My latest layout...

I just wanted to share my latest layout. I love this photo - it was taken at Port Vincent as Kev walked Mitch, Harry and Jay back to the holiday house. I entered it in the Camelot Forum October challenge and won a $20 voucher to spend at the store!

Life is very relaxed at the moment. Both boys are enjoying kindy and Harry seems to be settling in (which is a relief). The garden is looking lovely. And the house is (relatively) tidy. It doesn't take much to keep me happy (grin).

Hope you are having a good week too,
Hugs,
Lisa

Camelot - lets go shopping...

By chance a few months ago I came across an online store and forum for one of my favourite scrapbooking stores in SA - CAMELOT! This shop has to be seen to be believed. Room after room jam-packed with everything you could possibly want. And just when you think there couldn't possibly be anymore you venture outside to a huge shed with row after row of paper shelves with every imaginable kind of card stock and patterned paper. It truly is like an Aladdin's cave!

Anyway, one night I was surfing the net and found their forum and so (of course) I joined. The forum is still very new and quite small. BUT the girls are lovely and welcoming and the moderators are clearly passionate about scrapbooking.

So if you are looking for somewhere to do a bit of retail therapy or if you want to find a forum to share ideas about scrapbooking and card making then why not visit CAMELOT.

More scrapbooking and an brief update...

Here is my latest layout. Each year just after the boys' birthdays I write them a brief note to include in their album. They each have an album for each year of their lives. Kev has pointed out if I keep scrapping at the same rate the boys will need a semi-trailer to take their albums when they leave home (grin).

Speaking of the boys - the first 2 weeks of kindy have been a steep learning curve for the boys and I. They have clearly found the effort of getting out the door by 8.30am each morning a bit tiring (they like long, leisurely breakfasts). A few times they have cried and asked to stay home, but we have headed to kindy anyway and then within a few minutes they are excitedly playing with their little friends. Well I should say Mitchell is playing with his little friends, who are all girls by the way. Harry doesn't seem that interested in playing with the other children and prefers solitary activities like puzzles, the computer or drawing. This is something that the kindy teachers and I are watching closely in case it becomes an issue. They are at kindy four mornings a week and on three of those mornings I go straight to the gym afterwards for 1/2 an hour. At the moment it is a big struggle because I am SO unfit, but the ladies at Curves are lovely and I hope to lose some weight and improve my overall fitness.

Apart from that I have found a renewed passion for gardening and am out in the garden most nights - weeding, hand watering or generally tidying up. The garden is certainly showing the fruits of my efforts and it looks very pretty despite the lack of rain. Goodness knows how it will cope with summer. I have found that my time gardening is very therapeutic and that coupled with my exercise my mental well-being has improved markedly. Who would have guessed I just needed some sheer torture followed by solitude to feel happy (grin)?

Well I better sign off now,
Hoping everyone has a lovely weekend,
Lisa

My latest layout...

Just wanted to share my latest layout.
Very simple, but I like it :-)

Microwaves and toys and other important lessons for four year olds...

Mitch and Harry recently had a very important lesson. I decided to check the emails(our computer is in the shed) and both boys seemed to be settled watching TV. So out I went and within 5 minutes I heard a frantic shout from Mitchell and crying from Harrison. So I rushed inside only to discover the kitchen was filled with smoke and the microwave seemed to be on fire. Closer investigation revealed that one of the boys had placed a Thomas the Tank Engine Helicopter toy with a large magnet on it inside the microwave and hit autostart. Apparently the toy had exploded into flames and the door had shot open. There were still flames coming out of the toy when I came inside - so I had to use tongs to dump it into a sink full of water. Harrison was hysterical because he had tried to take the toy out and had burnt his finger. Luckily he didn't get the toy out of the microwave otherwise I imagine the kitchen bench would have been burnt or worse. Once the emergency had passed I made the boys throw their toy into the rubbush. Somehow the microwave survived - a little scorched, but still functional. Harrison was so traumatised that a week later he still keeps saying he is sorry. Mitchell on the other hand seems quite oblivious to the danger and excitedly recalls "lots of smoke and flames Mummy".

