Love bug

I was talking to the LM about the book I made for Kevin here.. He wanted to know what Valentines Day was...

I told him that if you love someone on this day you can send them a little card to tell them that.

Oh do you want to make a card for me sweetie "No I want one for Nana and Kerry " oh OK thanks alot... to which he said "you don't need a card you got me"  well I guess he is right in a weird 5 year old boy's mind.ha ha

So I checked out Pinterest and saw these   love bugs  and thought well they aren't too girly or mushy so we can do these. Plus I wanted something really fast as LM has a short attention span.

I am not sure if this was the original site  it is on Pinterest heaps but to whoever who thought of it thanks heaps....

 

The bugs I got from Kmart for $3 for a tube of these little cuties bugs....

 

I printed the jar shape onto some card stock.I got 4 to a sheet. I printed a couple of sheets out because I gave some to a friend for her boys to make.

LM cut out some of the jar shape but got cranky and said it was too hard....sometimes he does this so he can get out of doing it.....what do you expect he is a man (well a little man )

The LM wanted to stick black cockroaches  on these cards I drew the line at this as I didn't think mum or Kerry would appreciate opening a letter to see a big black bug looking at that...(I wish I could have seen their reaction if he did send cockroaches he he he ) so he choose these 'CUTE' little bugs for them...

I had to attach them with a hot glue gun as the underneath part of the bug wasn't really smoothe so I did that part for him.....

 

Oh before the bug was glued on LM wrote a message on the back for each of them....He was determined as to who got which bug.To me one bug is the same as the other ha ha .....

So mum and Kerry will get these tommorrow  and I think it will be a Valetines card that they will remember for awhile.

I think it is just right for a kid to make.Hey these would even be good for birthday party invites...mmm I will have to remember that one or I am letting LM have a Halloween party for his class mates this year I could turn this into a invite to that  or  -hey stop thinking and just get Valetines Day out of the way .....

 

 

I am putting this on

Wow us Wednesdays -come over and have a look..

      Savvy Southern Style

 

52 Reasons why I love you....

Kev and I don't really do Valentine's day.

I love him he loves me yeah yeah yeah (sounds like a love song he he he) .....we know that.

We do exchange cards though-I love my cards and keep them in a box with all my treasures and keepsakes from Kev.

This year though I wanted to do something just to show Kev how much I love him and appreciate everything he does for me .Especially since I had such a crap year health wise last year and almost died.(well I did have a minor heart attack in Sept so I have a lot to be grateful for....)

I saw through Pinterest this idea

"52 Reasons why I love you....."

This is my front cover and back cover of my book........"Andever "is Kevin and mine special word.We even called our house this...

What a great idea.

I bought through EBay  a large size packet of cards ( I think they were only $6)

Used a hole punch to put a 2 holes in each card -top and bottom (this was the boring part.)

I worked out the size I wanted each quote to be-mine were 6 x 10cms then using Pic monkey I made each saying.

Then I put it in a  word document  and sized them to fit-I got 6 to a page -(I am sure there is an easier way to do this  but I am not really good on photo shop yet and this worked out fine )

I also put a couple of our favorite photos into the book on the oppisite side to the verse.I didnt want a picture on every page just the occansional one for something different.

I printed them out on white card stock.Used double sided tape to attach them onto the cards and then put them through  two metal rings (bought from Spotlight) (cards were in no particular order ) and tied a piece of ribbon onto the rings for decoration....I also used my washi tape to put a piece of either red or black tape on some of the corners.Some I just left blank once again this was in no particular order.

This picture was taken on our wedding day so it is very special to the both of us.

It was kind of time consuming writing out the quotes and at times I was near tears but the result was worth it and I can't wait to give it to Kev .I thought how am I going to think of 52 things? well once I started it was easy -I am still thinking of reasons now.Ha ha could do more how about  volume 1-volume 2 etc.....

Some of the pages with quotes.Some were funny some were from the heart....

