Fun with photos

I have had heaps of fun playing with photos tonight! I dream of getting photoshop elements one day as I have no photo editing software except for the very basic program that came with our printer so when I get the chance to "play" I jump in. However, this is playing with a difference!

This first one is a pic of SJ taken at Darling Harbour, posing on the ground in front of the fountain ~ as you do (Well if you are as mad as us you do!)
A pic of Cass and I taken at a scrap day in Sydney makes a lovely wall hanging!

Heres that SJ pic on another billboard! for some reason this background just seemed to "fit" her really well. (And there wasn't even any pink icing or flavoured vodka!)

Kyles fav movie is Pirates of the Caribbean so he thought this pic was excellent

And finally a gallery pic! This pic is a very special one to me ~ it was not the first time I had met the Allan's (that had happened a few months before at Norah head and I had met up with SJ again at a craft show in Canberra) but this was the first time I had spent some decent time with the family (and even scrapped with SJ)...... Gail and I drove to Canberra to see them before they headed down to Melbourne to live.

So yes I have had fun playing with photos but they are all very special photos that sit in my "fav pics" folder. Special pics of special people

I found, it, I found it, I found it

Woohoo I found it!

So excited. I wazs cleaning up in my scrapping room - packing away the goodies from Paperific that I had just dumped on my scrap desk and sorting out the lace packs I had in piles on the floor. Anyway.......

When placing things away - there in the back of the cupboard, tucked away. I found this albeit small but very exciting bundle of.............
.........................................................................................

You'll never guess! In amongst all the new goodies I had bought was a small clump of..............................................................

Scrapping mojo! YAY ~L~

All of a sudden had not just heaps of enthusiasm but ideas popping around in my little head! I know exactly what I will be doing this weekend. Hope I found enough mojo to stretch over the whole weekend! Can't wait to get started.

Part time ......Ppfffttt

Lately I have been stresing and feeling guilty about my contribution to the household budget (or lack thereof). I have felt bad that I am only working 2 days a week and knowing that this is likely to drop more soon. However, I haven't been taking extra work into consideration.
I worked out today that yes.. I am officially only on 2 days a week but this week I am working 5 days (between 2 places), next week am working 4 days and 4 days the week after.
Maybe my lesson for today is to stop stressing the small details and look at the bigger picture!

In other news......

Got to send a shout out to Sandra and Andrea who both have special job interviews over the next 24 hours. Praying for both of you.

A fun afternoon

Had a great fun time today. It was a mad, busy day but a good one too. Spent the morning running around cleaning the house - having been away last weekend and then working this week the housework was a bit behind and I had people coming!

We had Jhorjie over for Tash to play with. We had promised Jhorjie when we met the twins that she could have a day with Tasha this weekend and the girls were so good together. They are so well behaved. Kyle had his friend Shaun over which is always pretty full on to say the least! Even Maggie the dog has a friend over to play! (We are dog sitting Mums dog overnight) And Tony has been sorting out all the junk that we have been putting aside for a tip run, borrowed Phillip's truck and got that done today.

This afternoon Cass moved her monthly card class down to Worrigee so I got to stay home and make 8 christmas cards for $15. And they were amazing cards! She is such a clever lady. It was great to catch up with Jane as well. We really don't see each other nearly enough - we communicate regularly by sms but don't spend near as much time together as we used to. I really miss that contact! All up there were five of us there: Cass, Jane, Gail, Kristy and myself. It was a nice group and just a friendly relaxed afternoon.

Home Mk 2

Yep made it home safely. Am now very tired and exhausted. Would love to share some pics with you but......(insert blushing face here).... actually forgot to take pics for most of the weekend! Anyway had a great time.

Friday
Got up nice and early and got the kids off to school then drove to Canberra and caught flight down to Melbourne. Have to say thanks to Kase for the pics of the new Pignataro twins. They were born as I was travelling today! Sandra met me at the airport and I don't think we drew breath for the next few hours catching up on all the latest details! Got home after stopping off on the way - we wanted to try out the new flavoured vodka but couldn't decide which flavour so bought 2! ~L~ (Raspberry and Citrus for the detail oriented!)
Then we sat out the back and watched the sunset sipping our drinks which were lovely! We went around to see one of the dentists SJ worked with who was moving in to lend her Matt's muscles! Then we came back home and sat and chatted and laughed. (Sorry Matt :( ) Eventually got to bed sometime around midnight I think.

