Thankyou

I would just to say thankyou to you all for leaving messages on my blog . It meant a lot to me to see that people not only read my blog but that you cared enough to leave a message so thank you very much.

Miss you Dad

Well today is four years since Dad lost his fight with cancer and I still miss him heaps.

I will see something or be doing something and think "Oh Dad you would love this". He was such a proud Pop to Kyle and Tasha and would be bursting with pride with Kyle's school accomplishments. I feel so sad that my kids wont know the special man he was. They never got to meet Tony's Dad and then they lost Tony's Mum and my Dad in a very short period of time. I know he spoilt the kids rotten but he also loved them dearly and would brag about them all the time.

I just hope Dad knew how much I loved him and just how special he was. He put up such a good fight lasting 2 1/2 years after his diagnosis (when the doctors gave him 6 weeks) but when he died he was a shadow of the man he had been.

Love you Dad and miss you more than I can say. I wish I could speak to you just one more time to let you know how much I love you and miss you.

XXXXX Love your little girl

Oooops we did it again.... ~LOL~

Well after doing the whole running into Kay and Brian thing a few weeks ago. Tony and I were strolling through the supermarket doing our grocery shopping and who is right in front of us but Margie Knight! So we stood there for ages in the middle of the aisle having a chat. She was down seeing her dad who is in hospital again.

It was so funny because we had only mentioned contacting her and Greg a week or so before and there she is!

HHHMMMMM lets see who can I run into next !?!

Our holiday - warning long post!!!!!

Well after getting a little nudge I thought I'd better update my blog with the holiday details!

We drove down via the coast road stopping at Bega and Lakes Entrance. Lakes Entrance wasn't too bad - not too much water but still lots of sandbags everywhere! Apparently the place we were staying had the back rooms flooded earlier in the week but the water had all receeded.
This is taken on the footbridge at Lakes Entrance.
Driving through Barinsdale and Sale there was still lots of puddles in all the paddocks but all the roads were clear.

We then stayed at the Hambrecht's in Keilor (out near Tullamarine airport in Melbourne) and got to catch up with Debby and Dayna and Dayna's boyfriend Garry. Dayna is now Tasha's new best friend because she is a great musician and is currently practising High School Musical for her school performance. So she played the piano and sang all the songs with Tasha!!! Friend for life!!!!!! It was great to have some time with Debby too (Ken was away again - we seem to time our visits for when he's away - Is that a subtle hint? lol )

Tasha, Dayna and Kyle

Melbounre was great. We went to the Zoo, Kyle saw Cook's Cottage and caught a tram! Tasha was tour guide for us at Old Melbourne Gaol but the definite highlight of the trip was catching up with the wonderful SJ and family. I was heartbroken when we had to leave after such a short time but whilst I was there we made our plans to meet up again in October and received a wonderful invite for our family and the Allan's to do christmas together so will have to see what happens there. The kids all got on really well together so that was great.

The Mob!!!!

Then we went onto Ballarat. Talk about cold! Very, very cold. We went to Sovereign Hill which was one of the most expensive places and somewhere I don't think I would go to again. The kids had a ball with all the snow and the winter theme but they weren't really interested in the old town and there wasn't a great deal to see. It cost us $90 to get the family in and then you have to pay extra for each of the activities when you get in - very little is included in the entrance price. Pay extra to try the candle dipping, extra to try the old presses, extra to ride the Cobb and Co coach etc etc etc. But having said that the kids had a ball. Tasha loved the hourly snow fall in main street, they got ride down a snow hill on a ski tube and (of course) had a snowball fight or two.

The kids with Mr Joe King at Sovereign Hill.

Feeling a bit flat now we are home. Can't wait to go back to Melbourne to see SJ. Had a bit of a bad weekend emotion wise.

Just thought I'd make a quick post to say we made it to Melbourne - Tony made me drive through Melbourne up to Ken and Debby's place at Keiler (near Tullamarine Airport). Melbourne drivers have to be the maddest bunch of people ever! Mind you his navigating skills have a lot to be desired too!

Anyway we are having fun - went to the Zoo today - having a day in the city tomorrow to do the markets etc and then out to point cook for lunch with the Allan's on Wednesday before heading out to Ballarat.

Catch up with when we get home

MWAH

Cath

Here's my stash!

Here is a pic of Kay and I - I had to take a pic just to prove it was actually her!!!!! (note the braids - they were just on their way home from Bali when she got the call to come to the craft show)

Just thought I'd share pics of my stash from the craft show! Got almost everything on my list so it was a fairly successful shop!

What a weekend!

Well this weekend has been just amazing!

