Just Like Heaven

Life Lessons

Well I'm pretty sure it's official now.  Our beloved Basil-cat is not coming back. :(

Yesterday I saw Madeleine in the backyard sitting at the picnic table looking through a scrapbook of pages she'd made herself.  I went and sat with her and asked her what she was doing.  She told me she was really missing Basil and if she showed him her scrapbook with photos of him in it, he'd realise how much she loves him and then he would come home to her.

Oh it just broke my heart.  She truly thought he left because he didn't realise that we love him so much.  Then she thought maybe he didn't like the food we were feeding him and a whole host of other reasons that all made perfect sense.  It was awful, in fact I am still choking up thinking about it.

So we told both kids the truth, that we think he has died.

And they were heartbroken.  We all were.  Nathan too.  We all cried.  And cried.  And cried.  And poor Alex was just so so sad.  It was one of those horrible moments where you wish you could hug their pain away.  But of course I couldn't.  It was just awful.  We had no explanation for them.  Except that death is part of life.  We shared funny happy memories and told the kids it's okay to be sad.  But it's okay to be happy too. 

So after an exhaustive sook-session, Nathan took the kids to play with some friends and it was the perfect distraction.  Alex was sad again last night but I think they'll be okay.  It's a hard thing to learn but not a lesson we can avoid forever.  I can't help but keep checking the front door looking for him though. :(  I'm heartbroken. That furry little creature has been with us forever. :(  But life goes on....

I scrapped my behind off yesterday.  I have masses of mojo and creative energy and am hanging out to channel it somewhere!  Wish I had more time to make stuff - grr...

Kids are on holidays from today and they were wild.  Oh dear they are so energetic and BOTH blessed with the gift of verbal diarrhea.   Lucky me.  Not.  Oh boy I'm hanging out for some serenity already and it's only the first day!  I was a bit busy finishing off work stuff so preoccupied I guess but tomorrow we might do some cooking I think.  I put them to work tonight putting washing away and doing other chores and have told them if they tell me they're bored, the grout in the bathroom needs a clean, the windows need washing and the car needs a clean.  Reckon they'll be bored tomorrow.  Nope I don't!  I'm hoping we make it out for a bike ride tomorrow.  That should tire them out!

They did give me two minutes of their time today though.  I need this for a class sample and they turned out better than I anticipated - yay!!

You can hardly tell they spent a large portion of today bickering at each other - lol.  Little treasures. I actually do love having them home on holidays.  Mostly - lol!

That's it for today - seeya xx

Today....

Okay so I *may* have dropped my bundle last night.

I *may* have had too much to drink 'blush'

I *may* have dragged my pathetic sooky ass to bed very early last night.

But today is a new day right?

I'm still sad about my cat.  Shattered still, but life goes on right?  And the other stuff.  Well I've come this far right?

Hmm......here's what I found in the issue of Scrapbooking Memories that I picked up at the shops today.

 
I did this during that feral heatwave we had earlier this year!  Bit weird to think about that now after seeing snow from my window on the mountains.  IT hasn't lasted long this year. :(  So far...

Well I've managed to fritter away just about all day today and achieve nothing.  Grr....Nath is fishing, kids are being good and I feel crap and can't be stuffed doing anything!

Meh, who cares it's the holidays right?

Lol...

 

How cool is this?

Check out what I got today - woohoo!

I have to say I've been a bit slack in the blog department lately.  Partly I'm really busy (aren't we all?) and I've been a bit of a wuss over the last few months about blogging certain things.  I have my reasons, but I'm hoping to be back to normal - hence my last couple of posts :)

Thanks girls - I'm very honoured to have won this prestigious award!

Hey if you haven't already, you should check out Aussie Scrapbooking.  It's got heaps of great info!

Wow two posts in one day - I might need a lie down I think!!!

Mope {mostly}

I'm shattered.

My poor cat, he still hasn't come home.  It's looking grim - tomorrow will be a week since he went missing.

I'm just devastated, heartbroken even.  I'm even teary just typing this.  I was only twenty when he came to live with us.  We lived in a feral mouse-ridden house and Basil-cat scared them off.  He was the most feral of the bunch that we looked at and he has been with Nathan and I since.  Fourteen years he's been with us - even longer than we've had kids.  It was Basil-cat that kept me company when Nath was away for work, who has played with Maddy outside, who Alex used to hand feed.  I'm just so sad. :( So sad. :(  I have work due and I'm too sad to do it.

And today is the same date I lost my best friend.  It's been sixteen years and I still miss her terribly. I hate this week.  In fact I hate this month.  If it wasn't punctuated either side of this week with my babies being born I think I'd like to be in a big deep sleep every June.  It just sucks.  Blah....

Anyway it's making me re-assess some stuff.  I've made no decisions but you know how changes bring more changes.  Sigh....

Okay enough melancholy, I don't want you to catch it!  I made these for Aussie Scrap Source using Grungeboard.  DAMN I love that stuff!  I'm so collecting more - it totally rocks!