You could do this for your mum or dad or friend -or add photos to it.It just depends on your imagination......I have seen done that are really highly decorated and some just plain and they have hand wrote the text it's just up to you and how you want to do it..

I might just have to think further on this concept as  I have a couple of more ideas running through my head about different ways to do this.......I hope you give it a try.

Happy Valentines Day....

I am going to Party at Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style hope you will come over and check out this wonderful site and all the great ideas that are there....
love
dee x
          



Wow Us Wednesdays

Robyns 30th Birthday

Our niece Robyn turned 30 this week and her family gave her a surprise birthday party...

We wanted to do something different to jewellery or glasses.....so I made her a baby book.

Well not really a baby book but it is a book with photos of her from birth till 30......I didn't put any pictures of family in it just her.

Oh on the first page I had a photo of her with her mum and dad when she was born that's all the rest were just of her growing up..

Kev and I were really pleased with how the book turned out.I did it online from Big W and this was a hardcover book for $25 -which is for 20 pages and a great size.

These are just a couple of my favorite photos...

Kev loves this one with the cake....ha ha

 Also we wanted to give something else so I made a 30's bouquet...WHAT!!!

 

I made a tag saying 30 sucks and attached it to a skewer.I got a pink tin bucket (her favorite colour) put some florist oasis in it then poked some lollipops (mine were from Big w where a bag was $3 of multicoloured lollipops ) in it till it was filled.I then got some shredded cellophane and pushed it in between the pops.It may have been easier to do the cellophane first but I thought it might make it harder to push in the lollipops...

When all the lollipops were pushed in I got my skewer tag and pushed that in the middle then I added a ribbon bow

 and PRESTO....one beautiful 30's bouquet.

You could make this for any age and it's something different to give if you had a friend in hospital.It would last longer than fresh flowers...or how about one with just pink or blue pops for a new baby the ideas are endless....

Happy 30th Robyn hope you have a wonderful year (and more)

Ps it was a great party Kev and LM came home around 12.30am.They walked home and LM said he had to hold Da's hand because Da fell over.Yes Da was a bit tipsy.Luckily they only live around the corner.
And Robyn loved her book and bouquet.

Well I am off to bed my boys are sound alseep and I think it is time for me as well.

Bye.

x

A boy and his bike....

The Little Man loves his bike but then again don't all kids.

We live on a busy street so he is only allowed to ride his bike on the footpath outside our house from corner to corner or we take him to the netball courts where he likes to ride there.

I love the fact that he automatically will put his helmet on when he rides his bike or scooter.I think we were lucky with this as we started him early  wearing it so now it is just second nature to him.

I see so  many kids though riding around with no helmets maybe when they get older they think they are uncool  well hopefully LM will be "uncool"and alive  and wear his...

Kerry and Brie.

They have been friends since pre school.

Started school together.....they were inseparable.......always holding hands and laughing....
When they started school Jan (Bries mum) and I made their school uniforms together and we even made a uniform for their dolls each...(I still have Kerry's)

Jan was the best friend you could ever want.Don't get me wrong we had arguments and made up just as fast but I would do anything for her and her kids.I am god mother to Loni (she calls Kerry her god sister )Loni has just graduated from uni and is a teacher.Jan's girls are beautiful and I treasure them as if they were mine.In every girl I see different parts of Jan and it is like Jan is still here. Unfortunately Jan committed suicide years ago leaving Brie to raise the  4 girls a job she has done unbelievably and in that time Brie also had her own cutie pie and had to deal with the breakup of her relationship and also her fathers passing.So I look to Brie for inspiration for me when I feel down to think that this young girl (who is not yet 30) has survived what she has and can still smile is amazing.....

I love you Brie xx

I  also love that Brie and Kerry are still friends after all this time.....

 

Brie is a mother to  Annaliese who is so like Brie was when she was little and now Kerry is about to become a mother as well  God time flys if you close your eyes for a second you miss so much...

 

.Brie has become a wonderful wonderful mother and I talk to her heaps and get advice from her on how to raise the LM she is such a wise old soul and I love her dearly....

