Hi there...

So what's been happening 'chez nous' over the past couple of weeks. I have lost track of time a bit.
E is back at school... year 11 this year so the big NCEA. He's not a fan of school so I am predicting a bit of a challenging year.
T is now working (not quite fulltime) at Pizza Hutt.... saving $$$ to go away in May or June. He turned down the last camp America camp he was offered and has just been offered another which he is considering.
E and T are both very busy with rowing. T is a coach and I am very proud of the commitment he is showing to his crews and the sport. It can't be easy to get out of bed at 5.15 lots of mornings when you don't have to and listen to 14-16 yr old boys whinge at you coz they have to train hard lol.
T turned 18 a couple of weeks ago. We all managed to coordinate to go out to dinner together about 5 days after which was nice.
DH is frantic with his new job...trying to get the place profitable again. His Wedding photography course has started for the year and he is also doing Artistic as well. He starts tutoring level 1 next term so he is right into it. Now he 'needs' another camera....apparently you need 2 cameras to do weddings lol.

I too am busy. I have picked up a post grad paper at WINTEC (Hamilton) this term so I have my head in the books... well, not as often as I need to. Work and my private practice work keep me pretty busy. I'm still committed to our Thursday night scrapgroup and with a bit of effort I manage to average about a page a week on a thursday night. Things will ease off when the rowing season finishes and my paper is over. In the meantime I just have to keep those balls in the air.
I saw my lovely grandaughter on Friday night....I hadn't seen her for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. She is sooooo lovely and I and A are doing really well in their own place.

Anyway...must fly. Essay's to write, articles to read, stuff to sort. I hope whatever you juggle is going ok for you.

Caio
Sandra

Some layouts to share....

I have been doing some scrapping in the last few weeks. Here is a selection of layouts.




caio

Friday night before a rowing regatta...

....means
- a trip to the supermarket to buy supplies
- cooking bacon for bacon and egg baps
- assembling a lunch for everyone including healthy buns for me and DH, B&E baps for DS x2, creamed rice for the rower, meusli bars ++ for snacks, juice, fruit, water bottles, flasks for making coffee at some ungodly hour of the morning when we leave, and maybe I might bake something yummy (or maybe not)
- find the binoculars, fold out chairs, something to read, camera, cap, sunblock, insect repellant, rain jacket, blanket etc, etc
Quickly do some housework coz I'm stuck at Karapiro all weekend.

Dilemma is ... do I spend the petrol and risk missing DS's race and sneak off to Hamilton to visit Create or Scrapbook Inn or Spotlight (and risk spending $$ I don't need to spend but gosh it's fun!!!!) while I am there or do I be the loyal parent and sit on those (very uncomfortable) fold out chairs all day to watch 2 races....I mean ALL DAY here...we will leave at 6am and get back at about 6pm when...on Sat night...I repeat it all again for Sun lol.

Did I mention that I do really love that our kids row. It is a wonderful sport.

:-} I am so glad Monday is Auck anniversary weekend and a public holiday in out neck of the woods.

Caio

Ps: I and A and my lovely mokopuna moved out today.

I'm thrilled they have their own place now but sad as well. I will miss them.

Just a quickie...

...because I've been up since 5 and have to get up at 5 again tomorrow. We had to be at Blue Lakes (Rotorua) at 6.30 this morning....only the wind was so strong they ended up postponing the regatta 2x then at 11 am decided to call it off until tomorrow. We'll try again tomorrow.

DH and I took the opportunity to pop into Rotorua for brekky at the Fat Dog...love that place. Popped into Spotlight too as we don't have one in Tauranga. They have my most favourite American Crafts Thickers (foam letters) for only $5 a packet. I loved them so much last year I ordered them from the states! Might have to pop back tomorrow and get some more. I am waiting on the new Basic Grey Two Scoops (I've ordered some) and some cool clear alpha stamps too.
I was thrilled to get an email from UP2SCRAP to say I had won these cool Queen & Co buttons on their blog.

Thanks Up2Scrap and Queen & Co.

Did 2 whole layouts on Thurs night while the girls were here...was really motivated. Will take pics sometime.
I am off to Auckland....the big little city???....what's with that??? DS has an interview right in the middle of town at 11.30 on Monday so I've taken the day off work to take him. Then he wants to go to the zoo. How cool is that...he's 17. Should be fun.

Anyway...must hit the hay.
Caio

Bliss...

...is a clean self. A long hot shower late this afternoon. Now all DH has to do is sort out the minor leaks with a bit of silicone. Although we have put a new shower in the UPSTAIRS bathroom...we are actually renovating the DOWNSTAIRS bathroom. But because the upstairs shower needed replacing eventually we put a new one in before we put the ceiling in the downstairs..if that makes any sense...because the bathrooms are on top of each other. Next step is gibbing and stopping the downstairs bathroom, laundry and hallway (well half the hallway) Oh, and putting the bath in downstairs. These are all exciting changes seeing as we demolished walls about 5 or 6 years ago and have lived with framing and no function ever since.

