Wooooohoooooooo!

It's nearly 10AM and BOTH of my girls are still sleeping! I can't believe it! But that doesn't mean I can do anything if I want them to continue to sleep lol. Although I can be online and not feel guilty lol. But in all fairness they had a late night last night and didn't get to bed until nearly 10PM. We went out and did a casual shop through Farmers, The Warehouse and then finished up with some baking shopping at Foodtown. Then after that it was finally near dark. So we went in search of Christmas lights. Franklin Road was pathetic last year and we did that long drive into the city at night but it wasn't even worth it. The locals around here do just as good a job if not better! So we found two roads that were lit up in lights and the girls just loved it!!! We rolled the windows down so they could see them really well. They were just sooooooo excited! It was awesome! My heart was breaking just to see them so happy. It was perfect! Then on the way home Kamryn said 'I think we need to go home now because I'm tired' lol.

Santa & Layouts

I finally managed to get the girls to see Santa yesterday. I was hoping Hugh would get to go but he had an interview so it was just me. The girls were fine though and I kinda worried about how Lauryn would react. She didn't freak out or anything. Showed him cow and was fine sitting on his lap. I think since Kamryn was fine with it then Lauryn was ok with it. That seems to be how it works lately. She is taking her cues from Kamryn lol.

And now moving right along with Janine's challenge. It seems that I have a lot of journaling happening more than photos. I find it hard to not have photos on pages lol. But here is #6 and it's really about a memory for grade school when I never got to sing my favorite song at any of the concerts. This is something that always comes to my head as a memory so I feel better knowing it's down.
And #7 was fun! Kiwis do Christmas completely different to Americans. And I like the American way. Americans seem to get more into Christmas where it isn't so apparent here in NZ with kiwis. I don't think I have ever heard anyone out in stores or around town utter the words 'Merry Christmas' without being prompted first. Kinda sad :( So this one is about my cold and sometimes snowy Christmases versus the Kiwi BBQ and beaches Christmas.

#8 is about my family and how I make my immediate family our priority for Christmas. I don't like being made to feel like we need to be somewhere on Christmas. Christmas is for my girls. Waking in the morning to a tree full of presents and just the whole feel of the day and not being rushed to be somewhere. I will continue this for as long as I can. Makes it less stress-free this way ;)
This one is about Christmas cards. And I would have liked to have done a page about how I was organized and timely with getting Christmas cards out. But I didn't do any Christmas cards. So instead I thought I would scrapbook about the ones I have received and how this year we have had the most Christmas cards in my six years of being here.

And finally #10. Mom will appreciate this one if she sees it lol. When I moved in with mom at 15, there were many things that were new and different to me since I hadn't lived with her before or spent much time with her. One thing mom likes to do at Christmas time is watch 'It's a Wonderful Life'. She usually gets razzed about it and I used to watch it with her. And, Mom, Hugh hasn't seen it so maybe next year he can watch with you ;)

Fed Up

Man, I thought Christmas was suppose to be a time of good spirits and happy people. I must be living under a rock cause it sure doesn't appear that way here on the Coast. I give up man. Over the years, I have learned and taught myself to move on from people's actions and not to point out the faults. You never know what kind of day someone has had so they don't need you pointing out something they are doing wrong. I can just continue on. This person doesn't disrupt anything in my life so why should I give them a hard time so they can feel worse????

