Mum's brag book.

click on pics for larger image.

Hi
This is Mum's ( Nana Brag book), she loved it and now she can take it with her all year and show off her grandies, I had fun making it and found I had to stop myself from adding more and doing more, such a cute little keepsake for her. This is what the girls saw me making and then had to make one which I showed you yesterday. I had to hide the bag but as I was running out of time for them to stitch as well but I will help them make one in the holidays. I didn't put handles on it as Mum can slip it in her handbag to carry with her. I split apart a maya road heart album and put the circle clip in it, I like the flip albums.

We had drinks with Neighbours last night which was nice and relaxing, I came home about 9pm with the kidlets and left Tim to it, he arrived home at midnight, been shopping early this morning to beat the crowd and now we are just chillin which is about all we will be doing for the New Year too. We will have a BBQ tea just the 4 of us which seems so weird, Trin is bored without Rainee even though they have their share of squables but I am slowly each day getting caught up in the house and yesterday I did 2 layouts which I will have to share later, I still have 2 more christmas gift picss to show but will have to do that tomorrow, blogger only allows so much in one post.

Have a great New Year and stay safe if you are going out celebrating. Lets hope we all have a fantastic year in 2008.
Take care
Trace.

My proud Girls

Hi
Before Christmas while I worked on a heart book for Mum the Girls decided they would love to do one so I just gave them the instructions of each stage and for about 4 days they worked on their little albums and they are proud as punch of themselves. First they used my template to trace and cut the heart and then they painted it on the same day. Next day when the paint was dry they cut and glued their photos, next day they glued ribbon, buttons and other bits they found onto their albums and then the last day I punched holes and put the ring binder through and then we tied the ribbons, they used some other bits they had collected out of the bargain bin at spotlight about a month ago and then their books were finished. A great little non expensive project to do with your kidlets through the holidays, Trin being a little older did wonderful painting of faces and patterns for her inside pages whilst Rainee was happy to keep hers plain, it was so fun to see them really get into a project they loved from start to finish. Trin can't wait to take hers in for show and tell next year at school and what a wonderful way for her to show off her Brothers and Sister and Dog.

Tomorrow I will have some of my creations to share. I am going to scrap today while I have Tim home and Zay is being his shadow. Have a great day.
Trace.

Our Christmas Day.

What a Christmas Day it was, 10 kidlets and 10 Adults all in Mum and Dad's 3 by 1 unit and in stinking heat with a full roasted meal. The little air con battled to keep up with the heat and oven and 20 bodies but we all survived and had a pretty good day considering the kidlets had to stay inside for most of it. In the afternoon when cabin fever set in I sat outside with a little blue shell pool full of water and watched the kidlets while they cooled down having a paddle. They were really very good considering the lack of space and the heat. I think we have got far too big in size to try and have Christmas at Mum and Dad's but the sad part is Dad spent the weeks to Christmas building a great patio which would have given us plenty of room to eat outside and spread our wings but when the temps got to what they did we had no choice but to move it all inside.

Tim took the kidlets to the beach late Christmas eve for a swim and Mum, Dad and I went sick setting up things while they were gone, then we had another swim for 2 hours boxing day late arvo which really revived us and then again the next morning we went for another swim. The nights were uncomfortable trying to sleep and the kidlets had some bad nights due to the weather but we did survive and we are now home to cool sleeps which I have gladly welcomed.

Mum has Rainee and Keelan for a week so we have come home with Trin and Zay, we are now into all the cleaning up and unpacking, we feel pretty exhausted after all the build up, hype and heat but I am sure we will catch up on good sleeps and rest in the next few days. I just want time to slow down so the last 4 days of Tim home go slow for us. I am slowly getting around blogs catching up on people's Christmas, seems the other side of Australia had a cool one, lucky people. Tomorrow I will post pics of the Christmas presents I made for Mum and Dad and Aunty Carol. Well best be off and get more washing out on the line. Take care and enjoy the last days of the festive season it is certainly flying by.
Trace.

The first part of Christmas.

Hi
We are back home again, we had a great time away but boy oh boy the weather has certainly been very horrid to say the least.

