agapanthas and goldsworthy

old endings and new beginnings

2012-01-01T23:49:00.000+10:00

hello to those who still read this little old blog of mine...i must apologise for my lack of posts but life seems to get in the way. i have been nightfilling quite a bit lately which takes me away from any free time i might have dedicated to blogging.

so what i have decided to do is stop adding to this blog and concentrate on updating my other blog once a week. my itty bitty and pretty blog was meant to be a blog for my crafting endevours while this blog was for my family adventures, however if i am to update at all it makes sense to cull one and allow time for the other.

while i am sad to let this blog go, i am comforted by the fact that it will always be here and at any time i can pop back in and read old posts or even add a new one if it takes my fancy.

so come follow me over at itty bitty and pretty if you'd like. it will be a mix of craft and family life and my latest floral creations.

and before the clock strikes 12 and closes on the first day of january...HAPPY NEW YEAR!! i hope and pray that your year is full of wonderful moments and happy memories and that you stay safe and in good health and that you have all that you wish for. thank you for your kind comments over the past few years and i do hope to see you over on the other blog.

xxx rosey

august is craft month...

2011-07-30T21:12:00.000+10:00

just a quick post to tell my local followers of some craft sessions at one of our local libraries. my best friend Julie has recently become team leader of the banyo library and has organised some arts and craft classes lessons to be held in august. she has asked me to share the details here on my blog and hopes to see lots of wonderful crafters come along.
basic patchwork with Chris tasker tuesday 2nd august 2-3:30pm
quilting demonstration with Chris tasker tuesday 16th august 2-3:30pm
felting workshop with Julie tasker wednesday 24th august 10:30-12pm
bobbin lace making with Chris tasker tuesday 30th august 10:30-12pm

bookings essential call banyo library on 3403 2200
i don't think there is a cost involved but you can clarify that when you call to book a spot.

cheers xxrosey

bad blogger...this time i dont mean me

2011-07-14T21:32:00.000+10:00

blogger is driving me mad!! it seems to have changed and it is taking me ages to load photos....i give up!!!! unless you all have some good advice for me.
xxxx

i'm in love again!

2011-06-12T10:10:00.006+10:00

not only am i a good aunty i am a great aunty!!! yes that's right my gorgeous niece Renata welcomed Nathan Edward into the world on the 22nd of May weighing in at 8lb 8oz. hubs Matthew is over the moon proud and of course has a new found respect for his wife. i have visited with Nathan once at his home and then a week later at his uncles 18th birthday party and haven't been well enough to see him since....i have the dreaded cold again, this time seems to be worse than the last which seems near impossible! anyhow i will get my fix soon enough and as you can see from the photos he is a beautiful and very well loved. he has managed to meet his great grandparents, aunties and cousins on Renata's side and was passed around like a lucky charm. grab a cuppa and enjoy the photos. and get a glimpse of my family ~_~

my first cuddle...love at first sight!

4 days old...looks so much older

yes that is a real connection we have going on

ah love that! great lungs...time to pass him back ~_~

the loving gaze of mummy

great aunty Anita having her first cuddle (my sister)

and my sister melissa, proud grandmother of nathan

proud grandfather Vincent with Matthew in the background

my father...great grandfather Boris

great aunty narelle (my sister)

uncle Tristan, Renata's brother

and the birthday boy uncle Dylan.

i love babies, they make the world a better place. now i have to concentrate on getting better so that i can go for more cuddles!!

have a great long weekend.

xxrosey

our blossoming garden

2011-05-30T21:23:00.009+10:00

this year for mothers day i asked for a garden. my request was simple. ground cover roses, some flowers and a little ground cover plant that would spread between the spare spaces. i added a little herb garden to my list as well, once again simple foods that we were sure to eat. so on mothers day we traipsed off to the local nursery and each picked a rose and lots of other pretties for the planned plot. nurseries are such lovely places, i could spend ages dreaming of how i could buy every plant and create my own garden oasis...anyhow after spending way more than i expected we headed home to prepare our plot and plant our bounty. we had such a great time as a family and have been rewarded with full vases every week and fresh lettuce and other greens for our salads. we even cleared out the cubby house and created a coffee house where we seem to spending most of our time now...very nice indeed. i am so glad i asked for a garden, not only am i enjoying my flowers but i am enjoying the time spent with mick and the girls each afternoon.

preparing the soil

finding rather large inhabitants...sign of good soil ~_~

plants are in and waiting for some mulch

one of the roses ready to bloom

pretty ground cover

loads of pansies which just haven't stopped blooming. so pretty and a great reminder of my childhood

picture perfect rose, Claudia chose this one.

some of the rock art survived. we need to make some more for our new improved garden.

local resident

the passion fruit is still fruiting, expecting it to slow down soon. truly THE tastiest passion fruits ever!

my little herb garden. lettuce, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, chives, basil and parsley.

mmmm, cant wait for this little fella to turn red.

i have been picking flowers ever since we planted the garden. i was told the more i picked the pansies the more they would grow and that advice was right.

i bought these little bud vases at the thrift shop. some people think the ones with the roses on the vase are tacky but i just cant get enough of them.

there is so much more to show but i think i have overloaded on photos once again.

hope your week is full of sunshine.

xxxrosey

i get by with a little help from my friends..and $5000!!

2011-05-19T10:29:00.011+10:00

it is hard to believe that more than a month has passed since i last wrote on here and it seems that a whole lot has happened in that time. i am still dealing with my anxiety day by day and gaining strength every time i beat the battle that rages within me. as my blog title says i have also gained strength from my family and friends and most importantly you gorgeous bloggers who left messages and emails to make sure that i was OK. thank you from the bottom of my heart! the second part of the blog title is also true...i won a competition run by Woolworths (local grocery company). the total prize value was $5000...a cheque for $3500 to go towards the mortgage, $1000 in grocery vouchers and $500 in petrol vouchers. it couldn't have come at a better time, i was so thrilled and shocked that i cried when the lady told me.

anyhow grab a cuppa because the hundreds of photos below explain how, with a little help from my friends and family i am managing to smile again

sisters night organised by my sister narelle and catered by each of us. narelle made an anti pasto (not sure if that is the way it is spelt) platter and a Greek salad for mains. Melissa made scrummy lamb and haloumi kebabs for main and an amazing pav (undressed photo below) which she is becoming famous for, well famous in our family circle ~_~ the photo is sideways but you get the idea...yum!! and Anita made a seafood paella and these truly cake shop worthy lime and vanilla creme macaroons...i think i ate more than my fair share of these little melt in your mouth treats. cant wait for the next batch. there isn't a photo of me but i made creamy garlic prawns for entree and provided the dressing for the pav. spending a night with my sisters is very good medicine for the soul, next time we are bringing our pillows for a sleep over! at the beginning of April we trudged up the hill to my hometown of toowoomba to attend the 40th birthday party of one of my best friends. we were lucky enough to stay with the gorgeous Miranda (Claudia's godmother) and her partner Paul. even though Miranda is suffering complications through her pregnancy, she thoroughly spoilt us; pizza and videos for the girls while we went to the party. she even sent me a pic of the girls having a great time so that i could relax and enjoy the night. my special friend Mir...we have know each other since 1987... 24 years of friendship and not one fight!! cant wait to meet the little bundle of joy, what a lucky baby to be born to such a loving mother and father. ready for some good advice?, if you are feeling blue...put on a seventies costume and surround yourself with good friends, open a couple of bottles of wine and dance to the best music ever! here is the birthday boy, Darren, with his gorgeous wife Sarena these two hunks belong to... these two spunks. can you work out who belongs to who?? here is my Micky boy with my sister Anita...mick is totally dressed in clothes owned by Anita..the chest hair is his own ~_~ don't they just look the part! i love this photo. and here is a photo of 3 of my best friends...each of these ladies fills my soul to the brim each time i see them. from left to right. Julie, Tina and Kylie. i have know juls and Tina for 24 years and Kylie for at least 30 years...i truly love these gals with all my heart. i love this photo of Darren, Sarena and Anita. here i am with Kylie, her husband heath and daggy.

two best friends..Julie and Anita posing for a photo...coats supplied by Anita... and what seventies party would be complete without a dance to the nutbush?!? fun fun fun it really was a tonic for my soul... i laughed so much i had to have my Ventolin! we followed up with a lunch out at Sam and Simon's house (hippie chick and Afro boy) and then headed back down the hill to reality.

now let me set the scene before i received the good news about our windfall...earlier in the week i had rang the bank and reduced out mortgage repayments by $800 a month for the next 3 months which would help us get through until mick returns to work in July. of course we will have to pay over $3000 for the following 3 months to catch up but by then a bit of a regular income will be coming in so in theory we should be able to do it...

mick finished his 3 week contract and just as he said well that's the end of the money for a while the phone rang. the lady on the phone proceeded to tell me that i had won $5000 worth of products. after much toing and froing about whether it was my sister playing a joke on me i started to cry because the amount for the mortgage was $3300 and she was giving me $3500 to go towards our mortgage. she said she had made plenty of people cry this week and assured me that the money would be mine after Easter... i think i should frame this! the cheque is already in the bank ~_~ it really is a blessing to have $1000 for groceries and $500 for petrol...i have been able to buy the girls some warm clothes for winter because i have this extra 'cash'. you only hear about these sorts of things happening to other people..well now you know it really does happen! i must thank my sister Anita for reminding me to go online and enter the competition.

thanks for all of your warm wishes...i feel like the clouds are lifting.

xxrosey

blue days

2011-04-06T21:41:00.008+10:00

unfortunately the title of this blog doesn't refer to the colour blue but rather the emotion of being blue...yep that big black hole has been getting wider and wider threatening to swallow me up again. it is hard to explain anxiety, it is hard to pin point it to one thing, but rather it is many many small things that to a rational person seem so insignificant but when i am feeling this way they are insurmountable and send me into a tailspin where even breathing becomes difficult. i have spent much of last week crying and battling with the rational part of my brain...it is a battle that keeps me up half the night, all in my mind and usually leaves me feeling like a failure and disappointed in myself. the hardest part for me is that mick is going through similar feelings of depression and i don't feel like i can support him, on the contrary i feel like i am another problem for him to deal with, not that he would ever think like that. he supports me with so much love...i am so lucky to have him in my life and of course my wonderful sisters, father, family and friends. anyhow i guess when i feel this way the first things that seems to stop are the things that make me happy...i haven't blogged in ages, crafting/sewing has come to a complete stand still, taking a walk with the girls hasn't happened for a few weeks, missing 'play' dates with friends etc...

in an attempt to inject some 'happiness' into my soul we decided to take a day trip to the botanic gardens and just be present as a family...well it worked (for that day at least) i actually remember stopping mick and telling him that i feel happy, it was a strange feeling because it was genuine and i hadn't felt that way in a long time. apart from the petrol the whole day cost us $20 for a family of 5 and that was spent on ice-creams for the girls and some treats from the bakery for lunch. what a wonderful way to spend 6 hours! wish we had worn one of those things that measures how many steps you take @_@

as you can imagine i took heaps of photos and i have just about included them all in this post!

enjoy

3 reasons to get out of bed in the morning

the ponds were full of lillies, breathtaking!

we saw so many ducks, we started seeing them in our food..can you see the little cheesy duck here on lili's bun?

we feasted on ginger and lime macaroons lovingly made by my super talented sister Anita...they really were divine.

we marveled at how God could create such a leaf...the colours and the shape truly astounded us all.

we had fun in the fernery, we each took turns sitting on this fellows lap.

aaahh my favourite part of the gardens.. the Japanese gardens. i really would like to recreate such a look in our own back yard but wouldn't even know where to begin

by the way, i have not adjusted any colour on any of the pictures. after all the rain we have had the parks were lush and so alive..it really added to the experience.

a nice spot for a photo

the bonsai house, this was a favourite amongst us bonsers ~_~

we took a break to listen to the band play...free entertainment, what more could you want?

we saw plenty of these guys but this one had to be the biggest of the lot!

we ended the trip with a visit to the top of mount Cootha and took in a magnificent view of Brisbane. you could see the muddy river and could only imagine what the view would have been like at the time of the floods.

we had such a wonderful day together and for that moment in time i forgot about my anxiety and simply enjoyed my family. of course the rest of the week fell apart but hey here i am blogging about it which must mean i am trying to get myself out of the blue and into the brightness of happiness.

i am taking each day as they come, small steps, small victories, no pressure.

any tips on how you make it through your tough days would be much appreciated.

hope to be back soon

xxxrosey

cutest cupcake shop ever!

