Ok this is a little lesson in what not to do...this was my contribution for the latest NZ dare...to use two colours only....I chose blue and yellow...yay! love those colours...but I got carried away with my black pen to outline and you can't ok... only for the title and journalling can you use black or white...so if you want that gorgeous, yummy, Tarisota kit to be yours (yes thats the prize this round!) then put your black pen away I tell you rofl!! I'm going back to the drawing board...cause I couldn't bear to pull this one to bits...and I'm going to do another! Its going to be tough because I use black pen ALOT! on every layout I do would be closer to the truth heh, heh....but if the rest of the Dare girls can do it....so can I!! and you!! I DARE YA!!

So that was labour weekend!

Heres some pics of us today....*wavies to the grandparents and any whanau tuning in!!

Joseph and Patrick have been getting stuck into doing lots of chores around the house and garden this last week. They have decided they would like a scooter and a skateboard and I said they need to earn them. So they sat down at the table one afternoon and brainstormed a list of jobs they could do...so they have been very busy this weekend preparing the lamb milk and feeding Rosie and Poppy, washing Dads car, folding washing, emptying and filling the dish washer, tidying the lounge and their rooms, setting the table for meals to name a few....they write what they do on a piece of paper and at the end of the week I will price up their work sheets and pay them...so far so good....hope it lasts!!!

Samuel brooming his digger in the sun this morning...love it when he gets so absorbed he dosn't realise I'm there with the camera...love his fuzzle hair rofl!

Awwwww!! found them like this this afternoon while we were busy painting.

A big thank you to all those who have congratulated me on managing to score a place on the Scrapbook Studio Design Team for 6 months! I can't wait to get started and have some fun creating up a storm every month alongside Lisa,Lianne,Kelly, Heidi, Louise (you just have to check out her Santa mailbox dt entry in the gallery...cute!!!!) and Faye!

Thank you Lisa for giving me a go lol!

OK so if you havn't before....come on over and check out the wonderful shop, forum and gallery HERE!!!! Kelly and Heidi are currently hosting a cyber crop this weekend and there is still time to join in the challenges, create some gorgeous layouts and you might even win a prize too...bonus!

And while we are on the subject of scrapping don't forget to get those entries in NZ dare scrap a mood dare and there is one week to go (midnight this Friday) for you to get your Delys Jack in!! I am just about to go and post up a couple of faves...never get tired of seeing so much inspiration come from one persons layout....thanks to all who have joined in the Jacks so far...and good luck if you are in the draw this round....that Itchy Nail kit might just end up on your door step!

We have a lovely relaxed household, happy in the knowledge its a long weekend, the sun is shining (even if its a tad chilly...whats up with that!! lol!), we are woken in the mornings to the dulcet tones of the tui's and the persistant baa's of hungry lambs rofl!!! Jim has been heard to mutter under his breath they are not eating grass fast enough and was spotted mowing round the edge of their paddock, heh, heh, he just can't help himself, he announced it is their jogging circuit!

Shock, horror I have no photos to add this evening, maybe tomorrow I'll get trigger happy...so I'll leave you with this...

Our baalambs... Now officially named Rosie and Poppy...I put my foot down at Jims idea of calling them Briggs and Stratton (lawn mower engines) cause they were far too manly for my sweet girls! They have found sheep paradise at our house as they will only ever be pets and lawn mowers for the back paddock...Bert loves them (and thankfully not in the same way he 'loved' the chickens at Mum and Dads...to death!) and can be found at bottle time licking the drips of milk from their chins and is also eyeing up those tails that are still to drop off

lol!

Jim is currently tackling his biggest DIY challenge yet...renovating the bathroom himself and got off to a good start this weekend by replacing the existing window for a smaller one so we can fit a shower in....unfortunately the space is far too pokey to fit a bath in as well, the manky old shower over the bath trick set up that was there has been turfed! But all is not lost, the longterm plan is to fit a bath into the 2nd bathroom by the master bedroom which has acres of space to spare and only a shower, sink and loo...we can't quite figure what was going through the previous owners heads when they put the extension on the house because as we keep saying.....'we would have done it differently' lol!

Do miss the bath though....the best thing for grumpy tired kids before tea is to put them in a bath, chills them out no end just sitting there in the warm water splashing and playing.

The NZ dare this round is to scrap a mood....there is a ton of inspiration up on the No.8 wired blog with the new contributors (Donna Meuli, Vicky Gibson and Sharon Topliss) getting stuck in already with some wonderful layouts. I chose to scrap an older photo from Jims childhood, I was inspired by the warm summery mood of the photo....big skies, golden fields, sitting in the grass eating sandwiches....

This months Kiwi Jack still has a couple of weeks to go so if you are looking for more motivation and inspiration head over there and check out the layout by Delys Cram who was Jacked by our previous months winner Lara! There is also a fab prize this month sponsored by Tracey at The Itchy Nail....she puts together fanatastic monthly kits and one of them could be yours if you get your Jack on and enter!! This is my Delys Jack....

I bought some clear stamps from the Poppy ink stamp sale not long ago and love them (the bird in So Small is one...can't wait for the next sale...you have to be in quick though cause man they walk out the door fast!

Have you seen this site? Care2crop....if you have some scrapping time you can volunteer please drop Louise a line....a fantastic idea.

Some pics from our visit last week to 'The Farm'!

We got lucky with the weather, the boys loved being back with Nana and Grandad, Samuel was in his element with Grandad, hauling him off for rides on the tractor and the scooter and eating toast together in the morning...note the gumboots already on with his jarmies!

Joseph and P spent lots of time trying to catch the little spratty type fish (although they were convinced they were tadpoles! because there is a resident frog)in the pond,

Mum and I had a lovely girls day out shopping til we dropped and Jim and I were treated to a night out without the kids, a lovely dinner and a movie....hmmm I'm sure it was the fastpaced action flickering on the screen and not the large glasses of wine at dinner that made me feel woozy at the end rofl! Still a good night!

Not sure it was warm enough to be swimming, but the boys couldn't resist the clear sparkling water and in they went!

The cherry trees were in full spring glory and I took lots of pics one early morning to remember the place by as Mum and Dad are officially moving on to new things....it was a beautiful spot to have lived...a credit to mum and dad for all their hard work over the years and so wonderful the boys were able to have been part of it too...so many memories...the farm will always be with us.

Even my NZdare layout this round was about the farm...with this photo of Mums cat Marjorie in her favourite spot in the window...the sun streaming in, I love that!