2010 Creating

I like to look back on my crafting achievements for the past year and think about what I have done- I aim for 365 items each year and am pleased to say that I did manage that in 2010- Way cool! Here's what I did....

Paper LO's: 199

Digi LO's: 113

Mini albums: 31

OTP Projects: 28 (Some small and some huge!)

Cards: 26+

Photobooks: 5: WITL, Japan, Soapbox Derby, Farewell Friends, When Will Went To Hospital

If you want to see them head over to my other blog: SeeShareRemember

♥

New January

With the exception of when I worked (for a short time) as a clown/child minder over the dinner hours at Cobb and Co. I don't think I have ever worked in January- and even the Clown job doesn't count as I still had the days to myself.

As a child, student, teacher and then mother January has always been an open plain full of possibilities, opportunities and loose plans. It also has the option to be a waste land or a place between two worlds.

In my ideal calendar January would be shortened to 21 days with the other 10 added to February. The first of February would then become the beginning of the new year. Leaving January as a sort of holiday/recovery/preparation period.

You can use the New January to catch up with friends, pack-up the trimmings and trappings of Christmas. Work on eating your Christmas goodies and left overs in preparation for all the new resolve a new year brings and so forth.

Reading would be a compulsory New January activity. People would flock to their libraries and bookshops before heading to the beach- the library would in fact be the hang out of choice on the odd rainy New January day. (So much so that you'd see a whole new chain of "Starbucks@theLibrary" cafes set up). In support of New January ideals internet providers would provide free extra bandwidth for the month to support the online reading activities of their customers.

New Janauary would be a great time for taking long walks alone and with friends. Tracks and such through bush and to beaches or historic places. Or a photo walk around your home area. Or a walk around the shops in a local small town.

Preparation for new beginnings would also be a large part of New January activity. It's one thing to make a new years resolutions it's a whole other to dive into the new year mindful, organised and ready. New January presents an opportunity to eat the crap food currently hiding in the house, research healthy and hearty meal options and wean yourself off of your particular vice. The traditional 6 days between Christmas and the current New Year is simply not enough. New January reading would also play a part here providing opportunities to read various blogs and websites that suit your change philosophy.

New January Nothing would be an actual known and accepted activity. For example imagine you are lying on the couch watching Star Wars, Strictly Ballroom or reruns of Outrageous Fortune wearing PJ's while munching on chips at 3:51pm whilst surrounded by your laptop computer, 3 novels, a recipe book and two magazines and various empty glasses, plates and a small bowl with summer fruit stones. Your flatmate, soul mate or best mate walks in and says: "What are you doing?"
To which you of course reply: "New January Nothing"
And they say: "Oh of course, Sweet!"

A New January in this vein would solve so many issues for me. I'm not ready to start the new year of goals and plans on a Jan 1 new year. I generally haven't yet had a chance to consider my word of the year and what it means for me by January 1. I feel like I am being left behind by all the real world grown-ups who are in fresh start mode and all enthusiastic and energetic for the new year. But for the past 36 years January has been holiday mode for me and I'm not keen or willing to change that. So I'm voting for a New January- care to join me?

♥

Apparently I smell.

Will is a constant source of amusement (and otherwise) lately and I wanted to get these things down while I remember:

• He has started to say 'whatever' and it's a darn sight more endearing than when Merenia uses it especially as it sounds more like he is saying "radirah"
• When the neighbours dogs bark (100-300 times each day). He YELLS "Be Quiet!" An improvement on the original; "Shut Up".
• The only time they don't bark is when the neighbours come home.... but to make up for it Will jumps onto the couch and barks with increasing volume out the window at the neighbours.
  
• I have been refused permission to deliver kisses and cuddles at bedtime. I am permitted to ask Will what "his best thing was" that day.
• Today when I went and lay down with him and Les on the bed (an attempt to help him recover from the trauma of having to stop playing on the flight sim) Will told me to go away and proceeded to start pushing me off the bed and kicking me. When asked why he replied that it was because I was "Stinky".
• I was telling him that it was a pain that the library bus comes right in the middle of our shopping day because it was hard to do both. He asked when our "Shooming Day" was? I replied with "No I said Shopping Day" But he insisted with the shooming day despite my insistence there was no such thing and in the end I asked what a Shooming Day is. Of course it is the day you Shoom up into the sky in the Boeing. (Duh silly me).
  
