Scrapniques

surprise!

2007-08-06T11:29:00.001+10:00

catch up with me here now!

I have BIG news!

2007-07-21T08:22:00.000+10:00

I just had to share!

There is a new scrap store just up the road from me. For all you locals it's Heaven Scent on Dorset Road in Croydon South. It used to be a VERY small store in Kilsyth - Clair you may know it.

Anyway, a friend of mine spotted it and told me she was going there last week, so I asked her to put a good word in to the owner about my work and teaching. She did that for me and the owner told her to send me in with some of my work to show her.

So anyway, I went in yesterday afternoon and showed her about 15 layouts. She said they were all completely different to the other teachers work, so she wanted me. She asked me to come back last night to chat with her more about it.

So off I trotted last night and we chatted some more. It ended that I will be teaching every second Friday night. Next month I am teaching 3 classes there. I had the freedom to grab anything I wanted in the shop to use for the sample, all free of charge. It's just that the samples are not my property when finished, they will belong to the shop and be up on display to promote products. But that's cool with me.

So, this is what I am doing. First class will be a simple layout teaching covering chipboard and distressing the edges. I can't believe the other teacher hasn't already done this! Second class is a daisy flower mini book. Third class is a altered clipboard. I have plenty more that she wants me to do though, but I will let you know about those closer to the time.

So for all you locals... drop in to the shop. It's small at the moment cos she only just moved form a tiny shop, but will be expanding. Once my classes are finalised I will post the details on here again.

In other news... it's my 6 years anniversary today! Happy Anniversary Israel! Love you lots babe!
He gave me a little cupcake case filled with candy and a frame with a beautiful poam and a nice pic in it. I will scan it to show off later.
I haven't given him anything! *BLUSH*

I really should go now though... will be back later!

Scrapniques Classes Info

2007-07-19T22:13:00.000+10:00

Okay, the voting is now open for the class 2 homework kits! Pop on over to the Scrapniques Classes Blog to have a look and then send your vote to me asap.

There is also info over the about a crop I am holding - check it out!

Web Album is ready

2007-07-17T14:09:00.000+10:00

Check it out... July Holidays 07

Once into the album, you can click on the indivual photos to see them bigger, or you can even view a slideshow.

Hope you like!

(The following are just some of my fav's from the album)

Terrific tuesday!

2007-07-17T12:43:00.000+10:00

It's raining, but that's not spoiling my mood for today! I am so happy!

I just went up to my LSS to buy some more supplies for my next Scrapniques class. I was telling Maxine how I am now runing classes at home and that my next one is on Bleach, and to cut a long story short she wants me to run classes there! She wants to book me in for a wednesday in August!
I just need to do a sample using products from the store. How amazing is that!

In other news... I am just finalising the photos on the web album from our holiday. They should be up tonight. Sorry for the delay.

Just some news about the kids now....

Chloe is soooo funny. She is constantly coming out with wise cracks. For instance, she tells me when the traffic lights are green and says "Go Mummy, Go!", also when we were driving to the scrap shop today, I told her that we were going to see Maxine, and she asked "Mummy, does Maxine love me?" I of course had to say yes!

Gemma is a little box too actually! She says muma, dada, baba, uh oh, and also mimics a lot of other sounds we make too.

Ashca isn't talking as much but is very very close to walking! She also just started clapping hands the other day, very cute!

Ashca and Gemma are now on cows milk for their bottles, we now go through HEAPS of milk!

That's about all the goss happening for now.

I better go and get some work done before Cam comes over this afternoon. He is coming by after school to watch Shrek and eat popcorn with Chloe and then he will get picked up to go to Soccer from here.

Will be back later with the web album.
Dannii xx

Home again!

2007-07-16T19:24:00.000+10:00

I have actually been home for 4 days now, but only now getting the chance to update my blog. And that's only cos I am ignoring housework!

It's really great going away, but it sucks coming home cos there is soooo much to do. All the washing, restocking the pantry and fridge, trying to gets kids back into a normal routine, and just general day to day stuff. But we are slowly getting there... slowly but surely.

Well, here I am to update the rest of our holidays. I have not got the photos yet as they are still on Izzy's computer, but I will be hopefully getting them tonight. There are a lot of photos, so I am planning on just putting them on a web-album instead of on the blog. So watch out for the link in upcoming posts.

So, when I last wrote I was at Dunja's, just basically bumming around on the thursday. I noticed that I mentioned we were going to go on the zig-zag railway... well we didn't end up doing that. The Blue Mountains are just too darn cold at this time of year to be doing outdoorsy stuff like that! I ended up having a day sleep, and Izzy and Sean just played computer games. Then on the thursday night Dunja and John came home early as it was John's birthday and we had a nice dinner and some cake for him.

Friday morning we packed up and left Little Hartley and headed just a short distance away to Kurrajong. I think it's only about 30 mins away. Izzy's aunty and uncle live there so we spent a couple of hours with them having lunch. It was a gorgeous day so we had lunch outside in the sun. The kids loved playing around there and we got some gorgeous photos.

Friday afternoon we headed to my aunty and uncles place in Castle Hill, but on the way there, dropped in to see my uncle at his Video Ezy store, and he gave Chloe a free ice cream which she loved of course! Friday night we had a nice dinner with my aunty and uncle, and also my cousing Heather and her GORGEOUS family. Unfortunately my other cousins Fiona and Doug were not able to make it. It would have been great to see them, but hopefully next time! My kids and Heather's kids all played so well. Jordan, Heather's son who I think is 5 or 6 said he liked Gemma the best - it was so funny!

