December already.....

Yikes, where did the year go??? Only 21 more sleeps until the big guy in red makes his brief arrival!! I was listening to the radio today and heard that this year will be Santas busiest - he has to deliver presents to 2.4 billion homes and will have to travel 5300miles per second spending just on 34 sec in each home to deliver all his presents!!! Millie asked me would he make it to our house on hearing this - of course I replied, there are female reindeer guiding the sleigh so they will make sure Santa gets it all done!!!
Have done a little Christmas shopping, to be honest the queues and crowds of people make me just want to shop online........ LOTS......... people just completely forget any semblance of manners at this time of the year and the most disturbing thing I have seen to date is 2 women fighting (I had to actually walk away as it was so ridiculous) over an outfit in Pumpin Patch the other day........... We have ALOT socially coming up in the next 10 days, thrown in three 6 year old parties, including Millie's which I have still got to figure out how to entertain twelve 6 year olds, which brings me to my next point - when did children start needing to be entertained and not just be able to make up games and then get on with them............ sigh! Still it will be lots of fun for Millie and I cannot believe she will be 6!!!

Peace
M.

Happy Anniversay honey....

Four years ago today we did this - thank you Aaron for being an amazing husband and father!!!

Love you lots honey!!

Testing....... my new webcam!!

RAK winner..........

Thanks everyone who left a comment on my blog for the RAK!!! And so I asked Miss Millie to pick a number between 1 and 17 - she did - and the winner is Kelly Nelson number 6 (millie picked this number she told me as she is going to be 6 in December!!!! Kelly, a whole lot of goodies are heading your way on Mondat - have fun with them!!

Over the weather..........

Seriously over the wind, rain, sleet, and freezing cold temperatures!!! Where are you Mr Spring/Summer!!!!

Look what came to live at our house today......

Guess what I am going to be doing all this week............. playing!!! Have been waiting on one of these ages, super excited, Aaron sooooooo does not get it!!!!!

Purging......

scrapbook stuff tonight has been my mission - I have been on a bit of a bender this weekend in regards to clearing stuff out, removing the excess and getting back to my obsessive compulsive tidy self!!! So to say I have been throwing out is a bit of an understatement and as a result I have all of this to give away to a new home - there are ribbons and fibres for miles, the Maya Road tin which is very handy for storage or for altering, cards to wind ribbon etc on, brads, flowers, chipboard, inks, foam stamps etc etc etc etc etc etc!!! So if you want to go in a random draw to have this lot winging its way to your house then leave me a comment!! No questions, no gimmicks, just a simple hello is all that is required and I will ask my lovely assistant, Miss Millie to draw a winner on Friday!!!! Sorry about the photo, light is not great but I promise it is a lovely box of goodies!!!! Whoops have just noticed the stamp in the photo, that is not part of it....... would seem I have to make tidier piles!!!

Fur babies..........

Diva

Van

Well as promised and after lots of requests here are the two new additions to our family....... our two fur babies Diva and Van!! Aaron named him after the guy Van on Outrageous Fortune which we both really love watching - his first choice was Speighter (those of you locals will know this pertains to a local beverage enjoyed by members of the male population here in Southland!!) which resulted in a very firm NO from me - and Diva was easy really, she is just gorgeous and a flippin madam!! To say our section has been ravaged by puppy teeth is a understatement but we have been assured they grow out of it!!!!

I took this photo during the school holidays during a sanity session to the park - plan on editing it a bit and making a canvas for the wall but here it is in it's rough form!! Who would have thought I would have 3 children - some days I can't believe I was lucky enough to be blessed with three little munchkins!!!!

Makes Me Laugh..............

This is funny!!

