The boy has an eye for a good pic!! Jim took this at Hokianga harbour yesterday...

and other news.....Happy Birthday to me!! lol!

EDITED TO ADD....

Awwwww and look what else he sent me today....

Joseph was very intrigued that the gerberas had copper wire springs in the centres and declared ‘why did they do that?! They are beautiful just as they are!...so true….a little boy perspective is always so honest!.....so I stopped sputtering on about florists trying to be fun and trendy and agreed with him lol!

And so at last it was Friday....

Miss you?! Nahhh, what makes you say that!

...scuse the blurtastic photograph but I was laughing, the kids were all over the place and I was jumping up and down waiting my turn lol!!

My happy mail came on Friday too....and yes I was very very VERY happy when I opened it and found that BAMPOP paper which I have been wanting some of for sooooo long!! Heather you are a STAR swap sis!!

So Saturday was soccer and the weather made mum insist that dad check the cancellations...lol! But once we got out there it wasn't too bad and mud and wet made for some fun and action on the field.....so pleased when Jospeh came away with the player of the day trophy and he deserved it with his determination throughout the game.....but then P rocketed on the field for his game, did some awesome dribbling manouveres and came away with the POTD trophy for his team too!! Woohoo go the Darge boys lol! So got home and of course mum was wanting to take a pic...and they kept giving me the cheesiest fake grins ever....so in desperation I blurted out 'wouldn't it be funny if you had to play soccer in your undies' and got a natural shot lol!

The new NZ dare is up...Yep thats right no photos this week...you are scrapping a piece of memorabilia....so get searching those cupboards, that junk drawer, your keepsake box or the bottom of your handbag lol! for that little special something that holds a memory for you. Here is my take...

...using a cd single. The journaling reads
" I am convinced this song was written for me! 1996 and it suddenly hits me...This James, this English fella who I've been enjoying this warm, funny, exciting relationship with is THE ONE!!. This is the 'Real' thing baby!! Head over feet thats me!! And of course its all Jims fault Ha Ha!! I still get goosebumps."
So yeah this song has a special little place in my heart.

Hurrying to publish this now cause Jims making us a cup of green tea, battening down the hatches cause its howling outside, and then we are going to snuggle down to watch 'Little Miss Sunshine'....catch yas later!

Thursday....

one more sleep until Jims home again ...yay! My hug-o-meter needs recharging!!

Well yesterday I was wearing my jacket inside it was so cold, today it was so mild i was in jeans and t-shirt and I havn't had to light the fire tonight! Weathers not changeable at all these days lol!

It was all about playhuts today, playing in them....

On top of them.....and launching yourself off them...neither Bert or the scrapping supplies got a look in on the table today lol!

Then when Joseph came home from school he was sad he'd missed the fun so we built another in the lounge good for a spot of afternoon tea, a bit of telly watching and then playing ships. Those pop up tents are good these days but I'm sure they are never half as fun as building your own with furniture and blankets!!

I stayed up late last night working on the next NZ dare layout and then gave up in a huff in the wee hours as it just was not working the way I wanted....cracked it tonight though phew! Just shows you if it ain't happening stop and come back to it another time...don't waste several hours forcing it to come together and making a hash of it. Fresh eyes in the morning are always good!!

If I'm lucky I might have some happy mail tomorrow, I joined in a swap on SiStv so am expecting a parcel from the US!! We had to send 3 things that inpire ourselves, 3 things we have never used from our stash and 3 things to inspire our swap sister.....sent mine a week ago so shouldn't be too far away Heather!!

Well Wednesday was WET and FREEZING COLD!! Brrrrr the red line didn't move all day!

Although Mother Nature did treat us to this first thing this morning...
Poor Samuel was fed up with being inside...

And so was Bert...

Patrick was most disappointed soccer practice was cancelled.."well how are we going to get good for Saturday!!"...Joseph sensible boy said "oh good" and voiced what Mum was thinking lol!

Took over the kitchen table with scrap stuff this afo and had to eat tea on our laps this evening lol...shhhh don't tell Dad lol!!

