around here...

Happenings around here have been dominated this weekend by SNAKES...we have had 3 very close to the house...one in the carport, one on the back verandah near the pool and one near the laundry door...small dugites (they are a highly venomous snake found here in Western Australia)...they have all been dispatched...the third one the dog had in it's mouth but was not bitten...obviously there is a nest quite close to the house.... I'm hoping all the siblings have gone far far away....we haven't been out side much since...

Other than that...I did a bit of scrap booking (see post below)...and had a night out with my mum's group on Sunday night...Evangeline went to a birthday party on Saturday...and to a friend's house while I was out on Sunday night...and Morganne practised her walking...so she is now taking lots of steps and mostly walking rather than crawling now...though she will still plop down and crawl a bit...She can reach the bench to get things...I am trying to get her interested in milk and she has finally drunk some...half a cup tonight...admittedly it did have a little Chocolate Quik in it...but she has totally refused both formula and milk up until now...And I myself NEVER drink straight milk...haven't since I was very young as the thought of it makes me sick...so maybe she is the same...but E and Ben do...so I figure she might get used to it...I am going to be away from home for the retreat in March and in hospital with Evangeline in April...so I want her to be able to have something other than water at bedtime and so on....but weaning has not been going well...and I do not want to force her to stop until she is ready...or unless she is getting towards two!

She is getting pretty good with a spoon these days too...especially if it is something like mashed potato...
Evangeline made her own afternoon tea today using her Pippi Longstockings tea set...and then washed up!
Other than that I am trying to get E to go to sleep earlier...she is often awake until 8.30 pm...in bed but awake...we have a good bedtime routine and she is in bed by 7 - 7.30...but then struggles to go to sleep...I am trying quiet music...and hoping things will improve as I do not feel she is getting enough sleep...

Mum came for tea Monday night and Sharon came for lunch today and brought CD of photos of Morganne's first birthday...shall get on and do a layout this week I think...

And that is about it for now! Lissy

it's been some time....

It's been some time since I last scrapped...I did the pages for Kim Archer's fabulous Life Snippets class the other day and then on the weekend decided to get stuck in and do a few pages using the photos I had printed out from months ago...such as Morganne at eleven months...she is now nearly fifteen months old...and Evangeline last April...and I had a lot of fun...most were pretty quick pages...

This is how I generally create a layout....
1. pick the photos and print at pretty random sizes depending on how many there are...
2. pick some papers that work well with the photo...(in my opinion that is and often not even working with the colours in the photos but the papers that look right with the photos)
3. create a background..often with some stitching involved...
4. put the photos on...
5. add a title and journalling...
6. and if I feel like it add some embellishments...

This all usually done pretty quickly and with not too much thought...sometimes I have to "fix" up mistakes but usually it works...I find the more I think about it the less I get done and the less creative I am ...so I generally just start slapping it all together...

So here are my pages...I apologise in advance for the bad pics of them... This one has one of the clear pockets on it over the journalling containing some of Morganne's hair at eleven months...

Anyway I hope you had a fun and creative weekend too...I shall post more about our weekend and week soon - it involved a few SNAKES! Lissy

a phone call...

A phone call was the highlight of the week...lol...not that we have had a bad week...but it was the first phone call we have had from Ben in about 2 and a half weeks...the reception was not good but it was nice to hear his voice...he is now in Australia again having crossed the Indian Ocean...So now he will be able to check out the blog and see what we have been up to...

The girls have been playing together in E's room a lot...so cute to see...E gets a bit grumpy when M messes up the game...lol...but mostly it goes pretty well...And worn out!
A usual busy week this week and I really have not taken many photos...we even went to Whiteman Park after school one day so Evangeline and her friends could ride their bikes and Morganne could crawl around on the lawn and I had no camera with me...amazing...lol...E went off with Shauna and Lara to the park for a play and tea one night too...

I had a lovely lunch at Taylor Studios in Middle Swan on Thursday with my friend Jen as it is her birthday today...Happy Birthday Jen! E had a sleep over at mum's last night so it is just Morganne and I at home...so quiet...we had lovely cuddles and chats in bed this morning...

Yesterday I found a snake near the car port....a small dugite again...each year since we have been here I have found a dugite near the house at this time of year...all only about a foot long...but still very off putting...

