Christmas Layouts

Heres some 8x8 LO's i have done to put into my 8x8 christmas album my lovely cousin gave me for christmas

I'm back - again

I know its been awhile, but i just have not been motivated to do much since losing my darling older brother at the beginning of December, it has been so hard to think he will not be there anymore, he was a very special person and he will be missed very much by my boys and everyone he touched, and he touched the hearts of everyone he met, each day it seems like it will only get worse, but it is slowly getting better, i don't cry as much anymore, but i am constantly thinking of him and what he would think of his nephews, he just loved being an Uncle, now he is their Angel Uncle watching over them and keeping them safe.

Heres a pic of him and my mum i used for a canvas recently, it was a very difficult thing to do, i laughed and cried doing this and was more anal than usual when it came to where everything went, i gave it to mum for Christmas.

Yes i know - shock horror 3 posts in one day.......but i really wanted to let everyone know i am having a crop/craft night fundraiser at the kids school tomorrow night, so if anyone who is local to me is interested in coming along, let me know and i will email you all the details, it would be great to see as many people there as possible, creating with friends is always lots of fun, and i am bringing some cowboys with me too, so even better for merry making!

And theres more - a LO and some decorations the kids made for the cybercrop kids challenge

Thought i would just show off some of my latest creations, they were all challenges in last weeks CC at LSBS. Lots of fab gift ideas, if you want templates and instructions, head over to www.littlescrapbookshop.com.au and check out November Cybercrop in the forum.

OMG - i can't believe its been 12 months since my last post on my blog - well actually i can, its so easy to get busy doing other stuff that blogging becomes the last thing i want to do.

Its starting to look alot like Christmas around here at the moment with lots of creations for the LSBS Cybercrop this weekend - finishing tomorrow night at midnight, and i have lots more creating to do before then, if you get a chance pop on over and check out the challenges - there's a whopping 8 to choose from - thats just huge!

Not much has changed in the last 12 months, the kids still drive me crazy, my hubby definately drives me even crazier and i am still creating every chance i get, in between driving up the coast to visit my mum who moved up there a few months back with my brothers and 2 nephews.

I will have to go searching for some updated pics of my kiddies to share, they have grown so much, as kids will do, i can't believe that in just a few short months Stirling will be in year 4 and Flynn will be finished kindy and into year 1 - WOW! Rowen will stay home for another year with me before starting school in 2011 and then it will be just me and Angus, anyway, my dear husband has just come home and i now need to help Stirling with his school project - tomorrow i will find some new pics of the kids to share -

Until then

Cheers Jenni

My Booby Album

A few weeks ago some friends and I attended a Girls Night In to raise money for breast cancer research, we had an absolute ball thanks very much to Gill and Karyn who organised the event, we had great prizes and a fab shop from LSBS as well as the best company to get creative with.

I want to share the album i made with some photos taken on the night, i am really happy with how it turned out and it was sooooooo nice to scrap with pink for a change!

I have a few other things i need to photograph and upload, but my camera has been playing up a bit lately so i have been using J2's (Joanne - my bestie) camera.

You'll notice i have created a link to some funny Catherine Tate you tube videos, this chick is so hilarious, i just coudn't resist sharing, i hope you can be "bovered" to take a look, you will PYSL!

Until next time

Love Jenni

Some recent creations

Last weekend was Little Scrapbook Shops October Cybercrop, so i got lots of mojo flowing and actually completed 3 of the challenges. I am also sharing a couple of creations ffrom a few weeks ago that i still haven't uploaded even though i promised to ages ago....so here they are :)

Firstly here is my canvas that i did for the CC and i am totally loving myself sick over this one, it is awesome, well i think so anyway and i am really proud of how it turned out.

Here are the other 2 challenges i got finished....

And here are 3 other rather recent creations i have to share today...