• He often requests that we 'Hang Out' (lie on my bed and talk) and lately has also been asking to 'have a chat'.
• Same age friends are in short supply around here and he asks daily if he can go to Daycare like the neighbours kids all do. And last week when Macchi announced that she and Cam had to leave he tossed his box of raisins on the floor with a dramatic flourish and exclaimed with quite some emotion and pain some along the lines of "Oh why must my friends always leave!?"
• He was recently discussing the neighbours replacement Chickens. "Cam got new Chickens 'cause the old ones died" Les: "Yes they did" Will "Hmmm they are like the Dodo then".
• Les grabbed a chair today, put on his glasses and sat in front of the video and DVD players to connect them up together. Will also got a chair and his sunglasses and sat beside him. After Les finished up he continued to wear his glasses and Will checked periodically to see if they were still on. He immediately removed his when Les took his off.
• He often asks "What's the time?" even though his concept of time consists of: "Later Today" and "Soon Now" I.e: W: Can I do flying on the computer Dad? Dad: Later. W: Later today? Or: W: When are we going to the base pool Mum? Mum: Very soon. W: Soon Now?
• He refers to M & K as 'The Kids'. If they fall behind in the Supermarket he will often yell at them from his vantage point in the trolley. "COME ON KIDS! COME HERE NOW KIDS!"
  

I'm sure there's more.... I know there's more but he's so darn exhausting it's hard to remember it all.

♥

Today

Outside my window...it's a hot evening! I'd like to be in the pool.

I am thinking... about what January is to me. And about all the changes coming this year especially the next month or so.

I am thankful for... being almost done on the back to school stuff. That we chose Massey over Westlake (and that Kieran now agrees with me on that). The Massey High School Bursar who is kind and helpful and amazing!

We've been playing... Lego, bubbles and lots of trips to the pool.

From the kitchen... Left over Chicken Cacciatore for me and Pizza for the boys- quick and easy as M is at a sleep over and L has a second late night at work.

I am creating... nothing right now- but I did order 500 odd photos today because they are having a special and in amongst them are two mini albums of our 2009 and 2011 'local journeys' and a third of the day we hung with Vienna.

I am going... to bed soon to read. Kieran is watching a crap mini series in the lounge and I'm just not into the noise at the moment.

I am reading...Margaret Mahy's The Dark Blue 100 Ride Bus Ticket. Plus I have a pile of Young Adult fiction by NZ authors beside my bed.

I am hoping... that Will will be easier tomorrow. That I can garner some enthusiasm for some decent blogging soon. And some time for creating this weekend.

I am hearing... cicadas, the computer fan and the darn TV.

Around the house... stationery waiting to be sorted, covered and named. Uniform waiting for it's first wash, new shoes and sandals.

A Picture I Thought of Sharing...

♥

He's Alive!

We had a midwife visit today and after listening to "the tiny baby" Will stood expectantly with his shirt half hiked up to get checked out as well. I can report his heartbeat is as cute as his exterior.

♥

Short Story

Today once the weather cleared I let Will outside to release a weekends worth of pent up energy.

When he came back in his T-shirt was all wet so I pulled it off and asked him to go see if there was another in the clean washing basket.

He came back into the kitchen with it and said:

"I got one but it's upside down."

So I turned in the right side out and he put it on.

Funny boy.

♥

Happy Pie Day

It's our second annual Pie Day- over the course of the year we've made and tried about 9 different Pies. Both sweet and savoury- we had intended to do a sweet and a savoury each month but it just didn't happen.


We actually had our favourite savoury pie of the year for dinner last week. So we are having the Pie voted second favourite; Cottage Pie- unfortunately we couldn't get the same 'mix' as we had last time so I'm not sure that this will be as yummy as the original which came from a packet at the Mad Butcher!


Despite the amazingly fabulous good looks of this Apple and Boysenberry Pie made late last year it is not our top choice for sweet pie!And to be honest the sweet choice is a bit of a surprise all around.

