It's been a year.... Anyone still out there?????

Hello Strangers!!
Yup it has been pretty much a year since I updated this cursed thing I bet you all have vanished into the cyber ether in frustration with me.


It was a busy year, I spent most of it Nannaing with my mates Liz and Chele as we spun and knitted, crotched and quilted 2008 away - I even occasionally scrapped.


My babies had a great year at school, Aislinn just turned 6, Quinny is now an annoying 7 yo and we have brought our first house. I have broken my camera so am lacking in pics of late will try and post some on here, finally have broadband so uploading isn't as much of a pain.

Wot have I been up to? Have just finished my return to nursing course and am waiting for the paperwork from the nursing council to tell me i am allowed to practice as an RN. I have a job 2 afternoons a fortnight at Palliser in Greytown, and will pick up more shifts at Glenwood in Masterton until I decide what nursing I want to do.
I am keen on doing some palliative papers in the near future, I enjoy that side of it, that and wounds really.

Peter is still working for the lovely Ray (note dripping sarcasm!) he is dying to get outta dairy farming. He has sat his HT liscences but nobody wants to hire an inexperienced driver especially in a recession so god knows when he will get his wish and give up 4am starts.

Quinny has moved up a class this year, he is slowly adapting being in the bigger kids class. He is into hockey this year in a huge way, good to see him finally enjoying an extracurricular activity. He has packed in Keas,was bored with just doing crafts, this kids needs to burn off steam!!

Beany had a good first year at school, despite breaking her arm again a year to the day since the last one!! Luckily it was just a minor break and no hospital stays. She has packed in Ballet and Pippins and wants to do swimming, am yet to get around to booking her in must get onto that tomorrow.


But the greatest thing to happen to us this year has been buying our first house. All these years of living in cruddy farm workers houses we have a place of our own! We decided we couldn't hack another winter in the old place and Ray has been trying to force Peter out of his job so with the help of Peter's wonderful mum we started looking at buying a house. We found this one on the first day. We went to a place around the corner and had time to kill before the next open home, saw this place had an open home on and decided to check it out. Fell in love with it, it is 3 bedrooms, has a conservatory, a freestanding lod fire so we will be warm for once!, an avairy and the kids fave.... a pool!!! It is low maintenence and has lots of storage so we made an offer and a month later we moved in!! And we still love it, the kids had a blast in the pool over summer and I am loving having my own house no-one can tell me what to do in. Even Peter seems more relaxed living off the farm.

Well I am off to watch Dancing with the stars and finish bean's sock. I will endeavour to update this again soon.

Balloon Fiesta

Well now you all have to put up with lotsa hot air ballon pics LOL! I have taken about 500 pics of hot air balloons this week and still have the night glow tomorrow night. I have gotten a few good shots so had to share them with you all.

It started on Tuesday morning when I looked out my lounge window to see 18 hot air balloons heading towards me...


Got some good pics as they got closer and closer...

This is across the road from our place...

This is the star attraction of the fiesta the Nightmare House, the guy has brought it out all the way from Brazil, tiz huge and a big hit with all the kids.

Took this one on the way to school, this is candyfloss which is Aislinn's second fave balloon. No idea why!! LOL

This is also on the way to school, loved how the cows were all milling round the basket being nosey.

Love this shot of the balloon flying over the maize...

Wednesday night we went to the 2nd annual Baskets and Burners parade down the main street of Carterton, got some primo flame shots...

and this....

Yesterday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and headed to CLareville for the mass take off, 24 balloons hitting the skies - awesome sights....



and inflating the haunted house - we were right under it when it took off...


Love the light in this shot, these balloons are carterton based...


and this one....


Mummy looking out the window of haunted house...

Off she goes....


All of them in the air...


Then we decided to race home before school and put out a bog paper cross in the paddock after being told they will land on them...



Dropped the kids off to school and as I came over the bridge I saw this over my house that is our barn and house in the bottom of the pic.


Do you know it takes forever to get in the drive, turn off the car, undo the seatbelt and sprint across the paddock, it was already down by the time I got there...


I was so stoked that they landed in our paddock, it was the last balloon we had seen take off before we left, I knew a couple of the passengers on board too so that was cool.