A bit of fun

Saw this on Hannah's blog and couldn't help myself!!!!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Bambi Escape
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavour, fave cookie) Orange Chip Tim Tam
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first 3 letters of your last name)M-Mck
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fave colour, fave animal) Pink Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Daphne Invercargill
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)MckMe
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd fave color, fave drink)The Black Coke
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Charles Eugene
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your fave perfume/cologne, fave candy) Stella Jaffa
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names) Susanne Ruskin
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Allison Auckland
12. SPY NAME: (your fave season/holiday, fave flower) Christmas Orchid
13. CARTOON NAME: (fave fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y
Melon shirty
14. HIPPY NAME: (what you ate for breakfast, your fave tree) Weetbix Orange
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Scrapbooking Sunshine Tour

Heck a few of those are a bit weird - and no cheeky comments about my middle name lol!!!
Back into a routine with all three little munchkins back at preschool and school - nearly caught up on all my work but there is always something that needs done!!!!! Holiday weekend this weekend - wahoo - going to finish the letters for the kiddie winks rooms and also try and get my stock room aka garage under some sort of control!! Happy birthday to my sisters partner - hope you had a great day Hayden!!!

Ciao for now!!!

Boo!!

Anyone still there!! Heck it is a long time since I blogged but everytime I sit and think right must update, the phone alot rings, children want something, an email needs answered etc etc!!! So alot has happened since my last post which kinda makes sense considering it's been 3 months!!! So to keep it simple and easy to read and so that you all don't nod off reading a novel here it is in bullet form

- Max turned one on the 25 July - as usual we had 2 parties (family and then family/friends!!)

- We sold our section and bought a house which is about 9?? months old - it's new and light and fabulous and I LOVE IT!!! the house building went by the wayside as it was WAY too expensive, would have taken too long (as those of you who know me will know I am a instant gratification kinda of girl!!)

- We added to our family in the form of 2 puppies - Van and Diva - very cute but full on - it's like having 2 newborns at the same time!!!

- Millie sat and passed with wonderful scores her first jazz and hip hop exams receiving Honours in Jazz and Highly Commended in Hip Hop - very proud mummy momment!!!

Well the school holidays have been and gone - while I love my children dearly bad weather and 3 children with cabin fever are nearly enough to drive you mad!! Okay so a quick post but will try and be good and update more!!!

-

School Holiday project

I have a new addiction - surfing http://www.etsy.com/, it is the coolest place for hand made crafts, lots of inspiration and guess what the girls and I are making this week??? These pots are super cute and look like they could be manageable for the girls to have as a project! So day one tomorrow officially of the school holidays and I have been sitting here racking my brain of things to do with the girls, there are all the usuals like the park, museum, friends over to play etc and on Saturday we are going here - the girls are so looking forward to this and just quietly, their Mum is too!!
To all of you with wee ones at home during the school holidays - have fun and lets all pray for fine weather!!

Ciao
Meg

Black Cat Boogie

Well we entered that strange world of school productions this week - Monday and Tuesday night saw Miss Millie take the stage as one of the 'alley cats' for her schools production 'Best Foot Forward'!!! I was SO proud of her - she was one of the kids at the front and remembered all her steps - one thing I will say about Millie is when she commits to something, she gives it 110% and didn't seemed fazed by the large audience (she is the one on the right with the white leotard on).
There is something about little people and performing which make me smile, the excitement of performing and their families watching, all the buildup and rehearsals and then the moment when they actually take the stage and get caught in the moment - I had the odd giggle as they are just so darned cute and funny but just so amazed at this young person who is just into life in such a HUGE way and wants to try and do everthing that comes her way - so cool!!!
Well we are settled into the rental we have secured while the house is being built - hope to get the final price to build this week - seems to have taken ages to get to this point and to be honest I think I will let Aaron look at the final bill - it might just put me off!!!! The kids seemed to have moved really well except for our wee guy who seems to think he is back at when he was a newborn and not going to bed until 11pm at night - little rascal!!!!
School holidays for the next 2 weeks and have got the odd thing planned for the kids but generally just some down time for Millie - she was really sick about 3 weeks ago to the point of being off school for 2 days and sleeping the day away - which she has never done before - and with the school production on two nights this week, is a bit tired so lots of sleep ins I think!!

