ONLY 4 DAYS TO GO ...

Only 4 days until we leave for the Snow ... yeah ... can't wait.
I have been very busy this weekend finishing last minute preparations and cooking for 27 people! Now i have my kitchen (almost complete) it has been a bit of a novelty cooking and baking lots of yummy things. Considering the weather has been so lousy, there isn't much else to do. I know I shouldn't complain but living on the coast we have already had plenty of rain this year and I am sooooo over it! I wish I could send it inland to the farmers and catchment areas where it is needed.
Anyway, just a short post tonight, have some more things to do so i am organised for the start of another week.
Have a good one,
JULIE x

Sad Little 'Steve' Fan

I can't believe today's tragic news, that Steve Irwin has died. My little man (my son, Blake) idolized him and is just devastated (as i'm sure many children are). Blake has literally cried nearly all afternoon and has asked a million questions whereby we have tried so hard to answer and justify why such tragic things happen. It is the weirdest thing, but because Steve Irwin was such a 'large than life character', it makes you feel as though you knew him. We visited Australia Zoo in 2004 ... what a great place and a credit to all that he promoted and believed in regarding animal/nature conservation. As Blake put it this afternoon with tears streaming down his face ... "it just won't be the same"!
Setting aside the public & celebrity status, what a tragedy for his family including his 2 little children who to them I'm sure he was "everything" just cause he was their dad, husband, son etc.
My thoughts are certainly with them.
JULIE x

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

A WEEKEND OF BIRTHDAY PARTIES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANELLE (or is it Marilyn) !!?!

What a great night ...

We started with a very busy day on Saturday getting ready for the big 40th birthday celebrations; yes, it is no longer a secret, the words out ... Janelle is 40 !!

Our day started with decorating the hall and table in lots of bright colours to get with the 60's theme.

A huge thanks to Kath, Michael & Pauline for all their help to deliver
the final product and even the kids
came in handy with their boundless energy and never short of puff to blow up a couple of hundred balloons.

Next ... the cake ... WOW! Another of our very very talented and very humble friends, Karen, was the maker, creator, decorator extrordinare of this magnificent cake.
As Janelle is well known amongst her friends for her extensive collection & love of shoes and handbags, the cake was all about just that! The photo really doesn't do it justice; but, all the decorations (or embellishments as we say in scrapbooking) were tiny hand moulded & painted shoes with matching handbags (made from icing). It was gorgeous!! Karen you are a very talented girl and a wonderful friend.

Lots of fun was had by all. Lots of great costumes ... there plenty of hippies, lots of afro hair doos, mini skirts/dresses, long boots and all those other lovely "get-ups" from the sixties.

And of course ... lots of baaad karaoke. Isn't it funny when we add alcohol that we all get a dose of 'dutch courage' and suddenly think we are Kylie Minogue !!!?! Anyway, this also added to the fun and made for a great night.

Last of all (hopefully you are still reading and haven't given up by now), this is the little fold out book I made for Janelle for all the party guests to sign, (I got the idea for the Janelle poppet from a groovy layout that Kim Archer done recently) I stamped "Happy 40th Birthday" along one side of the foldout and all the guest signed, wrote comments etc. and Janelle can finish off the other side with piccies from the party.

Well this much anticipated surprise party (that didn't end up being a surprise) was lots and lots of fun. Happy Birthday my Friend :-))

Have a great week everyone
JULIE xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB !

This gorgeous little boy is my nephew
Jacob. He turned 2 this week (26/7) and his party was today at Rathmines Park. He was soooo excited and totally overwhelmed by all the presents, kids etc. Unwrapping his presents was classic ... imagine a little two year old commenting when opening presents with " wooooww" ... so cute !
He is totally crazy abouts cars, trucks, diggers & tools at the moment; so considering his presents consisted of little battery operated tools, a mini ride on digger, 2 huge tonka trucks
and a 'Lightning McQueen (from the
movie Cars) ... that is one excited little boy!

He gave 'pass the parcel' as miss (you have to sit in one spot too long), but had a great time participating in 'pin the tail on the donkey'. Even without a blindfold he was little 'off cue' but thought he was very clever to be like the bigger kids!!

What a huge day for such a little person !!

Bring on the Party

I mentioned a week or so ago about the upcoming party for our friend Janelle ... (the one that's turning 40 but you're not allowed to tell anyone) !!?!
Well all the party plans have come together nicely and tomorrow night is party night.
The party is a 60's fancy dress (that's because she was born in the 60's) and all week we have giggled like teenagers about our secret costumes (which we haven't been very good at keeping secret) and how much of a laugh it is going to be.
My husband and i hired costumes (can't tell you what we are going as ... i'll tell you next week and post some pics) and all i can say is "thank goodness we didn't live in the 60's" cause they look hideous!!
No doubt, it is going to be a great night ... great friends, lots of laughs, dancing & bad karaoke !?#@!!
Well better get to bed for some zeds so i am fresh for party mode.
Peace Dudes!
Julie x

CASPER

Today we got a new edition to our family ... this lovely little albino budgie is CASPER!

A few weeks ago Blake was devastated to find 3(out of 4) of the budgies in the avery (which he and his dad built last year) were dead. It really broke his heart and many tears were shed. We have a major problem with Myner Birds (not sure if spelt right) in our yard. They are very nasty, cunning creatures and attack in packs. One pack will go to one side of the cage to frighten the budgies to the other side whereby another group is ready to attack through the wire. My DH originally decided to build the avery thinking it would solve the problem after losing quite a few birds in normal little cages. These dreadful creatures even terrorise our poor dog (I'm not sure whether it's cause their tuff or she's a wimp LOL), they take her food, "take over" the back porch area, soil my washing etc etc. grrrrhh !! If anyone out there has any ideas for deterring these unwanted intruders I would love to hear from you!!