As I headed into the paddock ,Liz and Anita on their way to kindy saw it and pulled over, so they climbed the fence ot check it out, here it is going down.



Got some primo shots of it being pulled down...

and this is looking through the top as the nice warm air was coming out...

and closer, you can see everyone pushing the air out...

Looking back at our house, last window on left is my scraproom...

Then they squish it into a small bag...

We put Anita in the basket, she was too short to see out so....

This was her solution...


Lunchtime yesterday a balloon pilot went to school to talk to the kids about ballooning, we got Brian Bollard who is American, lives half the year here in Hamilton and half in Vermont, he makes his own balloons (in a library book at school he is called the king of the homemade balloon) fascinating to listen to.


The kids got to help lay out his balloon...


It was a one man balloon, here he is heading over the school...



Well that's it (thank god you all say!!) stay tuned for night glow pics after Saturday....

Airshows, hot air balloons and easter...

Have been rather busy lately. Time just flies when you are having fun! Last weekend I took the kids over to Ohakea for the airshow, was great fun.

Took me back to my childhood, it has been a long time since I have been on base, amazing how much it has changed inside the hangars - Tracey you wouldn't recognise it! The kids loved it, Quinn's fave was the Huey (Iriquois helicopter) dropping a car from the sky and resulting big boom,


he also loved the RAAF F1-11 and its big fuel dump resulting in a 30ft flame out the rear.

I love the old planes, the Vampire,Corsair, Harvard. Was disappointed that the Skyhawk and Strikemaster weren't flying, they are the planes I grew up around. I also love the Hueys,
when we were in Singapore Dad worked on them. I have a pic of Shaun when he was Aislinn's age cleaning one. I have always loved the whump whump of a huey and the way they take off ( like the Charlie Sheen movie which title escapes me)

any way I got some awesome shots of the planes, never saw why Dad had to take so many pics of planes, mind you I was going for a photography perspective rather than a plane lovers. LOL.

Easter feels weird being earlier than usual, kids of course got overloaded with Chocolate. The Easter bunny brought them these candy coated choc eggs that they could paint which dragged out the eating for a bit longer. Easter bunny forgot to bring me the glod Lindt bunny I requested *sob*. Saturday Peter and I left the kids with Gran and had a morning to ourselves wandering Masterton, stopped at 10CC for a coffee and I got to try the best Hot x Bun in NZ - truly is the nicest I have ever had so if you are in Masterton over easter in future stop in and get you some, they are expenny but if you only have 1pkt over easter totally worth it. Makes the supermarket jobs look like sh*t.

Sunday we headed over to Dad's so I could tutu with some photos for him in Photoshop, got to take some cool pics of the kids and spend some time with my nephews and neices.

My little step nephew Jatin is a shy wee man and he seems to be warming up to me this past weekend, he is a dear little boy (I sound like my nanna) with the most amazing eyelashes. Seems funny to think I have a Stepbrother and Stepsister now, I don't know them very well and only see them occasionally, weird to think now that our parents have married we are related. The kids have all bonded instantly which is really cool.


What else is happening in our world?? Only 4 more weeks till my baby bro comes home from Afghanistan, can't come soon enough for Sharon and the kids I am sure. will be good to seem him again feels like he has been gone forever. While he has been gone we have seen alot of Sharon and the kids and it is great to see the kids playing with their cousins, now that Greer is walking it is taking on another dimension too.

I started Linedancing classes today - don't laff!!! My friend Liz is a linedancing teacher and she is teaching a beginners course so I decided to give it a go. Isn't as easy as it looks on the telly you know!! My legs are killing me. Was fun and burned off some calories. We are getting a bit sick of walking lately so it is good to find another way to get some exercise in. Weight loss is still on the damn plateau. Loving pilates and am gonna miss it while my instructer is away in the UK for 7 weeks. Will have to make sure I get my DVD out and do it.


This is what appears outside my back door every morning, kids love it, have been getting some pics. If you are at a loose end this weekend head to Carterton for the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival tis fab.


Have been scrapping, stash is shrinking. Have been using alot of old product up. Have some LOs to share.


This is my fave from this weekend, I got the flowers from the Warehouse and they triggered the whole LO, love this pic of Aislinn and Greer too cute.