Ciao for now
Meg

I was just thinking

as I sit here in bed typing this post listening to talkback (I know I'm a geek!!) as they are talking about and playing all sorts of music from a long time ago and it made me wonder in 30 or 40 years time what music will I be listening to and will the music I choose to listen to now will be considered 'classics'? I think there are some that will - like U2, who I love love love and even now it brings tears to my eyes - okay maybe not that bad- that I missed out on their concert when they came to NZ last year but our wee guy was only like 12 weeks old and it was going to be too hard a trip on him so we made the not so difficult decision in hindsight that we would not travel and see them, there will always be another opportunity but your children are only young once and there are some things you just have to forgo - which leads me to the fact that our wee guy is 1 next month! Holy heck where did that go - was it really nearly 11 months ago (actually I was probably sitting in bed then with a very pregnant stomach providing somewhere for the laptop to rest typing a post! It is amazing that the time leading up to that wee person joining us in the world seems to take SOOOOOOO long to be here but when you are well on the other side and they are trying to walk - yes walk I tell you- you realise that those photos are so precious, that journalling so important to record and then it makes you realise that scrapbooking is a wonderful process to be involved in!
Well it is only 6 more days and we have to leave this house and move into our rental house while our new house is being built - I was packing tonight (I am so over brown boxes and trying to make things fit into them - and it suddenly occurred to me that this is our last weekend in this house. ever. forever. And that makes me sad, really sad as this house has been a wonderful family home to us, it is the only house that my 3 children have ever lived in, Aaron and I got engaged in this house, we have brought our children home from the hospital to this house, the girls both had their first birthdays and learned to walk, I welcomed my sister back from living in Wellington after a refocus in her life and then farewelled her again, and probably the thing that this house has done is provide a shelter for our family, many of our friends when they needed a shoulder to cry on or a smile to celebrate with - I know that you take your memories with you but when I turn the key in the lock for the last time on Friday I will be sad, and I will reflect and I will take photos to remind us of our first family home................

Ciao
Meg

Being thankful......

So I have been reading Janines blog - on it she asks what are the little things that make us an individual's happy and it got me to thinking - do we only need the big things in our lives to make us happy or can we be content with the small things? For me it is a mixture of the two - I love when my three little munchkins sleep in to at least 7am and that Paige leaves her jammies on and doesn't climb into bed with us like a wee ice chip (sigh - what is it with 2 year olds and the inability to remain fully clothed.....) but then I also love when we do something big like booking our flights to Melbourne for my friend Minka's wedding, or choosing all the 'inside bits' for our new house - maybe it is human nature to always want more, improve what we have etc but on the flip side of the coin is this a bad thing if wanting more means improving our minds with study or a new hobby and is there anything wrong with wanting to strive and work hard in life to be able to improve our quality of life? No wrong or right answer with this one in my personal option but definitely a very debatable topic for all that!!!

I have heard over the last couple of days of a couple of incidents that have occurred in the industry which really sadden me - this is a drum that is often heard but I have always had the belief that scrapbooking is about preserving memories, giving ourselves a creative outlet and as is so often the case, the amazing opportunity to meet like minded people and there are so many amazing friendships that have come from chance meetings from events and forum and blogs that exist in the 'industry'. So when I hear stories of less than kind comments, mean spiritedness and just general 'tall poppy' syndrome it really does make me think of the old saying that 'If you have nothing nice to say, then perhaps refrain from saying anything at all'.

Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion, it's healthy and wouldn't the world be a boring place if we all thought the same things and performed the same actions, but there is a line between opinion and nastiness which usually occurs at the expense of certain individuals who work very hard to make a place for themselves in the world and who without them the scrapbooking industry would not be as colourful. I know that it all sounds very cryptic and that is not the intention of this post, but I do think that perhaps as a community we should celebrate our successes more and well focus less on what we don't like ................

On a separate note - go the kiwis in the yachting!!!

Ciao
Meg

SENZ Photos..............

Some photos of SENZ


Fiskars Stand -demonstrating their latest and greatest

SENZ Main Show Area

Kelly Rotherham - Fantastic lady and new sub-editor of Up 2 Scrap!

(L-R) Jo Burney, Meg, Janine, Neen, Megan, Beverley, Ann

Some of the amazing tags being swapped!

A junior scrapbooker we found in the hall - so many young girls at the show with their Nana's and Mum's - and they are talented!!!

More tomorrow - off to bed, am shattered after a big few days at the show!