 

I hope they will always stay friends. I know they will..They don't see each other heaps or call up and say hello but when they do see each other it is like they have never been apart and I look at them and still   see the two of them giggling holding hands and skipping down the road together HEY not now I am talking about when they were 4 years old.

 

26 years of friendship how wonderful.

 

Jan we are very lucky mothers to have daughters like these two.I just wish you were here to see them I know you are watching from above but  #%*@ I miss you and no one will or can  ever take your place in my heart as my best friend.

I just had to show you all some pictures of the two of them when they started school  together.

 This is Kerry on her 1st day of school.1988 pretty cute hey..

Kerry and Brie...

 

Easter hat parade....

 

The girls had an excursion to Old Sydney Town

Best friend hugs....

Sorry about my ramblings I guess everyone likes to wander down memory lane every so often.Today is my day..

First week of big school.

Well I survived the LM's first week of big school.

It hasn't been easy in some parts.Lucky that Kev was off for 2 days so he could take him and pick him up..

Pam had to take him another 2 days  then I was able to do the last 1 day...

WHY? you ask.My legs.

I find it really hard to walk in the morning (especially until the pain relief pills kick in )let alone drive a manual car plus this week I have been fighting a big infection in my legs which is  causing the fevers and more pain...(shut up dee and just deal with it ) Poor mum and Kev have had to listen to me be a crybaby this week...my one cry baby thing is how bad a mother I am that I cant take him to school....boo hoo

Anyway the LM is enjoying school...He is going to bed earlier and gets up has breakfast a shower then watches TV till it is time to go.

He brings home half of his food and snacks but I figure that is just the excitement of school so I am not worrying yet.So its Friday now and I am giving him half of what he took to school on Monday.He will ask for more if he is hungry....

I asked what he did each day and he cant remember-so I told him he has to tell me of one thing he does each day or else I will keep asking.I suppose he thinks it is better to tell me something rather than have me continually ask him ha ha .So far this is working.

And this may sound weird but his vocabulary is already changing and its only been a week.He is using words he never has used before....

Last night I gave him some ice cream and  asked him what sprinkles he wanted well you could of knocked me over with a feather at his reply "well by my calculations I want 2 different types"

"Calculations"!!!!! what.......well anyway he got 2 types of sprinkles.....

You can tell Kevin is the son of a solider.

Here he is teaching LM how to polish his school shoes.
I was thinking about just using scuff stuff but NO....Kev got proper polish and is teaching the LM the proper way which can't hurt him.He actually looks quite cute doing it...

Also today he brought home a canteen price list.....OMG you would have thought it was a piece of gold..He went  into  the  kitchen  and  got  some  money  from  the  coin jar and brought it in and then started studying the canteen list to see what he could buy.....Dee how much is that word how much is that word?"too funny.He rang mum up and was telling her all about it as well.

So yes we survived and my little man is turning into a big boy real fast.I am going to fasten my seat belt as I think this is going to be a very fast bumpy ride this school thing......ha ha

Blog 2 print...

Blog 2 Print ....have you seen their  add on blogs? I have  and for a while I thought it sounds good but no I am not interested but then.........I was doing something with my blog and crap!!! I thought I lost it all.

I tell you it was a heart wrenching 10 mins while I figured out what I did....After wards I was thinking how lucky I was and how upsetting it would be if I did lose it then I remembered Blog 2 Print.

Now my little blog has been going around 2 and a bit years and really it is just like a diary to me...little bits of my family craft and things I like but I love it and enjoy doing it and yes I have spoke with lots of wonderful people throughout my blogging  so yes I would be devasted if I lost it.

So I looked them up and read their story and thought yep I am going to do it....

I ended up having to do it in two parts (well 3 actually) as with all my pictures and bits it wouldnt all fit in so I decided to do it by years.

Plus I thought just do one book now and if I dont like it well I havn't wasted double the money.

