First Day Back At School

I can't believe it has come around so quickly. Jack is not impressed. He thinks it's boring and it sucks. Emily on the other hand was very excited to be a big Grade 1 girl. I was a bit sad to see them back at school. As much as they often drive me nuts, I do love having them at home. I have to admit though, it was nice being able to go out and get a coffee in peace. And I did enjoy looking at whatever I wanted to at the shops without constantly having to chase them out of the toy section!

Happy Australia Day

I just had to get this hat so I could take some photos of the kids in it. Can't wait to scrap them now!


I just had to share this cute photo of my friend Katrina's beautiful little boy Manning. Doesn't he look adorable all geared up for Australia Day!

Puppy Love

Emily is just in love with the new puppies. She made a little "Hotel for Dogs" in the backyard and keeps going in there with them. Daisy seems to quite like these ones and keeps protecting them from Holly. It is so cute how they look like her. It almost looks like they are her own babies, especially the girl one (who Emma has named Lily). These pups have come at a really good time, to stop the kids from getting too bored in the last week of school holidays.

I havent done as much scrapping as I would have liked lately but I did do this layout of Em for Fancy That. It's for a distressing class, which is my favourite technique at the moment and should be lots of fun. I've actually scrapped that photo before, but it's one of my favourite photos of her, so I'll just have to put them in different albums. I just love that dreamy look in her eyes.

The Rascals

As much as I love having the kids home on holidays, I was more than happy to send them off for a picnic with their Granny yesterday and off to the movies with my mum today. Maybe it's just because they've been together for so long, but they seem to be driving each other (and me) even more crazy than usual. I'm hoping to fit in some scrapping now before they get home!

Proud New Parents

Just a cute photo of my angel fish with their babies. They have taken over the tank and all the other fish are crammed into the corner, and if they dare swim near the babies these two protective parents attack! When I took this photo they kept charging the glass to keep me away, and when I lifted the lid of the tank, the black one jumped up at me. So cute. I hope some of their babies survive, because they are trying so hard this time.

New Puppies from the RSPCA

This morning we got a call from the RSPCA asking us if we could take 2 puppies. Of course I said yes. They are "black tags" which means they were seized from someone who wasnt looking after them properly. After fostering for 2 and a half years, these are the first black tags I have had. They are mini foxies and oh so cute. One of them is a mini version of Daisy. When I asked how long I would have them for, I was told that the case wouldnt be going to court until April, so probably until after that. So 3 months. Gee, I think we might have gotten a bit too attached by then!

When we got home, Daisy, Holly and Chickie were very excited to see the new arrivals. I wish I had my camera on me at that moment because it looked so funny to see 2 dogs and a chicken waiting anxiously at the front of the box to see what would come out. When I opened it up Daisy did a couple of laps around the front yard in excitement before coming back to the pups and flipping around them like a mad thing. Holly was pretty excited too. And Chickie, well she tried to go inside the dog box and check it out before the pups had even walked out of it. As soon as the pups were out they were bouncing around her and licking her beak and Chickie just froze like a statue before chasing and pecking them. I dont know if that chicken is brave, stupid, or just thinks she is one of the dogs.

At the moment the puppies have gone to bed with Emma. She fell asleep straight away and they did too, so I grabbed my camera to get a cute photo, and wouldnt you know it - as soon as I went to take the photo they woke up.

Another Layout

This one is for a beginners distressing class I'll be doing for Fancy That. I just love the new October Afternoon papers and I love that photo of Miss Emily. She is such a cheeky little munchkin!

Bribie Holiday

Well, we are just back from a few weeks at Bribie. Our days mainly consisted of going to the surf beach, the calm water beach, the parks and basically just relaxing. The kids always have so much fun when we go up there. The surf beach is their favourite, and they are always so daring and want to go out really deep. They love getting dumped and its so funny to watch them get carried along by the wave with just a little head bobbing around. I used to freak out every time they went under but they always come up laughing so I just enjoy it with them now.