First off is a collage of our Sunday luncheon with Tim's family seeing as we would not be spending Christmas day with them. We are missing Zaylan which is a shame as it would have been great to have him in the pics. But we had Amber instead so it was nearly 4 kids. LOL. Tim had his photo taken with his Sister but none with me which is a usual story when we are with his family, they all want me to click away. I did get in some but not with Tim as well, will have to study up about the timer. Don't you just love willing subjects to photograph, I just find I have to hold the button down and snap away just to get a few decent ones, they tend to think its me but they dont stop yabbering or moving and then FIL always thinks it funny to hold the fingers up over MIL's head, then the teen and pre teen just have faces of stone, all you ask for is 1 decent shot and to stay still 1 sec. Never mind this is the best of lots of them.

I will post again tomorrow with shots of our Christmas day.
Take care
Trace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Dear Readers,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your Families a

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2008.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your Family and Friends and stay safe.
Thankyou to the Girls who read this and take the time to leave me a comment, I so enjoy reading your comments.

Be back after Christmas with lots of pics and I am sure we will all feel very refreshed.
Take care
Trace.

Photo and Journal book.

Hi

This is a jounal I have completed for my SIL for her Birthday, it is a work in progress as I have gone as far as I could and now she will add all her own photos and final touches, she needs to journal and add her story to this about a year for her that has had a huge amount of changes in her life. I had fun doing this book and once the photos are on the painted and stamped pages they look really lovely. I used texture paste on the front and back and Jo Sonja paints and lots of dry brushing.

It was so fun to do and I hope when she gets it tomorrow she likes it.

Everything is nearly wrapped and packed for us to set off tomorrow, what a huge marathon that has been but thankfully I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Take care
Trace.

Creating, creating and more creating.

Hi,

We are getting through our week and all is now well in the house. I am finding out what sibling rivalry is all about having only a 6 and 5 year old girl in the house, they are great if we are out and great for most of the day but ask them to clean away everything they have played with which is left where they last played with it and a major meltdown erupts, they start at each other and then me and it usually ends up ugly. I think we are down to nothing left in the santa sacks at this point. LOL. Rainee is so much like Tim and she chats and chats till the cows come home and Trin is deep like me, she likes time to sort out her head through the day and just kick back in her own world with no one to bug her so she tolerates and enjoys the play for most of the day but it is so funny listening to them playing, it all starts off well and then suddenly T.V. draws Trin in (1 thing she does not have in common with me) and that is it Trin is transfixed into another world and Rainee is left asking her the same thing over and over again like a cracked record till Trin snaps back to reality as Rainee has got progressively louder and then off they go again with the little make believe play and then it starts again with Trin off on the T.V. planet.
LOL.

I have been doing lots of craft projects for gifts this week and really dont care much about the house work as everyday we have an early morning appt to go to and when we get home I just brush the surface on things and then spend any other time between things trying to get things finished for Christmas. Today we had 3 different appts to be out to so it was out, home, out, home, I got dizzy. Town is just madness with holiday goers already. You have to go early or it's bedlam. The Girls kept saying lets get out of here theres too many people. (country kidlets through and through).

I have made a mini album for Mum and Dad of their 10 Grandchildren and then a bag for it to go in so that has been fun. The girls come in each day dying to finish their little copy albums, they are doing such a great job, but they havent seen the felt bag for mine yet so I may be in trouble if they want to make 1 of them, may have to be an after Christmas project. I have made Family Christmas cards tonight for Christmas Day, I have 2 projects left which are not going to be as much work as the Grandkids album. With funds a bit tight this year it has made me get creative and I have really enjoyed it, I think I will have to be into this more.

Other exciting news this week is Kim Geling (sorry dont know how to do links) asked if I would be interested in becoming a Fiskars Demonstrator for the South West area so today I had a phone call from Lyn Dwyer and it is all a goer, I have my first demo at Spotlight Bunbury on the 21st Feb so that will be great to be out and meeting people and showing them the great Fiskars products.

Well better go and get some shut eye even though my head keeps coming up with all these projects for Christmas while I am trying to go to sleep. I am missing my Boys, so are the girls which explains the bickering, 3 more sleeps till we see the little one and 4 till I have my Big Boy back, woo hoo.
Take care and stay safe.
Trace.

My angels look after me!

Hi,
Things were happening at a steady pace until late Sunday night when I started to feel ill before bed time but thought nothing much of it until Trin who was having an unsettled night came and woke me for the 3rd time at about 2.30am and I felt that aching lurk in every muscle and bone, I ended up swapping beds with Trin as I realised that she had seen things on a DVD which she was having nightmares about. I woke about 7am and felt violently ill and prayed that seeing as it was raining that Tim's work was cancelled and he came home.