2011-03-01T21:38:00.006+10:00

on the weekend Mia was invited to the most gorgeous cupcake party i ever did see. i knew it was going to be something special because the invitation was sweeter than sweet and included the business card which included a website...i jumped onto that site quicker than the speed of light and sat glued to the website for ages ooohhhing and aaahhhhing at every link.

here is Mia outside this tiny cupcake shop. the website is http://www.cupcakesbyk.com.au/ each of the 8 party goers received a hat and apron to wear and to then take home.

now when i say this is a little shop i am not exaggerating, however the owner has used the space quite well. the front of shop which would be the size of an average kitchen is wall to wall sweet cupcake, foody and girly type gifts to purchase, with the most amazing fittings that really make you squeal on the inside.

just look at this mirror!!! impressive is an understatement @_@ give me a chandelier and I'll give you my heart....isn't it stunning?!? and this is the best piece...how smashing would it be to have that item in your shop? eepp eeeep double eeeppp! OK, feverish squeals of delight have now died down to a tiny whimper....once the hats and aprons were in place, the girls were led to a tiny back room which was big enough to house a little sink in which the girls washed their hands and a table that had 8 chairs placed around for the party guests. the chairs were donned with ribbons and helium balloons filled the room along with tissue pompoms hanging from the ceiling.

rolling pins and icing ready to be rolled. yes the cupcake queen Kellie herself taught the girls how to decorate the cupcakes and they were able to take home 6 decorated cupcakes! i will show you a pic of that in a minute but first what party is complete without a cake...

here is the lovely birthday girl ready to blow out her candles

mmmm fresh cupcakes! after the party food was shared each of the girls got to take home their decorated cakes, how cool is that??? and here are Mia's cakes. the dragonfly is the only one she actually made herself but she used the available toppings to cover the other ones. pretty impressive dragonfly don't you think?

now all of this hoopla over cakes had me bringing out our wedding cake toppers (10 years old). my sister Anita made these hippos for the top of our 3 different types of mud cake and even though they are a little slumped they still look great. yes mine is topped with a tiara and the other one has a little silver tie :)

why hippos?? well i have a little tattoo of a hippo on my hip :) maybe one day i will take a photo of it and show it to you ~_~ Anita is so very talented and we hope to use her talents in a joint venture one day...fingers crossed.

so there you have it from cupcakes to hippos all in one post.

xxxrosey

happy birthday to me!!

2011-02-23T14:24:00.006+10:00

39...thirty nine...3 tens 9 ones...whichever way you look at it, i am 1 year away from the big 40!!! far from fearing that number i am embracing it...and the best way to embrace it is to have one hell of a party ~_~ after talking with mister moo about my visions for what i would like, i have realised that i best start putting away 10% of each pay cheque to be able to hold this shindig. i really haven't ever celebrated my birthday in a big way with the exception of my 18th when my lovely friends mother held a party for me at their house. it will be nice to do something special and invite everyone i have ever called friend.

anyhow back to the here and now...a few weeks ago i was given the most gorgeous belated Christmas present, wrapped in gold tissue and sweet lace ribbon. Linda gifted me this!

she reinvents (sounds like a good term) gorgeous vintage napkins with beautiful sayings. this one is perfect for me and our new room which has been named the family room. each of the crocheted hearts represent Lili Mia Claudia mick and me. (is that bad grammar?)

i have found the perfect spot for it, my tub chair faces it so not only do i see how pretty it is, i can feel Linda's love each time look at it.

now my birthday was a little low key but i still managed to be thoroughly spoiled by those around me. mick and the girls gave me some new shirts, the authority to buy myself something from the doll and bear show and this gorgeous MOOK (magazine/book)

it is a collection put together by the Frankie magazine group and apart from smelling delicious, in that paper book kinda way, the pages are inspirational to say the least.

sorry bout my photography skills...very limited :)

i am having a wonderful time slowly reading through the stories that come with the pictures and dreaming of the day that i do an interior design course...it could happen right??

talk about being spoilt...i just so happened to do a day of relief teaching on my birthday and the secretary had organised a cake just for me!! how special is that? i love my colleagues they make the troubles of teaching disappear :)

after my day of teaching i came home to find these flowers delivered to my doorstep

one of my closest friends from toowoomba had sent me this pretty bouquet. thanks Miranda you are a doll!! (give Paul a big kiss from me)

on this occasion one of my sisters babysat the girls while mick and i headed out for Thai. because we were rushing around getting ready for dinner i forgot to check the mail box so it wasn't until the next afternoon that i discovered that this was in the mail box!

once again the lovely Linda had showered me with her special kind of love. this sweetly wrapped present and hand made card brought squeals of delight not only from me but my 3 girls who also happen to be Linda's biggest fans ~_~

such a special card!

and here is a rare photo of me modelling the gorgeous necklace that was gifted to me.

here is a closer look...yes it is a little bird cage with tiny eggs and a little door that opens and closes.

two special things about this gift...i spotted that necklace a few weeks ago and had mentioned to linda how much i loved it (she obviously stored it in her gift giving part of her memory)...the second and most amazing thing is that Linda has spent the last week in hospital and the days leading up to her admission too sick to work yet she still managed to get my birthday present to me...kind hearted is too little a sentiment to describe her nature. i am dreaming up ways of repaying her don't you worry.

anyhow, this birthday is now over and dreams of THE BIG ONE are growing...

sweet kisses to you all and blessings for a wonderful second half of the week.

xxrosey

belated birthday...bad mummy

2011-02-10T15:13:00.004+10:00

here i am basically 2 weeks after my eldest daughter turned 9 to post about her celebrations...i feel like a bad mother but as she doesn't read this blog yet, she wont know the difference ~_~i love this picture!

lili began her birthday like every other birthday in the bonser house by opening her presents on our bed. we each gave her a gift; clothes, littlest pet shop Blythe doll and best of all her very own camera. this camera is better than mine!! the best part is that is has a fish eye function which has kept us entertained taking turns laughing at ourselves.

as an extra gift this year i gave lili a sweet little bird which i had originally bought myself for Christmas. this little bird was made by Laura of billyangel and is so sweet and goes well with lilis growing collection of handmade pretties. we are going to add to her collection when we visit the doll and bear show on the 2oth of Feb which just happens to be just down the road from us.

sweet!

another tradition is that we head out to a restaurant, birthday girl/guy gets to choose of course.

we got all dolled up and headed to a local steak house. playground and ice cream after dinner, what could be better??

then to top off her birthday WEEKEND we gathered family and close friends to share cake....

my sister who has lived in London for many years kindly decorated the cake for me and hand made everything you see....

little bees... oh so sweet!

this little fairy was reaching into the pond, how amazing is that! and yes the pond was edible.

looks wonderful doesn't it?!?

my sister is keen to start her own decorating business so if you live local and need a cake let me know and i can get my sister to help you out. she has decorated dozens of wedding, christening and birthday cakes and never ceases to amaze me with her talents.

and i just love this picture of my dad with one of my best friends girls and my little Claudia. Hannah and Chloe are such great company, my girls just love being around them.

we had a wonderful celebration, and even though we couldn't afford to throw lili a birthday party with her school friends we certainly had a great time and very much a party atmosphere. my family are great, i miss my brother who is still missing from my life but hopefully he will find it in his heart to start to talk to me again and we can celebrate the next birthday as a whole family.

i love watching lili grow, people say it happens so fast but to me it is happening at just the right pace. she is looking more like a tween than a young girl. she stands in front of the mirror a little longer and checks her hair more than once. the clothes we bought were in the young girls section rather than the little girls section which she was very happy about. she still has that innocence, but she matures more each year. she is dependable and sensible and easy to talk to. i love that she still likes a cuddle in the morning. she like to collect things; smelly rubbers, old tins, bears and dolls, handmade pretties and much much more. i am loving this journey as a mum, watching her grow and supporting her every step of the way. i know i am not a perfect mum but what i do know is that i tell her i love her everyday, i hold her everyday and tell her that she is wonderful and special to me. and i know that she is going to be an exceptional young lady in the years to come.

xxrosey

my favourite room

2011-01-31T15:54:00.003+10:00

i have been meaning to do this post for a few weeks but once again time seems to slip right through my fingers. anyhow i am snatching a few minutes before i head out to my night fill job, as i realise now i need to squeeze every minute for what it is worth. over a year ago my handy hubby built in our garage and created another room which we have called the family room. i love this room because it is decorated and furnished to our taste. we still have light fittings to change, window treatments to decide on and flooring to finish but i think the photos show the direction we have headed in.

this cream leather lounge faces a gorgeous white flat screen TV

our two tub chairs face the road and this is our favourite spot for our daily cuppas.

the best thing about the furnishings is the price. the lamp was thrifted for $25 and the gorgeous mirror that my hubby got me was $15 from the same thrift shop.

i have a girl friend who is kindly going to make some roman blinds for the windows when we decide on what colour fabric we want and i will pop on some frosted contact on the clear panels on the door. hubby has convinced me to let him polish the concrete floor, i secretly think it will go perfectly with the room but i wont let him know that...

and down the track i can imagine a fancy but small chandelier as the main light instead of the existing fluros.

there are other parts to this room but i will have to show you another time and i have a secret idea for a big bare part of one wall...just need the money to fulfill that dream.

i guess i best go, take out the bins, get the children washed, homework done and fed before i have to go to work :) (squeezing every second i tell ya)

back with some birthday pics as my lili turned 9 on the weekend

xxrosey

after the floods....

2011-01-16T14:24:00.005+10:00

since the wall of water hit my home town of toowoomba on the 10th of January, i have been watching the rolling coverage of the floods every spare second and am brought to tears nearly every time... the devastation is phenomenal and hard for me to grasp. my mind feels muddy and i literally have to tell myself to turn the TV off so that i can get some work done. my gorgeous hubby managed to tag along with my brother in law and their band of merry men to go and help out a mate in the suburb of rocklea. mick spent the whole day on the gurney cleaning the heavy, silty mud off the walls and he said to see the devastation first hand in mind numbing. the man they helped has lost every single thing. they literally guttered the whole house so that it is now a shell ready for new plaster, doors, cupboards etc... and he is just one person out of over 20000homes...this will take years to recover from.

anyhow, we took a walk down to our local river that is situated a suburb from our home and took some photos of the carnage left from this torrent of water that flowed through. it was so high that it covered the train tracks and major bridge that takes us over the pine river.

a shelter shed littered with trees and posts, imagine how high the water must have been to leave those posts on top of the roof!a tree uprooted and dragged along.

the debris in the tall reaches of this tree gives us and idea of the height

some of the marks on the column holding the bridge showing us the height of the water, further along the track the water went over.

major damage to this stretch of road...we use this every day when going to our jobs.

this toilet block brings new meaning to the term 'water closet'

amazing photos, would have been great to have photos of the water at its peak but i was one of the law abiding citizens who stayed off the road @_@

as the clean up continues i pray that they find survivors in the Lockyer valley and that people can get back to some sort of normality as soon as possible. my girls have started in earnest to clear out all of the toys, dvds, books and clothes they think some other girls would love and i will put together items for men and women. the director of Claudia's day care will take a bus load over to another day care that lost everything in the suburb of Belbowrie and is asking for any good quality items that can be spared. my girls love the thought of helping someone else their age to get a smile back on their face.

keep praying for those affected.

xrosey

mother nature can be a real bitch!

2011-01-12T13:25:00.002+10:00

i have no words to describe how i feel after watching my home town of toowoomba being ripped apart when a 3 metre wall of water rushed through parts of the CBD on the 10th of January. as i watched with tears streaming down my face i began to panic about my friends who work in the centre of town and those who i love that live there. thankfully all of those i love are safe. one friend said that part of her car was wrapped around a post but that she was safe and another friend is stranded in his home town of gatton away from his wife and daughter but they are all well. i am still very worried about friends who live in Murphy's creek which is at the bottom of the range and as yet still have no clue as to there safety. if you believe in the power of prayer please start praying now. xxrosey

a good laugh

2011-01-03T20:35:00.001+10:00

please take the time to visit lindas blog, her latest blog had me laughing out loud. plus she is a very good friend of mine and the best little shabby shop owner ever. visit her here xxrosey

bad blogger

2010-12-28T12:49:00.006+10:00

please forgive me for my month long absence...i do believe that is the longest time i have been away since starting this blog!! i can only blame life for getting in the way and then Christmas had to come along and ruin everything :)

and to top things off my camera and computer don't want to play together so i cant even load any new photos to share with you!

so instead of up to date relevant photos i am forced to share pre Christmas shots...

the girls love to dress in the Christmas shirts and reindeer accessories each year and i cant wait to put them away...

cute!! this photo is so old mia is still in her school uniform! here they are dressed ready for their school concert

they also love to get crafty or bake something. this year i found a ready made cookie decorating set which they had fun putting their own festive touches to.

thanks to Tupperware for these nifty master chef type outfits Claudia loves anything crafty Mia taking great care to make her cookie look good lili has a real creative streak

during the lead up to Christmas my sister Anita came home from London FOR GOOD!! it was so lovely to have her home for her first Christmas in about 8 years.

my father Boris and my niece Renata waiting at the airport for...

