long weekends, wine & family

what more could you really ask for.

ages ago, we booked a trip up to the Hunter Valley for the long weekend. as time grew nearer we decided to take a few extra days and enjoy ourselves up there. We also persuaded mum and mandy to come along as well as my gorgeous friends Dallas and her two girl.

we were camping and YES it was cold but we enjoyed every minute of it.

we went shopping, drank coffee, drank wine, drank more and more, went to the Hunter Valley garden which were spectacular, ran around in parks, ate, drank beer, laughed a lot, talked ourselves silly........ did i mention we drank?

we had a blast.................. so now get ready for photo over load.

outside the British lolly shop were we all spent a fortune

Miss Abby...... she loves jumping in puddles and was only allowed to do it every night before shower time. Too Cute!

always take time to smell the roses - i just had to say it!

mum - a big kid at heart

Look at my sister - and my kids thought they got their craziness from me!

cant go to to gardens and not have a token photo with humpty

the book look gigantic against the kids

here she is again - well what can i say to that!

me and gorgeous nephew

mine and Dal's beer tasting palette from the Potter's brewery - which was great! almost as good as Blue Tongue

i love this family shot

well that;s just a snippet from our weekend. that's not even some of the best photos, just some of the most memorable.

cant wait to go back up there again on Friday.

YES, you did read correctly, i am going back up the hunter this weekend but this time with my girlfriends from school. This will be our 3rd annual trip up there and i cant wait, we always have the best time.

quote of the week......

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.

~Charlotte Brontë

virgo

I received this email today and it gave a description of your Star Sign.
I've read so many different things about my sign but this truly hit the nail on the head. I couldn't explain my personality before as it is so diverse. It is rather scary to read as it feel like it was written just for me.........

VIRGO - The Perfectionist (Aug 23 - Sept 22 )
Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager.. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

frazzled dazzled

Oh dear!
I have come home from reading at school and coffee with friends to this massive mess in my backroom. I have no idea where to start cause i cant even get in there.
It's all the challenge kits and half of the class kits for the July Retreat. I hate to see it when all the product arrives.
The worst part is i need to do the ironing which is in the other corner - oh well!

well, i still have two and half hours before the kids come home, so with so miracle i might just get it all sorted , LOL

Bag Ladies

I had the most fabulous day yesterday.

Tracy and i had been talking for ages about having a sewing day instead of a scrappy day, so we finally decided yesterday was the day.

I dragged out my sewing machine (which had a heart attack, so i used Tracy's anyway), a stack of fabric and an array of different patterns i had collected.

I wanted to try my hand at sewing some bags, so we (more like me!) decided on one we liked and started cutting. The pattern made no sense but between the two of us we worked it out.

Here is what our bags turned out like

we are so excited by the end result.

there were a few learning curves and now we worked out what they are we will certainly be making some more.

quote of the week.........

Give up what appears to be doubtful for what is certain. Truth brings peace of mind, and deception doubt.
Muhammad Ali

life just gets crazy some days

ain't that the truth!

Tell me where has the past week gone? i feel like i just blinked and i woke up in today and a moment ago it was last Monday! anyways...................

we've been busy, busy, busy here.

Last Wednesday i started my cake decorating class with one of the mums from school. we had so much fun and are totally loving it. i cant wait to go back tomorrow and finish my roses. i promise to take photos of them too.

After our class we had a great time walking around Rouse Hill shops and had a scrummy lunch. We only just raced in the door in time to get the kids from school in time.

Friday i had to take Connor out of school for him to see Dr Lydia. He just loves her and whatever she says to him makes sense cause he is a different kid when he comes home. As his appointment was mid morning we headed up to mums for lunch and so we could see Hunter.

The weather was so bad driving up i aquaplaned on the road and could bearly see out the windscreen. It was rather scary.

Saturday was super, super busy.

I met Jo and Rosey from 3 Angels Scrapping at the Collaroy Centre for a site visit. I was a little late cause the person who thought i was ringing was actually the wrong number - whoops!

What a gorgeous centre.

The views are just divine looking out over Long Reef and Collaroy. I cant wait to go.

there is still plenty of spots available if you would like to join us at The Arty Farty Angel Party retreat, 26-28 June 2009.

Click HERE for more details.

Once i headed back from the beach and got home, the kids got changed and we headed out to dinner up to Katoomba. How many kilometers had i traveled????

We went with some friends to this cute pizza place where the kids could make their own pizza dough creations. they get baked and then get to bring them home. Well that kept them amused for a while:)

The food was great and the company was better, so a good night was had by all.

Here are some piccies of the kids and their dough:

Sunday morning Joh and i took the four kids to the movies to see Night at the Museum 2 which was really funny.

Joh and i are in the midst of some grand plans so stay tuned for that one.

well it's Tuesday........... and I'm off to Nic's house to play.

quote of the week...........

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

~Milton Berle

we had a great weekend!
saturday i was pretty sick and was in bed until about 3pm when i just bit the bullet, got dressed and drove the kids up to mums so we could see Hunter. why, because he's just too cute and we all miss him so much.
i was in the mood for Harry Potter so i started at number 1. Shanice was into it too and sat and watched them with me and then we conned mum into it, so there we sat, 3 generations watching Harry Potter and knitting! i am such a Nanna.
sunday came around in the blink of an eye. uncle peter came up to mums to cook us all breakfast which is exactly what everyone needs to start the day on a sunday. it was YUM.
i told the kids we needed to leave at lunch time cause we had to get home so they could do their homework, but it was such a glorious day, i rang anthony and told him to jump in the truck, grab some kfc for lunch and meet us at crosslands.
we had a great time. running around and laughing. doing things and enjoying being a family. one of the best things was mandy and hunter came with us! mum stayed home cause mum needed mum time which i can totally relate too.
i told the kids that they could go for a walk on the boardwalk. i specifically told them not to talk to strangers and to stay together. i trust my kids and knew they would be good and sensible. what i forgot to tell them was to only go the viewing platform. they had been gone for about 15 minutes and anthony had arrived with lunch and i thought i'll just go and grab them, figuring they'd be on the platform or swinging off a vine next to it - WRONG!!!!! i go to the platform and thats when i saw them way up track heading back. it looked like they were headed for the 7 kilometer walk to berowra waters, lol.
they were so good! next i specify * strangers * stay together * AND only to the platform!

here are a few pics from our great day

hunter having a ball in his jolly jumper

quote of the week................

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.

~Oprah Winfrey