28 February, 2011

Monday - not the day I'd expected




Today was to have been Angus's first day at childcare. This was not to be, sadly, as both he and Tasmin have very runny noses and yucky coughs and as much as it pained me, I had to trust my mother's instinct and keep them at home. Tasmin wasn't happy about this decision, as you can see. I hope I've made the right decision. Goodness knows I needed the break myself, so it wasn't an easy decision! Let's hope for a harmonious day.

Sunday




Before returning home on Saturday, I stopped at the op shop to drop off a donation and spotted two things - a cute cushion $5 which looked new, and a used photo frame, $2. I'd been thinking for a few months about a way to show off some jewellery - limited that it is! - and made this in five minutes. I removed the glass, wrapped some string around the base and there it is - a cute way to hold earrings.

26 February, 2011

Saturday - cafe outing


On friday night I decided rather spontaneously to go to a local cafe for dinner, since Ian had been away all week and would be home late. Manda and Mum agreed to come too and it made a lovely change. Definitely plan to do this again soon. Angus was a little hard to keep happy but it wasn't too bad.




Today Manda and I went to a different local cafe - some cute artwork by a local girl, Emily Brown - and enjoyed coffee and brunch with baby Delilah. A belated double birthday celebration.

25 February, 2011

Friday play




I have to admit to sneaking off to the study to upload photos for printing today. I am almost a month behind in my 365 project, but thanks to this good ol' blog, it's all documented anyway. I'm going to get the February photos printed this afternoon, and hopefully spend tonight sticking them into the album. It's great for the children to follow our lives that way.

I didn't entirely neglect Angus, though, and we spent some time rolling balls around, throwing them, and playing with the shape sorter.

I've just had the incredibly exciting news that Angie can start at childcare on Monday which means - OMG - that I can do whatever I like that day, no kids. Holy cow, where to start??? Shopping? Haircut? Scrapbooking? Project 365? Photobook? Sewing? Housework? (The last one was just to test if you were still reading!)

Happy weekend!

24 February, 2011

Thursday - this boy can jump







What happens when you decide to sort the clean washing on your bed and you leave the door open and a little Angus wanders in? I wish the washing gave me such joy!

23 February, 2011

Wednesday - new playgroup and a bit of help from the universe


Tasmin came along to visit Angus's new playgroup today. I had this lovely feeling of anticipation on the way there, that it was going to be something good. Usually when going to something new and children-related I get very anxious and a bit stressed but there was none of that today. I happened to read this terrific line last night in a Christian Science Sentinel: The place that you seek seeks you, and the place you need needs you. If you've read The Alchemist, by the brilliant Paulo Coelho, you'll understand! We fit right into this warm and welcoming place and while it felt a little confronting for the first minute or two, faced a Down Syndrome child and another with an apparent facial deformity, I soon relaxed and noticed that neither Tasmin, nor Angus, nor any of the other kids were aware of anyone "different" or "out of place". I felt so grateful to be there today. Thanks, universe, for meeing our very specific need to feel we belong somewhere in this often unwelcoming place!

Tasmin was brilliant today. She played very happily at the playgrounp, where the kids were younger except for one, and Angus played happily on his own, exploring the new environment. I think, at long last, Wednesday (usually a stressful day: the day both kids are at home and the day I also have to go to work later in the afternoon) may be a happy place to be again.

22 February, 2011

Tuesday - birthday flowers



It seems he did remember my birthday after all - apparently there was a computer glitch and they were delivered the day after by mistake. Looking forward to my sweetheart's return soon - life is so dull when he's away! P.S. I have plans for these babies - stay tuned!

Monday - older and smarter



My sister and I share the same birthday, three years apart (I'm older, and smarter, and I have more insurance. Fried Green Tomatoes?) Anyway, this was the card I whipped up in 10 minutes - anything is possible, friends, with Glimmer Mist. Love it love it! I gave her a voucher for a beauty place, and her idea was very cool - she was going to get me one too for the value of my new age - 39! Only my baby niece is unwell at the moment, so we're delaying birthday celebrations til the weekend.

