Freezer contents

Blog Prompt: Just call me nosy Rosy! I had to defrost my freezer this month in hopes of repairing it, which we did. It amazed me to find stuff in there that I had forgotten about! Name 5 things in your freezer right now.

I have a freezer as well as the fridge/freezer.

5 things in my freezer are:
Slica pads - never know when I am going to need them for a picnic.
Toast bread - always good to have a backup supply
Chicken stock - ready for soup
Croissants - a nice standby to have for a breakfast
Stewed rhubarb - for the boys breakfasts

In the fridge/freezer I have
Frozen vegetables
Iceblocks
Icecream
Hash browns
Toast bread

Freesias

Bog builder prompt: I love ________________ because it reminds me of_________________.

I love the smell of freesias because they remind me of Church Bay. We used to have a bach (holiday home) at a place called Church Bay. It was a little place beside the sea in a bay that had a safe swimming beach. We would spend all our summers there roaming free, enjoying the sea, sand & exploring. I loved the place & still do. Anyway along the paths at our bach there were freesias. I am not sure who planted them but I am assuming that it was my grandmother, I don't think they would have grown wild. Every spring they would flower & they had the most beautiful scent. Some of the freesias that you buy in the shops today have hardly any scent but the ones at Church Bay had a beautiful scent.

Monday 27 August

Both boys stayed home from school today. James' cough is still just as bad as yesterday but Brent is slowly getting better. What do you know, today they both had a sleep in the afternoon. It leaves me wondering what would have happened if I had sent them to school. We drove into town to pick up Scott after work & we were surprised to see the first cherry blossoms out & the green tinges of leaves on the willows by the Avon. Spring is really starting to make a dainty appearance in the city.

Sunday 26 August

R & P left in the morning so it was then time to get the boys to wind down from the hype of being the centre of attention for 3 days. Both boys have come down with a cold, James has a terrible wracking cough so we trird to get them to have a rest in the afternoon. That didn't happen so we put them to bed at 7.

Saturday 25 August

While Brent was playing his second last soccer game I took James out shopping. For brief moments I was allowed to hold his hand, but it didn't last long. I miss that wee guy putting his hand into mine. He is growing up very quickly & it seems to be just the little things, like holding his hand that reminds me of it.

Brent was in a round robin tournament with the other 3 bottom places teams. They played 10 minute games & did quite well with a draw & 2 close losses.

Friday 24 August

Putiputi is a Maori craft of making flowers out of flax leaves.
http://www.library.christchurch.org.nz/Maori/Putiputi/

That link shows you how to do it.

I didn't make this putiputi, Brent did. Brent's topic this term has been Maori & as well as learning a haka he got to make some putiputi. I went along on Friday afternoon to take a look at what the boys were learning to do. There was a fearsome haka & then the boys split into 2 groups & did a haka to each other. One group had also learnt how to do a poi dance so we got shown that. Then imagine my surprise when I got asked to go up & do a poi dance with Brent & the other group of boys. I have swung pois long ago but it really was a very long time ago. It was actually quite fun. I think the best thing though was turning up to watch & seeing Brent's surprised expression on his face. Unfortunately not many parents came to watch mainly because we got a notice home on Thursday night saying it was on the next day. Thursday night was a rush because of the music evening so it was a bit sad we didn't get more notice. The boys looked as though they had had a fun day though. Something nice & light after the late night the night before.

Thursday 23 August - AKA the Music Evening

R & P arrived at about 1 o'clock especially for this event. It is a fantastic event that is the culmination of all this term's early starts & practicing & learning of tunes & words. Both boys did really well. The "house" started by singing the hymn first & they performed that really well. Then it was on to the "house" song. Their house chose to sing "A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square." That is a very difficult song to sing with lots of high notes as well as a lot of different words to learn. Their song didn't seem quite as good as their hymn.

All the other houses followed on from the boy's house (Clyde) & as the show went on it was easy to see that Clyde had sung the hymn far better than any other house, but their song wasn't as good. So it was quite a surprise when at the end of the evening the ajudicator said that Clyde won. The boys were thrilled & for Brent it has been a threepeat. He has come to the conclusion that it is his singing that wins it, because before that Hamilton was always winning, LOL. You just have to love the egocentricity of little kids.

Cards

I went to the supermarket & saw a lovely display of jonquils & freesias so I bought some just to make the house look more cheerful. I love the yellowness of them & the scent of course.

