Happy!

1.3 K.G for ME!!!! yep one week on weight watchers and I am a happy camper! I also have something else to obsess over and it gets my fertility issues off my mind!!!!!!! I want to loose 10% of my body weight before Christmas - so I am IN THE ZONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my coolest, bestest and hippest scrapping buddy Alison for yesterday! I had a great night on Sunday dancing with you in front of Australian idol. GOTTA do it again!!!! and your DD is a TRUE water baby! my pool was about 17 degrees and she swam in it!!!!! So she holds my record!

Week 11 has been mad at school! Kids just went mental today - 2 suspensions and lots of fights (and that is just the staff) - just kidding! I think week 11 should be illegal - after such a great term this week has shown it is too much to cope with !!! SO HAPPY holidays are here in 2 teaching days!!!!

How much do i love this spunky guy???? So much! even though he woke me up at 12 and screamed until 1am - bloody eye teeth

What a difference

What a difference 10 months make!!!! Yes it WAS a long time, but is finally 99% complete with just the pavers needing some sealer and some more lighting!!!!

SO now the pool is ready where is the GOOD weather!!!! BOO HISS 16 degree September days!!!!!

Both shots are facing the back fence but as lots of land had to be cut out as he had a sloping block the end result is a higher area at the back of the pool. the shots from last April just had NO landscaping or paving done!
He JUST wishes he could jump in!!!! He even blows bubbles from the edge

Will get some better photos with my wider lens ASAP!!!! only had the 50mm on and max refused to come inside just to get a lens!

IDOL night!

Idol show tip - take a pregnant woman!

We were the third group in the line but the lovely man offered Stef to come up the front and not be crushed by the KEEN crowd behind us (100s of people ready to push and shove)! So we got the BEST seats look how close I was to CARL!!!!!!!

we were in the third row to the left of Kyle (5 seats away!) I waved to him and and waved back! He threw choccies at us and promised us a photo but at the end of the night he stormed off in anger at the performers as soon as it ended! I ran around to the stage door BUT was asked to KEEP MOVING!!!!!!!

All day everyone told me HOW bad the SHOW was - YES it may not have rocked at home but being there was awesome. It was so hard to watch all those harsh comments and being live i think it was about 100 times better! AND Andrew G and James were SOOOOO Much fun! they really liked Narrelle - excuse the photos I was laughing so hard i nearly wet my pants.

they both sat on her lap and crawled over me in the process!

MOre of the gorgeous carl!!!

and at the end of the night we got Daniel and Carl's attention and they waved and chatted with us! I really like these two after last night, they were happy to chat BUT the mean mean man would not let me closer to them or them off the stage!

what a great night with the girls!!!!! thnaks Di and Sharron for inviting us!

look for me in the audience TONIGHT

YES i am OFF to see Australian idol LIVE!!!!!
Sadly NO cameras in the studio.
I am scared for Carl as it is ROCK night and I hope he can ROCK it out!!!!

I had a great time at a wedding last night (no pics YET!!!) but the bride was stunning and my work mates and I had a great time! Good to catch up with some x-BPS teachers also!

will post ASAP to tell you what it is like LIVE!!!!

Monday MEANS IDOL

Ok I like him ALOT!!!! I never got him in the THREE IDOL sweeps I am in BUT last night this guy really impressd me!!! Sadly Holly did go and that is OK.
How do you put music on this blog as I keep popping over to IDOL to listen to his amazing version of Waltzing Matilda
http://www.australianidol.com.au/carl-riseley-fan-club.html

On the sweep update
School - Marty (really what are my chances of the jackpot???)
KSK - Daniel (hairy man - might make the top 6)
IDOL girlfriends - Mark (fingers crossed he comes 2nd toCarl for he $40 prize)

CAN'T WAIT until next Sunday!!! ROCK night so my $40 Mark might do alright!!!

the HOWLETTS holidayed at happy hallidays

WOW our first holiday in a long time!!! LONG before max was born!

My great friend Tina gave me the tip and a GREAT tip it was! This park has the niceest cabins and it is FANTASTIC for little kiddies!!! max was soooooooo HAPPY! COME on this place had an indoor soft play centre right near the BBQ area, it is SOOOO family friendly!

Even though the weather was wet at times we still managed to make it down to the sand for a play. We also went to Timbertown and did some fantastic shopping! I got Max the cutest shirts and Darren got some really nice clothes too!

YES max was fascinated by the puddles.

I thought it was SOOO funny that max LOVED the fact that the microwave was at HIS level!!! HE PRETEND cooked everything!!!! I just loved watching him on the beach. He just wanted to RUN into that water. Shame it was a 18 degreee day

The pool at hallidays was SENSATIONAL too! Max was so keen to get in but the weather NEVER went into the 20s (sadly). WHY did we have 2 weeks of sensational weather an then when i go away it is BAD??????