Ciao

Meg

Airports

Are funny places, have been in a few over the years, full of extremes mostly, people rushing to catch flights, people either really upset or overly happy. I am sitting here in Christchurch airport waiting to catch my flight to Auckland and even though it is busy and noisy it also very peaceful, now don't me wrong I am missing the children like mad already but not having to change dirty nappies, explain to Paige why she cannot have crackers and cheese for breakfast and putting all the books back on the bookshelf after Max has bulldozed his way through them for a couple of days is going to take a little adjustment but I am sure I will get there!! (winks)
This is a quick post as my plane is due to leave shortly - as I sit here typing Tina Cross and Suzanne Lynch from the 'Ladykillers', the all woman group who sang on "dancing with the stars' on Tuesday night have just sat down across from me - do they classify as celebrities????

Will update once I get to Auckland!

Ciao
Meg

One sleep to go...........

Wow - cannot believe that SENZ is just around the corner!!! It's my first one and I am a little excited about being part of the BUZZ - people, scrapbook products, classes, inspiration, the list is endless!!!! I finally get to meet our DT girls in the flesh (well apart from Mrs Renfree who is always down this way LOL!!!) which is going to be great and alot of our customers and forum members as well - make sure you are wearing your Scrapbook Essentials Pins, some faboo spot prizes are going to be handed out!!!!
For those of you who are headed to Christchurch from the 12th-14th of October for the South Island SENZ, we will be revealing our tutors (and we have a pretty cool guest tutor joining us) next week, classes will be available for purchase from the 13th August and trust me when I say the classes will be nothing short of AMAZING - we have some big BIG plans in the pipelines so WATCH THIS SPACE!!! If you want to be one of the first 150 lucky people to purchase your tickets for SENZ in CHristchurch and receive a show bag full of product then go here on the 25th May and purchase yours!
Well it's off to bed for me - big weekend ahead!!!

Ciao
Meg

So much to do, so little time.................

Well the last few days have been crazy to say the least - the last of the kits for the classes of our very talented DT member Jo Burney who is tutoring for Up 2 Scrap are gone, stock for their stand is all boxed and Mr Courier came this afternoon and got it, fliers will be picked up tomorrow, last of the class extras are packed in my suitcase, have made Max's vegies and these are in the freezer for while I am away in Auckland (how did I ever think I could leave my babies for 3 days - eek!!). AM hoping like anything that my new MM Tote - and yes Tanya it is pink!!- will be here tomorrow so I can pack all my scrapbooking supplies for the class I am taking with Kelly Rotherham on Friday and for the crop night on Friday, still have a 101 things to do before I fly out on Thursday but have taken to making lists and it's a great feeling ticking them off!!

It's amazing all the little things that have to be done so that Aaron has a stress free time with three small people while I am away!!!

Our latest kit went up on the site tonight and I must say that is is my favourite of all our kits so far, love love LOVE Scenic Route papers and this is kit is full of them, go here to get yours!

I do plan on blogging while I am away with updates and pictures of SENZ, so make sure you check back!!!

Ciao

Meg

Belated Happy Mothers Day!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful mothers day and were all spoilt rotten or spoilt their mums or the special people in their lives who take on the role of Mum for them!!! I was very spoilt with breakfast in bed - okay so in the end I had to get up and poach my own eggs as Aaron was boiling them?????? But it is always nice to feel appreciated and I guess having the excuse of a day all about me is as good as any for a sleep in which with three children tend to be few and far between these days LOL!!!! Aaron has told me to pick something out but since I am away to SENZ next week for three days and Aaron is flying solo, I figure that is enough of a pressie........ (maybe a quick trip to the shops though while I am up there!!!)

Okay so the winner of the Queen and Co containers for guessing our new house number which will be 39 is................. Christi Nelson with her guess of 38!!!! Congrats Christi - those 6 cute containers on their way to you today!!! Right so this is a quick post but here is a recent photo of our wee man - aren't those chubby thighs yummo!!!!

Have a great day

Meg

I have bugs.......