Today i had my first cardmaking class with Deanne at the church and it was alot of fun, i am so pleased i have started, i made 2 christmas cards today, which i would take a pic of and upload if my camera wasn't playing up, so you may just have to go to Dees blog to check them all out, she took a pic of all of us with our cards to put up, so check us out over there.
Well thats all i have for today, i will endeavour to update again within the next week, i was getting realy slack there for awhile, just didn't have a lot of time.

See you next time

Cheers

Jenni

Our camping Adventure.....

Well we decided to brave it and take 4 kids camping, OMG, what were we thinking, really! We went with our friends Glen and Molly and their 2 kids, Rebecca and James. Rebecca is the same age as Rowen, 3, and James the same age as Angus, just a month younger, 14 months.

Friday morning - the cars packed and the kids are ready and raring to go. Molly arrived just after lunch and we set off for our first family adventure. The plan was to meet Glen in Mittagong, he had had to work, so he jumped on a train at the airport, after arriving home from Brisbane and we caught up with him just after dinner. We left early enough to beat the afternoon traffic though, so first on our agenda was finding something to do with 6 kids to kill a few hours - our solution, locate the local indoor fun centre and let them run wild, and they had a ball. After dinner at the Golden Arches we were on our way.

Rebecca and Rowen at the indoor playcentre -



Along the dirt road we were travelling we encountered a truck that had nearly lost its trailer off the cliff, the kids thought this was most exciting, but whilst we were stopped Flynn decided to lose his dinner - in the car....ewwwww. After a quick clean up we are on our way again, this time with a spew bucket handy, which Rowen made use of....no more Maccas before road trips me thinks!

So its 9.30pm and we arrive at our destination, Wombeyan caves campsite. The tents went up with headlights shining, the kids got to bed and finally it was time for some red wine - at last!

Sat morning - OMG, how early can we wake up, 5.30am, apparantly...aaarghhhh. Eventually the men take the kids for a walk, after Rowen and Rebecca have had fun in the mud puddles and i took advantage of the fact that there were showers while Angus slept and Molly watched over him. The afternoon was spent doing a 3.2 km walk around the caves and surrounding area, without a pouch for Angus, because i was not told we would be doing so much walking, so we played pass the baby all afternoon. The kids and myself were all knackered by the end of it, which mean't for all of them going to bed very easily.

Rebecca and Rowen - Mud Monkeys!



The Wombeyan caves were most impressive with huge caverns and limestone structures which Flynn described as awesome (his new fave word at the moment). I tried taking a few pics, but my camera didn't do so well, so i will have to google some for the scrapbook pages instead.

Wombeyan Cave pictures -




Dinner was followed by roasting marshmallows by the campfire and squishing them between 2 arrowroot bickies YUMMY! Oh and of course more red wine!

Sunday we packed up camp to move onto the Batsh campsite, now we were really roughing it, pit toilet this time with no showers. A quick lunch while the men set up camp and then we went to explore the town of Yerranderie, and i use the word town loosely here, its a ghost town that is privately owned with old buildings and a very teeny tiny museum with relics from the silver mines in the area which we went for a short walk to take a look at.

Yerranderie photos -

Back at camp we fed the kids, got them to bed and Stuart cooked a delicious lamb roast in his new camp oven in the fire, by the time we ate it at 9.30pm, we were starving, but it was well worth the wait, dessert- red wine and chocolate this time! We had forgot to pack any so a quick trip to the kiosk before we left Wombeyan caves had been an absolute essential!

Monday morning, time to pack up for the last time then off to do some off roading before heading home. The track the men had piucked for us proved to be a bit tricky, and Glen got stuck in one massive puddle, because of course we had encountered much rain in the past couple of days......(whats a campoing trip without a bit of rain anyway...) So Stuart, who according to Flynn is a hero, pulled Glens car out with ours.

