Well Done Kiddos

It's been another busy week or should I say a much busier week considering I am doing it all on my own these days. We are adjusting to life without Tim which seems some days are better than others.

Friday at assembly Keelan received a Certificate of Achievement which was great as it seems he has started to settle into Year 7 more now and is showing a desire to improve his work in all areas. Well done Keelan, Yippee. Rainee also received one for her care and concern for classmates. Well done Rainee, I am very proud of you both.

Keelan also got his picture taken with the Principal and 3 other students explaining how we are having an important week coming up with church hosting the World Youth Day Cross and Icon of Mary which featured in our Local newspaper this week.

Yesterday at Soccer Keelan played a great game until he was winded in the second half playing Goalie position, poor Keelan it really dampened a great game he was doing really well spurred on by the fact his Dad had come to watch him, I had just gone to drop Trin off at dancing when that incident happened but he went back on field again once he felt better. They won again, Woohoo, they have won 3 out of their 4 games now so they are going really well. Then to top off his week he won best player of the day and got a certificate, so that topped a pretty fab week for him.

Last night we went to my Girlfriends for tea and her Sister who I have not seen in years was staying with her, it was so great to reminisce about our past social life and how much fun we used to have, we had a yummo tea which was Seafood Marinara and then we came home the kids got changed and I made them milos and then into bed. They were asleep before their head hit the pillow.

This morning we went to Church and that was a handful, we managed to get ready and to church in time but after the first 10 mins Zay was very bored and annoying and I pretty much spent most of the time fighting a loosing battle against trying to keep him settled, he annoyed Keelan pretty much the whole time and I felt sorry for the people around us at times he was such a fidget. Trinity flat out told me it was boring and if your kiddos could show you up for a bad parent they pretty much did their optimum. hmm don't know if I can go through that experience again, not enjoyable for anyone concerned. Today has pretty much been a blah day for me since Church, Trin, Rainee and Zaylan have just been plain darn horrid and of course I have had lots to do so that has made it even more unpleasant but I hope when we arise tomorrow morning it will be a better day, I am sure over today. Keelan is playing with a mate so he has thankfully got out for a break from this, he gets just as fed up of it as I do at times. They are off to bed early tonight that is for sure.
Take care
Trace.

More layouts from stamp camp.

Hi
Firstly I will share these layouts before I update on life around here, these are a double layout, tells a story about our Summer Sunday's this year.

This layout below is my favourite ATM, we did got the owl as a class and we made them up with our kit and they were all so different in the end. He just seemed to need to be with these 2 cuties.

You have to wonder about the course of your life sometimes, it seemed like everything was finally starting to get a little easier and I was finally starting to branch out and join some like minded Women in my favourite hobby of all and then the spanner just comes flying out of nowhere and now I have to let the me time go again and become house bound again. Tim came home on Monday night with the news that he is getting posted away to work and will be on 2 week away and 1 week home roster. We both had to do a lot of thinking as to whether it was going to work with the kiddos etc. We have decided we need to suck it and see basically, we can always pull out if it is not going to work out but we won't know unless we try. It will certainly have it's advantages and disadvantages but for now we will just go with it.

Mother's Day was certainly different this year, it started out with the kiddos giving me their handmade creations which were very cute and they were so proud of their creations as I was too, Trin remembered to give me her card yesterday, LOL, so it was all a bit hit and miss, we had breakfast and then got ready for Church, Keelan was doing a reading and it was a wonderful service with many families packing the church for Pentecost Sunday, Father Wally certainly put the Dads and kids on notice as to how to pull their fingers out for Mum, (all of which fell on deaf ears with this clan), we no sooner left Church and the bickering started and I started to think the kiddos were on a mission to destroy Mother's Day, we then had to head to MIL's for Lunch and then my Sermon started after a few kilometres down the road of the still niggling and bickering. I certainly couldn't wait to get to MIL's and have a red wine, I think the first glass didn't touch the sides at this point, anyway we had a nice meal and got to relax and enjoy the afternoon. We had fish and chips for tea and a dessert I had made Saturday and then it was into ironing and folding washing. I really can't escape it for 1 day. LOL.

Keelan is going extremely well with his Soccer, the team has won their last 2 games and he plays really well for his first year in Comp. It was pouring rain, thunder and lightening the whole game but they came through 6-3. In between watching I was running Trin to dancing and buying a couple of umbrellas so we could stand in the pouring rain to watch them. Rainee had a sore throat, sneezes and sniffles this morning so I kept her home, she really probably could have gone to school but at least she has had fun playing with Zay today. That's about it for now. Take care, Trace.

Happy Birthday Mum.

Happy Birthday Mum, hope you have a great Day. Sorry we can't be there to celebrate it with you.