Anita!!! here she is looking as beautiful as ever

and we celebrated my nephews 21st with some cake and dinner.

most of my family gathered here to celebrate.

well i best be off to celebrate some more. we are yet to see micks brother as they were away for Christmas so we are off for more food!!

hope to have some actual christmas photos soon and hope to be back to my normal self by the beginning of next year!!

big christmas kisses and new year hugs to you all.

xxxrosey

mission impossible

2010-11-18T10:29:00.004+10:00

your mission should you choose to accept is to clean up the 'studyio' (study and craft studio combined)...

that was the mission i gave myself on Monday, it is now Thursday and i still have a little way to go...

i have to cut myself some slack...on Monday i did find a HUGE curled up huntsmen on the floor which totally freaked me out and each time i thought about clearing the mess i wondered how many more might be lurking plus i was out of storage space. so i came up with the cunning plan of heading to the thrift shop to find a suitable cupboard...time wasting is my current job :)

as luck would have it a perfect storage solution was purchased but not able to be picked up until my dear darling husband came home with the Ute. so cleaning was postponed till the following day. anyhow happy to say that i have before and after photos and i still have a little way to go but the chore is not so mammoth and i can see the light or floor as the case may be @_@

the before shot, truth be told NONE of this is my mess....it all belongs to my 3 darling children....

and after, still not quite perfect but getting there. ignore the flooring...flooring, light fittings and curtains/window treatments are next on our list of home improvements.

the sewing machine area before....

and after the bunny hiding in the corner is my Christmas present from last year... we have started doing secret Santa with a twist, 'secret trashy Santa' present has to be under $10 and as trashy or tacky as can be. yes that is a bunny mirror, go figure?

real eggs popped in real nest in amongst my little collection of curiosities.

this is part of the room pre storage solution, the mess is growing legs and moving across the floor...

there it is! i moved the gorgeous old trunk over in front of the shelving and moved the new storage solution into place....

and here is a before shot of my fabric and ribbon stash....

and here it is after...yes this is the LITTLE BIT LEFT TO CLEAN...but now that i have an extra place to put things i can delegate shelves to certain crafting supplies...or at least that is the plan :)

there you have it...i best be off to finish the fabric stash or at least have a coffee and contemplate my next step...

xxrosey

celebrating diwali

2010-11-08T10:17:00.004+10:00

we are certain that Claudia was a cat in her previous life...here's hoping she has a few more lives left. read on to see what happened.

Friday gone by marked an important event in the Hindu calendar, Diwali, which roughly translates to the Festival of the Lights. our gorgeous neighbours invited us over to enjoy traditional Indian dishes and share in their festivities. we arrived to find the house lit up with lights and many votive candles burning. my neighbour had given Claudia a traditional sari to wear but being the ham that she is she couldn't get the top on, a blessing in disguise as you will see...

the children looked lovely in their traditional attire and had heaps of fun playing together as they always do.

here are Mia and Claudia with Ronav. and this is Jayana, she would have to be the cutest little 3 year old you have ever seen in your life! i just love her to pieces.

we were welcomed in by Asher and her husband Avi and treated to their wonderful hospitality and settled in as other guests arrived. isn't she stunning!!!

anyhow, we were all enjoying a few wines and the tasty traditional appetisers when Mia came out to me and said 'Claudia's on fire'...she had climbed onto the table inside to look at the puzzles the children were playing with and her dress caught on fire. by some stroke of luck, or i like to think that her grandmothers were watching over her, Avi was in the kitchen and quickly patted the fire out. she was only left with a minor burn but a fright that will last a life time i hope.

the blister burst and she called the 'hole in her leg'

this could have been much worse than it was...if she had been wearing that sari which is the same fabric as Asher's sari she would have gone up in a big fire ball and only moments before Avi was sitting outside enjoying the conversation, if it wasn't for his quick reflex she could have been burnt more.

anyhow it didn't dampen our spirits, living across the road meant that we could go home get changed and grab the ice pack and come back to enjoy the rest of the night. Claudia is a real toughie, she didn't cry at all but was more concerned that she had ruined her pretty dress. i will turn it into some bunting for her room.

i guess we have all learned a good lesson, especially me. and it has left me wondering how many lives does Claudia have left. she really is turning my hair grey!!

have a great week

xxrosey

a date to remember

2010-10-31T16:19:00.003+10:00

hard to believe that it has been 3 weeks since my last post. i seem to be ultra busy but getting nowhere! i am loving my night fill job at Big W but wish it was a more permanent thing. i don't like having to wait by the phone but i guess it is better than nothing. the pay is a third that of relief teaching but it is a no thinking job, just what i need right now. apart from night fill and relief teaching i have been trying to keep up with making stock for the cottage and filling an order for Christmas peg dolls.

it is so much fun making these sweet pegs but time consuming...i have so many ideas for Christmas stock but so little time.

in amongst all of this work i still have to run the house...keep up with the cleaning, cooking , shopping etc... and be a shoulder to cry on for mick who is going through a low point. i just wish i knew the future would be fine but at the moment it is just one big ball of stress.

anyhow, some good news to cheer us up is that my sister Anita is coming home from London for good!! she has been gone for over 7 years and we have missed her so much. it will be nice to have her home and start working towards a joint venture. she is a very creative soul, just wish she was home right now.

and today marks 12 years since mick and i first met here in Brisbane on a blind date. my sister Narelle thought that we would make a great couple and she was right...12 years on here we are with 10 years of marriage, 3 kids, 2 cars and a mortgage!

that is why Halloween will always be special to me.

best go and work on one of the many things i want to make this week...

xxxrosey

look whose had a facelift

2010-10-11T10:16:00.007+10:00

no I haven't had a face lift but Coutts Cottage has. Lilly Cottage and Friends now takes up 2 of the 4 rooms and both verandahs and the new colour really highlights our shabby pretties. Despite the rain, we opened the doors to those brave enough to come out and had quite a reasonable trading day. i just love rainy days but this weather is seriously outrageous! the rain seems to have been non stop for at least 2 weeks with the past 3 days seeing record falls. i kept the girls home today (and our gorgeous neighbour) as the thought of heading out in that swirling rain was unimaginable. hope it has eased by Wednesday because i have to go to work, no ifs or buts!

anyhow i thought i better post some shots of the new look Coutts Cottage and some pretties to tantalise you.

here she is in all her cream glory, she is not quite finished yet mind you, i am not sure what the trim will be but anything will be an improvement on THAT apricot. the painters still have a way to go but you can see that apricot just disappearing... we usually have some items hanging but of course all of our nails and screws have been removed. looks a tad bare but still pretty. the windy rainy weather was a bit worrisome, we ended up putting this vase on the ground as we were worried the wind would blow it over. come inside and I'll show you a few pretties. cupcake anyone? some pretties for you to swoon over. my little flea market/bohemian style shelf looks super cute, just love my little owls...

especially this one Linda painted this pretty gal, just lovely don't you think?

there you have it, our little cottage coming together nicely. it certainly doesn't feel like work that's for sure.

hope you have a wonderful week, i will be trying to stay dry...quack quack!

xxrosey

Goodbye September Hello October

2010-10-04T13:19:00.007+10:00

is it just me or did September fly by at a phenomenal speed? lucky i took some photos during the month because i am buggered if i can recall any of it... we are on the slippery slope into Christmas and as always each weekend seems to fill up fast with activities or 'must do' tasks and i find that my head is already spinning. luckily kerryanne is organising a home made Christmas blogging special with amazing ideas, money saving tips from herself and guest bloggers, and even a giveaway or two, so if you are stuck for ideas or need some inspiration become a follower to keep up to date.

the first step in her homemade Christmas is an all important organiser which can be downloaded from her blog (see told you she would keep you on track). i will add her button to my sidebar as soon as i work out how to do it (someone remind me please...).

but before i look to the future i might just go back to the past and recap what September actually held for me and my little family. as i said before the camera reveals all and reminds me of the fun we had.

during the month of September we were visited by some dear friends who travelled from my home town of toowoomba to come see us and our little space out at the markets. i have known Darren for over 15 years and his lovely wife Sarena for 10, so when we get together we just pick up where we left off. we had a great time eating and drinking and watching the girls play with their gorgeous daughter Adelaide.

here's Adelaide on the trampoline. for better/more photos click here we met up with some more friends out at the markets and enjoyed a tasty lunch and a play in the park. (which is most likely where we got the ticks from!)

the next night we gathered up my dad and headed over to my nieces school for a musical extravaganza...

this was the best night out! amazing how young children can be so very entertaining. here is Chelsea surrounded by her adoring fans... my sister Narelle and my dad Boris waiting to go in.

here is Chelsea on stage during one of the many songs. i must say we were all thoroughly entertained and amazed at the talent of these young children.

on the first weekend of the school holidays Mick blew out 37 candles... cuddles and present opening... not quite 37 candles but i didn't want to burn the house down ~_~ raspberry swirl cake is our most favourite!

then the very next day we celebrated Chloe's 4th birthday at hungry jacks

she is such a cutie!

During the school holidays we managed to get up to visit micks dad and step mum in their new home in Hervey Bay. it was a really nice drive, the scenery was pretty and stopping along the way broke the drive up. we pulled into a rest area and were greeted by many birds who live by the man made lakes. these fellas got a little too close for comfort but were fascinating as the girls had never been so close to geese of this size. we had a really nice time, very relaxing indeed. this is my attempt at an artistic shot at Burrum Heads while the girls did this... look at that water!! the water was chilly but you cant stop children from getting in.... here are the girls and mick with Jim and Leona. we hope to get back up there in the new year before school starts again.

we returned to Brisbane just in time for a skating party held in honour of Hannah's 8th birthday. the girls had such a good time. i forgot how much of a workout skating can be, i dressed the girls in warmish clothes cause our day was overcast...big mistake, look how red my lili is!!

here is the birthday girl.

and here are the 4 year olds. these 2 are so cute! look how red she is! it is hard to believe that lili came 2nd in the limbo competition..she cant skate. Mia held on the whole time, a few more sessions and she might be able to go round without holding on and falling over . they had a great time, makes me want to go back and join in the fun...

phew what a long post...sorry bout that, perhaps i shouldn't leave it so long next time...

it has taken me a whole hour to write this post! i best be off and do some sort of housework before school pick up time.

mwah rosey

tuesdays treasures

2010-09-21T11:23:00.004+10:00

hello and welcome to another installment of 'Tuesdays Treasures'. as much as i would like to play along with Clare each Tuesday, something always pops up and before i know it Tuesday is but a memory...anyhow this time i am showing some items of clothing that hold sentimental value to me.

is it just me or when it comes to fine details of events does your memory fail? i am not sure if what i think is accurate but i believe that this little item of clothing was made by my mother out of her wedding dress...not sure if i wore it or whether it was intended for a doll or teddy. in my memory i believe some friend of the family gave it to me when i was in my late teens and told me that my mother had made it, they had kept it to give to me...sounds silly but that is my memory. (if any of my family read this, not many do, maybe they could tell me the truth)

the second item of clothing is much clearer to me.

this is the slip that my gorgeous grandmother wore (maternal) every day of her life, well maybe not everyday of her life, but to me it seems like it. when i look at it i am transported back in time to her little room at the nursing home. i spent many an hour making her cups of tea eating biscuits with her and laying on her bed while she sang or stroked my hair. i would sit in the old arm chair and read the readers digest and listen to her complaints about this and that. the strap on this slip would always hang down her arm and i would pop it back into place. i loved walking around the nursing home, past the dining hall, the entrance and the infirmary (which always scared me). i know it seems strange to keep them, but to me they are a piece of my history, even if i don't remember it all that well.

i like to think i was a good granddaughter, others may have different memories to me, perhaps there were times when i didn't want to visit but when i was in university i would drive myself out and take her some panadol and some tasty treat.

it was fun showing the girls and telling them how ladies always wore a slip under their dresses for fear of revealing too much flesh. boy, gone are THOSE days!

thanks for reading along, head here to see others treasures.

xxrosey

lets celebrate

2010-09-13T10:29:00.005+10:00

we celebrated a religious milestone on Friday night, lili received the first sacrament of reconciliation after many weeks of preparation. it was a lovely ceremony that ended with the releasing of balloons into the night sky and a big fat piece of cake. we presented lili with a lovely cross before we left for the church and headed out for ice cream after it was all over. lili was pleased as punch with the whole event and has a wonderful memory of this special occasion. her lovely teacher made the effort to be there to support her and the other children. i am so glad it is over though as the guilt of missing one Sundays mass is enough to drive me to drink 0_o the photos below show some of the fun we had.

lili loved this little cross which is now hanging above her bed.

having a cuddle before we head off, i straightened Mia's hair very quickly so it looks a bit funny...

lili took this photo, i really don't like being in photos... heading out to set the balloons free along with their sins.

tasty cake!

lili with her lovely teacher Mrs Williams and here she is with Father Chinua

congratulations lili, we are proud of you and your love for being a good girl.

book week surprise win

2010-09-09T16:06:00.005+10:00

it is hard to believe that another week is almost over, some days the sun goes up and down before i even know it!! i am still enjoying my relief teaching days but am yet to have two consecutive days in a row. that day off is always filled to the brim with things to do and still i find no time for crafting or sewing..how is this possible???

anyhow this week was 'book week' at my girls school and on Wednesday they had to dress as a character from a book and if they were lucky enough they could win a certificate and a prize. i never go to any expense for these day and usually find something suitable in the dress up box or something from our cupboards. this is what we came up with and amazingly enough one of the girls won! can you guess who??

