HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA ... The BIG FOUR - 0

Today we had a fabulous time at Rathmines park with lots of our friends and families to celebrate our dear friends birthday ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA !!
This lady is one of the sweetest, gentlest, kindness most beautiful people you could ever meet; and therefore, a wonderful friend!
I mentioned in my last blog that I had a little project that was "secret squirrel" business and I would share it with you soon ... well ... our dear Miss Monica is a very humble shy person and had given strict instructions to all that she did not want a big fuss made for her birthday. Mon (as her friends affectionately call her) goes out of her way to avoid being the centre of attention ... sooo ... we organised a simple little picnic in the park with our families but failed to mentioned that there would be approximately 20 families there !!
Anyway, all was good, the weather was glorious and we had a lovely day ... as you can see by this photo, the Birthday Girl enjoyed herself too!
Ok, stay with me, i am getting to the point about the secret project ...


Like most of us fine female specimens, Monica luuuuvs scrapbooking; however, having 3 beautiful sons she never gets to do "girly" scrapbooking ... so ... our friend Janelle (aka Marilyn that appeared in my blog a few weeks ago celebrating her birthday) came up with the idea of doing a "girly" tin and issuing all of Monica's friends (scrapbookers & non-scrapbookers) with a file card to decorate and fill the tin with Birthday Wishes!!
Janelle beautifully decorated this tin and everyone was very creative with their little cards.

So .....











The secret project I was working on was my card to go in the tin.
I must say, i enjoyed doing "girly" scrapbooking too, cause i always scrapbook my beautiful little boy and my dear husband.

The little card had a photo flap with a
hidden message underneath.


And .....










I am sure you remember the beautiful cake that another of our beautiful friends (Karen) made for Janelle's 40th; well, she has excelled once again and come up with this gorgeous creation for Monica's Birthday.
How cute is this handbag cake (and it was yummy too!).
It was so life like it was almost too good to eat ... would have made a beautiful fashion accessory!

Anyway, this has turned into another of those super dooper long blogs; but, i would just like to say how lucky i am to have such kind, beautiful, wonderful friends ... and once again ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MON !!

Have a great week everyone,
JULIE x

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE??

Warning ... catching up for approx 2 weeks ... long blog ahead!
I have been such a slack blogger ... over the last 'week and a bit' i have had a quick look on the computer to read a few other blogs but haven't had the time to sit down and do a post on mine. Anyway, where has the time gone??
I mentioned on an earlier post that we attended a day of scrapbooking with all the "Scrappy Chics' in aid of Daffodil Day ... well this was my main effort for the day along with plenty of chatting etc. etc.
This layout is from a group weekend I organised at the Blue Mountains in June last year. We spent the first night at Lithgow and went on the Zig Zag Railway.

They had a special event running called "The Wizard's Express" which revolved around the Harry Potter theme. The kids dressed up, and were sorted by "the Sorting Hat' to be placed into groups of Griffendore, Slitheren (spelling??) etc. etc. The train stopped at each station at each stage down the mountain where we were met by Harry Potter characters including the spooky dementors. When we got to the bottom of the mountain the huge workshop had been transformed into a dungeon where we were fed puppy dog tails (hot dogs) and other delightful treats, plus a magic show for entertainment.
Anway, to sum it all up ... lots of fun!
The second day was full of adventures at Katoomba and Leura. We visited the Leura Toy Museum, The Three Sisters, Scenic World at Katoomba (this is where they have the cable cars etc) and finished the day at the Leura Lolly Shop ...

What else have I been up to ...
Last Saturday Night I hosted a Trivia Night for one of the local Pre-Schools (Peter Pan Pre-School at Wangi). My son went to this gorgeous pre-school when he was little and I was happy to oblige with helping them in their fundraising efforts. It was a great night, they were a great crowd and certainly provided plenty of laughs.
Sunday we spent the day at the Park for our 'end of season' soccer team picnic. What a great bunch of little boys, they are real little trojans and certainly win the award for being 'great sports'. They got 'flogged' in nearly every game this year (only won 1 game); but still turned up every week with a smile on their faces and happy to be with their mates ... well done boys. My husband is their coach and they thanked him with a gift of a lovely Newcastle Knights shirt (anything Newcastle Knights is a sure thing) ... he is so proud of them all.
This week has been chaos in our house. My kitchen is pulled apart (cupboards emtied and no appliances) ready for the kitchen man to come on Tuesday to install my new kitchen ... yeaahhh! My DH has been so busy trying to dodge the rain and finish the house exterior and yard. He got the new fence frame up this week ... at least it looks like we are making progress.
I have been busily organising the final details for our snow trip in 3 weeks. Really looking forward to this (another one of those group holidays) ... and then ... two weeks later we leave for our big holiday travelling the South Coast, Great Ocean Road and Victoria ... Oooohhh, i can't wait!
Well if you are still awake and reading this, give yourself a pat on the back :o))
I am working on a little project for a friend but can't share it with you yet (secret squirrel business!!). Will show you soon.
Have a great weekend,
Cheers,
JULIE x

ANY CAUSE IS A GOOD CAUSE TO SCRAP!