Evangeline can now independently write her whole name...she used to give up at Eva or have to copy it...but now she is very proud she can do it all herself!And she is doing great work with numbers...Both our girls are fruit lovers so the are happily tucking into all the seasonal fruit at the moment...peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums...even figs...and of course always watermelon, mangoes and grapes...Morganne is toddling...8 - 10 steps at a time...Pretty wobbly which is so cute and then she decides it is faster to crawl...She also loves to open and close the gate!And she is loving the tool bench...putting screws in and out of holes and containers...she can olso just reach the kitchen bench and has pulled some stuff off...so now I am keeping everything from the edge...
I have done a couple of pages for my 2009 Life Snippets Album...I'm a huge fan of Kim Archer and love to do her classes...they are good value and I love her style...it is all about using what you have and having fun with your scrap booking...I find I just relax and grab scraps and slap stuff down when doing a layout...and usually love the results...it is a great class for recording the year..and using some of those photos to remember each month and which you would not probably use to do a whole page...I will still scrap other pages and do some mini albums but it is nice that a snap shot of the year is so easily created...You can still join in if you want to check out her site...here is my cover page so far...and the month of January...I am doing mostly 8.5x11 but you can do 12x12...
And great news this week is our friend's little baby Charlotte is off life support, out of ICU onto a normal ward and getting lots of cuddles from her parents! Looks like she is doing very well...a long way to go but making fabulous progress! GO Charlotte!
E will be home soon and we are off to a birthday party...I hope you are enjoying your weekend...And I have to go as Morganne is getting into everything! Lissy

valentine's and hard labour...

Happy Valentine's all...not much happening around here...but I did tuck a card I made in Ben's bag before he left...and Saturday night we girls went off to Shauna's for tea as she is husband less for a few days too...we baby sat some friend's kids too so they could have a night out...the four kids all played well...dress ups, colouring and so on...Morganne went to sleep in the pram and we after tea we all watched Alvin & the Chipmunks...lol...

Ben's parents are off over east with their camper trailer for a few weeks...heading to Tasmania...they stopped in on the way on Saturday to say good bye to the girls...We are all a bit tired and grumpy around here...me included...lol...the dull and dreary kind of weather yesterday doesn't help...but today was a different story....a case of hard labour...

I got up and ironed for two hours as the pile was getting ridiculous, then cleaned for two hours as I wanted to get the floors done and then spent 3 hours out in the garden doing a huge clean up! Mum was here to help and she always helps me get huge amounts done in the garden....so a very productive day...Morganne is as pleased as punch with herself now on the ride ons....Our girls love each other so much...here they are giving each other cuddles and kisses in Morganne's cot this morning...I should be cleaning my studio now...or something productive like that but I am not...though I have made some alphabet cards for E...and I might just go and watch TV...I don't do that often...Morganne loves croissants...so does Evangeline...me too..lol...pity they are not a healthy option!I hope you have had a great weekend - Lissy

the turnip...

Isn't she the cutest turnip! Evangeline did a great job today in "The Enormous Turnip" at school...And she had to thank everyone for coming...Grandma, Ike, Ace, Diana and Penne were also there to watch her!

Evangeline has had a busy week too with her best friend Eden coming over to play...And meeting baby Sebastian (my friend Penne's little nephew who is just 3 weeks old)...Ike had a sleep over last night so they have been busy playing all day...they all got in Morganne's cot after her nap today! Yesterday Morganne and I went to Alli's for morning tea and had a rather divine piece of rosemary and lemon cake she made from a recipe from Olio Bello...scrumptious it was...

Ben is about 7 days away from Australia...so still out in the middle of the Indian Ocean somewhere...they have had some rough weather...

Tonight we (that is Diana, myself and the girls and Shauna and Lara) went off to a local park in Bayswater for a family festival...the girls had a ball...animals to pat, music to dance to, face painting...a nice small event perfect for kids...but I took a camera with no card in it....lol...oh well....here is our very tired puppy before bed time!I hope you have had a great week and have an even better weekend....Lissy

14 months...

So Morganne has hit the 14 month mark and is powering along...She is such a little character...She is almost walking...in that she will stand a lot and take 6-8 steps and then usually plops down and crawls...she has worked out how to get on and ride the "ride ones"...She likes to feed people with a spoon when she gets the chance...Morganne is very vocal and is always chatting and busy playing...she has 7 teeth...and I shall have to get her weighed and measured! Her favourite food at the moment is mashed potato and grapes...and she loves bananas too...She is so cute and we love her to bits...Lissy

play group...

