Shimelle's Starting Point

I haven't blogged a great deal this year as my computer was very old (bought in 2005) and it was nearing the end of its life.  I had asked it to do far more than it was ever meant to and the old girl never let me down, but she was finally starting to show her age.  The keys were starting to come off, she was very slow and there were times when she just refused to turn on.  As I NEED my computer for work I have had to baby her for the past year and more recently she stayed on my desk at work for when I needed her the most.  As writing on this blog doesn't earn me a living :-) I had to resort to using my trusty iPhone.  I only made an exception for the first Sunday of each month for Storytelling Sunday.

I am typing this from my very beautiful and shiny new (to me!) computer!!!!  This one most certainly trumps the dinosaur I had before.  She is fast, has a crystal clear display and she is now all customised to my way of working :-)  Who would have thought that 512Mb of RAM would be considered so small in only a few years time.  I can now switch between multiple windows without tapping my fingers waiting for it to catch up!  If I seem a little excited here, you should see me in person LOL

So on to some crafting news ...  This week I took Shimelle up on her starting point.  Work has been chaotic and there are times when it is nice to not have to think to get a project started when you have a spare hour or two in the evening.  I love her starting points.  This week it looked like this ...

I printed some photos taken this year when I started Shimelle's class 'Cover to Cover' but I have yet to get beyond the second lesson (that is another story for later).  I used the photos I took of The Princess and her first sewing lesson.  I love the way my daughter has so many ways to smile.  Some remind me of her younger years and some are starting to creep in now as she gets older.  So I decided to use all the photos!  The papers are from My Little Shoe Box and it kind of came together very quickly.

It really suits her personality and as The Princess loves these papers and all things PINK I am happy with it.  I used a piece of Bazzill In-stitch cardstock to stitch the flower.  The holes were already in it and all I had to do was sew it.  A great idea for the tired scrapper :-) and I have had it sitting in my stash since it was released.

There were two more photos from this day so a few nights later I made a complimentary layout using some My Little Shoe Box scraps.  The background is leftover strips that I had from three different papers and I stuck them together to be 12in tall.  Her first sewing project was a nappy (diaper) for her doll Bell.  The pattern we found online ended up being too small and so it was given to Princess.  It now has the velcro sewn in and Princess wears it proudly every day.

I have other projects to start sharing and when the weather picks up I shall photograph them and try to get this blog rolling along.  Happy Sunday everyone :-)

Chipper

I'll be back soon!

My new (to me) computer is here!!!! My brother's friend gets them from schools and refurbishes them. This one is even under warranty and was within my budget!!!! So excited and I will spend the rest of the night setting it all up and transferring everything over.

I'll be back to more regular blogging soon :-)
Chipper

Storytelling Sunday - June

It is that time of the month again when we grab our favourite beverage and sit down to read stories written by people all over the world.  It is a wonderful idea by the lovely Sian over at From High In The Sky.  If you like a story or three (or 50!!!) why not pop over and have a read and perhaps join in with a tale of your own :-)

With the Jubilee celebrations in the UK I have tried to think of a story that might go with that theme.  If we were still living in Ireland we would have flown over to the UK for the weekend and spent time with The LOML's family in Hexham and enjoyed the celebrations.  I hope that all of you living in the UK are embracing the fun and that the weather is bright and cheerful!  However, nothing suitable springs to mind so I will instead share with you a story about The Princess as she celebrated her 11th birthday this past month.

I Am Getting Bigger - a story about The Princess

The Princess is at a funny age, not a little kid anymore but not yet a teenager.   It is a strange age to be and this is enhanced by the fact that she is the oldest in her class.  Education curriculums differ widely in the early years from country to country, and when we moved back to Australia it was decided that it would be best if The Princess was slotted in a year below her age.  In some ways this has been a blessing as we still have 'a little girl' most of the time, even at almost 11.  But, she was still almost 11, and interesting situations have begun to  arise ...

This photo was taken close to the time of the story.

Most days the children are collected at school by the dad.  He gets the benefit of hearing all the school day stories immediately and full of excitement each day as he drives them to the shop.  By the time they arrive I only get the watered down 'highlight' version.  (Although the kids have realised that it is more fun to share the best news when we are all together and so they wait.  Yay!!!)  On this afternoon both boys were playing sport after school and it was only The Princess and the dad.  She was particularly quiet this day and was probably sitting there thinking about her brothers, as this was the first day that she was on her own in the car this school year.

When out of nowhere she pipes up and says "Dad, did you know I am getting bigger?"

"Mmmm" the dad replied as he wasn't really listening but concentrating on surviving school traffic.

"Soon I will need those things too."

The dad nearly crashed the car!  Thoughts about what 'those things' were flew through his head at one hundred miles an hour, while also thinking that this wasn't his domain and where was the mom when he needed her!

"Ok then" was his tentative reply.  Hoping that it would deflect any further questions.

"You know dad," The Princess said while lifting up her arm and pretending to spray underneath it, "The spray like the boys have."

I am sure you can imagine the huge sigh of relief from the dad that day when he realised that she was talking about deodorant.  He spent the rest of the journey trying to keep a straight face until he reached the store.  We laughed together as he repeated the story to me later that afternoon, while The Princess was occupied with her homework.  This will be a great tale for her 21st :-)

Happy 11th Birthday to our Princess!  She is definitely growing up as this year her birthday list included boots, clothes, jeans and jewelry.  And for the first time there wasn't a doll accessory in sight.

