Anzac Day 2010

My Dad makes me so proud to be an Aussie. He is such a great man, I love everything about him. This year was his first Anzac day without Doreen and everyday is a little hard for him. I get upset watching him get upset....I just want to make all the pain go away but it never will.

For years I have said I will go and watch him march 'next year'. Well I was sick of those years going by and as he did not march last year due to Doreen's health I decided now it is every year we will share this event.

We found a good spot on the side of the road. the plan was to text dad and let him know where we were and what side of the road we were on. However.....dad lost his phone, we think it fell out of his suit pocket on the train. So he never got our instructions to march on the right-hand-side and we could not hear him call out "I've lost my phone"

Sadly Max fell asleep and missed Pop. We were going to venture down to try and have a drink with dad but it was busy and we thought it best to leave him with his mates. Little did we know he had lost his phone and it would have been better to walk down and see him to ease his mind.

We walked around Darling Harbour and had a nice lunch at the Meat and Wine Co. We did some clothes shopping for Max and Darren, looked around the Cenotaph and then went to the station. Just as we were about to walk down to the platform...out of the corner of my eye I could see my dad entering the station...I was shocked to see him and he seemed a little upset as he told us the story of his phone and that he was waiting for us to have a drink......I was sooo upset, we should have stuck to our original plan but as he was not answering his phone i just thought he could not hear it. i was sad he never stayed and relaxed with his mates at the pub.

Max and I read the book "My grandad marches on Anzac day" a tradition here on Anzac day. We thank all those that fought for this wonderful country...LEST WE FORGET.

A week in my life - April 19 to 25

Ali Edwards inspires me, she is what defines scrapbooking for me.

I thought is would be a great week to document MY LIFE because in exactly 3 months my weeks will look different as I will return to work for 2 days a week. I love life right now, the routine and staying at home, i don't like how it is moving fast and the days are whizzing by. I love being a mum, a wife, a daughter, a friend. Laughter, talking, photos, my computer/iphone, exercises, kids, happiness and TV are part of my happy life. Daily chores and paying the bills are part of my life too....I just don't associate the word happy with them.

I am not going to post much here, I am off to spend time on the actual project.....but here are some of my favourite shots i took over the past week, surprisingly i took over 300 photos of the week.

A promise photos WHEN i complete the album!!!!! i will also revisit this in 3 months when I am back at work to look at my week then.

Check out this fantastic album.......I love Pip's work

he

loves his action figures and will sit and role play with them.

loves TV.

is a BATMAN fan and Astro Boy is his friend.

has all of a sudden become scared to fall asleep in his own bed.

he has a short fuse at times and gets angry when he hurts himself.

he gets in trouble for growling at me.

invites kids over "to our place" if he likes them.

loves the colour green. He draws and writes all the time in green at Preschool

loves to eat tinned spagetti, cucumbers, vinegar and balsamic rice crackers and ice cream.

has a memory of places, he will say "mum, Linda came here". "that's Tayla's soccer field".

has classic one liners like after not seeing Charlie from Preschool (he is at school now) for at least

4 months and suddenly seeing him you said "oh my gosh Charlie you are ALIVE".

asks good questions "Mum why is your hair growing black?" (well I did need my hair coloured)

this time a year ago

yes (often) I am good at dates, remembering little things, sometimes very insignificant but still useful. April 2009 has many memorable dates i will always remember
01 - Egg Collection
06- Embryo transfer
17- the phone call ....YES....POSITIVE...ALL LOOKS GOOD
22 - ultra sound confirmed...we saw you for the first time xxxx

And here you are a year on...Flynn Frederick, so loved, so chubby and so happy. I pinch myself everyday knowing how lucky i as not to have to go through IVF again and again, my only wish was that my eggs survived and I could have made someone else as happy as you make me.







Sadly there are NO photos from that day...but I remember the phone call before 11 and Rel taking my washing off the line (gee that girl can FOLD well).

frustrated

I was chatting with a scrapping friend today (well 2 actually) and we had a whine about no TIME to scrap. I could NEVER give this craft up but I am frustrated that I have sooooo many stories from my two gorgeous boys, my hubby and even my dad and friends to tell, I just need to stop procrastinating and get it DONE. I love this simple layout as it shows what scrapbooking means to me......some paper, a punch a good photo and a story to tell.

I have sat and edited photos this week (HOURS of time), tried to tackle my taxes (grrrr), cleaned the house, updated my boys journals, hosted a party for Daz, looked after 2 young children and still I feel I am not getting done the things on my list. I want to finish Max's quilt, write Flynn's thank you cards before he can write them himself, clean my HORRIBLE wardrobe and oh the list GROWS. I think I am toooo busy living life to document it

WHY is it we are half way through April and I feel like it should still be January 15???? How do people go to bed before 9pm and COPE???lol maybe they don't scrap heheheheehe.