Morganne and I went to play group to day...it is the Montessori play group at Evangeline's school and she had a great time! She was quite happy sitting on a little chair at a table playing with things...then outside in the sand pit...and she sat for ages at the table eating up her fruit for morning tea...she didn't quite know what was going on at the mat session but enjoyed it all...My friend Jen is there with her little girl Imogen, and a couple of mum's from Evangeline's class with their second kids...and I met some other nice mums too so it should be fun...Morganne is the youngest at 14 months...most are 18 months up to 3 years...the play group leader is lovely too...

IKEA...my second home...no not really...lol...but I went on Friday with Sharon...who by the way is looking just fabulous...I got another laundry shelf but they were out of the taller ones so I need one more then the laundry will be complete and oh so organised!! I have put all our swimming gear in one unit...coat hangers and cleaning cloths in another...and plan to put all those odd bits & pieces you have lying around the house in the third one...must get back into my room adn do some sorting too...

And onto Turnip Costume making tomorrow - Lissy

a BIG weekend...

Well we have had a really BIG weekend...not what you imagine though!

Friday night my friend Jo came for a visit...E always tells me I talk to her too much and it is her turn! She loves Jo...Morganne is standing independently now and is pretty chuffed with herself...And here she is outside on Friday...
But the BIG thing this weekend was the play room...I have been meaning to get into the playroom for months to sort it out...that is make it suitable for Evangeline and Morganne so they can both play in there...and I had been putting things on top of the cupboard and shelves to get them out of reach...it was also in a bit of a mess after having some kids over to play...

So I pulled everything out and set too it on Saturday morning...E and M were banished to the lounge room...I have gone through everything...throwing things out, putting things aside to be passed on...putting things away that are too advanced for M...putting all the stuff for M at her level...and organising and putting all E's stuff out of reach...And then I gave everything a good clean...so it took me a day and a half to do...I need some more rails and wooden drawers for E...and then it will be finished... Most fun was "decorating"...I brought out all my mini albums and old canvases and other off the page stuff I have done in the last few years to put around...that means more space in my room and the girls can enjoy them too...and MOST fun was putting up the rabbit and PLAY wall stickers! Both girls are loving their new revamped room...And playing with the fractions puzzles together...
This afternoon E has gone off to the movies with the Albans...M had a little sleep...I had hoped she would have a long one as I am tired too...she has been waking constantly until midnight or 1 a.m. for the last few nights...every 30 - 45 minutes...I think she must be teething...Anyway I am hoping it will pass...soon...

The bushfires over east are terrible...they have had such horrendous weather too...40+C and high winds...it must be devastating to have lost everything and whole towns wiped out...and even worse is the death toll...65 people dead so far...unbelievable...

Ben is some where out to sea west of here...a long way...they are about 600nm from Madagascar (1nm is 1852mtrs) and they are at 35 degrees south 56 degrees east he tells me (that is the latitude and longitude meaning 35 degs south of equator and 56 degs east of Greenwich in England)...there are some islands south of the boat where Albatross nest...as so he has seen a few which must be amazing! I have shown E some pictures and explained to her how big they are(12 foot wing span)and we have mesure it out on the floor...she is fascinated...

Not so good news this week either is some good friends of ours have a 4 month old little girl who is critically ill...what she has is extremely rare...I think it is calcium deposits in the arteries causing cardiac arrest...I am hoping that she will pull through...no parent deserves to be going through such a traumatic experience...and these friends took so long to have this beautiful little girl...here's hoping for a miracle and the treatment works...

We have a busy week ahead...lots happening plus M starts play group and I have to make a turnip costume for E for Friday...aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Anyway hope you are having a great weekend...Lissy

green things...

OK - so I have been working on my new green living list.....I never got one done last year...

Here is my list....10 things I can do... in the next 6 months or so....

Start composting... I have recently purchased a BOKASHI...they are a composting system you use in the kitchen...I have mine in the pantry...you can put fresh fruit and vegies, prepared foods, cooked and uncooked meat and fish, diary, eggs, bread, coffee grinds, teabags, wilted flowers and tissues in it...it isn't supposed to smell and so far it hasn't...We would like to have some chooks one day to eat up the vegie scraps but until Ben has time to build a yard that won't happen...and I think it is great that most of our food waste can go in here! Especially all the stuff that ends up on the floor when Morganne is eating! I got mine from One Earth Outlet in Balcatta...they have a special deal on at the moment...

Reduce water use in the house....need to get Ben to cut down his long showers....recycle some water at least from the shower...the girls share a bath so that helps...I try to have full loads of washing or dishes...

And reduce the amount of garden we have...We have mulched the garden which has helped...if things don't survive too bad...