Saturday we packed up again, and headed off to Bicentenial Park in Olympic Park for a picnic lunch with Israel's family. Not everyone was able to make it unfortunately, but still a lot did make it, which we are thankful for. It was a fun day filled with baby talk (2 of Israel's cousins are pregnant), kite flying and lots of yummy food. We don't see Israel's family a lot, but it's great when we do.

After the park we headed over to my Dad's place in Dee Why. We didn't get there til just before the kids dinner time, so when we arrived it was a bit chaotic trying to get food prepared for them. But once all that was done we had Christmas in July. In true Dad style, we all got spoiled! Then we sat down to an amazing dinner with 4 types of meat! It was very extravagant, again typical of Dad! It was wonderful. I was thinking of staying up and watching a movie that night, but I had too much wine and just crashed in bed instead.

Sunday, we decided to head over to Bondi so Izzy could have a skate, but just as we arrived there it started raining - which isn't good for skating! He did manage to have a bit of a skate, but nothing too much. We ended having a lovely cafe lunch though. I had a mushroom omelette which was yummy yummy!

Sunday night we went to my Aunty and Uncles for dinner. I love spending time with Steve and Pip and there family, they are such a crack up! I always feel very comfortable there, it's great. Chloe was very well behaved there too, which is always a bonus! Hehe!

Monday we had to head off from Dad's early, well 9am, as we had a 3 hour drive up to Nelson Bay to see Israel's grandma. It was really lovely to see her again, but unfortunately I was very sick with a head cold. I had been sick for most of our holiday but this particular day was my worst. I was so clogged up in the head I couldn't think, and of course the kids were still sick too, so not too easy to deal with, so it was a bit uncomfortable at Grandma's. Having said that though, I am still very happy we spent some time with her. I just hope she doesn't get sick too!

Monday night, we drove down to Gwandalan which is just on Lake Macquarie and spent the night with Israel's cousins. On the way there, we also drove through Cooranbong, the town we lived in before moving to Melbourne. Not much has changed, except for the damaged caused by the floods. Oh actually the Mobil service station that Izzy used to work at is now a United, and owned by different people!

Anyway, back to Israel's cousins - Steph and Steve. They are a truly wonderful family to be around. So calm and easy going - I love it! There kids are just gorgeous too. They adored our kids and all played so well together - it was beautiful to watch.

We were meant to spend Tuesday night with my Godmother and her family back down in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, but they were too sick, so we ended up staying another night at Steph and Steve's - so that meant that we could relax on Tuesday, which was super nice. We ended up going to Frazer Beach. The bigger kids and Israel made a dam and Ash and Gem ate sand. It was the first time Ashca and Gemma had been on a beach I am pretty sure, so it was all new to them. The sun was out so we managed to get some really nice photos there too. But it did get too cold eventually, so we all headed home again. We had a lovely BBQ lunch and then headed off to Tuggerah for some retail therapy. I bought a few things which I am really happy with. But my fav thing is my neice's 1st birthday present. I bought her some clothes, which I think are gorgeous! I can't wait til summer and she can fit them!

Since we were still up on the coast on Tuesday night, we decided to visit some friends of ours in Cooranbong after dinner. We left all our children at home with Steph and Steve, and headed out for about 2 hours. It was great to see them again. Donna is pregnant and starting to show a cute little baby bump. It makes me clucky again! No Dannii! NOOOOOO!

Wednesday we had a huge day of driving. We had to drive all the way from Gwandalan to Jindera, which took us about 10 hours! We stopped a lot though. Fortunately for us, our kids are pretty good travellers.

Wednesday night we arrived Cynthia and Paul's all starving hungry and a bit wild from our long drive. Our hungry was quickly met with a yummy meal of Corned Beef - oh I love corned beef! Then once the kids FINALLY went to bed, we played Bang, which is so much fun. I so have to buy that game!

Thursday we spent the afternoon at Beechworth, which I must say - I LOVE THAT TOWN! I could have spent forever there! The toy shop and lolly shop there are both amazing! Along with spending up at the toy and lolly shops we also went to the old brewery which now does cordials. We taste tested a few and ended up buying the Rhubard and Apple one and the Portello one. Very noice!

We ended up staying in Beechworth for dinner and having a scrumptious chinese dinner. Then once the kids had there bottles, we headed off for the last leg of our adventurous trip. It was just a 3 hour drive back home, so it was quite easy. The kids all slept the whole time and Israel slept a lot of it too. But the best bit was at the end of it... we were HOME!

Sorry it has taken so long to update this, I hope you weren't bored, sorry if you were!

I will try and get this web album up and running asap for you all to see.

And I will try and be back in the next few days to chat about other stuff too, until then... keep smiling!

Dannii xx

On holidays!

2007-07-05T09:52:00.000+10:00

Hi all! Here I am at the beautiful Little Hartley in the Blue Mountains of NSW. We are staying at Dunja and John's house, which I must say is such a gorgeous country home! And they have been so hospitable too!
Israel is out 4WDing on the track that Sean has for his paddock basher, so I thought I would jump online and update my good old blog. Unfortunately we have been slack with taking photos so I havn't got any to show off, but hopefully we will take some today. You will just have to put up with a verbal account of what has been happening.

Well to start with, Tuesday we set off for our big trip. We were going to leave home at 5am, but we had a really rough night with the kids. Basically Gemma was up screaming all night. We finally got her to sleep, and then ended up leaving at 6:50am. We drove to Benalla and then stopped at the beautiful Benalla Bakery for breaky. It was really funny at the bakery cos the family that runs it is full of multiples. Twins and triplets all through the family!