I thought the day couldn't get any worse and after tidying up the kitchen and airing out the house we went outside for some fresh air. I popped inside (I should have learnt my lesson shouldn't I?) to get a drink for the boys. I heard Mitchell say "Look at all the buzzy bees" and then Harrison started crying. Once again I dropped everything and rushed out to discover that Mitchell had found the fly catcher filled with dead flies and containing an awful smelling liquid and had thrown it at Harrison. Poor Harrison was covered in dead flies and fly attractant liquid and was sobbing hysterically. So off to the bath for both boys! And a strong drink was the order of the day for Mummy!

I am left wondering what they will get up to next...

Another layout

This is my layout of Bonnie

Complicated...

My latest scrapping layout...




And here is the journalling. If you click on it it will enlarge so you can read it...

My beautiful Bonnie...

A few weeks ago my beautiful Bonnie had to be put down. She had lost an alarming amount of weight in under two weeks and appeared distressed and in pain. The Vet was extremely kind and offered that we could do all kinds of tests to try and determine the problem. But as I looked at my beautiful Bonnie's dear little face I couldn't stand the though of putting her through all of that just to keep her a little bit longer. So it was with a heavy heart that I asked for her to be euthanised. I stayed with her and told her how much I loved her and how she would soon be playing with Patrich and Missy. And then in a moment she was gone. Kev buried her under our grape vine and we planted my favourite rose (Angel Face) in her memory.

Bonnie was 15 years old and a much loved member of our family.

She had been with me through my first marriage. My divorce. My marriage to Kev and the birth of our boys. She was a loyal friend and a trusted confidant.


IF IT SHOULD BE

If it should be that I grow weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must be done,
For this last battle cannot be won.

You will be sad, I understand.
Don't let your grief then stay your hand.
For this day, more than all the rest,
Your love for me must stand the test.

We've had so many happy years.
What is to come can hold no fears.
You'd not want me to suffer so;
The time has come -- please let me go.

Take me where my need they'll tend,
And please stay with me till the end.
Hold me firm and speak to me,
Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time that you will see
The kindness that you did for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I've been saved.

Please do not grieve -- it must be you
Who had this painful thing to do.
We've been so close, we two, these years;
Don't let your heart hold back its tears.

--- Anonymous ---

The Nutella Thief...

I have recently noticed we seem to be going through more Nutella than usual. Here is a likely culprit!

I went for a shower and returned to the kitchen to discover that Harrison had pushed a dining chair into the kitchen, climbed into the pantry and retrieved the jar of Nutella for Mitchell...

Kindy

Well Thursday was the boys' (and Mummy's) big day. The first day at Kindy. We turned up with lots of other parents and children and waited for the doors to open. Harry was so excited and introduced himself to everyone there. Mitch just wanted to open his lunch box, despite the fact he had eaten one Weetbix and three slices of toast with Nutella for breakfast!

The Kindy Director met us at the door and introduced the boys and I to their SSO who will work with the two of them over the next 5 weeks. Melissa is about my age and the boys warmed to her straight away. Before I left Harry was drawing and Mitch was hammering into a pin board with Melissa.

I headed out the door and off to my Mums' group. I was SO proud of my boys that there were no tears shed... I just couldn't believe how far they have come and I spent the morning smiling.

When I returned to the Kindy the teachers were pleased to report that both boys had joined in all of the activities, had played well with the other children and had virtually ignored each other (which is apparently unusual for twins). The boys were so excited and asked to come back the next day.

It was such a sweet moment to savour. That despite all of the hurdles they have faced and all of the issues raised at the last team meeting, both boys are so sociable and confident. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment that Kev and I have done a good job preparing them for kindy/ school. While always mindful of future issues, it is lovely to take a breather and just celebrate the special little boys that Mitch & Harry have become...

Hugs,
Lisa