Mia was happy to go as Goldilocks and found a cute hand me down dress from the dress up box, popped her favourite teddy under her arm and carried a wooden spoon and bowl. i thought she looked super cute! lili went as Mr Pockets a character from one of the short listed books and look just a treat in mister moos over sized jacket and hat.

can you guess who won??

surprise surprise lili won!!! i was very surprised indeed. proves that spending NO MONEY can still get you somewhere :) she actually won the same thing when she was in prep and that was with a thrifted jacket from Linda. i think lili is very lucky and perhaps i should pop my lotto ticket under her pillow...

oh and i had to pop this photo in... ol' sour puss was very upset cause she wasn't involved in the day. she has to wait another year before she gets to go to big school and have such great days... isn't her sad face so cute? and before i go a big happy fathers day to all those wonderful dads and grandpas out there, hope you were treated well.

xxrosey

trapped

2010-09-03T10:23:00.003+10:00

do you ever feel trapped?

my feelings at the beginning of the year were so distorted and overwhelming which led me to take a step back from teaching with a view to resign...

now that i have had time to talk to someone i don't feel so desperate. my BIL is doing well, he had a check up yesterday to be told that the tumors had not changed since stopping chemo 2 months ago so we have a little ray of hope...but i am left with this sense of what have i done?? i am thoroughly enjoying relief teaching and am hoping that the bosses in catholic education give me the nod to have next year off as well. as much as i am enjoying the time at home and the days of teaching here and there i have a new load of guilt to bear...society is set up in a way in which it is impossible for a family of 5 to survive on one wage, the weeks that i don't get a day of teaching we barely have enough money in the bank for bread and milk. i don't mean to whinge and i know that we are all in the same boat but why does it have to be this way? why cant i just be a housewife and relief teacher and not have the guilt?? a night fill job would be ideal especially over the school holidays when i will be bringing in zero dollars...that is my next step and ASAP.

well my fellow bloggers, thanks for your support and a shoulder to cry on...

maybe one day the cage door will open and i will be set free.

xxrosey

my other blog

2010-09-01T11:59:00.000+10:00

just incase you didnt know i had one..here it tis itty bitty and pretty

broken

2010-08-24T12:18:00.002+10:00

this went 'snap'

this went 'pop'

they say it comes in 3's..whats next??

all systems go...

2010-08-17T09:40:00.003+10:00

hello my little friends, i can let you in on my little secret and if you click here you can even see what our new shop looks like (without all of our goodies inside of course).

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Renata and i will be spreading our pretties out in some rooms of Couts Cottage in Petrie Market Town with the one and only Linda of Lilly Cottage!!

granted the shop wont be as big as LILLY COTTAGE was but it will have the same feel and Renata and i will add our little touches and i expect we will grow as crafters as well. so expect more of the same and new products as well. having a space means that we don't have to think of the elements which at times determines what we make and take to the markets. this way Renata can display her jewelery and art work without the wind knocking over her displays!

it really is going to be a grand experience, Renata and i both made a commitment of a full year to this market stall when we began in May this year and now with this newest development we will be able to extend that commitment...of course there is no way this could be a reality without joining forces with Linda. she has the credibility, business sense and reputation that we lack but we will not let her down, this is going to work and look great at the same time!

now all we need is to fit out the shop with shelving and cupboards and have a 'staff' meeting to iron out all the workings of the shop...it really is exciting to say the least. it feels like i am inching closer to my dream job!

all i can think about is the shop and with that in mind i am going to be doing up an old cot to turn it into a day bed of sorts which will act as a cupboard on which we can display cushions and string some of my heart garlands. we also thrifted this shelf..

which i will paint and 'shabby up' to house some of the smaller trinkets and art works. it has hooks on the back so it can be hung or stand wherever we feel fit.

tools ready... i will post an after shot for sure.

so if you live locally and feel a visit is in order come to Old Petrie Town and visit Lilly Cottage and Friends, we will open the doors the last Sunday of this month the 29th of August.

i can tell mumma cat is really impressed :) pretty isnt she?

childs play

2010-08-11T11:52:00.003+10:00

my screen saver at the moment is the photo below.

i created a 'light box' of sorts to use outside when taking photos of my products and little miss Claudia just had to 'play' with some of my props. i just love her chubby little fingers and if only you could have heard her made up conversation with the little people. when my girls play together it is pure bliss to listen to and watch. of course 70% of the time they are bickering which i assume is NORMAL.

anyhow here is lilis first 'patient'...

poor old Sid needed emergency care as he fell off the bed and broke a few bones...

even his tail was injured. lili has a certain number of toys on her bed at all times and in a certain order. reminds me of when i was younger and i would surround myself with the toys to keep the monster under my bed from reaching me. 0_o

and then there is this wonderful show on the ABC that is called 'Mr Maker' which runs for about 20mins and this fabulous guy shows the viewers how to make great little pieces of art and craft. i have often thought that as a teacher it would make a valuable resource to view the program and then have the materials at hand then let the children create! if you get the chance watch it, 2:45pm on ABC2.

i tape the show for the girls as it is school pick up time and when they get a chance they watch it and create :) look at these wonderful 'box creatures' that they made all by themselves...

Claudia's skinny twin :)

ooohhh arrrgggg I'm going to eat you!

how gosh darn cute is that!

i have lots of memories from my childhood and now i am watching my girls make their own memories. SWEET!

i have some news to share but i will only share half of the news until it is official...my market buddy Renata and i will be renting a space out at petrie markets which means no more packing and unpacking, we wont have to worry about the weather and part of my dream is coming true....of course we wont be in this space alone but that surprise will have to wait! very exciting!!

happy Wednesday

xxrosey

tuesdays treasures ~one day late~

2010-08-04T09:58:00.005+10:00

playing along with Clare once again i have chosen to show some items that are dear to me. each of these items hold sentimental value to me and are quite old...

this ring belonged to my maternal grandmother Jane Morgan and i believe it was her eternity ring. each of my sisters received a ring from my grandmother Jane as well, which leads me to my next photo and a task that i need to attend to post haste.

these rose gold cuff links belonged to my grandfather Arthur Samuel Morgan (as you can see the initials are engraved) and my husband wore these on our wedding day. i am assuming they belong to my brother which would make sense that we received a ring and he received these links. they are still in my possession from our wedding day which is nearing 10 years now and i should really return them to my brother. the sad thing is that we had a falling out about 3 years ago and i am afraid that if i post them and he throws the letter away without reading it they might be lost forever...i will have to think of a way of getting them to him without such a catastrophe happening....

the last piece and most dearest piece of all is a locket the belonged to my mother Joyce Beverly Morgan (maiden name of course) given to her by Jane and Arthur who are pictured in the locket...when i look at it my heart fills with love, what a gorgeous gift for a young girl to receive. my eldest sister gifted it to me on my wedding day as my 'something old' and i wore it close to my heart. when i hold it i think of a man i never met...a woman who i got to love until god took her at the age of 94 and my mother who died far too young (39) but was obviously loved very much by her sister and adoring parents.

thank you for sharing in my treasures, be sure to head to Clare's craftroom and see all of the other treasures to be found.

xxxrosey

whats in your garden?

2010-07-27T15:43:00.002+10:00

we are convinced that we have fairies in our garden...we know for a fact that they use our hollow log as a school cause they told us in one of their many notes they have left on our window sill. while i was out taking some pictures for my online shop i snapped a few of my Mia getting the rock garden in order for our special visitors. i was being sneaky, she didn't know i was taking these photos... making a rocky path to the hotel door. ooops. she caught me! i cant imagine how luxurious this hotel must seem to visiting fairies! isnt she sweet, how could any fairy refuse a room at this house??

before i go, we had a quiet day at the markets on Sunday. it seemed to rain softly the whole day which wasn't great for sales but we both went home in profit so for that i am thankful. Renata's work is wonderful. if you haven't visited her blog please do you wont be disappointed.

here is a shot of some of my items for sale. the two mixed media fairy canvases were bought by two of the cutest little girls. one with brown hair and one with red hair!! and of course a little girl who was told by her mother to come back and buy it later was sad when she came back to find it was gone...guess i will be making a few more of those :)

anyhow. best go and watch my Mia dance, she has been begging me since i hopped on here.

xxrosey

cury or straight? that is the question...

2010-07-21T11:46:00.002+10:00

i recently bought myself a relatively cheap hair straightener ($68) after seeing the results of my nieces GHD...now i will admit that the cheap straightener is NOWHERE near as good as the real thing but look at the transformation of my little Mia.

from this to...

this!!

i might be a bit biased but i think she looks pretty...but i do prefer her curls :)

my attempt at a professional shot

i am now saving my pennies for the real deal.

xxrosey

p.s. my first day of relief teaching went really well, just like riding a bike.

perfect weather for christmas in july...

2010-07-17T22:03:00.003+10:00

the mornings have cooled down quite dramatically, just in time for our 'Christmas in July' themed market day tomorrow. i will be rugged up, thermos in hand, reindeer ears in place ready to meet and greet the lovely market goers. my sister will also be holding a stall with her sister in law, selling nappy cakes and other gorgeous goodies made out of babies clothes, bibs and cloth nappies. very clever indeed and i cant wait to see her stall up and running :)

i have a few Christmas items up for grabs, they can be used now for your Christmas in July parties or stash them away for the end of the year.

of course i will have all of my other goodies on the table and will also be offering a sale basket on some selected items.

it would be lovely to meet some Brisbane based bloggers...come by and say hello and take a peek at Renata's gorgeous quilled cards, they really are a work of art!

best be off to get some beauty sleep...not sure how i am going to get out of my warm bed in the morning...

ho ho ho merry Christmas

xxrosey

all good things must come to an end..THANK GOD

2010-07-13T22:40:00.005+10:00

school holidays are over and while i enjoyed them, i am so glad to be back into my routine...we seemed to have had a jammed packed holiday yet again, my head is still reeling! it seems so long ago i have forgotten exactly what we did :) the first week mick took a road trip with his brother paddy to visit his father and new wife in their new home in Hervey bay. that meant that i was left with the girls from early Tuesday till late Friday...it wasn't that different not having mick around cause he doesn't do a hell of a lot of house work but we did miss him. the middle Saturday was Claudia's 4th birthday which was a wonderful celebration, we rested up that night because the very next day was lilis special day!

lili was a zookeeper for the day at the famous Australia zoo. she had a blast and memories that will last forever. while lili had her 5 hours of fun we drove a little further up the hill to monteville where we spent a glorious day. i must admit i was a little worried that my 4 year old would destroy every shop in the street but she proved me wrong and was on her best behaviour EVER! we had a really really good time and i cant wait to go back.

it is a bit hard to see but that is lili, claudia and mia standing in front of a big sign with steve irwin jumping over their heads.

lili fed echidnas and

elephants. she really wanted to clean up their poo but didn't get to. strange child...

she got to watch the live show, in this photo which is on its side for some reason you can just make out terrie irwin bending down and bindi and bob off to the side. lili loved every second of her day, there were heaps more photos, too many to add here.

maybe one last one...every roll of film (in the old days) had to have...

a SELF PORTRAIT!! god bless her :)

after that day was over we prepared ourselves for the second week. we had wonderful visits from wonderful friends, we saw toy story 3 and tried not to cry. and we clean our house for visitors from the south...

micks younger brother, who is terminally ill with cancer, decided to have a birthday to remember, so people travelled from far and wide to help him celebrate. we made room in our home for his older brother and sister in law and their 3 gorgeous girls. in a house full of 10 people not a moment of silence and not one fight!! i loved having them here. they are easy going, the girls are well behaved and they are genuinely nice people. we had a lovely 3 days together and it was sad to see them go.

alex, michaela, claudia, mia, jessica and lili

saturday night saw 33 candles being blown out...

here is the ginormous cake!! very very tasty indeed.

paddy and his wife jordy put on a wonderful night. jukebox, daiquiri machine and a wonderful roast dinner. we had great time.

micks dad and his wife leona, with micks older brother clinton and his daughter jess.

mia having a cuddle with her aunty melissa, our sister in law.

i snatched a photo of paddys son henry. he is always on the go i can never get him to sit still long enough for a picture!

paddys wife, jordy, in the middle with her brother and sister who travelled from south australia to be here.

the song that is playing is ' my sharona' (hit single for the knack) you can tell by the pursed lips that it is the part where they sing oooooooooooooohhh my sharona!! jordys sisters name is sharona! (the lady holding the baby)

and finally before the night was over the cake was cut and paddy said a few words of thanks.

we had a great night and just pray to god that we will be celebrating with paddy this time next year.

didnt mean for it to be such a long post, sorry.

head over here to see some of the goodies that will be on offer at our christmas in july market day.

xxrosey

my youngest is getting older

2010-07-08T21:23:00.004+10:00

it is hard to believe that on the 3rd of July my little Claudia turned 4! she is the light and laughter of our home and loved to pieces by us all. i am so glad that i have taken this year off to be a stay at home mum, Claudia and i spend 3 whole days out of 7 together, alone, just us :) we exist so beautifully when we are at home, she sets up games while i do a chore then we play that game and the as she sets up the next game i do another chore...then she has a long colouring break cause that is her favourite way to pass the day...so my mister moo had a great idea for a present that she would actually use.

first present...a new pencil case with new felt pens.

present number 2...new colouring book. isn't she a cutie!!

present number 3...

her own little table! and boy does she love it! her sisters love it too :)

money well spent!

we had a wonderful day, 15 young friends at a hungry jacks party followed by cake and family at our place. she was so lucky and received lots of lovely presents. she has a purse full of money thanks to some special people that live a little way away and from one that lives close by. she was even gifted this wonderful 'make your won tiara' before her birthday by a very close friend of ours.

