Thursday, 29 May 2008

Our anniversary

Well Keith and I are now officially married 13 years... sure feels longer some days! Okay and it was on Tuesday too... so this might seem like old news but it's where I am at at the moment. We had planned to go out to dinner on Tuesday night but circumstances ran away with us and it never happened. I ended up making scrambled eggs on toast for Aaron and I at quarter to seven after having given up waiting for Keith to come home. he had take aways!

Anyway the upside is that we did eventually make it out to supper... nothing fancy mind you... just to the local Spur at Clearwater Mall. I had lovely cheddermelt chicken schnitzel and Keith had ribs. Aaron did the fish finger and chips thing. Aaron also enjoyed playing on the different computer games... paddington and happy feet.

So guess we will now look forward to the next anniversary and see what happens then!

Otherwise just to inform you that my "scrap a page a day" plan is a bit on hold again.... I'm busy doing quilling... trying to make lots and lots of creatures for a competition I want to enter in September... so you will have to wait a bit to see the final result... don't want to let the cat of the bag too early on this one! BUT.... I did manage to scrap a page yesterday... okay confession I started it on Sunday afternoon but only managed to put it together yesterday... must still journal before I can scan and upload.

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

You asked...

and I had promised.... soooooooooooooooooo eventually (!) I have uploaded ALL my scrapbooking layouts... you can view them in my picasa album. Please check them out and comment as you feel free.

Friday, 9 May 2008

Reckon you need an update...

Well after having last week off and then back at work this week I reckon you are wondering again what I've been up to.... well last week I SCRAPPED... yip did lots and lots and worked out that in the 10 days of having set myself a goal of a page a day I had actually managed to do TWO... did twenty pages in ten days... boy am I chuffed. But since then... well I've only done 4 pages in May... will have to get butt in gear asap. Going on an all day scrap tomorrow but without photos so won't be doing any concrete scrapping as such... just a nice relaxing "spoil myslef" sort of day.

Aaron did his spell-a-thon at school today and made me very proud... got all 20 words right... what a good boy! And as a reward I bought him a new engine (NED) and a truck (oil car) for his thomas train set.... had promised him ONE and ended up getting both as we couldn't quite decide and the shop didn't have the one we really wanted. Anyway he did a good job so why not!

Ok off to install some computer games for Aaron... chat again soon... and hopefully by then I will beable to upload some layouts for you to see!

Thursday, 24 April 2008

The latest...

We'll another few weeks/days have past since my last post and I guess you keep wondering "what's up with Cathy".... hehehehehe... okay now you know where I got the name for my blog!! Well anyway I've been working hard and also scrapping hard.... I decided a while back that in order to catch up on all my layouts that are outstanding I had better scrap a page a day... well deciding and doing are two vastly different things... anyway I have managed to scrap one page or so every other day... did about four since last week alone... so am feeling good about that. i have planned all my pages up to the last lot of photos I had printed (10th April) so now it's just a case of get on and do. The last two nights I sat sorting out papers for some of my 2006 layouts... got about 1/2 of them done so reckon I'll scrap those then plan the rest.

Next week we have off... school is closed, I've taking leave and Keith is also off work... why you might ask... well we have two long weekends so the work week is only 2 days long and I didn't see the point of going in... so decided a holiday was in order... plus I couldn't bear the thought of having Aaron with me at work for two days... the last time I took him in I got hardly anything done!

So now you know... I'me scanning my layouts as I go but must still "stitch" them together so hopefully within the next few months I can get all my outstanding ones loaded onto the net for you to see... but don't hold your breathe while waiting.

Thursday, 3 April 2008

Holiday report back

Well I promised to give you some pics and a report back from our holiday.... so here it is!!!

The Train was a HUGE success... highly recommended form of transport to get from A to B or should that be from Jhb to CT... hehehe... this is something that I think we will do again and even do the return trip too... such a relaxing and enjoyable trip. yes there were glitches... but they were minor... like our doorknob on the compartment that was bent so we couldn't lock the door from the outside, we couldn't go for breakfast in the diningcar as there were two huge groups who had booked it out (but we got to experience "room service" instead!), oh and we shared 2 beds between the three of us as by the time we got our beds they had run out and only had two left (note to self.. get your bed as soon as you climb on the train and they offer it to you!).

So here are the train pics...



And here are some pics of the many things we did.... we went to the MTN Science Centre, Grandwest Casino (for Aaron to do the kiddies rides ... didn't even venture near the gambling!). We took a peninsula bus tour.. was really enjoyable. Visited with family and shopped for a new lounge carpet (see below).

The last year has really seen us "renovating"... with the saga of the geyser bursting (see previous post on my other blog!) and redoing the kitchen we ended up with the whole of our downstairs being redone. Well once the tiling was finished we decided that the old carpet was VERY grotty too and needed to be replaced, so Keith put done laminated wood flooring. And now after sooooooooo many years of him asking me to replace the curtains and me saying "only when the floor is done" I have now DONE the new curtains... just finished hanging them today! And also due to the new floor we decided we needed a centre carpet for the lounge so spent a day or so in Cape Town looking and eventually found one we liked at a price we liked, so bought it and flew it home on the plane with us! Oh and in January Keith put up a retractable awning as well. Things are definately looking much better now in the Sanders' household!

