Queens Park Layout

This quick layout was created for a Club Scrap challenge using all Club Scrap products.

The journalling reads:

Winter 2003.

We took a trip to Invercargill to see Robin & Phyllis. While we were there Phyllis took you & Brent to Queens Park to see Henry the tuatara & to play in the playground. You must have enjoyed it because we do that every time we go down there!

Not a health nut

Here's a photo of my favourite part of every weekday.

At around 1pm I sit down with my afternoon cup of coffee & one chocolate biscuit. This is my little piece of chocolate for the day because I love chocolate. Of course having chocolate isn't very good for weightloss but hey there are other things that I would prefer to cut out of my diet before this little piece of bliss.

See I can't be a health nut if I eat chocolate biscuits 5 times a week.

Fitness Fanatic?

I see people sweating it out at the gym with these flash watches on or with the armbands & always thought they were fitness fanatics. Well guess what? If that is my definition of a fitness fanatic I must be one. I think my definition is going to have change because yesterday I received a heart rate monitor.

I was so excited that I programmed it, with help from this website & did my first workout. It was pouring with rain so I did it inside in front of the Wii Fit.

Lovely Blog Award

I have been a bit remiss in acknowledging that I am the proud recipient of a lovely blog award. Thanks Jenny for the award.

Now I need to pass the awrd on to at least 7 other people.
Raewyn , Stevie ,Tracy , Roo, Kelli, Lynda & Glenda

Monday is ...

Washing day.
No, I have already taken a photo of the washing machine but I did get a lot of washing done. I now have a huge ironing pile to show for it. No I didn't take a photo of that either.


Here's a clue...



Tuesday is rubbish day!



I cleaned out the fridge. Every Wednesday we get a box of organic fruit & veges & there are weeks where we don't eat all the veges (the fruit gets eaten really quickly). So I thought yesterday would be a good day to clean out the fridge.



There was a pumpkin gone slimy.. eww! There were two half cabbages so I chose the best one & kept it. There were two bunches of wizened up little carrots. Then sitting right in the bottom of the vege drawer was the brocolli that had gone yellow & fluffy!



Then at the back of the fridge was the beetroot that had gone a strange brown colour. I think it must have oxidised because it was no longer sitting in it's brine/vinegar solution.





So after all that hard work I thought, let's take a photo of the cleaner fridge. Next time I do that project I might take a photo of the science experiments that grow in there instead.

Sunday 25 January

The cicadas are at full cry at the moment. The racket they make along Haper Ave where all the oak & cherry trees line the road is unbelievable.

We have quite a few of these creatures around our house too & one happened to land on the porch.

Week 3 Layout

credit: Avant Garde kit - Club Scrap digital

This is the photos incorporated into a layout for the week 12 - 18 January.

Saturday 24 January

What can I say. Have a nice warm windy day & the clothes will get washed. The washing machine had 4 loads go through it yesterday. Here's the photo I took of it doing it's last load of the day.

Friday 23 January

Yet again we let the boys try to sleep in the tent. Yet again it just didn't work. This time Brent came in complaining about James so I went out & spent the night in teh tent with James.

I got Brent to take this photo of me on Saturday, fully clothed. I don't think you would like the sight of me in my pj's.

Thursday 22 January

James went to a friend's house to play so I took the opportunity to take Brent for a bike ride on the road. We biked all the way to Medbury & back. There was only one mishap & that was when Brent's chain came off. Luckily we weren't far from home, or the end of the bike ride, so he was quite happy to carry on biking home after I had put the chain back on.

I got Brent to take this photo of me on my bike.

Wednesday 21 January

Wow this was a hard day to choose just one photo.

The boys & I went on a trip to Quail Island. We drove over to Lyttleton & parked our car on the main road & then walked to the Black Cat ferry & caught the ferry over to Quail Island. On board the ferry the boys were given a "treasure map" of the island. We had to find clues at places marked X on the map & then hand it back to the Black Cat office to be in the draw to win a trip for 4 to Stewart Island. You never know Robin & Phyllis we might be asking if you want to take a trip to Stewart Island with us!

It was a moderately hot day with what started off as a slight nor' easterly breeze blowing down the harbour. We landed on the island at 10:40 & walked to the swimming beach where we claimed a picnic table. Brent wanted to find the clues so I decided it was a good idea to find the clues (especially the ones that were a long walk away) then come back to have lunch & a swim at high tide. We found 3 of the clues & got to see the shipwrecks before James wanted to head back again. We had lunch & then the boys played on the beach. James played on a rope swing while Brent made a castle with a moat in the sand.