Well in 8 hours I will be back to a HARD week! Parent teacher interviews!!! YEs I have to really tell it HOW it is with a few! Even though my class has come SOOOO far there are a few that i seriously STRESS about. the ones that DO NOTHING!!!!! the ones that by year 2 have really poor number skills and can't add 2 numbers together to save their lives! This class has SOOOO much potential I have worked hard to improve their writing and number strategies but I can take them SOOOO much further.

But tomorrow I have to sit there and remember this beautiful bunch of kids NO MATTER how much they struggle have ISSUES! they see domestic violence, they have parents in goal, they dONT eat breatfast and they worry about things I never had to worry about. I want to break the cycle for them i PUSH them and I QUESTION them in HOPE that one day they will go to uni or Tafe and be who they want to be!!!! I even tell them THEY CAN be who they want to be...........gee i hope it SINKS in!!!!

so please make sure you tell your kids they can be who they want to be....as believe me there are kids out there in homes that are never told this.

APEC holiday

We just got home from a NICE 4 days up Forster/Hallidays point. It was soooooo nice! I am in the process of uploading 400 photos!!! Camera has frozen 3 times

I got home to a nice surprise - a layout on the KSK portal. I love these photos so much. The journaling reads

This was one of those days that I did not want to end. We arrived home at about 4.30pm to finally find water in our pool. You and I sat in the shallow end and played. I loved watching you walk along the bottom, something you won’t do again for many years. As the sun set, I carried a very upset boy back inside. You were so sad you had to leave.
Only 141 days until the next swimming season.

will be back to show and tell about our fantastic holiday!!!

IDOL announcement

If Husny makes the top 12 I will eat a piece of cardstock!

Make Holden you are a washed up HAS BEEN!!!!!!!

I (heart) Thursdays!!!!

A small sleep in, swimming lessons, lunch with max, Max sleeps, I iron and scrap, Max wakes up and we play then we shop, come home to dinner and sorry the day is OVER!!!!!! I DISLIKE working Friday after such a good thursday!!!!!

Here is my album for Darren this Father's Day over at KSK!!!! I had a lot of fun making this one!

and Karen has the CLIP it UPS in!!! I hit the jackpot when i opened up a bag I have not used since 2005 and there was $100 in the pocket!!!! So I am off to buy a cip it up!!!! Karen also has some great Father's day specials! So go and have a shop too!!!!

hoping to go and scrap but I am yawning my head off!!!!!!

I meant to post on the 18th but.......

time got away!!! It was a year ago on the 18th that I first heard "i wish i was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair", it was a year since my matey Sal flew into to Sydney to stay, it was a since a great class at Scrapabout, it was a year since Kiwi scraps SO THEREFORE it was a year since Ali E changed my scrapping philosophy FOREVER, made me cry and HOOKED me to her work!!!

The final touches are being put on our pool as we speak! 5 more days and it will be DONE!!!! the pavers are being laid and landscaping done this week! YES it was a long process - TOO much needed to be done on our sloping block but OH the rewards! todays weather was GOOD enough for a dip - 26 in Sydney!!!! roll on Summer

I am also admiting to being a very SLACK penfriend! My buddy Kirsten and I have been friends since we were 14 and we wrote letters (remember them!!!!) for many many years! well Kirsten I owe you the biggest biggest biggest hug as I have been slack - I owe you pressies and cards ...just need to let you know I never want to loose you as a friend and I cant wait until you come out here on your holiday!!!!! here is us too in 1999

I have to go and plan an Athletics carnival and a DINOSAUR-cooking-cake-volcano thingy for my classes procedure writing lesson tomorrow. I am crushing biscuits, they will place their natural Confect. Dinosaur on the earth!!!! and then a choc mousse volcano will errupt, kill the dinosurs and turn them into fossils and then we will eat it!!!!!!!!!!! YUMMO!!!!!!!! will take photos of this creation if I can!!!!

Here are some photos of the spunky monkey max - growing way too fast!!!! He was 19 months yesterday! I will do a max catch up soon!!!!!

TOO much fun for one weekend

I packed WAY too much, I ate way too much and I scrapped alot but would have loved MORE!!! thanks for a fantastic weekend girls! I enjoyed it all! The location was fantastic right near the car so no dragging my stuff up a mountain and 10 m from my bed which I crawled into at 4am each morning and was up again at 8 for breakfast. We laughed, we sang, we had a moan bond about hubbies, there was lots of PUSHING AND SHOVING to win the fantastic prize from SCRAPLOOT in a game of musical chairs!!!! GO Lee and Bridget!!!!
I really would love to do it again!!! Merroo was great - peaceful and way up the back so lots of privacy!!!
and YES girls I have started to work through the list!!!!!
So here is what i did! I scrapped Max's 6x8 mini album nearly finished 3 months to go!!!!!!

