Finished another layout from my class

I did this one based on what Mickey told me yesterday. I love how it turned out, and for the first time I have been able to include one of my many journal entries into a layout. 

Kids' Musical

On Thursday, we headed to the Civic Centre to watch the annual production that the school puts on. As a teacher and a parent, I can totally understand and appreciate the amount of work that goes into these plays. John the producer of each musical has an incredible talent for putting it together. He not only writes the musicals, but produces and directs the production, choosing music and rewriting their lyrics to be pertinent to the show! Sometimes the musicals have the entire school in them - about 400 kids!! This year, it was only the 6s, 7s and 1s. We took the little ones and had a family night out. It was great to all go together and see BillyJoe’s part in his final primary school musical. He didn’t have a major part, but was a dancer as part of a group. I encouraged him to audition for a part, but he was too shy. I’ve seen him dance, when he thinks no one is looking and I think he could do well. Not all parts were singing parts, so he could have auditioned for it. Because he is a ‘good’ kid, I know he would have been in contention anyway..... It was a nice family night. We got home late, the kids got to bed at about 10.30pm, Peter and I still had something to eat and then headed off to bed an hour later. I kept the kids home the next day. It was the last day of term,no need for them to go really......

Mickey's realization

Mickey came up to me yesterday and asked about the other “Uncle Ricky’ - not the one that has Julia and Kiana, but the other one.... I said, you mean Onkel Vikki, ?
”Yeah Mum that’s the one. Where is he?“

”Honey he died, remember. He’s in heaven“

HIs lip dropped and I could see him thinking and I could almost feel the questions which were in his heart.
”Come here Sweetheart. Sit on my lap and tell me what you’re thinking“.

He just buried his little head into my neck and started to cry. It was at that moment, that he realized the finality of death. That incredible split second, where he realized the finality and irreversible nature of death.

I explained to him, that we all die. That people get old and die. I told him that was much better than being sick and young and dying, and how important it was to make the most of all the people we love while they are with us. I told him Onkel Vikki was in heaven and that we would all be together one day.

”Can we breathe in heaven Mummy?“

” I’m not sure we need to Honey.“

By this stage, I was getting a little teary. My grief not that far below the surface for Onkel Vikki’s loss either. I went out and brought in some washing, Mickey headed off with some sense of urgency. He came back to me with a lanyard. On the lanyard was hanging a picture which he’d labelled

‘I love Mum and Dad and Onkel Vikki”

His last actions affected me most of all. He stood in front of the photo of  Onkel Vikki and myself and put little crosses on our hearts and our heads.

Everyday you grow up a little more little man. I love you - and I love the ‘bigger boy’ that you are fast becoming.

I love the softness in my kids and the fact that family is paramount to us all.

I still have the email my Dad sent, telling me of Onkel Vikki’s death. I rarely if ever print out emails, I couldn’t bring myself to delete that email, so I had to print it out. I can’t delete his address in my address book, nor my Oma’s for that matter and she died 14 years ago. Some things can’t be erased.

I never remember the exact date of your passing, dear Onkel Vikki, but tonight, I light a candle for you.

All set up

Handheld iso 1600 shutter 1/25 aperture 3.5

Thank goodness we have the foresight to hire someone to do this job for us. Lenny spent two and a half hours setting up the TV, DVD, VCR, Austar box and put everything including my computer, printer, modem, and speakers through a fandangled gadget which protects everything from fusion and surges of power. He even had to drill a bit out the back of the cabinet because the DVD player didn't quite fit with all the fittings on the back of it........ Stress free and worth every single penny of $125. So my darling Bunny could come home and just see the awesome picture, no swearing, no angst, no anger.........

I got my new camera out, which is calling very loudly to me. I want to study the manual and the controls some more. I am really liking how easy it is to change things like the ISO, much easier than the 300D. Because the reviews said it did a great job at a higher iso, I was keen to try it out. I never had much luck with the 300D, the noise was always quite strong and that was at 800!

