Excitement abounds

Yip our household is buzzing today... and no it's not the sound of bees...it's pure excitement from one little guy all about his school camp out tonight. He has been counting sleeps all week and now the day has arrived. I don't know how much school work will get done with all the excitement though.. hehe.

So we've started gathering our supplies together:
1x tent.... had to borrow from a friend as we don't possess one... Thanks Karin & Brian
3x sleeping bags & pillows
some blankets/duvet inners to put under the sleeping bags... to make a mattress link feeling (ie help give us a softer sleep)
Food.... Keith is organise this... thanks!... plan to make hamburgers for supper
Juice to drink... must remember to pack from the fridge too
Mosquito repellant... NB!!! Don't want to get "carried away" hehehe
Torches... remember the batteries
Chairs
Sleeping togs
Toothbrush

Oh and I'm sure there will be lots more thrown in too... all this for ONE night at the school... and me who doesn't DO camping... hehehe.... amazing what we will do for our kids.

So please pray very hard that it doesn't rain tonight.... Aaron had even asked earlier this week "what happens if it hails?"
well my feeling is "we pack up and go home"....
"NO Mommy, we sleep in the hall then. We must wake up at school in the morning"
.... so reckon we will be staying over no matter the weather! Wish me luck.

ps... there will be hot chocolate and marshmellows on sale so reckon that's also a good incentive to go!

new background

Well I hummed and haa-ed and ooo-ed and aaah-ed but made up my mind (for now at least) and chose my new blog background. Your thoughts????

Check out http://alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com/ for more examples if you want one too.

Up for the challenge?

Phew but this last week just flew past. My to-do list from two weeks ago needs a revisit... so here's some of the things I have managed to do

1 Turn away from your screen and... blink - Definately been doing this more and more
2 Shop locally... After last weeks comments I gathered that this should have been "buy SA products"... well will have to keep it on the list as I didn't go shopping this past week!
3 Bake something for a friend... I plan to do this on around my birthday... I share a birthday with a work collegue who just LOVES my Lemon Meringue Pie so thought I'd make him one all of his own.
4 Turn off unnecessary lights... keeping this on as there are some nights when certain people in the house leave lights on till the wee hours of the morning!!!!

Best I now add a few more to this list.
* Have more meals together
* Stick to the speed limit
* Fit at least one energy-saving light bulb

Right let's see where this week ahead is going to take us now.

Hint, hint...

Keith has been asking me what I want for my birthday... so thought I'd drop a few hints here and see if any of them come to fruition.


I would love to have some new books to read.... okay so I do have a lot already but these ones are on my wish list over at Kalahari.net (in no particular order of preference)

A Page Out of Life: A Scrapbooking Novel byKathleen Reid ISBN: 9780425221303



Prints Charming by Rebeca Seitz ISBN: 9781595542717



Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz ISBN: 9780805446906 - book 1



Coming Unglued by Rebeca Seitz ISBN: 9780805446913 - book 2



Scrapping Plans by Rebeca Seitz ISBN: 9780805446920 - book 3 (only due in March 2009)



Scraps: Adventures in Scrapbooking by Wendy Bagley ISBN: 9781401302160

Moment of Truth by Sally D. John ISBN: 9780736913157 - book 3 of a series I already have

A Time to Mend: Safe Harbors Book OneAuthor: Sally John ISBN: 9780849918896

This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury ISBN: 9781599956787 (only due in Jan 2009)

The Guardians by Jack Cavanaugh ISBN: 9781589191006 - I've read the first four in this series years and years ago and now most of the rest are out of publication.... if ANYONE knows where I can get my hands on them please let me know.

Next items on my wish list would be some scrapbooking stuff.... this really really goes without saying... hehehehe. But my problem with some of these things is that they are only available overseas and to get them here to SA would be sooooooooooooooooooo expensive... especially with the exchange rate doing it's up and down dance at the moment! But, just for drool sake here are some of the bits and bobs.

