I am just me..... e

Merry Xmas & Happy Boxing Day!

I hav to say it has been the best few days. We have chilled with the kids and pretty much achieved nothing other than solid quality time. We had a great day yesterday withe kids opening santas little treasures and then Operation 'Trampoline' rolled into full swing. It is something we have wanted to do for the kids for a while but just never got around to it....well the time was right. And it is a huge hit!

Kaitlyn test-riding her new rollerblades.

I have to  admit to having a go. Been a long time since I roller-skated, and I thought it would be fun....it was fun, but sometimes painfull.....seems that you never do forget, but it always hurts when you test the theory, and fail...lol....I have muscles today that have been laying dorment for a long while...lol.

All the others were wrapped. Santa got Nikita a pink digi camera....she is in love....I have already charged batteries 3 times for it...seems it might be left on and rolling for a while yet.

Liams fav pressie is his new remote control car....it has the ability to turn the wheels or lay them down and drive round things, and wheel stands etc etc....I have no pics yet but will add soon. Joel was just hapy with everything. He loves the 'Cars' pop up tent he got and plays peek-a-boo in it..lol

You know it is Christmas when.........THERE IS COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CHOCOLATE AND STRAWBERRIES IN THE HOUSE! This was the sight on Sunday before our Xmas BBQ with friends.....yummmmmy

I LOVE XMAS!!!! Ok....enough from me. Love to all. Hope this festive season has been kind to you all.

hugs

e

A strange and rare occurence.....

It doesn't happen often. It is light a king tide or an eclipse....seriously....Getting a great pic of Kaitlyn is not a happening thing normally. She covers her face or ducks at the last minute. You all know the drill.....I even have one of her holder Joel in front of herself......argh.....so frustrating and especially when all the family are screaming for new pics......so imagine my surprise when she poses for this, and look at that....I know I am bias but is she just the cutest thing....wow.....did I realise how fast she was growing up. Nearly 16 and all  but a lady.....ouch. It was bitter sweet. Love this pic though.Had to share.

Friday tomorrow and that means I get to play at the store all day....I love it. Just started altering one of the new Bo Bunny word chipboard books. These are fab and hard to come by at this stage but look out for them.....

I have started mine using the Fiskars Heidi Grace Baby Boy line....loving that....yummy embossed papers and flocked too....mmmmm. Will share when done.

No other news really....5 sleeps till that big fat fella comes down the chimney and drinks our beer....lol....beer and cookies for the big guy from us not cookies and milk...lol

Hugs to all.

e

Lisa Johnston - come on down....lol

This post is for ALisa. Lisa is a lovley chickie who lives in Tamworth NSW and enjoys scrapbooking. She is a patient lady who has waited a long time for a layout that I have done for her. She bid on this layout at a charity breast cancer auction and I am so ashamed it has taken me till now to get this to her. I am so sorry Lisa that life got in the way of this project. I have absolutely adored the chance to create a layout for your album and I hope you recieve it soon, and find a nice home for it in your album. Lisa has seen a small bad pic of this layout I took on my phone but this is the better pics for sure.

Today was an awesome day with us all heading to the Annual Talleys family Xmas Picnic. It is a fun day with sack races, bouncy castles and just allot of laughs.....these are some pics of the day! Hi Dad......enjoy....miss you soooo much this time of year. MWAH!

These little legs covered allot of ground today....

Check out the perspective....big sis, little bro & the truck....

Liam winning the up to 8yr old sack race.....soooo funny. He was wrapped.

Image is everything......so she tells me....not sure where it went...lol

Nikita doi ng the dizzy races....makes me feel ill just watching...lol

and there are my boys.....

In scrappy news.....I have unpacked all of the wonderful fiskars products that arrived the other day....thanks Trina, and I have to say I am BUSTING to have a play wih some of them. The Heidi Grace stuff is just lovely. I was lucky enough to meet her at ISC 05 and she is just adorable....it comes through in her lines. Anyhow....I will enjoy sharing and chatting more about this when my eyes can stay open long enough. All the sun I got today has made me very very tired girl.

Night all
Hugs
e

Thanks heaps everyone

all of the wonderfull emails and messages have been awesome Joel's finger is remarkably good. The bruising is bad and the blood blisters I suspect will take a little while to go down but the shape is good and he is using it more and more. I have tried to get pics now that my camera is home.....YES I KNOW HOW CLODDY EXCITING!, but allas that little man can move4 fast and he is non too happy about holding still for me.

The camera is home....wahoo! They rang to say it was there and first thing yesterday morning I collected it. As it turned out the entir rear focus assembly was shot *sounds bloody expensive right* and all under warranty........yay! (note to all.....buy that extended warranty next time*. So just happy to have it back....snapped a few pics today just to make sure.....

Oh wow....he is cute huh.......lol

Ok....I even have a little something to share.....fancy that! I have a layout that I did for a lady in aussie (hi Lisa) that I have been hoping to get a pic of before posting....yes Lisa I am slack and it is stil here....doh....so I will share tomorrow as she is happy for me to do so. But the little key plate album that I have just done for the local store was so much fun. I used each page to name a randonm job of mine and then noted the undesirable but quirky parts of those jobs on the reverse. Of course it has lace and loads of layers which are a little lost in the pics but here it is.

ok....off to the annual Talleys Family picnic tomorrow so it should be a good day. Happy Sunday to all

Hugs
e

My worst fears realised......

