.

New Blog to check out.

A friend of mine who is extremely talented has some exciting news:

"I have been asked to be on the team of a new challenge blog called Category Stories (to say I am beside myself with excitement is a total understatement!!).

The blog address is: http://categorystories.blogspot.com/ and there is not much there at the moment but there will be on September 1st USA time (so 2nd September NZ / Aussie time) when the first challenge goes up."

No advertising or money exchanges hands it is all for our pure enjoyment so please join me in going over for a look. Well done Lee..you are an awesome scrapper and I can't wait to see your new work and the new Blog.

Wohoo we are over the moon! It is definitely a miracle.

The best news!!!!! Brenda has improved dramatically! She is walking on the walker unaided and sitting up most of the day. We were blown away by Miss Brenda sitting there and launching into a conversation explaining how shocked she was to hear about her accident. Even now I am tearing up..this is truly a miracle. The doctors said it was the worst head injury they'd ever seen and that her brain was like custard! Now ....well..let's just say we appreciate all of the prayers and positive vibes from everyone..it worked!

Last night we celebrated Paul's 50th birthday and the poor guy found it hard to speak as he said he realised who his friends really were and how grateful he was..it was so hard not to just sob right there as he was cuddling his two girls. I took some photos last night and am going through some old ones to make a scrapbook for Brenda..Emily her 16 yr old said she'd love to help me do the journaling.

Some Rain!

Well I am trying to keep up with my promise to myself to update each weekend! So far so good.
It has been raining on and off lightly since early yesterday morning and even though it isn't a lot it is better than nothing.
Everyone in the family either has a cold or asthma and the coughing is dreadful! Like every other household I imagine! Ellen sounds terrible and will have to go back on a three day course of cortisone! Poor girl.
Today is the day we finally start getting something organised for Ellen to wear to her Yr 12 Formal. We are going to see a frien'd daughter and she is going to draw up Ellen'd design..then we need to find some one who can make the pattern and make the dress! Oh dear why couldn't we find one off the rack?
Have a great day everyone!

I Did It Too!

Well everybody is having a play around so I did too..again very basic and a bit big but OK.
BTW I am able to read emails at the moment but can't reply! !

Don't Fall Over But yep Another Entry!

I have had a busy week but now the report cards are handed out and the School Moderation for this year is over and done with! Phew! Heaps of paperwork still to do but a lot done!
I went to visit my friend last night but she wasn't doing very well. The docotr says she will need 24 hour care so IRL this means a Nursing Home. I was very upset after my visit but am going back tomorrow mornming and hoping she is feeling better.
Tonight we had a close call! MIL nearly accidently burnt the place down! Luckily the smoke detector worked and I investigated and Simon put the fire out! It was so smokey and my asthma wasn't happy but a part from a wall needing to be repainted and a burnt sofa things are OK. MIL was sitiing there in the same room totally oblivious to what was happening which is the scary part!
I so could not go down that path again..been there done that and never want to do it again nor anyone else.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful week.
One more week until holidays..yeha!

Long Weekend

I am loving this long weekend. I have finished all of my report cards and am up to date with the chores...well except the ironing! Yuck I hate ironing. I made an orange cake, marble cake and 2 1/2 dozen patty cakes! Phew! I hope this lasts more than a day! LOL

I even managed to scrap this LO..not brilliant but in honour of the rain we had this week! I hope everyone is having a great weekend..for those with one!

On the news side of my friend in hospital she is off the ventilator and on a ward. She is on oxygen and basically can't move but did open her eyes wide when she saw us, so we are positive she recognised us when we visited on Friday. She raised her eyebrows to a few things too but the poor thing tried to talk and couldn't. My fear is that she is trapped inside her own body. We will be going down again this week and on different days so she gets more stimulation....we hope it makes a difference.

Feeling Blue

Unfortunately the news isn't good and I like so many of us am having trouble coming to terms with it. They say my lovely friend is never going to recover...how can one accept that??
My love and hugs go to her family and all of our friends.
Thank you ladies for being so supportive and caring it really does help.