excuse the messy face @_@

we are so blessed to know so many people who are not blood related that love my girls!

a few things about my little girl...

her nicknames are. hammy, hamster, smooch, Gloria

she is so very very bright

each day she does something to make us laugh out loud

she wakes us up early and crawls into the middle of our bed for a cuddle

she no longer has a bottle or uses a pram, she is a big girl now!

her favourite colour is yellow

she loves to talk to strangers and pat dogs

she has 4 scars, 3 of them are on her face!!

she has a birthmark on her cheek in the shape of a Scottie dog

she is so very pretty, my heart melts each time i look at her

i love her so much when i hold her i want to melt her back into my body

children are such a blessing, i do hope that i don't make too many mistake raising my 3 gorgeous gals.

have a great weekend

xxrosey

tuesdays treasures

2010-06-30T15:10:00.003+10:00

hello all and welcome to my very first treasure Tuesday. it is the brain child of the gorgeous Clare of Clare's craftroom and if you click on her link you can visit many other bloggers showing off their treasures too. as you can imagine choosing just one treasure would be hard, so Clare is going to make this a weekly event so we can go through our whole life's history and show off what is most precious to us. my first treasure is very personal as you will see. i don't have a photo of it as i don't actually have it in my possession...one of my gorgeous sisters owns it. it is the travel diary which belonged to my mother who passed away before i turned 4. a few years ago now i borrowed the diary, typed it out and presented a copy to each of my siblings so that we each had an idea of how much love mum had not only for us but for her husband and the romance of countries she had always wanted to visit. i have printed the very first page which is not her writing but an introduction that i had written which explains why is is so precious to me... Travel Diary Property of J & B Jandrasec (Continued by the one with the M in front) My mother, Joyce Beverly Jandrasec, prior to her death in 1975, made the following entries about a family trip to Rome and Zagreb. I have typed the entries as they were straight from her personal diary. I’m sure you will agree my mother was very articulate and paints a perfect picture for the reader. These entries have made me giggle and have given me a little insight into her character. Along with the laughter I have cried. I know that my mother must have held me as a child, but of course I have no recollection. But when I read the following entry I cried, I realized that she was actually holding me!! –“What a picture, the little bald bell’boy’ and his wheelbarrow, followed by myself and Rosemary and in Indian file Melissa, Anita, Andrew and Boris with Narelle on his shoulders.” What an amazing feeling those words have given me. I love picturing what she has written; it gives me a memory even if it is manufactured. My most favourite is to picture Narelle, Anita and Melissa throwing snowballs at Mum and Dad on the mountain in Sljeme. Even though this is not her original handwriting, these are her original thoughts. I am comforted in the knowledge that I will forever have a little piece of my mother, and my children will have the same insight into her spirit as I do, and rest assured I will always keep that alive. there you have it...the thought of my mother holding me is my most precious treasure, even as i type that a tear slips down my cheek. i love reading her words and if it wasn't 19 pages long i would pop it on my blog for all of you to read. anyhow i guess my message is that treasures do not have to be tangible a mere thought of what was and what could have been are just as able to nourish your soul as a ring or a trinket... ok peeps, that's it from me smooches for a wonderful day/night xxrosey

fancy going to a mad tea party?

2010-06-26T11:05:00.006+10:00

if you have some time on your hands and you like an adventure...why not head to lilly cottage for a whimsical party that will have you wanting more! i was invited to take part in Linda's gorgeous and mad party and as usual the hostess with the mostest left us with a parting gift.

each of her lucky guests left with a pansy cupcake! this little gal has sprouted another pretty flower, in my favourite colour of course.

this party inspired me to have a tea party of our own to celebrate a birthday for a very special friend...the table was set with some pretty little friends.

tiny deer and bird salt shakers, not a matching set but they play so well together i just had to bring them out.

a nest of pretty birds seemed right at place on our table.. these beautiful creations cannot be eaten but they certainly make a statement for those enjoying a tea party or two. the gorgeous kylie cupcakes made these and will make some for you too :) we soon filled the rest of the stand with lemony cupcakes, mmm delish jellyfish! shouldn't that be drink me? i hear you say..well this pretty tag made by the lovely linda is actually right. this teapot is filled to the brim with individually wrapped dove chocolates %*_*% squeal!!!

and what party would be complete without a present? i made the tag myself and the present too. what a fun time we hadand these 5 guests had a ball!

do yourself a favour and head down the rabbit hole into a wonderland of tea parties hosted by the amazing vanessa of a fanciful twist.

xxrosey

happy unhappy day

2010-06-16T11:34:00.005+10:00

having a blue day?? well let this story teach you that with a little love and support even the bluest days can turn purple :)

there once was a hard working, dedicated and all round gorgeous guy who was feeling down about the monkeys that he had to teach day in day out. now these monkeys are no ordinary monkeys they are the teenage type..yep those who think they know everything and have a hard time listening to direction and have manners of a pig. sensing the blues were on their way a little angel whispered into my ear...

why don't you make today happy unhappy day and turn that frown upside down?!?

what a brilliant idea, we decided to make a scrummy pie...

and take our mr blue over to mr happy and cheer him up with some fine conversation and tasty pie.

mr happy did a wonderful job of making us laugh and we went away feeling much better than when we first arrived but that was not all that we had in store...

our sweet neighbour from across the road invited us over for a traditional curry, so armed with wine and sweet treats we made the short trek across the street and had a wonderful night full of conversation and laughter..

these two faces could make anyone happy!

then to top off our happy unhappy day we presented mr blue with the second passion fruit from our vine

and guess what?

yes you guessed it he found his smile.

our happy unhappy day lasted all weekend and mr blue said that the following week was so much better and that he is not feeling stressed at all.

the angel was right, love and support is all that you need to get you through the darkest days.

xxx

come follow my other blog

2010-06-03T11:50:00.000+10:00

come here to see my latest makes http://icantsewcreations.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-pieces-of-whimsy.html xxrosey

move over autumn...

2010-05-31T20:12:00.004+10:00

am i the only one who thinks that this year is flying by? i really and honestly cant believe that we are looking down the barrel of our 6th month of 2010. and i have said it before, i am far busier now that i am a stay at home mum than i was when i was working! what is with that??? if i could click my fingers and be in my dream job, then my life would be close to perfect but for now i must keep plodding along and keep our family afloat with love.

the weather is becoming cool with the past couple of days warranting a jumper all day...it is still pleasant enough in the sun and on the odd occasion we like to get out and about on the shores of sandgate or shorncliffe.

yep, they are mine, all mine... #_#

staying at home allows me to be up at the school with the girls so much more and once again i was able to catch Mia at her assembly. i didn't take the camera with me but i took the video instead as mister wanted to see her perform. she had a good speaking bit and looked oh so cute in her farm girl outfit.

we have also been looking after my neighbours son before and after school while she completes her final year of teaching prac. and i am secretly falling in love with him...he is definitely a boy, so different to my girls but a delightful little fella. i feel my heart swell with pride as i watch him get a reward from his teacher and i place a light kiss on top of his head as i send him on his way to class. and i love the way he catches my eye in the afternoon and smiles with the comfort that i am there to pick him up. he told his mummy the other day that he loved coming to our place cause it was a 'nice home'...no better compliment than that. we only have one more day with him as her prac finishes tomorrow but there will be more to come later in the year :)

and i am starting winter off on the wrong foot..i have a cold!! my nose is dripping like a tap and i am not exaggerating...i am sure you have all experienced that sort of runny nose. my nose is red raw and i feel rather pathetic. nothing a day without children wont cure :) if only i was the type who could sleep during the day.

well i am off to have my cuppa and watch my weekly dose of silly desperate housewives.

stay warm

xxrosey

stitching of a different kind...

2010-05-26T10:00:00.002+10:00

WARNING DISTURBING PHOTO AHEAD!

another busy week has passed, i feel even busier since i stopped work but am loving the freedom of being at home. one of the main reasons i decided to put a hold on my teaching career was the guilt you feel if you have to take a sick day or sending your children to school when you know that they need a day at home. being a stay at home mum means that the pressure is of mister moo, he hardly has to do anything anymore which means that he is less grumpy and can enjoy his afternoons and weekends more. the weekend gone by was wonderful, i managed to get rid of quite a lot of kids toys and clothing at a car boot sale the my sister organised in her church grounds and then Sunday was spent at the markets selling my itty bitty and pretty products along side my market buddy Renata. it was a wonderful day with lots of marching bands, vintage car displays and other fun things to attract the crowds. i forgot my camera but Renata will post about it on her blog if you are interested to see what the day looked like.

anyhow the weekend was wonderful but ended with a bang, or should i say bump... my gorgeous little Claudia tripped up on her own feet and fell head first onto the arch way to our lounge room and cut a wound on her forehead right down to the BONE!!!! basically 20kgs fell without a break onto a metal edge (metal brace under the plaster), we knew it was a trip to the hospital as soon as she hit.

she was so brave, hardly any tears, lots of blood but we reduced the swelling by keeping ice on her gash for the half hour drive into the hospital. as soon as we reached emergency they put cream on her arms to numb the spot where the needle would go to put her under. then we had to wait...2 hours later a doctor took us to another room to inspect the wound...my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when the bandage came off, the gash had opened up so much in those 2 hours and we could actually see her SKULL!!! it might not seem that big but when you can see bone you start to freak...

Claudia didn't cry one bit as the doctor inspected it. he decided he could fix it with steristrips instead of stitching. he was not 100% sure so he decided to get the opinion of the doctor in charge. 1 hour later the doctor came back and told us that the chief doctor was too busy to come for an opinion and so he was going ahead with the steristrips. i told him i thought it needed stitches but he assured me that steristrips are the preferred measure and he proceeded to do a very bad job of 'stitching' up my baby. first he cleaned the wound then he began to put the strips on..i recommended that he shave her hair line (as they had done for her other head injury) but he said there was no need... you guessed it, the strip wouldn't stick to the hair and he had to PULL IT OFF my poor child's head and proceed to cut away the hair, once again i said he could shave if he wished but he went ahead with cutting, snipping fine hairs INTO her wound! by this stage i was getting angry and wishing that i was the one performing the procedure. so then i suggested he clean the wound again of any fine hairs and he popped the 3 strips on then realised that he had to take the backing off but of course they are overlapped by each other so he had to pry each cover off basically pulling at the wound and making my little one whimper as the pulling hurt. i had to look away as his incompetence was really getting to me.

anyhow we finally got out of there 4 hours after we arrived with me feeling like the wrong procedure had taken place.

i have a photo below of the wound so don't look if you are squeamish.

feeling rather worried about his technique i took Claudia to our GP yesterday (2 days after the event because she wasn't there on Monday) and showed her that photo..she was of the impression that it need stitches and then was annoyed at how he used the strips. anyhow we both came to the conclusion that her scar will be on the hair line and that there are products available that reduce the look of scars. so my little love now has a scar on both sides of her forehead, one above her top lip and one under her arm. my dad says she can boast later in life and say the scars are from when her horns were removed!

sorry for such a long post but i treat my blog as an online diary and it will be good for us to look back on this in years to come...

i am sure there are many of you with children just like Claudia, she is one brave, tough little character with the most gumption out of all my girls. i just love her to pieces, i love her more and more each day, some days i think my heart will burst from so much love. i am actually crying as i write these words because lately i have been feeling so blessed to have what i have and i get sad to think that there are people in my life who may never experience this feeling. i just have to trust that God has a plan for us all.

now if i had still been teaching, this sort of thing would have sent me into a depression as i would have had to have days off. as it was, i kept the two older ones home on Monday as we didn't get home from the hospital till after 11pm. they slept in till 10am! unheard of :) and then i kept my little Claudia home yesterday and took her to the doctor for a second opinion...no guilt what so ever.

ok enough from me, i am having a day to myself...with a bit of house work thrown in...

xxxrosey

~ wordless wednesday ~

2010-05-19T21:22:00.003+10:00

tic tac toe to go...available in my shops now.

here's a story of a lovely lady...

2010-05-12T13:00:00.004+10:00

no I'm not talking about...

I'm talking about a real life celebrity, well a celebrity in the eyes of my three girls! Linda of the famous Lilly Cottage (found online and various markets in and around Brisbane)

here she is in her 'mobile' Lilly Cottage and looking as gorgeous as ever. i was lucky enough to meet Linda a few years ago and our friendship has grown ever since. she has always been SUPER generous to me but mostly to my three kidlets. i swear that each time we visited her shop (now closed) my girls would be showered with extra pretties just for being cute! mothers day became even more special when we visited the markets to find Linda back in her old stomping grounds.

i secretly knew that Linda would be at the markets but didn't tell the girls so as to surprise them.

you should have heard their squeals of delight when they spotted Linda's stall! and why wouldn't you shout..look at all these pretties. each of the girls had their purses with different amounts of money inside...both lili and mia were able to buy something.... this was mias hearts desire but it was a little bit out of her price range. isn't it just the sweetest thing you have ever seen?!?