Technique Tuesday - Clear Acrylic Stamps:

Today You Journaling Frames by Ali Edwards

Bits and Pieces by Ali Edwards

Remember the moments by Ali Edwards

Capture the Moment by Ali Edwards

Oh and a gift voucher from my local scrap shop.... Scraptifity... will always be a welcome one.

And then to feed my other "addiction" you can always get me some chocolate. But not just any old chocolate, I love these ones:

Cadbury's slabs - especially mint, top deck and the new one Chocolate Brownie or Capacino mousse (by Beacon).....mmmmm

Cadbury's milk tray

Tolberone

And also Beacon's Damascus French Nougat.

So I hope that these ideas will help you when it comes time to getting my something small for my birthday... hint hint nudge nudge say no more!

Win a custom blog

Been blog hopping and every now and then I find someone who designs blog templates or backgrounds. Well now its your lucky day as you don't have to look toooooooo far. Just click this link, follow the "rules" and you could also be in line to get your own custom designed blog...
http://alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-2nd-giveaway.html

I really really like the designs I see here... will see about getting one for my blog.

Just an observation

Keith, Aaron and I went out for lunch today at the new Seemans around the corner from where we stay. It was an ok lunch... not the greatest or most successful (food- and service-wise) but we enjoyed the time together. It was part of the Oktoberfest (anyone know why it's called that, or what the origins are?), so there was an ompah band playing... lots of fun to watch Aaron "dance" and imitate the tuba player... hehehe.

Okay now that you have the background... here's my gripe. Why is it that more and more often now when these new restaurants open, they don't have toilets????? and you have to use the ones in the centre. At Seemans today they had provided two porta-potties... I ask you!!!! (And funny thing was... Aaron needed to go and he couldn't even REACH to do his widdle... hehehe.. he's not tall enough yet!)

So can someone out there please explain the reasoning behind this new development (or lack thereof!). I realise that certain restuarants do actually have their own loos... part of the decor (like Spur).... but most now don't! All the restaurants at Clearwater Mall DON'T.... including SPUR. There you must use the loos of the mall, which means leaving your table in the restuarant and walking to the middle of the mall and back... not very nice for the people you're with.... and a real bind when you have kids you "need to go"!

Right that's my gripe for now... happier posts to follow.

Got tagged

I got tagged by Jacqui... hehehehe... now you need to find out stuff about me ... well here goes:

fact 1 - I have naturally brown hair... I don't do colour, yet will do highlights
fact 2 - I had my appendix out around Valentine's day in Std 8 and missed all the fun at school
fact 3 - I'm a chocoholic and scrapaholic... and usually together.
fact 4 - I'm never without a book to read
fact 5 - I love scrapbooking sketches.... I collect them daily!
fact 6 - My most favourite colour is blue
fact 7 - I'm the youngest of three... two older brothers.


Here are the rules:
Link to your Tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself - some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post and link their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Okay friends now it's your time to play. hehehe.

I tag these friends:
1 Jackie
2 Stephanie
3 Sophia
4 Desire
5 Liezel
6 Helen
7 Tracy

Have lots and lots of fun... I want to find out more about you!

Time for fundraising again

Aaron is asking you..... please help us raise some (more) money for our school. Seeing as it's nearing Christmas time and you will all be buying / making presents for your friends and family, you will also be in need of something to wrap them in. Well we are selling packs of packets for the low low price of R30 each*** (plus postage if you live far away!)

There are five different designs (unfortunately only four shown as we had already sold the fifth one before I could photograph them... hehehe). So your choices are:
1. Christmas
2. Floral
3. Africa
4. Black/silver
5. Bright stars/stripes

Each pack contains 20 bags in various sizes and patterns along with 20 stickers that you can use to seal the bags.

So here's what I need from you.... leave me a comment telling me how many packets you want to order.... Last orders are accepted on 12 November as I need to place them on the 14th at school. I will then receive them and get them to you.

The whole crux of this for Aaron is.... The child that SELLS the most bags will win an awesome prize (and I heard this morning that one child's mom already managed to sell 50!!!!). So come on please and support this iniative.

*** I know of two other places in Jhb who are selling these packs as well at R35 and R33 respectively... so R30 is a good price.