Our favourite and Les' all time favourite Pie is Pumpkin Pie! So dinner tonight at our place; Cottage Pie and Pumpkin Pie.... Happy Pie Day!

♥

Don't read this blog today!

Read this one.....

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html

Movie Week: Will's Glider

Movie Week: Ukulele Duo

Thirty-Seven

We interrupt this extended Movie Week to bring you Will 37 months old.....

♥

Movie Week: Discovery World (Otago Museum)

Movie Week: Waiwera

Movie Week: Netball

Movie Week: Merenia Flies Control Line

Movie Week: Haka

Movie Week: Will talking

Movie Week: Kayaking

Oh and by the way....

I never did say....

I'm pregnant.
And a just a wee reminder to my enthusiastic, excited, and well meaning friends:

I don't like talking about my pregnancies.

And I don't tell anyone due dates, or what week I am or what we are having (and we have no plan on finding out this time around anyway) or possible names.

♥

Photo Fatigue and Keyboard lethargy

I do enjoy doing my 365 projects: Family photo 365, Will's 365, and daily blogging- but I do wish there was a week in between last year and this year where I could just not have to worry about it at all. Because doing it half arsed makes me cranky and not having a break makes me cranky too... but not doing it at all just isn't an option.

But right now I am so over the computer... I just wanna sit in the garden and read, read, read and then retire to the scraproom and scrap, scrap, scrap....

There are people (Kathryn and Jozlyn) who I owe personal correspondence to- it's coming girls!

And there are things I want to write and think about- like my WORD of the year and well, getting my kid kitted out for high school and finding a school that will suit us and the girl child, but- it's holidays and I just can't be bothered doing anything. Except eat Cherry Liqueur Chocolates (unfortunately my annual supply has already run out) under the silk tree and watching my little boy have fun in the paddling pool.

I'm looking forward to the weekend as my family is off to see Nana Stockley and I have a chance for some kid free time to relax and rejuvenate- and listen to music extraordinarily loud, and stay up extraordinarily late and scrapbook extraordinarily lots. (So if you were thinking of dropping by this weekend coming or asking me over- then don't bother as my blunt and high speed refusal may offend).

So I guess blogging and correspondence and other such stuff will be in short supply from me for the next little while. It's holidays and my thoughts are scattered- far and wide...

♥Gypsy

Ring in the New Year Feast

We did have our traditional Christmas Breakfast in Dunedin on Christmas day- but we decided to do it all again when we got home! We were always going to get a Ham when we got back anyway- cold ham is one of the best parts of January (plus we had vouchers to use- yay free money from countdown!). So after coming back home on the first and getting the house aired and sorted and doing a full supermarket shop we were ready on the second to have a 'Ring in The New Year Feast!' We had our traditional Christmas Day breakfast (French toast with cream and maple syrup, bacon, hash browns and breakfast sausages). Our traditional Christmas Day lunch Ham, (Potato) Salad and Punch to drink. Our traditional Christmas Day tea- left overs! (We had a pavlova as well but didn't get around to eating it till the 9th!)

Over breakfast we talked about some of the things we are aiming for this year and that we hope will come about.

(Ham Glaze: Brown sugar, orange juice and Watties Bit on the Side Apricot sauce).

YUM!
♥

Gingerbread = Fun!

Les decided that he and Will would make gingerbread the other day and he documented the whole process with 20 photos. What a good scrapbookers husband is he!

♥

Blast from the Past

I'm working on Caitlin's photos at the moment. I was given them in 2004 and have scrapped a few pages over the years- but I recently came to the conclusion that I don't have the time or resources to scrap everything I have (I'm not sure I have the inclination either). And that even if I did so then I would be creating a huge storage issue- I already have about 16 12x12 albums which have there own particular large shelving needs- so I don't really want to scrap everything as I'd go broke and probably die when a shelf full of albums fell and crushed me in my over crowded house!
But I digress, I didn't want to create the same storage issues for Caitlin and I didn't want her to have to wait until her old age to get her photos back (and I also feel nervous when I have other people non backed-up originals in my house!) So I have chosen select pictures to make into 12x12 pages and I have put the rest chronologically into small slip-in albums, taken the time to embellish a little and also to tell the stories that I know on 4x6 journal cards that just slip into the photo slots. I have also left a few slots for Caits Mum, Gaynor, to fill in as well.
Anyway in sorting through I found this little gem and to be honest I look a darn sight better than I currently do so I figured a record of previous 'slimmer-ness' and vague hotness was worth recording! :-)

♥

Where Glenna and Tania get me pregnant....

