I've Been Challenged by Scrap Girls!

Miss Kylie from Scrap Girls gave me one of the challenge kits that participants of the retreat this weekend will get and asked me to do some samples.

At first I didn't know where to start. There was 2 pieces of pp, 1 piece of cardstock, 1 piece of backing board, a pack of Lil Davis chipboard word plates, a sheet of Collage Press journalling cards, and last but not least, a bingo card.

Once I got started I was on a roll. And not being one to let anything go to waste I created 3 layouts and 3 cards with the challenge kit... and still had some bits left over! Never fear though cause on Friday night Shelee came round and she went on to make 6 cards with the scraps!

Looking forward to the weekend. Time away with the girls, heaps of laughs... and you never know... I might even scrap! Especially with all the yummy new product that Cath and I will be bringing as Little Scrapbook Shop is the onsite store. So many new goodies to play with! Can't wait!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

William turned 5 on Thursday! I can't believe my little man is 5 already and will be heading off to big school next year.

He had a great day. Starting with a great big hug from his sister....



Followed by much excitment over getting his very own Nintendo DS....



In the afternoon it was swimming with Shanice, Connor, Jordan and Oliver....



His favourite dinner of pizza and garlic bread....



followed by chocolate cake of course and another great big hug!

And here's a bit of trivia for you. William is the same height at 5, as Caitlin was at 6! I think he's going to be rather tall.

Birthday Celebration Number 1

"William, what will Poppy and Granma bring with them on the weekend?"

"Presents!"

"Well, they might. But what will Poppy bring?"

"Big banana tickle fingers!"

The best thing about Poppy and Granma coming to visit has got to be Poppy's big banana tickle fingers! The kids love them! That don't give poor Dad a moments peace. You couldn't ask for a more fabulous Poppy, or Granma, that's for sure.

Good Friday Fun

Good Friday is such a fun day. After lunch we head up to the Comerford's where the kids head out the back to decorate paper bags in readiness for an Easter Egg hunt, while the Dad's are out the front hiding the eggs.







Of course, William refuses to participate in the Easter Egg Bag decorating, so Caitlin does one for him too. When it's time to head out the front for the big hunt, he doesn't care if his bag is plain, striped or covered polka dots, as long as he has one!




The kids line up eagerly awaiting the words 'ready, set... GO!'



Much chocolate loot is to be found, and every kid who is there ends up with a bag full of yummy, sugary, chocolatey eggs.




And after the hung, it's traditional to get some nice photos of the family together. If you can get the kids to sit still and participate of course!



And time permitting, it's always great to get a photo or 2 with some best friends.

Then it's back home with many attempts at getting sugar fuelled children bathed, fed and into bed!

A special thank you to Michael for his brilliant photography as always. Check him out at Slice of Life Photography.

See you all for next years frolic!

3.16

3.16 am.... That's when I heard my 2 children running through the house yelling "The Easter Bunny has been".

Are you kidding me?!

We watched the Swans v Lions game last night, followed by Al Pachinos 88 minutes. I went to bed at 1am... only to be woken 2 hours and 16 minutes later... not happy jan!

Caitlin is trying to go back to sleep now. William... well... he has himself set up on the lounge, eating chocolate, watching Jaws, and occassionally breaking into song!

Russ is sound asleep... clueless... he had a couple of drinks last night and is sleeping through my pain!

3.16 am....

Remembered With Love

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life.

And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

I love you Nan & I miss you every day xxx

Easter Hat Parade & Easter Egg Hunt

On Thursday William's school had their annual Easter Hat Parade and Easter Egg Hunt. The kids were so excited, wearing their various hats they helped their mums and dads put together.

Here's a couple of photos from the day.



Sing it loud and proud Will....



Off and running to find the Easter Eggs...



Surely there's some eggs under here...



The loot....

The Champion!...

Determination

Action!

When the kids play backyard footy, William is determined to tackle Caitlin at any and every opportunity. Lucky Caitlin is a good sport and doesn't mind playing rough or there could be many many tears.

LSBS Monthly Avatar Club

Over at the Little Scrapbook Shop forum Jenni gives us a new theme each month for our avatars.

My avatar is almost always a pic of Robbie 'the Hottie' Williams. I've never made a secret of the fact that I am in looooove with him lol. Anyway, I'm very lucky to have a little lady who is very talented to dress him up each month for me.

Here's what Kerryn did for me in March, which was all about dessert...

And here is my new April one which is all about our favourite products found at LSBS...


Aren't they tops! Thanks a million Kerryn... you are the woman!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

It's been raining here for a few days, which has meant no outside action for the kids. Now, William has to have outside time everyday or he goes a bit stir crazy. He loves to be outside on the trampoline, kicking a ball, finding bugs and all that fun boy stuff.

On Thursday afternoon we had a break in the weather and William was begging to go on the trampoline. Even though it was muddy we said yes cause the poor kid hadn't been able to jump for days.

He soon discovered a mud puddle under the trampoline... I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story!

Russ even got his shirt off and joined in. What a laugh. Thank goodness I was on bar cause I had the camera. 100 photos later!

What a top way to spend an afternoon.

Pirate Pete

What a fanstatic day William had at pre-school on Thursday. It was PIRATE day, and what little boy doesn't like dressing up and pretending to be a pirate.

I made his costume from a pair of tracksuit pants which were way too short, an old singlet, and a shirt that was too small. I took to them with scissors and tearing, and then rubbed walnut ink over them to make them look dirty.

They had a treasure hunt and found coins of gold and precious jewels. They had priate food... well, lots of food beginning with the letter P like pinapple, pizza, party pies, and pirate potion (actually a banana smoothie, but don't tell the kids!).

All the kids looked awesome in their pirate outfits, and the teachers did an excellent job dressing up themselves and the classroom too.

Getaway...

Is there anything better than a weekend away with the girls scrapping? Ok, there probably is, but Scrap Girls Retreats are so much fun I can't think of anything else that would be better right now!

Even though I worked most of the weekend as Little Scrapbook Shop was the on-site shop I still had a ball.

A little tradition that has started with Kylie, Tracy, Cath and I is to take some time out on Saturday afternoon and take some funny photos of ourselves. Here's a little sample...

Here's the best group photo taken on Saturday night, which if you can't guess was PINK pj night. Some of the girls got really dressed up and looked unreal.

So in 3 nights and 4 days I only managed to scrap 3 layouts! A terrible effort on the scrapping front, but I did have a fantastic time helping the ladies with their shopping, chatting, catching up with old friends and making new ones.

The next Scrap Girls Retreat is on the 30th of April to the 3rd of May. See you there!

Happy Birthday Grandad!

Oops... I've been a bit slack and haven't updated my blog for a few weeks, sorry for the belated blog birthday wish Grandad!

Isn't this a great photo of Russ with his mum and dad. Georgeous!