Scrapping, rain and a whinge

On Friday it RAINED and I mean it rained. It rained so hard that the rain was coming under the deck roof and into my classroom. I got wet every time I ventured out my classroom and I had an umbrella. We really did need the rain though; but I wish they were getting this rain in Victoria.

On Saturday I went scrapping. As I said a few posts down, I took page kits and the following are my l/os. I am so pleased with what I did! I have still to finish some of them but they are in a pile next to me, staring me in my face, so I will have to finish them! No, I didn't finish all my page kits but I did a lot more than I usually do. The photos of the l/os aren't great but I'm sure that you can see!

Colin's 13th birthday

Christmas 2008

Birds we saw on holiday recently

The fence of our cottage...

and the wildlife behind it (ie in our garden)From our holiday in 2007 (this is in Queenstown) Our picnic spot and the changes that have happened. What does the l/o need?

Colin's leaver's dinner in 2008
The boys on holiday
Colin's Tech work from Taumarunui High

We also made cards to send to someone in Victoria who is collecting "Thinking of You" cards to give to those who have lost family, friends, houses etc. We made 23 between eleven of us. If you want me to email them to you, please let me know as I think there are more than enough photos on this post tonight!

On Sunday, a young couple with whom we have made friends came to visit us. They have young Jacob who is 19 months old who is a delight! Adrian and I just love having them round as we so enjoy this little man. Jacob is becoming so comfortable in our house which is just great for his parents. They stayed most of the afternoon and Ross and Colin enjoyed playing with Jacob too.

Here he is with Ross who had a VERY late night on Saturday night!

(Face blurred deliberately)
Update on Doj - there is none :-( He's still in his immobility cage and sees the vet every week. In two week's time she is going to take Xrays and we are hoping that he will be able to come home then. It is now over six weeks since his operation.

Penny's reading group: well, that hasn't happened yet. Kelly kindly said she would lend me the book so maybe I'll have it read at the end of March.

A s/b store, from whom I order a fair amount is not my favourite place at the moment: I had an order delivered in early December which had a fair bit in it, but the couriers damaged the box and I lost some of the contents. I'm still waiting for the replacements. Over two weeks ago, I orderd some albums (over $100) and I'm still waiting for them! Now, if there's a problem and stock hasn't arrived that's fine but just tell me where my parcel(s) are. Maybe this week ....

Then, perhaps you remeber me telling you that one of the DT from SBO had asked for some photos to scrap? Here is what she did - I think it's gorgeous!

And that's all from me for a while ... oh yes - our Senz tickets arrived. Now to keep them in a safe place until July!

Weekend and winning

ON Sunday morning there was The DomPost Walk the Bays - a walk around all the bays in Wellington. Before you fall off your chairs, no I did not walk (but I wish that I had). Adrian did and throughly enjoyed it. He did one last year and I still have to scrap that one - now he's giving me stuff for this one.

Then I entered the Lucky 313 competition at Scrapbooking Innovation (the new NZ s/b magazine) and won a subscription!

I have booked our accommodation in Auckland for Senz - looking forward to that! My niece is going on a quick trip of the South Island just before Senz and she is so excited about it. In the meantime, my SIL and I will do a day's shopping - KiwiScraps, Scrapbook Central and Queensgate - what a great time we're going to have.

Oh and of course it was Valentine's Day - we don't do the whole commercial thing but I did buy hubby a nice bottle of wine. He made me a CD of seven hours worth of lovely songs. That'll make sitting in my classroom by myself pleasant and road trips will also be great

Page Kits

Of course I known about the idea for years now, but have never really managed to get myself that organised. When we went on holiday, I grabbed some photos and some paper and cardstock that I thought would do. Many of them came from SBO paper add-ons. I scrapped all but one of the photos I took with me and came home with six l/os. This blog gives some extensive instructions for page kits; mine are just paper (sometimes), cardstock and photos, the rest I'll find in my stash on the day.

Last month at our crop I decided to do a similar thing - I grabbed some photos and added some c/s and patterned paper and scrapped most of what I took.