Seeing as it is Mum's Birthday and Mother's Day in a few Days I would just like to have a bit of a heartfelt chat about Mum. This Special Lady has been the backbone of my life, my ALL is owed to her, never a day goes by without her being in my thoughts and heart no matter how far apart we have lived at times, she has always had an ultimate goal in her life since having Children and that was to love them all equally and give them the best life she could possibly provide for us no matter how much that meant she went without, she is the most generous, heartfelt loving person you would ever hope to meet and welcomes anyone who ever comes to her doorstep and they sure leave her presence all the better for it. I think God had a special role for Mum and that was to be a Nurse, which she has excelled at being wherever she has worked, a nurturer and healer by nature she certainly applies that in her daily life.

To me personally she has been the Sister I never had and my best friend forever, we just have such a close bond that has been with us forever and she has always allowed me to make my mistakes and stood by me, she is the best cook, Nana and Mum I could have ever wished for, I am eternally grateful to God for allowing me to be her Daughter. Mum has devoted herself to her Children since they were born, always supporting the schools we attended, jumping on committees when they needed someone, fundraising for schools, covering books, cooking and making crafts for the school fetes, helping her sick Parents, working Part time and yet she seemed to be there whenever we needed her, I don't know how she did it but she did and to me she excelled at being our Mum and being Dad's wife for 42 years. Living so far away really gets to me at times, I would dearly love to see her daily but she is now having time to enjoy her Card making and patchwork and she has well and truly waited a long time for life to be about her and it means we have a great time together when we do get together.

I hope she feels special today as she sure deserves to it. Love you with all my Heart and Soul Mum.
Take care
Trace.

Weekend retreat layouts.

Hi
Finally getting a chance to put some of my retreat creations up here, the top one I went to camp with this idea in my head and was really happy with how it turned out, great fun putting the house together which I might add I have had since the retreat in October last year I went to, so happy to finally get to use it.

this is a layout that will always remind me in years to come what my kiddos loved to do when it rains, a memory I dont want to forget.

You will remember these pics of the frog, Rainee's little prince charming, LOL. Love it.

This layout has a butterfly which was one of our projects, we had 2 and some made mobiles and hangings but I wanted to add it to this layout, love the colours in this layout and doing all the flowers was fun too.
I have more but will add them next post. This week has been flying by fast, Monday caught up on things, Tuesday morning went to craft for 2 hours, Zay loves the Nana's that look after him, they are just "pure sweetness" and love the interaction with the kids so much, he gets extremely spoilt and I get some scrapping done although I am still working on Mother's Day projects, Today I have been cleaning up and tryed to clean my scrap room but I truly give up, I have way too much stuff and lack of space so I need to get on a mission to be using it up before I even look at anything else. (yeh right). Had Teacher, Parent interview for Keelan after school, Trin's is tomorrow and came home and cooked Cheese and Corn Muffins to go with our Lamb and Barley Soup that I have cooked today for tea and then a friend picked me up for a card making class tonight that I am going to go to every fortnight, great group of friendly Ladies and now I can build up my stash of cards.

Things are changing around here, you know how you feel those shifts take place every so often like when the last one toilet trains and you are not having to change nappies and they get more independent and need a little less of your time, all the kiddos seem to be at a point where I can do more things I enjoy and they are capable of helping Tim when I am not here, I am sad their small years seem to have passed so quick but at the same time I am embracing the feeling of the weight on my back being halved and the chance for me to get out and interact with Adults again, it is a wonderful feeling to sometimes step out of the Family dynamics and just be You for a little while, makes me a better Mum also on the flip side.
So that's it for now, hope you are having a productive week.
Take care
Trace.

Top Time!!

Hi,
Back from Stamp Camp and had the best time ever, created the most layouts at Camp I have ever created, 7 layouts I was on a role and they just kept flowing, they were so fun to do, I painted, glued, stamped and played with many different techniques. So much fun, lots of cuttlebug fun. I will share layouts later when I get pics of them. We did a Kaiser wooden book on Friday night which I still have to finish, I need to decide which way I will go with it, then we had 5 cards which were classes plus a couple of collections projects, owl and 2 butterflies. Then I did another 2 cards yesterday before it was time to leave.

The food was just so yummy, scrummy out of this world, great to meet new faces and catch up with others we have not seen since November and spend the weekend with Mum, so I am feeling over the moon from the whole experience.

Nothing like camp to bring back the mojo, what is great about this camp is getting to experience so many different ladies talents, card makers, mixed media artists, scrappers, everybody comes together with their showcase of talent.

On the home front, Daddy weekend went well, they had a great time, Keelan's team won their first soccer match 7-1, he apparently helped set up 2 of the goals and played fantastic for his first game. He then spent the weekend with his Dad so that left Tim with 3 kiddos, Trin had dancing as usual Saturday and they visited a couple of friends and played at the park and had many bike rides with Dad, Tim now appreciates why the pantry door has a squeek due to being opened on such a regular basis to feed these hungry little bellies, he was running out of options by late yesterday. LOL. I came home to tea cooking, a clean house and all my usual Sunday chores had been done, how wonderful was that!! Well I better go and get some more done, take care,
Trace.