Tuesday is farm day...



Our Patrick is at the age where routine is everything, it feels safe and cosy to a four year old.

Every night when I'm tucking him in he asks...where are we going tomorrow mum? (its Monday tomorrow, you've got all day Kindy matey) then where mum? (then its Tuesday, Tuesday is farm day) *big grin*then where mum? (next is Wednesday and you've got Kindy in the morning and soccer practice in the afternoon) yay soccer! then where mum? (Thursday is playcentre in the morning and the library in the afternoon)good I like playcentre, then where mum? (Friday Nana comes for lunch) *big grin* then where mum? (then its Soccer on Saturday) Yes! a whole game aye mum? (Yes mate, night night, sleep tight).....Every single night...he knows it off by heart but loves hearing it out loud.

I know we will soon get a new routine sorted up North but it makes me sad to think this particular little ritual is soon to end.

I see Red Velvet are doing a kit club now.....Oh to be one of the cool girls and oh to be able to afford the shipping!!! Still lots of pretty creations from the red velvet girls to adore.

Also don't forget to stitch up a cute critter for the NZ dare...you don't have to know how to sew....really! the more huckery and random the stitching the cuter they look honestly! Mr Mojo needs more friends!!!

I like Mondays.

Joseph and Patrick look forward to seeing their friends at school and kindy after the weekend and Samuel and I got to hang out together in the sunshine in the garden...

A good day for drying, blue skies, blue shirts!








We discovered the first primulas brightening up a shady spot...












I hope the new owners like golden tamarillos, our tree has been just dripping in them for the last few months....delicious!












Speaking of delicious look at this book I got out of the library....

yum! a particularly decadant muffin on the front cover but I tried the boys out on the sticky ginger muffin recipe in the weekend served with icecream in the middle and dusted with icing sugar! Nothing like a good pud in the winter



It was lovely to have Jim back home for the weekend, all is going well with the new job and this week he is staying at the Ohaeawai hotel not far from where our new house is so he's hoping to get to meet a few locals at the pub in the evenings lol!

Got a call from him this afo and he was sent out to get familiar with the area( he is a roading engineer) and so there he was sitting at the south end of 90 mile beach soaking up the view lol! its a hard life!!

Have had great feedback for our Jack Me Up blog thanks everyone and we have had jacks coming in already so don't forget to check them out, they are fantastic!

Check this out!!! Hee hee....

JACK ME UP

Big thank you to the very talented Raewyn, Janenne and Michelle who have come on board to be Jack Me Uppers too and thank you to Jo Kneller for the fabulous banner she created for us!

Hope you'll come and play too and look out you might just be Jacked some time soon!!

Have you met "Mr Mojo" yet? He is in very good company with the rest of the 'cute critters' over on the NZ dare site.

Jo mentioned he bears a remarkable likness to ol' lips Mick Jagger and I think she hit the nail on the head lol!! I can just imagine Mr Mojo here busting out a few pelvic thrusts!! What to do with the remaining sock though?? A Mrs Mojo maybe?

Well Jim headed up North to begin our big adventure on Saturday....all on his ownsome (sob!), it feels very very strange not having him here, I think during our 9 years of married life we have only been apart one or two nights total! But hey its only for 3 weeks, just soooo glad things moved so quickly so that it didn't have to be any longer....I can but admire people like my super woman sis in law who is having to cope without her other half (my big brother) for 3 MONTHS while he is doing his stuff with the airforce in East Timor at the moment...(Hi Looby!) and my other super woman sis in law who spends days away from her family on the job with Air New Zealand (Hey Merrie!)...

Its funny its good in a way in that I’m realizing how many little things that I take for granted when he’s here and I am really noticing them now that he's not….Like when I cook tea he always stands in or near the kitchen and chats, reads mail or the paper, keeping one eye and ear out for the kids too…sometimes I get a bit annoyed as at some point he stands in front of cupboards I want to get into, or talks too much when I’m trying to get on, or the kids are drawn to him being there and crowd in too and then they start all start horsing about (oh yay love that while I'm trying to cook at the 5.30 witching hour when my brain has turned to mush!!!) but tonight I found getting the tea was very quiet and boring cause he wasn’t there doing just that, and I missed it so much!! Silly chook that I am!