Off roading -

Our next track wasn't so wet, but seriously steep hills which the kids thought was fantastic. We had planned on stopping at the Kowmung River for lunch, but it started to rain again, so we headed on instead, which ended up being a very good call as we then got hail! Instead we went to Kenangra walls camping ground near the Boyd river for lunch before continuing on our way home. Molly and Glen decided to stop at Jenolan caves, but we decided to keep going......it was getting and the kids were getting grumpy, so it was really time to go home.

Monday evening - 6.30pm - home sweet home, and it has never looked so sweet, let me tell you, hubby has vowed that we are never doing that again until they are all old enough to not annoy the crap out of us - the phrase "are we there yet" is more annoying than fingernails down a chalkboard - ewwww, and Angus doesn't need to be carried everywhere, my bestie told me i was crazy, and i am telling you, i think she may have been right, thank goodness for the red wine, if we had forgotten that, i think i would have gone completely insane!

Well it has taken me hours to get this done, but i promise to upload some scrapping stuff next, i have a pile of Layouts waiting to be photgraphed and uploaded, so until then

Cheers Jenni

My enterprising son....

Stirling has his sights set on a Star Wars Lego toy he saw in K-Mart last weekend, it costs $8.00, he already had $2 so he worked out he needed another $6. He was lucky enough to have a tooth fall out this week, so with a visit from the tooth fairy, he worked out he now has $4.50 and only needs another $4 ($3.50 actually, but because we are rounding up cause its easier with him at the moment, he says $4.00 is what he needs). I gave him $1 for being helpful at the shops so he says, i only need $3 more mum......yep, and if you are good i will give you the $3 for helping me etc. So anyways, he comes home from school with a lovely necklace and bracelet he has made in class, i said wow, they are beautiful, are they for me? Well mum, is his answer, i will sell them to you for $3!!!!!!!! My goodness, he will SELL them to me, i was ROFPMSL!

So anyway, i have bought some beautiful jewellery this week, and then this morning i said to him, by the way, your breakfast will cost you $3 today, i will sell it to you and he was like but MUM, well i said, its gonna cost you, if you are going to sell to me, i am going to sell to you, everyday, every meal, and he was like you are only joking aren't you mum? Tee hee, i love messing with my kids heads LOL!

Well, what have the others been up to...Flynn has a new bowling trophy, i will take photos and upload later, i promise, Rowen is his usual self, into everything and Angus is just being a gorgeous cherub! Heres a story about what Angus has been up to.....when my dear husband was supposed to be supervising.....

I had to take a phone call and Stuart really should have been watching the kids, Angus left to his own devices decides he wants to get back in the bath with his 3 and 5 year old brothers, ok, you may be thinking, that doesn't sound too bad....well here's the clincher, he had already had his bath and was already dressed in his PJ's He then screamed the whole time Daddy put some more clean jammies on.

Heres some photos, because like any good mother the first thing i did was grab my camera





Until next time,

Cheers Jenni

Why i don't usually drink....

OMG, last night we celebrated our friends marriage, and because it was reasonably close to home we decided to get a lift with some other friends so we could both enjoy a few drinks.....hmmmmmm, someone please tell me how many a few SHOULD be....when we first arrived i started the night out with a baileys on ice YUM.....then when we went into the reception i started on the red wine, after a few glasses our waitress offered to bring me a bottle! She says, they are only the half bottles, oh alright i say.....3 half bottles later.....get the picture, i was pretty hammered seeing that i don't drink very often at all.....but i had a good time, am paying the price today, but, i don't think i will be doing this again in a big hurry....my head hurts too much and the kids have decided that today is a good day to whinge and whine and carry on, so needless to say i think next time i will gladly go back to being the designated driver!

Off to go deal with a cranky 3 old - no witnesses around so there could be trouble, seriously i think he's tired so i am going to try and get him to go to sleep so i can have a lay down too.....

Until next time, keep the noise down please my head hurts too much!

Jenni

2 weddings, an engagement party and a send off.....