The girls were up by then so I went back to my bed a shivering, aching heap. About 7.30am I heard the most magical music to my ears, Tim's ute turned up home, he came in and said "get up sleepy head" but I could just mumble "I'm so ill" so for the 1st time in nearly my whole life I pretty much stayed in bed most of the day and slept off this miserable stomach viral bug that Rainee had shared with me and now I feel so bad she had to sit in the car with a bucket while we grabbed Christmas toy shopping on Saturday, I guess that was my punishment for not being very sympathetic to her. Thankfully the aches and shivers are gone today and only a grumbly tummy and lots of sweats when I was doing housework but other than that I think I am glad I did get to bed and deal with it yesterday. I just pray now that Trin and Tim don't get it as Christmas is getting closer and we are going to be around a lot of Family this time next week.

Trin had 3 fillings done today and she was a brave little trouper. She has 5 little ones left, I am horrified she had so many eruptions but the greatest thing is she is letting the dentist sort her teeth out but I found out today this dentist is going private practice next year so I guess if Trin will not trust the next one we will follow Alex to her new practice. So we came home and the girls coloured in their pictures the dentist gave them and I got stuck into some house work and then this afternoon I tried to finish off a present for Mum and Dad but then the girls decided they wanted to do a heart book so they traced and I cut out cardboard hearts and then they just started painting when Tim came home early again 3.30ish so we had a coffee together and then we went out the shed and went through all the boxes of toys that we had stashed out their from the farm and others we had taken out the house when they got too messy, I was so in the mood to chuck out, Tim said "you should get the stomach bug more often", he loves that our stuff is getting out of his shed, he so needs to get that sorted out and this house doesn't accomodate the stuff the farm house did and baby toys are no longer needed here. LOL.

After a good purge we had 4 big boxes of toys to take to the op shop so we had tea and when it got nearly dark, dropped them off and went and looked at Christmas lights, the girls were so tired but as we have had a busy day and tomorrow looks no better, I will so enjoy kicking back the week of Christmas we just have to get through the rest of the week, wrap presents, do some more appointments, pack, cook, finish off some projects, get some cards made and go to Christmas parties, onwards and upwards I guess.
Take care and stay safe
Trace.

Yummy Chicken Korma Curry.

Hi

I want to share this recipe that I tried out tonight and it was absolutely yummy, full of flavour and warming to the palate.

Chicken Korma Curry.
I used just over a kilo Chicken Breasts but you could use Chicken Thighs too if you like them.
1 large onion diced.
2 carrots diced
wedge of pumpkin, peeled and diced
big handful of snow peas
Hokkien noodles, large pack.
Jar of Pataks Korma curry paste.
tin of light coconut milk
dash of olive oil.
2 cups of water


First fry the onions and carrots in oil until onions soft, then add whole jar of Korma curry paste
add the Chicken and let the chicken simmer until it is sealed.

Add pumpkin and cups of water and put lid on and let simmer till the chicken is cooked through, then add snow peas.

Rinse the noodles under hot water and then add to pan with everything else, mix and simmer for a little longer until all the juice is taken up and then add the tin of coconut milk and stir until all heated through and the sauce has thickened. It is now ready to serve.

You can add any of your favourite vegies really. But be warned it is very easy to over indulge and feel really full after it is so yummy. Let me know if you try it what you think.

Tim went to work at 5.30am and appeared back home at 9am due to them not needing him at this other mine sight.
We managed to get toy shopping this morning even if we did have 2 girls with us and Rainee with a sick bucket, I was determined to do this shopping today as the way town has been it will soon be impossible to get anything. Rainee has some gastro bug, she has been flat all day so I hope it only lasts 24 hours, I have mopped the floor a few times due to her not getting to the toilet on time, she has now gone to bed with a bad headache so I really hope she is feeling better tomorrow. Praying no one else gets it either and glad now the boys are not here as I usually end up with them all catching it.

Well better go and watch a movie with D.H. he is calling me.
Take care
Trace.

Then there were 2.

