I love school holidays! Ours were so busy this time around. We had Grandma the first week and we all went off to the Perth Royal Show and then we dived straight into preparation for Riley's 5th birthday party, I can't believe he is 5, both of my boys are getting so tall.

One thing I really wanted to do was keep taking Alec swimming, so we set off for Arena and both boys had a ball I am going to make it one of those weekend rituals and the fact that the pool is heated means we can do it all year. I'm also enrolling them in swimming lessons after Christmas, swimming was something I can always remember being able to do as we had a pool in the back yard

We went nice and early which was just as well because the crowd was really filling out as we left.

Pinata mayhem.. 5 year olds seem to be old hands at birthday parties and all knew what to do, I bought the pulling one and a few little boys were disappointed there would be no bashing.

And here are some Buzz and Bloom layouts I have done recently, I'm loving lots of bits right now, I have to go shopping for some more but every time I think.. yes scrap shop time something else breaks down, my scrap budget now resides in out laundry but you get that don't you.

I had a big title worked out for this but in the end Lego was the only thing that looked right so that is what I went with.

These photos are from January 2004 and I had never scrapped them probably because they are on my wall
I can remember the day he was born so well still and all the other years seem to have gone by so quickly
And I love this, Riley picked out these boots at Harbour Town (outlet mall type thing but on a very small scale)

Labels: everyday, kids, layouts, Riley, scrapbooking, stuff, the boys

at 6 something this morning I was rudely reminded by my first born that it was in fact my birthday.. 42 today, seems a bit unreal I am still coming to terms with turning 30 so 42 has a long way to go before it worries me. So while the kids torment their father before they go to bed I have snuck in to check my ebay bids, I haven't ebay'd for about 6 months so it is all a bit nerve wracking especially considering Michael had me place an $80 bid on some star wars figures!!!! If we win it it will be Riley's major christmas present.

The day started slowly, Michael went for a hair cut then came home and helped me clean the house, mum was coming you see. She also told me off for having him help me, apparently it is against nature, you wouldn't think she was a teenager in the 60's would you, very skewed view of male female roles. Mum bought afternoon tea and we had a nice visit, for once they didn't have to rush off. Michael and I made dinner together and then he washed the dishes.. don't tell my mum!

The boys were a great help, Alec washing tables and scrubbing pots, he even cleaned the bath for me, he and I took a quick trip to the shops to buy him a bionicle, which he loves! you see he lost his second front tooth, we had to write the tooth fairy a note because we think this one is in the bottom of the swimming pool at Arena. So we spent his tooth money.

Now I am off to read a book and have a bit of cake, my house is clean and my boys are on their way to bed. It has been a nice birthday, lunch with Lissy yesterday and a family day today.

Life is good.

and for the twopeas blogger challenge today.. I love this, it is a time capsule I made for Alec in 2005, it has so many memories inside, I must ad to it. I made it from a postal tube

Labels: altered things, everyday, off the page, scrapbooking

if I knew then what I know now, I would have run inside and put a bra on because 23 years and 2 babies leaves its mark.

I was truly amazed yesterday when I found a plastic bag of photos I thought were lost forever, and among them several photos of me as a youngling, 19 seems young now but I am surprised when I look in the mirror and don't see this girl, I still feel like her. The most amazing thing I found was a 28 year old polaroid photo of my first boyfriend, I laughed so much, I am going to scan the polaroids I can't believe they have kept so well.


And here I am at 2, I have mourned this photo thinking it lost forever, you see when I left my previous life I didn't think much about things like photos and mementos, I left a lot behind, but I am thrilled to have found these gems from the past. (these two are printed and ready to scrap, thought it was about time I added to my book of me)


Ta daaaaaaaaaaa my bed arrived this morning, I almost did myself an injury putting it together, actually just trying to get the plastic off was hard. I need a bigger bed spread, this one wont tuck in at the sides, this is a seriously big bed, I need a cover that measures atleast 165cm (66 inches). Would you believe I have had a lay down on it yet, I am saving that for after I have picked up Alec, I'm going to kick my shoes off grab my book and read for an hour!