Lots of them - the head cold, coughing bleuck kind!!!!! Max has had a cold with his teething, so bad in fact I relented and allowed our GP to prescribe him some antibiotics!!! Well now it's my turn, I am one of those people who thankfully hardly ever get sick but when I do it's a doozy!!!!!
So last night instead of getting to meet Hannah and her hubby Rob, I was hunched over a steaming bowl of eucalyptus - that stuff smells BAD but it works so hunch I did!!!! So to Hannah and Rob, HUGE apologies for missing out on meeting the two of you, Michelle tells me you had a great time!!!
Not long now until SENZ in Auckland - I am sooooooo looking forward to this, am taking a class with the talented Kelly Rotherham and getting to meet some of our DT girls in person for the first time PLUS so many of our customers have emailed wanting to catch up!!! Am taking every known cure to help get rid of this flu so that I am fighting fit for the weekend!!!!!
Our monthly kit has been HUGE as usual - there is only I think like 3??? left so head on over to the shoppe and grab yourself one!!! The fancy pants papers in it were part of the new releases from Fancy Pants in January and we have been saving them up to create a yummy kit - we have had so much positive feedback on this months kit - and next month's is all ordered and is going to be a cracker - a hint I hear you ask - okay........... let's just say you will be taking the 'scenic route' to creativity next month!!!!

Ciao for now
Meg

Update

Well I blew it - my 30 day challenge that is!!! I started off with great intentions but it all turned to custard day 4 - whoever designed the 24 hour day obviously never had a very sick 9 mth old from teething, a sick Mum to look after him, hockey games, dance classes etc etc!!!! Anyway no self pity lurking here - too busy LOL!!!! No seriously I think that I need to just blog when I can, if it is every day then great, every week fine so will see how often I can manage it!!!

Okay so the winner of the RAK - Janine aka Angel Gurl - woohoo Janine, will get the yummy scorll corners away to you today, they are YUMMO, so have fun playing with them!!!!

Well the house went unconditional on Friday, we got the deposit cheque in our hot little hands for about 5 mins before paying for our section - sigh!!!! Here's a couple of photos of where our house will be built, Amelia insisted in being in one of them!!!

Also another little giveaway - 6 Queen and Co felt containers which are now empty, these are awesome for storing buttons, ribbons etc so leave a comment on the blog what you think the street number will be for our new house - it's between 20 and 50 - closest to gets the containers sent to them!!!

Our House is Sold!!!!!

It's Monday........

and day 3 of my challenge to blog everyday for 30 days - I must admit that I can think of lots of things to blog about but are they interesting??? So Mondays are always a funny day for me - they are obviously the start of a new week but also a definite reminder that the weekend is one again over and I find myself counting down the days until the weekend!!! As some of you know we listed our house and it sold in like 6 days - subject to finance which has to be confirmed by the end of this week, it turns out as they are Australians who have bought our house (moving from Brissie to Invers????) the banks are a little more pedantic about the finer details but it's done pretty much a done deal!!! So now the BIG question - where to from here for us? Well we bought a section today in a new subdivision here, not our ideal move in terms of where we ultimately want to be, but a great area, lots of families building there so we are pretty happy in the short tem - just have to decide what sort of us we want to build now - there are SO many companies that offer the complete package - right down to the toilet paper holder, so it's a big decision!!!!
We start shipping our monthly kits tomorrow, so for all those of you who receive these, start stalking the yellow vans from Wednesday!!!!!

Woohoo - day 3 done!!!

Ciao for now
Meg

Day 2 and a sneak Peek

Holy cow I had no idea so many people read my blog, now the pressure is really on with my 30 day challenge!! Two days in a row - 28 days to go!!! Well busy day today, we had some friends visit us who had wonderful news that they were going to be parents for the first time - so excited for them and it couldn't happen to nicer people, Shannelle looks fantastic and you can't even tell she is pregnant - don't envy them those first few weeks though and can say in all honesty I am pleased we are now past all those 4 hour feeds and tiredness!!! For those of you who get our kits, here's a sneak peek of one of the gorgeous projects you will learn how to make

Isn't she gorgeous - her name is the Prima Fairy and Megan Renfree designed her, every time one of the girls sends me a completed project for the kit, I am reminded of how lucky we are to have our talented design team who work alongside us to provide you with lots of inspiration!!
To purchase the kits and learn how to make your very own Prima Fairy go here!!

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Meg

Day 1 and a RAK!!!