Hi,
I have done our week in collage and what an array of things we have done, from graduations to Birthdays, Santa, sport, school windups everyday this week has been out out out and next week is looking like the same, every morning I have something on next week, accountant appt, dentist appt, Dr. appt, I have to do a Reflexology treatment thrown in their for my girlfriend who did my hair yesterday in exchange, nice when you can do swapsies, we had a laugh as when I have finished my 3 years of study she said we can do a swap hair do for a counselling session although I am sure she will find it hard to go past a Reflexology seeing as she is on her feet so much. LOL. Double click on pics for a better look and yes that is Santa coming down the slide and letting off a cracker, the kids just thought that was sensational. LOL. We had a young Santa and he was right into saddle club and so many things the kids just love. The look of delight on their faces was just gorgeous.

So I am down to 2 Girls for a week, I just can't believe how quiet it is well most of the time except for the occasional outburst of protest between them. I am finding this Pre Christmas season has been too busy and I will miss not having the time or energy to put into cooking some Christmas treats like I usually do, I may get a little time next Saturday but compared to last year I have just had far too much on to keep up with it all. I am looking forward to Christmas day and the week after when we can finally have some Family catch up time.

I am also looking forward to getting my Children all back under my wings again, I just miss them so much when they are not around, I seem to be more disorganised and floundering around not achieving much at home, lost without them, Zay is my daily crack up so I have not been getting my laughs, oh well, I guess Christmas will be even more special seeing them all again and this year we have Keelan so I always love every second christmas more. I hope you are all getting through your lists, I am truly glad Mum is having Christmas this year as I think if it was here I could not manage much more than a sausage sizzle. LOL.
Take care and stay safe on the roads.
Trace.

Ta Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Hi
Well this is it, my Christmas tree project I have spoken about and will finally share with you, I didn't make Santa standing next to it but I thought he looks cute alongside it with his arm of presents too. I had fun making this and it is one of the few things I have imagined in my head and then put the exact thing together. I only wish I could have got hold of a wooden Merry Christmas or Joy or Peace to go up the top but they are not to be found around here so I got the next best thing. This was so much fun playing with paints and lots of other goodies, I like starting with cardboard and making something really pretty, it is really rewarding.

My glowing angel is very different but still cute I think. LOL.

Well the next hectic week is about to start and I must say that this time tomorrow night I will be relieved to have a busy day behind me. I have to go with 30 odd year 6's tomorrow to the park for their class celebration so that should be interesting and then get back to school in time for Rainee's Kindy Concert and graduation. Then so on the week will flow with each day full.

We had a great weekend in Perth. Keelan is just amazing with Tae Kwon Do, Tim took a video of it and I snapped away with my camera so we have all bases covered. We showed Mum, Dad, Brad, Kim and Family the video last night and it was so great for Keelan also to see himself on film. It was such a great grading, I am amazed at the skills of the black belts. I just hope Keelan will stay passionate about it. Tim is thinking of going back to it next year, I hope he does as that will inspire Keelan to put more into it also.

Last night and Today we had Birthday celebrations for my Dad, I think I gained another couple of kilos with Mum's cooking and baking that she did with Zay. It was sad leaving him today, he is so missed by this Family, everyone was so excited to see him on Friday that we were like a frenzied mob of Sharks trying to all get enough of him, he is certainly 1 very loved little Man. But it is so great for him to have time with Mum and Dad, he has had the least contact with them of all my Children and he really absolutely ADMIRES his Grandad, he is his mentor hands down.

Zay calls Keelan "My mate" so today when we were showing our Aunt and Uncle the video of Keelan sparring he heard me on the video saying "Go Keelan" next we hear him yell "go MY MATE" it was so funny, he must have felt like it was all happening right then. LOL.

Okay enough chat about My little man or I will need tissues, glad to be having some time with the bigger Children this week to get them finished school and then holidays will be about our Family. It was great to catch up with Brad, Kim and my gorgeous Nieces and Nephew last night they are adorable and really play well with each other, Marcus is just adorable, he is 1 totally kissable, snuggable, loveable little baby. Can't wait for more cuddles at Christmas and I hope I am not sooooo tired. ugh.
Take care and Happy Birthday for Today Dad.
Trace.

Our wreaths.

Hi
This is my wreath on our front door, they are easy peasy but I think they are really nice, I would have loved a Kaiser wooden Christmas word to hang off it decorated but well they just aren't around these parts unless I travel out of town.