Jane and I got up nice and early Sat morning to go to the Crafy show at Darling Harbour. We wandered around picking stuff up, putting some back down, buying some etc etc. There was a lot of wool/knitting stalls and quilt and patchwork but there was only about 3 stamp stalls and about the same papercraft/scrapping stalls but Art Stamps were there so I still bought quite a bit!

The big surprise was when wondering around I looked up at one of the stall owners and thought "Gee that person reminds me of Kay". I thought about it a minute and was just about to say something when she looked up and saw me and shouted " Is that really you???" It was a good friend of ours Kay Cooper from Perth!!! She had been called in to do the show at the last minute. So we had a good chat and catch-up and then her daughter Tegan and husband Brian arrived. We haven't seen them for about 6 years so it was great to catch up. I sent Tony a message - he would have been so disappointed not to be there! Tony has been wanting to catch up with them for years.

Anyway with all the chatting and shopping we run out of time to look at the quilts.

We raced over to our hotel, had a quick shower and change and headed of to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A musical with Marina Prior, Lisa McCune and Magda Szubanski that was just hilarious. It was excellent. It was only a small cast of about 10 and they had a couple of roles but one of the best shows I have ever seen. Poor Magda - about 2/3 of the way through she missed her cue to come back on stage and then they stopped the show because apparently she was very ill and there was someone standing in the wings with a sign saying "Magda is unwell!" But in true professional fashion after about 15 minute she came back on and finished the show - what a trouper.

We did Paddy's Markets today and I got the hats I wanted for the kids so all-in-all a very successful weekend. Seeing Brian and Kay was a wonderful unexpected surprise to cap it off.

Here are my LO's for the cyber crop on the weekend

Life is busy!

It's been a while since I updated my blog so I thought I'd better do it now before I forget!

This weekend is a busy one - Froggy Todd have a cyber crop this weekend so will have some new stuff to post in a day or two. They have extended the deadline until Monday night which is do much better than trying to cram it all in on the weekend.

The next few weeks are pretty mad too. Worked 3 days this week! Not bad for someone who quit work to take it slowly!!!!! Next weekend is our girls weekend in Sydney. Can't wait. A day at the craft show, dinner out and then we are going to see the 23rd Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (I think thats the name of it) at the Sydney Theatre Company at Woollloomooloo. Should be heaps of fun. Then Paddy's Markets Sunday and home again!

A week after that we are off to Melbourne for a weeks hols. Tony had a week off and there are some friends we wanted to catch up with do we thought we'd take the kids down and do the Zoo etc.

Home for a week and then I'm off to Cedarvale for my 3 night package I got for christmas from work. Not sure how I'll cope being away for 4 days and not being able to even ring home but am looking forward to relaxing and being pampered!

Then home for a nother week and am off to the Scrapping With Soul weekend. Feeling really quite anxious about this. Hopefully it will be a good time.

Anyway I'm off to get some scrapping done for the CC. Will posts pics in a couple of days

Farewell Natalie

Tomorrow is Natalie's last day at Dr Ryan's. Her DH has a transfer up north to Mackay (lucky her!) We had a night out last Saturday with lots of fun and frivolity. Started off at North Nowra Tavern - food was lovely, they have done the bistro up and it looks cool! Then we went to Bomaderry Bowling Club for the variety club rock and roll night which was a bit of a fizzer so we caught the courtesy bus into town and went to the ex-servos. Another shock there! The place was half empty! But we had fun - gave the DJ a list of songs we wanted played and Natalie and I went home with hoarse voices from singing along!

Anyway tomorrow is her last day so I have spent this last week madly scrapping the pics from our night out last weekend. It is all I have done for the last few days but I finally finished. Here is a couple of the pages. I actually completed an 8 x 8 album. What a big job but I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to give it to her tomorrow.

Hope she likes it!

Natalie's Book

Some more layouts for Natalie's book

Some More QUOTES

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

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I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it. ~Jack Handey

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May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.-- Unknown.

Some more layouts

This page is about my dream for kyle as he grows up. The journalling inside is about how he can be whatever he wants to be

Wasn't he a cutie! The tag says "Let your heart guide you....it whispers so listen carefully" It is a quote from Land Before time

Some of my latest

This one was for the cyber crop on Froggy Todd

Kyle and his Nana Luc when he was one day old
Will upload some more tomorrow. Heading off to bed now!

Another weekend gone!

Had a nice peaceful weekend this weekend. It was lovely

Firstly Tasha had a sleepover at her cousins Friday night so I got to spend a nice evening with no arguing between Kyle and Tasha. wonderful!

Then Saturday I got to spend about 5 hours with my gorgeous little great-nephew _(Gosh that makes me sound old lets rephrase that) I mean Tony's nieces little 4 month old fella. He really is a sweetie and it was lovely to spend some time with him. Saturday night Tasha decided she wanted to stay away again so it was another peaceful night and we splurged and bought pizza for dinner so no cooking either!

