hI everyone:

Yes its that time of the month..and i do mean that time of the month..Feel like curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. But no!!! Not when you have kids...lol...They never let you have time alone, and then i get a wee bit grumpy, you know, nothing major, just things annoy me and i guess i might yell a bit...well thats what they say...lol

I remember when my boys were younger, if stephanie or i were having a bad day, they would yell out, "watch out its that time of the month", followed by giggles..hmmmm well i didnt really think they understood the meaning back then, now i never hear them yelling that out.And when i pronounce its that time of the month, you see them shrink away..I guess knowledge is not always a welcome thing..lol

I remember Alex when he was about 5/6 years old, running up the supermarket aisle, asking, "Do you need nappies mum?" and throwing in some pads into the trolley.He wouldnt be caught dead near that aisle now..lol

Another time when i was making Alex` bed, he was about 2/3 years old, i found three tampons and a lighter under his pillow. When i asked him why he had these he told me they were his smokes...lol..well that sure brought about a smile to my face and now a lifetime of paying out on the poor boy about his bad habit..smoking tampons...lol..luckily he couldnt use the lighter..

Well another week of scrapbooking..had a wonderful time at Rondells on the weekend. Rondell owns EMM, we had a crop night..good friends and a good time..and i got some layouts completed..

First up I am doing the book of life over at Shop and crop, this is my front page.9x9

I also completed a challenge over at 123 crop for their CC. It was an easter layout..So i did it on Jascks new bunny.

A few more layouts for cyber crops through the week..


This one had to have pink and flowers...Well flowers i can handle but PINK!!!!!...

Well thats all for now. Im off to find a warm spot in the sun, with a cuppa tea, whilst Jack sleeps and the others arent home. Oh and a good book to read..

cheers!!

OMG, its that time of the month!! Noooo i dont mean that time of the month, i mean bill paying time of the month,,,grrrrrr i hate it it when i plan on shopping only to realise that the bills have chewed through my savings,,,,grrr. Oh well no shopping for me this week, those sexy bras i put on layby will just have to wait...Hang on did i say sexy?..well after five kids and passing forty, and gaining weight well sexy just isnt in my vocabulary any more.(ok so mayby im lying just a little there..lol.) But I mean come on, dirty nappies, puked stained shirts and teenage boys sweat socks dont make me feel very sexy.. So what i really meant was those standard white and ivory, 3 clip, large banded, underwire, doubled stitched, weight tested and wobble control bras will just have to wait...
Now just a few layouts to share.
This layout was from the top 50 cyber crop.



This layout is over at EMM, BOOK OF ME...It was to show where i come in my family compared to my siblings..
Another layout for EMM, using paper layering..

nd another EMM, this time a sketch. It had flowers on it so i substituted for stars..

A colour challenge at Embellished.
And challenge one from the 123 CYBER CROP.to use green and purple.
Ok thats all for now..

oops nearly forgot, i was tagged by the lovely Jill..a kinda weird tag..lol.

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1: My all time favourite food in the world is peporoni pizza on a thin base.

2: I fell madly in love with Tom Cruise in top gun, and was going to marry him.(but darn it, he picked Nicole over me!..lol)

3: The toilet paper must hang neatly against the wall or else i find it difficult to breathe in a moment of panic, seriously...lol.thats after i have torn every one to shreds because NO ONE in my family except me can change the toilet roll!!!!!!! (it should be made a compulsory lesson in schools, how to change toilet rolls.)

4: I cant stand touching other peoples feet,,,ewwwww, except my babies..

5: I drool whenever i see a man in uniform, you know, army, navy, police, firemen, plumber, garbage man...lol

6: Im not completely happy unless studying or learning. I know i just finished uni two years ago but I have just enrolled in TAFE to do a community services course.I should be a full time uni student me thinks..lol

7: I hate messy kitchens, must be spotless and gleaming. The rest of the house can come under demoliotion status as long as my kitchen is perfect.

ok call me weird, but thats me...now i choose

Anthea

Ally

Jolene

Amanda

Mel

Julie

Marni

cheers..

I had a major life altering expeirience on the weekend..

My four teenagers, made me cry, but this time instead of tears of frustration, anger or sheer sadness. They were tears of joy, admiration and the realisation that my kids are growing up.