Okay so here we go - day one of my self imposed 30 day challenge!!!! Will try and post interesting stuff each day so thought I might start off with a RAK!!!

Leave a comment on my blog so I know people still think it is worth visiting and I will draw a random name who will receive some of these yummo scroll corners from Maya Road, their chipboard is just divine and I have to say that they are my favourites when it comes to out of the box products dripping with quality!!!!

Not sure if I have mentioned it before now, but we are selling the house, we don;t really want to but with 3 kids, and a busy business we need more space so we listed it last week - the market is sooooo busy here that hopefully it won't be long and we will be on our way!!

You have been warned.......

Hello, hello anyone there??? I am the worlds worst blogger, so if anyone still checks this blog out, then as the title says you have been warned, long post ahead!!!

Righto so the must do stuff first, I have been tagged by the lovely Lynda and the flower crazy Michelle!!!!

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves, people who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names.Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I LOVE LOVE my family, even when I am covered in milk vomit, raspberry jam from sticky little fingers or felt pen, I am thankful for my three little angels every single day!!

2. My nickname is Cyril - long story and I am not elaborating............

3. I love Japanese food - teppan, sushi, sashimi, maybe I am half Japanese?????

4. I am not really an animal person, which is weird considering I grew up on a farm full of deer,
goat, sheep, hens etc etc.

5. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE shoes - last count 35 pairs............

6. I really want to go to the Octoberfest in Germany one year, only regret of my OE is not
doing that, I really think the Oompa Loompa bands that play in the Hofrahaus would benefit
from my chemically inbalanced (hey it's a beerfest) input..... or not!!!

7. I love to talk - and this love intensifys with a few wines.......

So who to tag, well all the blogs I lurk around have pretty much been tagged so will leave it open to anyone who feels up to the challenge, let me know if you do so I can sneaky peek!!!

Right so on with the rambling and a little shameless self promotion!!!! The May kit is up on the Scrapbook Essentials site and it is GORGEOUS!!!!! There are only a few left so if you have been umming and aahing, then quick, go here and hit the BUY NOW button, you will be very pleased you did!!! And this month we have the uber talented Design Team girls Megan Renfree and Janenne Sloan designing 2 gorgeous projects, of which the instructions will be in the kit, I have seen the odd sneak peek and what they have come up with is simply stunning!!!!!

Also we are running a mothers day competition over on the message board so go and check it out - fantastic prize of a voucher to spend instore and with all the yummy new products, will not be hard to spend!!!

So we have had a mad few weeks with the business, children being sick, Aaron working crazy hours and generally life, I always feel guilty about neglecting my blog and so have set myself a challenge - to blog once a day, even if it is a simple hi for 30 days - so wish me luck! The fantastic thing about a blog is that is a permanent way to record stuff, big and little that you can refer to, so tomorrow is day one of the 30 day challenge!!!

Some photos of the kids

Max has just started crawling (fast I might add!!) and I ahd to snap him fascinated by the TV - this fascination lasted about 30 secs and then he was off on a misson again!!

Amelia in action at her school sports day for years 1 & 2 in the All Saints zone, was more like a games day, they apparently don't do the whole athletics thing until year 3!

Right - so more tomorrow then, what will I blog about....... perhaps a RAK????

Tagged......

Thanks Tanya Leigh for tagging me - I have to post 5 quirky things about me so here goes....

1. I HATE lights being left on if no-one is in the room - drives me nuts, must be the obessesive compulsive side of me lurking!!

2. I hate feet, they are such a necessity but don't think I have ever ever seen a pair of feet that I thought looked nice - feet just gross me out full stop!!

3. I am addicted to Sprite Zero - if I drank as much water as I do Sprite Zero I would have the complexion of a newborn!!

4. My wardrobe consists mainly of black and white - you can't go wrong with this colour combination!

5. If something is the colour pink then I will always buy it regardless of whether I need it - think ipod, cellphone, shoes, bags, you name - I LOVE PINK!!!

