autumn..........you gotta love it!

this is why I love this season so much...........

1. you get to see one of your kids live a dream

2. they play the part right + wear their recent purchase from a local op shop! (tassled waistcoat)
btw I have unleashed a beast in Ruby when it comes to op shopping now!!

3. having our own pumpkin patch + there is still more..........



4. nothing but blue sky's


5. playing + having a picnic in the park on Sunday arvo.




6. celebrating Kev's birthday on the last day of March.

8. and lastly cooler days + nights to be creative. And these were for the lastest Ezine for SBO .
I was kindly asked by Andrea to create some LO's using the new range of BG Marrakech.

I had some fun!!

and just a reminder a new dare will be up on the dare site tomorrow night. It's a goodie + we would love you join in + play. :)

Also congrats to Rachel + Kate for making the creative team for the Autumn Retreat.

OK I need to link you gals up!!

take care

Rach

always late to the party!

go check this out..............
http://scrapbookoutletnz.co.nz/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2720+ go have some fun!!

super busy here cooking up a storm of food for kev to take to dad's this weekend + the kindy gala.........I'm over cooking now!! Lucky for home made hamburgers tonight!!........+ a glass of wine + Project Runway!!!
and roll on the school hols.........I'm so super excited for them this time round as I'm doing something super special with some pretty awesome gals!!...........and as well we are all super tired + struggling with the dark mornings!!

and I've also been knitting, knitting + then some more.
teaching myself to cast on + knitting some tea cloths.............just gotta to learn how to cast off now!!

rach

socks are in order.........

for a day like today.

yep its cold + I so don't like it!! I have to wear more clothing!!

where is our warm march?

and already a snotty nose has appeared in our house + had 2 days of lying on the sofa!

I've been busy.

I have even pulled out my sewing machine.

And as I sat down to sew I realised it must be almost 18mths since I had used it on a LO. I think I did a over kill with sewing on the LO's back then!!

But this time I was sewing with material to make scrafs. Well it was meant to be 1 but the orders are coming in from 3 small people who thought mummy looked "cool" in her new scarf!!

And now we are adding felt!

I sew ......(hehehe......ok dumb pun but thats so me) enjoyed watching 'dancing with the stars' last night hand sewing some felt to the bottom of Ruby's scarf.

Ruby wanted a horse added to her scarf but I just couldn't get my head around a horse made out of felt that would probably turn out looking like a donkey!!

But I knew my girl loved her furry friends + remembered seeing some super cute bunnies on the Velvet Red blog class painted but Elise (oh yeah I did mention I was doing that?.........very cool btw).

So we had a go at drawing our own + made up some patterns to use on the felt.

Ruby is so awesome at drawing animals...............her horses beat mine hands down anyday!!

Still got some stitching to finish off. I love how these bunnies turned out + I think I will use them on something else.

rach

7, 8 + 9!

ok its only taken me a week to recover from scrapcamp!!

lots of laughs + late nights of talking + early starts!! All part of it though!

Thanks Lianne + Yo for inviting me to teach at camp. I really enjoyed teaching + had awesome students.

Meet some crazy naughty fun gals............my kind of ppl plz!! Infact we had a aweswome table + I loved them all. Thanks girls for all the laughs + making my weekend fun!

here's the LO's I did for the classes.

and finally here are the 7, 8 + 9 everyday shots for Vicky's challenge. I really enjoyed this challenge + it got me thinking about another challenge I'd like to do for myself. I do remember reading some where on Nic Howards blog ages ago, as in last year ages ago. A friend of hers was doing a challenge where you went around your home town + took pics. And then as I travelled through Hamilton I saw these cool stone features + it resparked this idea that I must do this for me + the kids. And even make them join in the challenge too as I have a spare camera.

so here's my last few everyday shots from last week.

Friday the 27th - Day 7

Driving to Rotorua we look up + see this. Not a great shot but thats what you get when you take a pic through the windscreen.

+ both Finn + Ruby say "hey thats like in the Cars movie". For those that know NZ well (not mentioning any names for the geo challenged ppl in NZ) but this pic was taken soon after we drove past the Whakamaru Hydro Village, slightly south of Mangakino.

5 mins later.............crazies in the car! And 5 mins before that they all looked like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths!!

Day 8 - 28th Feb.

11 years of happiness to the best dude ever!!

while mummy sleeps on a camp bed the family lives it up at the Novotal.

Looks like there was lots of fun to be had while mummy was across the lake.

photos taken by kev

Day 9 - 1st of March

last day of camp + getting ready to say goodbye to new friends.

julia the queen of LO's that weekend..........that gal was a power machine.

rach who just knows how to work the felt. she does a mean felt flower. I just loved that make + take.

me........when did my hair get that big!!

kate who just knew what to always say.........too funny!