For a few years now Michael and Steph have not spoken much or even liked being in the same room. Steph didnt care for her brothers, or any males really..Things went off the tracks and name calling and innuendo was an everyday occurance with them. It wasnt until i sat my 20 year old Mike down and told him a few home truths of years gone by: things i didnt think my young children should know, secrets between adults. But Mike being an adult now i thought should know some things. Well he was shocked and his personality towards his sisiter changed, And so in turn did hers towards her brothers.

On Saturday just gone, my dreams were realised. Mike wanted to go to the beach, all the boys wanted to go, so did Steph. So in the car they all hoped, happy, smiling, laughing, talking. I stood there waving goodbye, crying, tears on my face. Craig new how much this meant to me. He held me tight and whispered that my kids had finally grown together, everything would be fine from now on.

Yes i know for some families this is not very life changing, but for our family, from which came abuse for many years till i stood up for me and my kids. This was a new begiining.

And life is good......

So now as i sit and smile over my wonderful kids i will put up some layouts i have completed..

Some from Cyber crops and comps on the net..

Monochromatic challenge:

Embellished cc.sketch.





colour blocking...also altered the photo as i loved the colours in the top..
Oh i used bling on this one and once again would like to give credit to Suz Doyle as i scraplifted design elements for her gorgeous layout..
challenges over at Embellished..
Challenge at EMM....


eMBELLISHED cc.

tOP 50 CC
Well thats all for now..

cheers and back later...

Well i guess i better update its been awhile!!!

Thanx Shazz for the prompt!

Well in between blogging i had my birthday...41 years...whoa..where does the time go????

thought i would share my birthday excitement: Well i had a lovely birthday. Actually packed up some of the family and headed to Lennox heads..NSW. Was hot when we left sunny drought ridden queensland, and wouldnt you know it..it poured rain..lol..Even so i wasnt letting it spoil my day and so we went to the macadamia castle to see the animals even in the rain..lol was still a nice day out..Jack was mesmerized by windscreen wipers, hasnt seen them in use before..lol

Now i received scrapping goodies from Craig, love that man,,,...

CSI dvd from my daughter stephanie, she knows her mum too well...'

chocolates from Alex and Jack, macadamia ones from the castle,,,yum...

and then my three eldest boys, ages, 20, 16, 14.. went shopping, I asked for a camera bag...good idea mum was the reply as they left..
At dinner that night out came the present, eyes closed full of anticipation, so badly wanted a camera bag... open my eyes....

speakers for my car!!!!!

what the?

i laughed and laughed. what do i need them for.. it seems mine are crap??
oh well not to look a gift horse in the mouth, craig promptly put them in the car... now who is a cool mum...

their second choice was neons, bright green....(for those not in the teenager lingo..neons are bright ultra violet lights that flash and are illegal to drive with) thankgoodness for teenagers..lol

Now ive been a very slack scrapper lately, so not much too share...

Some work i have done for the DT over at chookscraps...Loved using the bohemia papers...gorgeous and Lorraine has a wonderful range so go and check it out!

Also used the fancy pants range of papers and rub ons..beautiful...

I also joined in the emmies over at EMM...a competition they are runnib=ng..

here are last months entries..

Well thats about it for now..

ill be back sooner next time and thanx for dropping in!

Oh ive been such a slack blogger and thanx to Marie from EMM, Im here to fix that..

So where do i start. I went on my first retreat, with the girls from EMM, to Lake Ainsworth, NSW. Wow, i had such a great time, completed quite a few layouts, had very little sleep, met so many lovely ladies, ate so much, laughed lots and came home very happy and ready for the next one!!!!!

I was so nervous as i didnt really know any one exceot for online chatting and meeting one or two at night crops. But by the end of the three days i felt like i had known these girls longer, and I say that in a good way.
Scrapping??
Well i completed nearly all my pregnancy journal. One page left to go. So here are a few pages.To see all the pages go and check out my pregnancy journal, over on the side bar.....

And a few other layouts for various challenges..

Before i go ill leave you with some gorgeous photos from Lake Ainsworth.I took most of these but the gorgeous sunrise was from Sara, at EMM. tHANX Sara.

Chow for now!!!!