Today I attend an all day scrap hosted by Scrappy Chic which was in aid of raising money for Daffodil Day! As per the title "any cause is a good cause to scrap"!!
Here is one completed LO (Love the yummy new Urban Lily range ... yuuummeee). Only having a son, who is 99.9% of my universe and scrapbooking LO's, I love finding groovy boy papers & stuff.
I have another LO that is almost done and I will share it with you soon.
It is ironic that today's scrap was relevant to fundraising for a cancer cause as one of our dear friends, was diagnosed with Melanomia (spelling??) this week :o(
Just a regular great guy, a husband and father ... you just never know what is around the corner. Lots of positive thoughts and prayers my friend, you know we are all thinking of you :o))
Just a short blog tonight - off to get uniforms, school bags, work clothes etc. etc. organised ready to start another week.
Speaking of another week - that leaves just 4 weeks 'til we go to the snow and just 6 weeks 'til we go on our one month holiday (yes, that's right ... one month) travelling the South Coast and Victoria. Ooohhhh, I can't wait!
Have a great week.
JULIE x

BUSY, BUSY & ANOTHER WEEK GONE

My how quickly the weeks fly by!!
When i first started doing 'the blog' thing (before i had my own blog) i'd visit blogs and be disappointed if they hadn't updated since the last time i visited ... now i realise how quickly time passess and how quickly our blog entries lapse.

So what have i been doing in the last week ....

• Went out on Saturday night (ooooh, 2 weeks in a row) for one of my dear friends birthdays. Jo is actually more like a family extension but i won't go into a detailed explanation ... you get my drift. Sometimes our 'catch ups' are months apart but without fail we always have a girls night out for her birthday on the same weekend every year!! I call this my annual drink, cause i rarely go out these days ... too busy scrapbooking!! Had a great time, a good dose of Vodka Cruisers :O)) more karaoke (2 weeks in a row for that too!) ........ and .............. drum roll ............. Jo got Engaged !!! Wow what a big night out!! So "Here's Cheers" to my dear friend ... Happy Birthday & CONGRATULATIONS xx
• Sunday was pretty non-eventful after a big night out. I don't bounce back quit as quickly these days.
• Monday our new fridge (yes the lovely BIG fridge) & kitchen appliances were delivered. The 'kitchen man' came and done our final 'measure up' ... my kitchen will be beautifully re-vamped in 3 - 4 weeks ... Yippee!

Well that's about it really ... today (like most other week days) was just the normal work, school & household routine!!

Looking forward to this Sunday - full day scrap (being hosted by Scrappy Chic) at Wangi Workers Club to raise money for Daffodil Day. Great cause to raise money and I say any cause is a good cause to scrap!!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

JULIE xx

The Cake

Finally i got this picture to upload (i don't know whether blogger was "playing up" or the operator was faulty ??1?) here is the wonderful cake creation I was raving about in my last blog about Janelle's birthday.
As i mentioned, the cake was adorned with miniature shoes and matching handbags which were hand made and painted by our very talented and gorgeous friend Karen. Sooooo clever!!
Well now all the party madness is over, I can concentrate on our trip to the snow.
In September, our group of families (all whom have become great friends through our children at school) are off to the snow for 4 days.
We did the group adventure last time and had a wow of a time. Nearly all the kids were first timers and all were skiing by the end of the stay.
It is very much a budget snow holiday ... last year we stayed at one of the lodges at the Department of Sport & Rec complex in Jindabyne which was great for a large group. This year our group has grown a little more so we are staying at the Girl Guides Lodge ... it's just like being back at school camp!!
For anyone wanting to do a family trip to the snow or wanting to organise a group it is a great way to go about it without costing a fortune!! The Department of Sport & Rec have lodges that cater for 2 to 26 people and you can hire all of your gear through them too. Grrrreat Fun!!
We time to get my beauty sleep ... enjoy the rest of your week.
JULIE x