We then drove from Benalla to Jindera which is about 20 mins north of Albury. We stayed with Israel's cousin and her wonderful family. They have the most amazing house. It's bloomin huge I tell you! The kids all had a great time there, not too much fighting. When we got there though it became evident that Chloe sickness was maybe more than just a cold, so Israel took her and Gemma off to the docs to egt checked out. It turns out that they have a respiratory infection, mild tonsilitis and inflamed ears, so not too well. It explains a lot! We have now got them all on AB's and nurofen, so hopefully by the weekend they will be a lot better. We have already seen a good improvement so far.

Tuesday night we had a great time with Cynthia and Paul. We played a very interesting card game with them called Bang! It's so confusing at first but once you understand it, it's awesome. I am so looking forward to playing it again when we go back there next week! Has anyone else ever played it?

Well, Wednesday morning we were again off to a late start, but all for a good reason. The kids slept in! Gotta love that! We ended up leaving Jindera at about 10ish, so really it wasn't too bad. We were in for a long drive though. I drove the first 4 hours to Goulburn. We played Veggie tales for Chloe on the laptop to keep her entertained. At Goulburn, we stopped at the Big Merino (by the way, it's moved now). We had a very expensive lunch there, but it was nice. We then headed off for the last part of our trip. We drove through Black Springs and Oberon to get to Little Hartley. Israel's description of the trip was simply curvy and steep, oh and windy too! I actually got car sick for the first time in years! It was very scenic though. Chloe watched Madagasca during that trip. It was very cute to see her laughing at it with headphones in her ears! I was highly offended when Chloe told me I looked like Gloria the hippo though!

We stopped again at Oberon to give the girls some dinner, and we were spoiled with good old country hospitality at a little eatery... free frankfurt and lovely chats! But then once the girls were fed and had clean bums we once again got in the car. We only had a short drive this time though to Little Hartley. I think it was only about 45 mins to an hour. We also arrived there at the same time that Dunja and John arrived home. They work in Sydney city, so drive 2.5 to 3 hours to get to work, and then do it again to get home! I don't know how they do it!

We had a lovely pasta for dinner and got all the girls in bed. Soon after Dunja and John went to bed also, since they have to get up at 3:30am. Israel and Sean played around on the computer for a while, but I enjoyed the comfort of bed and soon fell asleep.

Today so far we have just been bumming around most of the day. The boys went out for a drive, and then Chloe and I went. It was so much fun, but oh my the car is absolutely caked with mud! We are going to have a tough time getting it clean thats for sure! We have taken some photos, will load them up this afternoon.

At 3pm we are also going to go on the zig-zag railway, which is appartantly like Puffing Billy in Emerald. A steam train trip up the mountain.

Well I better get off the computer now and let Izzy load up the photos.

Will check in again as soon as I can.

Time flies when your not having fun!

2007-06-30T18:35:00.000+10:00

Oh that title sounds horrible, but our last week or so hasn't been fun at all. We have had sleeping problems with Ashca and Gemma. Lets just say it's been quite horrid! However I am glad to say that last night was good, and I was talking to a friend today who gave me more survival tips, so hopefully things we be moving up from here.

A few other things have been happening, nothing too interesting to you guys probably. But it's the little exciting things that make my life worthwhile.

Gemma has started talking a little bit. She says "uh-oh", and the other night she said "bye bye". Ashca and her both say the normal "mama" "dada" and "baba". Previously they have just been saying these, but not in reference to the actual people. But I have noticed them saying "mama" just to me now, so that's pretty cool. Ashca has also started making "woof" sounds when she hears a dog. It's pretty funny.

Gem has also now progressed to 3 teeth (she got one up the top the other night), and Ashca still has 2 with no signs of any more coming through just yet.

Ashca has also been cruising around lots more now. She lets go of furniture and can stand for a coupld of seconds unassisted, but this is only when she feels like it of course! She has also taken a couple of steps on the odd occasion too. Not anywhere near wlaking by herself completely yet, but definitely a start.

Chloe has also been a great source of entertainment lately. She is talking so much! She is always coming out with things that make me laugh or go "awwww". The other night I was making her a choccie milk and she started singing. You may know of the kids christian song "Jesus loves me", well if you don't know it, it goes... "Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so. Well when I made Chloe her choccie milk she made up a new version of the song, it went like this... "Chocolates yummy this I know, for the bible tells me so. How gorgeous is that?! She is such a funny chook!

All the kids are little bit sick at the moment, which is probably a major contributor to the problems at night. I think they are on the mend now, so happy with that.

I haven't been doing a great deal of scrapping lately. I have been busy working on Ashca and Gemma's birthday invitations. Talking of that... we did a little photo shoot the other day for their invitations. We didn't end up using any of these photos, cos we found better ones from only about 2 months ago, but here is a little collage to show you what photos we did get.

The only other scrapping I have done for at least a week was this card...

Good news though... my "Love, Elsie" products arrived yesterday, so I think I will be scrapping with them very soon! Well at least once I get the courage up to do it. I have a lot to live up to to achieve her kind of look. I really hope I don't stuff it all up!

I also went over to Tracey's on thursday to celebrate James turning 4. Here is another little collage of photos we took that day.

In other news... Mum and Max leave for the US tomorrow morning. They are going to be gone for a month. It's going to be so weird not having Mum right around the corner or just a phone call away. I will miss you heaps Mum! The good thing about her going away is that she will be bringing me back Elsie's book "52 scrapbooking challenges". I am totally excited and can't wait to get it!

