A busy Weekend

I am still trying to catch up after a busy weekend.

Steve and I enrolled in a Diploma of Graphic Arts at our local TAFE and last week we had our second class. Had my camera in my bag and snapped this.
Friday afternoon, I got together with a group of girls that I have worked with over the past few years. Only Emma and I are still at Allies, the rest have moved on to greener pastures, but we still try and get together each month for afternoon tea. They are a great bunch of woman and there are always plenty of laughs when we get together.
Saturday we had our first scrapbooking get together for 2009. It was a great afternoon with about 18 or 19 of us getting together to scrapbook. Even though I haven't got anything to show for it yet, I did work on a mini album all afternoon. Hoping to finish it this week, and will photograph it then.
Finally just going to share a few of my favourite photos from the last couple of weeks. I am still enjoying doing the "Photo a Day" challenge and have been busy snapping photos around our garden. You can check it out here - don't forget to leave a comment though and say Hi,
Well I have the girls coming over any time - it is that time of year again when we start planning for our Scrapbooking Retreat which is being held on the last weekend in May. Hope you all have a great week.

HAPPY 4TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Sarah and Colin

Just want to wish my gorgeous girl and her wonderful husband a very Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary. This time four years ago we were having the time of our lives. Such a wonderful day with so many very special and happy memories.

You guys have a very special weekend. As parents we feel so blessed to see you pair so happy together, and it is our prayer that the honeymoon never ends for you. God Bless you guys.

Get Real Baby for this week.

Keeping it real this week.

Really, although I made big plans to exercise this week, I was secretly happy that my exercise buddy cancelled out for another couple of days. Just need to get to be earlier tonight so that I can get up in the morning and swim.

Really, I have been slack with getting a mini album made for our RLO Farewell. I know I should have it completed by now but I am just struggling to get motivated and inspired enough to do it.

Really, I have been slack at getting some more of the CJ's done, I am struggling to do these at the moment when all I feel like doing is getting some of our family pages up to date.

Really, This week, I have been busy and instead of having my QT's first thing in the morning, I have left them till later in the evening and then I am too tired and struggle even to stay awake whilst reading my Bible. I need to give God my time first before anything else.

Really, I let the washing pile up over the weekend, and instead of getting it on the line, I used the clothes dryer.

Really, I just had a feed of crackers with Fruit and Nut cheese, and I didn't really need it, it wasn't as if I was hungry. I need to watch what I am eating more.

Really, I am not looking forward to going away for the weekend in a couple of weekends time. I would rather sleep in my own bed, and have my own space. What is wrong with me.

I am thankful Lusi that you challenged us to do this because this challenge has inspired me to make some changes and I am praying that this keeping it real will be even more of an encouragement to make changes and become more of the woman God wants me to be.

There are some good things that have happneed this week and these are some of the things I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful for the time that Chloe and I have had this week just reading the word of God together.
2. I am thankful for yummy roast dinners and baked vegetables that we had for dinner tonight.
3. I am thankful for the beauty that surounds me - being seeing lots of lovely things and plants in our garden that all too often I just take for granted. (Pictures here)
4. I am thankful that our house is air conditioned and we have some relief from all this heat and humidity we have been experiencing lately.
5. I am so so thankful for the 6-7 inches of rain we have had in the last week.
6. I am thankful that our ironing lady is back and that is one less job I have to worry about each week - it is so nice to get up each morning and have everything ironed and ready for us.
7. I am thankful that Chloe is actually helping to carry the burden at home a little more this year.

Now I am off to Bed, I have a 5.45am start in the morning (this is so not my tiime to be getting up) because I am going swimming with a friend. I must have rocks in my head.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Just wishing you all a Very Happy Valentine's Dad. Mind you we didn't do anything to really celebrate it this year. We were going to go to the Movie's but there really wasn't anything interesting showing at the moment - well not the sort of movie you would like to watch on Valentine's Day. Steve was also tried up preparing for Worship at church tomorrow and the Youth Group were having a Valentine's Evening and I was asked to come take some photos for them/
So here is some photo's of them having a great evening.

We have been preparing for the last couple of days. Yesterday she made hundreds of these to decorate theseThe today I had to dash out whilst she was at work and buy some cardboard and fabric so that she could could decorate these


The colour theme was red, white and pink. Couldn't buy red metalic cardboard so had to go with pink. I kinda of wanted to add the photo below just cause I like it. These are just some of the highlights of the night. (Click on the collage to make it larger if you want to see more)Here are some moreAnd fnally everyone got one of these before they went home

And just to finish, thinking about LOVE today, I am so thankful that

1. God loves me, has forgiven me and I can have a relationship with Him
2. I have a wonderful Husband who loves me.
3. I have amazing parents who love me
4. I have awesome kids who love me
5. I am blessed with wonderful friends.

What more could you ask for in life. The important thing is though, that I love dearly all those above and I know I am blessed abundantly every day of my life.

Get Real Baby

The gorgeous Lusi Austin has challenged her readers to share the "real" bits and pieces" of our everyday lives, not just the gloss and shine but the everyday real things - the bad as well as the good. You can check out her blog here for more information. I have decided to take up the challenge - and share not only the good but also the not so good of my very real life. I have Lusi's "Get Real" button on my side bar. I am hoping that you will take up the challenge too but, if you do don't forget to pop over to Lusi's blog and let her know. I also have to credit the lovely Kerryn for her "Get Real" title. I thought it was pretty eye catching.

Really, my dishes were still in the sink this morning from dinner last night.

Really, I have spent too much time on this computer this afternoon.

Really, we are having take away for dinner tonight because I am just too tired to be bothered cooking.

Really, I need to give my bathroom a clean tonight because it didn't get done on the weekend.

Really, I should go to bed a lot earlier so that I can get up early in the morning and exercise when I feel fresher.