Find a less harmful sunscreen....some have a lot of bad ingredients in them and I would prefer a safer option...not really related to the environment but more to our healthier living I guess...but to me that is all part and parcel of the same thing...I found some at One Earth...

Grow more vegies ourselves...as organically as we can....our vegies have been going great and taste terrific so I am keen to keep on with this one!

Get the chook yard built and get some chickens....to eat the scraps....

Find out about renewable energy in our state and see if we can switch....and keep trying to cut down on electricity usage in general....

Put up some shade cloth to shade the west side of the house so we can reduce the use of the air -con this summer...it gets so hot out here in the valley...we have had a few trees die and so will be planting some more to provide shade but they will take a while to grow...

And I like the idea of make more, buy less which I read about ages ago on another blog Lottielulu...I don't plan to turn into a a modern day version of The Good Life (does anyone remember that TV show with Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington?? I loved it as a kid!) But so much we buy is unnecessary and it is fun to make your own things...and food wise it sure tastes better...especially if you can throw in some home grown vegies! I am not sure how I will go with cutting down on what we are buying...especially non food wise but I plan on giving it a good go...

Recycle...I still have more clothes and house hold stuff to clear out and take to the charity shops including some furniture and toys...I am trying to reduce the amount of possessions we own that are just not used and unnecessary clutter...and so want to recycle as much as I can...I will still be collecting and taking stuff to school too for craft and so on...I think this has to be an ongoing process...

I found making a list last time really helped me actually put most of my goals into action...and the couple that I did not are still on this new list....

As I have said before I am just trying to do my bit....because I want to and I think it is important for the future...and all the little bits do add up.....Lissy

my sister...

It is my sister's birthday today...I posted the card I made for her the other day on here...I don't think she ever reads my blog much so there wasn't much chance of her seeing it...lol...we talk most days so it is not as if anything would be news to her! I think I am so lucky to have such a great sister...I know she is always there for me...She is two years older than me...here we are a few years ago...I went to IKEA today with Alli...I love that place...I bought a TV cabinet...a red lockable metal one as M keeps getting to the TV...and put it together by myself...and some shelving for the laundry with pull out plastic drawers...put that together myself too...so I am rather impressed with myself...lol...now the laundry is kind of organised...and I am going back tomorrow to get more shelving since I worked out two more units will fit in the space in the laundry then I will be super organised!! I am so sick of everything being piled up or on the floor because there is nowhere to put it! This time Sharon is meeting me there!

And I plan on tackling the playroom tomorrow and on the weekend too...and I need to do some gardening...

This is one a layout I did the other day from a Kim Archer class...it always gives me a kick start when I need one if I do one of her layouts...I didnt quite get this layout right but it will do...Anyway I hope you are having a good week - Lissy

first day...

Evangeline had a good first day at school...she is in Children's House at Riverlands Montessori with the same children and teacher she has had for the last two years...I like that continuity...she is in pre primary...Morganne started swimming lessons today and enjoyed that...and then had a big nap...And I had lots of fun playing with Morganne...building towers of blocks and so on...it is nice to have the time with her as I did with Evangeline...And a swim again this afternoon...she is eating well now and mostly not having any feeds at night...she does not like cow's milk though! But is happy to drink water and tries any new food we give her...anyway that is it for today...Lissy

and the holidays end....

Today is the last day of our holidays...our school starts back tomorrow (Wednesday)...It has been pretty warm these last few days so not much going on around here...but I have been doing a little decorating to cheer us up since Ben left...Ben arrived in Africa OK and is on the boat and he managed to call us briefly tonight...they are at the bottom of South Africa somewhere heading east...Here is the new wall stickers in Evangeline's room....and in Morganne's room...and in our room...I love them all...I was waiting until we painted but that could take us years so I decided to go ahead and put them on the walls...They are all individaul stickers that you put where you want to make a mural...I will now finish E's curtains since Ben put up the rails before he left...
And this week M has discovered my paints...fortunately she doesn't know they open as yet!And she can climb into this play table but gets stuck....lol...E has been practising writing her whole name...usually she stops at Eva...And Evangeline took this pic of Morganne having a nap...Evangeline is very keen for Morganne to start walking...and tonight has been trying to help her! She has taken the odd couple of steps today...I have tried to explain that it may take a while yet! And Morganne finally has a new tooth! So now she has seven!
And for the last day of the holidays we spent the day at AQWA....the aquarium with friends and both girls loved it! The tunnel was fabulous where you can see all the fish and sharks and stingrays and so on swimmming around...but it was the touch pool that they both loved most...we will definitely go again even though it is expensive...And that is about it around here...Lissy