For the new kitchen!

My friend Samantha gave me this for Christmas, for our new kitchen.....it's a cheese board.....I LOVE cheeses, and always have a great selection in the fridge of blue cheeses, camemberts, various strong mature cheddars, boursin's, feta....my favourite cheese is Y-Fenni a cheddar with ale and mustard seed mmmmmmmm!! but I will try any :)

The coasters here are so pretty and have little soft pads on the under side to protect furniture. I think I am going to put them on the window sills in the new sunroom. We're having wide sills. Wide enough for plant pots. People will be tempted to put drinks on them :(

It's a little cheese board but very pretty :)

Samantha dressed up the present with a piggy chocolate lollipop thinking of Charlie :) She also gave me a Poinsettia and she made some Candy cane reindeer for the kids for the Christmas Tree :) Thanks Samantha! I love it :)

Dr Oz

Today I am starting Dr Oz's Wholegrain bread and EVOO plan.....he suggests eating a slice of wholegrain bread dipped lightly in EVOO before dinner.....it's supposed to be REALLY good for you! Great for your cholesterol levels and all round health! If you are over weight then its good for losing weight by the way ;) If you aren't then it doesn't matter....it's just great for your health ie part of the healthy meditteranean diet.

Of course those of you who don't watch Rachael Ray - EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil!!!

Eat the bread slowly, ten minutes or so before your main dinner. The bread should be 100% WHOLEGRAIN. And the EVOO coldpressed EVOO.

It reminds me of a deli Lloyd and I went to in Edinburgh (lynne, it was down near that gorgeous bed store 'And So To Bed...') and they made these amazing sandwiches with really thick bread and they drizzled olive oil over the bread.....yum......

The boys....and Chris's idea of a joke ;)

Here are the boys playing.....yes the only pics I have of them just about lol.....and can you spot Chris's idea of a joke in the list of names in the scoreboard - the way he typed in the names on purpose????? Oh hahahahha Chris lol!

Oh and can you see my strike???? My one and only?????? sigh.......oh well.......at least I got one....right Stacey?????? lol!

Lloyd and I.......

Fun at the bowling alley..........

Susie...and the food.....

Here is Susannah at the bowling alley.....as well as the kids digging in to the food we ordered - which was DELICIOUS!!! Lloyd and I didn't have lunch so mid afternoon we were hungry - we ordered some food from the bar at the alley and when it arrived it was HUGE!!! Nachos and fries - so the kids shared it with us - a bar snack fed all 7 of us!!!! It was amazing food! the nachos were covered in fresh olives, tomatoes, chili peppers and fresh cheese and served with sour cream and a spicy hot salsa and were sooooo yummy!!! The fries were great too! Everyone tucked in! Drinks all come with free refills!

So much better than Sherwood Parks bowling alley! And you don't have to book to have the gutter bars raised!

Abby's turn!

Abigail takes her turn on lane 27!!! :) She came second in the whole game and even got a strike :)

Bowling fun!

This afternoon we headed to the bowling alley for some fun at the lanes! Instead of our usual 5-pin place, we headed to a bigger 10-pin place in Edmonton. Lloyd had been there before with the boys, but the rest of us had not been there before. We love it though and think we are going to make it a regular thing - maybe having a monthly Thorpe family bowling night in 2009! We always have a great time when we go bowling - it's something we all enjoy - even those of us who are USELESS at it ;)

A wonderful Christmas story!

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7800822.stm

I think this Christmas story is wonderful is so wonderful, mainly because this girl was given her name by her Catholic Grandfather, and was then teased badly throughout her school life. With the birth of her Son on Christmas Day, she finally feels as if she 'fits' her name.

The family live in the same city as Margori, the little girl we sponsor :)

Stretching her legs!!!!

Even Charlie was happy to get out and stretch her legs on a warmer sunny day!

Making the most of a warmer day...

-6c today so out on the sledding hill for some winter fun and to get some fresh air and exercise - it doesn't hurt to burn off some energy either!!! After weeks of -30 wind chills and being cooped up indoors even with the help of indoor playgrounds now and then!

I love this!

jenlemen.com/blog/?p=566

I just HAD to share this post from one of my favourite blogs!!! I think there are times we could ALL do with reading something like this! Stay grounded!

Boxing Day.....