Anyway Bud, huge hugs and good luck for your first day on the job tomorrow, you know I'm with you all the way!! Look forward to hearing all about it tomorrow night!

Multi photo layout is the NZ Dare for this week...heres mine...

Pile a heap of pics together and you are away...deadline for this dare is 6pm tomorrow

This made me laugh this weekend...poked my head into Josephs room and was told "I'm scrapping Mum"...the bit that made me feel good was he gets into just as big a mess as I do when I'm scrapping!!

Look at this crazy dog...we often find him standing on or sometimes just sitting in the sun on the dining table....not quite the done thing Bert!...maybe he just likes the view as much as i do....one thing I'm going to miss when we move is looking out at the hills every day!

Can't quite believe it but in the space of 3 weeks we have sold one house and bought another! Hugely relieved and excited! This weekend was so good for us, we had alot of ups and downs in the space of 3 days as we realised what we'd had our hearts set on there for a while (living in Keri Keri town itself) actually wasn't the right thing for us after all and we have been extra lucky to have an alternative present itself and completely fall for it and get it at a price we could afford! Convinced we have an angel out there somewhere watching out for us...

So we are now soon to be the proud owners of this lovely Villa, with a flat section and three paddocks to play with (and no doubt extend our menagerie)...the only thing needing work is the main bathroom...but hey DIY man extraordinaire has to have something to do in his spare time aye!!

Located in the wee country community of Ohaeawai (oh-high-why) between Keri Keri and Kaikohe, where Jims work is based and which on our second visit we are now really warming to...just like a Huntly in the North I reckon! So we are perfectly placed in the middle to the boutiquey, cafe, Arty charms of Keri Keri and to the down to earth, good old fashioned service charms of Kaikohe...whose skate ramp by the way is waaay better than Keri's...which apparently is very important!

To all whanau and friends who may be interested in visiting, we have tons of space annnndddd the pub and dairy are in walking distance....(as is the school and playcentre)...now what could be handier than that!! Don't worry Jim can source plenty of reflector jackets for that wee walk (stagger!) back home along the roadside...sorry no footpath...yet...but we will be putting a submission in to council very soon rofl!

No scrapping done whatsoever recently but I would like to share the link to Lianne and Jo's fab new blog Scrapping the Teenz so if you own one of these creatures be sure to checkout some great inspiration for cool ways to scrap them!

Just a quickie cause we are off up to Keri Keri this afo....taking the boys for a look around and we the good news is our house is sold, went unconditional yesterday so we are going to do some house hunting up there too!

It was Josephs school cross country yesterday and here he is running and laughing and waving to the crowd lol!! Did so well, didn't stop once. Also a few pics of his number one supporters who spurred him on with much cheering from the sidelines...

The buzz at the moment seems to be all about the Dove campagin aimed at raising self esteem in young girls and seeing the beauty in everybody....Yay for Dove...and yay for Ngaire for posting an awesome challenge relevant to this on her blog....such a cool blog she has...must go there more often!

...As a Mum of three boys though I would like to say don't forget the boys too! They are every bit as sensitive as us females, they tend to just bottle it away though and I think the message should be nuture self esteem in all our children and each other!

I did this layout a while back just for fun, it makes me laugh...I guess I just accept the way that I look, my crooked front tooth, the laugh lines...or crows feet lol!, the glasses, the hair that never does what I want it to do!! As long as my boys and Jim love me for me than thats all that matters... thats what makes me feel beautiful.....some days are harder than others I must admit though...after a day hanging at home with the housework, three noisy grubby bundles of mischief (aka the boys!) in my jeans and t-shirts, pottering in the garden....beautiful is probably low on the list of things I am rofl!!

And just a reminder Wednesday is the deadline for this round at NZdares...have you dusted of the childhood pics yet...I have seen some real cute ones around...

