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Friday, July 30, 2010

Scrapping

One good thing about all the hibernating I have been doing in my craft room lately is that I have been getting some scrapping done. Admittedly it is nothing flashy and all very basic but I have scrapped!
This first LO was using a pic taken of Tony sitting on the beach at Vincentia. The tag above the photo comes out with some journalling I wrote for him. The Life is Good rub on is one I bought at a craft show in Melbourne. Kyle and his cousin Mark. I have been wanting to do this LO for ages. Just to get the story down. Kyle and Mark had an amazing relationship and when Kyle was younger he totally hero worshipped his cousin and he was the only one who was allowed to call him by a nickname.

And what LO of Gail would be complete without Basic Grey papers and lots (and I mean lots) of fussy cutting - and of course I had to use Romani - the first papers she fell in love with! I was going to call this Lady in Waiting but the look on her face doesn't seem to patient so I thought I'd better not!




7 years

Wow... is it really 7 years since we got THAT call and raced over to Karinya to say our final goodbyes to Dad.
I guess with things the way they are at the moment it all seems so much more real and the loss really hit hard this year. My dad was a tall man, to others he was gruff, non-tolerant and set in his ways. To me:
* He was the man who ran along beside my bike over and over until I had the confidence to take off by myself
* He was the gentle man who would sit and share tea parties with me and my dolls
* He would read to me at night and shared a love of stories with me

*He was so proud of the fact that I was the only girl in his family for generations (and with a big brother and 2 older male cousins the only girl in my generation)...... even if he didn't believe the hospital when they told him I was coming.......okay so maybe I did make my entrance slightly early! * He would always play "just one more game dad".

* He taught me to drive - but first he taught me to change a tire and check the oil before I got behind the wheel
* He was so excited at becoming a grandparent and totally spoilt my kids rotten. He was the proudest Pop around and loved to introduce Kyle and Tash to anyone who would listen ~L~


He was my rock. He was not always easy to get on with but then who of us is? He was always there. Sitting in HIS chair in the corner of the lounge room - watching sport on TV and fiddling with his coins or his stamp collection. I had some of the deepest conversations with dad sitting at his feet whilst he had his coins or stamps spread out on the table in front of him and we would chat and sort for hours. If any of you have seen my little Paseo driving around you will see my number plates "CS1937" dad's plates - proudly displayed on each car they owned and now on my car.
Love you Dad.

Flying High

Last weekend Tony, Kyle and I headed out to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at the local Navy Base. We had promised Kyle a trip out there for a long time and decided on the spur of the moment to drive out there.

He had a blast! Not only does he love all things history based but he was excited to see the Seakings and BlackHawks his school sports teams are named after....... oh and of course lots of guns, torpedoes and other weapons of war!

We spent a lot of time wandering around photo galleries, looking at all manner of planes and helicopters and learning more about our local base and the armed forces.
And Kyle got to go in the helicopter simulator which he LOVED. Although I have said before after seeing his driving skills I wouldn't be getting in a car with him - watching the way his helicopter was spinning out of control I probably won't be flying with him either!



Chez Tash

I found these pics and just had to share. I have two great kids and they have been so supportive and considerate lately. As I mentioned in a previous post I had a particularly shocking day with doctors visits etc and basically I came home - went into my bedroom - and just sat in there - just didn't want to deal with people. Tasha had mentioned cooking dinner one night and had made sure we had all the ingredients.
Anyway this Friday she came into my room - gave me a big hug and told me I was not to come out until she called me. Then she went and cooked dinner all by herself (well she got Tony to help her drain the pasta) and this is the amazing meal she came up with:

Pasta Bolognaise for herself, Tony and Kyle And nachos for me with freshly made guacamole. What better comfort food could she come up with for me!


Oh and thats not all........... she then followed it up with these amazing fruit kebabs - again all cut up etc by herself.
This is another pic I had to include. Tash is rapidly understanding my world...... with Tegan now in another state she realises why I cherish phone calls, emails and text messages. I would be completely lost without them. Ah technology - it's no substitute for the real thing but it does make it slightly easier dealing with the distance. (Counting down the days till November sweetie!)


Sunday, July 18, 2010

School holidays

Wow - I am sure there were school holidays in there somewhere but they have disappeared!
Kyle's holidays started a week before Tasha's (we pay to send him to private school and he gets two extra weeks of holidays each year - go figure!) and we planned to have a mother/son day. Kyle decided he wanted to do Bomaderry Creek walk but as I had been unwell I suggested we do the shorter walk to the weir rather than the long walk........ Good plan...... except we went the wrong way and ended up on the 3 hour creek walk! We actually had a great time - he headed off on "A quest for adventure"... we ducked from imaginary ambushes and travelled through portals etc, etc.
The other problem was when we faced a sign telling us that Mossy Gully Bridge was closed due to flood damage... the problem was that this sign was at a T intersection with no indication of which way that was. So we had a quick discussion and headed off along the path on the left. Well for future reference once you walk for ages that way you come to the closed bridge and then you turn around and walk back again ~L~. I came back exhausted and feeling like I had been run over by a train but we had a great time (next time I am feeling so sick I will make sure I read the map properly!) Unfortunately due to circumstances that couldn't be avoided I ended up working nearly every day of the holidays but we did head off one weekend for a drive and stopped at Werri Beach for some takeaway lunch. The fish and chips was lovely and the kids couldn't figure out why I was so excited that the food came wrapped in newspaper! TRADITIONAL FISH AND CHIPS!
The weather was a bit chilly but we went for a wander down over the rocks and checked out the rock pools and beach.


The other really cool thing we did this holidays was go to see Aladdin at the Nowra Players Theatre. All I can say is WOW - there is some amazing young talent in this town. This was a youth production so all but 3 of the parts were under 18. We knew Bella who played the lead role of Princess So Shi and I know I am biased but that girl so so talented. Not only does she speak clearly, and sing beautifully but what a professional performer. In the middle of major personal upheavals she continued to perform shows with no sign to the audience of the turmoil and heartbreak going on behind the scenes. Well done Bella - Papa would have been so proud of you.
We also found a nest tucked away on top of the cupboard in our shed with an egg sitting in it. Tasha has loved the fact that she can see it from her bedroom and watch the mumma pigeon sitting on the egg.
Jhorjie came down and spent a day or two with us over the holidays as well and it has been lovely to spend time with her (although she is growing up waaayyyyy too quickly)


In the last week of the holidays I had a day off and Tasha and I headed off to Shellharbour for a girls day. Shopping, chatting, checking out shops, lunch out and then we headed to the Kings for afternoon tea. It was so what we both needed after the last couple of weeks. We had yummy chocolate cakes and donut holes. Tasha, Callum and Annie played Kerplunk before we all (yes Cass and I too) sat down to play Flippin Frogs! It was lots of fun, lots of laughs and just some light hearted time.
Well the holidays are over - both kids go back to school tomorrow. Kyle on monday, Tasha on tuesday. There are more difficulties looming on the horizon after some majorly bad news from the specialist on Friday so it looks like life will be very busy with lots of trips to Wollongong for treatment and doctors visits. Hopefully blognesia can be avoided but at the moment really am just working from day to day.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Blognesia

Blognesia:

A common disease where blog owners forget to update; leaving their readers with nothing to do, particularly on slow work days. (paraphrased)

Ooops sorry - life has been kind of mad. I do have lots to update - will try and get it done tonight.