Banners and more

I made some banners for our church over the last two years... here's a layout of 4 that I did.

Anyway, I've been asked to be in charge of rotating the banners at church... so that we always have a fresh look. So decided that it was now time to get making some new ones. So on Monday afternoon after swimming and homework I sat and started cutting out the next banner. We had the most gorgeous rain during the afternoon too so this was the perfect indoor activity. Yesterday afternoon I carried on and did a bit of patchwork with some of the colours... will hopefully finish cutting out the material bits today and can start sewing tomorrow..... so hence NO SCRAPPING this week :(

Oh and an extra bummer today.... I forgot my book at home so missed out on my reading time while sitting outside school before heading off for work (yip I spend at least an hour each morning reading outside Aaron's school in order to miss the traffic). BUT the good news is that it gave me time to update my blog... hehehe.

So till the next time... hopefully before I forget my book again.. :)

Challenge report back

Tuesday came and went. It's been a week since I signed up to do some worthwhile actions... remember this post???

Well here is some report back on it.

1 Turn away from your screen and... blink - I try and do this but not always!
2 Shut down your computer properly... a definate on my list... especially as I have a laptop that travels backwards and forwards between work and home
3. Practise good manners... a standard thing in my life but at times needs more work
4 Praise people... I'm trying extremely hard to do this... build people up rather that tear them down... give lots and lots of encouragement to Aaron
5 Pull the plug on mobile phone chargers... mine is not plugges in unless it's being charged
6 Recycle waste paper... we put out the Ronnie Bag every week so this is a definate yes.
7 Use both sides of every piece of paper... I have a box for "scrap" paper besides my desk at work which then goes home for use in my printer there.... so this is a yes
8 Hug someone... do this EVERY day if not more.
9 Shop locally... I hate travelling around to shops all over the place (unless it's for scrapping stuff :) ) so this is a yes too
10 Don't overfill your kettle... I do this most days... boil enough for about two cups.
11 Let at least one car in on every journey.... how can you be courteous when in traffic and people just PUSH in front of you... but then I just "smile and wave" and let them in... much less stress.1
2 Turn off the tap whilst you brushing your teeth... goes without saying... SAVE WATER!
13 Bake something for a friend... does making a fancy supper for Keith's birthday count???? hehehe... must still bake for someone else though
14 Use a mug not a plastic cup... I use plastic cups for Aaron for his juice... saves on breakages... but for me I'm definately a mug person. Maybe they were meaning disposable???
15 Turn off unnecessary lights... Ongoing battle at home... but we are slowly making progress on this one.
16 Try watching less TV... hehehhe... NOT happening at the moment... in a way I'm watching MORE... why you ask... well I just HAD to watch Masterchef which was on from 5:30 to 6:30 the last few evenings to see who would win... was right down to the final episode.... so now that that is done I might actually do this one and therefore do more scrapping.
17 Smile and smile back... It's coming... my mood is not the greatest at the moment so this is feeling tough... but I will get there this week.
18 Read a story with a child... bedtime ritual with Aaron so this is easy peasy.
19 Decline plastic bags wherever possible.... I usually do this because I HATE paying for bags... I carry my own. BUT now I need to collect some and I'm appealing to my readers to please help too if you can... read more below.

My Uncle and Aunt from Zim have put out an appeal for plastic bags. They are involved in a feeding scheme through their church in Bulawayo in Zim feeding around 400 people each week and need plastic packets of any sort to put in around 3 cups of mealie meal and some beans to give to the needy people. They will be here in SA for a few weeks in November and we would like to be able to give them as many bags as possible... so please collect your bags (shopping bags, bread bags, frozen veg bags, etc) and let me know and we will make a plan to get them.

Going green

Saw this post on Tracy's blog and checked it out.... I'm so for the "WORK FROM HOME MORE" option... that would suit me just fine.

Go check out the website and see where you can Go Green too.

One month to go...

It's one month till my 40th birthday and an extra two days till our train trip to celebrate... it's going to be such a hectic month that I'm sure the time will just fly past... but I plan on enjoying every last minute of the last month of my 39th year... come and joing in... hehehe.