In the afternoons we go to the calm water beach when the tide goes out. There is usually some interesting things on the beach and the kids love exploring all the little puddles. Some of the puddles had toad fish in and Em was on a mission to "save" them by putting them in her bucket and carrying them down to the water. She is so sweet. There are always heaps of soldier crabs for the kids to catch and chase and shells to collect. One day we saw some shoes half buried in the sand and the kids spent days discussing how they got there. My niece Natasha swears she heard a ghost moaning under the sand and Emily wanted me or Mum to look under the shoes to see if anything was there. The next time we went back to that spot the shoes were still there and the kids sent Mum and I to move them while they all stood a good distance back. We were so mean, we just poked the shoe and both ran back to the kids screaming, saying we thought we saw a skeleton and the kids ran and started screaming too. It was so funny. They werent really scared, well maybe a little, but it really fired up their imaginations and they were talking about pirates and treasure and shipwrecks. Em found an anchor and chain just a bit further up and this just added to the whole thing. We also found some bones and shell from what was once a big turtle. Jack and Emma both had to take a piece of it home for show and share at school. So gross.

On the scrapping front, I managed to do a few pages while I was away. These ones are for Blossies. My favourite is the 1st Day layout. Jack looks so little and cute. I had planned to do a double page layout but I ended up making it a single page with extra photos and journalling under the photo. I really like how it turned out so I'll be making something along those lines for a class soon.

Bunny Ears

It's the latest thing that Jack's been doing and now Emma's catching on - "Bunny Ears" when I'm trying to take a photo. I'm still finding it cute but I'm sure it'll be driving me nuts before too long!

New Layouts

Two new layouts, the Lego page is for Fancy That, and the other one is for Blossies. I am so excited to be on their design team. I'm also getting two more pages published, this time in Scrapbook Creations, but I cant put them on here just yet.

Our Christmas

As always, we had a fantastic Christmas morning. Emma was the first one awake again this year, this time it was just before 5am! I managed to get her to hop into bed with me for a bit (I was so tired after being up til nearly 2am on Christmas Eve!). I let her wake Jack up at about 5.40 and by 6am, Mum and Dad were at our place and we were ready to open presents. I kind of tried to do Christmas morning like a friend of mine does, where only one person opens a present at a time while everyone else watches so the kids get more out of it and the morning lasts longer. Usually the kids rip everything open in a couple of minutes, not even taking all of the wrapping off, just enough to see what is inside before starting on the next one. It kind of worked at the beginning but the kids were too impatient and in the end they just ripped into them. From Santa, Jack got 4 new games for his PSP as well as lego, a remote control dragonfly, ben 10 toys, and heaps of other stuff. Emily was desperate for a Cabbage Patch Kid and Santa left her a miniature one under the tree. She also got heaps of craft stuff, a Bratz magic hair doll, paints, books and lots of other things. Santa even left Daisy a new squeaky toy! Afterwards we had yummy ham and cheese crossaints, like we always do on Christmas morning.

Later on we went to Mum and Dads for Christmas lunch with all the family. The pool slide was a huge hit and the kids spent most of the afternoon on it. After everyone had left Mum gave the kids another present each. Jack got a cd player and Emma got her longed for Cabbage Patch Kid. I love the look on her face in this photo. Pure joy!


After we got home Patrick came over and we gave the kids our present - a playstation with 10 games including singstar and a buzz game. Jack was thrilled. Emma wasnt, but she cheered up when she realized that it really was for her too. I made sure to get a Dora and a Spongebob game and she LOVES the singstar, especially with the ABBA game! Jack refuses to play singstar but he loves everything else.

Xmas at Grannys

We went to the kids Granny's house a few days before Christmas because we werent going to be seeing that side of the family on the day. I thought it would be just a quick visit but their Granny had games of pass the parcel, a snake hunt and bubble blowing as well as presents! It was great for the kids to see their little cousins again too. They think Ben is just wonderful and little Lyla is so cute. I had fun buying her little baby clothes for Xmas. There's that clucky thing again!

Little Manning

My friend Katrina had her beautiful little boy Manning on the 22nd of December. I was lucky enough to see him just hours after he was born and he is just the most beautiful little baby. Really makes me clucky all over again!!!