Family Update

So much has been going on around here that just getting through the day has been its own challenge ;)

That said, things are starting to slow down or maybe today is just a breather between bouts - either way I thought I'd take the chance to share what's been happening.

Angus and the sorry shoulder story


First of all I apologise to those of you have heard this before - skip to the next bit *lol*

During the school holidays Angus went to rugby clinic - and came home with a very sore shoulder - the result of an awkward tackle. We applied ice and administered panadol - no need to panic!

Then... pop and scream - his arm literally fell out of its socket! We rushed off to the hospital - the place was crazy but an 11 year old with a bulging shoulder gave us priority. The joint was back in position and the x-rays showed no breaks so we were sent home.

The next day he was in more pain so, back to the doctor who sent him for an ultrasound. It showed that the shoulder was constantly dislocating and slipping back into place causing ligament and cartilage damage each time - ouch! The verdict - three weeks in a sling and next stop the orthopaedic surgeon.

Time passed but the pain did not - back to the hospital (why do these things always come on at dinner time?) Nothing the doctor could do other than prescribe some SERIOUS painkillers and suggest we see a sports injury specialist while waiting for the orthopaedic appointment. Great idea - we were given a worse case scenario - no cricket for two to three years - wow! But most importantly he ordered an MIR and physio. Just days later the shoulder is much less painful and the exercises the physio recommended are keeping the arm muscles active.

But there is an even sadder footnote to this tale - today we heard that Angus was selected to try out for the Brumbies ACT primary schoolboys rugby team. His dream come true and he can't do it :(

Zoe the teenage tormentor
Meanwhile life ticks on and Zoe turned 13 - unbelievable - both that Rob and I are the parents of a 13 year old and that she survived that long! Such a changeable madam - sunshine and kisses one moment, thunderclaps and shouted accusations the next.

That said she had a fabulous Birthday and we got to meet all her new high school friends. The party was lots of fun and SingStar was very loud but so very enthusiastic :) Here they are all ready to head off for some geocaching.


Scrapping update
Scrapping has taken a bit of a back seat lately - squeezed between birthday arrangements and doctors appointments - but I did take part in the first 24 hr Crop Hop over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends. I only managed a couple of challenges but picked up a win in the scraplift challenge. You had to choose a LO in the gallery and scraplift it. I chose Marie Levite's weekend away LO because it was a fab design. This is my take on it - Rob and AB doing a Simon and Garfunkel number karaoke style.


I also squeezed in a couple LOs for the cybercrop over at the CISters the theme was @ home.

This one was for the quote challenge - Baby Zoe hanging out in the clothes dryer and dog's kennel :)



And this one was my take on the sketch challenge - my nephews making themselves @ home on Rob and Angus :)

Hm, on second thoughts add these to the sketch challenge LOs and I've been scrapping up a storm - all those late night watching Le Tour!

And in one last piece of news my LO - he calls her boots a-million won the colour challenge over at Scrap of Your Life - woo hoo!

And that I think is that! For any of you that made it this far leave me a note and I'll send you a RAK for perseverance!!

Done!

Ok I've done it - I went through all of the LOs I did based on the CISter's sketches chose my favourite LOs. Then I submitted my entry for the Sketch Team Call - oh wow deep breathing required!! So, here are a couple of my 'rejected' LOs.

This one is based on Kerryn's fab sketch posted on 12 July. It's some pics of the kids at Little Blowhole - taken on our trip to Kiama.


This second one is based on Sara's gorgeous sketch of 15 July. It's features a two-year-old Angus. Gosh he was a blondie :)


Once I worked it out I really enjoyed creating my digi sketch - can't show it to you though! Now we wait...

Scrap of Your Life CC

Finally some LOs I can share! I took part in the Scrap of Your Life Cybercrop on the weekend and there were loads of great challenges and games. This is relatively new site - I found it because Moi is on the design team - so the turnout for the cc wasn't great but that didn't stop me having a good time and getting some fab (if I do say so myself) LOs done. There were three LO challenges and one card. I did the layouts but ran out of time for the card.