We packed up at 3pm to catch the 3:20pm ferry back again. Unfortunately the ferry was running late & the wind had really picked up so the boys were just itching to get back home. The ride across wasn't too bad & we dropped our answer in to the booking office. In return the boys each received an activity book about dolphins.

It was a wonderful day & both boys want to go back. I think we should too, because all that exercise & sea air really tuckered them out & they slept in the next morning!

Friendship layout

Oh look what I found sitting on my camera! It's a paper layout I completed last weekend. Not much journalling only what is on those strips. Quite appropriate timing really what with our 13th wedding anniversary coming up.

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Tuesday 20 January

Today I decided that I had better start cranking my Stampin' Up! business back up after the holidays. My first job was to create a few cards & then I wrote the monthly newsletter.

Monday 19 January

After trying to make the layout about last week's photos I have found it easier to have written down somewhere why I took the photos.

One of the best things about having a BBQ under cover is that even on rainy days Scott can BBQ our meat. We don't have a BBQ every night but at least twice a week Scott will be outside BBQ part of our dinner. On this occasion it was steak.

Moorea Layout

I have been working on this layout for a while. It was going to be for a challenge at Digital Scrapbook Place but I ran out of time. So now it is just a layout for our Tahiti trip album.

credits: Island Plopper Plus - Elizabeth Weaver

Journalling:

We were due to arrive at Moorea at 8am. Moorea was shrouded in low cloud & mist & other than the palms it looks a lot like Fiordland. The temperature was decidedly warmer than in Fiordland though, about 26C.

We were supposed to have been having a full on day but we found out that the whale & dolphin watching had been cancelled. We were still able to have a dolphin encounter in the morning though. We had to make our own way to the Beachcomber Intercontinental Hotel, so we caught a taxi that sped past roadside fruit & vege sellers & dogs that looked very unloved & possibly disease ridden. We arrived very early for our encounter so we spent time drinking coffee in the bar. It really is a lovely setup there. They have a section of the lagoon roped off & there are lots of colourful fish right near the water edge. They had little boats to hire as well as running whale watching, diving & snorkeling tours. We were really there to see the dolphins so after we checked in we walked to a totally separate area where they have a dolphin area.

Sunday 18 January

Fives!

Fives happens on Saturday & Sunday afternoons at around 5 o'clock. Scott asks if I would like 5s & my normal drink is a rum & coke.

Saturday 17 January

At 8:15am there was a solid knock on the bedroom door & in waked Brent & James with a blue tray holding fruit, toast, butter, jam & Nutella. We were all having breakfast in bed. Brent even remembered to go out & pick up the Saturday paper so we could read that while having our breakfast.

Friday 16 January

The boys have both been going to swimming lessons this week. For the last year Brent has been having terrible trouble getting into a nice bilateral breathing style for freestyle. He would do his 3 arm strokes & then stay on his side for ages to take a breath. I have been worried about this & about the fact that neither QE2 nor Jellie Park swim instructors really thought it was a problem. Well what do you know? One week at Wharenui under different instuctors, a different teaching regime totally & he can finally do it.

So congratulations Brent on going up to level 4!

Thursday 15 January

Brent said he wanted to go to Church Bay so I didn't say no to that. I took the boys to their swimming lesson & then when we got home Brent asked if he could have a friend over. So instead of going to Church Bay Brent & James both had a friend over to play.

Unfortunately James' friend had to leave early for his swimming lesson so James had to find something else to do. He went & rummaged in the toy room & found some acrylic paints. He asked if he could do some painting & if so what could he paint on. Ahh ha Stampin' Up! to the rescue. All my orders that I receive come in a box packed with tons of brown paper wadded in it. The paper has teart off sections & when folded nicely could make quite a cool book for the boys to draw on. So James got some of the SU paper & started his painting.

This is as far as he got last night, he has to wait for the paint to dry before he can finish it off.

Wednesday 14 January

Yes that is a brochure for the USA. For a few years now Scott & I have been mulling over the idea of taking the boys to Disneyland & we had set 2009 as the year it was going to happen. It means that both boys should now be tall enough to ride the rides & Brent will still be charged for as a child on the airfares. We could leave it until next year if we have to but once Brent turns 11 we will be up for another adult airfare.

So on Wednesday after taking the boys to swimming lessons, after my beautician apointment I spent nearly the rest of the afternoon going through the internet & looking at what we can do in & around California. Scott brought home the brochure which has a list of hotels & sights to see as well.