21 February, 2011

Friday and weekend catchup

FRIDAY
Friday was a rainy-all-day experience. Look at the view out the window:




It was misty and spooky outside in the street

SATURDAY
On Saturday I had the great pleasure of a kid free day. A morning workshop refresher for teachers of Year 11 and 12 English, then a trip to the scrapbooking shop to spend my Christmas voucher. Two days before my birthday, LOL! I was really in luck when I got there, because Louise Nelson was doing a class and she had a free spot so I joined right in.



I finished my page at home (because I'm the world's slowest and most retarded scrapper) and I LOVE it. I used a photo of a winter morning from last year, and because I hate winter, I thought I'd colour it up a bit! Such a cool technique, to adhere tissue paper on to cardstock. She is creative and also such a wonderful person. You must visit her blog for lots of scrappy inky inspiration.

SUNDAY


I set Tasmin up with some paints in the kitchen - hence the kitchen studio! She very sweetly painted a milo tin for my birthday present. What a little treasure.

18 February, 2011

Thursday - haircut day



After dropping Tassie off in the morning to Monti, Angus and I caught up on some errands and I even risked a few minutes of op-shopping before he cracked it and demanded we go home. I picked up some cute handbags and tops, a scarf and a book for Tasmin all for around $20. One kind lady offered to watch Angus while I tried things on.

In the afternoon we took Tassie to the hairdressers. For just a few bucks, we came away with a magnificent little bob - photos soon! It was a rush getting myself ready for work in time. The two nights a week is really taking its toll on me and Ian and the kids. I bought three more things for myself after work during late night shopping and a few bits and bobs for the kids. A really good day.

17 February, 2011

Wednesday - baby visit



Baby Delilah visited briefly in the afternoon with Auntie Manda and when Tassie got up from her nap she was delighted to see them. Even more so was the baby who squealed loudly with delight at seeing her cousin. She's going to be a feisty little toddler, I can see!

15 February, 2011

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer



The end of an Angus-filled day, at about 6pm.

And meet our new companion...




Tasmin and I have been fascinated by this Golden Orb Weaver spider the last few days. When the wind picked up this afternoon and the web was thrashed around, the spider grabbed stray leaves caught in the web and chucked them out. It eventually got tired of this and decided to leave them be. I am actually quite terrified of spiders yet find I can't look away!

Monday - Angus succeeds



Angus really surprised me today. We had our first proper visit to childcare today, with me observing Angus while he played. He was fine. More than fine, actually he LOVED it! He was in toddler heaven, in the sandpit and racing around the track. Tasmin really surprised me too. She spotted him and ran over, very excited, introduced him around and actually PLAYED with him. When he came inside for lunch, he became confused and looked around for me and cried. I was pleased to see that he used his visual senses to try and work out what was going on. Under pressure, he did brilliantly. He was quickly attended to by the carers, cuddled, and given sandwiches (he rejected all but the jam one. Daddy!) A short while later I came in, and he noticed me, but seemed happy to keep doing what he was doing. Success!

14 February, 2011

Weekend - Bangka Day Memorial Service

Saturday - caravan window shopping.



We're just thinking about it - could we live in one while the house is being renovated? Then keep it for holidays?



Ian took Tasmin along to the Bangka Day Memorial Service in the morning. It was a struggle to be up and ready in time for the 10am start, but they made it. Tasmin was honoured to be taken with Daddy. She kept the little sprig of rosemary for Show and Share at Little Playschool.



She had a bit of fun playing with lego afterwards and made a huge colour coordinated robot. It didn't exist long enough for a photo. We went to our annual street party later on, so it ended up being quite a late night.

12 February, 2011

scrapbook layout - Morning technique




This page tells an important story about Tasmin in the mornings. Many of our mornings are peaceful now but since she was a baby she has been very demanding first thing, always waking early and crying or yelling out for attention. It was one of the reasons I decided to start getting up at 5am to give myself a better start to the day. I don't do this often, since it means less sleep! It feels good to record this story of our lives. The little umbrella was discovered after a huge kitchen cupboard cleanout and saved from the bin, to make it onto the page. I love recyling!

