No more baby tricycles in this house...

Because Jack's a big boy now!! He got his first real bicycle for Christmas and he really does look like such a big boy when he's riding it too. He had his first outside ride yesterday in our driveway and we started out with just his helmet on but he kept tilting over so I went and got his elbow and knee pads as well and it was just in time, he'd just done one circuit and then fell off. He also got a scooter from Santa. He'd been asking for a scooter for months and was so excited when he got it. He's so fast on it. Last night when he went to bed he had to have the scooter right beside his bed and he even said goodnight to it. Crazy kid.

And what better way to cool down after a long ride but a run under the sprinkler.

Christmas Leftovers

Don't you just love 'em. That's what we've been living on for the last couple of days. Yummo!!

With the last of the ham & turkey we had I made the most delicious pate. I was going to make this last year but I didn't end up with enough ham. So here's what I had for lunch today...

Looks good hey. The recipe was out of a 'Delicious' magazine but can also be found here. I didn't have any chicken consomme so I just used stock and I used powdered gelatin instead of leaves (a slightly heaped teasp.)

On Boxing Day Owen and I spent a good hour trying to get this together...

Both Santa and ourselves had gotten Jack a Thomas set and when I got my new desk for my scrap room I came up with the idea of using the old desk top on wheels to put under Jack's bed so he can just pull it out when he wants to play with it. It took ages to work out how to put it all together. I got pretty cranky too, it was a tad frustrating. Sorry O.

Merry Christmas!!

Well I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas...I did!! I was very tired after a couple of very late nights though but it was a great day none the less. My Mum came over after work on Wednesday to help me out which was great.

Christmas Eve we took Jack out the front to sprinkle out some Magic Reindeer Food and then put out a plate for Santa before he went to bed.

We set up all the tables and I set before I went to bed.

On Christmas day Owen & I got up at about 7 to do a few last minute things and then Jack woke at about 8 and he was soooooooooo excited. Santa had brought him the scooter he had been asking for so he was super stoked about that and he also had quite a few other things in his Santas sack. We opened up our gifts to each other and finished up the last minute prep before everyone started arriving. We had a pretty full house this year. Our place is pretty small but we still managed to fit in 9 kids and 21 adults for lunch.

We had a cold buffet lunch of ham, turkey, chicken and pork with potato, crunchy noodle, couscous and pumpkin & feta salads. For desert we had Grandma's plum pudding with custard, choc-mint cheesecake, candycane brownies(recipe is from here) and gormet ice-cream...

as well as a selection of Christmas treats. I think I went a bit overboard!! LOL. We had rum balls, white christmas, bailey's fudge, lemon & lime truffles, mocha truffles, coconut ice, coconut bon bons, rocky road and cherry macadamia truffles. If you'd like some feel free to drop round cause there's lots!! LOL. In the afternoon our friends Kim & David and their kids and Owen's Dad and nephew came over and we had leftovers for dinner which is also what we had for lunch today and dinner tonight.

For Christmas I got a food processor, a couple of stable tables, scrapbooking gift voucher, some perfume, some silicone bakeware, food treats, a gorgeous recipe book, cupcake tree and a lovely bath gift set.

I still feeling pretty zonked and since Jack has gone to bed super early tonight I think I might go and curl up in our room and watch a movie.

Hope you all had a great Chrissy!!

Only 3 more sleeps!!

Christmas is getting sooooooooooo close now and I have sooooooo much to do. LOL. The normal panic is no doubt about to kick in but at least this year I'm a bit more organised with my gifts. Anyhoo, what's Christmas without a bit of madness I say. Owen's already predicting a breakdown on Wednesday whereas I on the other hand am staying positive and am sure everything will go smoothly.

Yesterday my Mummy came over for her regular Sunday visit and after coffee and a chat and some activities with Jack we headed outside to show Mum the new vege patch. It's looking really good. The pineapple sage didn't make it unfortunately thanks to being lied on by 25kg of dog.Speaking of dogs, here's our other dog, Bella. She's starting to look a bit old poor thing, she's 12.

A buzzy busy bee...Jack pulling the 'fruit' off the duranta.Which he likes to plant.The face of anticipation...getting ready to race Grandma down the street.And flag flying.Well that's it from me. I've got to try to organise my shopping list.

Have a nice Christmas!!

I love Christmas digi freebies!!

Christmas is such a lovely time of year and in the digital scrapbook community it is the time of lots and lots of gorgeous Christmas freebies!! These girls are generous year round though with the gorgeous freebies they share. So even if you're a paper scrapper you should make sure you check out some of the cool stuff that's around, you might want to try a hybrid LO.

Ikea Goddess is the BEST freebie hunter around in my opinion. Every day she has a list of available freebies available from all around the www, and the way she list is what I think makes her site the best. She has thumbnail images of what she's listing so you can see in an instant what you may like to download.