Saturday
We went to Paperific! I got to meet the lovely Miriam who is such good value and heaps of fun. We wandered, chatted, did the touchy-feely thing, checked out the make and takes - did a couple of them, bought a little (yeah okay maybe a little more than that!), laughed a bit more and just had a great day. Got some cool stuff - stamps, new sassafras papers, a gorgeous cupcake chipboard album, ribbons, and heaps more. The weird thing about Paperific was the fact that I was recognised by people I had never met ~ then we realised it was because my face had appeared on Sandra's scrapping. So I became famous vicariously through her work! It was kind of off-putting though when people said "I know you don't I?"

Then back home for more drinkies and sunsets. Then a bit more chatting (not much we were both pretty worn out) - mainly I just sat in the chair that I am sure is there just for me - I love sitting there besides Sandra's scrapping desk watching her creative process and listening to Matt's music and checking out his photos. This guy is so creative and his pics are amazing. Check them out if you get a chance!

Sunday
Slept in till 8:30! Then we hit the shops! These shops were amazing. We just to the local shopping centre - ie this shopping centre services just their suburb but what a complex! Imagine a crossroad intersection with a mall the size of Nowra Fair on each of the 4 corners! (well technically 3 - the 4th is under construction) Did quite a lot of browsing and spent ages checking out baby clothes trying to decide - Keira wasn't much help she kept finding cuter and cuter outfits.
After doing a spot of grocery shopping we headed home and just relaxed and vegged out for the afternoon. Had the yummiest home made Satay Chicken pizzas for dinner. mmmmmm so good. Then I attacked Sandra's craft stash and did a heap of stamping to bring home.

Monday
Got up nice and early this morning as we had to be out by 7.00. Matt dropped us at the train station and SJ and I caught the train into the city where we sat and had breakfast before parting ways. For this country girl who isn't all that used to public transport I was so proud of myself. Today I
* Caught a train (okay so Sandra was with me so maybe that one doesn't count)
* Caught a tram
* Caught a second tram
* Found the bus terminal
* Caught bus to the airport
* Checked in ~ no mean feat as the check in took an hour and a half (was actually worried I would have nothing to do - ended up being very glad I got there early!) Did have a good chat to an architect from Newcastle who specialises in sushi bars whilst in the check in queue!
* Flew back to Canberra (after getting a free upgrade for being nice to the check in staff ~ all I did was change a $20 for them!) in a nice new plane.
* Tracked down car in long term parking (I am sure it wasn't that far away when I parked it on Firday)
* Drove home!
* Collapsed in a heap!

All in all I had a great weekend. Am now totally exhausted and missing Melbourne already. Have to work on that transfer again Tony!

Have to say thanks to the Allan family for once again being my family away from home. For welcoming me in and letting me be one of them. For putting up with my weird sense of humour and for letting me be me. Matt and Sandra you are the best friends a girl could have and I love you both MWAH. Miranda thank for the smiles at breakfast ~ what a great way to start the day. Keira thanks for the bed again sweetie. Hope your voice is back soon - but in the meantime STOP TALKING! Jamie, hope you are feeling better soon mate.

Thats about it - would love to share pics but.....Doh.... can't!

Now I just want my bed!

Home

Not happy - just did the longest post about the weekend and blogger lost it! Will sit down and try again

Mayhem and Madness

Yep you can tell from the title that all is normal here in the Lucas household ~L~

This week has been kind of mad with lots going on - mainly so I can organise my 4 days away! Soooooo excited - can't wait to totally terrorise Melbourne again ~ hmmmmm wonder just how we can get into trouble this time (note to self: Keep SJ away from security buttons!) So I will drop the kids at school on Friday and then drive up to the airport leaving them at the mercy of their father for the weekend!

