Lovin’ Life!

You know what? I am lovin my life atm. Yes there are some things I could change in a heartbeat if I could (first and formost would wave my magic wand and make Dad all better) but I guess some things can’t be done and we have to do the best we can with what we have.

My little angels are beautiful. Owen has been quite sooky which drives me up the wall a bit but on the whole he is making so many gains…today I was even told that he does get up and participate in show and tell at daycare even though he never has much to actually say. Brett has been a right little horror quite a bit but I guess that is the 2yr old in him testing boundries. He is still unfairly cute and can get away with more than he should…sadly he is cute and HE KNOWS IT! I love watching them play. I am totally amazed by both the boys imaginations – their imaginative play skills are probably at about the same level now so I constantly have to think fast. Owen was turning daddy into a chicken and a pig while I was feeding Corey the other day with a magic wand that came with a sample of some cream or other in a bounty bag. He turned it on Brett and tried to turn him into a chicken but it wasn’t working (me knowing that Brett has been a ‘kitty cat’ for the past month) suggested he turn him into a cat – wow it worked! two happy boys!
And corey my angel baby is SIX months old! Wow how did that happen. Maternal health still a bit concerned about his weight but as he is happy and doing most of the right things I’m not to worried about it (yet) but still trying to get him to attempt ’solids’ with little success so far….also been slack and he still is yet to have his 4 month old shots – going to try to get that done this afternoon if i can!

And me….you know what…I bought a SKIRT…yep a girly thing! I’m sure my Gran would be looking down and smiling! Well I got it home and thought now what does one wear with a purple skirt…..so today I went out shopping and didn’t find much so in despiration went into millers – (nearly didn’t as i looked in and say about 6-7 grey haired ladies and thought maybe i was too young to shop there lol) but I went in and I found a pink top a purple top and a gorgeous ORANGE top and you know what – they were all on 1/2 price specials (or more) and so only cost my about $30 for the THREE of them!…..kmart have a shoe sale starting tomorrow so off to get some shoes to go with it then i think….unless i can wear my brown boots with a purple skirt but suspect i really need black ones………..omg i’m turning into a girly girl!

tagged – got there eventually

sorry Sue – I did see that I had been tagged…but was busy at the time and kinda forgot so here you go…

What scrapbook lines/products etc do you dislike?
um well dare I say I much prefer junkitz to basic grey, and I’m really not a huge fan of Urban Lily either
What is the hardest thing you ever had to scrap?
not sure on this one – I tend to find scrapping therapudic so if I’m having a hard time with something emotionally then scrapping helps….eg I scrapped a LO of Gran the day she passed away.
What technique do you use more than anything else?
umm dunno – does the ‘about that measurement system’ count as a technique? I tend to go through phases a bit – have been leaning to the clean and simple look of late but it will change soon.
What is the smallest scrap of paper you save?
Totally depends on my mood and the state of my scrap drawer – it is soooo full at the moment I have trouble putting it away so about to bin a heap of it from the bottom i reckon!
Have you ever had any scrapping related injuries?
hmm a pretty deep cut in my thumb cuttting the back off a button – but it was ok as I didn’t bleed on the LO!
Finish this sentence, “If I wasn’t a scrapbooker/stamper, I would spend my money on…
books and movies………….certainly wouldnt’ have saved anything either lol!
Give your best storage or organizational ideal.
ummm what does organised mean?
You just won a week long scrapbooking cruise for 5. Who is going with you?
Only 5 hmmm dunno thats a hard question – am I allowed to cope out?
When you received your first publication notification, who did you tell?
everyone!!!! I couldn’t beleive it – I’d sent it with an email saying something like ‘I’m sure mine are no where near good enough but thought I’d send them now quickly before I have time to talk myself out of it’ rofl!
Now I would like to tag….
ummm dunno think everyone might have had it already

Tagged again again…

thanks Rach!

1. First time you got kissed: hmm I think I was 12, 13 maybe…Danny and I went out for 3 years, whole school was stunned when we broke up seems they all thought we’d get married lol!

2. First time you drove a car: With my Mum – we went to the tip. She made me stop and she leaned down to the floor – hand motions and all and said “judes’ foot this is the accelerator, accelerator this is Jude’s foot….now that you have been introduced could we go a little faster” (so it’s her fault I’m a bit of a lead foot now isn’t it? lol! Everytime I wanted to drive she would load the car up to go to the tip – I knew that road well by the time I got my licence. She gave up teaching me when we tried reversing though – too stressful perhaps.

3. First time you scrapbooked: at Sue’s CM party in 2001…and then had to drive home among phillip island motorcycle grand prix traffic NEVER AGAIN!

4. First time you went on a date: an actual date date….dunno danny I went to a school dance together once – it was terrible he had to be the worlds most embarrasing dancer lol!

5. First time you fell in love: Danny – I was 12 – we split just b4 my 16th birthday.

6. First time you cooked for someone: not sure but was always cooking as a child – just now starting to rediscover a look of cooking – i leart to make rissotto yum!

