My crafty day!

Today I spent some time in my craft room - sorting things out and just generally tidying up and I came to my Kaiser Wood pen holders that have sat on my desk in their raw state for quite some time so I got stuck into decorating them today.

I am really happy with the way the y turned out - i was trying for that drippy paint sort of look which didn't work quite how I wanted but I am still happy with them. Here is how they look in use on my desk!

Although when you look at the big picture - they do tend to disappear a bit don't they!

Fun with old friends

Today was a good day! Did the cooking last night so didn't have to do too much today!

Went down town to do the grocery shopping (keep running into people who wanted to talk) and then got home just before Tracy was due to arrive.


We had a great time of sharing and chatting. And then we chatted a bit more. And a bit more!
Tracy has been in Tony and my life for ages. We were in youth group together. She sat under a table with me on my first night of youth group (long story). She sat in the car with me and hugged me whilst I cried when my nana died. Tony was her confidante (one of the many people who went to him for advice - including me!). Tracy has always been special in our lives - she sang at our wedding and even when she moved to Kiama we travelled up regularly to see her.

Anyway we had a great lunch today and will definately have to do it more often. She really is a special person.

We had a bbq for lunch (of course - with all that meat!) and a simple salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mango, avocado and cheese but it was lovely. Very yummy.
Tasha made baby cupcakes (cookies and cream). They were a packet mix but apart from taking them out the oven she did it all her self so she was very proud.

Hey Mum, whats that???

What a start to the day!

As I walked into the kitchen Kyle says to me "Hey Mum, Whats that?" and I look down and there is a big puddle of water in the kitchen!

MY FREEZER DECIDED TO DEFROST OVERNIGHT!

So all my meat and frozen vegies have defrosted. Luckily it wasn't that full but still I will be cooking up a sotrm this weekend so that I can then re-freeze the ready made meals. At least it will make life easier on the nights I don't feel like cooking!

And the other good thing is we have a friend coming over tomorrow to catch up (and I can't wait to spend time with her again - one of my oldest and dearest friends who has gone through some tough times lately) and I was wondering what to have to eat - now I know! We're having a bbq - got heaps of meat!

my sick little girl

We have a sick little girl again.

Funnily enough it is the day after she has been swimming!!!!

The swimming carnival was on Tuesday and tues night she was complaining of not feeling well. Then she came home from school about lunch time on Wednesday with a high fever (39.5) and feeling terrible, sore all over etc etc.

Don't know if she swallows too much chlorine when she swims or if it just a coincidence but both times she has been really sick she has been swimming the previous day. Having said that we have been swimming on other occasions and she has been fine ?!? But on these occasions she has just been on waterslides or floating around - maybe when she goes underwater she drinks 1/2 the pool!

So at the moment we have a little girl feeling really sad and sorry for herself and a mum suffering from sleep deprevation.

A feel good day!

Today was one of those good days - not that anything major happened but I just got a lot acheived and feel quite good!

I did some scrapping last night!!!!!! That is a major achievement in itself - will put pics up once I'm organised.

Today I slept in until 9am!!!!!!! Haven't done that for sooooo long. Then I set to work cleaning out the walk in robe in our bedroom. Have to say myself it looks great! DH put up hooks for my bags and everything.

Tasha has had her friend Tegan over so they have been buzzing around all afternoon (isn't it amazing how suddenly they need to hang around and ask questions all afternoon)

Then I got catch up with my dear friend Jane. We have spent so much time lately corresponding by text so it wa great to have a catch up session. (Oh and I took her in to show her my wardrobe!)

Then we went out to dinner and I didn't have to cook - what a great way to end the day. Hopefully I can find some time to scrap some more tomorrow and it will be a wonderful weekend!

Modern speak!!

Had to laugh today. I tend to forget that sometimes technological speak (or lazy speak) sneaks up on us! I have a wonderful friend who is not terribly technologically savvy. She can now use the internet - without help! - and has progressed to more than simple one word sms responses. I even get pictures from her!

Like today for Valentines day she sent me a cute little cupid with a couple of hearts so without thinking i sent her back the message MWAH. Which (of course) means kisses or the sound you make when you blow someone a kiss! I didn't realise this was so difficult until I got a call from her at work

"Okay it's driving us mad - we have spent ages trying to figure out what it stands for and we came up Make Wine A Habit or Moderm Women Are Hip!"

To which I just about fell down laughing. I forgot that what is simple every day language to me just sounds likes gobbledygook to someone else - but it did give me a good laugh - mainly the fact that the 3 girls in her office had spent so long trying to figure it out! Although I do think Make Wine A Habit does sound like good advice ~L~

Thankful

Allcraftz forum have a couple of challenges at the moment that have me thinking. The first challenge is to do a page saying thank you to someone - not to a relative but to someone who you would like to thank for something they did. The second is to do a page on someone who inspires you.

So I started thinking, firstly how do you pick just one person and secondly I am not good at expressing my feelings and opening up. There are so many people in my life that have encouraged and inspired me but I think this is what I have decided on.