I was a very proud mummy when Kyle came home from school on Monday with a note saying he had received a CREDIT in an ICAS computer skills test he did at school. Very proud of you mate - well done.

Am very excited over the fact that on Friday I will be an auntie again. Keep Simone, Greg, Jhorjie, Dominic, **** and **** in your thoughts and prayers (edited to protect those who don't know names etc of the twins).

Have applied for a couple of jobs so anxiously waiting to hear back. Have loved only working 2 days a week but the bank man doesn't like it quite as much as I do ~L~

Anyway hope you all have a great weekend. Will catch up with you on the other side of it!

Cards

Well I finally got around to uploading the pics from world card making day at Gails. Here is a glimpse of some of the cards I made. Some are fairly basic but I am happy with them. Also got some cards made with the "impossible" stamp from Jane. Forgot to take a pic of them so will do that and post them up here at some stage.


Oh and for anybody still counting ~ 5 days to go!!!!!!

Bye Bye EJ

Well Erin is off up north to terrorise ooops I meant explore the sunny state of Qld. Hope you have a great time and things go well for you!

The girls went off to Berry for one last Banoffee Pie expedition. Tasha managed to join them and had such a ball. I wish I could have gone but some of us had to work!
Tasha loves spending time with her cousins and thought she was just soooooo special being allowed to join the "grown ups" for a day out.
This pics were taken by Tasha (with some help from Erin) - you can see how much fun they had!

Bye Erin you will be missed and family gatherings will be sooooooo quiet without you ~ we may need to invest in a foghorn that we set to sound at regular intervals so we don't miss you too much.

Woo hooo

Just a quick post

1) 8 days to go - my arms are tired from all the practising ~L~ All your fault SJ! Zoom zoom a zooma zoom zoom - up in the air I fly!

2) Just got to shout out a big HELLO to Miss Jane who has been mentioned on numerous occasions in this blog. She has finally found her way to this little space (kinda scary - wonder if she knows what she is in for!)

3) Just gotta send random *hugs* to the wonderful Cass.

Anyway gotta go get ready for work - this working every day isn't much fun!

World Card Making Day

Who'd have thought there was such a thing but apparently there is so off I went to spend the day stamping and cutting and colouring etc etc. But first things first........ got to get the exciting stuff out of the way first!

13 DAYS TO GO

Till I go to Melbourne. Am soooo excited. I don't think there is a person who hasn't heard! Woo hoo Can't wait to see you to give you a REAL hug. Have been practising my airplanes - it is soooooo long since I used them.

Now back to our normal scheduled programming.... ~L~ Had a ball at the card making day and made...... wait for it......... 12 cards today! And I am happy with all of them. Will get pics up here over the weekend. Came home covered in ink and glitter ~L~ guess that means it was a successful day!

Oh....... don't forget to fix your clocks guys - daylight saving starts in a few hours!

Pics

Jeneen, you were asking about the water levels at Hidden Valley. the answer is low!!! There were some patches of decent water and in some places it would be deep enough to swim but in Hidden Valley itself, through the "rapids" as they used to be - this is what it looked like.

School holidays

What a busy couple of days - knowing that I am working for the majority of the school holidays I had promised the kids a day out on Monday ~ we had planned an a walk but then it started to rain so instead we climbed in the car and drove to Albion Park for a game of Putt Putt! We had the best time. It was one of "those" days where we just had fun and laughed so much I had tears pouring down my face and a headache by the time we got home! The kids had a ball at Putt Putt - the place was packed! There were people on nearly every hole but we had heaps of fun.
Then we stopped of at Berry on they way home for ice-cream! Tasha looked like lady of the house sitting in the window of the ice creamery!
We were having Charlee on Tuesday but Kase rang to say she wasn't working so we went for a bush walk instead. We parked the car up on Shoalhaven St and went down to Bens Walk and Big Rock. Did lost of "off - the - track" walking and climbing up rocks and cliffs. The kids had a ball.

Then Tony and I took them around to Hidden Valley. We tried walking along the ledge (I swear it didn't seem that narrow when we used to do it ~ hmmm mind you I was A LOT skinnier then lol)
But about 3/4 of the way along there had been a rockslide and we had to go back and climb up and through the bush to get there.