OMG blogger has just been the biggest pain. I had no buttons in my edit section in which to post...how annoying, its been days since they have gone..I thought it was my putter as the help section said to update my explorer..Hmmmm so i did and lost heaps of stuff, cause i cleaned out the whole computer..and then still couldnt get in to blog!!!!!!. So craig brought me a laptop just so i could blog..lol.well and as an early birthday pressie.....how desperate was i...lmao...but when it wouldnt come up on that i knew it wasnt me..it was BLOGGER!!!!!.

Oh and some exciting news..Im going on my first scrapbooking retreat this weekend...woohooooo.In 20 years i have not been away from my children. Not once have i not had a child with me... Oh my my time without kids.....Actually my first holiday since i fell pregnant with Michael and he is 20 this year...So i hope they all cope without me, but i will be too busy scrapping and having girl fun too care...lol..well ill ring maybe once..If they dont ring me first...lol..

But im back and really do not have a lot to share for all the time i couldnt get on...lol..

So i will leave you with some layouts to share from CCs..Cheers

NEWS FLASH!!!!\

Well i just came across this gorgeous layout using colour blocking..So just wanted to share....

I will definaletly be scraplifting some ideas from this...Page by April Peterson

CHOOKSCRAPS....

Well we are down to our final two on chook island survivor...Its just flown along and we had such a wonderful response..So congrats to the two finalists..

This last challenge includes two layouts..One is using a predetemined photo sent to both partivcipants and the other is a non photo layout challenge....

Here is my example, it is for my pregnancy album which i have nearly finished..lol

WHAT IVE BEEN UP TO(in the scrapbooking world)
Over at the Scrapbook chalet im still in the survivor competition..Gee the work is outstanding and each week its a struggle to come up with something new and exciting..lol.This was my last creation, that had to include at least 10 embellishments..I am not a girly pink scrapper but i so did enjoy using thsese papers and the colour pink..i want to do more pink!!!!.lol

At EMM on the weekend i only managed one challenge , an aqua and brown layout.. Love this photo of Jack..

Over at scrapbook city, in the reality scraps comp, we had to use the bling and scalloped bazzil.. no pp..wow..that was difficult..but i do love what i achieved even if it didnt get me through to the next round, im one of the others now...lol

And finally at Crafting in style we had to use felt as the main part in the layout.. Now im not a felt person but i found it quite easy to work with..when my sewing machine cooperated...
What ive been up to at home...

Well where do i begin,,,teenagers!!!!! grrrrrrrr My eldest son who has never given me grief, who has wonderful friends and is at university caused me to have heart ache on the weekend. My dilemma is , do i act (as a mother) or do i stand back and let him work it out..????My son was dragged out his car and beaten on, kicked in the head and hurt, by a gang of boys on the weekend..Now it seems he was in his car, with some friends. A young girl in the car, a friend of his friend wanted to go to see some people. My son drove to a park where a bunch of people were hanging. In a neighbourhood where he should know he shouldnt be, but.... They dropped this young girl off and promised to come pick her up 20 minutes later.. He arrived and the young girl was lying on the ground, throwing up and having a reaction to some drugs she took. My son tried to help her into the car. her brother and his mates turned up after being informed she had had a "bad trip" and thought my son was to blame. So needless to say this older brother and his mates took it out on my son..

So this is where i step in..What the ...#$%^& are you doing in that neighbour hood? Why did you feel the need to get involved she wasnt your friend as such just a friend of a friend?You must have known it was a drug area!!!! Why did you go there in the first place??

His response.Mum i can handle it..

my respons...

No you cant, you dont know how to handle these thugs..

Sit down, relax have a coffee. Do i ring the police and complain?

Do i let my 19 year old son work this out himself, now scared for his life as the fight as such was broken up by other people ???They still blame him...

Di i go around to this girls house and confront the parents?

Do i send around a friend who is a big scary bikie looking dude and get him to threaten the brother?..

All these things may only incite these boys to really hurt my son next time. Or do we just turn a blind eye and allow thugs and bullies to go around beating up kids because no one will stand up to them.???

Oh being a parent is the hardest thing in the world. When i saw my son my parental instict kicked in and i wanted to beat the guiys myself, lol,, now i think about it, i could make it worse by confronting them or briniging in the police?? what to do?

Any ideas??

Todays quote...

The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another. ~Quentin Crisp

Little children, headache; big children, heartache. ~Italian Proverb

cheers everyone..