Next on the list... hmmm let's think..... well Keith is looking for a coffee table now, and we still would like to get a piano but I think the next major project better be building on the bedroom at the back of the house that we have planned for over two years!

Aaron is on school holiday at the moment and is spending this week with my parents... so I'm having a break too (hehehe)... I have been doing som scrapbooking as well (in between making curtains, reading and some shopping!). And looking at how far behind I am I am thinking that I must set myself a goal of "scrap a layout a day"... maybe that way by the end of the year I can be finished with 2004, 2005 and 2006 and maybe even make a start on 2007, oh never mind 2008... I must still PRINT my photos for this year! Okay off to sort those out for now.... till next time.. :)

Tuesday, 18 March 2008

Holiday fever

Only two days left of our first term at school... well really it' one and a half as school closes at 11 on Thursday!! On Sunday we leave for our holiday... going by train to Cape Town... I am really looking forward to this... haven't been on an overnight train trip since I was 10... and Aaron is also VERY excited about "sleeping over"! He came home yesterday from school and showed me what he drew.....



Isn't this cute.... the Shosholoza Meyl.... and the correct colours and all...

Monday, 17 March 2008

The Easter Story

I just received this most beautiful email.... just had to share it...

"Still He Walked"
He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were his chosen people.
He loved them,
And they were going to crucify him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened...
His heart was broken,
But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, every laugh, and every shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger
His heart broke,
But still He walked.

Was he scared? You and I would have been
So his humanness would have mandated that he was.
He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered
And he knew that he would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd...
At the people who were spitting at him
Throwing rocks at him and mocking him
And he knew that because of him,
They would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
The sounds of his cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross,
Intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice
Inside his Heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let His son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead he asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And his heart filled with love.
As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me,
...I remember his walk.
When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
...I remember his walk.
When I need to be reminded of how to live like Christ,
...I think of his walk.
And to show him how much I love him,
...I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him,
.......And I walk.

Now this really sums up my whole belief and faith... in Christ I walk because without Him I just could not. Thank You Lord for my life.

Friday, 14 March 2008

A prayer for every day

Okay guess I'm just not that busy today... but I've just received my "Catch of the Day" newsletter and this one really really spoke to me and I want to share it with the world:

Sunday, any day
by John Fischer

What do I need to worship You Lord? Do I need some religious icon set in stained glass to carry my spirit up out of this earth's vain pull? Do I need music to lift my soul to another plane? Do I need to have someone tell me how I should think about You, and what I should say to You? Do I need someone else's words to communicate with You? Do I need someone else's song?

Do I need to be religious to worship You, or can we just walk along and talk like You did with Your disciples? Do I need the proper prayer order — you know, thanksgiving first, then confession, then protection, then petition, then praise — or will "Help!" suffice? Can You fill in all the rest? Aren't You here, anyway? Right here? I have the feeling I have Your attention all the time; the bigger question, I suppose, is do You have mine? I have to honestly say You do not.

Not always, and certainly not enough. Forgive me Lord for forgetting — for missing You breathing down my neck. I worry so much about things that You already know about. You know how this is going to turn out, anyway. If I could just trust You….

Hear me today, O Lord. Accept my worship today even though it's just an ordinary day. Teach me something today that will change me tomorrow. May I bring You pleasure as much by walking through my day today as I would singing in church, or reading my Bible or praying in a fellowship group.

I'm not a religious person, O God, and if You want the truth, I don't want to be. I just want to know You and know You are with me. I know You are, in my head, just help me to see You with my heart today. All day. Any day.
[Adapted from an earlier Purpose Driven Life daily reading by John Fischer.]

Amen... let's all pray this prayer today and everyday and worship God in everyway.

Yet another blog

I've just been "conned" into siging up for another blog site... I went to leave a comment and the only way to do that is to join... well it is for scrapbooking so recon I'll give it a bash... go check out http://www.mycraftivity.com/cathys but don't expect much from me!! hehehe

Thursday, 6 March 2008

Marching on....

Well look at that it's a new month already! I am sooooooooooooooo excited for the next few day's events.... I'm taking Aaron to a Scripture Union "hat party" tomorrow afternoon... sounds like LOADS of fun, and on Saturday I am doing an ALL-DAY scrap... I'm attending the Champange Road Show given by Scrap Shack.... the classes look awesome and I'm VERY excited about them all. The other thing scheduled for Saturday is Keith is planning on pulling up the lounge carpet and laying down our new wooden flooring... sure hope it all happens... and then we should hopefully get rid of the black ants that keep appearing in the house!

An extra update for you on Aaron's reading progress.... he has now had four books to read in the last two weeks... some only had 4 pages in but this week's one is 40 pages... yesterday he was supposed to only read to page 12 but he decided to read the WHOLE thing! Very cute but very tiring for me to... almost like having a bedtime story read to me but in the middle of the day! Today he only read to page 22 as per his homework schedule.

Okay and then more news/update on past events.... last week Friday we went to the school's Leap Year Picnic under the Stars... except it turned into picnic under the clouds as it had rained during the afternoon and was very threatening all evening... though it never did rain.. we had a good evening out, braaied an all... the kids thoroughly enjoyed it... running around in the dark with torches and staying up way past bedtime!

Right I think that's it for now... my brain is havig a meltdown in remembering things... I'm sooooooooo busy at work I'm not even sure which day it is anymore!

Till next time... :)