This one is Rainee's effort, she did a wonderful job for a 5 year old, the girls loved making them as they don't take a long time and it gets them absorbed from start to finish.

This is Trin's effort so they are now hanging in our living room for all to enjoy.

It is not slowing up around here at all, I think by next weekend I will be in a melted heap on the floor, Mum came on Monday and everything was so fast paced, she can't believe how much indigestion you get when it is meal times here as so much is always going on, Welcome to my world Mum. LOL. Tuesday we had the kids school concert, OMG this year they did it in 2 parts and well I have one in Pre primary and Year 6 so we had to be there for the whole concert, it was lovely but we got there at 5.10pm and left at 9.40pm, Tim came and picked Rainee and Zay up at interval and Trin later found out she should have gone home also, the last 40 mins of the concert she was so over it. Trin did a great job and smiled from ear to ear while she had her 5 mins of glory on stage singing and Keelan's class did such a beautiful song, he was in a group of 4 who sang one of the verses and it was so moving I was in tears the whole song, they sang like angels, very gentle and so sweet. The thought then dawned on me that next year he is finishing primary school and then I needed the tissues as the mascara was running out at a rate of knots, why when a moving, sad song is on do you think of something sad to set yourself off even more!!

Trin had the dentist this morning so Mum took the other 2 to school then headed back home with Zay, he is staying with my folks for a while, I have Dr tomorrow, a sore throat for 3 weeks is giving me curry then waxing chamber tomorrow night ouch. Friday is pick up book lists from school then home and pack for Perth on weekend, Keelan has Tae kwon do grading which he is packing it about.

Next week is a right off with something for the kidlets at the school for Mon,Tues,Wed and then Thursday is another appt for me and Friday is getting Keelan ready and off to his Dad's for 10 days. It all seems like pure insanity the amount of stuff you have to fit in with school breaking up and sports events breaking up. Then Rainee brings home an invite for a Birthday in January today PLEASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE can we just stop this dam train right now. But I know that anyone reading this will have a diary that looks just like mine because that is just part of being a Mum in December.

Take care all and don't try jumping off the train while it is moving, stay safe in this madness.
Trace.

Mega scrapping

Hi
Tim worked Saturday for the day, so after a morning of squabling and arguing I had just about had enough so after lunch I put 2 to bed being Zay and Trin and Keelan went on his computer till 2pm when he had a mate arrive for a few hours to play and Rainee and I hit the scrap room and I power scrapped. Tim got home about 3.30pm and I finished off a couple more layouts and felt sane, happy, just plain human really after the mental morning I had and Trin and Zaylan woke up refreshed and happy and everything was back to normal. This flu we have all had just lurks and lurks and purely zaps the heck out of your energy so it was high time Trin gave her body a chance to replenish so the weekend improved from that point on.

The layout above of Zay was fun, just love that photo of him in his cool shades. Tim wanted me to scrap that one, I had scrapped another pic of him with his shades but this is Tim's favourite one, I have a big pic of this above my computer and just smirk everytime I look at it.

This layout I am really happy with, just love the colours so much, simple but effective and lets the pics tell the story, they are so cut these pics, I really wanted Rainee to stay out of the photo so I could capture Zaylan and Mikayla but she wanted to be in on the cuddle too.

This layout is missing 1 girl cousin unfortunately but I hope to get the 5th cousin with these girls at Christmas and Mikayla also has a dress the same, Nana and Grandad got the girls one each they are so cute.

Sorry about the flash on the pic and it is a cheeky pose, I don't think he was actually being cheeky when I took it he was actually talking to me but this is a face I see at least once a day ATM with some cheek being handed out to me. Toddlers, don't you love em.

So don't faint or get a shock to see so many layouts, LOL I actually can do it if I put my mind to it and I am inspired to continue to keep using this stash before I buy anything else. It is really hard to stop saving it all as my favourites any longer, it has to be used.

I have my Christmas decorations ready to go up on my next post so stay tuned. We put up our Christmas tree yesterday but I am so over this optic fibre tree, Tim's purchase a few years ago and it has been great with little ones up to now so they didn't fiddle with the ornaments but next year is definitely time for a real one and then I can get my ornaments back out, Rainee really wanted a real one this year but we are making lots of other decorations so that has to be alright for this year.

Take care
Trace.