The person I need to say thank you to is SJ. She has no idea what a blessing she has been in my life but just by accepting me for me has let me accept myself more. I have grown so much as a person because I finally start to believe that I am worth standing up for. In her simply allowing me to be "me" she has allowed me to get know the real Cath. There are no words I can use to explain how precious a gift that is. I have spent my life trying to be the person averyone wants me to be. I have friends that one side of my personality can come out but they don't like this or that so I hide it. SJ accepts the total package and I thank her so much for it.


The person that inspires me is someone who shows the kind of person I want to be. She has overcome a lot of personal obstacles and continues to push herself. She is a kind, caring person who I don't think I have heard say a bad word against anyone else. When Tasha was sick on Christmas Day we got a wonderful card with the most special message inside and some little gifts for us a day later because she knew we hadn't had much of a christmas. She has taught me by watching her that you can acheive things if you put your mind to it. We have a lot of the same anxiety issues and she handles them much better than I do! I watch the growth in her and it encourages me to do the same. I only hope that I can be the same sort of genuinely caring person that she is. The person that inspires me is Haylee.


So now I have figured this out I just have to find the time to scrap them!!!!!!!!!

great day

Today was a good day!

It was raining and after the holiday the wallet is empty so we had decided not to go to the Nowra Show but instead I had planned to go through the wardrobe and do a BIG clean out. Anyway just as I was about to start Tony comes in and says we might go around to Davinas instead. We scrounged (and I do mean scrounged) around for some nibblies to take.

So we packed up a few games and went around. It was a surprise to see Mark was there! So us, the combers and Davina Steve and Mark had a fun afternoon with heaps of laughs ..... like almost hysterical laughs...... and most importantly the girls beat the boys 3 games to 2!!!!!!!!

What a week

(and it's only half way through!)

Had a VERY busy day at work on Monday. I wonder sometimes if it's worth taking holidays because it is always a madhouse when I get back.

Tuesday was our wedding anniversary so Tony and I went out to lunch at the sports club (Tony had a 2 for 1 voucher!) becasue with his work we can't do dinner.

We had a very excited girl ready to start Girls Brigade again. She was dressed and ready to go about an hour before we had to go. We got there to find that there was no actual Girls Brigade that night it was just registration night - so we registered her, and came home again!

Today was a weird one at work. We were having fun with our computers - don't now if all the electrical storms affect them ...... although knowing the building we are in it is probably more water in the lines..... but we had so much trouble. Kept getting database errors and network errors and having to reboot AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

Hopefully tomorrow is slightly better!

14 years!

Today is our 14 year Wedding Anniversary and Tony remembered! We don't tend to make a big fuss of anniversaries and in fact one year we BOTH forgot!! But for some reason this one seems special to both of us... I guess if you asked us a few years back we would have said there's no way we'd make it this far and I really didn't think we had a chance but we have survived and life is good!

Today is soooo wet - I walked the kids to the bus stop (literally across the road) with the big golf umbrellas and still came home soaking wet from the knees down. There is so much water the drains just can't cope.

The scrap day on the weekend was so good. After only figuring out about 1/2 an hour before that yes I could get there. Boy I think every piece of useless junk we own was thrown into the craft room before we went away and I tossed so much stuff just to get to my craft cupboards. I really hadn't planned anything but just took some random stuff and actually got a couple of pages done. That is, however, after spending the first hour with my thumb stuck in a bowl of ice after slamming it in the car boot! It was so good to catch up with Lou, Gail, Haylee and Cass, and of course Annabelle. I got to have quite a few cuddles (and yes some with Annabelle too ~L~). I love spending time with these girls. They are so accepting and so encouraging and just plain fun.

Survived the week!

Well we survived the week. It has been a bit of a rush job with nothing quite happening but we are getting there.

After getting home Monday and Tony going to work Monday night. The kids going back to school Wed. I started my new job Wed and have worked Wed, Thurs and Fri. Phew it has been busy ~ and the hot weather has not helped!

have a scrapping day tomorrow and still havent started figuring out what I'm scrapping let alone what I'm taking......haven't even started a list yet :o :o

Hopefully will have some pics to show you if I get some scrapping done tomorrow.

Have started uploading pics to my holiday blog - link is in my list to the right. Will get there slowly.

First day

well I had my first day at my new job today and apart from feeling like my head is going to explode from all the information I had a great day!

I really think I am going to enjoy this job - and Sally is great to work with.

He loved it!

After agonising for so long over what to get Tony for his 50th I finally came up with something special for him. I was devastated when it didn't arrive in time to take it with us and give to him on his birthday.

The first thing I did yesterday was grab the mail (we had a small pile from when we were away!) and pull the correct parcel out and give to him.

With much trepidation..... I hoped he would like it but you never know with Tony.....I handed it over. I had gotten photos from his parents growing up, their wedding, photos of him as a child and gorwing up with his siblings, then pics of his teenage years and people who had been a major part of his life. Photos of our wedding and the kids births etc etc... Then I put them all together in a book and sent it off to a printers to be professionally printed and bound so he has his own book all about his life.