Why is it that it is when visitors are due to stay that the kids decide to do whatever they can to make the workload more than the usual amount. It started off with Brent wetting his bed in the early hours of tuesday morning. That was a sheet, matress protector & pjs. Then this morning he puts all his weight on the towel rail that was screwed into the bathroom wall. He managed to get it pulled off the wall. Really I am at my wits end with his behaviour, but if I ask him to do anything or not do something he always retorts "I know, I know". He obviously doesn't because otherwise he wouldn't have pushed down on it. I was so cross that I just told him to sit in the car & then i turned my timer on for 15 minutes & did some laundry while trying to calm down.
Scott managed to get it screwed back into the wall tonight but we did charge Brent for the screws & the thingys that are needed to hold the screws in the wall since the holes are bigger than the thread. It only came to about 10 cents but I hope Brent has learnt a lesson.

Procrastinating

Blog Prompt: What are you putting off right now?

HOUSEWORK!!!

I really don't like doing housework but it has to be done & really I need the majority of it done before tomorrow afternoon when my in laws arrive for the weekend. Hopefully today I can get their bed made up & the house vacuumed along with the 3 loads of laundry that always seem to need to be done a day.

I suppose I better jump to it.

Emails I have sent

Blog Prompt: Name three people you last e-mailed, and why.

My last three emails were sent to my NZScrappers group.

The last three individuals I emailed were
1. Jennifer the owner of ScrapTown. I was sending her my input for the next newsletter.
2. A woman called Maritza to thank her for her kind comments on one of my layouts I posted on a yahoo group
3. A woman called Hetty for the same reason above.

Monday 20 August

Yay! Today I managed to book James' birthday party. I have even had mothers asking me when his party was going to be. Today I finally booked it. James went to a party a few weeks ago at Science Alive & really enjoyed it & wanted his party to be there so that is where the party will be. Just the thought of 15 boys running around our house made me veto that idea. It was alright for Brent's class because it was smaller but James' class is a bit bigger.

This is the invite that I made for him. He was very excited to get them all printed off so he can give them to everyone in his class tomorrow.

Stuff on my desk

Blog Prompt: Name five things lying around your computer.

I have a glass of Mizone because I have just got in from teh gym.
My Tonic guillatine is at my right hand side.
My diary is on the left hand side.
A Pringles container has been sawn in half & both halves are holding my pens, scissors & things.
A box full of memorabillia, that needs to be sorted through.

Cards

It has been a nice relaxing weekend. In the end I didn't go clothes shopping on Friday because really it was cold & grey, not at all conducive to buying clothes to wear in the tropics.

Saturday morning I was able to sit with a cup of coffee & complete a whole Sudoku puzzle before having to head off to soccer. James' team only had 5 players this week & was up against a team of 6. All season we have had too many players & have been subbing our boys off & on so that both teams have even numbers. It would appear that when the shoe is on the other foot the other teams don't sub off & on. Maybe next season we can play all our games with 9 members in the team & too bad about the other teams. James team lost but only by 3-0.
Brent's team was playing a team that beat them 10-0 last round. This time they only got beaten 3-0. Brent got player of the day for saving two stinging attacks on goal despite not being in goal.

Today I decided that I would bring some daphne inside my craft room. I just love the scent of daphne. I did a bit of laundry & then spent some time tidying up my craft room & nearly finishing off a father's day project.

It's going to be a busy week coming up. Monday & Tuesday the boys need to be at school early to practice for their music evening. Thursday is the music evening & we have R & P coming up to stay with us & to watch the boys. Saturday Brent has a round robin soccer tournament & James has a party to go to. Sunday R & P head back home & Scott will be packing for his week long stay in Wellington.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

New layout

The scan on this one is very good but I am really chuffed with my pocket page of this layout. The pocket had to be very sturdy as it is holding all Brent's reports & certificates from year 1. I folded a 12*12 cardstock over the bottom half of the background cardstock & then put eyelets down both sides. I threaded ribbon through those eyelets to create some extra strength & I think it worked really well.

This prototype worked so well that I think the same format will be used for both boys Medbury albums from now on.

Elvis

Blog Prompt: Aug 16 is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Do you know who Elvis is? If so, what was your favorite movie? Are you a big fan of his? Why or why not?