Handheld - no flash 

Shutter 1/15, Aperture 3.5, ISO 1600

Another layout

I thought I wrote a lot before, now I'm writing much more. Between my blog, incidental journalling and in MacJournal, I am having a great time. I completed this layout today, using the papers from the kit supplied in the class. I spent too much time looking for papers, and this meant I was concentrating on the techniques rather than looking through my stash. I am really enjoying using the templates. This layout uses a wordle creation as my background paper.

Thank goodness

That today is a quiet day. The last four days have been frantic. Just really really busy with everything coming together as it's sometimes prone to do. I am really happy today, to be home having an extremely peaceful day. I have spent the morning clearing up all the stuff that was in the old TV cabinet and deciding what to do with it. I couldn't get over the amount of user manuals I had, gosh we collect some stuff.  The new cabinet looks lovely, very different to what we had before, as the old one was square, deep and high. This is modern, low, sleek.  And doesn't hold as much crap!!  On the plus side, it's got doors and drawers so the stuff is neatly stowed away.  

The last two days were busy, because as Murphy's Law of supply teaching kicked in again, I worked for two days. Which meant Peter had to get the TV and cabinet yesterday without me. He also took the old one and got $50 for it which will go towards the cable guy who is coming today to hook everything up for us.  Unfortunately Bunny got a flat tyre while doing this, so $25 of it went on having a puncture fixed!! What is it they say about in one hand and out the other! 

On Monday morning before I headed off to work, I had to proof read Billy-Joe's assignment, which we were so happy was all done, and then with the bussyness of the weekend, we'd forgotten to proof read it and it was due in on Monday. I also had to empty the stuff out of the old cabinet, so I got Mickey to help me with that.  I had a great day at work and was promised the same class for Tuesday which was fabulous. As luck would have it, Billy-Joe's appointment was yesterday with the paediatrician at the hospital. It was at 2.50pm, which was impossible to get to after work. My Mum and Dad came in on white chargers and rescued me there. They picked up the other kids and met me up at the hospital. I had to organize another teacher to supervise my students at the bus stop so I could leave early. Then, to add another spanner in the works, Sammy woke up with awfully sore and puffy eyes from his allergic conjunctivitis. Poor little mite, no amount of ice and antihistamine drops was able to settle it before school, so I had to leave him home, and thankfully Peter was only 10 minutes away and he came home and got Sammy and then they did all the running around for the new TV and Cabinet.  

The specialist we saw yesterday afternoon was great. He is incredibly thorough and is looking into Billy-Joe's asthma, as though it's not been diagnosed at all. So he is having all the preliminary allergy tests and lung function tests, so we know what we are dealing with.  My little man was very brave as they took four vials of blood from him.  He didn't even shed a tear, but held my hand all the same.  I went into IGA and bought chickens and coleslaw for dinner. I went up and picked up the other kidlets who were pretty excited because they'd had their first swim for the season. Mum went in too which was awesome. I can remember when my Mum first moved here, her benchmark for the weather warming up was that she always got into the pool on or around her birthday which is on the 8 September. In recent years, that date has been and gone and Mum hasn't gone into the water yet. It's just not hot enough, and we become blase to the glorious weather we have sometimes, and the urgency isnt' so great anymore to go and have a swim. So yesterday was the first time I think she's been in this early in the Spring.  It was an absolutely glorious day, in the high twenties and the kids were rapt to have had an early and unexpected swim.  All the way home in the car they talked about the game they'd played and how they couldn't wait until the pool at the unit next week.  Thanks Mum and Dad for your help yesterday. I don't know what I would have done without you.

We got home at around 5pm. Billy-Joe brought the washing in and I proceeded to clean up the mess from the old cabinet having left. The dust on the floor was disgusting, plus the new stuff was just spread out everywhere - a disaster area, and I can't function with everything in disarray. I cleaned all the cables - far out there must be a thousand cables.......and the dust - just gross.  So all the bits and pieces are clean and dust free, and at least when the cable guy comes I won't be embarrassed because of the dust bunnies, so that was worth getting organized.  Plus I was able to put the new cabinet in its place and put all the lounge chairs back. Last night we put the TV together, which was a bit of a challenge, but it looks lovely and just huge!!