Mine is a baby pic, there wern't that many to choose from...the joy of being the 4th kid lol! but I love the quote from the plunket book I found, it suited the pic down to the ground!

This was shared recently within a group of my online scrapping friends and I thought it very, very funny....

The Ellen Show was on and she read this submission to a contest from aviewer:

So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES IT. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honour me and the amazing job that is motherhood.We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped". Now, if you have a cat, you know that he is right - their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth. And then I decided I really didn't want to know...And THAT is my favourite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.


Until I saw Samuel had raided my handbag this afo......



All I can say is thank god we don't have a cat.....and thankfully the dogs butts are too hairy to get that close too.....I can just about handle the fact that he is carefully applying it up his nose ROFL!!!

Big YAY going out to Vicky and Trina for 'surviving' the comp over at SBO and becoming new DT members there....have much fun ladies!

And weren't the NZdare girls toooo cute when they were just little!!!! and I'm sure they still are now lol! Some simply gorgeous layouts being produced for Andreas challenge to scrap a photo of yourself under 10 years!! Can't wait to see everyones entry's....wheres mine you say!! I guess I should be brave tonight and drag out the cardboard box with those pics of mini-me....now this could be fun.....and funny lol! Are you up for a laugh too....I dare you!!!! and don't forget if you pass by the NZdare blog we love to see comments....even if you are just laughing at our pigtails lol!!

Its funny I don't usually think about what brand of supplies I'm using on a layout and subsequently my stash is a huge mish mash of all sorts of different stuff, whatever catches my eye really...I'm not one for matching and co-ordinating too much lol!

So Trinas dare over on the NZdare blog was a bit of a challenge for my poor scrap stash!! My reliable friend Basic Grey won the day with pp, tags, letter stickers, rubon and chipboard plus a dab of paint and a bit of penwork.

You've still got time if you havn't put a layout together for this one...deadline 6 pm Wednesday 9th May. You could win some loverly new Junkitz goodies to add to your stash!

OK so who wants to buy a house? Come on...its very very clean rofl!! I never knew the kitchen sink could sparkle like that...very pretty! Spent all weekend giving the garden its Autumn overhaul too, yay for good weather!

SBO survivor is on its last round....the final four are all exceptional scrappers, but I do have my favourite and my fingers are tightly crossed for her this week! Have fun with this weeks challenge ladies!

Samuel earned his "I destroy because I can...but I don't mean too" badge well and truly yesterday...He is in love with his Bob the Builder DVD that Gran and Pop gave him before they left...to the point that he has figured out how to put it on himself....which we (or maybe that should read I) thought was cute ...until obviously he didnt think the DVD turner thing wasn't popping out fast enough for his Bob habit and he yanked it out and now it dosn't pop out or pop in at all....its buggered!! Dad didn't think that was so cute but I just hid knowing I let them do stuff like that but they really shouldn't be doing because they don't know how much DVD players cost lol!!!

Oh well good news is I don't have to cancel our subscription to DVD unlimited because we can watch them on the laptop weeehooo!

Just realised....not looking forward to doing all the address changing stuff that comes with moving...

Here are a couple of pics from this week of my chocolate brownie making 'helpers'...hmmmm lol!

Soccer started on Saturday...for real...a whole game...not just practice....this was Patrick all morning before we left...sooooooo excited to be playing big boy Soccer on the same team as his brother no less!! My two are in front here in the blue...

And they did awesome!!! talk about proud-motheritis on the sideline and a little more quietly than me proud-fatheritis too!

Joseph really shone, last year he was the youngest on the team and while he gave it his all, the ball was usually dominated by the older kids...this year he IS the big kid and he scored goal, after goal, after goal....!!! I did feel sorry for the other team but rather excited for our team too, what a great start! Patrick was like a wee terrier, worked hard the whole time, totally focused and never gave up once in a huff (as he so often does at home!)and I was so pleased and proud when he got his very own goal too! There was only five on our team so not much leeway for subbing and resting but they had so much determination they didn't even think about being tired....Patrick came home and the first thing he did was wipe his boots down and dry them and placed them carefully in the wardrobe ready for next week...well done little guy!