I am 37 so I was only 7 when he died. I know of Elvis & I have watched one of his movies, he was a GI in Hawaii. I think that is the only movie of his I have seen. I did hear a lot of his music though because my mum loved Elvis' music. No I am not a big fan because when you are only 7 when he died & movies aren't a huge thing in the family it's just another celebrity. I do think though that he was hot when he was younger it is just so sad what he did to his body in his later life.

It is starting to get exciting when you can print off boarding passes for the ship! I printed mine off last night & Scott printed his off this morning.

Today was rather cold but at least the sun was shining, it meant that I was in the mood for a run. It was nice to get out & enjoy the sun again. I even managed to run for 25 minutes non stop so I am getting fitter.

After a bit of housework I was able to sit down & finally knock together a layout. It should be in the post below this one. This page was the easy one, I think the next one with the pocket is going to be a bit more difficult.

Tomorrow is errand day & I am hoping to have coffee with Scott after going to the gym & then back home briefly before heading out to some fashion shops & see if the summer stuff has arrived. I am desparate for a couple of pairs of capris for the cruise as well as some smart casual skirts & maybe some sandals. Also want to see if I can find a nice dressy little black dress for those formal evenings on board the ship.

Yay tomorrow is Friday have a great weekend everyone!

New Layout

I have been debating for a couple of years over how to scrap Brent's school photos. I have decided I will try out Stacy Julian's "school of life" approach. This approach is basically a couple of double page layouts. One of those doubles has a pocket in which to put the miscellaneous things that come from school, or art creations etc.

This is the 1st of the double page layouts for Brent's first year at school. It just has some of the school highlights. Now I just need to work out the double page with the pocket on it.

Relaxation

Blog Prompt: Aug 15 is National Relaxation Day. Tell what things you see, hear or do that relaxes you.

I feel very relaxed after a good swim or a jog but I wouldn't do either of those things just to relax.

If I really want to relax there is nothing better than curling up in the sun with a good book to read. There won't be any noise in the house & definitely no children around, a cup of coffee at the same time is a good idea. If it is cold I'll have a blanket on as well, if it is hot I would be in a nice sheltered spot in the garden.

I haven't relaxed this way for a long time so it is very likely to happen on board that lovely Tahitian Princess. I really don't think Scott will mind because I understand that he could go & hit golf balls, or go swimming, or jogging or any number of other things if finds my relaxing too boring.

Wednesday 15 August

No this isn't me but I did go swimming today & really enjoyed it. I decided to go out to QE2 & use the big 50 metre pool. Unfortunately they had it walled across halfway so each length was only 25 metres. The pool was wonderful, being an olympic level pool it was deep with 8 lanes. Only 2 were kept aside for aquajogging but the rest was only for lane swimming. the water was a bit too warm for my liking but it was beautifully clean. I had the whole lane to myself until about the last 100 metres of my swim. Today I swam over 750metres freestyle non stop. I can almost make it to 1km I think. I swam 35 laps so only another 5 to go & I would be up to 1 km non stop freestyle. I then switched it up a bit & swam another kilometre in a mixture of breast, back, free, free pull & free legs only. So today I swam 2kms. This is the first day since being married that I have actually swum 2kms. I managed to do it in an hour so I was stoked. I just loved it so much I will be doing my swimming there from now on. Too bad about the extra petrol & the lack of housework that gets done because it is such a distance away.

In other news Scott & I paid for our cruise a while ago & got our cruise number. This morning we went into the website http://www.princess.com/ships/ta/ & reserved all our shore activities. Unfortunately the afternoon sunset lagoon cruise on 19 October was already booked out but we are on the waiting list. We will be in the Marquesas then so if we can't get on the cruise for my birthday dinner we will just have to have a nice meal on board ship, & my guess is that that will be quite easy to do. I will post an itinery of each day at a later time, but at this stage I can tell you that we are doing a dolphin encounter, a whale & dolphin watching trip, 2 snorkelling adventures, visiting a pearl farm, going to a private island with refreshments provided (on the 19th, I remember that one, funny that!), a glass botoom boat trip & of course general sight seeing at each port of call. I am getting very excited & Scott is so excited he has already had his first tanning clinic visit! I should probably pull finger & find out where is local that I can go & have some too.