Weekend Scrapping

I got to scrap this weekend... didn't do any actually scrapping the whole of last week but I was busy editing photos to get them ready to print... so got 105 printed on Friday and then promptly scrapped some of them... no NOT all 105... hehehe.. just few. Here's what I did...


My final 2006 layout... okay I'll be honest and tell you it's actually my last PLANNED layout for 2006... I've still got two empty spaces in my album for which I must still decide layouts... but they can wait a while. So this is it... I had lost my little pics so had to print some more (was one of the 105 I had done) and then scrapped this page on Friday night while packing all my goodies ready for Saturday's scap.

These next two pages are what I did on Saturday morning.... my friend Judi had won a scrapping lesson and when she phoned to book she was told she could bring six friends and we could scrap for free.... so yip we went!! It was a wonderful morning filled with lots of laughs and scrapping... okay so I was the only one who managed to do two pages and finish them both... but who's counting... hehehehe

After lunch on saturday Judi wanted to finish her page from the morning session (I had brought her home with me as her car was in for a service I was possibly going to take her to fetch it... Keith ended up taking her home just after 3). So while Judi scrapped I thought I may as well too.. so threw this page together in about 15 minutes. Thanks too to Judi for the snowflake brads.

And so that was my productive weekend... I spent Sunday doing loads of washing and reading.

I've joined

Today is likely to be full of little posts.... so here's the first.


I've registered for Jessica's class... come and join in... you don't have to be a scrapbooker to enjoy this one.


Watch for more to come.

My scrap space

Helen asked to see my existing scrap room... well here it is... mess and all!

My table is an old door that we covered with wood paper and it rests on some legs my Dad had made years ago for my Mom for her sewing table. The table in the corner is covered with my organised scrap supplies... yip organised into boxes which need to be opened so that I can find what I'm looking for.

The sign on the wall is one I was give by my Gran for my 12th birthday and it's a motto I still live by today. It says:

Please don't straighten out the mess in my room! You'll confuse me and screw up my whole world.

And so that is why my scrap room looks like it does 90% of the time. I would love to be a bit more organised, hence my previous post.

I wish

I've the most gorgeous scraproom space in my house... a whole room all to myself with all my stuff spread out.... but you know that a girl is never satisfied and always wants more.... well for me it would be the perfect desk/cupboard/storage system. Today I got a newsletter from the Martha Stewart website (yip I do subscribe!) and there was this most wonderful idea.

Now that would really really be nice.

Otherwise there is always my first choice.... a Crop-In-Style modular storage system



Or this one... The Magic Box


And this one has always been a favourite... ScrapNCube

And of course not forgetting this one... For Keeps Sake

Okay maybe we will just dream and ONE DAY WHEN.....

ps... Sure wish we could get something like this here in SA... for cheap... okay maybe that's a good business idea to go with... mmmm get my thinking cap on.

A Challenge

I was reading Tracy's blog this morning and have taken up her challenge...


Here's my action list for this week:

1 Turn away from your screen and... blink
2 Shut down your computer properly
3. Practise good manners
4 Praise people
5 Pull the plug on mobile phone chargers
6 Recycle waste paper
7 Use both sides of every piece of paper
8 Hug someone
9 Shop locally
10 Don't overfill your kettle
11 Let at least one car in on every journey
12 Turn off the tap whilst you brushing your teeth
13 Bake something for a friend
14 Use a mug not a plastic cup
15 Turn off unnecessary lights
16 Try watching less TV
17 Smile and smile back
18 Read a story with a child
19 Decline plastic bags wherever possible.


So come on... join us and let's see what actions we can do to make a change. If you do join leave me a comment here and I'll add you to my action tracker and we can help and encourage each other.

Breast Friends

I just got an invite to join a new group through Facebook... "Breast Friends for Life Network"... if you're on Facebook do yourself a favour and join.

And while there follow the link to.... http://www.her2.co.za/ and join here too. All awareness helps.