This is an old all tiem fave pic of Quinny, love how this page turned out.


This is a scraplift which I loved the paper combo of. Took the pic of Aislinn yesterday morning while she was sitting in the doorway of the back door. Love the pic, she did the journalling for the page - awww!!


This is an older one from the bottom of my handsewing pile, not in love with this page, had no idea what I was doing. This was one ofthe first pics I took with my camera when i got it.

Another page from the bottom of the handsewing pile! Quinn and his mate Huntah at the playcentre xmas party feeding each other jelly - they were really good, better than the teenagers.

Couldn't be bothered sewing this one!! LOL. A scraplift which I loved the original 81/2 by 11 page this is my fat boy.


Another old one of Aislinn, don't often do handcut titles anymore - oh to have a cricut!!



Well that is about me gotta go do some housework. Cya Lata.

A very loooonnnnggg post

Bear with me I have alot of pics to post on here. My puter died a couple of weeks ago and I have a new one up and running so now i can update this and show some new photos and some new layouts to share too.

We have had a busy few weeks with Miss Aislinn turning 5, she had the big party the saturday before her actual birthday with a Tea Party theme, I had grand plans to have it all outside in a decorated gazebo with butterflies, lanterns and crepe paper roses. Unfortunately I was thwarted by the wind, the gazebo collapsed just after I decorated it beautifully so I had to start again and decorate the inside of the house. Thankfully I got it all done before all the guests arrived. She got thoroughly spoilt and had a great party.

The cake was a scrapping masterpiece. She was supposed to have a tea pot cake but at the last minute decided she wanted a pink number 5. I thought to myself "what the hell am I gonna decorate it with??" I had a flash of scrap inspiration and decided to pipe with white icing wee doodles all over it, and the piece de resistance I got the butterfly template from the last issue of FK and piped white chocolate over it and made freestanding butterflies - doesn't it look cool??

They are my new fave thing. I reckon they'd look awesome on a chocolate wedding cake - anyone getting married wants me to make em a butterfly cake??? I liked them so much I made them for the cake for the bbq for her actual birthday.

On her birthday we had a bbq, which Peter's family and my mum were there for and she had a blast. I am going to make her a mini album of her party at some point.

These are the divine tiny cupcakes I made for the party, my other fave thing to make.


More food...everything was pink.


All the girls in their finery...


They had a sugar lump relay race...

The big school girl on her first full day of school. She really loves school, she is trying desperately to be friends with the bigger girls in her class but they aren't keen so I will be glad when Anita starts school next term.

They had swimming sports on her birthday and the kids enjoyed it, it was stinking hot and there was alot of mucking around but I took the opportunity to take heaps of photos.


Onto scrapping, my lovely friend Bronny went to scrap camp in Queenstown this past weekend, i decided to spend the weekend scrapping as well. I did a mini album for Cameron's birthday, an awesome one for Anita and a few LOs I also caught up on some handsewing too so have a few layouts to share.

I did this one a few weeks back, about my favourite place at the moment, Fensham Reserve. Liz and I walk here about 4 times a week it is so gorgeous and serene.

I did this one before xmas and it has sat in my handsewing box for soooo long. This is an old pic of Quinn at about 3 finally scrapped it.


This is another pre xmas page, Aislinn shaking her butt at the sea, I beaded all the way around the black scalloped cs.


Peter and Aislinn at the park in Carterton in November using up some scraps here couldn't be bothered sewing this one. LOL

I did this one this weekend. Quinny pretending to be asleep in a hammock. See Bronny I stamped the title and used vellum on this page. The flourish on the lower left corner is from the latest FK I traced it in vellum and it looks quite cool methinks.


This is another one for you Bronny - paint!!!! I did this one on Saturday, painted the background pp before adding the rest. Tried my hand at a pleated frame too, bottom flourish is all beaded with handmade glass beads I have had in my stash since I started scrapping. The gorgeous and girly things are off a present Aislinn got - raided all the packaging ;)


I did this one just after xmas, pretty simple really.

This one I love, did it a month or so ago, My baby - awww!! The wee bird is from the packaging from a Littlest Petshop set she got for xmas.


This one is Quinny about to kick the soccer ball while playing with my brother. the boy in the cap embie is off an old shirt of Quinn's finally used it in a LO.