OK now that moan is OFF my chest I am off to catch up on some of my "project life/photo a day"

March Twenty-Ten

An afternoon with the girls at WICKED the musical.

A nice day at the Camden show.

Mark's 41st birthday dinner, Byron's Christening, Nathan's 4th birthday, Tyler's 3rd birthday

A tupperware party, a scrap night and a 'just because' meant 3 very late nights....girls stuff, lots of laughs and a few glasses.

A new Principal for BPS.

A lovely lunch and catch up with 5 high school girlfriends.

Preschool Easter concert and egg hunt. Sadly term 1 of preschool came to an end, Max very happy and settled. He loves his 'best buds' Raph and Nathan

Loving keeping up with my photo-a-day challenge, sadly not keeping up with the album I am keeping them in.

2 swims this month in our pool after finally fixing the 2nd filter problem the solar heating broke.....a very sad pool season comes to an end :(

Flynn's first giggle made us all smile.

Scissors Paper Smock Kits

I have finished my three layouts for the next kit at Scissors Paper Smock. I am dropping them off to the shop tomorrow so they should be on sale just in time for Easter. Another 3 pages for under $25. With the terrible weather they have forcast this Easter long Weekend I am thinking it might be a great chance to scrap LOTS!!!!!

Scissors Paper Smock at Suite 3/403 Hume Highway at Liverpool 9821 4888.

the Camden Show

We had to get up way before the sun to drive Darren to the airport so when we got home we decided to go down and enjoy the Camden show and boy I am glad we did.

the beginning.

Max won a Pirate telescope on the clowns.

I won a BATMAN by throwing 3 rubber balls into a bucket....as soon as I handed over the $10 Max thought Batman was his. The pressure was on to make 2 out of the 4 balls stay in the bucket...lucky I learnt by watching that they bounce and a soft throw was the way to win.Max loved looking at the chickens and it took a long time to work up the nerve to touch one and pick one up.

He loved riding the tea cups and cars.

It was soooo hot the jumping Castle burnt his feet. (36 degrees).

We bought a TOY STORY show bag.

Max wanted to go on the giant slide and walked all the way to the top. I followed him and right at the top he changed his mind, as it was tooo hard to get back down, I just threw him on my lap and he screamed all the way down.

We drank nice cold icey drinks.

We loved looking at the horses and cows.

We ended up leaving and going to eat in the aircon at Camden McDonald's...it was soooo hot.

I wanted to quickly look at the patchwork shop in Camden but Max threw himself on the ground and begged me to go home. He napped for 2 hours that afternoon and then went to swimming lessons.

the end..........."I'm tired, can we go home, where is the car????"

As we left I said to myself that we would definitely go down again next year on the Friday as it was not busy and a great day out. Then it dawned on me Max might be in school next year. WOW that made me sad that next year little excursions together like this would not be as easy and mean more crowds.....well maybe one day off school with mum each term would be ok!!!! ;)

Jon and Kate plus Eight

Yep i am a reality TV junkie and since we have had Foxtel Jon and Kate plus Eight has been a MUST see for me. I have quickly watched the past 5 seasons and tonight I finally saw the last episode. I was soooo sad to see them part. They are such a gorgeous group of kids. I loved Alexis (soooo much so if Flynn was a girl I may have used that name). Hopefully one day we will see how life turned out for the eight and Jon and Kate!!!

PROOF I am a mother

PROOF I am a mother of a 4 year old and a 12 week old

I have stretch marks all over my belly.

I am 20kg over my healthy weight range, I am wearing maternity clothes and I attend weight watchers.

I can smell baby vomit on my shoulder, in fact most clothes have a vomit stain or are soaking to get the vomit stain out.

Everyday I make a Vegemite sandwich, walk over toys, wash, throw my hair into a ponytail and eat on the run.

I say "pack that away now you are finished with it" 32 times a day.

My 7 hours of sleep is broken with 50 minutes of feeding at about 4am.

My feet are in need of a pedicure, my shoulders are in need of a massage and my legs are in need of a wax.

I watch kids TV instead of what I want.

I am always getting Max into bed late and battling with his "but just 2 more minutes".

I have a 'to do' list that is 34m long.

I am looking on ebay for power ranger toys and rescue heroes.

I have approx. between 40 to 60 minutes of adult conversation each day.

I am on the preschool committee. I am organising Fundraising and book club.