Friday - one of those tiring days



This was the day I had to take Angus for another vaccination. It was actually due nine months ago but I only discovered this oversight when I was going through some application paperwork. Only, after rushing through the downpour of rain from the car to the surgery, and waiting for the usual long amount of time, trying to keep Angus occupied, we see the GP to hear him announce that we couldn't go ahead because Angus had a temperature and wasn't over his cold yet. And this was after angus screaming and yelling in my arms as they checked his ears. So. We got home very very tired.



We'd decided to wake Angus after an hour's nap to try and help him sleep better at night but when he was put on the couch, he went back to sleep! So did I.

11 February, 2011

the haircut scrapbook page



When Angus had his haircut recently I decided to keep a little curl for scrapbooking. I machine-stitched it into a bit of leftover plastic packaging. I also upcycled a bit of sewing pattern from my dressmaking class - too cute to throw away! And isn't the blue paint pretty! It's Kaisercraft, one of my fave brands. They do nice patterned papers too.

Thursday - she reads in bed



This morning when I went into the kids' bedroom to get them up, I found Tasmin like this, propped up against the wall with a pillow (like I used to when I was a kid) reading. Even sweeter, she'd taken three books over to Angus in his cot so he could read. And he was, too!

Wednesday - he got TWO cards



This is an historic day. Yesterday, for the first time, Ian received two birthday cards, one from each of his kids. 16 and 19, who live in Canberra with their Mum. He was very chuffed. He thanks Facebook for its part in emailing out birthday reminders.

10 February, 2011

Tuesday


I used my Christmas voucher to buy these beautiful dressmaker's scissors. They glide through the material. I did get to do a little sewing in my class last night and the neckline is starting to look like one!




In the evening right before bedtime Angus quietly got up on to the table to read a book that had been put there. A short while later, Tasmin followed him up to read.

09 February, 2011

The "Silencio" house scrapbook layout



These photos were begging to get off the harddrive. I think I have a system now, so I can tell stories more regularly. This is about a little family joke we have going, because of the ancient Silencio dishwasher which makes a hell of a racket when it's on, every other noisy appliance/child in the house is referred to as Silencio!

Except for the cute 7 gypsies cardstock, everything else was scraps and stamps - my fave way to scrap.

08 February, 2011

Scrapbooking layout - the blue playdoh




How fun is this - a bit of paints splashed on the page, and a story is captured forever. Yay me!

The story is about how Tassie stuck blue playdoh in her ear when we weren't looking and it asn't known about until a couple of months later during a random visit to the doctor.

Monday - scrapbooking mojo's back



Saturday night saw the return of Scrapbooking Mojo. When things get hectic at home, and all I can think of is the endless projects I haven't done, it all gets a bit overwhelming and creativity comes. to. a. stop.

However, I decided to do a layout on Saturday night just for the fun of it and that did the trick. I did four. On Sunday I did another. Then I had an idea. I knew I needed a list for February - with achievable goals to complete. The problem was that there's no room for a noticeboard in the study, and I can't always get on the computer. Then I realised I had a noticeboard on my desk all along! It's from Officeworks and has been there for ages to protect the desk, but holds a large pad of paper I've never used. So now it is the noticeboard and there's a good incentive to clear off my desk so I can see what's next to do!

This blog post at Ali Edwards really helped with my mojo too. Check out the links to One Really Important Word and How You Can Tell All Your Photo Stories this year. Pure inspiration.

Sunday - she draws



I'm fascinated by how Tassie's drawings are progressing. She can now write her name and does interesting spiky faces. Not bad for three. She, Angus and Daddy were all unwell today so we had a quiet day at home without Gandy, and Tassie practised her drawings. The DVDs from the library got a good workout. And last night Mummy found her scrapbooking mojo again!

06 February, 2011

Saturday - quiet day



The babies and Daddy all felt unwell this weekend. So Daddy sat and watched Bananas in Pyjamas from the collection of DVDs picked up from the video shop. Tassie says, "I'll be lonely," if we're not spending enough time with her.

Do you like Ian's t-shirt... I used an iron-on image of Bob Dylan, his favourite artist.

More on the photobook







Mostly I just uploaded photos straight from the computer and made them whole-page size. But there was a bit of photoshopping here and there, as you can see with the picture of Angie crawling at the park. That was a fun one to do! I also used some of the masks that came with the program, where the photo looks painted on. Lots more photobooks to come, I think. Stay tuned!

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