In between some gardening, visiting, shopping at Spotlight, visiting the cat and surfing this weekend I have managed to pack 20 kits ready for scrapping on Saturday. I don't think that I will finish all of them, but will be very glad if I do. The best thing is that all the paper and c/s came from my stash! (And you can't see a dent yet.) Most of the photos are from our holiday and at this rate I'll be able to scrap some baby photos this year! I also have plans for bags and a quilt so lots to keep me busy in the next few months.

Have a good week

And a third post for today

Via a bit of blog hopping, I found this Quilt drive happening in Australia that you may like to help out: Wonky Star Tutorial

Another award

I got another award - this time from Bronny

I have to say one nice thing about the man in my life: my husband - he appreciates everything I do to keep up with our children's busy timetable.

Now six ways in which I measure success in my life:

1. Sons who tell me that they are the only ones out of their friends who can really talk to their parents (we worked hard on that one)

2. A nice house and possessions for which we have worked hard

3. Ten scrapbooks (so far) of awesome memories

4. Students who succeed in my classes

5. Friends across NZ and the world (and Jen - I count you as a friend too)

6. Sufficient for all my needs (and greeds)

And now I pass this on to four other people: Jenny, Helen, Kelly, Lara and Trace

To donate

Lots of people have donated to the Victoria fires via Red Cross or Salvation Army, but if you want to donate to the animals here are two place:

Wildlife Victoria

Victoria RSPCA

Look at this photo and video!

It's enough to melt anyone's heart and these poor animals also suffer in the bush fires. Here's the newspaper report and video: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25039954-952,00.html

This week

On Thursday last week Lesley asked for some photos that would suit romance/love type photos. I had a lovely photo of Adrian and I taken at a friend's wedding last year. Today I saw the l/o that Lesley did - awesome! Now YOU have to wait until after 15th February to see it here.

On another note, the fires in Australia are just awful. In NZ, Debbie B is having a card drive: What I would like to start doing is getting cards made by as many scrappers and cardmakers around New Zealand. I know it isn't much but imagine if you yourself were in their situation and received a card from someone you didn't know to let you know that there were people out there thinking about you and everyone else. If you're in NZ, and you haven't seen this message yet and you want to make a card or more, please email me for Debbie's email.

Update on Doj

Doj had his operation four weeks ago today. He is still living at my parent's house where he went because we were going on holiday. My Mom is a wonderful cat nurse and Doj's health has improved so much. He goes to the vet once a week for a check up.

He had to go back today (yes, even though it's Waitangi Day) because the pin in his bone worked its way through the skin. He had anaesthetic and the pin was pushed back in. Hopefully it will stay in for at least another two weeks. He still needs to spend lots of time in his recovery box and will come home when he is much better. My mom takes him outside for a bit each day and he's loving getting into the sun.

In hindsight, we probably should have just put him to sleep because he has been through so much, but he has such a "cheerful" cat: meows when he sees anyone and purrs all the time.

I really hope that he recovers quickly

Some scrapping

These are most of the l/os I did on holiday and on Saturday. Most of them don't have the journalling or the title - I'll get there! Some of those I did, I haven't photographed yet. I know that they're plain and simple, but that's my style!

Photos taken a few years back at Marineland in Napier - before the dolphins died

Snapshots of C at National Park

Easter 2007 - using up the left over rings from the Napier l/o

Chess (2005)



When we went to Surfer's (Queensland, Aus) in 2000, there was a chap doing caricatures. The boys chose their own "base". These are photos I took of the A3 drawings

Back to school

Here they are all ready for school today. Both of them are in a streamed class (advanced class) at their different year levels. Both really looking forward to going back to school

My classes seem to be fine too - the odd bad one but hopefully we'll cope during the year

Back to school

We are all back to school tomorrow after seven lovely weeks of summer. Today I bought school shoes; told a SAfrican lady whose son starts at our school tomorrow that he is elcome to come and find me if he needs help; ironed on name labels and sewed on buttons. Now hopefully I have clothes to wear!

Oh and then lunches start - at least I only have to worry about lunch for me because the boys get their own. I do pack Adrian lunch .... last night's left overs so that is easy and cheap.

An award

This time from Helen in South Africa I "met" Helen through my SIL and I read her blog regularly