Big news is Abby and Izzy move next weekend or the weekend after and we have big 2 day rowing regattas both days. Challenge will be to get them to take all their stuff and not leave their rubbish...but not take any of our stuff. I guess in the big picture I'm not really fussed. Although I will miss them dearly, I know they need their own space and I will feel a little more in control of the house.

Exciting news for DS (17) A Jewish camp 2 hours out of New York is intersted in him and we are heading to Auckland next week for an interview. The place sounds amazing and once he has a definite locality I think it will become all the more real for him. What an exciting adventure he will have.

We have installed the awesome statue (? the right description of it) in the garden. I'm not sure it's in the right place yet but we can move it.


Caio for now

Edited to add...sorry about the blurry photo...nightime photography after a couple of beers...lol!!

Aaarrrgghhh.....

...we still have no shower. Now it looks like this....

Luckily DH has been away for work for a week in a motel in Auck and DS's have beeen at training camp for rowing. I and A have been going to A's mums for a shower and I have alternated with having one at work and one at my Mum's. But I want my bathroom back. DH gets back this afternoon so hopefully will sort it all out. Not a good start to getting sorted this year but never mind.

I've done a bit of scrapping in the last while....mainly of the lovely Taylor. It is such a novelty for me to scrap baby girl pages and buying lots of girly scrapping stuff. I have just ordered some Basic Grey Two Scoops which is divine!!!
I will post more LO's over the next few days but here are 2 I have done in the last 2 days.


I did a bit of tidying up in the garden last week and we have bought a scupture for our garden in honour of Olly. We were given $$ to put towards it 3 years ago and have just managed to bring ourselves to buy something. Will post a pic once it is in my garden. I have found this Christmas/New Year has been hard with the number of drownings...it all just reminds us of what we have been through, how much we miss him etc. If anyone thinks I am a together sort of person, be assured that not far below the surface is a blubbering grieving mess. It only takes one tragedy in another part of the country to 'bring it all back'.

Trust me...I don't believe there is ever such a thing as "over it"!!!

Enough said. Sad to hear about Sir Edmund Hillary's death yesterday. He was a great man and my thoughts are with his family who are grieving the passing of a beloved husband, father and grandfather.

:-{

Ssshhh.....

.....can I whisper a little secret in your ear?? Very quietly now...

.......it's nearly 4pm Sunday and the plumber is here. I can hear banging and drilling and other such sounds. Don't want to say too much too loud in case I spoil it and discover it's not real.....

;-)

Ok..Progress so far....

...or should I say "lack of progress so far". Got the pantry tidy and the study sort of under control. Why is it that piles of paper will always look messy???

Now the plumber saga!! DH organised with DS for his mate (who is a plumber) to come on Thurs to replumb the shower upstairs (currently the only operating bathroom we have).... DH gets up on Thurs and rips out the old shower....

...now it's Saturday and the shower STILL looks like that. The new base is in but we can't do any more until the plumber replumbs it so we can put the new fitting in and the new walls up. And he still hasn't come. We are all off to my mums for a shower this afternoon!! Apparantly said plumber is waiting for someone to get back from holiday coz his tools are in his car. Bad move on our part getting DS's mate to do it. Maybe we've learnt for next time...I hope.

As per the SBO forum I have chosen a word for this year for me. This year my word is

SORTED

Next few posts I will record what I learnt/achieved with last years word which was SPACE.

Lastly a beautiful photo of my darling grandaughter to cheer me up coz I have no shower lol.


Ciao

Happy New Year....

...and welcome to 2008. I have been up for an hour and have started the year with some time on the erg (rowing machine), the ab machine and the home gym. I didn't do a lot but it's a start. I have started walking more about a month ago and now I need to tone as well....watch this space!!

DH and I are in "get sorted and under control around the house mode" We have made a decision to look at putting our house on the market towards the end of this year. Most of you will not realise what a huge mission that will be. I kid you not...it is a very ambitious project.
A brief history of our home. We bought it in 1986. It had 8 bedrooms, 2 lounges/bathrooms/loos and an office and a games room. For the first 10 - 12 years we had many other young people live with us, including a stint fostering teens for the then DSW (now CYF's) About 6 or 7 years ago we decided to make it a little more like a family home and less like an institution lol.
So we started some alterations...knocking out walls etc. We had both architect and interior designer input (low key) BUT WE ONLY EVER STARTED!!! What with job disasters and losing Olly, motivation and funds became very low. In the last few months we have got back into it again and have begun to get somewhere. The idea is it will be a 6 bedroom family home with master ensuite etc. But we haven't done much (any lol) maintenence on it in the 20 years or so really.
It's a BIG JOB!! But we are determined (and on a shoestring budget)

I am going to use this blog to document our progress. I need to scrap it too as I have some photos.