Chipper

Update ...

So much has gone through my mind in the past month that it has been best to keep my mouth shut :-)  Memories of my mom telling me "If you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all!" kept popping to mind.  You will remember that we had put the business up for sale with the decision to close if it didn't sell.  Lots of offers came in and people entered discussions.  My mind boggles at the thought of everything that happened in only a few weeks and we have been left in limbo ever since.  I even went on a job interview and we considered all sorts of options!

But the offer that we accepted was finalised only yesterday (Monday).  It was a long drawn out affair which required that we set a firm cut off point of Monday morning.  But the result is what The LOML wanted, but to which I am still slightly sitting on the fence about.  Only time will tell exactly how it will all go.  As of Monday we have a new business partner.  This was not an option which we had even thought of so it took us a bit by surprise too.  It solves many problems and will in time give me more time with my kids, which is my primary motive for our decision.  I am still very hurt by some of the local happenings but through all of this I have discovered that we do have tons of wonderful customers who popped in just to tell me to keep my chin up when things were still up in the air.  And they didn't even know what was going on as confidentiality agreements kept me from saying anything.

The stock in the shop was just about wiped out after we made the announcement and it wasn't even on sale!  So I have lots of ordering (or SHOPPING!!!) to do and that always makes me happy :-)  The next few weeks are going to be chaos but that now seems to be the norm around here LOL

I started Shimelle's latest class today and am really hoping to try and keep up so you may see a bit more of me :-)  I do seem to get more done when I have a firm direction as time is so short.  Well I had better get back to my "shopping" but I just wanted to quickly share.  I have spent so much time thinking and praying and although I am not sure about this decision, I felt that this was a time in which I needed to follow The LOML's lead.  Not something in which I always excel so maybe it will be an important lesson!  I can most definitely be extremely stubborn and opinionated!

Chipper :-)

Storytelling Sunday May

Welcome one and all to this months Storytelling Sunday (errrr) Monday post.  I decided yesterday to have an internet free day (gasp, horror! YEP, it is possible!) and as I hadn't actually found the time to sit and type this post it is now a day late :-)  A quick update for those of you who are regular readers ... everything is still in limbo BUT we have put a deadline on all offers as today so we will finally know which direction we are headed soon!!!!  Either way life is going to be a bit tumultuous for the next few months.

Now onto the story ...  Wake Up!

I have always thought it funny when other people have talked about the changes that take place in teenage boys ... surely some of these things can't happen to my boys?????  Both my boys have always been early risers.  We have taught all our children that it is important that they are able to get themselves ready for the day each morning on their own.  Although we will often have family breakfasts, on school mornings each child is responsible for getting themselves up at the right time and ensuring that they are ready to walk out the door with everything they need on time.  They each have their own alarm now and this has worked very well so far.  This sounds idyllic, but believe me some mornings are a madhouse around here!

The minute The Extrovert turned 14 he changed overnight.  A non-morning child took his place.  Instead of being up as sunrise he would now sleep until 11am if you let him.  We had to get a louder alarm and a few mornings I EVEN HAD TO GO IN AND WAKE HIM UP!  He has found a new routine (after I threatened to throw a cold bucket of water on him!) and each morning he hears his brother's alarm with his set to go off two minutes later.  He has time for one hit of the snooze button and then he makes an appearance in the kitchen.  He is still only half awake at this point and proceeds to make his porridge without even opening more than one eye.  I don't think he actually wakes up until we are in the car and on the way to school.  The Thinker and The Princess are still both already awake when their alarms go off and the alarm is only to remind them that they need to put their iPods down and start to get ready.

One morning this past week The Extrovert heard his brother's alarm go off through his sleepy fog.  He ignored it and waited for his own alarm.  But the noise kept penetrating his dreams and he started hitting his snooze button trying to turn it off.  His thoughts muddled, he sat up trying to work out what was wrong with his iPod and why wouldn't it turn off!  Even after removing it from the dock he could still hear the alarm.  In his hazy state he remembered his brother and grumbling about him under his breathe he stumbled down the hallway to his brother's room.  He could hear the alarm getting louder and he was annoyed now ... he could have still had 5 more precious minutes of sleep.

He knocked on the door "Thinker turn your alarm off, it is time to get up!"  But no sound came from the room.  He pounded harder and harder, sleep confusing his brain.  "Thinker!!!!!  TURN OFF YOUR ALARM!!!"  In frustration he flung open the door, marched into the room and stopped dead in his tracks.  The bed was made, the room vacant and the alarm was now screeching.  Within moments all sorts of thoughts passed through his addled mind until finally, as he began to wake up, realisation dawned.  The Thinker was on school camp and wasn't home at all! Feeling very foolish he turned off the alarm and sheepishly snuck back to his room.  On the way he passed The Princess' empty room and was suddenly thankful that she was spending the night with Grandma.  He had forgotten all about that too!

Not being one to keep things to himself he told us the story once his brother returned. We laughed until we cried.  I thought it would make a great story for this week and he is looking forward to reading about himself :-)  If you wish to join in with a story (or read more) head on over to Sian's.  Storytelling Sunday is held on the first Sunday of every month and don't worry if you are late like me, no one minds in the least :-)

Chipper