Discover Life

This is Hudson and Declan on the rocks at Claydon Reserve, Sans Souci. It's my favourite soccer field just because of the view.
It is a rare occurrence now to see the boys quietly engrossed in something together. Usually they are kicking a ball around (or each other), rumbling on the floor, or just plain fighting!

Here's a thought....
Here we are living in TIME - that tiny speck on the continuum of eternity past and eternity future. How amazing is that?!
Choose life.

Layout 16 in Blue Bazaar's Crop Bootcamp. :)

Rage Cage

On Wednesdays we do drama at a community centre. When we arrive early the kids play in the Rage Cage. This day Reuben was a little bit over-excited (I don't know why) and I just happened to have my camera.
Reuben's a crazy young lad!!
It is good for him to run around and let off steam (as Mum puts it) and be a mad man.
And hey!!! We get a good view of his teeth just before he started wearing plates to rearrange them.
I wonder if he will remember these crazy days and keep his fun ways all the way into adulthood.
Love him!! :)

PS This is layout 15 in Blue Bazaar's Crop Bootcamp.

Sunday Special

I love Sundays.
Here are some photos from my day so far.

Weeding the front yard with Dh - very satisfying.
Inspired by Jill to take a weed photo but didn't actually take any until I just couldn't resist taking a photo of this caterpillar (or the hundreds of others that have invaded our existence with theirs).



I didn't stop at weeds...






After a very satisfying and successful weeding session I was happy to come inside and help the kids finish off making waffles.
Waffles (or pancakes) are going to be our Sunday Special on a regular basis, DV.


Then I made some magic sauce (recipe in Sue Dengate's book Fed Up) - Mmmmmmm.


Waffles with icecream, fruit and magic sauce - bonzer!



And then....
Malachi constructed a domino sun out of the dominoes that go with a little truck that used to move along and 'lay' domino eggs at just the right interval.



Ain't that cool?!
I even took a video of it. I will think about adding it to the post anon.

That's all for now.

I'm off to get ready for church - the cherry on the Sundae for my Sunday.

Ting tang tay!

Oh and PS...
Apparently there is no way of telling if a caterpillar is a moth or a butterfly.
While I was doing a search to see if I could find out what this caterpillar might turn into (methinks moths cos there are so many, but would like brightly coloured butterflies) I found these interesting bits of information about Caterpillars.

Did you know:

Caterpillars have several thousand muscles (humans only have about 500)

Caterpillars from the family TORTRICIDAE can move backwards faster than they can move forwards.

Caterpillars from most species in the family SPHINGIDAE have a wicked-looking spine on the tail, but it is in fact entirely harmless.

Caterpillars from species in the genus Doratifera have pockets of stinging spines that they evert when they feel threatened. These caterpillars are often called Spitfires, but they do not actually spit.

When threatened, caterpillars of species in the family PAPILIONIDAE evert a pair of horns from behind the head which produce a pungent aromatic smell, but which are entirely harmless.

Caterpillars from species in the genus Triodes feed on poisonous plants, and accumulate the poisons in their body making them poisonous to predators like birds.

Whilst most species of caterpillars feed on leaves, some burrow into the soil feeding on roots, some bore into trees eating the wood, and caterpillars of the moth Argyrotoxa pompica feed on Koala droppings.

The caterpillars of some species will eat nearly any leaves put in front of them, and some eat only plants of one family, but caterpillars of Leptocnaria reducta will eat only leaves from the Cape Lilac Tree (Melia azedarach).

The female moths of the Australian species Teia anartoides have no wings, and the species disperses by the young caterpillars making an open gossamer sail out of silk, and sailing away on it in the wind.

The fauna and the flora of Australia are very different from those in the rest of the world, and this is just as true of the Caterpillars as it is of the better known Marsupials. With the short history of European influence in Australia and only a small population, only a limited amount of work has been done on naming and identifying the various species. At a recent count, Australia was home to about 370 described and named species of butterflies, about 10,000 described and named species of moths, and with probably as many moth species again yet to be described.

So there you go.

Running Out of Ems and Esses

Well, I can't call every second post 'Moses' even though I might just call every second layout 'Moses'. Although at the rate I am going I will have to get my Craft Robo out to produce the titles.
Or, I could make them myself.


Each time I have seen Moses he has been asleep. He transfers from cot to car, from car to pouch, from pouch to car, and he is still asleep!!
What a blessing this little boy is. May God bless him as he grows up into a godly young man.
Don't you just want to kiss that little nose?!

Mud, Glorious Mud

Sand, water and sunshine!!! Sing it!


What better way to spend your childhood moments than with your hands wrist-deep in mud!? Forget the computer. Forget the Wii. Forget board games and books. This is pure, unadulterated fun!!
Mud pies.
Mud cakes.
Mud balls.
Mud gloves.
Mud paint.
Mud love!!!
I think I will add "love' to the title! - Yep. I will.