We are also leaving for a little holiday in a couple of days time. We are heading up to NSW for 9 days. We are driving so it's going to be ... ummm... fun? Well, how do you think it will be with 3 kids!? I will try and log on and do a quick post every couple of days while I am away so you can see what we are up to, but I don't know how lucky I will be with getting internet access. I'll see how I go anyway.

Okay, I have one more little girl to put to bed, so I better get going. Will try and come back again and post before we leave on Tuesday, but don't hold me to it!

some scrapping...

2007-06-21T21:53:00.000+10:00

Just popping in quickly to show off some scrapping I have done lately.

some cards first...

And now for the LO's...

(Some of you from my class may recognise these papers.)

And lastly a "photo frame thingy"...

I have done a few other things which I would really love to show off, but I am holding back as I may be entering them into the FK awards of excellence.

Thanks for looking!

dress ups, a tin, and a kid free cleaning day.........

2007-06-13T20:33:00.000+10:00

Oh my this week has been busy! I feel like I have had so much happening, it's hard to keep track of. Fortunately, my gorgeous Mum bought be a really beaut diary to keep track of all my comings and goings - thanks Mum!

Here are some pics of Chloe. The other day she came running out of her room yelling "Look at me Mum!" and this is what I found...

Apparantly dressing up like this looks "pwetty"! I must try it when I next go out... PMSL!

I held another class last night, as you probably already know! Here is my sample of the keepsake tin that everyone made at the class...

There are other pics on the Scrapniques Classes blog if you want to go and check them out. Plus there are the details for the next 2 classes too. Still spots available! Also, I am in search of people to help me get the party side of scrapniques happening. Here is a link to the post telling you all about what I mean. Email me if you want a class list. Also I can run crops with raffles and games too!

Okay, enough promoting for now... hehe!

Well today was a big day for me and the girls. It was their first day in family day care. They are going to be going once a week now, every wednesday. They babies seemed okay with it, but Chloe absolutely LURVED it! Put it this way, as we were leaving, she was yelling out to her carer Cheryl... "Bye Shewyl! Jum (thanks) for habing me! See you ned (next) time! Luv you!" - How adorable is that?!

As soon as I walked in the door to pick them up, Chloe ran up to me and showed me her bracelet that Cheryl made for her. Apparantly Chloe picked all the beads for it, and Cheryl put it together. It's her pride and joy right now!

So, what did I do in my spare time? Well it's not really spare time for me. The day is set aside for me to do things that I can't do with the kids, namely housework! However today I desperately needed to go shopping. So right after I dropped them off I went to Get Fresh (local fruit and veg store) Then I went to the meat Get Fresh right next door, and then to NQR on the other side. I then packed it all into the car and drove over to Kmart and Coles. In Kmart I bought new runners for Chloe (which I have to take back cos they are too small) a new bathmat, and a bulk box of washing powder. Then lastly I ventured through Coles.

Now this is something that I very rarely get to do. Going to many shops I mean. Usually because I have the kids I have to go to just Coles, cos it's too hard trapsing them around everywhere. But doing that means I am paying waaaayyyy to much for meat and vegies. So this way I was able to save a bit of money.

Then when I got home I made my house look very nice indeed! I mainly worked in the main bedroom and bathrooms cos they were pretty horrid. But I am proud to say they look darn good now! I also vacuumed the whole house and tidied everything as I went. The only thing I haven't done is the scrap room (which I will do tonight) and the toy room (which I think is better doing with Chloe so we will do that tomorrow).

Oh my, I have rambled on quite enough already. I better shut up!

Will come back later...

They all went well there. The biggest giveaway that it went well is that they all had an afternoon nap. I think if they were unsettled they would not have slept. So that was a relief for me!

The winner has been posted...

2007-06-12T09:32:00.001+10:00

for the class one homework kit at Scrapniques Classes blog - check it out!

A bit of scrapping...

2007-06-10T21:03:00.000+10:00

I have done a bit of scrapping, so I thought I would share...

Firstly, here is the card I made for Tracey's birthday last week...

And here is the present I made for her. It is a mini canvas trio.

Next is a LO I just completed. It was for a challenge over at 3AS
For the Queens birthday long weekend we have been challenged by Rosy and Jo to do a page containing the word "Queen" in the title, it also has to have bling and pink on the page too. There are some gorgeous pages coming out! Check them out here. We have until Monday night to upload them so there is still time for you to give it a go if you want to.

Well Israel is on his way home from work now, he has been at work all day today and will be there all day tomorrow too. It's report writing time so it's a bit crazy. Then he has all the end of term stuff to do, plus we need to start getting things organised for our big trip up north in 3 weeks time. I am so excited, it's going to be such fun!

Alright, will be back tomorrow.

Oh, before I go, a little reminder... if you haven't voted for the class one homework pages over at the Scrapniques Classes blog, you better get on with it! Hehe! Voting closes tomorrow at midnight!

drool...

2007-06-07T13:14:00.000+10:00

Okay, I have just been bumming around on the puter, and was checking out Red Velvet Art, when I saw their new kit.

Now I don't usually think about ordering from the US, but oh my, I want this one!

Here is the link...

I tried to calculate how much the products alone would cost here, and I think it would be close to $60. Now the kit is $30, and then I would be charged $10 for postage, so that comes to $40. Now that's $US, so lets convert it now... and it is $47.26!

Now that's still cheaper than if I bought it all here. Plus, the kit has been put together by some of my all time favourite scrappers!

Oh so tempting!

Busy Busy!