I made this little photo wallet thingo, and this -

Lol...okay I'm going to leave now and play with my new scrapping stuff in some attempt to cheer myself up. 
Hope your weekend is good - school holidays in an hour, will see how we go.....

Happy feet and a sad heart...

I've been doing a spot of shopping this week.  Anyone who knows me will know about my love of Mary Janes.  The shoes, not the drugs - lol!  I just acquired these babies and I am in LOVE!!!

We had the dreaded gastro bug go through our house on the weekend.  It's now Wednesday and I think I'm only just catching up on the washing!  Having to forsake the usual laundry for all the extra towels and sheets and things has been a pain with wet weather but these things happen.  Poor Maddy copped the worst of it, then Alexander followed but not as bad.  He had a day and a half off school though - grrr....

This week apart from washing I've been scrapping.  I'll be able to share tomorrow I think. ;) I'm having this week off teaching so slowly catching up on stuff.  It's all good there.

Our very old cat Basil has gone missing and I'm so sad about it.  He's almost 15 so he's had a good run but it's bothering me that I don't know what happened to him.  He's been inside a lot lately, in front of the heater and walking slow and we thought we should have him checked at the vet, just to see how he was faring.  Anyway Nathan and I were patting him and holding him and he wanted to go outside and we haven't seen him since.  That was Saturday night. I've checked all the vets, the roads, the council, the neighbours, it's a total mystery and we're so sad about it.  He was mine and Nathan's 'baby' right from when we hadn't been going out that long.  He's lived in every home we've had, it was him that Alexander was chasing that motivated him to crawl.  Madeleine's first real words were "Meow" and he has just been adored by our family. I hope he comes home.  But I somehow doubt it.  I just wish we knew what happened to him. :(

And I was meant to go somewhere tonight and chickened out.  I even took the night off work, cancelled my class to do so.  Seems that it was a good idea since we're all so sad anyway.  I was meant to go and do some training with RTSTV to become one of their speakers.  Okay I'm not ready.  And I wanted to help look for Basil.  And tomorrow is the anniversary of the stuff that started it all in the first place.  And I'm just not ready.  And that's that!  So I didn't do it.  I didn't spend all last year dealing with this stuff to undo it all.  So maybe another time down the track.  Maybe.

So with that, I have a big box of new goodies to play with so I'm off to do that!  Two days until school holidays - ah sleep ins, no rushing, kids fighting...hmmm....lol

Seeya xxx

Freezing Friday!

Wow it is COLD here today.  I can actually see snow on the mountains from my front windows - woohoo!

I've had another full week, kind of glad that there's only one week until school holidays.  This term has FLOWN! 

I did Canteen duty for the first time ever - lol.  I now understand the whole process and what my kiddos are talking about when they ask for stuff!

I've got lots to share with you today so I'll just get straight to it!

Firstly, these for Scrapbook Creations magazine.  FINALLY got to use more of the Cosmo Cricket Gretel range that I love - the button and swirl bits I'd been hanging to finally use up!....and an OLD song by The Turtles...

This one with a quote by Picasso -

And this one too of my friend Raelene and I.  We're STILL friends to this day!  Love that girl to bits!

And...........it was my turn to be scrapped at Aussie Scrap Source this week.  The girls assumed I'd use Cosmo Cricket, and believe me I wanted to, but I tricked them by using Basic Grey - lol!

I did sneak in a Cosmo chip button ;) You can see the other girls' layouts in my 'style' here

AND

also for Aussie Scrap Source this week, my layout using the new Luxe range -

And lastly for now - this week's Book of Me class for Simply Said - Childhood Memories!

Okay we're off to basketball now - it's SO cold!  Takeaway for dinner - kids to bed, hubby out with the boys.  Tossing up whether I'd rather sleep or scrap.  I'm quite motivated to scrap at the moment as my desk area is all new.  I'll post pics of it all soon - it's a mess again already!

Have a good weekend!

How exciting....

Check this out  - Scrap Her Style

My turn - yay!!!!

Second Week of Winter stuff....

Well the long weekend was lovely even though I spent all of it right here, on my ass, at my desk!  I finally finished my work that I had overdue on Wednesday - crikey!  I've never been late for a deadline before - oh well, had to happen some time I guess!

So aside from scrapping like a mad woman, our kids have been busy too!  Alexander had an excursion to the local tour of the Alfred Brash Soundhouse.

In between scrapping like a flustered mad woman, I went as a parent helper and walked with the kids to participate.  It was so cool  They got to make their own music and even burn a CD!  They just loved it.  Mind you, it's not the most ambient piece of symphony but it's precious all the same!

Madeleine and I had a very special girl's night out on Friday with one of my girlfriends and her daughter as well.  We went to see the musical Cats.