And a big PS.... don't forget to signup to do SCRAPPINK on the 8th of November.... all monies raised are for Breast Cancer Awareness

Giveaways

I love giveaways... I keep entering but don't seem to get too often... but if you don't try you don't get. So I've just signed up for another one and what to give you a chance to get in on the action too... but there is a catch! If you do go comment, please say that I sent you... that way I get two chances... hehehe.

So go here http://polkadotchicks.typepad.com/polka_dot_chicks/2008/10/its-that-time-o.html and leave your best tip for organising your scrapbooking stuff.

The weekend....

it's finished.... boo hoo.... back to school and work tomorrow :( But guess I should be thankful that I have a job and we can afford to send Aaron to a good school. The thing is just this.... we had such a great weekend I don't want it to end.

Saturday Aaron woke tooooooooooo early... very excited that today was the day of Jesse's party. We spent the day at home.... him playing nicely in his room, me doing baking and load after load of washing and Keith finalising the deal on selling his car and then we also got the electrician guy in to fix our geyse problem.... the switch he had installed to control the geyser switching on and off and evidently blown... hence no hot water. So they took the switch out and hey presto we have the use of our downstairs bathroom again!

We went out for lunch at the nearby Seemans and once home Aaron was under strict instructions to have an afternoon nap... well he tossed and turned and wriggled and jiggled but never really slept... Daddy did.... for TWO hours!!! I finished my baking and then read my book... felt myself nodding off so once Keith woke I had a half hour nap.

Keith then went to watch the rugby at the local yokel and Aaron and I went off to Jesse's "Night at the Drive-In" party.... such a fun idea. I was a bit skeptic being a late night party for little kids (6 to 9pm for 6 to 8 year olds!)... but it was lots and lots of fun and Aaron actually managed to stay awake through the whole thing. They rigged up a sheet on a wall for the screen, hooked up a laptop to a projector and laid blankets and pillows out for the kids to sit on on the grass. And we all settled down with icecream birthday cake, hotdogs and popcorn to watch the movies.... Horton Hears a Who... an absolute hit with Aaron ... even third time around!

And then after getting home just before 10 with a fast asleep little guy and having a good night sleep, Sunday morning dawned. Thankfully Aaron only woke up around 6:30. I read my book till after 8am before the rush of the morning routine to get us to church on time. Keith went to gym and Aaron and I too church. The plan was that Keith would then take Aaron swimming but that never happened. We went to the Botanical Gardens instead and spent the day there with Judi and her son enjoying the "Teddy Bears Picnic". The weather was glorious and it was such a relaxing day all round.

Another highlight tonight was a clear phonecall and then skyp call from Keith's family in Canada... we got to "see" them all, even little baby Kaylin.

Okay so now I've typed all that I think it's time for bed... you know I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow so my bed is calling now.

Cheers
C

ps... photos to follow tomorrow possibly!

Layouts

I read in one of your comments so loving left (thanks btw) that you can't wait to see my layouts I was working on last week.... well in no particular order here they are.... be prepared as there are a few....

Right I think that was them.... I did so many and also been editing from July so I lost track. BUT... if you want to see ALL my layouts I have uploaded them to my Picasa album... just be patient as it does take a while to load.

Cheers

C

TGIF

I'm really really glad that it is Friday.... first week of the last term of school is done with. A routine is getting established again.... and complicated even more!! Besides the swimming lessons we now also have extra-murals to take into account... cricket and drama. So some reshuffling is going to have to happen next week.


Well the other reason I'm happy it's Friday is that this week work has been real up and down... busy one moment and quiet the next. Plus we've had no water since Wednesday... some pipe burst down the road and now there is not enough pressure to reach the third floor. Bummer!!


Oh and to crown it all... our geyser at home is on the blink again.... no hot water! But thank goodness we have a separate geyser for the upstairs bathroom so we've just been using that since Tuesday. It seems to be an electrical fault, so some elec friend of Keith's is supposed to be coming tomorrow to sort it out.


So now on to other news.... here are pics of Aaron swimming....

On Monday


On Wednesday


And then he came home yesterday with an "S" on his hand to remind him to take his swimming costume to school on Friday for swimming. So today he was very happy to climb in the pool at school and swim. Evidently they were using pool noodles too. He said he had fun. So looks like the lessons will pay off and he will be swimming properly soon soon.