Boxing Day at our house means relaxing at home...playing with any toys or reading any books we got for Christmas....not cooking at all but having a buffet of 'party foods'.....curling up by the fire and watching a movie together (today we watched 'Horton Hears a Who' which was WONDERFUL)!!!

If it isn't too cold we sometimes go out to Elk Island Park for a hike or sledding..or will take a walk here or go sledding here but the wind chill felt too cold here - but its set to warm up this weekend so we will do that then. Today we stayed indoors and relaxed apart from seeing to the animals - it's been really nice :) snuggled indoors - no need to go anywhere or do anything but relax and enjoy being at home. So nice :) Lazy mornings....good food, good reads, good movies.....nowhere to go, nowhere to be. I called home to wish my parents Happy Anniversary but apart from that there was nothing to do :)

Christmas dinner....

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to a very special little Princess I know who is turning THREE years old today!!!!!

Happy Birthday KYLIE!!!!!!!!!

I hope you are having a wonderful day!!!!!!

See you soon!
lots of love from
Jane
Sam, Abby, Susie
and everyone else here :)

Including Charlie the pig!!!!!!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Samuel.....

Sam was just a bundle of energy yesterday and we kept asking how it was that he could just keep going....he didn't stop from the second he woke up until almost 11pm...

The Pickle Champion 2008!

Chris with the pickle ornament he found on Christmas morning! So yet again he is the champion and won the prize! You can read about the tradition here:

mymerrychristmas.com/2005/pickle.shtml

I thought it was German after hearing about it on a Disney World Christmas special, but I guess not!!! Sorry Mom, your neighbours may not have heard of it after all!!!

My little bookworm....

Laurie did well yesterday and has PLENTY of books to keep him busy in the next little while :) I'm so glad he LOVES to read :)

Grayson's first Christmas with us....

Grayson has spent much of his first Christmas with us sprawled on the bed or playing with the tree ornaments....my gorgeous boy :)

I wonder what he was doing last year...he is SUCH a nervous cat.....still....that I wonder what happened to him in the past. He was found as a stray in January and is six years old. He was obviously loved in the past I would imagine because he is loving and used to humans. Not nasty at ALL. But oh so nervous at times. Great with the children though. I wonder if he was homeless last Christmas :(

I'm glad he isn't homeless THIS Christmas. He was in the rescue centre at the store for sooooo long - 6 LONG months :(

Happy 49th Wedding Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my Mum and Dad! One away from the BIG one!!!! :)

School Christmas pictures....

Merry Christmas from Abigail and Susannah!

What is YOUR word for 2009?????

aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2007/01/aezine_challeng.html

I saw this online and I think it's a FABULOUS idea..... I think I NEED this right now to inspire me both creatively and emotionally for 2009. You go this page and you pick the one little word that just comes to you and inspires you for the following year. That one little word is YOUR word for the whole of 2009. It is YOUR word. It is the word you focus on. Use it. Take it to heart. Let it lead you. Inspire you. Focus on it. Create with it. Let it challenge you.

I have picked two words for the year that I'd like to focus on - a typical Aquarian one: 'Humanitarian' and another word 'content' as this past year has been quite stressful and I want to return to the contentment I felt before all this stress arrived in my life. I miss that feeling of contentment and I'd like to find it again. Not just for myself but for those around me - 2008 was a horrible year for so many and I'm hoping that feeling of contentment returns for all in 2009 through learning to focus on the simpler things like friendship and fun instead of materialism.

Christmas morning...

It's Christmas morning 2008. The one morning of the year when its MY turn to get up before Lloyd and make the coffee and see to the children. I know, I know, I should be ashamed lol. I am spoiled the rest of the year!

It is 8am now and I am sitting in bed having my coffee. The children waited until 7am before waking me. The golden rule! Then we went downstairs together to see if Santa had been! They got to open their stockings and have their gift from Santa. Lloyd stayed in bed (his annual once a year treat - and Sam is still asleep with him too.

Everyone was happy with their surprises. Abigail and Susie were thrilled to get a reply from Santa to the letter they left for him - and to see that the milk, mince pie and apple had been nibbled at......I suggested they didn't leave them quite so close to the fire next time ;) the milk had a skin on it last night - eeewwwwww!!!!