Watch this space.

Today is simply - sort out the study and the pantry day. Baby steps really...but do you realise how much junk you can accumulate when you have lots of rooms and you live there for 21 years.

Will keep you all posted.

Caio for now

Seasons Greetings...

OK...I've been a slack blogger. My excuse... I just haven't felt like it and I do find this time of year I just need to focus on getting through it all.A quick update on life around here..
- Toby has now officially finished school with a second in Business studies and a 'Blue' for rowing. Very proud of him :-)
- Elliot has just bought his first car (aaarrgh!) and they are currently picking it up from Hamilton with a car trailer. It's going to
be a 'project car' I think.
- Taylor is now 3 months old and probably going to be spoilt rotten for Christmas. Izzy and Abby are doing a wonderful job as
parents.
- DH has resigned and starts a new job on Jan 8th. Hospitality is all about change and challenges I've decided!!
- I had a birthday and DH bought me a Zutter "Bind-it-all" I will have time after Christmas to play with it and I can't wait.

So, what's happening for Christmas round here???

We are going to have a quiet day really. My mum will stay tonight and have the day with us. My brother/sister in law and my nephew and niece are in Auckland and spending Christmas with my sister in law's family up there. DH's family are in Christchurch and Hobart so we are all a scattered bunch. Abby, Izzy and Taylor will only be with us for an hour or so as they have lots of family on Abby's side to visit.
Menu: We have a very non traditional Christmas meal
We will start with homemade breads and dips/dukka/pesto/aoli etc. Then for main we have freshly hot smoked salmon, bbq scallops/prawns, mussels and this year we have a crayfish as well. All with a simple salad and new potatoes. Then for pudding (or dinner really) we have brandy snaps and boysenberry trifle, fruit platters with marshmallows and chocolate fish and ambrosia. Finally we have mince pies, lolly cake and truffles. It's sort of a mix of everyones favorite food and a hang up from our days when we owned a catering business and got absolutely sick of ham, turkey, pavlova, gateau etc.

DH and DS are both working boxing day. I have between xmas and New year off and go back to work on the 3rd Jan. We plan on doing some house sorting and maybe a few picnics and I will get some scrapping done too. I only just found the top of my scrap table last night.

Thanks to all of you who visit my blog and wishing you a Happy Christmastime and may 2008 bring good things for you. Please cherish the time you have with those around you.

Many hugs and good wishes to you all.

Life of a rowing Mum...

Here I am at 10 to 6 on a Monday morning...taken the boys to training and blogging....how sad is that. Usually I'm a slacker and don't do the weekday runs, but today is DH''s day off so it's a bit mean to expect someone to get up a 5.25 on their day off eh!!

We had a regatta at Blue Lake on Sat and DH and I walked around the lake at 9am in the morning. It was lovely.

I've been walking to work 3 or 4 times a week lately (it's about 3.5kms) and DH has been doing lots of fitness stuff on the rowing machine etc. I'm so proud of him. This year he has worked very hard and lost 20kgs. It's doubly hard for him coz he works with food. I'm trying to keep up with him but I don't think I could manage 20 kgs.

We spent 45 mins with the vet last Monday and he showed us all the xrays and explained everything. I used to be a physio so it all made sense to me. Poor Mocha. No wonder he is not a bouncy puppy. He basically has stuffed hips, knees and elbows. His shoulders are ok tho! We tried him on a week of anti inflammatories and he was a lot better and now we are doing no meds...just to see the difference.

It's very sad and he will need to be put down at some stage...when will be up to us I guess. Depends on how much pain we can bear seeing him in and if his hips start to dislocate. Once DS and his lovely little family move out we will send Mocha to stay with them every now and then to get Java used to him not being around so much. It's very sad :-{


It's Toby's last day of school EVER today. Quite a milestone!! He has made this awesome canvas for his English teacher. She will probably cry I think.

Anyway, best get ready for work. I have something big on at work at the moment that is not going well (it's beyond my influence now) so it is pretty stressfull.

Have a good week
Caio

Oh Dear...

...news from the 2nd vet consultation is not good. The lovely Mocha has not torn his cruciate ligament (a rare injury for an 11 month old apparantly).....he has pretty major hip, knee, elbow and shoulder problems. $500 worth of x-rays later (DH asked the vet if that price included framing lol) We now have an appt with the orthopaedic vet tomorrow morning :-{ We are guessing we are looking at long term treatment...maybe try homeopathics first and drugs later. Depends on the cost really. Yay...more decisions.