Sad Weekend

What a dreadful weekend. Our lovely friend and Amanda's Godmother was involved in a car accident and is in a critical condition in Gold Coast Hospital.
She has many severe injuries and is on life support. We have all been waiitng on edge to hear updates and so far things are the same. The doctors are going to do another CT scan tomorrow and then decide if they will turn off the support. What a chilling sensation inside this is yet how her DH and two daughters much be feeling inside is unimaginable.
My heart is breaking and I am helpless..I can't do anything for her or her family.
Her DH was Simon's best man at our wedding and I introduced them to each other...we taught together in 1984...my thoughts and prayers are with Brenda, Paul, Emily and Jessica. May God give them the strength to go on and all of her friends too.
No matter what Brenda you will always be in my heart.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to you whether you have human or fur babies!

I haven't been well lately and nearly ended up in hospital this weekend but my human and fur babies all looked after me. So did my DH Simon. I hope you get the same loving as I did.

Belated Happy Birthday to Princess Chaunsee

On April 24th PC turned 3! A big happy birthday to you, this is the LO I did to honor you!

Tagged

Thanks Melanie and Teina! I thought you liked me???

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!
1. I am a mother of three lovely children..I keep telling myself that...no it's true!
2. I was once a smoker but gave up many, many years ago..phew..it is so expensive!
3. I am married to Simon and have been for 23 years at the end of June!
4. I used to be the Chief Pavilion Steward for our Local Show! (Fascinating isn't it???)
5. I have a morbid fear of snakes.
6. I met the love of my life at the pub! LOL
7. I am a 'Garfield' lover! He is my classroom mascot!

Now I am sure everyone has been tagged but if not..go for it!

My Easter Bunnies

I thought I would show you my gorgeous children after the hunt. I'm not biased or anything! LOL You can see how dry it is compared to last year...we really need rain!

Have You Heard???

There is a new BLOG and I have been invited to be the first Guest DT Member! I was so shocked and pleased...I am delighted and hope you like my efforts.
This is a great BLOG and truly inspirational. I really prefer this to a newsletter as little bits get added every now and then and it is always a surprise!

Introducing Ding!

This is our new adopted puppy...Ding! Very much the active pup who has totally put Princess Chaunsee's nose out of joint! LOL Here she is having a cuddle and a chat with Ben.

The Hunt

Here are the children having fun with the hunt. Don't you love the ugg boots Ellen wore? So chic with the dress but serviceable! I love the fact that they still love to do this.

Relaxing

This is Princess chaunsee and Ellen relaxing in front of the TV early this morning. We got Austar just before Easter and so the TV has been on and so have the fights!!!! She is such a funny cat but is feeling a little put out by a new family member. Ding! I will introduce her soon.

I think she needed a little TLC but she must have been uncomfortable.

Holidays

I love holidays! I have been really pleased to be able to do some scrapping after such a long time! I am also aiming to use some older photos and old things from my stash! Thanks to Julie for the pattern for this Library Pocket. It was a lot of fun to make and I intend to do more as it helps to use up some of these types of photos and make them special.
Thank you to the ladies who have benn commenting I will try to get back to my Blog more regularly.

I know I need to update more often!

I promise I will try...it helps to have my password info back! This is another of my favourite photos..one from Christmas when we were all having a stir of the pudding and adding the money. Look how much Ben has grown..I suspect he might have been stretching a little but not much as he is the tallest in the family now..not that it would take much! Amanda isn't impressed being the oldest yet the shortest! LOL
OK update...Amanda actually just turned 20 at the end of March and is at Uni studying..wait for it...education(I told her not to), Ellen turned 17 September and hasn't got her licence yet..not even her learner's, just not ready..which is fine by me. Ben turns 16 this May and is in Year 11 and he thought he should have been given a driving licence at age 12 because he could drive! He has already pretty much learnt the Learner's manual so I think it will be a case of 16 1/2 and do the test! And Simon and I are just simply getting older...well just a little bit!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a terrific Easter. Here we are on Easter Sunday morning. Lots of people get a shock to see how Ben has grown...I still do!
Simon and I are very fortunate to have such lovely children..we sometimes have to keep telling ourselves to believe it that but generally it is true...no it is! They love being together as a family and treasure our time as much as Simon and i do with them.

Look I Did It!

I have recovered my long lost Blog! I will try to catch up in the Easter holidays! More importantly I can add comments to the others I read..I have been reading just couldn't remember my sign in info! I know ..I am brain dead! LOL
A quick photo to show you ..this was a spider in our garden that Ben snapped and I think is a fabulous photo!