Anyway, after the tragedy, Blake spent some of his pocket money and brought 2 baby quaills (very cuuuute)! These have survived nicely; however, 1 poor lonely budgie (Olive) remained. Today we brought a new budgie and it was Blake's wish to get a pure white one; hence our new albino budgie CASPER! Wow do these pet shops know how to make a killing $$ !

So far OLIVE and CASPER seem to be pleased with each other's company and considering they are male and female Blake is hoping for some baby budgies in the near future ... I'll keep you posted.

I can't believe how fast the weeks come around ... back to the usual weekly routine tomorrow!!

Have a good week.

Cheers,
JULIE x

Happy Birthday Karen

Today is one of my dear friend's birthday ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN :-)))
Unfortunatley this has been a difficult year for her to date but it is amazing how a person who is such a gentle soul can have such an inner strenth to soldier on.
So ... have a wonderful day my friend ... you deserve it!
Julie x

A bit of a Challenge

I consider myself to be reasonably computer savvy, but this blogging business is proving to be a bit of a challenge!! :-/
I must admit, i am having fun working out how everything works ... this probably sounds daft for all those who are "old hands" at it ... I'll get there.
Well nothing very exciting ... just another wet day, another day of work, school, routines etc. etc. But we're all happy and healthy, that's what counts the most.



This is another of the layouts I completed at the Scrapbook Divas scrap day last weekend. These photos were taken of my boy when he was 4 (now 9). I am slowly but surely working by way through all of his photos. It only seems like yesterday ... how time flys. Whilst he is a beautiful boy at 9, i would gladly turn back the clock at the blink of an eye ... I just hate the thought of him growing up.

Well had better move on ... have some paperwork to take care of for the group holiday I have organised to the snow in September. Will tell you more about it later.

Happy scrapping :-))
JULIE x

Another Rainy Day

I know we need it ... but ... i am soooo over this rain. I wish it would move on to the inner country areas that really need it.

Just like any normal Wednesday, today has been pretty uneventful. We are all back into the school and work routine. Can't wait until this school term is over. The next school holidays are the start of a one month holiday for our family travelling the South Coast and Victoria ... can't wait. Lots of photos & scrapbooking!!!

This layout is from one of our recent day trips up through the Barrington Tops. We came across some lovely picnic spots, an old swinging bridge (Blake thought this was just amazing) and in particular a fresh flowing river which was lots of fun hopping across the rocks etc. Nothing better than a day spent in the country.

Enjoy the rest of your week ... try and stay dry.

Cheers,
Julie :-))

A Day of Scrapbooking & Friends

What a great way to spend a Sunday ... a full day of scrapbooking with my friends (one of which is also my sister)!
The photo on the left is of my sister (Karen) and I, the right photo is Janelle & Monica.
We attended a full day scrap at Teralba, hosted by Scrapbook Diva's (thanx Michelle).
Us girls love any opportunity to scrapbook ... I guess you could call it ME time.
We all completed a few pages/projects, had plenty of laughs (as usual) and managed to arrive at the correct venue without getting lost (miracle!).
In a few weeks we will be celebrating Janelle's birthday with a 60's theme fancy dress party ... it's rude to tell a ladies age but four decades is a fair clue!!
Well, this blog thing is a bit of fun but i still don't quite have the formatting of photos downpat ... I'll keep practising.
Off to work tomorrow, kids back to school on Tuesday ... Have a great week
Julie :-))

Catching Up

Well, this is my second blog and seeing as i'm getting a small clue what to do i'm going to "back track" with some photos etc from our Dubbo trip on the June long weekend.
We visited Dubbo for three days and this was our first trip away in our lovely little Jayco van. We had plenty of rain on the first day, a very cold second day and the sun came out for the third day. Our main purpose was to visit the zoo, but we did a few other things along the way (Dubbo Gaol, the movies and KidZoo play centre) which kept us busy and occupied.
Western Plains Zoo is just gorgeous ... I love the atmosphere with the animals in large areas which portray their natural environment. Most of the animals (well, the non dangerous ones) are only seperated from the public by gullies which prevent them from climbing up/out. I have to say my favourites were the giraffes and the zoo's new addition - baby zebra (which was 4 days old). The zoo currently has an offer whereby your entry tickets are valid for 2 days, so when the following day came out lovely and sunny we decided to go back for the morning ... and ... Blake was anxious to take a photo of the meerkats (they were hibernating from the cold weather the previous day).
Dubbo Gaol is a very interesting place also ... plenty to see and experience.
All in all it was a great weekend and we are now planning our next trip in October ... a whole month travelling the South Coast, Great Ocean Road and Victoria!
Cheers,
Julie

No Idea

Well ... here I go ....
Over the past few months I have got into the "blog" thing and enjoy reading other blogs belonging to my friends and others with a common interest.
It has taken me days to try and work out how to get my own blog up and running but i have decided to "jump in at the deep end" and give it a go.
So this is just a practise run for me to see if it works and then I can go full steam ahead and hopefully master the whole thing including photos etc. My trial photo is from a girls weekend away recently at Norah Head. We stayed at the lightkeepers cottage (leased out to the public for holiday accommodation) and this beautiful lighthouse is the view from the side verandah ... make for a lovely atmosphere when it is "champagne o'clock" at sundown !!
Cheers.
Julie x