Toby has 5 days of schooling left...that's scary. He won't get enough credits to get into Uni because he has only done well in subjects that are not 'approved' but he doesn't seem worried. He is nearly all the way through a Camp America application so now he needs a job to earn the dosh to go. He is loving coaching the novi boys in rowing so I am thrilled at that. I always thought he would make a good coach.

I've just done the 2nd to last journal in our scrapgroups circle journal round. Can't wait to get mine back. They have certainly stretched me in terms of page size, most have been quite small!!

I wasn't going to post another photo of Taylor...didn't want to seem obsessed but....well...couldn't resist this one.
Abby took it on her phone. Who would have thought, when I had my babies, that I would be taking pictures of my grandchildren on a phone...amazing huh!!!

Caio

The lovely Mocha...

...has ruptured his right cruciate ligament (in his knee) and needs surgery :-(

The good news is...it doesn't seem to be hurting him.

The bad news is....ACC/Medical Insurance won't cover it lol.

We have to make a decision about what type of surgery to go for by Monday afternoon. The options are expensive or very expensive. DH is very cynical about why the vet might be recommending the very expensive one.

Watch this space...meanwhile he is on 'kennelrest' (aka bedrest) That's hard when you are an 11 month old puppy but he is coping remarkably well.

Here is a photo of Taylor learning about blogging.


Caio

Why can't we always....

....have 3 day weekends. I feel so rested and ready for the (4day) week lol.
Had a lovely Saturday...took boys to rowing, made fresh buns, spent the afternoon scrapping with Delys and Dianna and watched a bit of TV in the evening while DH was at work. Sunday was rowing again, back to bed for a big sleep in, went and bought a new printer, took Mum shopping and then out for a drive and coffee. Sun night we went to town for a bite to eat with Elliot and saw some amazing photography as part of the Tga Arts festival. Today we got up and did some cleaning then went for a big long walk and out to the new shops at Bethlehem for lunch. Quite a hike that could become a regular weekend thing I think. Back home for a bit of a read and a yummy dinner of BBQ Kangaroo meat and salads. Now I might do a bit more scrapping. Have also managed to fit in some purchasing from SBO ( MM flocking/foiling kits and some other bits and pieces) and lots of Taylor cuddles and the odd nappy change.

DH is doing another photography course this term...one on B & W photography. Here's a cool one he took of the lovely Mocha.





Hope you have a good week.

Ciao

Jack Me Up #5....

...I decided it was time to do a "Jack me up" layout...especially coz this one was a Jack of my friend Delys Cram.
Here is my version of Delys' layout....



Ahhh...at last...some girly pages from the srapping hands of Sandra LOL :-)


Ciao

Once again...

...a couple more photos of the lovely Taylor...awake this time.



Her full name is now officially Taylor Rose and she is a wee sweetie who yesterday seemed to want to feed hourly. I think Abby is exhausted!



On the scrapping front, I'm working on a circle journal I am in. Did a major scraproom tidy over the weekend and have got heaps of new product so I need to get into it. Boys are well into rowing now (2 early weekday mornings and 7am Sat and Sun) 1st regatta in a couple of weeks.
Finally a wee brag. Very proud of my Toby. His business group won "Best Production" in the Bay of Plenty and 2nd in "Best Overall Business" They were the group the teacher thought would be the slackers but they well and truely have worked damn hard and Toby was a major part in that.

Caio

PS: DH tells me he got his 'white balance' wrong so that's why the photos are a bit blue. He's practising :-}

Another photo....

....of the beautiful Taylor




....just because!!

Taylor is starting to get into a r***ine. I don't believe in saying the word ha ha. Abby is a wonderful mum who is besotted with her and I'm really proud of my big boy who is a devoted Dad. He was saying this morning that breastfeeding wasn't so good because it means he misses out on getting up in the night. He gets up if he wakes but I think he meant that coz he isn't feeding he doesn't always wake and he WANTS TO. Awwww!!


Have been a domestic goddess this morning and made fresh sticky buns for the boys after rowing. Off to take them out of the oven.

TFL.

Caio

Update...

...we have a name...

Introducing TAYLOR



We don't have a middle name yet!!

Taylor came home with her mummy and daddy at 4pm on Sunday and is settling into family life.

These 2 are suddenly realising they are now further down the pecking order

LOL.

Caio

PS:

....don't you think she has 'scrapbooking' hands???

LOL

ANNOUNCEMENT....

....drum roll please....
Introducing...well, she hasn't got a name quite yet.....daughter of Israel and Abby ...

Born on Saturday 29th September 2007 at 3.17pm after approxiamately 5 hours of 'proper' labour and only 7 pushes...

mother and baby (8lbs2oz) are both very well..Father is pretty proud too...


Nana is besotted already.

Will post tomorrow with more pics and (hopefully) a name :-}

Caio


PS: Am I biased or is she pretty beautiful for only 3.5 hours old???