Barb the local who had great taste in music + loved a good laugh too!

and then we travelled onto Auckland to see my sil who broke her back the week before.

thats what happens when the little ppl play with big 18 handed horses!!
she will be ok + is at home resting up.
great to see ya Steph.
then we spent the night catching up with friends in Puke who just happened to have a guitar in their hand when we arrived. They just wanted cheat entertainment!!
Thanks guys!!



so here I am a whole week later still recovering!! But I must admit our kids are such great travellers............but Finn must always travel in the back!! That way he can't annoy anyone!!
We do really love him but he's just the nit picker in everyway!!

And finally if you haven't checked out the lastest dare go + check it out.
its all about colour + we have a special guest dter this time round. I'll let you go there + discover who it is.



here's my take on the dare. darn scanner chopped a bit off top + bottom!

hope you are all having a great weekend. Long one for those that live in the Naki.

I'm off to try my hand at scarf making using the sewing machine!! if they turn out great I will share!!

rach

day 4, 5 + 6.

ok just got a tad busy at my place but still remembering to take some pics each day.

day 4.

this was spent in New Plymouth with my very funny new friend.

Love making new friends.

Love ppl that can make me laugh + laugh.

Love connecting with someone + realising that you both think along the same lines.

so we shopped at spotlight - me buttons + her backing for curtains.

we looked in at the Plastic Box shop............yes how I LOVE little boxes to squirrel away things in.

I purchased some rather super cute girly cubbie holes for Ruby's room.

we drunk coffee + treated ourselves to a lovely lunch.

we laughed + laughed.

day 5

housework was calling, kindy run + swimming lessons.

kev is doing a gig in March ..........love listening to him

I wear my mum aprons while I cook + I love to hear Ruby say 'oh mummy I remember Poppins wearing that apron'. I worry they will forget but this small reminder makes me realise they don't.

nothing could be more sweeter than a chocolate coated boy in the bath at the end of the day!

day 6

a normal day of kindy + school + NO after school activities today. YAY!

Preparing + packing for our weekend away.

today's everyday shots were taken from the same spot...............by my washing line after dinner tonite.

yesterday I spied a lovely wild flower growing in the long grass by the fence line. This weed reminds me of Kev, Brave Heart + our days in Scotland. Looked so pretty against the long grass.

one of my views I look out to while I hang out the washing

quite often I have a wee friend that follows me to the washing line. Twiggy.

I will have to play catchup when I get back from my long weekend away.
looking forward to catching up with friends + teaching my classes.
will share those when I get back too.

be good while I'm gone!

rach

ps just have to share that Kev cracks me up.............when we get that notification that someone has added him to facebook. I ask 'who is that?' 'I don't know' he replies 'never heard of them'............he is hopless!!

ok just sneaking in..........day 3.

hmmm where did Monday go!

ick I hit that alarm clock hard at 6.25..........snooze is bad ...........especially when you hit it twice + then you suddenly realise help is that 7.00 I'm seeing through my half shut eyes!!

yep sure is!!

ok looks like the kids will miss the bus (kids get picked up at gate 8.05)..............lucky for kindy run!

F + R are dropped at school.

then it's mr T's turn.

he wants me to stay for 9am mat time.............I think he likes it cause I know all the songs + actions.

yes I do all the songs + actions.

my boy is smiling + I can go home + perform household duties!!

ok what household duties was I talking about??

oh yeah those nasty pots I didn't wash up the night before.

does reading the paper count as a household duty??

so kindy is over.

just me + the boy are home till the school bus pulls in at 3.40pm

I get some time in the scraproom.

so this is where I remember to take some pics.

my late lunch.............peanut butter + banana on toast!! YUM!

feeding + watering the kids after school.

the homework.

swimming was late today................7.30pm.

Finn was in the big pool + Taidhg had a new instructor.

Taidhg refused to go into the pool + wouldn't tell me why.

On the way home I heard a wee voice from the very depths of the car (Taidhg has moved his car seat to the back back) 'I didn't like that lady'.

lucky we aren't doing Monday night swimming lessons again.

home + bed.

and sleep for me now.................hmmm i didn't sneak in on day 3!

the weekend is going something like this....

I have joined in on this idea............check it out. I really enjoy reading Vicky's blog + love the photos she takes of everyday life.............so join in lots of fun + so simple!

Saturday started with rain + a funeral of friends mum who died suddenly during the week.

it was harder than I thought.

my discarded shoes after the funeral.

now I just have to share these are most fav shoes in all the world + *sigh* they so beautifully coloured.........purple!!!

Finished this book!! Different for me but really enjoyed it.

even though it rained for part of yesterday it was so hot + someone who is pushing the boundaries everyway thought this was a good way to cool off!! ..........I love this boys sense of humour!

20 minutes later................

jam tarts made with nana from her cook book.

big brother burning rubber on sisters bike!!

and this my LO for the lastest dare...................new beginnings.