Claudia's purse was a little on the empty side but of course the generous Linda gifted her with a hand made heart which now lives in our car...i love that it is in the car and we all get to see it every day. we each went away happy, lili bought a nest pin cushion, mia bought a collectible ceramic owl and i bought myself a denim and lace wristcuff...very pretty indeed.

not only has Linda been generous to my family but also supportive of my crafting venture, encouraging me all the way and even dragging herself along to my very first stall to buy something from me. on that special day she also gifted my lili with this...

yes..a personalised pillow made from gorgeous scraps of fabric and hand stitched with significant embroidery.

it was a belated birthday gift...so unexpected and so wonderfully appreciated. lili simply loves Linda she actually aspires to be Linda. this meant a whole lot to my little lilcant you feel the love oozing out of this pillow!! i don't know how i can ever repay Linda for her generosity, kindness and friendship not that she would expect anything cause that's the kinda gal she is. my prayers are always with her for good health, wealth and happiness and the strength to keep making her pretties which brighten so many other peoples hearts.

do yourself a favour and visit her blog and keep her in mind when shopping for that someone special in your life.

xxrosey

i'm hooked

2010-05-05T11:35:00.002+10:00

i have finally found a moment to sit down and share my thoughts on my first market stall experience. i have no measure to go against but i feel that it all went better than i expected. petrie markets is such a laid back place to have a stall so that certainly put me in the right frame of mind right from the moment i pulled into the driveway. we were shown to a lovely spot right in between two gorgeous trees giving us full shade for most of the day. Renata was the perfect other half to my hand made goodies and her quilled cards certainly were a draw card. i was so pleased that she too went away having done better than expected and keen to be a regular partner in crime. i did well, but of course would hope to equal or do better next time and this experience gave me an insight into how to improve my sales. one lovely lady who runs the scrap booking shop reminded me that even if people didn't buy today they would be able to keep a memory of what i have for sale and buy it at a later date if i became a regular. i thought that was good advise and a great way of thinking. here are a few murky shots to share with you.

this is early in the morning and i am told by the lovely linda that our stall was by far the prettiest!!

we both had a sale at the same time which made us so happy we had to have a cuddle :) that is my gorgeous niece Renata who now has her online shop up and running, head over and have a look at her blog you wont be disappointed.

and here is my father who came for a visit with my eldest sister (reantas mum), he is a great supporter of all that i do (and all of his children for that matter) and bought an item from both me and Renata to help boost our sales. thanks dad, you're the best!!

i would like to thank my good friend Jo for visiting and spending up big and introducing me to some of the gorgeous children she so lovingly cares for in her role as a foster mum. and of course the lovely Linda for supporting me even though she was on deaths door. not only did she buy some of my hand made lovelies but she gifted my lili with THE most GORGEOUS hand made pillow you have ever seen. i am saving that for my next post :)

well thanks for stopping by and checking in on me. overall the market was so good that i am keen to get out again. we have a definite date of the 23rd of this month but i sure do wish it was sooner :)

have a great hump day..whats left of it!

xxxrosey

p.s. i have made something totally new, and am working on something i started ages ago...will share some sneaky peeks later...

please dont let it rain

2010-05-01T18:44:00.005+10:00

tomorrow the 2nd of May marks the very first date of my very first market stall! i will be joining forces with my niece Renata,who is a talented young artist, at the petire markets, dayboro road petrie. our wonderful hand made wares will be on sale from 8-2pm. the prices of my handmade pretties ranges from $1.50 up to $32. there is something for everyone even the boys! what is for sale i hear you ask?...

fabric bunting
hand made gift cards and greeting cards
pretty pastel diva peg dolls
toy soldier peg dolls
chicks on sticks
heart garlands
lavender hearts
lavender birds
pastel chalkboards (recycled timber crafted by my mister and painted by me)
vintage avon perfume bottles
and a few other items scattered around.

so if you're looking for something to do, come and support local Aussie crafters and buy something hand made for mum this mother's day.

i will leave you with a few pictures of what is on offer.

heart garlands which can be strung anywhere to brighten any room

lavender hearts and birds to freshen your cupboards

not sure how to make it look more appealing but i guess i will have time on the morning to work on that.

these fellas are just a bit of fun...

hand made cards some with lovely sentiments inside others are blank .

now i havent left you much time to comment...if you have any tips or suggestions about spending the day at a market please leave me a message and i will try to read this in the morning.

wish me luck

xxrosey

growing pains

2010-04-19T11:38:00.003+10:00

guess who is having the growing pains? ME!! yes i am having the pangs that every mother must have as they slowly realise their child is growing up....

our lili turned 8 in January and is maturing in a text book fashion. mister and i once watched a documentary in which it informed the viewers of the subtle changes that occur around the ages of 8 and 9. some of these changes included, modesty, keeping secrets and a truer understanding of cause and affect. now we knew something was changing when she asked to move into her own room the previous December and requested that she be allowed to shower without the other two knuckleheads. then the request for her ears to be pierced for her birthday really came as a shock, made me think she was really growing up.

acting in her school sacred time

i have noticed that she opts not to go onto those indoor playgrounds anymore and seems to hang around me if we are visiting with friends that have children younger than her. and in the last couple of weeks she has fixed her hair for school and gone back for a second look...almost like she cares about how she looks. that has never happened before, she is always tidy but never really interested in how she appears...we have had simple chats about the boys in her class and how we think some of the boys are quite handsome. we have been particular about which shows we watch but it seems harder and harder to avoid the word sex or passionate kissing even on commercials.

oh well i guess it was going to happen sooner or later. we are lucky she is sensible and innocent she will be the trail blazer for the other 2...GOD HELP ME!!!

she received an award at her school Assembly today for being a great actor in a class presentation.

glad that i am a stay at home mum..i get to see all of these wonderful moments!

i guess i should start reading some material on how to explain the birds and the bees to one of such an age...very simple birds and bees mind you!!

anyhow on a different note...i am working for shona at funky fabrix each Wednesday and some Saturdays and holidays. it is such a welcomed change from teaching! shona is very very nice and i think that this job is exactly what i needed to feel refreshed again. i am also volunteering some of my time to help out in the classrooms at school, in a parental role just like any other stay at home mother. that feels FANTASTIC.

best be off and feed the littlest bonser, she is home on Mondays now and it is OUR day together.

xxrosey

~ wordless wednesday ~

2010-04-14T21:21:00.005+10:00

EASTER MORNING 2010

Easter 2010 ~ part 3 ~

2010-04-12T10:41:00.006+10:00

once the hunt was over the children ran back to sort out their bounty.

Linda had placed either a little solid chocolate or a fluffy chick inside each egg. the children were allowed to keep whatever was inside the egg and if they returned 5 coloured plastic eggs they received a large chocolate egg.

after the egg hunt we feasted on lots of goodies.

there were sausages, cupcakes, savoury slice and drinks galore. so much fun and so much to eat.

after the feast the children frolicked in the water until the nasty mummies and daddies said it was time to go home..of course you can imagine the drive home...ZZZZZZZ

that's the last installment of Easter Saturday...i might be back with a very brief wrap up of Easter Sunday...

it seems so long ago, the children are back to school tomorrow and it couldn't come soon enough. they are at each others throats and i am sick of 3 SHADOWS! the house is a constant mess that i seem to be constantly grumbling about. although i love the slower pace that comes with holidays i do thrive on routine @_@

anyhow happy Monday, do hope your week is super sweet.

%*_*% rosey

Easter 2010 ~ part 2 ~

2010-04-07T22:21:00.006+10:00

so after the kite flying the daddies took the kiddies on a walk along the water while the mummies played bunnies and hid some very colourful eggs...of course i have to mention that the lovely linda organised ALL of this! she had the 'wooded' area adorned with hand made decorations and paper flowers plus 68 colourful eggs to hide. that is as well as all of the play equipment and kite making necessities. all we had to do was turn up!!

anyhoo, mister moo took the camera with him and snatched a few good pictures of the kids and the island too.

Claudia simply LOVES the beach! so does little miss Mia moo.

wowzer, we have never seen a hermit crab THAT big before! the next two photos crack me up...

quick run for your lives...

is that hermit crab chasing us??

I SEE THE BRIDGE! (did you beat me linda?) click on the pictures to get a better view of the bridge that takes you to lindas house.

after the walk was over Linda gathered the kidlets together, gave them their instructions and let them go!

wise adults stood still! @_@

it was every man for themselves, what fun an egg hunt is. every child should have at least 2 each Easter :)

we hid some low and some up high, the kids enjoyed filling up their kites. little miss lili looking very pleased with herself. look at the excitement! she has discovered that there is a chocolate egg inside!

the smiles on the children's faces and the sharing of eggs so that no one missed out makes my heart soar. and to be honest all 10 children were so well mannered, behaved and friendly which made for a very pleasant day.

all done! then it was back to the picnic spot for the next step in the egg hunt...but i wll leave that for part 3 of easter 2010.

do yourself a favour and pop on over to lindas blog, she is the reason i started this blog and why i decided to find my crafty side. i encourage you to follow her blog, you wont be disappointed.

easter 2010 ~ part 1 ~

2010-04-05T14:44:00.005+10:00

the festivities of Easter this year have been so full on that i am going to have to post about them in parts so as not to bore anyone with endless photos of egg hunts and baskets over flowing.

even before the Easter break began each of the girls had eggs in their baskets...teachers generously allowing the Easter bunny to find his way into the classroom ~_~ Easter Friday was spent in bed until about 8am, even though the fog horn was up much earlier than that. we had a lovely day, each of us doing our own thing. mister managed to finish off 'project day bed' and i cooked up a cupcake feast while the girls played the day away.

the next day we headed off to

not sure why this happens..turn your head or the screen whichever is easier :)

i really wasn't expecting such a glorious spot to spend my Easter Saturday. it is a place that we are sure to revisit very very soon. today i will let you in on the first part of the morning...kite making and flying!

i didn't manage to get any photos of the actual process of making kites because the wind was threatening to blow EVERYTHING away and my hands were needed to hold things down. but Linda made sure that everything was pre cut and ready to go (she is a kindy mum from way back)

love these photos, especially these two.

Linda's youngest and my eldest get on very well together, so much so it is hard to tell them apart at times...

this little hamster loved every minute of the day and kept us all laughing with her good humor and cheeky smile.

i love the way the background is blurry but Alanah is in focus. she had a great time racing around and got along very well with Mia.

and of course Linda had other things to do while you were waiting to make a kite... you could through bean bags into hula hoops or use them for what they were intended...

there were some boys there too but they were too quick for me to get a picture!!

so much fun i tell ya!

anyhoo that is enough for this post, back with my next installment of what came after kite making.

xxrosey

not that sort of tea party...

2010-04-02T15:11:00.010+10:00

no mad hatters tea party here sorry... just a party for my little girl who turned 6 last month and 6 of her sweet little friends. but before the day of the party...

it seems to be quickly becoming tradition that we cut cake at my fathers house followed by an afternoon of good laughs, coffee and treats. it is an open invitation to all those that can make it and no matter if it is just us or all of the family we seem to mark the occasion with much love and new memories.

we also follow tradition with a dinner of the birthday girl/boys choice.

Mia chose 'hogs breath cafe' for our meal and we happily headed out the night before her party. we have been to this restaurant 3 times so far this year!! we don't eat out much so i guess it is a bit of an extravagance we can afford :)

here are the girls excited to be all dressed up and ready to go. mick and the girls on one side and Claudia and i on the other. we love this family restaurant, colouring pages for the children, drink, meal and sweets all for just $8.95!

the following morning as early as everyone can bear we open presents on our bed. we buy three presents. one from each sibling and one from us.

here she is with her new favourite toys! littlest pet shop seems to be all the rage around here, they are so cute i can understand why they like them so much.

once all the presents were unwrapped it was time to get the party started...well set up in our case. we put out the little tea cups made by the girls the previous night...

i made fresh fairy bread and iced the cupcakes. mick cut up fruit and made cordial for the tea pots.

and then the little guests arrived. the girls had so much fun. nothing fancy at this party, just good old fashioned fun. while they played on the sings and in the cubby house

here she is with her "bestest buddy" jorja

or jumped on the trampoline

we prepared for some party games...we had pass the tea pot...

wrapped lollies inside the pot made for lots of fun and no messy newspaper to clean up :)

we also played balancing the book on your head and seeing who would walk down the path the furtherest...so much fun and lots of giggles. and we also played pin the cherry on the cupcake...

excuse my crude cupcake...i made it at about 11:30 the night before!

the girls had so much fun, we had hot finger food and still hadn't cut the cake when parents started to arrive to take their children home!

anyhow no birthday is complete without a cake...and our favourite and most requested cake is the raspberry swirl (packet mix of course). i coloured the icing pink and decorated it with flowers made out of marshmallows.