Ok I need some rest as I have soo much washing to do - thank goodness i get my mid week weekend tomorrow.

1.43am!!!!!

I am HYPED!!!! swimming, cleaning, washing, ironing, playing, talking, shopping, hair dressers, eating, school work then the big thing PACKING!!!!! Just finished!!!! I better get it all scrapped or I might NEVER do another retreat again!!!!!

Veronika if my son turns up at Alex's party without a card I AM SORRY!!!! cant seem to find it!!! Have a great day and take lots of photos for me of Max and Alex (YOU know what a scrapper needs!!!!)

I have the BEST photo of Max asleep this morning...he slept until 9am and I had to wake him for swimming...silly thing wont upload as batteries need charging!

Here is a weekend survey to leave you with......

Do I need to attend Heidi SA (stampers anon)??????

4 were missing as they were in an UNPACKED scraploot bag - added to the little family NOW!!!!

If there is any BREAKING NEWS can someone SMS me!!!! I am SOOOO going to miss my friend the computer.
Here is my cutie (make that Mr Trouble). going to miss him this weekend. He loves the new shutters and peeps at the neighbors!!!

too much to do

Yes I am procrastinating AGAIN!!!! thinking about what i have to do rather than doing! packing for this weekends retreat and KNOWING if I dont pack well i will get nothing done and then I will......PROCRASTINATE!!!!!! I am sooo looking forward to getting away with some GREAT scrapping buddies. I have done the massive shop and all I need is TIME to prepare the millions of things i want to achieve!

Here is a layout I did last night ! At the retreat I am teaching some stamping techniques and water colours! Here is one of the examples! i stamped the title and stars and used my water colours on it! the rest is patterned paper by one of my favs Scenic Route

Today I caught up with David, Christine and Daniel at Lollipops! Max was soooo happy to play and explore and was not the clingy baby he has been over the past months! and yes Max was a gentleman and pushed the pretty little girl on the bike, half an hour earlier she pulled the lawn mower out of his hands and threw a ball at him! GOOD to see he holds no grudges. Then we went to see Dad (or as Max calls him Darren) at work. Max was so in awe of all the cars and tools.

A very busy day tomorrow and then it is OFF for ENDLESS scrapping, eating singing and dancing!!!!! have a great weekend !!!!!

happy 'half' baby boy

Max is 18 months!!!! where has the year GONE????

How do you know your boy is getting older and WISER????? ........HE decides that the Russell photo shoot NEEDS chairs and he sets it up just the way he likes it!!!!!

and here he is waiting for his swimming lesson today!!! He was a little sad as the chill factor was about 3 degrees.

Today we saw karen from KSK after CHA!!!!She had a stop over after a long flight home. she GOT sooooooo much yummy stuff. KSK is gong to be the PLACE to shop!!!! it was a brief hello as she gave me the new Dream street papers (YUMMY)! can't wait until the retreat in October to see the KSK team again!!!! Chill the drinks sal!!!!

OK if you are a LOST fan lets all say a big WOW together!!!! It was sooooooooooooooo good tonight I sooo wish i taped it as the end was SPOOKY!!!! More unanswered questions and we have to wait until 2008!!!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!

Movies

I have been tagged by a few people but I can't hink of another 7 things!!!! So since I was inspired by last weeks episode of 20 to 1 (funniest movies) and something I saw on Lee's blog, I am going to do a top 12 movie list!!!! not really in any order



Dirty Dancing - I guess it is the song (time of my life) and I just LOVE the dancing!!!
"I CARRIED the WATERMELON!!!!!!!"

Pursuit of Happyness - When i saw this on the big screen I sobbed openly and now I own it I am tooooo scared to watch it again alone. Oh gosh I am teary just thinking about what he went through.

MyBest Friends Wedding- "oh there will be dancing" - love most things Julia does but it was here that I fell in love with Rupert Everett!!!

Parenthood- It soooo summed up the highs and lows of life! and the electrical ear cleaner was BIG!!!!

Stepmom - Oh I cried!!!! this bit just sums it up "My fear is that on her wedding day she is going to say I wish my mom was here" and Susan S says "and my fear is that she WON'T".

Stand by me - As a teenager i watched this about 1000 times, I knew it word for word. Early this year my dad found it in Big W and gave it to me, I watched it and I realised I loved it sooo much as it was about friendship and sticking together. And River and Corey were such SPUNKS!!!!!

Jerry McGuire - No it was not Tom but little Ray that captured my heart!!!! "You had me at Hello .....you had me at hello" loved the track that went with this too by Bruce Springsteen.

Clueless - cracks me up everytime! "my mom died during routine liposuction.
"Cher I want to do something for humanity. Josh How about sterilization?

The Birdcage - loved Robin Williams in this and the gay pool boy! and when the mom said "oh what interesting bowls - it looks like young men playing leap frog!!!"