My goodness, we are so booked out over the next few weeks it's crazy. Last night Stuart and I attended a good friends wedding, Stu was the best man, and next week we have another wedding, the week after that an engagement party, the week after that a send off for Stuarts cousin who is going to the USA with his GF and they are getting married in Vegas.
I was so tired today after last night that i went for a nanna nap, popped the ear plugs in so i couldn't hear the boys and slept for nearly 4 hours !!!!!!! Stuart took care of the kids and just let me rest, which i obviously needed.
Last nights wedding was very beautiful, it is the brides 2nd marriage and her 3 kiddies were all part of the bridal party which all looked stunning. Mum looked after the kids and half way thru the night rang to say she was going to bed and pick the kids up tomorrow, so last night we were well and truly child free, pity we had to get up early to pick them up for their swimming lessons, but it was so nice not being waken in the middle of the night by Angus, who actually slept thru for my mum......little poop, doesn't do that for me, oh well.
Anyway just wanted to share a pic of Stuart and I all glammed cause it doesn't happen very often, then i am off to put clothes on the line for tomorrow and then to bed, cause even after my big nanna nap, i am still tired.

Cheers
Jenni

OMG - How embarrassment!

Today was Stirlings athletics carnival at school, me being the wonderful mother that i am ditched the 3 younger children so that i could go watch Stirling and help out as well. I got to hand out stickers to all the littlies that came in second place, my goodness they are soooooooo cute!
Well after little lunch and before the finals were ran i was told i was needed at the start line for the parents race......well i thought i better be a good sport and give it a go, this is where the embarrassing part comes in, i started the race then promptly fell flat on my face while all the other parents continued on their merry way, i got up and one of the lovely teachers came over and made sure i was OK and then ran with me a little of the way, then i finished the race dead last! Hey i got a sticker saying - I RAN A RACE! So i am pretty proud of myself, next year i am thinking i need to go into training and perhaps invest in a pair of spikes so that i don't slip over and make an ass of myself again.....
Not much else has happened in the last week, i have been sick with a bit of a tummy bug, so glad i am over that now, but Angus has been unwell on top of teething so i am getting next to no personal time at all.....i have grown an extra appendage it seems with a child being attached to me most of the time.
This weekend will be a big one not only with the LSBS cybercrop littlescrapbookshop.com.au, but also we have a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon, which Stuart is best man for and on Sat. morning Stirling has his end of season soccer get together. Thjen the usual on Sunday with swimming lessons and housework - which is never ending - blah!
Well, the leech (Angus) is crying again, as i have not had him on my lap or attched to me for 5 whole minutes whilst typing this up, and as far as he is concerned that is 5 minutes too long, will post pics of Stu and i all dolled up over the weekend.
Until then
Cheers
Jenni

Mamma Mia, Flynn versus the tree and much more.....

Well hello all, what a busy week or so it has been since my last blog entry.

Last week I went to see Mamma Mia with my 2 friends Dee and Wirg, what a cack, i was PMSL, singing along and also had a few tears at different parts of the movie as well, thoroughly enjoyed myself and would reccomend anyone to see it, in fact i would love to go see it again, can't wait til it is released on DVD cause i definately want a copy of this movie - ABBAsolutely fABBAulous!!!!!! Pierce Bronson and Colin Firth are so fab in this movie as is Meryl Streep, and boy can they sing - amazing....yep, i know i am raving, but it has been ages since i went to see a movie that was not G rated, and this one was just fantastic.

So what else is new.....Saturday morning was Stirlings soccer, this week he got the encouragement award for playing great defense and goalie. Yesterday afternoon we went to visit our friends up at Brooklyn, the local school was hosting a fireworks spectacular so we thought we'd take the kids to watch. Heres som pics i took that i thought turned out fab, so i wanted to share....