Well he loved it! He sat there flicking through it with tears coming down his face.....now Tony is not a crier at all so I am glad that it touched him in such a way and that I could come up with something special for him for his birthday

Might take some time!

Bear with me guys!

Have been fiddling with my blog tonight (found a paisley pattern that I just HAD to use!) and it is taking me some time to figure things out.

I am so not computer literate when it comes to these things so may take me some time to fiddle until I get it how I want it but I'll get there.

Back inOZ

Well we made it home safely - we were hoping for a massive airline strike or some such thing but it just didn't happen :(

After coping with the "heat" in New Zealand - which although it was in the 20's nearly every day most motels don't believe in fans - we came home to the horrid humidity of Sydney!

So we are now unpacking and sorting things out and wishing we were back over there!

Once we are all sorted I will catch up with you all and get some more details sorted about our holiday including some pics

Excitement City

Thats what this place is.

Queenstown is like the ski resort area for NZ so heaps of adrenaline type activities - bungy jumping, canyon swings, jetboats - and resort prices!!! wow things are dear here! and there are people everywhere!

We went up in the gondola yesterday and we all went on the luge (kind of like the tobaggan thing at Jamberoo) which was heaps of fun. Kyle was happy because we went and saw a Maori show which included the Haka and Tasha was included in the show and got to join in one of the dances. (I do think she is taking after her aunty Gail here)

Tony's 50th birthday tomorrow so we have special day planned. We are splurging and having breakfast here in the restaurant and then Tony and Tasha go jetboating with Shotover Jetboats through the canyon. Then we head to Wanaka to Puzzle world and then a very special dinner out in a wonderful sounding restaurant (Thanks Davina). I had a special present organised but it didn't arrive before we left :( so can't wait to get home to give it to him.

I think this is it for me. the other places we are going don't mention having internet so will speak to you all soon (way tooo soon)

Another update

Wow. Another update! Thought I would use the computer whilst we can!

Today has been one of the best days ever! We saw some beautiful scenery. Amazing mountains.

We drove from here at Te Anau to Milford Sound through some of the most gorgeous areas. We stopped by the side of the road at one stage and saw a wild Kea (an almost extinct bird - I think they said there are 300 of them) which actually jumped on our car roof! The kids went and played in a snow cave and then we drove through Homer tunnel. This tunnel has been bored into the rockof the mountain so it goes for over a km and it is straight through the middle of the mountain. so Cool!

then we did a Milford sound cruise which took us all the way along Milford Sound. we saw fur seals warming themselves on the rocks and we went to Stirling Falls.
This waterfall the boat goes right up to the base of the falls where it hits the water - I mean right up, the bow of the boat almost goes into the fall. Tasha and I were standing up on top deck so we got a bit wet! But got some amazing views.

If I don't get to update again before we get home (only 9 days to go boo hoo) will chat to you all back in Aus.

What a day!

We have had another great day today - checked out of our motel and headed off for Te Anau. Stopped on the way at the most amazing paua shell factory shop and bought up heaps of gorgeous items for souvenirs!

and YES Jane I did get a bag!

Then we arrived in Te Anau. this place is so amazing. If you are ever over in NZ you need to come here. It is beautiful. We did our glowworm cave tour and it was mind blowing. you walk down into the cave and then go underground in a little boat to the glowworm caves. The boat goes just past the rocks and actually brushes against them at some times and the worms are sitting right there in front of you!

Then we went for a little tour! You have heard of tandem bikes and the goodies had a bike for three - well today we had a bike for 4!!!! It is set up like a car - you have 2 seats in front and 2 in back. the person in front steers and has the brakes but all 4 can pedal. After an hour of this our legs were very tired!

The place we staying in is great. This town is just amazing.

Hope you guys are all doing well

Another NZ post

Well guys life over here is great! NZ is kind of taking a step back to yesteryear- it is very retro and 70's over here!

We are having a great time. Went over to Stewart Island on a wet day so didn't see as much as we would have liked but Tony got to chat to some guys on the island and we learnt a bit about life on the island then and now.

Today we spent a day down at the Bluff and went around to a lady's house from the local historic society and found out more info about the Lucas and Cross clan. We even found Lizzie Cross's grave in the local cemetery! Found out that these people live a long time - the average age at death is about 90!!

We leave here tomorrow to head to Te Anau and Milford Sound and then Queenstown. Have booked for Tony to go jetboating in Queenstown for his 50th birthday.

To those who have sent us messages and haven't heard back we do apologise but roaming on our mobiles does cost a lot so we try and keep in contact via the internet and avoid the phones if we can.

The kids are having a blast and seeing lots of cool things - we are going to an underground glow worm cave tomorrow- accessed by boat - looking forward to that.

Hi from NZ

Checking in to let you know we are okay.

Have been having a blast - went to the Chocolate Factory and Tasha got spalshed by a chocolate waterfall! That was pretyy cool!

We have spent some time around Dunedin/Port Chalmers and found records of Tony's dad in the Maritime Museum. We found out some new facts and on old pic of him when he was 14. We are at Stewart Island today so catching up on more family history!

In Invercargill for a few days and then up to Queenstown and then the West Coast.

Will update when I can