PS: That princess website has bridge cam on the Tahitian Princess. Us Southern Hemisphere dwellers have to remember to look during our daylight hours (not at 7pm) to see what the camera is seeing. Yesterday she was in port at Papeete & right now she is on her way to Raro. How exciting it is less than 2 months now until we get on board!

Childhood Sounds

Blog Prompt: Describe a 'sound' from your childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind?

The main sound I remember from my childhood would be music. The radio was always on & then when ever we travelled anywhere there would be music playing, either the radio on short trips or on longer trips there was country music cassettes.

Another sound would be the lapping of the waves against the beach & the ting ting of the rigging blowing in the nor west wind when we were at our bach at Church Bay. I loved that sound, especially the lapping waves as it would just lull me to sleep.

Tuesday 14 August

A very uninspired & unispiring card today. Today was just one of those days, in fact I think this seems to strike every Tuesday, when really I am not inspired & have no creativity. Maybe it's because Tuesday is a day full on in the morning with PMP & then the short time to do all the chores, so it is all go, go, go but not really for me. Speaking of not really for me, I didn't go for a jog today. I really didn't want to go for a jog in 3C temperatures when the sun isn't out & it is just grey & threatening rain. I won't dissolve, I know that, but really it just doesn't exactly entice me to get out for the run.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better, in fact I know it will be because I am going swimming tomorrow! I just love swimming. I am thinking of going over to QE2 & swimming in their 50 metre pool because Centenial closed off 3 of the 6 lanes last time for aquasize! Talk about a swimming traffic jam then.

Scarey movies

Blog Prompt: August 13 is Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. In honor of his birthday, name the movie(s) that scare you the most.

I really don't like horror movies & have never watched a Hitchcock movie.

A movie that has had a profound affect on me was The Fly. OMG watching that man turn into a fly just was too yucky for words & ever since I have a real aversion to flies.

I seem to have a problem with nature in it's horrorific form because Jaws freaked me out of the water for quite sometime. Even now when I go swimming in the sea I have a huge mental obstacle to overcome. The problem is, it is not so unheard of for a great white to chomp at people surfing or diving off New Zealand's coast. There are great whites around our coastline, because of the seal populations especially, so it is always a possibility that there is one lurking in the water.

Monday 13 August

That just about sums up today. After a couple days of beautiful warm weather, bam, we got hit with hail, rain & very cold wind. The good thing is that the new soil is wetted down so much it's not going to blow away now. I have been trying to get warm ever since Fed ex pulled me out of the shower.

I have been expecting a delivery from them for the last week & today as I got in the shower I thought it's bound to happen today & Murphy's law would be it will come when I am in the shower. I placed my gym sweats at the door of the shower just in case. I got in the shower & then the bell goes. I wasn't going to let the delivery get delayed so I jumped out of the shower, put my wet body into my gym sweats & ran, breasts bouncing like basket balls, to open the door. She was just pulling closed her van door but I was able to get my delivery. I am now the happy owner of a 12 inch guillatine. It is amazing what tiny fine slithers it can cut, & it cuts through thick cardstock very easily.

The forecast for tomorrow isn't much better so I had better start getting used to freezing again.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by both Tracy & Glenda.

Here are 7 things you didn't know about me.

1. My favourite Disney character is Winnie the Pooh
2. I had a teddy bear when I was a girl called Pooh & I would tell him stories
3. My dad would read me Winnie the Pooh stories sometimes, which are the stories that then got told to Pooh.
4. Pooh & I had great adventures, Pooh fell down the long drop at our bach.
5. I took him with me because I am afraid of possums & they would sit in the tree above the long drop.
6. After mum retrieved him the next morning & gave him a wash I felt very sad to see him swinging on the line by his ears.
7. That was the last time I saw him.

Here are another 7 (not so much a story this time).
1. I had a doll called Bridgit, she was as big as a new born baby & had beautiful blue eyes that closed when you lay her down.
2. My mum still has her.
3. I was going to name my daughter Kaitlyn. Part Katrina & part Lynette after my mother. It never came to be.
4. I do still wish that I had a daughter
5. I knew Brent was a boy all through my pregnancy so wasn't at all surprised when the doctors told me I had given birth to a big boy.
6. I had a dream the night before my 20 week ultrasound with James, where I was told in the dream that James was a boy. It was almost exactly the same thing that happened in real life except that in real life I didn't cry because I already knew.
7. I still have my wedding dress & I am not sure now what to do with it.

I'll tag Jenny, Raewyn & Paula.