After that, while Chris was distracted in the kitchen, I reminded the younger 3 that they had to hunt for the Christmas pickle ornament! Off they went to look for it amongst the Christmas trees. This is a pickle shaped ornament we hide on Christmas Eve for them to find - the winner gets a prize (this year its a chocolate snowman). No one could find the pickle despite my clues and they all gave up - along comes Chris and walks STRAIGHT up to it!!!!! Gggggrrrr and it was in SUCH an easy place as Lloyd and hidden it somewhere fairly easy!!!!! Can't believe Abby didn't find it!!! So two years running now, Chris is the champion pickle finder!!! :)

So now Lloyd and I are having our coffee in bed while the older children are enjoying their stocking fillers - they always have a book or two each, including a puzzle book, a few little pocket money type toys, some candy and their main gift from Santa - enough to keep them busy all morning - as we don't open our gifts until after dinner - around 3 or 4pm in this house!!!

Sam will get his Stocking when he wakes up :)

Merry Christmas everyone.

Oooooooh watching a tv show now and its about The Tower of Terror at MGM.........omg I hate that ride.........wonder if I will go on it again - can I be THAT brave???????? or STUPID????????? hahahahahaha PROBABLY!!!!!!

A gift from Val ;)

Val just sent me this :) I can totally relate to the cold and frozen pipes.......too funny :)




Diary of a Demented Snow Sniveler

December 8 6:00 PM

It started to snow. The first snow of the season and
The wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by
The window watching the huge soft flakes drift down
From heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses print. So
Romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!


December 9

We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow
Covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic
Sight! Can there be a more lovely place in
The whole world? Moving here was the best idea I've
Ever had!
Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a
Boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks.
This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered
Up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got
To shovel again. What a perfect life!


December 12

The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a
Disappointment! My neighbor tells me not to worry-
We'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on
Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much
Snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see
Snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such
A nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.


December 14

Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The
Temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything
Sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed
Up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is
The life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and
Buried everything again. I didn't
Realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling,
But I'll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish
I wouldn't huff and puff so.


December 15

20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4
Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2
Extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants
A wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think
that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.


December 16

Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in
The driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The
Wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very
Cruel.


December 17

Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go
Anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to
Pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but
Stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I
Should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to
Her. God I hate it when she's right. I can't believe
I'm freezing to death in my own livingroom.


December 20

Electricity is back on, but had another 14 inches of
The damn stuff last night. More shoveling! Took all
Day. The damn snowplow came by twice.
Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said
They're too busy playing hockey. I think they're
Lying.
Called the only hardware store around to see about
Buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have
Another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob
Says I have to shovel or the city will have it done
And bill me. I think he's lying.


December 22

Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more
Inches of the white shit fell today, and it's so cold,
It probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes
To get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I
Had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and
Dressed again. I was too tired to shovel. Tried to
Hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of
The winter, but he says he's too busy. I think the
Asshole is lying.


December 23

Only 2 inches of snow today. And it warmed up to 0.
The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house
This morning. What is she, nuts?!!
Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She
Says she did but I think she's lying.


December 24

6 inches - Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke
The shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I
Ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snow
Plow, I'll drag him through the snow by his balls and
Beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he
Hides around the corner and waits for me to finish
Shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100
Miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just
Been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas
Carols with her and open our presents, but I was too
busy watching for the damn snowplow.


December 25

Merry f---ing Christmas! 20 more inches of the damn
slop tonight - Snowed in
The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. God, I hate
the snow!
Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation
and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife
says I have a bad attitude. I think she's a fricking
idiot. If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one
more time, I'm going to stuff her into the microwave.


December 26

Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It
was all HER idea.
She's really getting on my nerves.


December 27

Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze;
plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he
only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.


December 28

Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. The BITCH is
driving me crazy!!!


December 29

10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or
it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever
heard. How dumb does he think I am?


December 30

Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plow driver, and now
he is suing me for a million dollars, not only for the
beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the
broken snow shovel up his ass. The wife went home to
her mother.
Nine more inches predicted.


December 31

I set fire to what's left of the house. No more
shoveling.


January 8

Feel so good. I just love those little white pills
they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?

NORAD

The younger three are tracking Santa on NORAD.org they've seen him go across Africa so they know he has delivered to Malle in Mali (one of our World vision sponsored children) and we aren't sure if he has been to Lima in Peru yet. We keep watching. We saw him go over Mount Fuji in Japan though!