The kids loved hearing about all the fun times their dad had down there. We climbed into caves and crossed the creek about 4 times. All in all a great time - Tasha wants to go again on the weekend!
Then because we were suckers for punishment we had a game of backyard soccer when we got home!


After that Tony and I collapsed! Boy my poor legs and knees! A totally exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable day.

Countdown is on!

Wooohooooo countdown time - 20 days to go. Then:

Zoom, zoom, zooma, zoom, zoom

Up in the air I fly!

Allan family - here I come!

Birthday Wishes

Just a quick message to a wonderful girl who has been a great support to me. Thanks for being there when I need a shoulder and for being just as mad as I am!! ~L~

And most importantly:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASS

My boy

Or should I say my little man.... He is growing up way too fast. Can't believe he is off to high school next year. The scary bit is how young they grow up now! (Does that make sense ~ I understood it!) ~L~
Kyle has been telling me how most of the year 6 kids have boy/girl friends and go out on dates! WHAT! No way. I told him he was way too young and got this reply

* Warning extra cute response here *

"This girl asked me to be her boyfriend at school"

To which I hesitantly replied "and what did you say?"

" I told her that I just want to concentrate on my school work at the moment and don't want any distractions!"

At this stage I burst out laughing - how cute - but also kind of worrying. He sounds so grown up!

JUST A DRILL!

The kids were telling me they had a "lock down drill" at school today. With the sad state the world is in and the history of strange people hanging around the local schools they have drills for what to do when there are strange people on the school grounds!

Anyway it goes sort of like this ~ The siren goes and the teacher locks the class door and shuts all the blinds whilst the kids all sit on the floor. Then the teacher goes on the computer! At this stage I had a weird vision of the kids sitting huddled scared whilst the teacher checks her emails and plays a few games ~L~ No not quite! Apparently they wait for instructions via IM. Oh well my picture sounded better!

Share-sies

Have been having fun the last few days - playing with my new stamps! Thought I'd share my latest creations. nothing too flash but I am really happy with them. I love this Baroque stamp. Scraplifted the idea of the white gel pen with the stamp on the pink card, changed it around a bit and loved how it turned out. Tony actually commented that he liked the green/brown one so that is high praise coming from him!

Girls weekend at Terrigal/Erina

After Kath and Tina missing our Girls weekend in Sydney earlier in the year (and it ended up being just Jane and I) we finally got together.
We had planned ot go up for Kath's 40th birthday but couldn't get there so Jane and I travelled up on the 13th.
We had a great time. We met at Kathy's in Erina and then hit Erina Fair! Am sad to report that Jane and I did not do ourselves proud shopping. Did have severe budget restraints but still came home almost empty handed. Did manage to find a handbag and some bling.
We went out to Davistown RSL to see the Radiators which was a very interesting night. The lead singer was so drunk he could barely sing but we managed to dance for a large portion of the night anyway. Oh and the Jim Beam cowgirls were out handing out free merchandising so we had a good chuckle watching the guys going up trying to chat them up ~ yeah right~ Heres some pics from that night (notice the telly in the background - GO YOU SHARKS!)
And the morning after! Brekky on the water at Terrigal. It was a rainy morning but still a lovely place to sit and relax

Choir festival

Warning - extremely blurry pics!

Tasha has been walking arouns the house singing all the time lately ~ yeah I know what's different! This time it has been practising for the Combined Schools Choir. They also spent a lot of time at school in rehearsals.
Mum, John, Kyle and I went along to listen to them sing and we were blown away with the talent in the local area. They did a few songs all together which were amazing with the unison and the choreography they looked great. Each school also did a group performance and these were really good as well. Tasha got to sit between her 2 good friends Kaysha and Courtney. (She is sitting to the left of Courtney who is waving)
We were very proud of her. Not just for her conduct on the night but for all the work she put in beforehand.