Sunday 12 August

Today was a day of chores. 4 loads of laundry, shopping list creation, changing sheets on beds & then 1 1/2 hours spent in a freezing cold sports arena while James was at a birthday party. I had been asked to stay & help at the party but there was nothing that I could help with. Unfortunately the place didn't want to even sell me a coffee so I had a bottle of water. I couldn't really see what the kids were up to so it was all rather boring. What I have learnt is that the orgasnisation at that place is not wonderful so James' party won't be there. James still thinks he wants his party at Science Alive so I will have to start ringing them & finding what days they have free http://www.sciencealive.co.nz

Have a great week everyone.

New layouts

Here are a couple more layouts that have been waiting for some finishing touches. Both of them will be for Jame' album.

Saturday 11 August

Guess what is flowering in my garden? Yes I have one mini daffodil in bloom, spring must be on its way!

We had soccer today. James' team won again & James got player of the day. Brent had to play against the team that beat them 14-0 last time. this time they only got beaten 6-0 so that was a huge improvement in 7 weeks. Brent was playing as a defender & he is starting to get the hang of his field placement which is good. He also managed to save 2 goals which is even better.

After soccer it was back home for a bath, lunch & a rest for the boys. Scott filled the trailer up with a mixture of soil & compost & the boys put that down on my garden after rest time. I've watered it down so it doesn't blow away in the NW winds & hopefully tonight it will rain which should help soak it down as well. I just need to replant my strawberries & maybe buy some seed potatoes to start them sprouting & that will be it for the vege garden for a while.

Next I will weed the little garden off the porch & then it will be time to tackle the garden under the blue room window before those roses get too big.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday 10 August

The boys brought home effort cards this weekend. Both boys had very good effort cards & they had both improved on the previous ones. There was no yellow squares on either boys cards this time so that was a pleasant surprise for us.

Earth Worms

This blog prompt has come from www.scraptown.com

Update your blog with something about animals could be a pet, something you saw at a zoo, a favorite, something you've never seen...




I've just been out in my vege garden digging it over in preparation for some new soil & then some compost. The interesting thing I saw out there were worms. Last time I was digging in a part of the garden where it has been dug over a lot & the soil was nice & loose. Today I was in the section where my rhubarb & strawberry plants have been. Because I don't lift my strawberry plants usually the area never really gets a good dig over. In the nice loose half I saw no worms & I was beginning to be a bit worried because really it is good to have worms in your garden. Down in the other section of the graden the dirt was quite clumped together & that is where I found all my earthworms. I am so pleased that I have at least a few of them in the garden. I thought that worms would live in the nice easy to burrow through soil but no, in my garden they are to be found in the big clods of earth that never really get turned over.

Now because you have heard me talk about that garden so much I had better show you the state of the vege garden at the moment.

It's pretty empty. That spot of green in the top left corner of the garden is the parsley plant. The black sticks that stick out are the watering system. There is a clump in the lower left corner & that is my huge rhubarb crown.Because you can't see it on the other photo along the left side heading towards the parsley is my garlic. I planted about 14 cloves around the shortest day & so far 11 have come up so I think that is pretty good odds. If they all mature that should last us most of the next year for cooking.

New Layout

I finally put this layout to bed yesterday. I had done my journalling in black pen, because that was all I had with me at the time, but it couldn't be seen. Yesterday I found a white pen & went over the journalling again & it looks so much better.

It is about Brent's first flight as an unaccompanied minor down to Invercargill last year.

Thursday 9 August

It was a wonderful nor'west day here yesterday. Here in Christchurch a nor'west is a warm wind because it has come from over the mountains, where it has dropped it's rain & then goes across the warm Canterbury Plains to get to Christchurch. It was a wonderful day that just made you think that spring is coming. The birds are tweeting at sunrise now so things are starting to warm up. I got in the garden & lifted 7 strawberry plants & repotted them the rest went to the rubbish. I just need to get out a couple of dandelions & then the garden will be ready for some fresh soil. We'll borrow mum's trailer for the weekend & get soil & hopefully I can get Scott to trim back some of the trees down the back as well.