So who to tag - well I am tagging Beverley, Megan Renfree and Hannah - so lets have it girls!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Max and his Mum

A new do

Well I finally gave in and cut my hair off - it's been a long time coming and with the recent HOT weather, couldn't bear it anymore
so chop chop and bobsville here I come!!! Stil getting used to having my hair short but it's so much easier to do - photo looks a bit posey I know but I was taking a self portrait photo and it's quite hard to do and make sure you are in the center, hence the funny pose as i was trying to make sure I was in the middle in the reflection on the lens LOL!!! Lots happening around here, went to scrap camp in Bannockburn last weekend which was FABOULOUS - man it was HOT HOT HOT, we were all melting but we suffered for the sake of ART!!! Well done Nik and Lara for organising this, AMAZING group of ladies who all get on so well and heaps of laughs too!!!
Our wee man is growing so fast, he is 8months on the 25th of this month, he is on his hands and knees rocking and then bunny hops a couple of times, collapses and cries - sooo cute, well except the crying part!!! Amelia has settled so well into school, I went along and did the mother help thing this morning as they were decorating photo frames with shells they collected on their beach visit last week - let's just 18 frames took a LONG time, Max rolled around the flook which was funny to watch and Millie was so funny - she kept coming up and cuddling me saying that I was her Mummy!!!! Very cute!!! Then there is Miss Paige - she is now apparently leading mat time at her pre-school, she's officially one of the big kids and tells them all that it is tidy up time and claps her hands like the teachers - too funny!! I went and bought the girls some of the new red, white and black girls stuff from Pumpkin Patch, it is gorgeous and they look very sweet, will have to take some pics and upload them.......

Ciao
Meg

Going to the chapel......

One of the ladies on our forum is getting married today and we have been invited to share in here and her husband to be's special day, everytime we go to a wedding it reminds me of when Aaron and I got married, will be four years ago in November, I look back no at the lead up to it all and it just went so quick but on the day it was just amazing that Aaron and I took that step, the big one, promising to spend our lives together through the good and bad times, when you think about it marriage is like this huge leap of faith and I am thankful daily that I have Aaron in my life and for all his love and support of me - it never waivers, and his heart is so big that it truely does amaze me sometimes that he chose me to be his lifelong partner! Don't get me wrong sometimes he is so the opposite of me that I struggle to 'get' where he is coming from but that's the good part - figuring it out and learning a new perspective!!! He is yin and I am yang at times, but together the pieces fit and make a whole........
All the best Rachel and Brendan as you start this wonderful new chapter of your life together - may you have much happiness and joy in your lives together........

From Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet"...

"Love one another, but make not a bond of that love. Let it rather be like a moving sea between the shores of your souls. And stand together, and yet not too near together. For even the pillars of the temple must stand apart; and the oak tree and the cypress will not grow in each other's shadow. Remember that love gives nothing but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love. And think not that you can direct the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, will direct your course."

Happy Days

We have finally changed ISP's from Telecome to Vodafone, no more shoddy service and lost emails in cyberspace - LOVING IT!!! All I need is that wee guy in the pic above and I can go anywhere in NZ and have internet access and that's all I need, no more cords, wireless routers that do not work - freedom is bliss!!

Red foil covered chocolate hearts that I gave to Amelia for Valentines Day - they have a wonderful teacher who just inspires all of them and so on Valentines Day once they had finished for the day, Amelia walked out of class, gave me a red cardboard heart that said I love you Mummy, too cute....... so as she had made such an effort, I made one back and made her my valentine and gave her these hearts.....

On Tuesday morning before she went to school she whispered in her Dad's ear, they went outside and picked this rose for me out of the garden, she walked back inside, gave it to me and said Happy Valentines Day.......

I read alot of blogs, some non-scrapbook related, some not but this chick makes me laugh everytime, I love her sense of humour and her take on life, she make me laugh out loud! She also loves Neil Finn from Crowded House, and I mean seriously loves him and his music!

Just loaded the sneak pics of March's kit to the site - the papers in this kit are cool, uber cool in fact and I managed to source the cutest metal embellishments to go with them, full kit will be revealed on the site on the 20th......

Creating.....