Finally a photo of Aislinn I haven't known how to scrap for ages. At last it is scrapped, poor wee mite fell in a manky old pond the first week we moved to Apiti.

Well that is me better get off here, will post over the weekend with more pics and mini albums too. Laters.

Yeah yeah I know

Still haven't improved my blogging at all. Am still getting none so gentle reminders that I haven't updated it in ages. I keep thinking I will shut it down cos I never seem to be bothered doing it when I am on here but will keep it up for now, highly probable that it won't be updated frequently and that you have all given up on me LOL.

Well another year is almost 2 months over already, last time I blogged Quinn had just had his party and I am getting ready for Aislinn's 5th birthday party next weekend. Feeling a bit sad that my baby isn't a baby anymore but a big school girl. She had a couple of school visits last week, has 2 this coming week before starting full time the week of her birthday. She is having a tea party for her party, seems to be morphing slightly away from the theme at the moment but what the hell she will be happy with what she has chosen and that is all that matters.

Quinn has settled into school well this year, his teacher from last term was supposed to be leaving but is back this term which I am thrilled about, my kids love her and she is the old fashioned kind of teacher that I like, alot like Mary at Apiti so it is quite familiar for them.

We have started back at the after school activities this week, Aislinn back at ballet, Quinny is going to Keas while she is there which saves him being bored at ballet. Then they both have gymnastics on wednesday so only 2 days of rushing about but that is more than enough.

I am still plodding along on WW trying to get over a 3 month plateau, have lost almost 25kg. Liz and I have been walking most nights up in Fensham reserve which is a bushwalk with losts of hills!! I have even been running - me!! who couldn't hardly walk down her driveway in Apiti!! Am still planning on doing the round the vines in a few weeks and heading up to Apiti for the gutbuster on the 5th of April. Hopefully it won't kill me. The girls tried to talk me into it last year but there was no way I could have managed it then. Pretty sure I can now.

Haven't been doing alot of scrapping so far this year, I did a bit over the holidays but still alot of them are awaiting handsewing still, I think I have some i can add in here. I entered a few pages in the Masterton A&P show and got 1st for the one below of Aislinn and Anita at ballet, 2nd and 3rd prizes as well - he he!! Got a few prizes in the photography section as well, couple of firsts, seconds and thirds in that too. Was quite chuffed with myself. Took the kids to the show yesterday which cost a fortune but they had a great time. I have photos but they are still in the camera,need to clear some memory on this thing before I can download them.

Haven't even been taking many pics of late, last time was when we took the kids down to Welly to the zoo. Have to get back into it before my course starts. Found out yesterday that I won't be doing the wedding in a couple of weeks which I am pissed about not that they decided to go with a pro but that my friend couldn't ring me herself and tell me. Ah well I seem to get that alot.

What else? Has been bloody hot summer here, very dry. Thank god for the pool key for the school pool. I survived the holidays without going bonkers or killing the kids so hopefully that means I can cope with the next lot LOL.

Nothing much else to report really will see what pics I can chuck on here for you.

The motorbike Quinn got for xmas from my dad which he crashed just after I took this pic and hasn't been on it since.

The diet xmas lunch I made with nothing high in points was bloody yummy too!!

LO I did as guest designer for SO in December.

and this one...


Love this pic...

At lollipops with Bean stealing my milkshake...


another SO one....



Lastly....


Well that's about me cya in another 3 or 4 months ROFL!!

WWB (World's Worst Blogger!)

God I am terrible at updating this, no I haven't died or been abducted by aliens. Life is just so darn busy that I am lucky to spend an hour a week on the puter these days. What has been happening?? Erm scratching brain trying to remember....

Quinny turned 6! Where the heck did 6 years go?? one minute he was my beautiful baby and now he's this big skinny kid who loves to armpit fart!! That wasn't what I ordered I am sure. He had a party here which was a success entirely due to my amazing friend Liz who is extremely excellent at party games and made a giant sponge bob for pin the tail on sponge bob and a giant patrick for the kids to throw water balloons at (huge hit btw) She even rescued me from great cake disaster when my first attempt at icing sponge bob looked like my 1yo neice had iced it after my piping bag broke 1/4 the way through icing it. Liz came round the next morning and reiced him for me and he looked rather cool.