I thought Maddy would be bored silly but she was completely enthralled.  Even when I started to get bored, she was still completely mesmerised.  It was so beautiful to get to take her to real theatre and to have her enjoy it.  Far out it was LONG though!  Amazing singers, gorgeous costumes and a visit from the felines at interval.  Madeleine being maybe the tiniest audience member there attracted attention from the cats who were more than happy to have their photos taken with Miss Moo who was wary at first until they talked to her.  Sweethearts they were.

Getting these photos too made me grateful that I finally bought a point and shoot Canon camera because I could not have been bothered lugging my SLR around with me all night!  Maddy clung to the program book all night and talked about it non-stop all of yesterday!

In scrapping news, I have another class date to announce here for next month.  I will be teaching Doodling at Scrapbook Sinners in Traralgon on Sunday July 13th.  I have THREE classes on in total - morning, afternoon and night so if you want to book in, contact the store.  Woohoo it will be a full on fabulous day of doodling delight!!!

And in other scrappiness, my first Weekend Inspiration post has gone up at Aussie Scrap Source

I couldn't have been any happier with the first one I got to do.  Cosmo Cricket.  Hello, I think something cosmic happened to allow me to use my favourite ever company first!  Woohooey woo hoo!  Okay enough of the woohooing, here's my contributions!  Click them to see them bigger :)

That above range is Get Happy.  It seriously MAKES me happy!  It's sooo cool!

This range is Honey Pie.  Perfect Maddy colours.  Perfect Nic colours - lol!  I actually taught this as a class at Simply Said a few weeks ago.  It's now in a lush shabby white frame and when it's finished with at the shop it will be living in Madeleine's room!

Well my computer is running like a snail today, it's driving me mad!  And I have a couple of scrappy things to get done so I'll leave this post here.  Anyone got snow yet?  I keep looking at the mountain out my windows but so far nothing.  Mind you it's about cold enough - yay!!!

Scrapping and Celebrating!

Thank goodness it's a long weekend - Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth and many happy returns if it means a long weekend!

My baby boy turned nine on Thursday.  As with every year I found it all bittersweet.  I love birthdays and this year he was the most excited he has ever been.  It's always a good opportunity for reflection too and it reminds me how fast the time I have with my babies has flown! Nine, yes NINE!  Wasn't he just born??

Anyway I spent the day baking these:

They are Pokeballs from Pokemon.  Apparently last year's were so cool that he needed them again and they were a hit!

I even got to see some finished friendship bands made by the children that I thought didn't understand what I was trying to teach them.  That was fabulous.  I just love the pride that kids (and adults) have when they show you what they have learned from you.

It makes sharing things so worthwhile!

He was a happy boy my Alexander!  He got the presents he wanted - Lego and Bakugan and then had his two best mates over for afternoon tea.  Same as last year.  I thought he'd do something different but this is what he wanted.  Since I'm working on a magazine feature right now, I needed new photos and these crazy boys put on a little show for me - lol!!

They are such good mates and I love how much fun they have when I get the camera out!

This is the face that only a mother could love above and I really do love this one below!

Happy Birthday Alexander!

He also surprised me with a simple cake request.  Nothing fancy this year just chocolate cake with fruit rings and Smarties please!

The family pics we had to have.....

I'm still completely smitten with this boy!

I noticed this in my photos - that how you cut your cake is all in how you hold your tongue:

And apparently same can be said later on when Madeleine was putting the lid on the soft drink - lol!

My sister brought Alex pizza for dinner and her and her kiddies stayed for dinner.  Bad light meant bad photos but I did get this cute one of my nephew Joshua who didn't like Nathan popping the paper bag but really begged him to do it again!

It was a great day all around!

I'm spending the whole weekend scrapping.  I have a TONNE of work to get through and for the first time ever I'm starting to doubt making the deadlines.  I'm remaining positive though as it's only temporary that I will have so much work on.  Speaking of scrapping here's a couple I did for the Aussie Scrap Source blog.  Firstly my use of  Glimmermist.  I wasn't too sure about this blingy product at first but wanted to have a go and well YUM!  I now have it in a few different colours it was SO much fun!

 

And I did this one for the Scrap Her Style challenge.  My second challenge was to scrap the delightful Mel Goodsell. I got to scrap her gorgeous Bella.

I think it actually ended up looking like a Melissa Goodsell layout and I had so much fun doing it!

You can see the other ones here

One more share - last week's class for Simply Said, from my Book of Me series...When I'm Gone...

That's about it for today.  It's amazing how much I can waffle on!!! Have a great long weekend xx

Sniff sniff

Aw it's so silly.

I'm working on a project right now which will document Alexander's growth from birth to now.

The quickest way to find old pics is in my old CM album since I used film back then.

So I'm flicking through the ovals and circles and reading all my journalling.  I've always journalled a lot.

So glad I made that album even though I think it's kind of ugly now.  That information is priceless to me.

Makes me even more determined to scrap even more.

Makes me a bit sentimentally teary too - how sad, happy and mooshy all at once!

Love those silly old albums.  Since my baby boy turns nine tomorrow, I still treasure them and can see how far we've come :)

Off to teach a class tonight - that's about it for today - seeya xx