I've had a fairly quiet week on the scrapping front. Spent Monday and Tuesday evenings going through all my scanned layouts and getting them ready for upload (will do in separate post) and went to Bible Study on Wednesday evening. Thursday I watched a bit of tv in the evening and not too much else. I have pulled/strained/hurt a muscle in my left shoulder and so have been a bit achy the last day or so. Spoke to a friend who is a physio and she suggested an anti-inflamatory.... well I found an old box in the medicine box and took two last night and two again this morning.... worked wonders! But I can definately feel the ouch as soon as the tabs wear off. The bum thing about this is that it's the arm I use mostly when cuddling Aaron... like when reading bedtime stories.... and it's just too sore to lift. Plus it makes driving agony.... ouch ouch. Guess it's time to take more "drugs"! hehehe. Okay chocolate will surfice too!


You may have noticed I've a new sidebar item... yip a little link to Donna Downey's web... it's all about being inspired and living inspired. I definately think I do this... I seem to eat, sleep, dream, do, think about or surf look for stuff on scrapbooking most of my day... if it's not TAKING the photos, then it's uploading or editing them, or planning layouts, or looking for new ideas, creating pages, etc, etc, etc.... I'm sure you get the picture. So I whole heartedly subscribe to this idea.


I hope to put my "week in my life" page together sometime next week... By the time I get there it will be OLD news... hehehe. But please be patient I will get there. Plus I want to do the challenge that Stacy Julian had on her blog... I even have the bazzill book to put it in!! Just need to sort out my pics.


Also got an email update today from Jessica Sprague about a FREE class she is offering... see below... so I'm going to sign up for that too... boy but life is hectic at the moment!!!


Other news.... please check out my friend Helen's new venture... LoveHennaHair ... it's for those people who colour their hair and want to use natural products.... as for me I think I'll stick to my "natural highlights" aka the grey that's peaking through... hehehe.


Okay does that bring me up to date? Sure hope so because I can't remember when last I posted such a l-o-n-g entry...


Till next time... Cheers

What's happening...

Well I can just see some of my regular readers wanting to know what I've been up to since my last "a week in the life" post.... hehehe... I had such a busy blogging and photo taking week last week that I just had to have a break... or maybe it was to give you a break from reading my nonsence?

Anyways.... Sunday was a NO PHOTO day... not a single one was taken. I spent the morning at church and the afternoon trying to find my journalling (song words) for one of my layouts. Eventually spent about half an hour watching Aaron's concert dvd and transcribing the lyrics. It was sooooooooo cute to see it all again.

And then also Keith managed to hire "Horton Hears a Who" for Aaron so I watched that with him.... soooooooooooooo funny and definately worth the revisit. This was one of those movies I took Aaron to watch at the "big scream". His favourite part is when Horton goes uphill through the snow like a train...


Yesterday was the Back to School routine day.. bummer no more sleeping late. Aaron woke me at 5:30 just after my alarm went off and said "Mommy you must get up and go bath. I have to go to school."... urgh why did he remind me???? Well he had a good day back anyway... seems like everyone enjoyed their two week holiday.

After school I took Aaron for his first official swimming lesson.... got a few coming up as he must learn to swim now. He enjoyed it even though the water temp was only 22... in the water for roughly 20 minutes until he started shivering and his lips became a light shade of purple. But he learnt to jump in, started putting his face in the water (must practise this in the bath!), even did kicking and learnt to push off from the side. He was such a trooper. Oh and I was right along there taking pics for properity... hehehe.

Finished my concert page once we got home (after homework was done) and then filed all my outstanding 2006 layouts... even had to open a new album as I had too many to fit into the one that I had allocated.... so now my 2006 layouts fill FOUR albums. But they are done!!! hehehe.

And now it's Tuesday.... I got stuck in horrid traffic, was made to wait extra long for a lift and am just feeling miz... but hey Judi gives great advice... (see post below) and so now I have had a good giggle I feel much much better.

Chat soon... will upload layouts soon soon.... just busy downsizing them for the web.