Quinn's fave thing was I had arranged with Chonny for Dad to bring Huntah down for the party and to stay the night and Chonny and Adam picked him up the next day. They were so excited to see each other. Definately need to go up to Apiti for a trip over the xmas holidays - mid Jan girls I will be coming up.

What else? Finally Aislinn has her cast off and wires out, she has a gnarly scar but is very happy to no longer be the centre of attention when out and about. She is getting better range of motion in it all the time and when we went to see the surgeon last week he was very pleased with how it is going. She has had to flag ballet this term but is keen to go back next year. She is still enjoying kindy and soon will be starting school visits.

My MIL turned 70 a few days before Quinn's birthday so our birthday week was very hectic attending her various functions. I had an awesome birthday, simple but the best way to spend the day. Dad & Sylvia came over and my friend Mim & her fiance Vince came for drinkies so I was drinking all day sitting out in the sun yakking and eating birthday cake - just fab!

I had a paying photography job, I took photos for my BIL Bruce's mum's 70th party, got well paid too - definatley need to get into this as a job! I am now enrolled for a photography course next year at UCOL, only 1 day a week for 3 or 4 months can't wait for it to start. I have been putting together a portfolio and need to get a website up and running too (yeah when I get time! Can't even keep this updated)

This month has been pretty quiet. Am walking 6kms every night with Liz and getting fitter, I am planning on doing the round the vines in Martinborough in March and heading up to Apiti for the gutbuster in April. I have lost 21kg now and am trying to be stricter on myself to get 10kg off before Mim's wedding on 1st march (which I am photographer for Argh!) Life just seems to be picking up and dropping off kids and walking. I have been scrapping this month though.

I had a blast doing the LOs for SO guest designer of the month, will put those up next month but I do have a few to share. My problem is I do this handsewing on my pages, looks fab, takes forever and I wonder each time why the hell I started doing it, but now it is kinda my thing. So I always have a pile to work through before I can photograph em and put them up. I think there are 12 in the box waiting to be sewn - gulp!

This one is Aislinn and Anita at ballet. The day she broke her arm!!

Aislinn and her pet lamb from last year.

Quinny's first day at Apiti School - seems forever ago now.

Aislinn in her flowergirl dress after the wedding pics.

These 2 are scarily alike!!!

Quinny doing his speech on the last day at Apiti School, I stuck his original to the back.
What else? Oh I have changed Quinn's school last week. As I said last post he was miserable at Greytown. I finally had enough of waiting for things to improve so rang the Principal at Dalefield School about sending him there. Went to check the school out the next morning and decided on the spot to enrol him startin last monday. Went to his school to pick him up at 2pm to take him to see it and informed his teacher that the next day (friday) would be his last day. Well did she bollock me! Telling me he was trying to manipulate me, he was perfectly happy there and my fave make sure I tell the principal it wasn't her fault so he didn't think she was a crap teacher. Sort of reinforced to me that I had made the right decision. The next day when i picked him up she was nice as pie, took me to get his report signed by the principal, no "sorry you feel the need to pull your son out of my school, what could we have done??" so I am pleased I have done the right thing. Quinn has been at his new school since last monday and is loving it. It is only 60 kids as opposed to 310 and is very similar to Apiti School, very family and child oriented and I think he is feeling more secure. He has Liz's son Dylan whom he is great mates there and there have been no tears at all since going there.


He is also finally in the age of toothlessness and loved having the tooth fairy leave him $$. His Gran pulled em out for him which he delights in telling the squeamish. And the tooth fairy knowing he has a scrapbooking mother even left notes.

We went to the Carterton Xmas Parade last week, the kids loved it, came home with free Maccas caps and pockets full of Lollies - Quinn's verdict "This is better than Xmas Mum" we are off to the Masterton one this weekend and next month are going to a free xmas concert at Tauherinikau.



Took me a while to work out this is a smoke alarm!

Car that drove both ways - very cool & Quinn's fave!

Has been so hot here this past week or so. We have been swimming in the river every day and even went to Liz's to swim on Thursday, bean is fearless and a water baby Quinn is more chicken until he remembers he learnt to swim last year!