Really, I need to do more Mum and Daughter things with Chloe whilst she still wants me too, rather than trying to catch up with jobs that will still need to be done again tomorrow.

Really, I feel very sad, and found it very hard letting go of my job at USQ. It was more than a job - it was almost like working with family.

As slack as I can be a lot of the time, there are so many things that I am thankful and grateful for, and these are some of the things on my THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL LIST today.

1. For a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs - there are so many in our country at present who have lost everything.

2. For a loving daughter who is picking up the slack at home helping out in so many ways.

3. Coming home to a tidy house today.

4. For Rawleigh's Ointment and Cough mixture - allowing me to have a good nights sleep

5. For the excitement of the little kids at school today when we made catterpillar heads with potting mix and lawn seed.

6. For the wonderful rain we have had all day today.

7. For a tidy bench spaces in our office

8. Thankful for 15 great years working for the Uni and for all the friendships formed along the way.

Lousy week, lousy news

It hasn't been the best week this week - we have all been suffering from summer colds in this household - congestion, watery eyes, coughs, and blocked ears, and just generally feeling miserable. It worse when WE all are feeling lousy.

Yesterday I also got some lousy news at work too - it seems that my job at school is no longer as secure as I thought it was. The general aides in school, and those aides in Special schools have all now got permanent hours for the next three years, but it turns out, that if you are a special education Teacher Aide, your hours are still flexible. Well it just so happens that even though I haven't been in special ed now for 12 months, I am still attached to special Ed, and when the school looses hours, they can't take them off the general aides, the only place they can be taken from is the special ed aides, and the general aides will have to do their work., because the assigned hours wll still need to be done in Special Ed. Their new agreement is for three years which means that in the next three years, we could end up with barely any hours. It seems that only the special ed aides missed out in this new round of Enterprise Bargaining.

The other sad news I got was that even if the girl I am replacing comes back, I won't necessarily get the job, as deployees, transferees, and existing aides who want to maximise hours, all have first go before I am even allowed to apply. It all just seems so unfair and there is not a thing we can do about it. As hard as it has been this week, I know that I just need to hand this over to God, because otherwise I just get so angry about the whole thing, and really in the great scheme of things, it is rather a miracle that I am working where I am at the moment so I just need to trust that if this is where God wants me to stay than he will open the doors to allow that to happen - at least then I will know that it is nothing that I can do - it is all about God providing.


This was also my final week with my Uni job and that has left a huge gaping hole in our lives - it was so hard to hit the send button on the email I sent them this week for "early separation". The process has already begun now to cut off our links to the Uni - I have had to get a new email address - think about changing my super, change private health care cover, as I am no longer under the Corporate VIP rate - that use to save us quite a few dollars a month. It has just been a really lousy week and being sick has not helped.

On a brighter note - I spent today sewing with a friend. My friend Ann and I usually scrapbook today - she has had a really busy 6 months as their only daughter got married two weeks ago. Last year we decided we were going to book days up to have some creative friends time together, so we put today's date in our dairy 3 months ago and we got together today to make Christmas stockings for next Christmas - we are getting organised.

When my older two kids were young I made them each a patchwork Christmas stocking, but I never seemed to get around to making one for Chloe. Well today I started making one for both Chloe and our son in law Colin -they are not finished yet. The girls from church are having a weekend at the beach in a couple of weeks time, so Ann and I are taking our stockings to do all the hand sewing and sew all the embellishments on it. Will post a photo when they are finished.
Anyway, I thought I would share a few photos from our sewing day today - we mightn't have managed to scrapbook, but we were creative and we patchworked instead.

Ironing as we go

Plenty of fabric to choose from
This machine is in for a bit of a shock - it has only ever sewn paper before


Busy at work.
This is the shell of my stocking - have already sewn ribbons and lace on it and it is starting to look good - will definately show you the finished product in the next few weeks.

To end just a coulpe of quotes I found today

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret

Good friends are like quilts - they age with you yet never lose their warmth. ~Author Unknown

and finally

A cheerful heart is good medicine... Proverbs 17:22

I need to remember this verse this week and put it into practice. Talk to you all again soon.

I scrapbooked a layout

I know it is about time, but I spent last night scrapbooking this layout. Chloe's dress is just gorgeous but I am having all sorts of trouble matching papers and embellishments to it. It is a really copper bronze colour and I think this is part of the reason I haven't been motivated to scrapbook. I am one of those anal people who likes to do thinks in order - so therefore I need to scrapbook all her formal photos before I can move on to the Scrap of Faith Retreat photos, Chloe's Validictory Photos, Christmas, our holidays and the pile is just getting higher.

Sorry about the lousy photo - the light was very poor today and I mustn't have taken it straight on as it is rather lopsided. Still it is a layout and if any of you out there can give me some ideas of papers to match the bronze colour in Chloe's dress I would much appreciate it.
I am still going strong with my photo a day, I am actually enjoying doing this. I am also playing around with Photoshop and trying different effects on my photos. Some I like, some I am not too keen on but it is fun and I am learning heaps. We have been able to access some tutorials and they have been fantasic - so easy to follow. Mind you I need to watch them several times before it all sinks in.

"Lips" (the X-Box version of Singstar) is hugely popular in this house at the moment. We have a constant stream of kids coming through the house and it is getting a fair workover. I am sure the neighbours must be starting to get a little sick of hearing some of the songs. Some more shots of these keen singstars.
My two neices are really funny to watch. They are hugely competitive- they were still going strong at 1.30am the other morning. I struggle - it is hard to read the words, the pitch line and the actions all at the same time.

Well it is bed time for me - I am fighting another cold - sore throat, runny nose, blocked ears, and I can't afford to take a day off so I need some early nights to look after myself.