So, here is here is my LO for Challenge 1 - Create the title using Wordle @ www.wordle.net Include three 4 x 6 photos, 2 pps, some stamping, chipboard, flowers & brads. Check out Wordle - I had heaps of fun playing with it. Oh and I did start with 4x6 pics but I had to crop 2 of them - not sure if that was cheating lol.

Challenge 2 was set by Moi - scrap a page about someone or something you love, which includes 10 things you love about them. Also include a heart, a ribbon (or thread), and at least three buttons (or gem clusters) on your layout.

I was really please with how this one turned out - I hope you can see all my stitching!


Challenge 4 was a colour challenge - green, black and white. You also had to include an animal and distressing.

I took this pic of Rob and Zoe when we were in Kiama. It's the only decent shot - Zoe had her eyes closed in every other one - she's her mother's daughter *sigh*. I used a ghost bird - it's perched on the journalling block.


And that's it!

Oh yeah, quick update on the Cisters sketch team call - I misread the rules and thought I had to create a LO based on all the sketches posted - oops! I was just meant to chose two and create LOs based on those as well as creating a sketch an example LO - oh well - now I just have to choose which of the LOs to submit. Oh and finish my sketch - I've discovered it's harder than it looks to create a digi sketch!

Blowee day out

Yesterday we took a ride down the mountain to Kiama to visit the blowhole and lighthouse. I have lots of happy memories of Kiama and I was keen to share the area with Rob and the kids.

The weather was pretty ordinary when we left home but as we headed towards Goulburn the rain set in - we weren't worried though. Summer or Winter, the weather is always horrible around Goulburn! By the time we hit Moss Vale the rain had gone but there was an icy wind sweeping across the Southern Highlands. Luckily it was warm and cozy in the Old Post Office Cafe - our regular morning tea spot when we're in the area - they do great raisin toast!

After winding our way down the mountain, with tantalising glimpses of sea and blue sky we arrived to a warm but windy seaside day. Oh I love the coast!

Check out these photos - both of me at the lighthouse, the first taken yesterday and the second taken 20 years ago - the lighthouse is much better maintained these days (me too LOL).



Sadly the blowhole didn't want to put on a show for us. This what we saw:


Not very exciting. So, we went to visit the Little Blowhole - somewhere I had never been. When we arrived this is what we saw:


But only for a moment - Little Blowhole put on a show for us. Angus was desperate to get wet and Zoe was desperate to stay dry. This photo says it all:

Angus laughing like a loon and Zoe ready to head to higher ground!

After visiting the sights we did a couple of geocaches and then headed back into town to have lunch before heading back up the mountain towards home and the cold weather.

The kids had a great time, even if I bored them with tales of a childhood long past :) Angus wants to go back in Summer to swim at the beach and to get drenched by the blowhole action. I think it sounds like a plan!

A good night's sleep

No scrapping to share today. I finally decided to try out for the sketch team challenge over at CIS so I started on my first LO last night. I'm not sure why it took me so long to commit to giving it a go - I love the sketches and the girls on the team are fab - it's probably the same thing that stops me submitting LOs to mags... Ah well now that I've said I'm doing it, that's that. I'm sure it'll be good to challenge myself!

But I do have a photo of my new bed to share. This bed (apart from looking beautiful and smelling great) is so comfy and cosy.


Oh and big! We only had a double before and this is a queen - we realised after the shops had shut that none of our sheets fitted - oops. It's ok now though as we popped out and got some gorgeous ones today. So, now all we need are some groovy lamps and a nice piece of artwork to hang above the bedhead and we'll be all set.

And here is the embarrassingly large pile of scrap mags that was under the old bed - I think it might be time to part with some of them... They were so dusty that moving them made me sneeze! Luckily I now have a bedside table with drawers to store some new ones in (maybe not quite so many though!).


I've got one last pic to share - a random Xena shot - I found her standing in the laundry tub - just checking things out.


She is very beautiful but not very bright - I've never had a 'simple' cat before and I find her very funny. I left a flatterned cardboard box on the floor and she's decided to make it her bed, she's alseep on it right now - obviously more comfortable than the sink!

See you next time!