BOYTOWN - Oh the lyrics just grabbed me and made me chuckle!!!! Loved "Special time of the month"

Suddenly 30- Thirty, flirty and thriving. another good music one

Fatal Attraction - run bunny run!!!!

And YES I will think of another 12 that I have forgotten!

these are the ones that I grew up with and want someone to get out on DVD for me when I am 82.

Coocoon, Ice Castles, The Goonies, ET, Cocktail, Annie, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, BMX Bandits, Ferris Bueller's Day off, Pretty in Pink, Flying High, Crocodile Dundee, Mrs Doubtfire, A fish called Wanda, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Rainman, Toy Story, Twister, Three Men and a baby, the sound of music.....

Ok I tag the WHOLE KSK design team, Elleni, Karen T and anyone else that want s a walk down movie lane!!!!!

Brrr it is cold!

The coldest day in Sydney in 21 years!!! WOW.

Speaking of Winter!!!! hehehe! Check out the KSK home page, the winter theme is SOOOO HOT!It reads NO CHILDREN were harmed in the process of obtaining gorgeous photos for mummy to scrapbook.

It opens up in the middle to show off some cute photos

Max is not that much better (thanks for all your kind words). WIll be taking him back to the DR tomorrow afternoon as his chest is still rattling and he is not himself!

13 degrees MAXIMUM tomorrow!!!! WOW!!!!

and here comes term 3!!!!!

WOW already!!!!! I have sadly packed away the scrapping stuff and I am MADLY planning my spelling, homework and a Dinosaur unit! Tomorrow night it will be Maths and the playground duty timetable!!!! FUN FUN FUN!!!!

Here is a layout I did last night! It is a bad scan (cut off all my FunKY sewing around the edge) but I can't find the usb cord for the camera??!! MAX where is it?????

The rubons are Hambly and I LOVE them!!! well i had SOOO much planned for the holidays and sickness got in the way!!!! 11 weeks (YES 11)!!!!!!!! until more R n R!!!! I know that is going to fly and it will be October before we know it!

stay warm!!!

SICK!!!

We slept in today until 10 am again! this is Max's third day of feeling under the weather!!! I blame eye teeth and a small cold but when he wakes up i will take him to the doctors as he has had a few high temps!!!! Here he is about 10 minutes ago - he just put himself to sleep. I have now put a blanket over him and he is dead to the world! the cough will wake him up soon !!!!

So these holidays have been the sick holidays!!! First me, then Max!!! I have not done half the things i planned and there is only one day to go before I have to pack up all my scrapping stuff and do about a week of work for school!!!!!

He is a class I did online with KimArcher! I plan to make it into a double and have all the journaling on the other side! I loved this class as she showed us how to EDIT the square so PICASA does not cut the wrong part of the photo in a square!!!! LOVE IT NOW!!! before i was so frustrated as it chopped off myheads. THANKS KIM!!!!





I have also stayed up late for the last 2 nights (while watching BB)! I finished Max's 2006 album! All the layouts were done but I added all the journaling and my picasa images were edited WELL NOW!!!!In this bad photo you can see August LO and journaling and June is behind August as I dropped the ablum and BROKE all the page protectors. So everything was everywhere until i fixed them

Iam going to start a LO as my boy sleeps!!!!

Oh i have to catch up on the finale of Prison Break too as I was out last night!!!!! Oh at least 7 months before I see the GOOD LOOKING Wenworth :(

What I am thinking RIGHT NOW!

What is on my mind right now on the first day of my school holidays

SKIN CHECK
Darren and I found out on the weekend that Matthew B from high school died from skin cancer. HE was 30 and worked indoors! It was such a sad shock. My memory of him and Darren from high school was doing burnouts in the school car park. He drove a cute little Datsun Stanza and had an infectious laugh.
My promise to myself when we put the pool in was to get a skin check!and I am ashamed to say that while i have the referral i have not done a thing about it. PLEASE everyone - check your skin!

THE FLU
Yep i have it bad!!!! I hate it. I hate that it is impacting on my holidays and the things i have to get done. plus i have the WIGGLES concert with max on Wednesday and that is NOT something i want to do with the headache, runny nose and sneezing i have!

MICHELLE from BB!!!
VOTE her off! please people I dont vote I just watch and she is the BIGGEST BOGAN i have ever seen!

The KMART TOY SALE
If i had a blog last year I would have made you laugh with some of the stories from the adventures I had last year at 12.01am at the MASSIVE KAMRT toysale! So this Wednesday night we do it all again! ME, Karen, Tanya, Jannelle and whoever else wants an adventure! So if anyone gets their hands on the catologue in the mail let me know if there is anything good! We NEVER get Kmart junk mail - but thank goodness for online!

I am off to do a little scrapping! that is until i fall into a heap!