Lots of stuff been happening....the biggest as most of you already know is we are soon to become Northlanders!! Can't believe how quickly it all happened but yep Keri Keri here we come!! Jim starts his new job in 6 weeks and we are aiming to join him and rent for the first 4 or 5 months while we look for a new home to buy. While its sad to leave our place here in Huntly where the boys have grown up thus far and we've had fun renovating, extending and landscaping, we both feel its time for a new adventure and hope whoever buys our place will enjoy what we have achieved so far. The boys have taken the news in their stride with memories of our holiday at the beach still fresh in their minds they were very excited to be told we were soon going to be living near the sea! I have been making lists of stuff to do...all that cool stuff like decluttering and wiping every little fly poo off the ceiling ready for buyers to view! oh yay!

I have enjoyed being a Survivor on the SBO DT contest these last few weeks...but boohoo unfortunately the card challenge was my downfall and I was one of the bottom two who left this week....good luck to the final 5! Also thanks heaps if you voted for me during the previous rounds....these were my entries throughout...

I guess the cards were a bit simple for this type of competition but I really don't like fussy cards so stuck with the sort of card I would like to get myself or would choose to give someone.... clean lines and a bit funky!

Also the NZ dare girls are back refreshed after a wee break so don't forget to check out the new dare for this round to use all product from one manufacturer....and theres a great prize which could be yours for entering from Junkitz!!

Have a great week!

Think of me cleaning lol!!

Oh hi blog! Good...you're still here then lol!!

It was all systems go as usual this morning...back to the routine hooray! But with a lovely relaxed crew who got ready to go out the door this morning without one single tantrum about shoes, without having to be told a million times to do their teeth...i guess its a good thing they are desperate to get back to school, kindy and music group rofl!! Please let it last for a few days heh, heh!!...the dogs are in the starting block position by the door as usual!

Well Gran and Pop certainly got to see the boys (and Mum and Dad!!lol!) at their worst and best during their visit from the UK these holidays (HI Guys!) but hey thats good, this is real life after all and we loved having them here....even if we couldn't hear them all the time over the yelling, screaming and barking that is the chaos of our house right now while we are living through ages 6, 4 and "I'm not quite two and can't talk yet and man that is frustrating sometimes"!

So Freestyle! that was good...nice to have a day devoted to scrapbooking, first time I've gone to CC classes and meeting some 'famous freestylers' and so nice to say hi to scrappers I know through the internet! Thank you if you said hi to me...I was a bit dazed during the whole thing lol!!Picked up some fun techniques from the 4 classes I attended...this is the needle felted birdie I made in Tias class....layout still to come! So cute!!

Art Journal from Rhonna's Art Attack class using her papers and stamps....which I'm turning into a mini album with pics from our recent beach holiday....

We learnt the art of dying paper towels and an easy masking trick in Emily's Shiny Happy People class...havn't completed this one yet either!

But my favourite class was Zina's Little Miss Creative and here is my version of the layout she taught...alotta, lotta fun!!

The only gripe I would have is there just wasn't enough time dedicated for each class and the tutors were racing through the instructions at the speed of light...certainly not much time to 'enjoy the process' as Rhonna kept desperately saying during her class rofl!! It would have been nice for them to have had time to expand on why they love this style of scrapbooking and hear them talk more about freestyle. Too be honest I won't be forking out that amount of money again for classes unless they cost less or are go for longer or both lol!

Have you been checking out the excitement at SBO's DT Survivor competition?!! The wildcard is making a comeback this week and the new challenge is to make a set of 4 cards using one pattern paper...can't wait to see what the Survivors create this round....and there is supposed to be an extra challenge this week too....lots of nasty talk about cockroaches ...eeeekkk... hee hee!!

Thats my lot here, Autumn has arrived with a vengence...its cooolldd!! I've got woolly socks on and it actually feels right to be knitting a woolly scarf now lol!!