2007-06-07T09:27:00.000+10:00

Oh my, my life is busy at the moment! Good busy though, I am having lots of fun organising all the scrapniques classes stuff!
By the way, thanks so much to everyone who has already voted, you are awesome! And if you haven't voted yet, get that butt into gear and EMAIL me!
The blog header comp closes tonight. I have 2 fabulous entries so far, but still don't let that stop you entering! Entries need to be in by 6pm, but email me if you want to do it later tonight and I will hold off judging. I know most people like to scrap at night.

Well I went to Cheryl's funeral yesterday with Mum and Cam. It was so sad! But it was really nice to see how many people were there. To either show there respects to Cheryl, or to support the family. The place was totally overfilled, and it was definitely not a small room! Cheryl was such a fantastic lady and will be dearly missed!

Then last night I went to Tracey's for a very relaxing night of scrapping and chatting. I did more of Ash and Gem's invitations. They are looking very good! He he!

Well I am just waiting for Ashy to wake up from her morning sleep and then the girls and I are going out galavanting! First stop is Get Fresh (fruit and veg shop) and then we will head off to Spotlight. Then back home for a nap, then we might go for a walk to the post office.

I haven't done much scrapping for myself for a while, so I think I might sit down in front of the telly tonight and do some!

Anyway, this is about all I have to say.

Until next time... keep smiling!
Dannii xx

Voting is open!

2007-06-06T10:06:00.001+10:00

Please go to the Scrapniques Classes blog to vote for your favourite page!

Scrapniques Classes Blog

2007-06-05T19:28:00.000+10:00

I have finally started up a blog just for my classes.

Scrapniques Classes

I have a little comp on there at the moment, so check it out. I would love it if everyone I know could have a go at it!

I will also be putting the homework pages from my last class up there in the next day or so. I will be asking everyone I know to vote for one page as the winner. The winner will get the next kit for free! So check in again tomorrow night as I should have the pages up by then.

get your photos printed!

2007-06-05T13:40:00.001+10:00

I couldn't resist telling everyone I know about this cool sale!

Camera House is having a sale. They always have special deals happening, but this one is cool! A good one for all your scrappers out there!

Go to Camera House and then click on the Prints online tab to take you to the place where you order your prints.

Enter the promo code WINTER into the print@camerahouse ordering wizard to access this amazing special!

Offer valid from Monday 4th June 2007 - Midnight AEST Sunday 24th June 2007.

Have fun!

Happy Monday!

2007-06-04T09:13:00.000+10:00

Hi all... how was your weekend?

Mine was busy, as usual!
Saturday was church, and then in the afternoon Israel had a meeting back at church. I stayed at home with the cranky kids. It's mainly Ash that's out of sorts at the moment, it's so draining!

Then Saturday night Shannon and Israel went out to the city to do some photography, and Jodi and I stayed at home and scrapped. I got Cat's journal done, so I will be posting that off to you today or tomorrow Alison!

It was kind of bad on Saturday night. The boys didn't get home till late, so Israel and I didn't go to bed until 2am. Then the kids had a shocking night. They started cracking it at 4am, and then finally at 5am I gave Ashca and Gemma breaky. Israel gave Chloe a snack and took her back to bed. I got back in bed again from 6am to 8am. So I got a huge amount of sleep, 2 lots of 2 hours! The problem was, I was meant to get up at 7am to get everyone ready to leave for the Zoo at 8:30am, but I didn't set the alarm, so I we didn't get up til 8:15am. It was such a mad rush to get everyone ready. We ended up leaving at 8:55am, not too bad considering!

So, anyway, we spent Sunday at Werribee Zoo with the Kaplan's and the Winch's. It was such a good day. That is definitely the best Zoo we have been too! The kids all had a ball, even Ashca and Gemma! I will have to come back later and post pics cos I have to upload them still.

Before I go though, I just want to post about my good friends Nick and Miranda. They have finally joined the blogging world, if anyone out there knows them and wants to read it, here is the link... Dunstan's World

Okay, it's time for me to get some washing on. Back later!

It's raining, it's pouring!

2007-05-31T15:59:00.000+10:00

The sleep deprived Mum isn't snoring! PMSL!

Oh it's so good to have rain, I just hope it gets to the catchment areas! But all you Mum's out there, do you find the kids go absolutely nuts when it rains? My kids do. Chloe gets cranky cos she can't go outside, Ashca gets very sleepy, and Gem doesn't sleep and goes silly. They are all totally different! I love it! It makes me laugh.

I have just been out to Spotlight with Bec and Esha. Bec had to get some stuff to make her belly dancing outfit for a show she is doing - way to go Bec! And I got the supplies to make the invitations for Ashca and Gemma's party. I wont be giving them out for a month, but I have lots to make and I didn't want to rush it. So I am getting sorted now. I think they are going to look pretty cool, if I don't say so myself! LOL!

Well I have the toy party tonight and the house is chaotic, so I better get my butt into gear and at least try and make the house look presentable! Wish me luck!

Dannii xx

so sad!

2007-05-30T14:26:00.000+10:00

I just can't believe it! My cleaner was murdered yesterday!

She was such a kind and gentle lady, I just don't get it! It's horrible.

If you want to know more about what I am talking about then you can read it here, I don't really feel like putting all the details on my blog.

I have been meaning to come on and do an update for a few days now but time got away from me until now. But now I just don't feel like typing about my mundane life. I will come back later and fill you all in on what's been happening.