My book is 320 pages and goes from August 2010 -August 2011.I didnt include a contents page nor did I get the comments (next book I will) also I should have gone back through my blog and enlarged all my pictures.In the beginning my pictures were smaller than what they are now...but other than that it was so easy to do.With postage to Australia I think it was $135 which I think is quite good now that I have seen it......

When it arrived I was kinda of shocked at the size.I don't know what I was expecting but this was lots better.I curled up on the bed and started going through it.OMG I had forgotten about that and oh hasn't LM grown were heard all throughout the book.

I used the same picture on the front as I use for my profile picture(no way I am putting one of me it is bad enough having to put my picture in the blog at other times)  The Little Man looks sooooo cute.
because I see that photo regulary I had forgotton how much I liked it.(weird )

When LM came home from school he saw it and there he sat for ages looking at it (well he said he was reading it )  "I really love this book Dee " "So do I mate"....Kev loved it as well which is good because of the price I was worried he would think it was a waste but no he told me to do the next one.So I have almost gone through my blog to fix things up.the next book will be from August 2011-2012 then I will do volume 3 in August this year.

Also the book only took around 30 mins to do online (the next one is longer because I am changing things around first) and from when I ordered it till it arrived in my little hands was probably 2 weeks so that was good as well.

It is just like havinga yearly book and this way it is now a keepsake to see what times were like in the olden days ha haha

The Shower

I am a couple of days late with these photos as I wanted to go through them (but I didn't) and crop out the crap truth be told I just got caught up with other things...

So on Saturday we had Kerry's baby shower or should I say baby "flood"....

It rained off and on we had winds but we also had fun.

Here are a few pictures of the day....

There are too many to say who is who but an important one is Kerry Manny me my mum and Vera Manny's mum. Emmanuel and Kerry cut their cake....

 Lots of family and long time friends.Kerry and Brie been friends since preschool.Connie Natalie and Kerry friends since high school.They are all amazing friends to Kerry and she is very lucky to have friends such as these.My sister Gail and Kerry -everyone says how much they look alike and I think they do as well.Connie and Natalie made up a game where there was teams and you had to make an outfit.So much fun and laughs...

Connie won in guessing how big Kerry's tummy is at the moment..Me and Vera "holding"our grandson....Pam Robyn Clare and Rachel had a great time....The smiles were big that day and every where.We all had a great time and Kerry and Emmanuel were s"showered" with the most beautiful gifts from everyone.

Thanks to everyone who came ,who helped, who sent well wishes, and had fun you all made Kerry's day so special and thats all I want for my baby...


Just a baby progress report...
Kerry went to the doctors last week and she was 35weeks along but Peanut (the baby was 37 weeks) well yesterday she went again she is 36 weeks along but the baby is now 39 weeks.I am worried but Kerry said the Dr said it is a lot of fluid and they wont do anything unless the baby gets too big-HELLO- he is growing so fast......I thought she may go early but she is still carrying pretty high.So who knows I guess we wait and pray......

A gift from school

Yesterday when the LM started school the teachers had a little cute gift for us all to take home.

Being the slack person I am I didn't look at it straight away till now...

It had a cotton ball ,a tea bag and a pack of tissues and a cute poem.

Dearest Kindergarten Parents
here is a little "gift" for you as you leave your precious one with me on the first day of school.As you hold these cotton balls in your hand the softness will help you to remember the gentle spirit of your child.
After you've gone home and dried your tears make yourself a cup of hot tea put up your feet and relax.... Remember that together you and I will work for your child to be the best best that they can be.
Thank you for entrusting your child to me for the coming school year.I will do my very best every day to be your child's guide in learning and exploring this bright new world they've just stepped into...

What a nice thought for them to do.....

I just wish I had looked in the bag when I got it as I could have used those tissues...ha ha

First day of school

Well the day I have dreaded is finally here.

The LM started school today.