The talented bunch over at Weeds & Wildflowers are doing a countdown to Christmas and every day they have a different freebie. Today they have these cute tags...

The freebies only last for a day though so make sure you drop by every day.

One of my other favourite digi stores is Little Dreamer Designs and they have just started their 12 Days of Christmas freebies. Today they have these cute Christmas stamps...

Again they are limited so make sure you drop by every day.

Speaking of digi-scrapping, I did a LO last night.

Credits: Paper by Angie Briggs, paper, tag, & journalling card by Shabby Miss Jenn, ric rac by Michelle Coleman, snowflakes by Gunhild, overlay by Pattie Knox.

K, I'm meant to be out finishing my Christmas shopping so...ciao!!

Carols by Candlelight!!

Last night we went to Carols by Candlelight. This is the first time I can remember going although my Ma tells me she took us when we were kids.
We went with all our Mum's/Bub's group friends and I'm sooooooo glad everyone was able to come, especially all the men. With everyone back at work and multiple kids and things and distances it's tricky to get everyone together. There was even a nice breeze which was lucky because it was so muggy yesterday due to a storm that was building up which luckily held off until very close to the end. We were the last of our group to leave but we left before the show finished but just as we drove out of the carpark it started spitting and then 2 minutes down the road, pouring.
Anyhoo, here's some photos. Young Jack, looking cute as per normal.

My Mumma and Grandma chilling out up the back. Jack showing Grandma and Grandma his Secret Santa gift, a cool book called Gianormous Jack!!Some cool photos of Jack and his glow sticks.And the fireworks!! Which Jack didn't watch. He's a bit scared of fireworks.Ciao.

Elfize Yourself!!

Do you remember this from last year? Tee hee hee, it just cracks me up!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Go on, do yourself!!
There's even different dance styles this year. HA HA HA!! LOVE IT!!

Here's a different one...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaa...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

.........hahahahahahahahahahah.......

I saw this on Amanda & Meredith's Blog's and thought I'd do it too.

1. Do you like blue cheese? nope
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No
3. Do you own a gun? No.
4. Wax or Shave your body parts? Shave and wax
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? yep
6. Real or fake nails? Real
7. Favourite Christmas song?
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee, one sugar and lots of milk
9. Can you do push ups? Doubt it, well honestly I could probably do a couple before collapsing.
10. What's your favourite piece of jewellery? my wedding and engagement rings and my diamond huggies that I got for my first Mother's Day11.
Favourite hobby? scrapbooking
12. Do you have A.D.D.? No, kind of wish I did when I look around my messy house
13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? Quick tempered
14. Middle Name? Leanne
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? Need more coffee, have to get Jack a snack & I should be cleaning the house
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee, water & milk
17. Current worry right now? Nothing major, wondering about how to fit in tables for Christmas lunch
18. Current hate right now? Bills!!
19. Favourite place to be? Love the beach in the late afternoon
20. How did you bring in the New Year? LOL, I can't remember but I think we stayed home
21. Like to run? Nope, too much jiggling bits
22. Name three people who will read this? Kim, Michelle & Brenda
23. Do you own slippers? Yes but I don't wear them.
24. What colour shirt are you wearing? Black
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Nope, I like a nice smooth 100% cotton
26. Can you whistle? Yes, pretty pathetically but it is a whistle none the less.
27. Favourite colour? Probably pink or turquoise
28. Would you be a pirate? No, but I would dress up as one for a party
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Incy Wincy Spider, I co-shower with a 3.5year old and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
30. Favourite girl's name? Ezri, but please if you know me don't steal my name (if you like it. It's been our pick for a girl's name for years, we just have to get the baby girl first, but that's a whole other kettle of fish(actually you could add that back in with No.17)
31. Favourite boy's name? Jack Cooper, lol!!
32. What's in your pocket right now? a tissue
33. Last thing that made you laugh? My Name Is Earl, I watched it last night, it's a damm funny show.
33. Best toy or collection as a kid? My brother and I used to collect smurfs, we had lots (there is two 33s!)
34. Worst injury you've ever had? *edited* ROFL, forgot this was a public blog. I'll just say "OUCH"
35. Do you love where you live? Yep
36. How many TV's do you have in your house? Way lots!! 2 normal TV's and a projector in the theatre room
37. Who is your loudest friend? LOL, I think I'm the loud one!!
38. How many pets do you have? 2 dogs, Bella & Poppy, 1 cat, Kitti-Mae and 4 fish, Ishy2 (siamese fighter), Morris, Michael & Muriel (the goldfish)
39. Does someone have a crush on you? Hopefully my husband
40. What is your favourite book? No real favourites, I really like Dean Koontz
41. What is your favourite lolly? Not a lolly fan really, don't mind sour worms but I love chocolate
42. Favourite Sports Team? None, not a sports fan
43. What were you doing at 6:00pm? Getting groceries
44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Is it morning already?
45. Worst habit? I don't know
46. Do you play an instrument? Nope, I learnt the violin as a kid but didn't like it. I wanted to learn the drums and I wouldn't mind learning guitar
47. How long does it take you to get to work? 5 minutes
48. Plans for the weekend? Ooops, I missed this one. Carols by Candlelight tonight, tommorrow my Mum's coming over in the afternoon.
49. If you could eat anything in the world right this second, what would it be? Not really hungry but am about to go and make myself a coffee
50. Do you like who sent this to you? I saw saw it on Meredith & Amanda's blog and Yes, I think they are fabulous women!! :)