Malle is Muslim, but we sent her a 'holidays' package anyway and we also sent three goats to her community as a gift to Lloyds team - and on behalf of the staff at school - instead of silly little gifts - so I made snowman soup for everyone and cards and then we gave goats. Three goats can be milked, bred, and used as meat. Whatever.....

We also sent a Christmas package to Margori in Peru who is Catholic. I know her Mom will send me a lovely letter and photograph of Margori when it arrives and I LOVE getting their letters and pictures - I treasure each one :)

Next year we plan to sponsor a third child somewhere else in the world - it is something we really enjoy - and we love doing it through World Vision. We are not religious and we like that World Vision do NOT push their religious beliefs on to the children they help. They also ask the sponsor families not to push their religious beliefs either - like Malle is Muslim so they ask us not to push Christian ideas on to her - I LOVE this idea!

No more school.

Abigail left school last Friday and will not be returning after Christmas. She brought home all her supplies and we will go through it all next week some time and see if any of it will be of use to us.

Of course the last week of school was all parties, concerts and gift giving, so she is a little sad to leave now, but our first week of homeschooling will hopefully be focused on swimming and other fun activities, so all should go well if the weather and health goes to plan!

Perhaps we can fit in a trip to Kidz Quarterz too! We also have Sams birthday that week too! We could look at the Ukrainian Christmas festivities that week too!

For now though we are focusing on our own Christmas celebrations.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sunday

I guess I should say that on Sunday I had a day out with my boys too! The older two! This has been an annual tradition since we arrived in Canada! Firstly Chris and I would go every year just before Christmas - he would get his gifts for the family and we would make a day of it and have lunch together, and now Laurence comes with us (mainly because Chris likes to disappear for a while and get his gifts alone and meet us for lunch).

So on Sunday the three of us headed off, the boys chose their gifts for their siblings etc and we had lunch out. Christopher ran into some friends and a little later headed off to a movie, and Laurie and I met Lloyd and the others and we headed to Kelseys for supper before driving to Bright Nights to see all the Christmas Lights.

It was a nice day spent with the boys - mainly with Laurence I guess but some time with Chris. Laurie and I spent most of the day laughing and he posted on facebook about how much he enjoyed it :)

I love that the children choose their own gifts now - the younger ones normally choose theirs in the store at the Festival of Trees, but we didn't go this year - I will miss that :( They have picked some interesting gifts in the past - Lloyd has a lovely flashing shot glass and a wonderful flashing PINK cocktail glass ;) it's THOSE gifts that MAKE Christmas :) because anyone who really KNOWS Lloyd knows that he is TOTALLY the pink flashing cocktail glass kinda guy ;)

Girls day out....

Susannah and I had a girls day out today - we went Christmas shopping, went to the scrapbook store together (which was fun except that a lady went to the bathroom, came out and left the door wide open and it stunk out the entire store and then we couldn't stop pulling faces and giggling the whole time lol - omg it put me off buying anything lol).

We also went for lunch together. I took Susie to Montanas - there are moose and deer heads on the walls and the whole restaurant is made to look like a hunting lodge - they bring you paper to go on the table and you can then draw and colour all over the table!!! we had fun drawing Santas and Christmas trees all over the table! I had roast beef and yorkshire pudding, and Susie had a turkey sandwich and skewers of shrimp! It was fun!

We were exhausted by the end but it was fun :) She got all her shopping done and I picked up a few things too!

New Years Resolutions....

What are your New Years Resolutions.....for 2009?

I have a few thought out - and yes I AM one of those terrible people that makes and often breaks them lol but I like to make them now and in September lol......I'm going to have a think today and then add them here:

1......




Please leave a comment and share yours with us!!!

Tuesday....

Please don't get me wrong...I didn't say I was unhappy. I'm not unhappy. I simply said I wasn't feeling 'Christmasy'. I'm not interested in Christmas. To me Christmas is in the way - its preventing the work on the house being completed - its a waste of time and money - its causing stress to a lot of people I love and care about - needless stress that a lot of people could do without. And it feels like only last month that we did it all last time!!! Maybe if we had Christmas every two years it would feel more special and less materialistic.

THAT was my point!

