Easter 2012

Well Easter has been and gone and I had a fabulous time! I went to Sydney again for 5 days. I haven’t any holidays left at work so I had to squeeze the visit in between my Thursday and Friday work days. My sister Judy came over with me and she also took her grand daughter Abbie. C1 and D1 brought a new home in January so it was our first time to stay in it, and it is lovely. We also met their new little puppy Rosey. Now I want a dog too. Rosey is so cute! It was great to be with the family in Sydney again. We showed Abbie the Opera House, the harbour bridge and the monorail. On Saturday the children had an Easter Egg hunt and they each filled up their baskets! On the Sunday night we had a family dinner with C4 and D3 as well so we had quite a gathering. On the Monday we went to the Easter Show. I am sure there were over a million people there…it was packed! I was sad to leave as always and am hoping to go over again in September….maybe

My baby is growing up!

C6 has had her final day at Sacred Heart College. That means my baby has finished school! How scary is that! Although she is happy and can’t wait to get to Uni next year, I am feeling less excited. Home is not going to be the same without her! At least C5 will still be here (when she isn’t at WITT, the hospital, with her friends or at Powerco…busy girl that she is). Robin and I are going to have lots of time with just the two of us…I guess we will cope 🙂 Mmmm lots of time to scrapbook, do other craft and maybe go away and explore more of NZ and maybe another overseas trip???

Last Tuesday evening we had the school prize giving and then Wednesday night the leavers dinner! C6 had a fantastic time with her friends. This week has started off with exams for her. The first being Statistics at 1pm today. She really needs to get good marks to be accepted into Uni. The type of degree depends on her exam results. It may be Chemical Engineering, but it may also be a Science degree???

Just wondering?

Does anybody ever read my blog????

Lately I have stopped writing on my Facebook profile and the only person who noticed is D1. I thought that I would just write on my blog but wondered if I am just writing into nothingness? I guess I can still share my thoughts , dreams and my everyday life and leave it at that, but I did think that this is a great way to link up with family and friends. Perhaps there are only a few of us really that use their computer on a daily basis?

I do have an amazing life! We live in a fantastic house. It isn’t perfect but it is ours and as I always say, it is a work in progress. I don’t think it will ever be finished. We have been painting the outside walls for approximately 10 years! Each summer we try to do just a little. Enough to make a difference but not too much to make us sick of the job. You see the whole outside of the house was sprayed with a product called ‘Rhino Coat’ and man is it hard to get off. We have to use heat guns and scrapers and it is a very slow job! Today we painted the last of the back wall…yay!!!! I did one very silly thing and painted one whole area in white, which I thought was topcoat. I did say to Robin that is was drying a bit dull too! It wasn’t until I was nearly finished when I  looked at the bucket of paint and found that it was UNDERCOAT! I know…you would think I would have checked that out properly before I started. Normally I would have! Today, I was pretty upset before we started. Robin had plans to build the base for his new water tank! I wanted to finish the painting so we could get the big planks of wood off our conservatory roof! These were used to stand on so we didn’t break the Novalight roofing, but they also made a horrible noise all night long when the wind blew…and they kept me awake at night. I wanted them down! So being grumpy at the thought of possibly another week of broken sleep, I got determined to get up on THAT ROOF and paint the wall myself! Did you know that I hate getting up on the roof? Well I do and even worse is getting back onto the ladder to get down! I guess that somehow I worked myself up so much that checking the label on the paint bucket was the last of my thoughts! Although I did think I had checked that it was topcoat. So after finishing the layer of undercoat over the first topcoat…I had to do another layer of topcoat paint to finish the wall off. Thankfully Robin felt sorry for me and he left the water tank for another day and helped to finish the painting. The planks of wood are now off the roof, stored in the back shed, and the wall is finished!

We now have to finish the front of the house and then it will be painted all around. Maybe this summer?

