The school holidays begin...

Woo Hoo! Here's to sleep-ins and staying in PJ's until 10am - okay, maybe lunchtime! On the downside, there will be loads more washing to do, heaps more food consumed and probably yelps of boredom by Monday! hehe

I am feeling inspired to scrap - look out! After a blitz on cards, I think I'll do a spot of scrapping tonight. I have quite the backlog of photos now. I spent the better part of an hour poring over the latest For Keeps, and it's inspired me to churn out a layout or two tonight. Perfect, as Steve is working until late. Friday nights are the best, very relaxing as there's no rush to get the kids off to bed since it's not a "school night". I hated that term when I was a kid and my parents used it regularly to deny treats etc, but now I use it all the time myself. Just one example of how I gasp when words escape my mouth that sound just like my mother. Yikes!!!

OMG! Jacob, just this very second came up to me, with all the innocence of a child and said, "Mum, you know Nathan at school? Today he taught me a swear word." Stupidly, I asked him what it was. My very sweet 6 year old (he'll be 7 next month) then uttered the words "he taught me 'fu#*ing arsehole". I was torn between thinking this was hysterically funny, but on the other hand had to remind him that we don't talk like that.

On a brighter note, here's a card I made yesterday. Trying to add some kids cards to my stock.

Thanks for looking!

love,

AnnieXX

Manic Monday!

Where did the weekend go? I worked Sat and Sun, and the times that I wasn't working, we were the main taxi for the kids to get to their desired sporting event. Work was incredibly quiet on Saturday afternoon. I managed to get an all time high score in Bejeweled 2 (LMAO) - well, I was sitting in front of that screen for close to 6 hours. Easiest money I've ever made.

School holidays are fast approaching. Thus far we have nothing planned, no major trips etc.,

This is one of the latest cards I have made. The gorgeous green bug (that would be the Cuttlebug!) really helped this one. It looks even better in real life. It's a bit hard to get the dimentional feel from a scan. Oh well. There's one of my favourite colour combo's again, as well. Pinks and browns. Yum!

Hope you all have a great week. It's certainly started out great here. Remember to leave me a comment when you have time. I love to hear from you.

love,

Annie

XXX

Bottle shop happenings...

OMG, I had the biggest LOL today. After school, I had to go pick up some wrapping paper for a present Lara was presenting to her best friend at her 9th birthday party tonight.

Once we had finished with the supermarket, I moved on to the bottle shop. A middle-aged man was serving me as I purchased a 4L cask of Chardonnay. As I was about to pay, Lara was on her back, on the floor, trying to shimmy under the infra-red detector, Jacob was kicking her in the head as I looked down, and Oscar was poking the beautiful display of shot glasses. They guy behind the counter shot me a sympathetic glance, and I commented "Hence, the need for alcohol". He laughed and said that he was "just thinking, that these years are behind me". I laughed also and then he said, "Make sure you drink it slowly!". LMAO At least others have been in the same position as me before.

Back in the land of the living!

I did two night shifts over the weekend, so have spent the better part of the last 3 days either sleeping or working. Back to the real world today. Night shifts are very unsociable hours, but I must say that I don't hate them entirely. The work itself is usually a bit easier, and there's plenty of time for mucking around and generalised chatting! Of course, there's the unwritten rule of "What you hear on night duty, stays on night duty". This is because, inevitably, at around the 4am mark, everyone is delirious with tiredness, and the subject usually turns to personal topics, gossip, or smut.

I'm having a lingerie party tomorrow, and contrary to what most males think, no we will not be parading about in lingerie! LMAO. Everyone gets to keep their clothes on, and you select garments from a catalogue. You go off privately into another room to try stuff on, or be fitted for a correct size bra. The company that run these parties is http://www.intimo.com.au/ They have some beautiful things.

Relaxing Thursday

Today was nice... Insomnia struck again, only to feel incredibly sleepy at 6.30am (why does that always happen?), but after a Chai tea, I was re-awakened. Made the kids lunches, put on a load of washing etc etc. After doing the reading thing at school, Oscar and I launched into the jobs for the day - which included buying a dress-up costume for Jacob for Friday. At super-short-notice, the school sprang a dress-up day on us. Kids are to come dressed up as a "Fairy tale" character. Of course I left it to the last minute ( why do I always do that??). Jacob is now going as a Wizard, and he's as happy as a pig in mud.

Anyway, went out for lunch at a pub that had this very cool kid's room. Oscar was happily amused with playstation games, a playground, and even old-fashioned arcade games like Pac Man. We went with an old friend of Steve's, and had an overall delish lunch. Back to pick the kids up, then took Lara to gym while I cut a few laps of the lake.

Right, I have one word for you: Cuttlebug. If you are a scrapper or a cardmaker, this is the latest "must have". Naughty, expensive, hot-on-the-heels of the Cricut, but oh so nice. I've been wanting one since I used it at Scraptacular in May. The lime green insect is finally mine.