Sunday was a nice peaceful day. Went to church and got to catch up with some people I haven't seen in ages then picked Tasha up and went down and did the grocery shopping (okay so the whole wekeend wasn't THAT good) and then had some time at home with the kids. Had planned to spend some time scrapping but Tasha and I ended up having a silly afternoon - Lots of giggling, lots of fun, maybe a little bit of hysteria at times, and all in all a thouroughly enjoyable time

Had a very busy day at work today. Am now going through organising pages for this weekend scrap day. Looking forward to spending some time tomorrow with Jhorjie and Dominic.

Working week!

Wow so much for having time off to rest/relax/scrap etc.

This week is MAD!!! Mad, I tell you, Mad!!!! ~L~

Worked at Dr Ryan's mon, spent Tuesday scrubbing the horrid spot above all the cupboards in the kitchen (you know where all the grease and dust and dirt goes! ~ yuck!), got called in to work at Dr Ryan's all day today, have a day at school tomorrow with the kids for education week (don't you just love sitting on those low chairs with your knees up near your ears!) and then Fri I am now working at Dr Jones.

Phew - so glad I quit work to rest don't know how I would have fitted it all in!

I am sooo looking forward to scrap day in a week and a half. 10 hours of scrapping time will be wonderful (well probably 8 hours by the time you allow for setting up, going through the shop, afternoon tea, dinner etc etc)

Mothers Day

Had a great day yesterday for Mothers Day

First I was joined in bed for cuddles and snuggles and then Tasha disappeared and came back with brekkie in bed for me. How spoilt was I! Then more cuddles (of course) and then Kyle came struggling in with a big box that had....................................................................... an 8 drawer shelving unit thing on wheels with large clear boxes in it to store my paper and cardstock for scrapping!

We then met Mum and John at Seven Mile Beach for a picnic lunch. The day was slightly overcast but it was a lovely day - not too hot! There were heaps of people there too - we went there last year and we were about the only people there but there were hundred's there this year but it was still a lovely time.

Hope all you mothers out there had a lovely mothers day

He's home!

Well Kyle is back from camp and he had a ball! He ended up in the water at canoeing but still seems to have had a great time.

I had one of those days today - went into 2 scrapbooking shops and spotlight and didn't spend a cent! Came home without buying a single thing. SHOCK HORROR. Nothing jumped out at me. Was looking for something in particular, couldnt find it and wasn't interested in anything else.

We have a 10 hour scrap day in a couple of weeks so I guess I better start planning projects etc. Think I will just take some pics along and concentrate on doing pages not OTP's this time. It is the same weekend as Froggy Todd cyber crop so I will have time to get the challenges done!

Kyles off to camp!

Well I dropped Kyle off to school this monring ready to go to school camp for three days. I can't believe how hard I found it. It was really difficult to watch him get on the bus with his classmates knowing we wont see him for three days (Yeah I know I'm a big sook). Tasha in particular is finding it hard. She is worried that something will happen and we won't know (he is only going 25k away to Berry Sport and Rec Centre not the moon!) and in response Kyle is worried Tasha will not be able to cope on the bus to and from school without him! Don't know who is the bigger mother hen!

Havent had much scrapping mojo lately - well thats not really true - more a case of I have a long list of things I want to do and just can't find the time to do any of them. I tohught when you left work you had more time - it just doesn't seem to work that way!

Have a great idea in my head for some pics I took in Melbourne (yes using THOSE pics SJ - sorry!) and it looks great in my head I am really excited about trying it but just can't find the time. Normally I have a struggle coming up with ideas and tend to use sketches etc a lot but this has just jumped into my head and looks great. If I could just get it out of head onto paper that would be great - (not such an easy feat where I am concerned)

I am doing a class this weekend through Froggy Todd with the absolutely amazing and talented SJ so that is something to look forward to.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

"The only real limitation on your abilities is the level of your desires. If you want it badly enough, there are no limits on what you can achieve." `Brian Tracy

pics from Melbourne

Well here's some pics from Melbourne. (Approved pics only! ~L~)





This is the fog I hit - from the top of Cambewarra Mountain to the other side of Lake George! I was driving along the whole way thinking "If they dare tell me Canberra airport is fogged in there is going to be BIG trouble" but it cleared just as I was coming into Canberra PHEW!








SJ in the wonderful town of Mornington - the best fish and chips, gorgeous water views, cute beach huts AND an amazing scrapbooking shop! What a great place to visit!

Excuse the colour of the pink clouds in the background GRRRRRR to my camera!







Just a couple of mad people!













































TODAYS QUOTE:
You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favourite chair and stays as long as it wants
~ Stephen King