I caught Quinn "making beer" on Sunday morning - they ended up looking like ther had been a student party with all the empties on the lawn!!
Well that's about me till next time....

Well seeing as you have been nagging for it....

Here at long last is an update!!!! I know I have almost been as slack as the lovely Rach at updating this and it has been soooooooo long that you are all missing the inanities of my life (chortles behind hand). My big problem is remembering what the hell I have been doing with my life - not a darn lot I can tell ya.

We had the wedding of the year for which i was cheif cake maker, photographer and provider of gorgeous wee attendants. The cake turned out pretty good for a first wedding cake (one guest declared it the best cake he'd ever had and he looked like he had been to a few weddings in his day.

My gorgeous wee nephew Cameron was dying to have it since he clapped eyes on it "Grandad's birthday cake" he ended up helping Dad & Sylvia cut it. Didn't get his seal of approval he only ate the icing!!

I was really pleased with how the photos came out seeing it was an evening wedding with a dark venue. Here are some fave shots.



It was a lovely wedding and Dad & Sylvia are very happy together.

Aislinn loved being a flowergirl and really came out of her shell alot that night. Poor old Quinn was sick and not very well at all, I couldn't keep him at home cos he was soo looking forward to it. I didn't get any nice pics of him and ended up dressing them both up in their finery a few weeks later to get some nice piccies.

The next day I went round to my brother's place to take some family pics of them as he is off to Afghanistan in a week for 6 months. Kids were tired and not very co-operative. I so need to do a photography course so I can get better shots. There was only one niceish one of the 4 of them.

Apart from that we haven't been up to alot in our day to day lives. Have had alot of difficulties with Quinnie's behaviour recently. He has taken to howling everytime i take him to school & I ended up persuading one of the other mum's to walk him from kindy round to his class. I don't like my chances of it not occuring when he starts again this week as he has done it a few times in the holidays, once when i left him at Gran's and again last week when we were at the library for a clown thing, he didn't want to join in just clung to me bawling. We are trying to sort him out but tis a slow process - he is a stubborn wee soul - lord knows where he gets that from??? ;)

Poor old bean has been doing well until the monday before the holidays, she has a new friend and is really enjoying kindy and ballet. that monday I had my friend Liz and her kids Anita & Dylan (who are my kids new mates) here for a coffee after ballet. The kids were all playing nicely outside when we heard a blood curdling scream. Rushed out there to find Aislinn holding her arm sobbing. Sat on the back step with her and as soon as I saw the arm I knew she had broken it. There was a bone poking out at her elbow where there shouldn't have been. Of course all my nursing training flew out the door and I hit panic mode - thank god for Liz who helped me figure out what to do and took Q to her place for the night.
Off to A&E we trotted it was indeed broken, she broke the ends off her humerus and dislocated her tib & fib. Ended up in surgery and in hospital for the night. Masterton Hospital were awesome to us. She is going in on Tuesday to have the cast off and back in 3 weeks for day surgery to remove the wires. Poor wee thing has been miserable and is missing her newly discovered swinging ability.

What else?? Have been scrapping, need to finish sewing LOs so I can show you. HAve even mananged a few original ones too. Will get to it. Exciting month for me I have a guest designer spot on Scrapbook Outlet this month and am looking forward to working with Andrea and the girls on that. Am very sad not to be going to the Pohongina scrap camp this month *sobbing onto keyboard* I hope they don't miss me too much, but funds are extremely low and we have a dearth of birthdays this month.

Quinny had his first school disco a few weeks back, he had a blast and I have to scrap this dag of a pic of him dancing?? He also had a wearable arts show that the whole school was involved in.The 5 year olds made hats and bags and here he is looking all adorable in his. He has now moved up a class and has a great teacher, I do worry that he doesn't have as many friends as he used to and wonder if something is bothering him at school, he misses Apiti School dreadfully and especially his mate Huntah.


I am still plodding along with WW, have hit the 20kg off mark and am having a small hiccup in sticking to it at the moment (too much wine and chocolate!) Onwards and downwards.


Aislinn had a powhiri at kindy and had her pic in the paper (not this pic) she was a cute wee maori princess.

Am getting RSI typing this here are a few more pics of the kids looking gorgeous..