My first LO for Flynn's 8.5 x 11 album.

happy

happy that I have LOST 5.4kg in 6 weeks of weight watchers.

happy Max is loving every moment of preschool and he has 2 fantastic teachers

happy Flynn is a great baby and even though he still wakes at 4am I can cope

happy with the layout i did the other day

the journaling reads - One September morning you called out to Me "I love you my sweet Darling". We now say it all the time to each other. You even know that is you say it with a cute face and pout your lips it helps you win brownie points with me.

very very happy with shots from my new camera (Canon 7D)

this Saturday

Scissors, Paper, Smock are hosting a make-and-take this Saturday from 10 to 12. Not only do you get to try Glimmermist (which I LOVE) you learn how to make this stunning flower. I was going to go in but I forgot all about my day out with the girls at WICKED....now how could I forget about that???? I bought cute shoes today for it....now to find the outfit.

The kits are also for sale.....be quick, they are selling fast.....$25 for 3 layouts is GREAT. I am starting to work on the next kit now

February twenty-ten

1. Max started back at preschool. He loved it but was exhausted at the end of each day. He made Buzz wings and they got Hermit crabs. Everyday was exciting. Max, Raphael and Nathan quickly became great friends.

2. A fun day at Charlotte's and Felicity's naming day at the Scarborough Hotel.

3. A green pool, a broken filter and lots of dollars spent.

4. Lots of rain, sun, hot nights, humidity at 99%, the hottest summer in 4 years.

5. I started weight watchers and lost 2.8kg in 3 weeks...lots more to go. I also began decluttering the house.
6. Flynn smiled for the first time. He is so cute and becoming chubbier (5.02kg 19/2). He is such a good baby 95% of the time.

7.Flynn and Max got their needles.

8.BBQs and relaxing drinks with friends.

9.Darren went through some terrible times, personally and professionally. High stress levels, i love him for everything he does even more xxxx

10. Max caught up with Callum who he missed so much. I too went into school a few times to catch up with those that I missed.

hey Rel

what I meant to say today was........

thank you for being there from the beginning. You (with a few others) have been on my roller coaster fertility ride. Each week you supported me, if I needed a reality check, you gave it to me. You kept my mind off it and helped me.

You supported me on the IVF days at work and kept my mind off it, we laughed, we talked and we hoped. When I called balling my eyes out you covered for me and made my day better. You were there the day I got the news that my first cycle had worked, you truely believed as you had the pram pandora charm ready to give to me....I am thankful everyday I see that charm as I know it could still be in your hand bag.

You have helped me with Max...a true friend, great advice from a brilliant mum. Thanks for your support while I was in hospital...Max STILL talks about that day Lava girl xxxx

It would be an honour to have you in our lives and Flynn's life.....he would be the luckiest kid if you were his God mother.

love ya the longest time....so glad BPS brought us together.

and P.S my heart is still beating from that night in the wardrobe when you said you were going for that job...remember it is a package deal if you ever do go for a job...me, you and Ally xxxxx

Motherhood

thanks Jen, this made me happier today. You, like most of us out there, are a fantastic mother...cheers to all of us xxxxx

My Little Preschooler

Loved this months colour combo challenge at Savvy. I love these colours and the photo of Max at his first day of Preschool this year went so well.

kits at Scissors Paper Smock

I am very happy to have been asked to design some pages for Loretta and Melinda at Scissors, Paper, Smock at Liverpool. 9821 4888

This is the first kit for sale and I must say it ROCKS. I got 3 pages with lots left over for only $25. I am looking forward to working with more of their kits.

Cleaning

Narelle I have our photo of the day with the quote

i DO love a clean and tidy house, dont get me wrong!!!! there is just much more that I love to do than housework, like scrapbook, watch TV, swim, talk son the phone, even exercise lol!!!

i have been watching lots of cleanaholics and Perfect Housewife on FOX and it makes me think i really need to get stuck into parts of this house while I am not working. i have decided I will do an area a week and give it my all. This week is toys......I have enough little people to start a new country and cars and trucks to run a transport company so I will be sorting and culling. i like all the toys of the same theme/brand in the one box. It makes pack away easier.

So I am commiting to ONE cleaning project a week. I need to write a list as there is soooo much I need to do before I go back in July.......come on lucky numbers hit me, then I can get a cleaner and the tax paperwork i have to do wont seem so HUGE!!!!

conversations with Max

warning toilet humour!!!!

Max was sitting on the toilet in the laundry and I was doing some washing. All of a sudden I hear a massive and very loud "pop off", the most wind I have heard come from Max. He looked at me in shock and said

"Mum I think there is a gun in my poo".

tonight.....
Max - Mum please lay down with me in my bed
Me - ok, just for a few minutes
Max - alright lets lay
Max - I love you mum
Me- I love you too sweetheart
Max - nothing's going to stop us now hey mum!
Me - no nothing will ever stop us.

I need to make a book to jot these down in.

January twenty-ten

WOW 31 days flew past, lets not hope every month goes like this.