Update

2007-05-29T15:43:00.000+10:00

Well it's been a while since I last posted. It was first because I was having a really tough time with Gemma, I think most of my readers know about that. Well that sorted itself all out after just over a week, but then once we all recovered from that, I had a crap load of housework to catch up on. It's hard enough to do housework with 3 littlies, but with one being so clingy it was impossible!
Then the last few days I have been using all my spare time doing some big jobs around the house. I rearranged the dining room a little bit, it looks much better now! I also did some rearranging in the toy room. I move the books into Chloe's room and got Israel to move the big furniture around. And now I am working on my spare room. I have decided to re-claim it as my scrap room. But now I also have the portacot permanently set up in there as well as the single bed and also need to store all the KMBA stuff in there too. Let me just say it's chaos in there! Hopefully I will get most of it sorted by the weekend though.
Also, last weekend we had Jodi's baby shower. It was such a lovely afternoon! They got spoiled rotten!
So there you have it, that is why I have been MIA from the cyber world lately.

I have a bit of a busy week coming up. I have a learning ladder party on tomorrow night. I was meaning to post about this about a week ago and make it an open invite to anyone who wants to come, but I forgot about it. It is still open to anyone that wants to come though! Felicity? Angela? Just let me know by email or phone or whatever.

Then this weekend we have the usual friday night dinner with the Batten's. I have decided to make a creamy pumpkin soup, a lovely winter meal! Saturday will be church and then Sunday we are going to Werribee Zoo with the Kaplan's for Coby's birthday. I am really looking forward to that.

Oh I also need to update about something I organised this week. I organised for the girls to go into family day care for 1 day a week. They will be going every wednesday from 9-3, but it doesn't start for 2 weeks as their carer is on holidays at the moment. I met with her and another possible carer yesterday and I had to choose which one we wanted to use. Cheryl (the carer we chose) was by far the best suited to our kids. I have had mixed responses about my decision to do this, but I feel it is going be good for the kids as well as good for me.

Also, Clair tagged me ages ago, but I haven't had a chance to do it until now. So here goes... I have to answer these questions...

1. Four of my favorite jobs
2. Four of my favorite local places
3. Four of my favorite foods
4. Four of my favorite international places
5. Four name's of people I am tagging

1. Four of my favorite jobs:
I have only had about 4 jobs I think, but here is what I have done...
1) I worked at fast food restaurants. I don't know why they are called restaurants, though! I worked at Macca's and Burger King. I loved working at Burger King but I hated Maccas, I actually got sacked form Macca's! PMSL!
2) I was a hairdresser apprentice for about a month, it was fun, but I left to do nursing. Looking back I think I should have done hairdressing instead of nursing.
3) I was a nurse at various places. I liked most of the work, but then also hated a lot of it too. I hated what nursing did to my back though!
4) Last but not least I was a call center chic! It was a good job. I was there for about 2 years and left to have Chloe.
Now I think of it, I have actually done a few party plan things as well, but nothing too interesting.

2. Four of my favorite local places
Goodness this is difficult question!

1. Mum's house! PMSL!
2. Spotlight is just around the corner from me, so that's a favourite too!
3. I have to agree with Clair, Lilydale Lake is awesome!
4. The Hills, by this I mean out Warburton way. I used to live out that way and it is awesome!

3. Four of my favorite foods
1. Chocolate
2. Pizza
3. Mangoes
4. Monte Carlo bikkies

4. Four of my favorite international places
1. Bath in England - awesome place!
2. I really want to go to Nepal, never been there though
3. I really loved the good side of Paris. You see there are 2 sides to Paris, the slums and the nice part. When I went there we stayed in the slums, but spent most of our time sightseeing in the good side. It was such a wonderful experience.
4. Wells, a little English town, so amazing beautiful!

5. Four name's of people I am tagging

Jodi, Angela, Felicity, and Cam

Okay, that's me done!

Until next time!

a note for a special friend...

2007-05-21T19:14:00.000+10:00

Hi Jeanette!

Just wanted to say I luv ya!

MWAH!

I did it!

2007-05-21T12:41:00.000+10:00

I survived the first class!

Thanks so much to Mum, Gran, Jenna and Maryruth for letting me teach you what I know, and also thanks for booking again! You are all awesome!

For all you other readers out there, I just have to tell you how good these girls were in my class! They all listened to what I had to say, and made me feel like I was actually helping them. I don't know if it was all a facade but anyway, we all had fun!

I made a sample page a little while ago, that you can see here. But when it came to the class, I tried to encourage the girls to use their own creativity. To put the bits and pieces where they thought it looked good. And all the pages turned out so different. I feel like such a proud Mumma that not only they completed their first pages, but they did it how they wanted to, AND they look darn good too!

Here are some pics for you to have a squiz at... sorry about the dodgy pics of them. It was late and I used the flash, so they are a bit bright, but at least you will get an idea of how good they are, much better than my first ever page that's for sure!

Mum's:
I love how she used the ribbon to draw attention into the pic.

Gran's:
I love her heartfelt journalling. It's beautiful!

Jenna's:
It's a bit hard to see because I took such a crappy photo of it, but this is a really funky page! Jenna created great visual interest with putting the E backwards, doesn't it look groovy?!

Maryruth's:
A wonky page to suit a wonky girl! Nah Maryruth, this is awesome! Lots of interesting bit to look at in this one!

Hope you all enjoyed looking at these masterpieces! There will be more to come. Our next class is booked for the 12th June at 7:30pm. We are making a keepsake tin! I have 4 spots still available, first in best dressed!

In other news: Saturday night the house was in a shambles, but all for a good cause! Ashca cut 2 teeth and Gemma cut one! The first teeth for both of them! Finally!

Home alone!

2007-05-20T15:36:00.000+10:00

Today is wonderful. I am listening to the awesome Missy Higgins (above) playing very loudly while I am surfing the net, and earlier I was scrapping. How could life get any better? Well it can! Missy Higgins is the only sound I can hear!

No babies crying, no toddler asking for juice, no husband yabbering away.