Cafe Bon Apetit

Yesterday chaos and mayhem decided to cook dinner - not just any dinner a three course meal!

They planned the menu, wrote a shopping list, shopped for supplies and then the creating began...

They made vegetable soup, pumpkin and spinach Frittata and butterscotch self-saucing pudding. Yum! Then they set the table and wrote up a menu. Here they are with it.

Rob and I were shown to our seats and the waiter took our drink orders. Here's me being served my wine.

The food was delicious - here are the proud chefs with their Frittata.

After dinner I did some scrapping. This is the LO I did using Krissy's first July sketch (over at Crafting in Style).

It didn't really turn out the way I was hoping but it's a good memory of a fun day out with Janina! We bought fabulous bags to hold our scrapping embellishments when going to crops (hence the LO is called Bag Ladies). I also got to use some of the ribbon and chippie shapes I got in the Maya Road warehouse sale - never have I seen such a box of scrappy goodness, it was the BEST happy mail ever!!

I also scrapped another LO last night but it's for the scrapping whispers game I'm running over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends so I can't share it at the moment.

Hm, I wonder what the kids are cooking for diner tonight...

Well school holidays are in full swing here so with trying to fit work in around Rob and the kids there has been little time to blog. But I have managed to do some scrapping (of course it's like breathing isn't it?!) and some blog beautifying - what do you think? I thought the monkeys matched my kidlets :)

I have some LOs to share. This first one is my entry for Liz's gorgeous monthly A Page From My Sketchbook blog challenge. Zoe took the pic while we were in Fiji (yep those photos just keep on coming LOL).


This second one is another fab Kim Archer project - I created the polaroids using the poladroid progam - loads of fun :)


This one is for my DT duties over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends. This month's theme was poles - too funny but I had the perfect photo - taken at our local oval (the bin is on one of the AFL goal posts).

And lucky last - this one was for last month's sketch challenge over at Scrap of Your Life.

Thanks for popping by!

More layouts

I've been a bit of scrappy machine the last couple of nights. I finally finished off my May Snippets - a monthly online workshop I've been doing with Kim Archer. For May instead of a standard double LO we did the left side 12x12 and the right side 11x8.5 - it was fun doing something a bit different and I'm pleased with the result.

This is the left side - the blue and white tab has a journalling card attached that slides out.

And here is the right side - it has a Heidi Swapp folio to hold some souvenirs from the month. Both LOs have a green serviette on them but it looks more yellow on this one!

I also completed Moi's sketch challenge over at Scrap of Your Life - here it is. I made it to give to Kate so I bought a frame for it today. She's not a scrapper so I hope she likes it.



Thanks for visiting :)

Sketchie creations

I really enjoy using the sketches over at Crafting in Style - the sketch team posts a new sketch each Friday and at the end of the month forum members vote on their favourite LOs. For the last couple of months the prize has been a spot guest designing with the sketch team - not bad! Hilde won last month - I really admire her scrapping style, always fresh and funky - check out her blog here. Not sure who'll win out of the June entries but there are a couple of stand-out LOs in the running.

Anyway here are each of the four layouts I did this month.

For July there are extra challenges that you can take part in to win a spot on the sketch team (not just as a guest). Not sure that I'll enter - have to wait and see...

Thanks for dropping by :)

A friend of mine

I dropped by to see my friend Moi yesterday - uninvited! She not only gave me a cup of tea but lunch as well. Moi is a super a friend (and not just because of her soup). She's kind and thoughtful, soft and gentle. She allows me to say stupid things and complain about inconsequential matters. She is the sort of friend that always has time for others frivolous cares and woes - not just mine. She's also the kind of gal who delights in giving little pressies - she warms my scrappy heart with her little hand crafted tags, journalling spots and embellishments.

Moi is a fabulous scrapper. I love her style, particularly the way she stitches on most of her LOs. Her stitching is the stuff my dreams are made of - neat and in the right place ;) I thought I'd share a LO Moi did for me a couple of years ago after we went to a Carol Janson class to celebrate my Birthday.


Sometimes I worry about Moi - she has more genuine worries and cares than most of us could ever imagine - I can only hope that she knows I am here for her too.