After that it will be the flat (which is connected to our house), we will need to paint it the same colour as the house….so we actually have another whole house to paint! I guess that by the time we finish the flat we will need to start all over again….what a lovely thought…NOT! At least the preparation time won’t be quite as painful as this time 🙂

Yesterday it rained all day so I decided to do some sewing. I cut out and sewed at whole patchwork area to make a single bedspread. I am thinking of giving it to C6 to put on her bed at University Hall next year. I just have to get some more material to finish it off. I will post a photo as soon as I can. I also managed to do a little internet shopping! Just as well it’s pay week! I love www.simonsaysstamp.com as they have set postage prices unlike many other American internet shops. I just have to be patient until my little package arrives. Hopefully it won’t take too long as I have ordered some Christmas papers to make my Christmas Cards with.

Tonight is Sunday and I love our Sunday night dinners! Tonight we had 10 of us….well 11 but Jess was a little late. A couple of months ago we decided to have family dinner get togethers and have it at different places each week. It was our turn tonight and we had Chinese takeaways! We all put in towards the meal and the person whose place it is at gets to chose the type of takeaway! Last week we had fish and chips at Mum and dads place. The week before it was Indian at Judy and Lens!

Right..time to sign off and get myself ready for another busy week! Robin is already in bed. He and Jordan leave for work at 7.30am. C5 is working at the hospital 3-11pm tomorrow and C6 has her first exam! I have to get to church to set up for mainly music…and catch up with the washing and housework…fun fun fun. I also have to start my J100 readings. 5 to read before Thursday night homegroup. This week I plan to be much better organised! PRAY for me PLEASE…I am such a time waster 🙂

And views around the house

Robin and I mowed the lawns last night and the place always looks so much better afterwards. You don’t notice the unpainted outside walls so much and the ‘work in progress’ renovations seems to pale against the lovely show that the trees make at this time of the year. We are really settled in our home and can’t imagine living any where else in the world. But in saying that, we aren’t apposed to a move somewhere else. C1 and D1 have joked about buying a home in Sydney with a Granny flat attached. Now that could be quite tempting! In a years time both girls would have left home and this is a BIG place for just Robin and me. The only positive thing about staying here then, is the fact that we have plenty of room for all the family to come back to…at any time…but especially at Christmas. I just love having us all together. This Christmas is going to be great. C1, D1, G1 and G3 are coming from Sydney; C2 and D2 from London; not sure about C3 and the boys (G2 and G4) but they will probably be here some of the time; C4 and D3 (from Sydney) are coming in the new Year; and of course C5 (and her bf) and C6 live here. It’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait!

Time Wise!

It’s a new year….2010…and I have made my new years resolution!

I have decided that ‘Stampin Up’ is a hobby that I WILL enjoy!

I will not become a demonstrator who is never at home. I will continue to create using ‘Stampin Up’ products as I still love how they all fit together so nicely. I can, and will help other people create beautiful scrapbooking pages and cards when they ask for my help. I hope to continue WOW (welcome on Wednesdays), but I will be very relaxed about it. I am much more interested in spending quality time with friends than being up with the best ‘Stampin Up’ sales people! I love scrapbooking and I intend to keep it that way. No stress just pure enjoyment.

My family, and quality time with them is so important. They grow up so fast and I want to enjoy every moment before they ALL leave home. This Christmas I had all my 6 children home for the first time in 3 years. I LOVED it! (Along with my daughter in law and grandchildren, and girlfriends and boyfriends) Attached is a family portrait I had taken. Boy do I feel so proud of them all…and love each one of them. That is what is important in life. The love of family and friends. Bless you all xxx

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3 of my boys are scattered over the world from Australia to England. 3 of my children (well nearly adults now) still live at home…but time is moving so fast, and they will be making their own way in this world before I know it! That is why I love scrapbooking. To make a record of all the precious moments together.

My daughter in law and I did manage to find some scrapbooking time over the holiday period and I will load some photos up as soon as I can.

Contact me if you want ‘Stampin Up’ products, I still purchase products for myself and would be happy to combine your purchases with mine.

GOD IS GOOD 🙂