(love that cake plate i got on sale at spotlight for $20!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet curly haired angel! it is hard to believe you are 6! you make us so happy and i love our special cuddles. you are constantly curling up on my lap expecting to be tickled :) you are smart, above average so i am told...you love to ride your bike and you love to play with your sisters.

we love you more than you will ever know and so do all those around you. big smooches your number 1 fan mummy

and if you are still here after that super long post, have a happy Easter and a safe break.

xxrosey

it's all about me

2010-03-24T14:02:00.004+10:00

i am slowly getting used to the routine of being a stay at home mum and i am even feeling less guilty as well. i have dropped Claudia down to 2 days at kindy and know that in time i will have to work at least one day to help us stay afloat. all of this happiness tends to make for a happier household and when i am treated to nice things i am even happier... last month one of my dearest friends took me to the movies for my birthday and presented me with this sweet necklace.

great movie, great conversation and great half scotch and ginger ale made us both very happy indeed.

then i had another surprise when my super sweet teaching partner (well technically not anymore) took me out to high tea! that girl really 'gets' me if you know what i mean. she also gifted me a sweet necklace..

told you she gets me!

once again fabulous company, heartfelt conversations, laughs and great to catch up on all of the 'gossip' now that i am out of the loop. the best part of that lunch was Michelle's enthusiasm about her year of relief teaching. after listening to how much fun she had walking in and out of those rooms and not feeling that huge responsibility made me even HAPPIER with my decision.

then when i think my week cannot get any better...this arrives!!

can you believe i won this wonderful wall hanging in a giveaway!?! the lovely Linda has a blog called i see the bridge (some of you would know her from Lilly cottage) and i was the lucky winner. it really is so pretty, i wish you could see it in person.

this will be the centre of our Easter display which i hope to put up soon. aren't i just the luckiest gal in all the world.

i guess i have every reason to be happy. 3 gorgeous gals to love a mister that makes me happy (90% of the time, the other 10% he spends annoying me!)and wonderful family and friends who make me feel worthwhile.

i will be back with a post of Mia's 6th birthday tea party.

9 sleeps till Easter holidays, yippee!

xxrosey

A is for Asthma...

2010-03-15T14:17:00.003+10:00

i guess from the title of this post you know that my motherly 'fear'o'meter' was put to the test this past week... my middle child Mia was formerly diagnosed with asthma before her 2nd birthday when she was hospitalised with an acute attack brought on by a chemical nit treatment. ever since then we have been keeping her out of the hospital (although we have had some short stays at the emergency room have over the past 4 years) by being vigilant with her action plan which involves daily preventer, Ventolin when needed and steroids as a last resort. we have done quite well because i am an asthmatic myself and i know what to look for and how to manage her signs. there are the odd times when no matter what i do we have to resort to the last step of the action plan and go to the hospital if she isn't lasting more than 2 hours on the Ventolin.

on Tuesday night at 11:30 pm Mia and i headed into the hospital only to be sent home at 4:30am and told to keep giving her Ventolin when needed. i wish i had insisted on staying because by a few hours later my heart was in my mouth as i watched my girl struggling for air even though she was on the nebuliser...crying and scratching at her throat saying she couldn't breathe. we raced to the local doctor who checked her oxygen levels which were below 90% and were told to go straight back to the hospital. a few hours later they were prepping her to go into ICU!

luckily the oxygen, Ventolin and steroids kicked in and she was admitted to the ward rather than ICU. a chest xray ruled out pneumonia and a snot test came back with no traces of anything tested for. at this stage they suspect she has picked up a virus and unfortunately as an asthmatic she has no chance of fighting it.

it is amazing how much Ventolin a small body can take on average she would have received 6puffs every hour for 2 days then 6 puffs every 2 hours for the next day. once she was able to go for more than 3 hours without needing Ventolin we were able to go home.

while we were in the emergency room we were lucky enough to have these special doctors visit...

Dr kerfuffle and

Dr redee came and entertained Mia. they were very funny and an absolute blessing at such a scary time.

this sort of scare makes you count your blessings...we only had 2 nights of stress and no sleep, others around us had been there for a couple of weeks without knowing what was wrong. the nurses and doctors could not have been faulted (except the first two that sent me home) and they made my Mia feel special and safe. i am glad that it is all over for this time and hope that it is another 2 years before the next stay (we had a short stay in 08).

you really don't understand the depth of your love for your child until their life is threatened, it could have been worse but even that moment when she was struggling for breath made me chill down to my bones.

off to catch up on some 'me time' while i can.

xxrosey

more gifts...

2010-03-06T13:16:00.003+10:00

i love the postman, even when he pops bills in the box i don't mind...i know he is just the middle man and i don't hold a grudge against him. i L.O.V.E. it when the lovely post office van stops outside my house and the lovely postal lady walks down my driveway and taps on my door and calls out in her lovely voice, 'DELIVERY'... it is even better when I'm not expecting anything!!

my gorgeous friend Kylie (affectionately known as leichty) who i have known since 1987, sent me a very thoughtful gift to share with my girls.

this might seem like an ordinary cream to you, but to me it is like stepping back in time. we used to lather ourselves in this gorgeous apricot body dew when we were teens and to be perfectly honest the nutri-rich oil has healing powers!! it seems to speed up the healing of abrasions and cuts, very special indeed, and now i have not one but two tubs of it!! perfect for the injury mick sustained a few weeks ago.

and the heart felt note made me smile. old friends never leave your life even if you don't see them for years...

thanks leichty, it means a lot to know that we have your support and that you are thinking of us.

i have wonderful girlfriends, i know that they must think of me cause i think of them all the time.

enjoy the rest of your weekend

%*_*% rosey

the family room

2010-03-01T13:22:00.005+10:00

I realised just the other day that i have not blogged about the room my gorgeous mister moo built for us. middle of last year it looked like this..

two roller doors and an open wall

it has been finished since before Christmas and has been furnished for about a month. mick did a wonderful job, it is at least 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and it has a really nice feel to it.

we decided to keep the walls neutral and stick to browns creams and pale blues as our decor. we chose 'whisper white for the walls and a crisp white for the trims.

we simply love this ivory leather lounge/chaise. mick conditioned it before the children went anywhere near it :) we have the cleaner handy as well. the brown pod chair is the most comfortable seat to sit in. it swivels around and my favourite pastime is sitting in it with my feet up on the lounge reading :) mick also built a window/storage box on wheels to add a bit more storage and extra seating. i am yet to get cushions for the top... we also bought two 'wing chairs' in chocolate brown and white leather as a special spot for us to sit and have our morning cuppa. just imagine mick and i sitting in those seats and the girls clambering on his window seat chattering away to us...oh the serenity...NOT it has become our favourite place to sit and watch the comings and goings of our street. the bird in a cage on the wall is my only piece of 'art' so far. the colour scheme actually comes from it as it has lovely blues and teals in the picture itself. i do intend on adding some more art when the budget allows. i actually want to put in a floor lamp beside my white wing chair and add some curtains...but i will have to wait a little while for that. (the bird cage hanging came from lilly cottage which is now closed, however her etsy shop is slowly filling up with stock and is worth the while stopping by Linda's blog to see what is on offer) the door is lovely but not exactly what i wanted. i am going to have to find some frosted contact treatment as you can see right into the room. but as i don't have curtains yet it isn't a huge priority.

here's a better look at those chairs. the little step ladder is a perfect height for our cuppa and came from a garage sale...recognise that anyone ??? this is a bit of a mess as we are till adding to the room.. but mick turned this storage cupboard into a spot for the TV and even created some doors to make more storage up the top. i just love our WHITE TV! we are using the old milk tin as an umbrella stand and the hooks were bought from Lilly cottage as well (i think) i do love our bag rack, much better and less understated than the monstrosity we had before it!

mister is working on a very rustic book case which i simply cant wait to decorate with gorgeous trinkets and books of course..and we are in the midst of a secret squirrel project which i think you will all fall in love with and will hopefully finish off the room just perfectly.

we have decided to call it THE FAMILY ROOM :)

anyhow off to do some creating as the house is peaceful at the moment.

xxrosey

p.s. thanks for your prayers and support. we attended a fundraiser put on by Paddy's work mates. it was inspirational to see people come together for the love of friends and life! all proceeds from yesterdays gathering will be given to paddy and jordy to help them fight this cancer.

she CRACKS me up

2010-02-27T22:45:00.004+10:00

well week 5 of the school term is now over which means another 5 to go before the Easter break. it is about now that illnesses start and tiredness sets in which is why i decided to keep the girls home from school on Thursday. Lili seems to have come down with a mild chest infection and Mia is just so damn tired and cranky that a day off was certainly in order. God seem to agree and made it rain all day, just a nice drizzly day good for staying in doors close to your comfy bed...

now Thursdays are typically quiet days for me and the diva, we walk the girls to school and then home to do some jobs and enjoy a relaxing day after 3 days of kindy...she usually has a nice little rest on her bed and some days if i am lucky a sleep. well this was the reality on Thursday....

little miss sick fast asleep in her bed

little miss overtired fast asleep in my bed

and old bugalugs WIDE awake after 2 hours of rest time on her bed! look at that smile..butter wouldn't melt...

Claudia really does keep us on our toes but she also seems to be our families source of entertainment. she came out of the lounge room after bath time looking like this...

and yes that stocking tail is held in by her...

BUM CHEEKS!!! this little monkey CRACKS us up

i had to look twice when she came towards me. she actually had the eye mask down and was roaring at me. i had to quickly grab the camera before the moment was lost. we have a feeling that one day she will win us lots of money of funniest home videos , if only we had the video camera out!!

anyhow back to show you some of my buys at the doll and bear show.

xxrosey

special soul

2010-02-23T21:04:00.004+10:00

i began this blog a while ago now with the intention of having an online journal that i could look back over (and i do) to remind myself of how much my girls and life have changed. i have kept diaries for each of my girls as they grew in my womb and the months after. as you an well imagine lili has a staggering 3 diaries which sadly dies off to 1 for poor old Claudia (actually i don't even think she made 1)

i guess as technology changes so do we and i see this as better than those diaries in that it is more about our family as a whole rather than 1 particular child and their journey.

what i didn't expect when i started this blog was to make a true connection with other bloggers...i seem to have found a reliable 10 or so ladies that comment on a regular basis and in some ways i rely on them to make me feel good. it is like the old days of pen pals except on a grander scale :)

one such lady is Kylie 'cupcakes' who has a great down to earth blog called a bite of country cupcakes . if you aren't a follower you should do yourself a favour and become one. not only does she make the most amazing faux cupcakes and other sweet treats, she is a kind and generous soul. i have no doubt that if we lived closer our children would have many play dates while we chatted over cups of coffee. after our recent news about paddy and my decision to take a step back from teaching, Kylie sent me a lovely care package. very kind and generous indeed.

something for each of the girls, some you can eat and others you cant :)

a cuppie for me with a tag that says 'follow your heart' how thoughtful! and the violet, which holds such sentimental feelings for me, was painted by her mother. that is one talented family (you should see her sisters home!)

here's a closer look..it even smells good enough to eat!

but the words meant the most to me.... this is not the first time i have received a parcel from Kylie, i told you she was kind.

Kylie has recently gone through a rough patch herself. her mother in law had a fall and had to have surgery, after a long ordeal she is recovering but still needs our prayers for her strength. thanks again Kylie you are a doll!

another reason to smile was this

that's my Mia, grade 1, receiving her first award for the year on assembly in front of the whole school!

here she is with the other students.

the award is for neatness and handwriting skills! makes a mothers chest swell with pride.

here she is with lili. now if i had been working i would have missed this proud moment. yay for being a stay at home mum.

on that subject...it is funny how guilty i feel about staying at home. i know that when the money runs out and things get tight i will have to either do relief days or find some other job but at the moment it just doesnt feel right staying at home while the kids are at school. us women put too much pressure on ourselves to 'do it all'. i am seeing someone about my anxiety and it feels nice to have someone acknowledge my feelings and try to help me get through this tough time.

i almost feel like this blog and the comments i get are all the therapy i need!

ok enough from me. enjoy your week and thanks for your continued prayers for paddy. he is trying many different alternative potions and is having chemo, his spirits seem better this week and i believe our prayers are giving him strength.

%*_*% rosey

all words...

2010-02-13T21:29:00.003+10:00

christy over here at sweet tidings led me to this conversation heart maker. go ahead make your own and make your special valentine happy. big sloppy smooches to all of you taken or single peeps who make me oh so happy xx %*_*% rosey

love is all around

2010-02-11T13:35:00.006+10:00

there is no mistaking that valentines day is just around the corner, everywhere i look i can see the signs...

need to make some more of this gorgeous guy

my first ever sewing project

sweet faux chocolates by the amazing Kylie cupcakes almost a heart shaped leaf ;)

and saving the best till last...Mia opened a packet of cheese and dip and look at what she found.... can you see that little heart?? special or what!?!