Now I have vacuumed and tidied and I can 'play'. I had nearly finished my class layout on Friday, so I finished it just before and I'll upload it. Love the class.  

A normal evening tonight, and with a new TV to watch. A normal evening meal. No reno, no unpacking, no re organizing, no tidying just chilling out.

Busy, love, lucky and idol

What a busy weekend. Yesterday started with a lie in and a companionable breakfast with my husband. We 'strategized' our day, planned our menu for dinner and then set off on our separate ways. Mr Bunny took Sammy to his footy break up at Top Shots, while I stayed home and dealt with the bottomless pit of washing which descends on our home everyday. Billy-Joe, with is awesome work ethic, set about finishing his assignment of the respiratory system. Mickey harassed me to bits, to wrap the present and head off, even though the party wasn't for another couple of hours.

We headed off to Zone 3, delivered an excited Mickey and then went over to the shopping centre. I wanted new rashies for the kids, and a shirt that I could wear as a cover up on the beach, or to wear when leaving the beach. I found a new bathing suit and a shirt at Rockmans, and with 30% off, I was wrapped. We rushed back to get Mickey and then went home. By this stage it was nearly 4pm.

I cooked a yummy dinner of roasted and grilled vegetables on turkish bread with a pesto sauce - just delicious. Plus we had an awesome evening together. I consumed a bottle of champagne and we laughed and listened to music and had a great time.

Today we got up, we had a nice breakfast together. Mickey and I had pancakes, and Bunny had bacon, eggs, and left over pesto on the left over turkish bread. Looked delish, but too ambitious for me for breakfast.

We went to Harvey Norman today and took advantage of the 50 month interest free program that's on at the moment. We bought a plasma TV and wait for it..............




I got this!

I am the proud new owner of a Canon 450D. I am using my camera class money to pay for it, and I am very excited and very happy. My old camera has taken over 10000 images, and is getting rather sluggish. This is 12.2mp jam packed of features and speed which is just unbelievable. Had we not bought the TV I would have waited until I'd saved some more money than I already had - but with the limit needed for 50 month interest free, I wouldn't have been able to buy it on its own. I feel like I have all my next two years worth of birthday and Christmas presents come at once. The camera is smaller than my 300D, which is good, and means it's also lighter. I find it hard sometimes walking around with it hanging around my neck. I am really excited as we are going away next weekend, and I will get to really try it out - I wonder how many pics I'll take during that holiday!

Our afternoon continued to be busy, as we needed to buy a low cabinet for the new TV too. The ones at HN were too expensive for us, so we had to go to AMART and the HOME centre. We found a really nice one from the same place as where we bought our bookshelf from. By this stage the kids were incredibly cranky, but we were happy as we'd achieved all we'd set out to accomplish. It was an exciting afternoon. Some people are into extreme sports, I'm into extreme shopping! I get such a huge adrenalin rush buying big items like that. I don't know why, it's just exciting, and nerve wracking, and scary and wonderful all at once......

I spent the afternoon reading my camera manual and waiting for the battery to charge up!

DB has the bathroom completed almost and just needs to put the shower screen which he will put in tomorrow.

We are calling this week, our wind down week, and are already trying to focus on being in 'holiday mode' even though Peter has another busy week ahead....

The TV should come home on Tuesday and we will get our cable guy to hook it all up. No need for any extra stress, it costs, but is worth every penny.

I want to work more this week, but hope tomorrow is a day off. I am behind a couple of days on my online class, and I want to ring up about Evenstart, a teaching program which I want to be involved in. I get to work one on one with kids, but still get paid my great hourly rate. I have organization, analysis and reporting and assessing, but it will be awesome to follow a child through and to actually finish something I start. The program has received extra funding for next year, so I am pretty positive I will get some work.

This very lucky girl is signing off .......

Ooops nearly forgot the idol part of my post title. I have never watched idol before to this level of attentiveness and I am really impressed with the level of talent of the line up. I will vote for Wes Carr again, I think he's fabulous.