If this trip goes ahead this year it will be in September during the 3 week holiday that the boys get. We will use all those 3 weeks to get there, stay in Annaheim, San Diego, maybe Las Vegas & San Francisco. It will be close to $20K to do it so we are still mulling it over.

New Potatoes

One of the vegetables that we are growing in our garden is potatoes. There is always some excitement when it is time to pull a plant out. The boys love scrabbling in the dirt looking for the potatoes & of course the best part, is eating them fresh out of the garden.

What's for dinner?

I hear this question a lot at the moment. If it is not that question it is the one that goes "is it nearly, morning tea time/lunchtime/afternoon tea time/dinner time?" My boys seem to always ask this question when they are bored or in between doing one activity & another. So here was what was for dinner last night.

What you see if stirfried chicken (which had red capsicum, green beans & some mango added to it later) & rice risotto. It was a hit with all the family, especially the mango part.

P 365 Layout

P 365 is Project 365. I have been taking the photos & blogging them & I have just put the last week's photos on to a digital layout.

The journalling may not be easy to read but that doesn't matter because it really is just a cut down version of what I blogged about each day.

credits: template - http://www.moriginalsblog.com/

papers & embellishments - http://www.clubscrapcommunity.com/ The avant garde digital kit.

Sunday 11 January

Scott does the grocery shopping so the only days available to do that is Saturday or Sunday. With the boys invariably having some sort of sport on a Saturday during school terms it has worked out to be a Sunday event.

Every Sunday I sit down with the calendar & work out what is happening in the week ahead & then I create the menu. From that I can then work out the shopping list. Scott then takes the list & goes shopping. He then comes home plops the bags on the kitchen floor & we both unpack them.

We use New World now because we found the range of food at the local Woolworths became limited. It also means that Scott can put it all on his visa card & get Qantas frequent Flyer points & also they take Fly Buys so the points go on that card too.

Saturday 10 January

First up a follow up to Friday.

On Friday night once the boys had come in to sleep inside I said to Scott that I felt that it would be fun to sleep in the tent. So I went out to the tent & was just settling into Brent's tight sleeping bag when I hear a zzziiiippp. I said "I'm fine Scott, goodnight." Then a little head pops into the tent, it's James. "I thought I heard Brent come out here so I thought I would come out too." So Friday night James & I both slept in the tent. It was a restless night for me because Brent's sleeping bag is for children not adults so it was very narrow. I had unzipped it so I could fit in better. Sometime during the night I zipped it up & James' hand shot across to me. He was probably just making sure that he wasn't alone. I touched his arm & then put his arm back on him but let my hand rest there so he knew I hadn't left. 5 minutes later he realised that my arm was still there & he picked it up & put it back on me. So funny & very cute. The wind blew & it rained during the night so really I didn't sleep well but James' smile around his thumb (yes he still sucks his thumb) when he realised that he had woken up in the tent was just priceless & worth the lack of sleep.

Saturday was a lot cooler, in fact so cool I was back wearing jeans & a long sleeve shirt. We spent the day at home just relaxing.

I have a scallopini plant growing in my vege garden & it has just started producing the fruit. So last night I picked 4 scallopini to have with dinner. There is nothing nicer than home grown food & the good thing is that the boys invariably like to eat whatever is grown at home. I really thought James may not like the scallopini because he doesn't really like courgettes but he loves them.

Friday 9 January

Yippee, today was a cool day of only 28C, & it did feel cool. In fact it was quite bearable really & I would think that on any other day 28C would actaully feel quite hot but not today.

Scott came home early to install my new modem so that I could get back into internet land. I am absolutely lost without my email & internet access, it's amazing what a huge role it plays in my life. Maybe a modem will be a photo for another day.

Today after getting my computer all hooked up James & Scott put up the new tent. James is interesting when it comes to this. He loves the idea of putting up the tent, he loves the thought of sleeping in it, but if Brent won't be there with him, he won't sleep in the tent.

So anyway James was highly excited about sleeping in the tent & was adamant that the tent had to go up today so he could sleep in it tonight. He got his sleeping bag out there, his pillow, his blanket & pooh & was ready for sleeping in the tent.

We went to dinner at mum's place & got home at about 9pm. The boys went out to the tent for bed. I went & said good night to them & reminded James to be quiet otherwise Brent would come inside. So when I left the had snuggled quietly down. Not half an hour later Brent came inside to say that James was talking so he couldn't get to sleep so he was sleeping inside thanks. Then BINGO in came James, he's too scared to sleep out there without Brent.