Why?

Cos I am home alone! Mum has taken the kids up to see Max's mum and Israel has gone to work! And I tell you what, it's bliss!

I have just finished getting the table set for my class tonight and I thought I would come and post some pics I took last week but haven't loaded them up yet.

Chloe playing dress ups

Gemma
I love how this one of Chloe turned out!

Chloe insisted I took a photo of her feet

My princess

Such a funny face Miss Ashca!
Trying to look innocent - it wont work Ashy!

Such a Chloe face

What's with girls and clothes?

2007-05-17T08:42:00.000+10:00

I just walked into Chloe's room to find the girls all playing with Chloe's clothes! What is it with girls and clothes? Even as young children, us girls just love clothes!

Visual DNA

2007-05-17T08:06:00.000+10:00

Saw this on Elsie's site, thought it was pretty cool, so I did one for myself.

You can click on the link below it to either read my stuff, or make your own.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Friends

2007-05-16T22:53:00.000+10:00

I just did this page tonight. It is the sample page for the class I am running on Sunday night. I hope it's okay? I really like how it turned out, but I am doubting myself whether the people attending my class will like it!

This is kind of a dodgy photo. The colours are a bit different IRL. Anyway, here it is...

Also... the photo was taken and edited by Clair

Finishing Touch Ideas

2007-05-16T22:38:00.000+10:00

I was going to enter into the call for a DT role here, but never got around to it cos it was at the same time as all the computer troubles.

But.... Dee, did enter it, AND she got it! Congrats to Dee! Dee is already so good with using embellishments, that I am sure she will astound FTI!

Anyway, here is a link to their cool site, check it out!

Finishing Touch Ideas

Self Portrait

2007-05-16T10:10:00.000+10:00

Elsie Flannigan has a very cool challenge on her blog!

You just have to take a self portrait and post it on you own blog and then her sister Emma will vote on which one she likes best and then the winner will get a cool prize! Love, Elsie products!

Not you all now how much I love these products and I am anxiously awaiting my order to arrive, so of course I HAD to have a go in this challenge!

Here is my self portrait, I just took it then!

A bit dorky, but oh well - gotta be in it to win it!

Catch you all later!

Sneaky Peak!

2007-05-15T13:35:00.000+10:00

Oh my goodness! I am sooooooooo unbelievably excited right now! I just went out shopping and I grabbed one of the things I needed for my class on Sunday and then when I got home all the supplies from 3AS arrived! I just couldn't resist showing it off!

We have the gorgeous Sassafras Lass Sew Fine papers, and then of course the fun and bright Basic Grey Color Me Silly papers, plus a few other bits and bobs!

Thanks heaps to Jo and Rosy at 3AS for donating the $10 voucher that will be given away as the door prize on the night! And thanks also to them for supplying most of the products that will be used for the class. These two ladies are awesome!

I still have to get some more cardstock and ribbon that I forgot to order. So I will be heading off to Spotlight for that tomorrow. Hey, does anyone feel like a shopping trip to Spotlight tomorrow? I love to have a shopping partner! Let me know!

Okay, off to unpack my shopping while the girls are all sleeping!

Mothers Day!

2007-05-14T13:03:00.000+10:00

I hope all you lovely Mummies out there had a wonderful day!
I did!

Here is a brief run down of my day...

First of all, at 7am I was woken up to Ashca crying that she wanted to get up, so I promptly kicked Israel in the shins! He got up and gave all the girls their breaky. They all came in at 8:30 to say Happy Mothers Day and give me my lovely pressies! I got some hairdressers scizzors and the new Missy Higgins CD, both which I was very happy to receive!

Israel then had to go and help a friend move house so I spent the morning getting the kids and myself ready for the day.

When Israel got home we headed out to have a lovely lunch with my Mum, brother, step-dad and my step dad's mum. I had a really good time there, and it was gorgeous food! But the best thing of all was that my girls were all really well behaved! I was a proud Mummy!

Here are some photos from lunch...

After lunch, we headed over to Israel's Mum's place. It was really nice. But unfortunately Immanuel (Israel's brother) and Kerry were not there. We got some really good photos while we were there, here are just a few to share...

So all in all, it was a lovely day!

Thanks to all those people who made it special for me! But most of all to my 3 beautiful girls for putting up with me as their Mummy! I love you all so very much!

Am I back?

2007-05-14T12:42:00.000+10:00

The reason I ask is because everytime I say I am back online, something always stops me blogging as much as I would like to!

Well hopefully now that I have a computer to myself again (thanks to my lovely step-dad!), I should be able to be online more!

Since I last posted i have done heaps of scrapping, but I wont bore you with it all. This is just my latest 4 that I did over the weekend. There are others that you probably haven't seen in my 3AS gallery (unless of course you are a 3AS girl and then you would have seen them).

This one is of my brother in law Samuel. I don't particularly like the LO, but I love the photo of him.

Gemma and her first teething rusk

Ashca at a friends wedding

Chloe and Coby, about how they just LOVE playing together

So much has happened since I last posted. Too much to catch up on!
Here is just a brief rundown though...

Me: I have been scrapping a fair bit. I have also been organising my scrap classes. My first one is this weekend. I am soooo excited! I am pretty nervous too though.

Chloe: She is going through a real testing and defiant stage which is totally doing my head in! Lots of tantrums and just generally being difficult. Hmmmm... just as I typed that, she ran up and hugged me then ran off to play again! She must have sensed what I was typing!

Ashca: She is our wild child now! She is so full on it's exhausting! She has also just learnt how to wave. It's very cute!