A card? Why yes, why not...

This is an old one, but a cool one. Hope you like it.

One down, three to go.

I survived Day One with no chips or alcohol. Woo Hoo!

It's super cold today. Of course Oscar refuses to admit this, and would happily parade around wearing his t-shirt if I let him.

I am in the process of upgrading my website, so stay tuned. The thing is, that I suck at web design and html. I'm a nurse, not an IT guy. lol

Let the fun begin...

The big dry has commenced. Modified from 2 weeks of abstinance, the 4 day test has begun. From today until Thursday (that's 4 - FOUR- very long days) I vow to let neither wine or salt and vinegar chips pass my lips. Of course, that leaves the way wide open for BBQ chips and gallons of vodka. LMAO. Nooooooo, there'll be none of that. If I could shake this cold I'd even vow to exercise religiously this week, but alas I am too full of snot and germs. (Nice).

I stayed up late making cards last night. I'm very happy with one in particular. Sometimes everything just falls into place.

Sunday night

Today was super busy (sport, hair cuts for the boys, grocery shopping etc) but I did manage to whip up a couple of cards. The flowers on this one are hand cut felt. I was pretty impressed to find blue brads almost exactly the same colour as the paper. Such are the things I get excited about. LOL

The kids pretty much did my head in today with their fighting. Grrrrrr. One minute they hate each other and are reaching for the closest sharp object to maim each other with, then the next time you look they are happily playing together on the computer, all three sharing one chair. I can't work it out. Except I do know that, when they are fighting, one of the best things to say is "Right, you lot stay as far away from each other as possible from now on". This will ensure that they spend the rest of the day being friends. Kids...

lazy Saturday...

It's a long-weekend here (Queen's birthday weekend) and therefore there is no netball, but there is AusKick. Monday is a public holiday to honour the Queen's birthday (which is actually earlier in the year, go figure). Steve and I both have the weekend off which is very rare. I asked him if he wanted to go away for the weekend, but he declined, and proceeded to sort the plumbing and storm-water drainage. This is super important in this age of drought. We will get rain-water tanks soon, and hope that this is the way of the future and that we may be able to grow grass next summer. I am fairly confident that the drought will end in the next couple of years, but that is my own prediction.

Okay, Kaz and I have sworn off alcohol and salt and vinegar chips for *2 Weeks* starting on Monday. Yikes. We have to talk each other through it. If one of us cracks, we have to start the two weeks over again. I think I'll do alright with the wine, but can I last 2 weeks without salt and vinegar chips????

New stuff!

My scanner died today. I'd been wishing it a sudden and painful end for some time now. I went and bought a kick arse one, and also a new home phone. I really love getting new toys.

Oscar is having a friend over tomorrow afternoon. I'm really looking forward to watching them play. These two boys are polar opposites in terms of their physical traits, but as thick as thieves anyway. hehe

This card is my favourite at the moment. I love the orange and blue together. The chipboard is very cute too.

Loving my new desk!

I stayed up late last night. Had a ball sitting at my new table, marvelling at how much space I now have. I even managed to whip up a couple of cards. I really struggle with masculine cards, but am pretty happy with the one I made. It lacks the "gourmet" factor that Karen mentioned (lol) but most men don't want frills and flounces.

Later...

I finally did my scrapping space (love it!) and also managed to upload about 45 pics from my camera. I feel very ashamed. I call myself a scrapper, and these pics have been on my camera since Easter. Since the start of May I have been so focused on card-making, the scrapping side of things has plummeted. It will come back, though. I just need to build up enough cards, so that once I sell a thousand, I will still have some in reserve. LOL

I found this great pic of the Kinder group on my camera.

I will post the pics of my scrapping space tomorrow. I took the pics with the flash off and one of them is a little blurry. (Note to self: book into classes to learn how to use your wizz bang camera one of these days).

Kinder excursion

Whoah, what a full on day. I went along with Oscar's kinder group today as they took an excursion to the Chinese Dragon museum and then stopped off at the local nursery to learn a bit about being water wise. It was fun, and I was very proud of Oscar - he was a saint. Not so saintly was the other kid I was "supervising". He refused to hold my hand (and when he finally consented, his hand was covered in snot...), he ran off etc. Grrrrrrrr. I ended up giving him an ultimatum and counting to 3, then I walked off on him. My kids would have come running after me at this point. Not this boy. He sat there defiantly and just scowled at my back. LOL I was very, very glad to drop him off back at Kinder.

I'm very excited to be about to re-organise my scrap space. My gorgeous husband just brought me home a massive trestle table from Bunnings. I'm going to be here all night getting everything the way I want it. I'll have to post before and after pics. Better get moving, otherwise I'm gonna be here all night.

Mwah!