It wasn't a completely tranquil feeling day because as usual it all comes undone when Brent gets to do homework. This time he complained about it & then sat down & did his maths. He then said "it was so easy I did it in 3 minutes". Yay for that! Then it was time to do his language which was finding as many antonyms as possible & then a bit of spelling. He kicked up a stink about doing that & then when he said he was done he said I was not to look at it. I asked how I would know that he had completed it & he said he had written the time against each thing so therefore he has done it. I then said that he has reading to do & he kicked up a stink about that. In the end I got Scott to hear his reading. After he had gone to bed Scott pulled out his homework & we took a look, no effort had gone into it at all, which is exactly why he didn't want me to see it. Do I push him? or should I just put my hands in the air & say "stuff it, you do it but if it is a poor effort that's your problem" I am really stuck not knowing what to do. He wants to get better marks in his effort card but he doesn't want to put the effort in.

What do I do? Do I push or should I let him face up to the fact that he has to put more effort in to get a better effort card? He gets all angry when he gets a poor effort card but the only thing I know to do to help him is to make him work harder, put the effort in. I am really coming to the end of my tether with this whole thing. That & his attitude. That needs a readjustment too!

The great news of the day was that James finally got his dictionary yesterday! Ever since he has started school there have been some basic words he has had to learn how to read. There are about 60 of them that the teacher thinks are the ones that are used most often & James has had to learn how to read them. They have been broken down into "steps". Step 1 had the easy words like a, is, and, the. It went up to step 6 & then once you have completed step 6 you get your dictionary. James finally got his yesterday so it was a red plate day for him!

Wednesday 8 August

Happy Birthday Amy!

What a busy day it was. Scott's alarm went off at 5:30 to get him up & out of the house to catch his flight to Wellington. I never got back to sleep.

After dropping the boys off at school I went & had a facial & massage at the beautician. Came home had some lunch before picking the boys up. Brent had soccer practice from 4 until 5 & then it was back home for Brent to have a quick bath before dashing out again to Amy's party at 5:30 at Chopsticks. We were about 15 minutes late but that's not bad. Scott arrived later still as he was on a flight from Wellington that was delayed. We started out by feeding the children wontons so that kept them quiet for a bit. Amy was more interested in playing with her new presents than eating. It was a wonderful meal & having a private room meant that the boys (all 3 of them) actaully ate their meals rather than watvhing the comings & goings in the restaurant/take away area. Even on a Wednesday at 5:30 the place was hopping, it seems to be busy every time we go there. The food was delicious & the cake was "Divine".

I was so tired after the busy day that I plunked down in front of tv & promptly dozed off. At 10 Scott suggested that I go to bed. I was out like a light.

Tuesday 7 August

I love Fed ex! The latest www.clubscrap.com pizza box arrived. This month's kit is called Academy & features blue, burgandy, brown & tan cardstock. It has a very intersting texture to it, almost a smoother version of a basketball skin. I love that little year, month stamp I can see it is going to be very useful for when i get slack at journalling & just want to put the year & month on the layout.

I am a bit late posting this because on Tuesday one of my scrapping buddies Raewyn http://whinneys-whims.blogspot.com pointed out to me that on her Firefox my music clip was covering some of my blog entries. I spent some time trying to get it smaller & I am hopeful that now everyone can read all of my blog entries. Thanks Raewyn for the heads up on this.

Joke

Blog Prompt: Aug. 6 is Lucille Ball’s birthday. I thought she was a great comedienne so in honor of her birthday, I thought we could tell a joke. Since it is also Monday, I think many of us need a joke to make us smile today!

Thanks to http://jokes.comedycentral.com/joke_of_day.aspx for this joke.


Good Can of Corn


There were three couples, one elderly, one middle aged, and one newlywed, that wanted to join a church. So the minister tells them that in order to be members they must abstain from sex for two whole weeks.

After two weeks, the minister asks the elderly couple if they had abstained.
"Yes, no problem!" So the minister welcomes them to the church.

Then he asks the middle aged couple the same question
"Well, after one week, the husband had to sleep on the couch, but we made it!" So the minister welcomes them to the church.

Then the minister asks the newlywed couple if they had abstained from sex for two weeks.
"We were unable to abstain. On the third day, my wife dropped a can of corn and when she bent over to pick it up, LUST and PASSION overcame me!"
"I'm sorry," the minister says, "but you are both banned from this church!"
"That's okay," says the husband, "We were banned from the supermarket, too."