It's times like this that I am reminded just how little James really is.

Thursday 8 January

Wow if I thought Wednesday was hot it was shocking yesterday. Christchurch reached 36C & there was not a puff of wind or a cloud in the sky. It was stinking hot!

I think the heat fried my modem because yesterday & most of today I have been without internet access due to a failed modem. That in itself had my temperature rising as well as the inevitable "it's hot, it's too hot" moans & groans coming from the boys. I tried to keep them inside in the relatice cool from 11am to 3pm but they resisted strongly. I understand it was hot inside but it was hotter outside.

All I can say is, thank goodness we weren't in the ceiling cavity. We have installed a new warming come drying device for the house called an HRV, heat recovery & ventilation, unit. It works by bringing air from the ceiling cavity down inside the ceiling to warm the house in winter & once the ceiling temperature is lower than the inside temperature it can cool the house if needed. How does it know what the temperature is? It has some thermometers placed in the ceiling cavity & in the house. We can see the temperatures on a little display unit.

Brent & I had always wondered if the ceiling would ever get to 50C. Yesterday we watched as it got to 50C & then climbed further. This is the highest reading we got yesterday. Pretty impressive really & 31C was definitely cooler than it was outside at the time.

Wednesday 7 January

One word would describe today HOT! It was around 20 degrees when we woke up by midafternoon my iGoogle was telling me it was 32 degrees outside. Even now (9:43 at night) it is 26 degrees. Who needs tropical heat when you can have this dry heat!

We tried various ways to cool off but the boys are tired & grumpy & it didn't matter what I tried there was always something not right with it.

I asked if they wanted to run through the sprinkler, NO!

I asked if they wanted to sit in the paddling pool, NO!

I asked if they would like to sit in the paddling pool with the sprinkler sprinkling them from above. That was an option that lasted all of 5 minutes when they realised that the first water from the hose was actually just water that had been sitting in the sun heating. Then when the really cold water arrived, guess what? It was too cold so that was the end of that.

Next thing, do you want to have a cold bath? Well that sounds like fun, but you have to run some hot water in it mum so it's not too cold. All went well for about 7 minutes & then James was in tears because something Brent did. I don't know what Brent did because neither ever told me. So that was the end of the bath.

Luckily by then it was 4 o'clock & time to call Scott at work & see if he wanted to be picked up. Even more luckily he did, so for at least half an hour we got to sit in a nice cool air conditioned car & cool down. That calmed the boys down a lot, so much so that James was starting to yawn.

We got home & there was still complaints about the heat. Luckliy the neighbour asked if the boys would like a swim in his pool. Scott & the boys went over there while I stayed at home in the kitchen cooking dinner.

It was so warm that we had dinner outside & what is more it was no longer windy, which just meant that the heat felt worse.

We finally called the boys in for bed at 8pm & let them go (separately of course after whatever the incident was earlier today) & have a cold bath. They then went to bed but I can't say they are asleep, Brent is still moaning about the heat, Shessh!

tic:

Dear Lord, please let Brent be in charge of the weather tomorrow. If they are going to fight about it I suggest you make James be in charge of the weather on Friday. Thanks so much, one hot & severely flustered mother.

Tuesday 6 January

Yesterday my hairdresser started back at work after the holidays, so I was able to go and get my hair cut, coloured & have a few foils put in. I love my 6 weekly visits to the hairdresser. It's a good place to catch up on all the gossipy magazines that I don't normally have time to read. It takes an hour & a half so sitting back reading the magazines & having a cup of coffee is perfect relaxation time.

Monday 5 Jan

Monday is the day I do my vacuuming. Actually I try to do more than just the vacuuming on Monday but vacuuming is the big time taker. It took me 45 minutes to vaccuum most of the house. I don't bother vacuuming the boy's bedrooms or their playroom as they are supposed to vacuum those on Sunday themselves. That 45 minutes didn't even leave the floors looking tidy really because there are some places I just didn't vaccum for fear of sucking up a Lego peice. It really is amazing how small those Lego peices can be.

So I took this photo after I had vacuumed the house. I just love putting the vaccum away & seeing it's smiling face looking out at me from the cupboard.

Project 365

I thought I would take on Project 365 this year. For those that don't know what it is, it is a challenge to take at least a photo a day for a year, an extra is to scrap them!

I thought that as this year sees a "0" birthday for me & Scott & Brent (10 for Brent) it might be a great way to record this year.

So without furter ado is the first 4 days of 2009 scrapped.