cury or straight? that is the question...

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...

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

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

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

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?

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

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