Labels: scrapbooking, stuff

I so wish I did more these days but I am enjoying what I am getting done. This took the better part of the day, I made myself wait for things like glue to dry. I can be terrible at trying to rush because I want to see the finished page, now I am trying to enjoy the process a little more too.

So here is poor old Riley, I thought it was a story that needed to be remembered. He looked so sad, he told me he couldn't smile anymore or eat, neither lasted long



And now for a major whine... several weeks ago we misguidedly purchased a bed from Ikea!!! well do you want to imagine how I felt when at 3am said bed gently lowered me to the floor, the slats had fallen off the frame. This happened again and again to the point where I now hate the bed. I called and let my displeasure be known and they offered a full refund, but you can't imagine what the thought of dismantling the bed and then actually being able to find a way to return it left us feeling. So Michael did some gerry rigging and while I still hated it I wasn't going to end up on the floor, until this morning at 5:30am.

It had this rather pathetic beam down the middle and while it is firmly attached at either end the middle bit is twisted and the slaps just slipped off. I talked to Ikea again and supplied photos, I waited all day for a call back but nothing yet so I called again, I want that bed gone and I would so love them to come and get it!!! There is obviously something wrong with it so they should come and get it and give me a refund... oh and to top it all off the latex mattress stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my bedroom smells like a toilet, I don't know how much longer I could have waited for it to air out anymore, 5 weeks would be enough don't you think, I'm so not looking forward to going to bed tonight, it stresses me out no end.

*NEWS FLASH*

I'm thrilled to report that Ikea are going to give us a full refund for the bed and oh so stinky mattress, I am still an Ikea lover, in fact we are going to pick up a new bookcase for the boys this week, we just aren't going to buy any more beds from them, just to be safe.

Labels: scrapbooking, stuff

Well i finished my r2d2 album, I am happy with it and I loved using the bind it all, this was the first time i was truly happy with the coils, they finished up round. I'm not sure if this is because I used the uncoated silver coils opposed to the painted ones on other projects or that I just got it right.
Saturday morning saw us off early to mum and dad's house, they have just moved in. We arrived with lots of scones and the boys ran wild exploring and choosing which bed was whose in their bedroom. Alec doesn't want to do a sleep over but was happy enough to pick a bed so we will see what happens.

A couple of weeks ago Michael won some tickets to Scitech on the radio and we picked them up yesterday and took the boys. To be honest in the first five minutes I was ready to go home, the next ten minutes I wandered behind the children dejectedly wishing to be anywhere else but there, after the first half hour I realised I would survive and the kids had settled down and were really enjoying themselves.

I think their favourite was the construction site, most of that pink wall comes down and they collect the bricks and build the wall. Once Alec put the last brick in he stood guard and didn't want it touched. I suggested perhaps he pull it down so he would then be able to build it all over again. Just the sight of him holding back a pack of kids from the wall was a fair indication some intervention was needed. So down the wall came and off they went again.

Today Michael took Alec to soccer as Riley has a bad cough and it was freezing out, Alec now has a major case of the sniffles so it is pancakes and movies for us today.

Now on twopeas today I asked about journaling, I am trying to do more and get more down, below is a conversation I had with Alec but I have no photo. I do have a photo from close to the date that I was going to have in the background, still not sure, this is it with no photo.

Labels: mini books and albums, scrapbooking, the boys

Alec started soccer 4 weeks ago. Yeah that's nice you say, well it is actually pretty fantastic. You see it is very hard for autistic kids to play team sports. So many different rules, things changing from second to second. Yet here we have Alec who is thriving, getting in there and loving it. Every goal he celebrates as though it was his goal, he feels, and I think he likes what he is feeling, instead of confusion there is euphoria, he looks as high as a kite, he flaps his arms and he makes funny noises and I think that is part of the appeal for him, he doesn't have to hold those mannerisms in because most of the other kids are doing the same thing.