Monday 6 August

James woke up this morning with a red rash over his back & tummy. I sent him to school anyway because he seemed cheerful enough. James came home & told me his rash had spread to his legs & arms. I decided I had better search Mr Google & see what he brought up. He brought up measles, chickenpox, rubella & impetago to name a few. The symptoms seemed to be more like measles so I waited for Scott to come home & sent him & James off to the after hours clinic. They came home about 2 hours later to tell me that it is just a cold. Now don't I feel stupid but why would anyone think of a rash as being part of a cold. Of course we got the caveat if his conditions get worse bring him back in. Of course it was because the rash had got worse during the day that I sent him to be checked out anyway.

So now I know that a rash can be a symptom of a cold, how many of you knew that? Mr Google didn't!

Favourite summer veggies

This is part of the blog builder challange over at www.scraptown.com

This time for you blog builder... talk about your favorite summer veggies and include pics if you have them (idea blatently stolen from Katrina's photography challenge)

It is winter here & the garden is bare, apart from some parsley, the rhubarb crown & some garlic stalks just coming up through the soil, so there won't be any recent photos of summer veges.

My favourite of all of them is the TOMATO, & yes I know that technically it is a fruit, but I just love them. I am able to buy them all year round now but to tell you the honest truth I think the best tomatoes are home grown picked off the vine on a sunny day. There is a totally different flavour to them, or maybe I should say there is a flavour to them, that is very much absent in store bought ones. I love a tomato sandwich with a little grind of salt & pepper in nice fresh bread. I've only just had breakfast but that thought just makes me hungry.

So given that a tomato is really a fruit I had better tell you about my next favourite vegetable. I am not sure you would really classify it as a summer vegetable though because it fist becomes available here, around my birthday, which is spring. It is one of the things I like to buy to celebrate my birthday. ASPARAGUS. Lovely long green stalks of crisp juciness, of course I am naughty & give it a bit of a drenching in butter, it also requires a twist of salt & pepper. Yumm! roll on October.

Now I really had better tell you about a vegetable that is a summer vege, new potatoes. You know those little round baby potatoes freshly dug up. We have them on Christmas Day for lunch. Of course I have to have butter on them but I like them with some garlic butter not just plain butter. New potatoes also have a flavour all of their own & I just could eat tons of them, just as well we don't grow them by the ton in my vege garden. The boys also scoff them down but I think part of the fun of them is the digging of them up out of the garden. It's like a game of hide & seek. Dig under the plant & see how many of these little potatoes you can find, then search through the soil again just in case you've missed one or two.

Well I'm off to buy my bag of spuds for planting out so that we can have new potatoes for Christmas day.

Sunday 5 August

Today has been a nuts & bolts kind of day, a day that is important to the general running of the computer etc but kind of small.

I started off by backing up all my photos on my computer, twice once to a DVD & once to an external hard drive. I remind you all that it is important to remember to backup all your documents & photos, I try to do it on the first weekend of every month.

I then decided to print off all my July blog, you never know when that valuable journalling could just disappear.

After that it was time to scan all the layouts that I have finished since ScrapCamp, it is actually quite a few & then there are even more sitting there waiting for final touches, like journalling.

I did some scrapping yesterday that I actually completed at the crop, which is a surprise.

This layout uses paper from my favourite scrapping supply http://www.clubscrap.com/

This layout uses paper from the http://www.scrapbookessentials.co.nz/index.html monthly kit a while ago. I have scraplifted a layout done by Angelia Wigginton from Scrapbooks Etc April 2007 edition.

I scanned in a whole lot more layouts than that though

So it has been a productive day but creativity wise the only thing I have created today was my little card.

Friday & Saturday

Friday was shopping day. I went and bought presents for a few boys & for Amy. I love shopping for clothes for Amy & Danja.

Today was crop day. I managed to finish a couple of layouts so hopefully I'll get time tomorrow to scan them in. I am exhausted as nearly every night this week we have had broken sleep except last night. I hope tonight we get to sleep through the night, my body could really do with it.

Ideal picnic

Blog Prompt: If you could plan the ideal picnic for your family, what would it look like? Be sure to include the following: Food, Location , Activities

The ideal picnic for my family would have to be at a location that has at least a little bit of water. The boys just love playing in water, building dams, splashing. There would have to be some swimming costumes packed, the sunscreen, possibly insect repellant. The food would be some chicken drumsticks, bacon & egg pie, & bananas for fruit. If it was winter time we would also have a choice of tomato or chicken noodle soup.