Flip it's been nearly a week since my last post, so much for trying to blog daily!!! Anyway I was persuaded (does arm twisting count LOL) to join in a circle journal over at the Scrapbook Essentials forum, as usual I left it to the last minute as I do and while I would not rate it amongst my best work (why are scrapbookers so self-critical!!) I am happy with the end result! There are 14 talented ladies involved in the circle and we all have a different theme to our individual albums, I chose words to inspire your life for the year - my word is simple! I am always frantic mad with the business, school drop offs, preschool pickups, family, friends, the list is endless but I am not someone to sit around so while I may be simplifing things in my life and learning to say no to the odd thing I have no doubt that I will always be 'busy' it's just who I am!!

Quick post but will try very hard to blog tomorrow.......

Leaving on a jet plane.....

That song has normally always reminded me of the movie 'Armageddon' (love Ben Affleck by the way!) but come tomorrow it will mean something very different..... my baby sister is leaving Invercargill tomorrow to start a new chapter in her life in New Plymouth and I am very sad..... I only have one sibling and over the years we have both lived away from home but this time I think it's a permanent move for Amber as she is moving to where her partner is based and for a time will be living on his family's horse stud until their new house is completed later in the year! We told Paige and Amelia tonight (Max is only 6 months) but that's one of the blessings of being so young is that they don't understand and won't until Aunty as they call Amber isn't popping into see them everyday, so to my baby sister who I know will read this - be safe, we will miss you and love you very much........

Monthly Kit.....

We have had the amazing and extremely talented Evana Willis working with this months kit, above is one of the 2 amazing projects you will be able to create with it, there are only a limited number left so head on over to the shoppe to purchase - the value is amazing and there are some just gorgeous products included in it!! Well CHA Winter 2007 is due to start on the 28th of this month and from what has been sent to us already from manufacturers with regards to new product releases, our poor wee stock room will be bulging at the seams!! We are opening this Saturday for the first time ever from 9am-1pm due to customer demand so if you are in the Invercargill Area pop your head in and say hi!

Now I've done it....

Okay so everytime I logged into blogger, there it was that wee sign saying upgrade here, I have ignored it until tonite I thought what the heck - a couple of fellow bloggers have told me how much easier it is so I did it - pushed the button and here it is - still have a bit of tweaking to do but funnily enough it is a lot easier - except there are all these anonymous comments on my blog, how do I know who you are??? Well the weather is officially rubbish again, was just starting to think that summer was finally upon us, but what do you know - rain, mind you we do need it!! I have been a bad mum and only taking limited photos of our 3 wee people, still have moments of 'Oh my god, I am a mother of 3' and head count them to be sure........ anway I pulled the camera out and took this one, I know they are my children but I just think they are the cutest - hard to believe Millie was upset 5mins prior to this as she had lost her flipping Cabbage Patch doll!!!

Anyone still there.......

Okay it has been a looooonnnnnnggggg time since I posted last - Xmas is just such a full on time for us so poor old blog has been neglected a bit!!! Anyhoo Xmas was fab, we had it here at home and both mine and Aaron's family were here to celebrate it with us!! Every year we say right 1 present each (the kids being the exception of course) and every year no-one sticks to the rules, Aaron well and truly spoilt me - terribly lucky to have that man in my life!!! Now I know there a few of you who I need to return phone calls to and emails for that matter - my apologies for not getting back to you straight away but I will get there! A big hello also to our friends Heather and Martin who moved to Blenheim last year (they told us they were sick of the weather) but guess what we have been having the most AMAZING weather - temps in the 20's each day so come back guys - we miss you!!
The site has been crazy mad and then we decided to go and have a sale so if you are after a bargain or two or three then go here!

Thought I might also share some sneak peeks of our February Monthly Kit which is now on the site for purchase - very nice don't you think!!





Well those three little people in our lives are all growing up way too fast - Amelia (as she has now informed us she wants to be called, no more Millie please Mummy) starts back at school in 3 weeks, I guess in some ways she is starting from scratch as she only had 4 days of the term last year and then holidays - Our wee man Max has still not grasped the whole sleeping throught the night thing - we have tried everything believe me, still it's not forever and who needs sleep right?? And then Miss Paige - totally adorable, cheeky and fun loving but just into everything and I mean everything - she upended a whole new bottle of Aaron's Clinique after shave balm over the bathroom floor - I'm hoping he won't notice........
Well a quick post but promise to be back really soon with more adventures....