Christmas aside, I am fine, happy and well. Lloyd and I have been spoiled with all our date nights together lately which has been a lot of fun and lots of trips to the Indian restaurant in town lol) the kids are all doing great, Chris seems a LOT happier lately thankfully too! Abigail is returning to homeschooling which should help her relax after a few weeks of being home - once the others go back to school and our routine gets settled (again the holidays are in THE WAY ggggrrrr). The work done on the house so far is STUNNING.

I will be wearing my new size 6 pants (trousers) on Christmas Day and they will be loose!!!! This will be very weird lol - on Sunday I tried on 4 bathing suits and they were ALL too big!!! One was a tankini and it looked terrible because it was TOO BIG!!!! It was a size 8 lol!!! Um....I need to go shopping at WEM next week - I saw one in the swimwear store there that I loved but then we couldn't find the store again when we tried to find it!!! So my size 8 pants are all a bit big on me now and I need to get some size 6's.....and I could fit in size 4's if I wanted!!! I am forever grateful to Tanya for the recommendation of Topamax - my migraines are slightly improved but not half as much as my body ;) and it has been EASY!!

And like the commercials say - for the first time this new year, I will not be choosing weight loss as my New years resolution!!!!!!

Hmmmm which brings me to my question for my next blog post!

Anyway, today Susannah and I are having our girls day out - she is going to get her siblings gifts - our annual tradition - and then we have lunch together.

The race is on!!!

My Marks and Spencers Christmas puddings are 'out for delivery' in Sherwood Park!! Which means I should have them for Christmas day :) So long as I can get them from the post office by Christmas Eve!!! I doubt they will be delivered to the house so I will have to hope they go to the post office in town.....and the card is put in my box tomorrow and they are in the post office by tomorrow night but sometimes they say by 1pm the following day and I am not sure if the post offices are open Christmas Eve!!!! Oh I hope so!!!!

And now for some good news!

I had some great news this weekend - my wonderful wonderful friend - bestest friend ever from Stockport, Lianne - is coming over to stay in the Summer!!! AND - she is bringing her little girl Bethany!!! I have never met Beth before but WAS involved in her conception (hahahahahaha kind of lol) as they used my technique for getting a girl!!!!

I am soooooooo excited to see Lianne after soooooo long!!! We can have coffee again :) OMG and reminisce about our holiday together in Wales and the days we were pregnant together with Susie and Ashley....and when the boys were young and days at the park and going to see Santa on the miniature train.......and me getting soooooo drunk at our Christmas girls night out and her taking me home to Nigel hahahahaha and I passed out and didn't wake up for a day or two hahahaha!!! (TOTALLY her fault - if she had drunk more of HER share I wouldn't have drunk as much lol)

I can't wait to see her!

Fed up

I think I just give up. I do not feel festive . I do not feel Christmasy. We have watched a few movies. We have been to Brightnights. We have been to a few parties. We have made some crafts, been to the concerts...but it all feels false. It all feels as though it was only last month that we did this last time. The year went so fast. And so many bad things have happened to so many good people this year that it seems kind of wrong.

And all this present business. That seems wrong too. People asked for a list of my wants and I didn't have any. Lloyd asked me what I wanted and I didn't know. The kids didn't know. Lloyd didn't know. So many people around me have nothing. People have lost children, died, divorced....people are sick. My house is falling apart (but at least I have one right????) :(

Last night I was wrapping gifts but to be honest it all feels forced. I could really do without it. I feel like I am having to be given gifts and having to give gifts on Thursday because I am being told to. Because someone else is saying Thursday is THE day you HAVE to. I don't need anything. I don't think ANYONE around me NEEDS anything but its Christmas day so you damn well WILL get STUFF!!! It's disgusting and sad when you think about it :( and I could do without it really but I don't know how to stop it :(

I really don't want any gifts - I know I have some - and I know I'll love them because of how thoughtful Lloyd is and how much thought he puts into things despite me not writing a list. But right now I feel like the Mr Krank and I could quite happily skip Christmas and go right on to New Year. Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009. I really REALLY hope you are a better year for a great deal of people!!!

Samantha looking all festive!!!!

