Monday, June 30, 2008

A little bored with no motivation...

This what sleeping twins, a very quite nearly 4 year old and no one else in the house does....I was feeling a little bored but had very little motivation so I decided to do a flickr search on the letters of my name....


Thursday, June 26, 2008

Some freebies

I read heaps of blogs everyday, well I read most of them (some I must admit I do skim through sometimes if the content isn't grabbing me, you get that). The good thing is that a lot of them aren't very long posts but I do love reading them all.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to pass on some of the wonderful freebies I have come across in the blog world from all over the world. They are what got me started in the digi world of scrapping and you never know you might just love it too!

{ One }

'Berrylicious' Kit



These are one of Vicki's recent freebies. Head on over the Vicki's blog and take a look, she's excellent! You can get the papers here, the elements here and the alpha here. I personally love this kit.

{ Two }

'Cute Garden'


and check out this little freebie over at Boutique {Cute Dolls}. I think its quite adorable. You can get it here.

{ Three }

'Peachy Keen' Quick Page

Here are some beautiful quickpages for you from the lovely Mandy at Mandy Mystiques. Aren't they great?! You can get them here.

{ Four }

'I learn' Wordart

Lastly, before I head off to tidy up and 'hit the hay' as they say. Some wordart from the very talented Bethany at Elegant Wordart2. You can get this paticular one here.

So I may add more when time permits. Hope you enjoy! Good night all (again).....


Ho Hum...

Well not enough of you kept your fingers crossed....LOL....

We heard back from the realestate and things don't look to good. One couple had already found another house and put an offer in on it (ahhh...I wish they hadn't wasted my time!) they were just do the 'right' thing because they already had the appointment set up. The other couple were looking for a larger yard, or more grass I think it was. Damn pool! We were going to take it out as we have only used it twice in the 5 + years we have lived here, yes only TWICE! It's a real PIA to look after and the weather here isn't exactly tropical. In summer it gets quite hot but I prefer cooling down by the air con...LOL. I now wish we had gone a head and taken it out as it takes up a large part of the backyard and is not a real selling point.

Anyway, enough about that. Some news on the home front, Anna now has 3 teeth and is crawling! She goes backwards but still its crawling, they say they normally go backwards first as it easier. She will be off in days I think, although they both commando crawl now so it probably won't be much different. Both Zach and Anna have started pointing and Zach often asks 'Whats that?'. Its so cute! Both are really missing Daddy too I think, thats all they talk about. You know Daddy's been away to long when Zach starts pointing to the phone and saying 'Daddy'. He also starts yelling out 'Dadda' when ever the phone rings. They will be 13 months old on the Saturday. Can you believe it! Both are still regularly breastfed. **Giving myself a pat on the back for that!** Both Ashlee and Mitchell decided they no longer wanted to breastfeed at 8 months so these two have really out done both of them LOL. It also looks like neither of them will be giving it up any time soon, they both love their boob too much.


So Daddy has been away for two weeks now, I miss him so much. We talk on the phone at least 3 times a day and this weekend he is coming home until Sunday. I really can't wait until we move so we can all be together!!!! Its tough work looking after 4 kids on your own 24/7! I often find myself staying up longer at night just for the piece and quiet, just so I can get that washing folded or watch that show I taped. But, it will get easier...soon.

Better go now, tidy up after dinner and get these little ones (and big ones) ready for bed. I really would like a decent nights sleep tonight, we'll see. I will leave you with a couple of layouts I have managed to do it the last few days.....night all!

{ Teeth }

Teeth

{ Love }

Love

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

May be looking up...

After months of having our house on the market things may be finally starting to look up. We have two couples coming through today (after we dropped the price!) .... PLEASE keep your fingers crossed! With only a month until we move interstate we really would like to sell rather than move renters in in the mean time.

Must go and do school pick up now, I'll keep you updated....

Monday, June 23, 2008

Another layout...

{me}

Me

That's all....

Thinking of becoming a parent???

Then read this and be prepared!

I found it on Angela's blog and thought it was so true, I just had to post it.

Thinking of having kids?

Do this 11 step program first!

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
10. Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store.
Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice).
If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat.
Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine-month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' and or 'daddy' repeatedly.
(Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required).
Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice.
Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy/daddy' tape made from Lesson 10 above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

And for those of you destined to have twins....do it all twice. (No its not really that bad...LOL!)

Better go finish getting these little ones ready for bed.

~ xx Naomi ~

I'm Superior!

I have seen this on a few blogs and thought I would see my score too......


75

As a 1930s wife, I am
Superior

Take the test!


Wonder what DF would think of that??? hahaha

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A grown up party & another hospital trip...

This weekend has been eventful to say the least......Mum came down to help me out with a birthday dinner at the Wy Yung Pub Bistro for Ashlee and 9 of her friends. There was just no way I could have handled all the girls and my 3 little ones on my own. Just one day prior to coming to stay Mum had also developed shingles....AHHHH! More on that later.

Ashlee's party went really well. Everyone had a great time and were no real problem at all. She does have a lovely bunch of friends.