I was starting to think how nice normal was. How peaceful and bloody normal I felt. then....my worst fears were realised with a blood curdling shrill from the end of the hall and I just knew.....I knew at that instant what had happened....*gulp*....I can feel the lump in my throat and my heart sinks. Joel has had is right hand ring finger in the hinge side of the door jam when the kids have closed the door.....ick....
After the shrill....he went silent...not because he wasn't trying to make a noise but because it hurt so bad nothing came out. His finger was just awful. It was squashed & at almost a right angle but only in the middle of the finger. I grabbed the ice and the panadol. I wrapped his hand and he was then screaming so bad it was breaking the kids hearts. We managed to get 10 mls of paracetamol in between breaths & off we left for the hospital. It was a trip I won't forget in a hurry.

They were great at the A & E. They raced him through and x-ray'd the finger. By this stage the ice and the drugs had taken effect and he lay calm and limp on my lap. The xray was not conclusive bvut then as they said the treatment for the finger would be the same broken or not. The growth plates looked ok and in tact and that was the 2nd biggest concern. The other was to make sure the finger kept colour. It was the only thing I watched for in the car. I knew from previous accidents in the past that if the finger changed colour it meant the blood supply had been damaged and that would need more attention.

Today....12 hours on. He slept ok last night. Drugs n all. He is very swollen and bruised this morning and his finger looks like someone has taken to it with a needle and pricked it  million times. That was the force of the dorr squashing the finger and forcing the blood to the skin. He has ruptured a couple of little vessels but otherwise.....PHEW! He was so lucky.

My poor darling Liam. He dissolved. I mean bigtime. He came with us to the hospital cause he was freaking and I knew if he stayed here he would fret. Poor Liam. It was a normal accident but try and tell that to a special sensitive kid who ADORES his little brother, when he can see the shape of a finger like that. As I said to him....he would have ever closed the door if he knew Joels finger was there....poor dude. He got loads of huge from  us before we all callapsed into bed.

The dressing hasn't bothered Joel as much as I thought it would. I think he even realises that it makes it feel ok when it is snug andsecure. We will have to re-dres by tomorrow but that is ok. Might even try and get some pics. Just pleased his wedding day is saved....his bride-to-be can slip that ring on and no lasting effects. YAY!

This bad pic was taken on my phone.

This is the new wheels. So long coming and just happy as with it.

I went to Mitre10 Mega the other day to complete the Xmas shopping and look what I found. He was chatting to the kids and generally making some people smile.It really is happening....Xmas....dam.

ok....off to get a coffee, and then run  down and get the kids. Feel like a nana nap but alas...when does that actually happen???

hugs

e

Here I am again

I have a knack of having these long and boring pauses between posts but hey....life is crazy. The jolly red guy arrives soon and after the year we have had I was very un-prepared, so I have been shopping for that and stocking etc and generally trying to get festive.

I have exciting news though. I have wanted to share but haven't been able till now....I am been invited to be one of the Fiskars Ambassadors for NZ. How totally cool. I am thrilled. The chance to work with a company like Fiskars is awesome. We all know their products are high quality and this is enough for me to endorse. I have loved their tools for the longest time so this is fabulous. Thanks to the lovely Trina for this opportunity. I get to go play at Spotlight etc and share my love of this craft and their products with others. How wonderful. I am also exited that this relationship with Fiskars can benefit the local market here. We have a wonderful following of local scrappers at the store here and I just know that they will love being able to see these products first hand and have me share their benefits with them.

YAY! I am so excited. AND MY SINCERE CONGRATS TO ALL THE OTHER GIRLS! Jo, Lesley, Andrea, Beverley, Wendy, Donna, & Lianne.....I am honoured to be among you!!!!

Ok.....other news. Shared lunches, movie nights, discos, and school trips....it definitely feels like the end of the year when all this is upon us. I have so much to share also since the camera died....like my new truck! Yes I am again the proud owner of another truck. We sold our last one when it wasn't being used and it was too big for all of us. Then we grew *wink wink* and Kaitlyn came home and before we knew it we were taking 2 cars everywhere....so. My plan was to wait out the year and upgrade at Xmas.....so a month ago (hardly Xmas but hey....I couldn't handle it anymore) I did just that. I will share a pic soon. It really is very cool. Toyota Prado (old model sadly...lol) but I love it. It had done 60,000km and is in showroom condition, so we are thrilled.

Kids are great. Joel we are sure has some 2 yr molars moving round and that is breaking sleep a little but nothing to what we are accustomed. Others just need the holidays to come now. Getting up in the mornings is harder and harder and it is very apparent that they need a break.

Waving at all of the wonderful Fiskars Ambassadors.

hugs to my wonderful dad and sorry it took so long. A few pics of Joel to share, and maybe one of what might just be our new baby......waiting to see. I just love this pic.

Hugs all
e