Good old 80's aussie music

You've just got to love YouTube right? You can nearly always find what you want. You know what it's like, you see something of hear something and it reminds you of a song or whatever so you go to good old YouTube to look it up. That's what I've been up to tonight. Here's my night's playlist...

First up in Man Overboard by Do Re Mi. The song that started tonight's YouTube adventure. It's a song that comes into my head out of the blue and quite infrequently but I just love it. I can remember belting out the lyrics as a young teen LOL.
So I went to YouTube and listened to the song and then of course another song came into my head and no wonder since it's also sung by Deborah Conway although I'm not sure I actually knew that. There used to be this show on the ABC called Sweet and Sour that I was obsessed with. It must have been the summer after the show aired when I was between seventh and eighth grade that I begged my Mum to cut my bum length hair to match Tracey Mann's style. OMG.
So then I was thinking about other songs I loved from that decade and 50 Years by Uncanny X-Men came into my head and when Sweet & Sour ended it came up as a related clip, uncanny hey?! My bestie from high school Tracey Mc used to LOVE Uncanny X-Men.

So you can't talk about Aussie music in the 80's and not talk about acca dacca aka AC/DC. I think my brother was more of a fan than me but now I'm older I really appreciate them more.

That gravelly voice made think of Jimmy Barnes, a name synonymous with Aussie rock and then I thought about Johnny Diesel. I used just swoon over him. Love his voice.

And last but definitely not least...INXS. I was fortunate to see them live a few times too in my youth. Great great band and if you've never heard of them do yourself a favour and head over to YouTube to check them out.

Well, I think that's enough of my unpaid YouTube advertising. LOL. Truly I'm just grateful that site exsists and of course there's so many other great Aussie rock bands to check out.

Catch you on the flipside.

My EB Secret Santa gift arrived today!!!

And it's just gorgeous!!

For those who don't know Essential Baby is an Australia website with lots of info about babies, mums, trying to conceive, breastfeeding etc etc as well as a forum. It is in these forums that I have "met" the most beautiful bunch of girls, the EB scrappers. They are such a lovely bunch of girls and I even had the monumental pleasure of meeting a few of the girls at the Scraptacular retreat earlier this year, including the lovely Susan who was my SS this year. And here is what I received...

Isn't she talented!! The bag is just gorgeous and has all sorts of storage pockets, inside (it even has a zipper!!, very sew inspiring) and out and the colours are just gorgeous. And it even had ric rac!! One of my all time favourite things. And the flower is just adorable!! I will have to find it a place of pride in my scrap room!!

Again Susan, thank you soooooooo much!! I love it all!!

Mwuh!!

The party season!!

Don't you just love Christmas?! I do!!

We had Jack's daycare Christmas party on Friday night. He and I made a big plate of gingerbread to take. They were popular but mainly for the icing and m&m's. LOL, all through the playground at daycare are little headless gingerbread with all the icing licked off them. Our house smelt sooooooo yummy during the baking.

Here's Jack's special one that he got to ice.

They had face painting and jumping castles. And then a visit from Santa. Check out the dodgy beard. LOL. When we got home Jack asked if we could take the Christmas tree down now. Good to know that he's satisfied with one little jigsaw puzzle book from Santa hey.

Owen's been busy out in the yard of late. He's extened our side garden and we've planted some veges and herbs and a mandarin tree. Here's Jack and Daddy moving the soil. And here's the garden. We have a lime tree and a dwarf lemon tree and we've had herbs in pots for ages but now we've planted some beans, lettuce, tomato, rocket and some extra herbs. Jack should really enjoy it at his age. He's been growing strawberries in pots but we have yet to even get a flower so I've moved them around to get some more sun.Yesterday Jack and I looked after Thomas and the boys made hand wreaths like Sonia made with her girls. It's a great craft idea for kids to do.And here's Jack's finished project which is now hanging on the front door.

I bought some new furniture again!! It's for my scrap room and when it's all cleared out and pretty I'll show you some photos. It might be a long long time though. LOL. It's quite a junk storage area in there. We're going to have to have another garage sale I think.

K, better go and try to sort through some of the junk.

Ciao

ps, thanks for all the comments about my Christmas village.