Thursday 2 August

The theme of the week at Medbury is gratitude so each night we have been going around the table saying what we are grateful for. Today's one is different from the other nights in that tonight neither of the boys were thankful for their dinner. I tried a new recipe on them, pork with dried apricots, prunes & pineapple. It really didn't go down well with them & then to add insult to inury for them I cooked a rice rissotto (which they normally love) that was a new flavour for them & they hated the flavour of that too.

I'm just pleased that at least someone liked my meal besides myself. Sometimes you wonder why you bother cooking a meal when all the food is left on the plate, it just seems like such a waste. Luckily I didn't serve it all up so Scott & I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Internet

Happy August everyone! According to the website "Daily Holidays of 2007", today is the anniversary of the World Wide Web.

Blog Prompt: Tell how the internet has made an impact on your life.

Well where do you start on this topic. I have to say I really can't imagine what my life would be like today without the www. My house might be cleaner, my hobby would be different, probably still cross stitch, my day to day activities would be different.

The internet has made a huge impact on my life about the time I really needed it. It was 1999 & I was at home pregnant with Brent when I first really discovered the internet. I had given up work & all my friends were still working & my family was in a different city, I felt alone. I decided to take the bull by the horns & log on to the internet. I was rather wary of it at first & still don't think I totally understand how it works, but it gave me a link to people outside my home.

I found a parenting & pregnancy message board based in the US (which doesn't exist anymore) & was able to talk to people on it as if they were in the same room as me. From that board I learnt about scrapbooking which has now become my stress relieving creative outlet. I have made so many online friends & some of them I have met in person, & some I WILL see one day, I'm determined to. The internet has also helped me keep family in touch with us through this blog.

It really has had a profound affect on my life & I am so grateful to whoever thought up the idea & managed to get it to work.

Wednesday 1 August

Me vs scales

All my life scales & I have had disagreements over my weight. I remember when I was a late teenager doing dragon boating & I had to get weighed. You then had your weight called out, everyone looked at me & said "you don't look like you should weigh that much!" I suppose I should have been pleased that I didn't look heavy but I was mortified.

I also remember the doctor saying my weight range for my height should be 60 - 69 kilos & never to go above 70. The only time in my adult life I have been in that range was when i was following the Atkins diet strictly & exercising about 2 hours a day, 7 days a week. I was young, single & was about to get married. The weight I got married at, the doctors would have been thrilled, but I think my body was taking a hammering. How the heck could exercising for 14 hours a week, for nothing but to loose weight be good for you. I would do it for an Olympic medal but you know I am not that good at any sports discipline to get one.

Of course married life led to more commitments & it is commitments to other people in your life that stops you exercising 14 hours a week. In reality it is unfeasable & I don't think I will ever get there again because I am just not that selfish any more.

So the scales went up & I agree with them on that point but I started arguing with them about 2 years ago. I was training for a duathlon & even after months of training the scales wouldn't budge but more clothes fitted better & I went down a dress size. The problem is of course, you end up wondering why the scales don't budge, you start getting depressed about it & then the food goes in. So of course the scales were right I did put on weight.

This year I have decided to measure myself & see what the measurements say as opposed to what the scales say just to see who is right.

I would like you all to know that this month I AM RIGHT! I have lost SOMETHING but it isn't kilos. I've lost inches. I've lost an inch from each arm, I've lost an inch from my chest & waist. I've lost 1.5 inches from my back & hips. My thighs are a bit strange, 1 thigh has lost 3 inches & the other has only lost .5 inch. But who cares I AM RIGHT, the scales are wrong. I am losing something from my body even if it is not kilograms.

This month I won! Hopefully next month the scales might admit defeat & move down & then I'll be a very happy girl. Still I'm not a bikini body yet, so don't get too excited Scott!

An unscrapped photo

Take a photo you've been meaning to scrap and write your journaling for it here.

This photo hasn't been scrapped because in all honesty it has nothing to do with me or my immediate family. It does have to do with my SIL & she could well be cursing me now, but I promise I didn't take the photo, my husband did.

This is what a cycling mother's bike looks like after a race. Toilet paper on the handle bar & a potty beside the bike. It must take a lot of dedication to compete in cycle tours especially with a breast feeding infant & a toilet training toddler. I admire the tenacity that she has to keep training & competing despite the pulls of motherhood.