Late last year Carolann had her end-of-year day crop. Miss Vienna was there....

She brought her mum as well.... she nice like that that kid.

The freaky thing was that Glenna and Tania got me pregnant just by saying it was so. Then they started bossing me around and telling my so called pregnant self what I could and couldn't do.

Brings new meaning to immaculate conception.
♥

Did I loan you.....

my Outrageous Fortune DVD's for Series 4 & 5??
I can't find them anywhere. :-(

♥

January Mosaic

1. Blue Star . . ., 2. Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, 3. Cuba Gallery: Blue bubble, 4. lies and half-truths, 5. Blue Whimsy: quilted, 6. Retro SLR camera with telephoto lens, 7. Space Pirate., 8. Blue sky and bell tower, 9. blue autumn, 10. Cubisme, 11. All it take is a "lie", 12. Green Dress, 13. Blue bowls, 14. G!, 15. retro music Incorporated, 16. G, 17. a new green dress, 18. Five year old girl lies on grass with hand outstretched, 19. japanese / fan / dance / hands / spring / blue : maiko (geisha apprentice), kyoto japan / canon 85mm f1.8　舞妓 たね若さん, 20. green dress, 21. RETRO..., 22. Little Red Dress, 23. G-AIR, 24. i never lie, 25. retro hip belt!

Round-up December 2010

On our bookshelf this month....

G: Next Mags, L: Robert Fisk, M Saddle Club and Jacqueline Wilson, K Forrest and lots of John Marsden, W: The Wonky Donky, Maisy's Christmas, and Slinky Malinki's Christmas Cracker.

Loving on the box....

Project Runway, Survivor, Hestons Feast, My Kitchen Rules, Glee. Sidney White, Eclipse, Avatar, A series of unfortunate events and Wiggles: Go Bananas.

For you...For me?

A mini album for Starbucks Alex, lots of mini calendars, Harry's Birthday, Will's Birthday, a photobook for the Dawsons, and lots of Christmas presents.

Germs and bugs and botherations....

Will, Les and Merenia all got some sort of coldy fluey thing. Will had a sore on his leg and his toe.

Today was good today was fun, tomorrow is another one...

Jim visited and took family photos, School Disco, Base Christmas Party, Dawson's farewell BBQ, AucklandSoar BBQ, House Captains trip, Hockey runner-up final, Year 8 Graduation, Will's Present day, School Pool Visits in Christchurch, Time with Grandad for Will. Visiting Santa's grotto, Air Force Museum for L and W. Time at the Crib, Museum, Beach and Pool- and Dunedin in general.

Yum, yum, yum....

Advent chocolates, Roast Beef, Roast Mutton, Seelen-Smith food *(Cheese, salami crackers etc), Gourmet Ice Cream company, Christmas Food, Pub lunch in Temuka, and at Nana's; Coleslaw, Cheese on Toast, and Otago Cheese rolls.

'It was on sale'....

2 dresses and a top, 3 pairs on Sandals, scrapbook purchases in closing down sale in Chch, and Christmas Decorations at Temuka (should have got WAY more).

Bugger!

The Dawson's leaving Auckland for Woodbourne, the school not providing the House Captain's a trip. Not catching any fish at Nana's.

Hooray!

Finishing with Whenuapai School forever. The look on Will's Face every time the Boeing took off. Will's super pool confidence and jumping in skills. Brody D's achievements at school.

Etc...

Patrols trip to Base, Made 3 scrapbooks for Sylvia.

Phew what a month!

You know who's good idea this was? Katie The Scrapbook Lady. Go check out her list of tasks to do at the end of each month as well.

♥

Three aka Thirty Six

We were away when this happened hence the reason why I am just posting it now....

♥

Our Holiday in Photos

17

Exhausted after a full on day Will still wants his chocolate milk but can he stay awake long enough to drink it?

23

24

25

27

♥