Love You Already

Here is #12 for the Blue Bazaar Crop Bootcamp. No points for guessing where my inspiration came from... Yes, Loolabelle, again!
There's a 4.1kg (9lb 1oz) baby boy behind those loving hands. And only hours before he was in those loving hands!!!

Winners are Grinners

Susannah's soccer team made it to the grand final. Susannah played on the field which helped to make the game quite bearable to watch. :) And they won! What a great end to the 2010 soccer season.

This layout #11 for the Blue Bazaar Crop Bootcamp.
Hopefully I can update with the proper photo soon but just imagine a whole bunch of smiling girls!!!

Taking in Some Inspiration

The Kraft It Up blog put up this picture for inspiration this month


and they were kind enough to say "Remember you can take anything out of the image, the banner, the colours, patterns etc..." How cool is that!?!
So I did. The bunting, of course, which I have been busting to use on a layout and the natural woody tones of the furniture. At first I made the bunting the same colours as those in the pic but I ended up using the back of the bunting cos it suited my tastes better.
I took me a fair whack of inspiration from Loolabelle as well.
Put that all together and this is what I ended up with.

Moses

The young lad was born on the 28th August 2010. From what I have seen of him so far he is a very calm, settled, placid baby. His little cry is so cute - it’s not an angry cry, it’s an informative cry - telling you that he is cold, hungry or uncomfortable and could you please fix it up soon.
I can’t really describe what it is like to be a grandmother - I don’t think it has totally sunk in yet. But one thing I do know, and have fully realised, is this… I can cuddle him and then give him back. I’ve heard people - mostly grandparents themselves - saying this but now I understand it in a very real way. I am not concerned about when I will get my next sleep but I am so totally willing to sacrifice some of my sleep so that Annelise can get the rest that she needs.
Oh the joys of being a grandmother!!! A new era has begun and I’m all for it.

Layout Number 9 for Crop Bootcamp at Blue Bazaar.

PS It's a long time since I used vellum and a long time since I printed my journalling from the computer. The former I may do again soon but the latter was a little bit trying. :)

Moses Meets the Aunts and Uncles.

Or more correctly - the Aunts and Uncles meet Moses.
The kids were very, very excited and couldn't wait to have a cuddle of their very first nephew. Susannah was especially excited because Moses was born on her birthday.

This is layout #8 for Blue Bazaar's Crop Bootcamp. I cannot believe the ease with which I have been scrapbooking of late. Noice.

I have a question for you...
Should I have a separate album for scrapbooking of my grandchildren?
or
Should I just keep on doing what I already do and just add the next page to the album whenever I do it?
Whaddayareckon?
I'm tending toward the latter because I know, from experience, that I will run into categorising issues with the former and that will cause me stress. I like the asystematic approach.

From Mama to Mamachi

I've been looking forward to becoming a grandmother for years and years - way before any of my children were at child-producing age. What an humungous blessing to become a grandmother - a crown for being a mother (Proverbs 17:6). Not only that, but it is a blessing to see my beautiful daughter grow so gracefully into mohterhood. I am so totally and utterly blessed.

Before Moses was born Annelise and I discussed grandmother names. We both wanted something different. Eventually we settled on Mamachi. Annelise read it (or similar0 in a book and I googled it just to make sure there was nothing unseemly attached to the name (there's not). So Mamachi it is. Or any variation that Moses might come up with. :)

This is layout #7 for Blue Bazaar's Crop Boot camp.

A Birthday Layout

We had a birthday on the weekend.
Actually we had two.
But we celebrated Susannah's with a birthday cake and candles and a singing of Happy Birthday To You.

I'm on a roll with scrapbooking after weeks and weeks of nothing much. It is nice to just be able to escape, albeit momentarily, and recharge my creative batteries. This layout is number 6 at the Blue Bazaar Crop Bootcamp.

Goalie Girl

Crop Bootcamp layout number 5 using probably one of the most difficult pieces of printed paper that I have ever owned. But somehow it came together quite easily and it loosely based on Pagemap 10.

Susannah has had a fun soccer season for 2010. After missing out on playing soccer last year it was very exciting to be able to play and it was a new challenge to be the goalie. The girls in her team picked Susannah after she saved a couple of goals in their warm up games. As a bonus Susannah got to do goalie training each week as well.
It is very very stressful being a goalie's Mum - not just when a goal goes in but always the fear of your dear girl being kicked in the head. Somehow Susannah managed to survive the season. I'm glad.

Waiting

Here's #4 for Blue Bazaar's Crop Bootcamp.
I'm in the mood to scrapbook.

This one is based on Pagemap 23. Each tag is the date in August and how both Annelise and I were feeling waiting for the arrival of the baby.

Interestingly, now that I feel that I should use boy colours I find myself mildly stressing about it. Nothing really has changed to make me be concerned about what colour I scrapbook with but one might think something had changed if you heard my train of thought chugging along. Just sayin'.