Now for the not so good news, he is having trouble recognising peoples faces, it is made so much harder by the fact that the kids wear a school uniform now. We are going to do a set of photos for him with everyone photo and name for him to keep in his desk. Emotionally he is on a bit of a rollercoaster right now, up one minute acting like a teenager the next, he can be so dramatic. Last week I wouldn't let him play his computer game, or maybe I said he couldn't bring something somewhere, well the next thing you know according to him I had ruined his life.. Michael pointed out he was about 10 years too early to be feeling that way.

We have reintroduced his schedule at school, it helps so much and it is one more thing to reduce any stress he might be experiencing. Stress for Alec is bought on by not knowing what to do next, not knowing what is expected of him, too much noise and things like not knowing how to react appropriately to a situation. I sometimes find it hard to remember the little boy that didn't talk and hid under tables and screamed all the time. He has come so far and he has embraced every bit of therapy we have given him but some things will always be there and we teach him coping strategies.

And as for Riley, well he is such a complex little thing. We try very hard to make sure he is getting everything he needs, right now he needs lots of positive strokes, we give him little jobs to do, bringing in the washing, emptying parts of the dishwasher and tidying the playroom and give him lots of praise, we are building his self esteem up, Alec has it in abundance but as Riley is very shy we want him to break out of his shell a little more and this is the first step. Funnily Riley has the confidence to speak to adults but almost looks afraid of other children.

Here is my gorgeous big boy coming off the field, couldn't think of a title so this is how it stays... we are all off for flu shots this afternoon and Riley is getting his 4 year old vaccinations, wish me luck, I hate needles and I will probably get mine first to show them how brave mummy is...

UPDATE: the doctors went well after an initial hitch, they had booked us with the wrong Dr Chris, we see the same doctor all the time, it is really important for Alec and he wouldn't see the other one, so in the end our Dr Chris was good enough to see us during his lunch break, I went first, then Alec who was a bit shaky but happily announced it didn't hurt at all I didn't have to be brave after all!

Labels: autism, scrapbooking, soccer

So this was great, I really enjoyed it. It took me 3 days but that is ok I now have something I love. And you know what else for the first time I used things from the same design line, I mean what in six years you never thought to do this, it just all worked and that is what I love.

Much of my inspiration came from saturn art I would love that much energy in my work all the time but will settle for every now and then.

So there is lots of foam tape, a bit of felt and the letter stickers are on transparency that I cut around, gave me more control and then I didn't have to worry if I hated where they were.

I'm looking forward to my next layout now, once I clean the table top.. one of those never ending repeating things, still not as drudgish as laundry though and clears the mind for more creating

Labels: scrapbooking

Challenge~ Is creating "beautiful art" more important than the process of creating?

Well lately I haven't been seeing much art in my work as I go through the creative process. When I MUST do something I feel stressed and unsure during the process. Then at other times it all just flows out and I love the process and the finished product.

I really think that the process is just as important as the finished product, I love things I enjoyed making more than ones that stressed me out and I think it shows too.

Even though we usually don't share the steps we took to create something I think they are an important part for us, what made you decide on those colours? what made you choose that paint? how did you know those things would work? these are the things I ask when I see art that makes me go wow. Those were all the questions that went through my head when I saw THIS by Saturn_art / Michelle Clement This is art, what I love most is what she has done with the bubble wrap, this page is so alive, I want more of that life in my work

Labels: scrapbooking

What do you think? I think something is missing, I thought maybe a transparency or just letter stickers right across the front, or letter stickers on the transparency, might have to play with that one.

It is going to be a combined school photo and certificate/award album so a pretty long term thing.

Any suggestions are very welcome! (I don't have a single school type thing apart from the numbers!) and I'm not sure how I want to bind it so it is being left intact for now, cause one day I might have a bind it all... LOL I am going to start a bind-it-all money jar

Labels: scrapbooking

We had a rough weekend and I don't really feel like reliving it so I am going to show you my last Buzz and Bloom assignments. The live out loud page is being done as a double at the Wave Rock retreat next week, I think this is the layout that has made me happiest for ages, I just love it.



And I have some other pages up on the Buzz and Bloom site - HERE

Labels: layouts, scrapbooking