Tasha's new disco room

As promised here are pics of Tasha's new room. Took a while but we got there. As you can see she has lost the bunk beds and it looks all nice and girly. She has a new bedside table And a new tallboy which we picked up real cheap as it was the last one - floor stock and had a mark on the top of it. Still looks all nice and girly.
Of course with the obligatory posters (I swear this girl is a teenager already ~ can I dream and hope that she will have it out of her system by the time she hits her teens ~L~)
But then you tunr around and here is the disco. the pics aren't the best but you get the hint. Looks better at night with disco ball going etc

The main thing is she loves it and is very happy with it and apparently it has passed the "friends test" . Her bed and tallboy are tucked away so she has heaps of room for dancing.

Whoooops

I know I said I was back on line and ready to update more regularly again. Have kind of justified my lack of blogging due to the fact that 1) no-one really reads my ramblings and 2) "others" ~ yes I'm talking about you SJ! ~ haven't updated recently either.
Having said that I now find that I am getting emails to find out whats going on and ~ shock, horror ~ after an almost 3 month hiatus posts are appearing on SJ's blog. Better get updating I guess.

Have pics on my camera which I haven't downloaded but the last few weeks in a nutshell

* Work. Am getting more hours than I first thought. Enjoying it whilst it lasts because I really do love this job.
* Kids. Growing up - Kyle is getting so tall and Tash is just such a "cool chick"
* Finished Tasha's room and if I do say so it looks really cool. She loves it which is the main thing.
* Had a girls weekend in Terrigal/Erina with Kathy,Jane and Tina which was an interesting weekend to say the least. We did hit the shops (I bought a new bag!) at Erina Fair and we went out to a Radiators concert.
* Had lunch with Cass, Callum and Annabelle
* And, very exciting news! I booked my flights for Melbourne. Can't wait to catch up with the Allan's. They are my family away from home. Love you guys.

Thats about it - will try to do better. Oh and will get pics from camera to computer!

Bits and Pieces

This week has been a mixed bag. I did plan to get Tasha's room done but endedup working a lot more so Tasha is still bunking in with Kyle and her room contents are all over my dining room table and rumpus room.

On the plus side i have spent some time this week updating our holiday blog

www.nzholiday2008.blogspot.com

Think I have passed the half way point now with the blog. It has been fun going back through the photos and memories.

Hope to get the room done over the weekend.

Very proud mum

After having a season off last year to play basketball Kyle returned to soccer this year. This is actually his 6th season. He isn't always the high scorer (in fact he plays back and in 6 seasons has only got 2 goals).

He is much happier hanging back and passing the ball for his team mates to score and has set up some amazing goals. Anyway they had their presentation on the weekend which we couldn't get to so Kyle's friend Shaun got his medal for him. It wasn't until today that we found out that not only did kyle get his team medal for this season but he had won the coaches BEST AND FAIREST award.

We are both so proud of him and it is good for him to learn that even though the others get all the glory on the field that his effort his also special.

WELL DONE KYLE

Tasha's 10th birthday

I'm not really sure who this girl is but she looks waaaayyy too old to be my little girl! How did she get so grown up?!? We had Tasha's 10th birthday party on Saturday and of course with her love of music she wanted a disco/karaoke themed party so instead of following our original plan of having karaoke in our back room we found a place that did karaoke themed parties - MUCH better idea!
Tasha's cake HAD to have a guitar on it!
Hitting the dance floor! I must say the kids were all so good with the younger cousins - if anything they got spoilt rotten by all the 10 year girls who thought they were "so cute"
And they thing that amazed me was Tasha with all her friends there when they were sitting down to eat made sure she had two of her little cousins either side of her and her other cousins were directly opposite!

They played heaps of games. they had an obstacle couse race, treasure hunt

Musical chairs! and heaps more
So all in all Saturday was a good night.

However....... on her actual birthday (Sunday) we went over to Auntie Gails in the afternoon and Tash was very quiet and withdrawn and then when we got home the poor little thing started vomiting. Its heartwrenching when your little girl is sitting there saying "Mum I just don't want to do this anymore" re being sick.

So this is how she ended up on her birthday!

We told her no more special days - she was sick for christmas and her birthday!