As we were walking down the road to the field Flynn decided to walk into a tree - OUCH, he managed to crack his head open AGAIN, but this time luckily it was only glue required and not stitches, thankfully. Heres some pics of my wounded little soldier, who was very brave at the Doctor this morning......tomorrow he is not allowed to go to day Care, so he will come with me to craft and go in the creche. Hopefully he will be ok for swimming by Sunday, he is not allowed to get it wet for at least 5 - 6 days, so all going well he will be in the pool.




Well i had best be off, need to feed the tribe and get some clothes in off the line folded and put away, until next time

Cheers

Jenni

The weekend is over again...

This weekend has been a relatively quiet one for us. Friday night i went to Janes house to do some creating, got a good start on a recipe swap i am in on LSBS - "Favourite Cocktail Recipe Swap" I did Homemade Baileys - YUMMY, and very easy to make as well.

Got home from Janes and Angus woke up, then stayed awake for about 3 hours, the kids were awake early on Saturday morning for Stirlings soccer game which we all headed out to watch, he played a great game and his team won, even though with under 7's we are not supposed to keep score the kids do anyway, but i make more of a big deal out of how he played and if he had fun than over which team won, i never ask him, but he tells me anyway. Last week he got player of the match for stopping a real good goal from when he played goalie in the first half. Of course i took photos, any good scrapbooking mother would! here they are -

Saturday afternoon was a quiet one, Stuart took off for a bucks afternoon/evening and i tried to catch up on spome sleep, but apparantly sleep is overrated.....pizza with Jo and Emily for dinner, then some creating and Dee came over to join us.

Another quiet day today with swimming in the morning, then finally got to have a nanna nap and a quiet afternoon resting in front of the TV.

Tonight some more qwuality TV viewing and then an early night, in which hopefully i will get to sleep thru.

Not a very exciting life i live really is it, oh well, until next time



Cheers Jenni

Back to school - YAY!

Stuart is back to work.....thank goodness, i don't know about this having him home in the school holidays now that he is teaching at TAFE, it was nice for the boys to have him around, but i am so used to not having him here and not having to consider what he is doing before making plans with the kids during the school holidays.....and also not annoying me about housework either. So i was glad to send him back to work on Monday, not so much Stirling back to school yesterday, i enjoy having him home and getting to spend time together with him and doing fun stuff. This past school holidays we had fun bowling, going to the park and of course the movies. Him and I went to see Get Smart with my gf and her son and i think Amanda and i laughed harder than the kids because of watching thew series as kids, its an awesome movie that definately does the show justice.
The park we went to in the school holidays out at Holroyd was awesome. It has a bike track that is a pretend road with road signs, a cul de sac, speed bumps, the works. It also has an adventure playground for the older kiddies with something for the younger ones as well, We spent about 3 hours there, having a picnic lunch and we hardly saw the kids at all....they were here there and everywhere, there was so much for them to do that boredom had absolutely no chance of setting in, and the kids have requested to go there again soon. I took some pics of my bestie Jo and her princess Emily as well as plenty more of the kids playing, i am going to have so much to scrap with next time i print photos out i am not going to know where to start.
Here are a few of my fave pics of the day.

Until next time







Cheers Jenni

Some recent creations...

OMG - 2 blog entries in one day!!!!!!

I took some pics of some recent LO's I have completed for some LSBS monthly competitions as well as some other LO"s that were inspired by last weekends cybercrop challenges.

Tonight once the kids are in bed i am planning on making a birthday card for a good friend - who didn't tell me her birthday was today DOH! She came visiting with her grandkids, the youngest being only 9 weeks old and didn't Angus get a little miffed when Bernadette didn't pay quite as much attention to him while she was holding Chase.....and then when it was time for Chase to have a bottle i had to get one for Angus too, he was not too happy about the baby having what he thought was his.....much happier once he had one of his own.....kept glancing over to Chase while he was drinking his bottle as if to say "look, i have one too now - and this one i am NOT sharing!" Silly little munchkin!
Well, here are the layouts....i am off now to get the kids ready for bed so that in half an hour i get peace and quiet

Cheers Jenni