our sunny long weekend...

It is a long weekend here...as Sunday was ANZAC Day here in Australia (25th April)...and also my nephew Ike's 7th birthday!

And for the forecast for the weekend was for sunny days of about 24C...beautiful....I love autumn...a bit crisper in the morning...and cooler nights...but lovely days...

Ben left for work on Friday...only for about a week or ten days...

So Saturday morning I attacked Evangeline's room....we did a lot of cleaning and sorting out in there...so it is a lot better now...

And then she helped me make a lasagna for dinner...she loves grating cheese...

Saturday afternoon I started a canvas ...I have had this idea in my head since January...and am finally getting onto it! It involves some of Ben's nautical charts...which I "aged" with coffee and walnut ink...some homemade stamps...and a canvas! I figured I had procrastinate enough...lol...I am not at all sure about the techniques of what I want to do so it will be an experiment! It is a canvas for my word for the year...family...as with my last canvas...I am letting Evangeline help...she help prepare the canvas with gesso...I think I will have to do a lot of it but think I will be able to let her help with the stamping...and maybe Morganne too....

Sunday...was another glorious day here...Lara came to play as her parents had 4 ANZAC services to attend ...

The other day Evangeline was asking about how bricks were made...then she disappeared off to make a mud brick...to fill the gap in the wall...So Lara and Evangeline decided to do some more" building"...so then I put them in the bath...And then a while later Morganne got in on the action! And then into the bath...Morganne has been drawing dinosaurs...see...two eyes and sharp teeth! She loves the Playschool Dinosaurs DVD...I do not mind her watching Play School as it is a fabulous creative arty musical theatrical children's programme....if you are not Australian you should really check it out...for ages about 2 - 6...

And if she isn't drawing...she is busy chopping up bits of paper...cutting is her latest craze....I got a cheap digital jelly camera for Evangeline in Target...for $20...she has been wanting a camera for a long time now but I did not want to spend a lot of money until she is older...this really works and she is SO happy with it! I have downloaded the pics onto her laptop (Ben's old one!) and shall pop them on a memory stick and put them on my computer soon so she can scrapbook!

I tried out a new recipe...Swedish Chocolate Balls or Chokladboll...very easy...and very yummy...kind of mocha balls really...best in the freezer as a bit sloppy...will try instant oats for it next time...and I tackled the ironing...

Morganne has been playing my violin...this is the one and only sculpture my dad ever made and so it is one of my most treasured possessions...he had a small picture of a violin from a magazine and decided to make this metal sculpture for me...it is fabulous...I have adhered the paper to my canvas...next step is to make the stamps...I have no idea how to do this..Now it is Monday... another wonderful sunny day...but not much happening around here...a bit of fun learning first thing this morning...some board games...and then puzzles and so on...Evangeline did some word puzzles and then wanted to write the words...Morganne did a few jigsaws and then sorted the cars etc... I have been catching up on a bit of house work...not that you can tell....groan...Mum is coming for tea so I have the slow cooker out....I am on the look out for some good Slow Cooker recipes...so let me know if you have a favourite...Lissy

dear diary...

I saw these cute diaries on a blog called Marta Writes...such a great idea...so I decided to make a child friendly version for Evangeline...she loves diaries and is learning to write...so a great tool for her to do some daily writing...inside I wrote...Dear Diary....Today...I saw....I played with...I ate...I like....I want to....and sewed the pages into a piece of scrap booking paper as a cover...then E used some of her letter stickers and such to decorate the front...and then she just fills in the blanks...Lissy

and it is over...

Two and a half weeks seemed like a long time...and now the holidays are over and school starts again tomorrow! The last week has flown by...

We had a bit of rain (which we needed) and dreary weather last week for a couple of days...but it is glorious weather again...about 25C today and the weekend was lovely and warm too...Yes it is autumn here believe it or not!

A busy weekend...we visited cousins on Saturday and Mum came for tea...We had E's friends for sleep overs on both Friday and Saturday nights...Ben still has to finish the roof on the tree house bed...then it will get painted pink....lol...and get some curtains in the windows and so on!And so some playing...And bike riding....We have had to cut down two trees...they are enormous lemon scented gums that are too close to the house and dropping limbs...in the storm last year they knocked over our pergola and nearly went through the bedroom window...we hate to loose any trees but we have about 40 more on our land...Fun for the kids to play in!A fete on Sunday...And family friends were visiting in the afternoon...and so we lit the bonfire last night! The kids were amazed! And today we have had a morning play date with Imogen and Jen...and I forgot to take photos of Jen's baby bump!

Evangeline loved these little paper dolls and city (from Made by Joel)...You can download them for free and E coloured them in...Morganne is busy doing little jigsaws with 2 - 4 pieces by herself...And watering is very popular...And so that has all kept me very busy too! Lissy

organising photos and a few layouts...

Most nights I have been editing and printing off photos...I trim them up and they then go into my Memory Dock...mine is a 12x12 Creative Page Planner Work Binder...with the date on a post it in the pocket..and sometimes a title idea and some journalling...ready for when I have time to scrap....which is mostly evenings as I do not generally ever watch TV...I take this folder to retreats with me and so my photos are all there sorted and ready to scrap...

I managed a couple of layouts over the weekend...


I had to go and buy more photo paper yesterday (I use Ilford Smooth Pearl which you can get from Officeworks or several places online) so I will do some more printing soon and add them to the file...I have an Epson Stylus Photo Printer (RX590) which I love...I just print my photos at whatever size I think might work for a layout depending on the quality and the number of photos...I find it convenient to print at home...

And then I will be onto some scrapping...and maybe a bit of sewing too...I have some very nice floral cord to make dresses for the girls...Lissy

echo...

Today we headed to the Perth Concert Hall with Jen and Imogen for an Echo Cushion Concert...the educational chamber orchestra...the girls love it...they were very excited before hand...All fun kid friendly music...And a chance to have a go! They tried the flute, the harp, the drums, the trombone and the clarinet!And only $10...a great outing...Lissy

this sunny sunday...

Today has been another lovely autumn day...I am not sure if it got to the forecast 28C but it was lovely...

And we have been busy...stamping on the paper we painted a while ago...I had forgotten I had loaned my grown up stamps to my SIL...so we only had teddy bears, fairies and such...and Morganne wanted to join in too so used my papers...And a bit of scrapbooking....And fairy gardening...And sand play...And block building...And more block building...And boat building...Evangeline built a boat for Morganne...And then they painted it together...fortunately this was just before bath time...It is supposed to rain for the next five days...we need the rain...but it is not good for school holiday activities! So not sure what we shall be up to...I have been trying to edit and print a few photos so I can do some scrapbooking too...Lissy

a day out...

Today we headed down to Fremantle...with mum, Annica and the boys...absolutely perfect weather...about 24C...A play in the park...Evangeline climbed straight to the top of this very high climbing gym...it is about 5m or more high and she is a real monkey! Then lunch at Fisherman's Wharf...A look around some shops...and then to this fabulous chocoholics cafe! Yesterday the other cousins popped in for a visit too...Ben's sister and family...Ben and Marg do not look anything alike...Ben looks like his dad and Marg looks like his mum!Tomorrow we have declared arty farty day...lol...as Evangeline wants to make stuff! And I hope to squeeze in some scrapping too...maybe tonight...Ben gets home in a few days! YAY...Lissy