Kev stayed home today so he woke the little fella up and he came down for his snuggle, after getting him to eat breakfast he had his shower and he said to me "i spoke to my teacher I don't go to school for 15 more days" "ha forget it you are going  today ha ha "gee I was mean.

I made his lunches and snacks while Kev got him dressed.

OMG no more little boy he looked so grown up but I held in the tears.

We got to school and waited till they called his name then off we went to his class room.He is in KR which is Kindergarten Rosella's.

Then it was time to leave.He looked up at me and I started to choke could feel tears burning my eyes  LM looked the same so I bent down and said "hey  have fun fun fun bub"he gave me a big smile then a bigger kiss then he went over to Kev and gave Kev the biggest hug ever (LM'S way of showing he was scared) Kev ruffled his hair and then LM looked at us and off he went.....

The school journey has started.........I went home and cried.....

Also another first starter at school today was our Annaleise.She looked so cute and so much like her mother when she started school.

 

Good luck to our little or should I say big schoolies.   Love you both...

Shower cake part 2.

Today I received the icing for my baby shower cake that I am making for Kerry.

Last week I made the cakes so they have been sitting all wrapped up waiting for me to decorate them....(something I am dreading )

 I ordered my icing online for 2 reasons
1-I am too lazy to make it from scratch
2-I am too lazy to make it from scratch  ha ha   plus it was cheaper online than from my local cake supply shop.

I got it from Cakes around town  and if you order before 11.00am on one day you will get your order the next day.They also have a large range of goods for chocolate making-cake pops and cup cakes Anything you need they have and their service is quite good as well but best of all great prices.

Also I bought the little joggers from the cake decorating shop in Penrith.They are just Kerry.She is shoe addict .....Omg she even has a few pairs of Nikes just waiting for Peanut.

So here I go  -cross your fingers better still cross your legs and anything else you can ha ha  I am going to decorate my cake .....................

I finally finished  at  2.30 am, I was stuffed so I went to bed. I had  finished the cake and almost  all of the biscuit's but my bed was calling out to me...."Dee where are you ?" "Dee come to bed" hang on was that my bed or Kevin???? ha ha

What do you think? Remember I haven't done these type of cakes for near on 25years so considering that I think it has turned out quite good.

I won't lie there are lots of mistakes  just don't look to close otherwise I am really happy with the finished cake.

Mum and Kev gave me a big boost and said how great it looks but then again they have to they are my family...ha ha ha

The real test will be Kerry's reaction so my fingers are crossed there ha ha ha  .......

Buscuits My first attempt

I have told you before I think I can do everything.....

Well usually I can and most times they turn out OK....

I decided ( another bright idea ) to make iced biscuit's in the shape of baby bottles,feet and jumpsuit for the shower.....

The only thing was I have never never made iced biscuit's before.I have done flooding with icing so I thought yeah you can do it..

So off I go and buy my cookie cutters -so sweet. I found a recipe and finally after putting it off made my first batch last night.'

Easy sugar biscuit's.

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 3/4 cup plain flour

cream the butter and sugar
add vanilla and egg
add all dry ingredients

mix well knead into firm dough roll out and go for it .
cut out your shapes till your little heart is content or until you run out of dough.

cook on moderate heat for 7 to 10 mins

let cool then ice.
My recipe said she waits 2 days before she ices.....

Hey they turned out quite good.The smell was divine.....now I have to ice them........

 The finished bagged buscuits.In the bags in tends to hide my mistakes.Thank God.

Mum and LM have tried the buscuits and they said they are really nice.....

The icing I used was just royal icing .I cheated and bought it from Woolworths ready made so all you had to do was add water .I found this quite good as I could decide quanities better.

The problem I did have was I did them late at night when I was over it and didn't be as neat as I should.I had my royal icing a bit to thick to do the pipe work with and next time I will use a smaller icing tip and TAKE MY TIME......

But otherwise I think they turned out ok for my first attempt.I am determined to get better at it so watch out everyone there is going to be cookies for every occasion I have on my calender.

And remember there is always cello bags to hide them in.ha hah ha