I went with some older photos of Ruby when she just learnt to walk at 10mths.

I used the Jan kit from Kennerroad kits + I was inspired how Lisa Garay used the clouds + buttons on one of her LO's.

and here was my version of Lianne's dare - 'what you learnt last year'.

mine was learning to let things go........don't sweat the small things in life...............don't make mountains out of mole hills.

and how happy was I when I discovered my fav TV show had begun...........well the week before (no one told me...........lol)...........Project Runway!!

rach

L.O.V.E + thoughts.

so I woke to a big smile + a whisper of "happy valentines day mummy" from my beautiful thoughtful girl.

and a love note made for me + kev got one too! And she made my bed while I was in the shower!!

and this arvo we made some love goodness for them to take over to Nana + B's to share tonight.........while we are out celebrating our wedding ann.................bit early but kev + I won't be together on the 28th ..............I'm in Rotorua + well he's minding the kids somewhere!!

goodness for the G.parents!

So this week our thoughts have being with all the ppl involved in the fires in Aussie. We have talked alot about the fires + how sad + scary it must be for them all. I know that the kids have said lots of prayers for them at school. I have even found myself with tears in my eyes as I read the paper or watched TV. I can't imagine or begin to imagine what they have gone through + what they still have to go through to make their lives as normal as it can get.

I got some of the new BG this week + look forward to creating some goodness with it.

Also I got a fab kit last mth + have a half done LO on my desk. Just need to create some more time for the scrapping.

And speaking of fab kits I got the most fantastic little kit from Nie this week. I just LOVE it!!

rach

Right now..........

it's Waitangi Day + I love a good public holiday but sadly Kev doesn't get the whole day off.......his girls still need to be tended too!! Fingers crossed the worker will loose his cast soon + kev have some milkings off!!

So we are back to school + a routine at last!!

Yes its a good thing but I miss the lets go with the flow thing all day long!!

I haven't done much in the creative department except push some pp around + try to match some pics............nothing is happening + I'm feeling frustrated.........I plan to do some this arvo once I sort Ruby's room out + put in her new desk (but a old desk - my great bargin off Trade Me).

But this is what our first week looked like back at school + kindy.

Monday

a visit to the dental clinic

Tuesday

showing us the new skills learnt at golf lessons

Wednesday

chaos in the house!!..............and some thrift buying for Ruby's room!! See that large picture there that will soon be a notice board for her room!

and someone having a sneak into the pantry!! (which happens often!!)

Thursday

dinner at the beach with friends.

Friday

A sleepin!! Wasn't I lucky!!

and for the rest of the weekend - the beach tomorrow + a birthday party on Sunday!

I hope everyone has a FAB long weekend in NZ + for those not in NZ enjoy your weekend too!!

Rach

p.s the first DARE of the year goes up today!

this is what summer is all about!

and this is where we are off too now!!
only 1 more day + week of the summer lefts............feeling very sad about it as its coming to a end too fast for me!!



working on classes for scrap camp in Feb. Look forward to it!



spending far too much time on facebook of late but hey I can as its the hols!



went camping at the beach last weekend...........had a blast + survived a storm in our HUGE tent!
made some new friends that were friends of friends. Sat into the wee hrs having drinks while our kids were all tucked up in their sleeping bags!! I LOVE camping...........fingers crossed we will be off again soon.








last of the hay goes in tonight! YAY!

right swimming + cupcakes afterwards!

rach

Rehash!

Yep I pulled apart + redid a older LO. Never done this before but I was never happy with the LO from the beginning. It was one of me as a baby.

Before

After Love all that sassa!!

In December I was asked by one of the girls on the Label Tulip DT if they could use my LO to lift. Nice wee surprise. I remember clearly having these photos taken by Susan Kepple (who lived at the top of my hill) on my mum's camera!! And I sooooooooooooo loved those shorts + top...............hehehe soooooooo 80's eh! I must of thought I flippen "awesome" that day!! ;)

Just a few LO's I completed in the last few days of 2008!

Had that photo sitting on my desk for a few mths now...........good to scrap it, as I love this photo.

and look another one of me (+dad)..............this time 1979 xmas day. I got a red Cruiser + how I LOVED this bike!

Ok so did you all get a shock to see that I still create!!????

I didn't do a lot towards the end of last year as I was so busy with the kids + their after school activites + I basically hit a brick wall about mum!

oh that does remind me I need to share that LO I did of mum + Ruby..................next time.

So what does 2009 hold for you? I stopped making resolutions along time ago as I always break them................so I'm just going to keep things simple + enjoy it!

I'm off to help out at a Cryptic dinner tonight...........should be fun!!

oh i have had a few ppl ask what was wrong with Finn. He had a Bronchial Virus + couldn't breath. Fun!

laters

rach