{All the Girls}
Ashlee is 3rd from left

Everyone at party


3 of her friends stayed over the night. They had a good time - so I am told. See I was not there from about 11pm onwards as I ended up having to make that all to familar trip to the hospital emergency room with Anna. More on that soon. I'll leave you with some pics...

{Mars Bar Mud Cake}
Made by Nanny, iced and decorated by Me
This pic is also post candles so it looks a little worse for wear...

Ashlee's cake

{Blowing out the candles}

Ash blowing out candles

After having a great night out we got home and the twins went to bed as usual. Everything was fine. About 11pm Anna woke up screaming and struggling to breath. I gave her her ventilon and watched her but she didn't improve so down the hospital we went. This time she was diagnosed with Croup and not her usual Bronch or RSV. They kept her in over night for observation because of her age, we are now also on Redipred again for a few days......oh the joys. She seems a lot better now but relapses at night because of the cool night air. I'm just doing my best to keep the entire house nice and warm, so far so good.

Better head off, we have twins playgroup today in about an hour and I am not even beginning to look ready! Its the last one for this term so I don't want to miss it today.

Take care everyone!

Naomi
xxoo

Thursday, June 19, 2008

New LO

Here is a LO that I 'whipped' up today.....hahaha. It only took me about 15 minutes this afternoon while the twins were having a nap (and I should have been doing something else - probably house work related).

{Home}

home is where the heart is

(Thought I better start adding credits for these pages, so here they are..)
Credits: to come...
xo
Naomi

A look into my Digi-Scrap Addiction....

Recently I discovered Digital Scrapbooking. Due to being on the move shortly I have had to pack up all my scrapbooking supplies. I was feeling a little bored and came across some digital pages on Angela's - An Angel's Antics Blog. They were so great and sometimes you really can't tell they are digital pages at all. So that's how my addiction started.

I then Googled Digital Scrapbooking and Digital Scrapbooking Freebies. This opened up a whole new world! I started out just downloading freebies from places like Digifree, Digitreats and Cuppycakes Digital Designs. This got me some great free papers and embellishments to get me started. I then discovered Pickleberrypop blog and fell in love with A LOT of there stuff. They are Australian and have there own website here with a great store that has heaps of really affordable (I use the word affordable because the word cheap would just not do them justice!) kits, Alphas, Embellishment packs, grab bags and even Actions (for PSCS - even though I use Paint Shop Pro 9), Brushes, Doodles & Stamps and Overlays and Textures. They also have a great forum that I have recently joined and am loving!

So I am still downloading great freebies from HEAPS of different sites (I will add a list below) but I have also moved onto the world of actually buying from these great designers. My first buys being All I am saying Vol. 1 Elements Pack by Tara Dunstan Designs, Alflafla Alphas by Kaye Winiecki, Pins & Straps elements by Alice Koh Designs, Tagged Elements also by Kay Winiecki and Distressed Stamp Alpha also by Tara Dunstan. I also picked up there Kitbash Vol 3 for free!

I made the page below with a mixture of Alflafla, Tagged (the staples come with Tagged) and Distressed Stamp. The papers are Kit Floraly - Benexav-Digiscrap faded & layered over Folded & Lined Overlay - Gunhild Storeide.


Sweetest thing

Very happy with the out come.

Here are some other kits from Pickleberrypop I am wanting to purchase...

Candy Girl by Carole Neale Designs
Over the Rainbow by Natalie Bird
Play on Play by Jessica Gorny
and...
Temptation by Sunflowers

Well that's all I have time for today - this post has taken me 4 hours as it is! (Inbetween feeds, nappy changes and just general everyday stuff.) So lastly I'll leave you with a list of great freebie sites.....

Naomi
xxoo


http://www.thedigidares.com
http://vicki20.blogspot.com
http://templatesbyerica.blogspot.com
http://sweetasmel.blogspot.com
http://sophiadaviesdesigns.com
http://snapandscrap.net
http://silverrocketscraps.blogspot.com
http://shutterfly.typepad.com
http://shazbutts-digi-scrapz.blogspot.com
http://shabbyprincess.typepad.com
http://scrap-stuff-with-psp-tutorials.blogspot.com
http://ohmeforever.blogspot.com
http://prettyscrappy.blogspot.com
http://twoboyz00.blogspot.com
http://acmommy28.blogspot.com
http://dinphy.blogspot.com
http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com - This is excellent!
http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com - Great Wordart for your pages
http://pineappleplantation.blogspot.com
http://www.sugarplumpaperie.com
http://weedsandwildflowersdesign.com/blog
http://dittersfreedoodles.blogspot.com

There are just some, I will add more another day.

TIP: I subscribe with BLOGLINES, this keeps me up with any new freebies posted.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Working on it

I'm still working on a post regarding digi-scrapping but in the mean time here are a couple of layouts I have been working on lately....