1. We settled Flynn in to his new home.
2. Max enjoyed a 10 day swimming program.
3. No swimming for me due to my stitches from Child birth
4. Watching the Australian open.
5. HOT and humid nights.
6. Catch ups with friends.
7. Donna's birthday.
8. 2 phones dropped into the swimming pool.
9. A relaxing Australia day at home with family and a few friends to celebrate Max's 4th birthday.
10. Started to scrapbook again.

Layouts

A bit of a summer theme happening here.
I am very happy with this layout as it came together quite quickly and I used lots of OLDER papers from my stash that I thought I may never use.
Credit to Alison for the great photo.

Off to iron and then eat a yummy bake dinner cooked by Darren. YUM

tired!!!

Self inflicted.......up to 2am at a girlfriends house. We had a lovely dinner, chatted, looked at the MY SCHOOL website and chatted more. Dragging 2 kids home at that hour was surprisingly easy and it gave Max the chance to sleep without a nappy, and since we had success I am big boy night nappy FREE!!!! YAY

The MY SCHOOL webiste was very interesting. The data for BPS made me proud as it reflected the socio economic area and when you COMPARED it to richer type areas we really did very well. Our kids face some terrible things or life is not always stable and to do what they did in a "one off test" is fantastic.

have a great weekend, I am off for a Nanna nap (Yawn)!!!

Here is a layout I finished 2 days ago, Max's favourite thing - the water sprays!!!

a new routine

Today i would have gone back to school. Instead of walking into school at 8.00 I woke up at 8.15 after a 5am feed and some protest about sleeping in the cot (it was soooo hot last night)!!!!

Last night when I was texting Rel and missing her and BPS like crazy I was soooo sad, I even got teary/guilty again about being sad about school when all I wanted for 22 months was another baby and mat leave.

I went in today and packed up my maths room, I handed the keys in and walked out (after some good belly laughs) feeling alot more at ease and ready to cherish all this time off....which will FLY by.

I am excited preschool starts next Tuesday for Max and he and I will enjoy the break!!!! MAN I have sooo much planned for next week, hair appointment, scrapping, pedicure, cleaning, exercise, RELAXING....did I mention FREEDOM.....roll on when it is Monday Tuesday Wednesday I SAY!!!!

This is my time to be a full time mum, to enjoy the days I have with Flynn and with Max before he starts school next year.

here is a photo just because he is cute!!!!!

WOW 4 years old

4 years ago I was scrapping. Darren was out and i had eaten a massive serving of pasta and chocolate (not together). At 1.15am I went POP just as I rolled into bed.

4 years on and here he is today

strong willed

Happy

Funny

Charming

at times naughty

determined

switched on

chatty

a great imagination

playful

.......... and most importantly

all ours and gorgeous

I think in 5 years time I am in for some trouble

Happy Australia day to ALL xxxxx

and she scraps!!!!

for the first time since July.......oh how I missed it

this layout is a copy of MY layout....it was LOST on the way back from photographing and was in scrapbooking memories way back in early 2008 (v9 n9). So I copied it as I adored it sooooo much and hated it being LOST somewhere out there

this LO is for the sketch challenge over at scrapbook savvy

oh it feels great to scrap again. AND i have 2 cool NEW tools the Martha Stewart LOOPY punch which I adore AND a scrapbooking Singer sewing machine. Scrapbooking was ruining my $900 Janome. So I went to the sewing machine shop in Liverpool and spoke to join who has been there since I did year 7 textiles and he sold me a gorgeous machine for $125......he has good ones for scrapping from $50 and as my Janome cost $250 to service it is well worth it.

off to scrap more....still WAITING for project life to arrive

swimming

As my OB said I am NOT to swim for at least 5-6 weeks (darn stitches) I decided to book Max into the 2 week swim program. It got us up and out of the house for 10 days and he had a ball with the kids in his class. Suzanne is the BEST teacher. At one point she said to me that Max frustrates her as she expects sooo much from him as he is soooo good, but then she has to remember how young he is and that is why sometimes he just does NOT GET what she is asking him to do, ie butterfly arms, he has the kick but still does freestyle arms. I think one day he will swim butterfly very well as his kick is strong and the arms will come. This program also made me think back on the good old days when every school holidays (when I was at UNI) I would teach kids how to swim......lessons every day really make a difference...it sinks in (pardon the pun).

Here is his report

it was a great 10 days.....looking forward to when term swimming goes back

2 weeks old

and YES the Russell photo tradition in this house WILL continue with Flynn

Flynn at 2 weeks.

He loves a cuddle.

He sleeps through most of the noise that this house creates.

He is feeding very well.

He gets the hiccups at least 2-3 times a day.

He loves to be wrapped.

He will rarely take a dummy.

He can be put down awake and will go to sleep.

He has long arms, long legs and long toes with not much fat on them.

He wears 0000 size clothing.

And to share here is Max at 4 weeks in 2006..........