7. First time you got on a plane: I flew to Sydney to meet up with friends for the weekend about umm dunno before owen was born but after i got married so somewhere between 97-01

8.First time you shaved your legs: i was 12 mum wasn’t impressed but i kept doing it

9. First time you put on make up: don’t remember don’t wear the stuff now hate it

10. First time you moved out of your home: uni i was 18

A year in review

I was pondering about the year just gone (ok it is a scrapbooking LO challenge) and I realised that last year was truely an AMAZING year for my family! I started by trawling through the years photos to help me think about the events of the year…..
In 2005 Brett (aged 18months) finally learned to WALK, he also learnt to talk , single words and now full grown sentences of 5-6 words, he also learnt to run and climb and kick and throw (still working on jump).
In 2005 both Owen and Brett learnt the concept of ‘mine’ (at the same time god bless them)!
In 2005 Owen made HUGE gains in language…from 1-2 words to full sentences and so much more. He learnt to express emotion, pain, fear, happy, sad etc. (a big thanks to Therese his speech therapist).
In 2005 I discovered I was pregnant (which was a bit of a shock) and had another beautiful baby boy. He has learnt to smile and I’m sure will be rolling over before long.
In 2005 we decided to convert our garage into a spare room/computer room/scrapbooking room and after MANY dramas and MANY months we finally got it done!
In 2005 we made the tough but CORRECT decision to rehome our dog Rufus and he is much happier with his new family…meanwhile my boys are LOVING the backyard!
In 2005 my Gran passed away, and proving life goes on, in 2005 my youngest brother got married.

and that was my year…

so roll on 2006 I wonder what it will bring….kinder starts at the end of this month, I can’t believe my baby is off to kinder already, doesn’t seem that long ago that I held him in my arms for the first time.

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A few years ago we started a new xmas tradition. We have dinner with a few of our closest friends jsut before xmas. This gives us a chance to catch up with friends and gives in a little to my hubby’s xmas tradition of the full roast meal which I refuse to cook on xmas day.
So tonight we had xmas dinner – six of us and it was cool to sit down and relax a bit – especially after the stress of getting everything cooked and the place respectable etc…why do we stress ourselves out over stuff like that!?

Gran’s funeral on the weekend went really well – can a funeral go well? it really was a celebration of her life, as it should be….tears were shed of course but there was an air of ‘joyful sadness’ as my dad so eloquently put it. She had a good send off anyway and would be happy with the way family came together.

xmas shopping almost done… jsut a few more bits to finish off now….it’s a race to get it all done!

Tomorrow is usually my day to run errands etc but car is being serviced so might just stay home instead…well perhaps a bit of a walk …will see. dh’s xmas dinner for work tomorrow night too.

I made some bookmarks for the girls at the boys daycare instead of xmas cards…dh will give them to them tomorrow when he drops them off, hope they like them.

Goodbye Gran

My Gran died early on Sunday morning.

She had been ill for a long time. She broke her hip several years ago and then moved in with my uncle and slowly but steadily her health deteriorated. She had been suffering from emphasemna for a long time already after years and years of steady smoking. Last time I saw her was over a year ago…I was planning to visit again on my way home from Mum’s for Christmas…to show her her newest great grandchild. I’m told that her memory was fading – indeed last time I spoke to her she asked who’s daughter I was but thankfully at the time was able to answer the question herself. My Gramps died back in ‘78 so she has been missing him a long long time and is now reunited with him, she was ready to go. She had told me that last time I saw her.

In a way it is a bit odd but I am mourning the Gran who I remembered, that Gran (through illness) has been goone a long time.

This is the Gran I remember…the Gran I love..

She was exactly 5 foot tall – I remember it being a big achievement to be taller than her.
She grew up in Glasgow, Scotland and her accent was thick, we were ‘wee bairns’ to her.
She could talk – those that know me – I could barely get a word in edgewise with her – that is where I got it from, she had so many stories to tell though, I loved to listen to her.
She could sing! Especially at church. She would sit at the back at church (because she used to run the liturgy (sp?) stall in the foyer before and after mass) but her voice would lead the whole congeration in song. Her voice was very deep and she sang with passion. I remember as a child sitting with her, particularly at Christmas as she sang ‘A little drummer boy’ she rolled her r’s as she sang…I sing that song quietly to myself every xmas with my crappy voice and remember the way she sang it – I wish we had taped it once to play to my children.
She had a terrible temper – we didn’t see it often but when we did ….wow…not that she ever hit anyone, she didn’t need to! I remember when ‘Dirty Dancing’ came out on video. We had hired it and loved it.. so at our regular breakfast/morning tea after Sunday mass we had been saying how good it was. Gran had a bit of a ‘thing’ for Patrick Swayze at the time so she borrowed it to watch. I went to go pick it up to return to the video store later that day on my bike. WELL, she opened the door and had it in one hand waving it around and the other hand on her hip and she was yelling ‘this is disgusting!’ it went on and on for a bit and I didn’t knwo where to look – she didn’t approve of the sex etc…I remember wishing the ground would open up and swallow me at the time.
She loved us and she loved her great grandchildren. When we were children she always had those tiny little hard musk lollies, she had them at home and in her bag for us. She was never to busy to play with us, sing with us, talk with us. Even as she got ill she loved to watch her great grandchildren.
She used to paint beautifully…she gave it up years ago because of her asthma and emphasemna and the paint fumes but her oil paintings were beautiful.

She was loving and caring and passionate, she was full of LIFE and laughter, she was my Gran. And now she is reunited with the love of her life who she has missed for 28 long years, may they watch over their great grandchildren as they grow.