{Our New Car}

Our new car

{My Boys}

My Boys

{Birthday Cake}

Birthday cake

And my absolute favourite at the moment

{Sweetest Thing}

Sweetest thing

I know they a bit Anna based, I am still working on other non-Anna pages....hehehe. She is just easy to scrap! I'll BBS with more.....

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3 .... ha ha

Decided I might try out a signature on my posts...I'm just testing it at the moment. We will see how it goes :)


smaller blog sig

ETA - Don't know if I like that ... ?? Not clear enough. Might have to go with something simpler - is that a word?!

Monday, June 9, 2008

I'm going to play too!

Have a lot to blog about but that will be in the next installment as its late and I'm tired.....

Flickr game!


1.
Naomi 2. Roasted Vegetables 3. Trinity 4. Blue 5. Josh Holloway!!! 6. Water 7. London 8. Butterscotch Cheese Cake 9. A mummy! 10. My family 11. Wacky 12. Two_and_twins

Turned out quite well - apart from the last one....apparently it couldn't find anything for my user name! P**ed off! Considering I AM a member - maybe it has something to do with me on F&F only ..... ??

ANYWAY,

the rules: a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker

the questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Let me know how you went :) !

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Just stuff

Today started out really bad. At about 4am this morning Anna (who was sleeping in my bed after her 2am feed) fell out of bed. A *bang* and I was up, then a *scream*. I felt soooo terrible! She was so upset, I checked her over and she seemed ok so I just snuggled up with her again and gave her a feed (this time in the middle of the bed!). Once we got up 2 hours later I noticed a big bruise on her head, boy did I feel even worse then! It has gone down a little through out the day but it is still there, a reminder of how careful we need to be with our little ones.

Had a good friend drop over today and after being here for a few hours decided to take Mitchell home with her to play with Caleb (4 in August) and Jase (18 months). I didn't know what to do with myself then. The twins went down for a sleep and I made the most of the peace and quite and had a lovely shower followed by a quite cup of tea than did some house work while I watched (well bits of) Dr Phil. Boy do they have some weirdo's on that show! Once the twins woke up I went down the street to pay some bills (that can't be paid via Bpay - really, who doesn't have Bpay these days!) and had a little browse in Spotlight. My sewing has been badly neglected lately so I decided to have a look at some patterns and material, instead I got side tracked chatting - as usual - and ran out of time. I did find that they have Dot Minky in stock! In 5 different colours! So I'm going back down tomorrow morning before the rush to get a 1/2 metre of each. Also found some lovely soft chenille, Zach and Anna are going to have lovely soft bums now! (The fabrics for nappy making.) All I need now is a metre or so of bamboo fleece and I'm set.

Better go, bubs crying and I need to get Ashlee from squad training soon.

Take care all!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

800!


Wow, 800 hits to my little blog!


ALSO - I will try and do a post regarding how I started Digi-Scrapping. Especially for you Mel : )

Cakes and Candles

Well the party on Saturday went well. BBQ was lovely and Zach and Anna got a few nice pressies. Ashlee got mostly money, but she was happy with that. Mum was here and I really wouldn't have been organised with out her, I have been pretty busy lately and there were a few things that I hadn't gotten around to doing so mum picked up the slack **THANKS MUM!** . Anna wore her new party dress with gorgeous little stockings that Uncle Dan & Aunty Mel gave her. She looked sooooo cute! **THANKS DAN & MEL!** A real little girl. Zach wore his new blue top and black pants also from Dan & Mel. My little baby boy is looking so much more like a big boy everyday. Still have to pinch myself when I think that they are one!

We had a lovely suprise when Brett's 3 aunties turned up to help us celebrate. They are so lovely. They brought some lovely clothes for the twins and gave Ashlee money to buy something herself. They find it a little hard to buy for young ladies now. Overall we all had a lovely time.

The cakes were not what I had planned. Left that to the last minute and ran out of time to make them, really disappointed by that but I'll get over it I guess. We added up just buying a cream filled sponge cake for the twins with white icing and yellow sprinkles and a chocolate mud cake for Ashlee. They were both YUMMY!

Ok, its photo time now...

Firstly, Anna in her oh so pretty party dress



And Zachary in his party clothes



Zachary enjoying a piece of cake ... wasn't to taken with it really



Anna loving her cake!



Can't forget the cat 'Oreo' having a try of the sponge that one of the kids left on the ground



Zachary just being Zachary



And Anna and Zach - its been a long day....



Some of the people that came to help celebrate



And lastly *The Cakes*

Zach & Anna's



Ashlee's



Oh and must add this one, its of Ashlee and her friend from school (although I've erased her face as I don't have her permission to post it)



Thats it for tonight. Its getting late and I still have a few things to do before bed.

Take care all xx

Just a quick one

Just passing through to leave another scrap page, I'll be back later tonight.....

This one is titled 'Just the way you are' - it wasn't completely finished but Ashlee saved it for me and saved it as a .jpeg instead of a Paint Shop Pro file so I can't update it any more.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

My little girl is growing up....


Today you turn 11.


I can't believe it! You are growing up so fast.


Hope you had a wonderful day.


Love you Ashlee!