Gemma: She has had a tough couple of weeks. 2 weeks ago all the girls were sick, Gem and Ash mainly, and since then Gem just has not been right. She hasn't slept as well as she used to, and wasn't drinking her bottles much at all. I am happy to say though in the last 2 days or so, things are looking better for her. She is playing more, sleeping more and drinking more.

Israel: he is so busy with everything in his life these days. He is so busy with everything he has to do at work. It's a total misconception that teachers only work 9-3:30. He has to be at work by 8am, and often wont leave til 5pm or later, and then still has heaps of work to do at home! I really feel for him, because it's hard for him to find a balance between work and family. I think it will all settle down over time though. I just wish I could help him more.

Ummmm... I think that is pretty much all I can think of to say right now. I do have some photos to show of Mothers Day but I will do that in a new post. See you again soon!

I miss my puter!

2007-05-01T00:17:00.000+10:00

I just don't seem to get online enough these days. It's really very annoying!

But tonight (or should I say this morning? It's 12:19am you see!) I am uploading photos to be printed at our local camera store. And it's taking ages, so I thought I would jump on and finally say g'day again.

I finally caved in and decided that I can't cope without my computer so now my step dad Max is going have a look around at his work tomorrow to see if there are any old computers I could use. I don't mind if it is something crappy, I just want something! We will hopefully be getting me a new computer in a year or so, so if Max can get me one, this will just be a tie me through until then. I so hope he can find one!

Well lots has been happening here this month. We have been doing soo much it's kind of annoying actually. I am looking forward to having a weekend where nothing is on, but of course, something is always on! If we have a free night, we always find ourselves saying "hey lets invite someone over". We love entertaining!

This weekend just gone I was up in Sydney. And all by myself too! It was kind of sad being away from my chickies, I missed them sooo much! But I think I actually needed a break. Some time out. I missed Israel sooo much too! I found myself picking up my phone to call him at every opportunity. I think he actually got a bit sick of me calling!
The reason I was up in Sydney was for my grandfathers wake. It was great to see the whole family again, and we had a good time celebrating Jock's life. Lots of good stories told, and lots of yummy desserts!
Here are some photos:
all the cousins...

everyone...

The wake was on the Saturday night. On the Saturday, Dad took me clothes shopping for my birthday and mothers day. I got a whole new wardrobe. It's amazing how new clothes make you feel sooo good! We went a bit overboard money wise though!
Here is a photo of me and Dad. It's at the airport though, but I am wearing some of the new clothes we bought...

On the Sunday morning I caught up with lovely 3AS girls. Now that was a FUN time! I had such an awesome time meeting them all in real life! For those of you who don't know, 3AS is 3 Angels Scrapping. It's a scrapping forum, gallery and shop. I hang out there whenever I can! If you want to check it out, the link is in the sidebar.
Here is a photo of all us girls together:

Talking about scrapping.... sooo much is going on at the moment. Of course I have my usually albums that I am constantly working on. Then I am also involved in the 3AS circle journal. And last Friday I also got an email from Scrapbook Creations saying that they wanted one of my pages! I am soooo excited that I am finally going to be published! I will post on here when the mag is released. The acceptance has inspired me to have a go at the For Keeps Awards of Excellence. I don't care if I don't win anything, but I think it will just be good to have the challenge of going for it, there is a bit that I will need to do for it!
On top of all this I have decided to try doing some classes. I will be holding the first class here in a couple of weeks, and so far only have 2 people booked in, but hopefully more will book soon. It is a beginners class the first one, and then I will progress on to bigger stuff after that. I am charging $10 per person and that includes a ticket to the door prize. So I personally think it's a pretty good deal. Anyway, I give it a try, and if it doesn't work out, at least I know I have tried!
Another thing I am doing is I am now going to organise craft stuff with my MBA. First up I am holding a craft night at my house. It's going to be open to everyone with any type of craft. Basically for everyone to just sit arounf and do their own thing and have a good old chin wag! I am really looking forward to it!

Oh my oh my! It is soooo late! I really should get to bed!

mum-mum-mum

2007-04-17T09:49:00.000+10:00

Just jumping on quickly before my mothers group arrives...

I have some good news! Ashca is saying Mum-mum-mum! She was saying it all day yesterday. It's soooo sweet!
Gemma is trying to make the sound too, but not quite getting it. She kind of says "bub-mum-bub-bub", and she only says it when Ashca say mum-mum. She is such a little follower!

Talking about Gemma, she is not too well at the moment. We had a really rough night with her last night. She has a very runny blocked nose, that is obviously causing problems while sleeping. She is fine during the day though. Not much we can do for it except lots of fluids.

Okay, better get going, mothers group will be here any minute.

Blogs don't like me!

2007-04-16T10:33:00.001+10:00

Well here we are at yet another blog! I just don't seem to have much luck with blogs. The first blog I had kept failing so I changed it. Then the next one I just didn't like how it worked, so I tried to change to typepad, but it wouldn't accept my credit card, so I went to squarespace. I had a 30 day free trial that stopped yesterday. I liked the blog so decided to pay to upgrade it, but again it wouldn't work. I tried typepad again, with again, no luck! So here I am at the good old blogger that everyone uses. It's boring and doesn't have the options I want, but at least it works and I can blog again!

So sorry to change it on everyone yet again, lets see if this one can last though!

Israel is at CAPE/CASE (teachers conference) today and tomorrow and he is not allowed to take his laptop, so I have got it! It's very exciting for me, but it also means the housework is being ignored! Not good!

I have people coming for dinner tonight, so I really should get onto the housework. I will try and come back later and put in some recent pics and LO's for you to see.