On Friday Christopher had to go to the Orthodontists to have his braces fitted. He now has braces and will wear them for two years and then wear a retainer or atleast have continuing treatment for the next 6 years - treatment ends when he is 21. We handed over a cheque for $8,000 on Friday!!!! Rather that than pay in installments anyway!!!!! That would just be a pain! Especially when Laurence and Susannah will be needing treatment also in the next couple of years!!!! Chris was in the ortho. for almost 3 hours in the end, so while he was there, I took Sam to Kidz Quarterz. My friend Samantha came and met us there for a while for coffee. She was Abigails preschool teacher years ago and is so great with kids that Sam seemed to think that she was there to play with him, and it wasn't long before he had her up in the climbing frame and going down the slides!!!! Me? I was sat having coffee ;)

After Chris's appointment, we went to Tim Hortons for lunch and Chris hada BIG lunch making the most of being able to eat pain free before the pain of the braces kicked in!!!! By saturday it hurt too much to eat!!!

Friday night I spent relaxing in the tub and then Lloyd and I curled up and watched The Family Stone - a Christmas movie about my family! Seriously - that IS my family ;)

Frog ATC swap

I received this swap during the week from a swapbot swap. It was from the Frog swap I took part in! I couldn't believe what the lady sent me! As well as the one frog ATC she sent me - with the glass eyes, she also sent me a blown glass atc!!!!! And she also sent a glass bead necklace!!! And also a bee embellishment and a lovely little note about hummingbirds and how they have them all year long where she is - then she sent me a note online to say they had had snow and yet they STILL were feeding the hummingbirds!!!!!!

Sam and his paper chain snake....

Sam had fun making paper chains the other day with some paper chains Grandma sent from England that we had left over still form last year...

A gift from Stacey!

When I visited Stacey on Tuesday she gave me this Christmas gift!!! A box for my ATC's that she had painted and embellished just for me! It's so pretty - I don't know if you can tell but it sparkles in the light!!! And it has my name and bees on the top!!! Just so sweet and thoughtful! I love it! It has pride of place on my new shelf!!! Thank you so much Stacey! I don't know what paint you used but I LOVE how it sparkles in the light by my window!

Santa came early.....

Today Lloyd put up the first of two new storage systems in my room for my crafting supplies! The first is the Making Memories large Embellishment Centre which was on sale at Michaels for 40% off its usual price so I couldn't resist! It comes with a ribbon holder but my ribbons are currently stored in the decorated paint can on top so I haven't added that yet - maybe I will eventually but for mow I like the extra shelf space.

Sad news

We had a phone call this morning from England, to say that Lloyds Granddad had died today.

Lloyd will be flying over to England for the funeral next week and visiting his parents and my parents while he is there.

photobooth funny pic!

Sam and I funny pic!

The Twilight Before Christmas.......

Just click in the square to play!

;)

Paleontology, archeology and digging for treasures....

The children had fun digging for treasures in sand this afternoon......it was good fun! I loved seeing Taylors eyes get wide when he saw a bone or arm of his Mummy in the sand and it was so sweet every time Kylie screamed with excitement when she a dinosaur bone in her sand!!! :) So much fun :) Poor Stacey had to deal with the sand setting her nerves on edge the whole time but to be honest it felt like sweet revenge for the fact that she has gorgeous nails and I don't ;) hahahahaha!!! sometimes life just isn't fair hahahahaha ;) OMG her nails are so gorgeous - naturally gorgeous - I mean how unfair is THAT?? lol!

j/k Stacey ;) see you soon :)

Singin' and dancin' with Santa!!!

Today Sam and I went to spend the afternoon with Stacey, Taylor and Kylie!!! We had sooooo much fun! They have this giant dancing Santa who sings, and we got to dance along with him! The first time we switched him on, Sam wasn't too sure what to make of him. He didn't exactly run away, but he did go and get a book and pretend to sit and read and act like he just wasn't interested at ALL ;)

Then a little while later Sam got used to santa and joined in with the dancing but the children were dancing so fast and furiously that they didn't stay near Santa long enough for Stacey to get a picture! So I joined in the dancing to try and get them to stay with me near Santa - but that didn't work either!

Staceys family just had the most gorgeous family pictures taken for Christmas!!!! Sounds like they had quite an adventure getting them taken, but it was well worth it!! Beautiful pictures Stacey!

Thanks so much for a great afternoon Stacey - hope to see you next week :)