3 MORE SLEEPS...xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

very belated birthday (lots of photos)

2010-02-09T21:43:00.005+10:00

i cant believe that over a week ago my eldest child turned 8 and i am only now just posting about it...slap my wrists, i feel like a very bad mother. i guess that it is only fair to remind myself that on the 29th of January, which is lilis birthday, we found out about the return of Paddy's cancer and the weekend and week that followed have been rather emotional to say the least. in the week following the news of Paddy's illness, i decided to start the process of resigning from my teaching position. i am finding the stress of teaching and being a mother to 3 young children just too much and i don't want my marriage to suffer. teaching is just such an emotionally draining job and is NOT a 8:30-3:00 job. and even though i am part time it is still like doing a full load. i will have to work again at some stage but for now i am happy to do something that requires no accountability!

now onto the post about my lili turning 8...can you believe it??

it feels like only yesterday when she was born only to be whisked away to special care unit for 2 nights of antibiotics and observation. i had told the nurses the choices of names we were tossing up and they brought back a photo of her with the words lily or lucy? at that moment mick walked in with a big bunch of lillies and the name was decided. so on her birthday (and i think from now on) i presented her with...

her very own bunch of lillies

as is tradition we all gather on our bed to open the presents, each family member presenting her with something.

opening her first present...a game for the Wii

a thrifted collection of miniatures to add to her growing collection

miniature German candle holders...very sweet and oh so collectible.

gorgeous Tasmanian pottery thrifted for $1

a lovely drawing created by little miss Mia moo.

lili's main present was to have her ears pierced. she chose pretty purple studs and she looks so very very sweet with them in.

another tradition in our house, as i am sure it is in many households, is that the birthday girl/boy gets to choose dinner for the night...no MacDonald's for this 8 year old oh no lili chose hogs breath cafe! mick and i didn't mind too much as it really is value for money and we quite like the meals (only our second time but it is worth going again). the girls ate all of their food and mick and i enjoyed a succulent steak.

mister moo and his girls on one side...

you can just see the earrings in this picture

enjoying the famous 'curly fries'

and clauds and me on the other side, enjoying a spot of colouring while waiting for dessert.

a very generous serve of ice cream...

we decided to share cake the next day with those who could make it...

i made a mud cake and just happened to have some fishy edibles in the cupboard so it became a muddy dam instead of the ocean :)

here she is with her cousins Kate and Emma

and the back view of my father and my brother in law Michael (father of the 3 girls in this picture)

i love birthdays and will always do everything in my power to make them special no matter what.

here are a few things to remind me of lili at 8 years of age...

*in her own room

*ears pierced

*friendly and kind hearted

*neat and tidy

*funny

*likes to help cook

*has a huge amount of friends but still like to have just a few close ones

*sensitive

*will open her own collectibles shop one day

*likes kisses and cuddles and told that she is special

*my very first baby that i will cherish forever and ever

I LOVE YOU LILI JANE (lilipop designs INC)

thanks for sticking through such a long post...

smooches and thank you for your prayers and support

xxrosey

scary clown alert...look away now

2010-01-26T16:42:00.008+10:00

it was my bright idea to have a 'trashy secret Santa' for the adults in our family. the rules were simple...nothing over $10 (the cheaper the better), trashy items that were to be displayed for 365 days in a prominent position and proof of trashy display on web blog/face book etc...

mick and i had a ball searching for our trashy gifts, laughing so hard that i nearly had an accident...some of the items we found in the thrift shop were just too bad to give to someone and after a long hard search we decided on a very poorly painted and rather large self portrait (artist unknown) and a china angel candle holder which was holding fake and very old flowers. that doesn't sound that bad except that the angel had one hand on one boob and the other on its head as if to say 'check me out'! happy with our purchases we gathered at my fathers house for a Christmas eve dinner. my niece Katie came up with the great idea of numbering each gift and then passing round the hat for us to pull out a matching number so as to get a present randomly. after much laughter and me holding the video camera i was one of the last to choose and had to pick...you guessed it a porcelain clown!!!

now i imagine that 99% of the population has a morbid fear, and rightfully so, of any type of clown especially clowns that could clatter down the hall in the middle of the night with their arms out wide ready to strangle you. well that is EXACTLY the type of clown i was left holding at the end of our trashy session @_@. after looking at all of the gifts that were received mick and i came to the realisation that the clown i was holding looked familiar and was in fact the exact same clown i put back as i thought it was too nasty to give to someone. yes my sister went shopping at the very same thrift shop that we went to! mick was gifted THE ugliest mirror in the world which is right behind me at this moment.

believe it or not this is actually a mirror! what the?

anyhow, not one to leave anyone out i have kindly uploaded some photos of ~ Mr Jangles ~ as he is affectionately known around here for you to enjoy.

WARNING LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU HAVE A FEAR OF CLOWNS

here he is enjoying a jaunt in the garden

hanging around on the water tank.

while he stood there leaning on the watering can i started to lose my fear and actually had a thought...what if i took off his awful poly filled outfit? would he be as scary??

it worked, i can actually look at him and not feel that automatic gag and goose bump thing happening.

in fact he looks so cute Claudia has fallen in love with him.

she carried him around the room posing him in all sorts of places.

here he is on my favourite chair

smelling the roses

enjoying a spot of music

visiting the Eiffel tower...however not all of the kids are convinced of his new appeal...

lili reluctantly held him for this photo.

anyhow before you go i will leave you with one last image...

is he waving or is he coming to get you??

happy Australia day

our beach trip

2010-01-13T19:55:00.005+10:00

firstly can i say, i cant believe that we are already half way through January!! eeeep, this time next week i will be sitting at my school hall being bored to bits by someone telling me something i already know. the only good thing about going back after 16 weeks off is seeing my teaching partner and the rest of the gorgeous staff i have the pleasure of calling colleagues. i know i have said this already, but i think i need a change. i love teaching and it really is the most rewarding job, but i have lost my mojo for it and would rather be doing something much more creative with a little less accountability. i guess the only way that is going to happen is if i win the lottery or someone takes me on in their small business. so i guess i better just 'suck it up fuzzball' as my husband would say and get on with it :)

warning *overload of pictures coming up*

just after Christmas we headed on our annual Christmas holiday to the sunshine coast town of caloundra. we had just under two weeks away thanks to our good friends who rented us their unit at a very reasonable rate. the weather wasn't perfect, in fact it probably rained everyday we were away, but it didn't damped our spirits or keep us away from the water. i remember one day thinking how unusual us tourists must look swimming and sitting on the beach in the rain. of course i was probably doing the 'imagine if we didn't have children' dream of me in a cafe somewhere sipping a nice hot latte :p

it was nice to get away and be out and active each and every day. unfortunately i kept thinking of how much decluttering of our home i wanted to get to get done before we went back to work so i didn't relax as much as i should have, but i did sleep in till after 7 each morning and indulged in reading magazines and several books that i bought while away. (which i will post about on my other blog soon).

i have uploaded a few photos *coughs nervously* of our time away.

before i show you i must say that being away from blog land after Christmas is not much fun, sort of feel out of the loop about all the fun and gifts everyone received. so i guess i will have to do a catch up on Christmas after this post.

Santa was smart and gave each of the girls scooters for Christmas which folded up nicely in the FULL boot of the car and were put to good use along the long and gorgeous boardwalk which runs the length of the beaches in our area.

here we are at kings beach heading along the boardwalk towards the park at happy valley.

the sky is typical of most of our days away but not enough to stop us from getting a bit of a tan and having a heap of fun.

half way along the board walk is a great park with trees to climb and a pirate ship to explore and swings which face the ocean. but the best feature is the COFFEE VAN which supplied us with our afternoon fix everyday @_@

soon after this photo lili was sprayed on the chin by a stink bug which caused her enormous pain and left a red welt for days. she was also stung by a blue bottle the next day, poor little sausage.

Claudia is at a good age where she can roam the park without our assistance and is happy to play by herself or tag along with others.

each day we lathered the kids in sunscreen. even a thick layer of sunscreen wasn't enough to stop Claudia's birthmark from getting darker so we bought a tube of zinc in an effort to lessen it's colour change. here is lili ready for a swim.

what trip to the beach would be complete without a beach bum shot? and besides Claudia is such a ham for the camera i can never get her to pose properly!

i hate photos of myself but i want to put one on here for prosperity and to look back on in years to come. here we are trying to look relaxed...all i look is wrinkled!

we followed a daily ritual of heading to kings beach, in the morning, which has big waves, a public 'beach pool' and a water fountain and then home for a rest only to head out to happy valley in the after noon. happy valley has waves which tend to roll in gently and then there is a sort of catchment area where there are no waves at all but lovely tummy high water for the girls to splash about in.

here is lili exploring the sand while the girls enjoy the thrill of the waves coming towards them.

they can be so pleasant to each other when they want to ...they had so much fun with these waves.

we found lots of things that we wanted to take home and then we found this which was obviously someones new year dinner :)

the boogie boards came everywhere with us. i love this photo of Mia pretending to surf. i cant believe how tall she is getting! she will be 6 this year and starts grade one soon!!

we dug many holes, built heaps of castles and invaded many others :) this hole provided ages of fun for us all.

and sadly our trip has come to an end and seems like a lifetime ago. we really did have a good time away and are already thinking of next time.

the exercise machine is calling me, i have put on 3 kgs since starting my long service and i need to get it off before it gets stuck there for good.

i will be back with another post soon, and i am slowly getting round to all of your blogs, please forgive me if i dont get there soon.

%*_*% rosey

just enough time for a weekend whinge...

2010-01-10T20:43:00.002+10:00

hello and happy new year. before i post about our trip to the beach i have 3 hours to squeeze in a weekend whinge. consider yourself lucky i have no photos to share of the topic i shall bring up in my whinge... why oh why am i constantly flushing other peoples pees?!? it is bad enough when i have to do it in a public toilet, actually i usually walk straight back out if it hasn't been flushed, but i am finding it is a frequent occurrence here in my little home. is it wrong of me to be disgusted? are my family simply following the plumbers creed of "if its brown flush it down. if its yellow let it mellow" trying to green the earth (or should that be yellow) by not wasting water. am i eeking and muttering over nothing?? is it so hard to push that button? put the empty toilet roll in the bin provided? place the roll on the holder the preferred way, roll facing out??? i hate being a nag but i am only a nag cause no one is listening! ok whinge over, cant wait for your comments and opinions. the worst of it is that i am raising three GIRLS! what would prospective boyfriends think if at the age of 21 they don't flush? good to get that off my chest. back soon with some gorgeous pics of kings beach. %*_*% rosey p.s. cant wait to visit your blogs, i have missed you.

ever so quick post

2009-12-26T12:23:00.002+10:00

just a quick post to make you smile. some of the highlights of our Christmas. my family make me smile. we are off on our annual holiday tomorrow! cant wait to feel the sun on my skin and the sand beneath my toes. i am going to brave the ocean with my Mia and we are going to conquer those waves! i will miss visiting your blogs but will be back sometime in the new year.we had laughs and cuddles on Christmas eve with my family. we gathered at my fathers house for a lovely dinner. my girls with their cousin Chelsea. Claudia having a cuddle with my gorgeous niece Katie. some of lil's Christmas presents... some of Mia's presents.... the Christmas tag that Mia found on her present from Santa...the girl in the picture looked just like Mia!!

the tags that were on the girls presents from Santa.

something that the girls found in the window sill from the fairies that live at the bottom of our garden..they were so excited, lili had left a note wishing them a merry Christmasbut wasnt expecting a gift!!

the fairies always leave a little note :p and a little snowman each that were hand made by my niece Renata..she has a blog but doesn't update it often enough!! (hint hint) they are really sweet but need a bit of facial surgery :0)

that is all for now...

take care and have a blast on new years eve!

xxrosey

p.s. pop over here to see what i made over Christmas.

wordless wednesday

2009-12-16T22:34:00.002+10:00

the tooth fairy makes a visit...

2009-12-14T21:33:00.006+10:00

yes ladies and gentlemen, Mia is officially a 'big girl' as she lost her first tooth 2 days ago!! i just love how children think...lili is waiting until she is 8 and a half to move into the spare room by herself, cause she will be more mature by then :) anyhow before all the excitement of the tooth fairy visit we had more important business to attend to. i have struck up a friendship with our lovely neighbour across the road and recently she looked after my girls for a few hours while i went to my staff party. anyhow while i was away she cooked the tastiest curry for my family so that i wouldn't have to cook dinner that night!! we had been trying to organise a time to share a meal but this time of year seems to be so hard to find time for anything so i promised to bake a cake for her 2 year olds birthday. we decided to go with a fairy theme and invited them over on Friday for afternoon tea... we have made a few fairy cakes in our house full of girls so we were armed and ready to make this special for little Jayana. the following photos show the making of the raspberry swirl fairy cake... start with the best packet mix cake ever..raspberry swirl cake (sorry to all of you gorgeous domestic goddesses out there gasping at the thought) top some marshmallows with those sparkly hard coush thingys while the fairies sit around waiting add some green coconut for grass and some sugar flowers and flakes for logs and you are ready to... to place the fairies on top, light the candles and have the cutest 2 year old on the block blow them out! she really is the prettiest little girl and her mother has become a good friend to me. it was lovely to share this special day with her and best of all each of the girls got to keep a little fairy as a keep sake.

fast forward a few days and after a long few weeks of wobbling Mia's tooth finally fell out. boy what a drama the last 10 minutes were...in hindsight i should have taped the whole process, who knows i could have won $10 000 as it made me laugh my head off!

anyhow the photos tell the story, click on the tooth fairies letter and see if you believe her..

if you ask me i bet the fairy just plum forgot!!

i still have a vivid memory of when i realised the tooth fairy wasn't real...i hid under the dining room table and kept an eye on the glass that held my tooth...i watched as my step mother put a shiny 50cent piece in its place...i wonder how long it will be before my girls catch me?? i will try my hardest to hold that day off as long as i can!

anyhow looking forward to a lunch with my husband tomorrow, little one is at day care and the two older ones will be swimming the day away with 'aunty juls' perhaps the rest of the shopping will get done as well!

have a great week, mmmwwaaahhhh