Today is not my day. I've been feeling sick to my stomach all day. Not sure what is up. It's like my stomach is hungry but I'm not hungry and it's painful. I decided to head to the gym anyway since I know I probably won't get to go over the week and Monday/Tuesday. Well it was busy so I jump in where I could. So I grab a machine between two women. And as I get going it says 'change stations now', well I continued on with the machine not even thinking to move since I just got on it. Well the lady next to me says 'you are suppose to start on a platform' and I said 'I've never been told that'. So she tells the lady behind me to do that machine cause you don't want to miss it and she would move down. Whatever, I just kept going hoping she would finish soon. Now had that been me, I would have moved down, did what I had to do and then come back to whatever I missed. No big deal. But obviously she thought it was and I was intruding. Then as I leave, two ladies go through the door as I walk out. So I hold the door open for them. Do you think there was a 'thanks' or 'thank you'? Um, that would be a no. Cause god forbid they actually utter any manners or politeness from their bitchy lips! And then people are always talking about how kids these days have no manners. I wonder why!!!! Cause the adults can't be bothered using them either. Then I go to get fruit next door and looked at getting some strawberries. Well 5 punnets had fuzzy mold on them!!! Now you know it's been there a while and like they couldn't have been removed. I mentioned it at the counter and she said thanks there will be fresh ones tomorrow. But it was said with a bitchy attitude as well. Is it too much to ask for fresh produce??? Especially when I am paying for it? And I just hate going to the gym when there are heaps of people there. I just don't feel like I fit in at all. Not with all the women excercising in their necklaces, bracelets, makeup, hoop earrings and flash joggers. What's the point? When I'm there I feel small, a nothing, like I'm nothing but a fleck in the way. No one there knows me. No one there knows my life. But yet if I don't do something 'right' (which was never told to me or have I seen myself) then they feel free to tell me I screwed up. Bugger off! I don't need it. Shut your damn mouth.

Merry Christmas

Hannah needed her Santa hats back so I needed to get photos of the girls in them. I just haven't found the right time to get them done. So did it today so I could get them back to her. And I love how they turned out! Just beautiful! Here is my fave but you can view more at my photo blog here ---------------> CRN Photo Blog

Beach Pic

This is how I imagine our summers to be.
On Tuesday we had a fish 'n' chip night with Lauryn's daycare at Arkle's Bay. It was a nice evening. We went down at 5 and stayed for an hour and a half. We sat under a tree in the shade and enjoyed our fish 'n' chips. Kamryn was overly keen to get on the beach and play in the sand. As a result she didn't eat much but was hungry when we left. Lauryn was a little unsure. She would venture over to the sand for a few moments then come running back just to make sure everything was ok. And just to reassure us lol. A few times Hugh walked them down to the water. Lauryn isn't keen on the water yet. Hopefully she'll be better with it this summer. And amazingly while we were there, Kamryn and Lauryn just naturally played together. There wasn't any fighting, pushing or screaming. They just played. Played in the sand and collected shells. It was awesome and it's how I imagine our times on the beach should be. Not always as such but it was very peaceful that day.

Our Sunday

With Hugh back to Thursday-Saturday work we try to make good use of our Sundays. This Sunday was the first and we just kept going lol. We headed out to a toy sale in Mairangi Bay. Got a few games and other bits, $24 later. Then on to Factory Frames at Vega Place which we were shocked to see they had moved to Apollo Drive. So then we popped in to Wendy's drive through for a quick value meal lunch. Then we headed off to Apollo Drive to Factory Frames. They do really good work here and have really great prices. We needed to get a name frame framed. We had one for Kamryn when she was only 3 months old and only just got around to doing Lauryn's from Sweet P Gifts. We were at Factory Frames longer than we liked because one of our favorite framers was back from Australia so we had a catch up. She was gone for 3 years so didn't even know about Lauryn. After Factory Frames we headed to Triton road to check out the new Scrapbookers Delight shop. Couldn't find it :( So stopped in at a factory giftware sale around the corner while Hugh went to look for the scrapbooking shop. At the giftware sale I got Lauryn a cow piggy bank which is sooooooooo cute! And Hugh was back and told me the scrapbook store was closed. Then we headed into Albany to have a look at the new toy store where EdEx used to be. I was on a mission here. When I stayed at Rachel's in December 2002, there was a map in her son's room. It was a world map and it was huge but it was a kid's map. Very very cool! Well after years of looking I haven't been able to find one. So Dale gave me a tip that they had some. Since it's been so many years since I was at Rachel's, I can't remember if this is the same one or not but we got it anyway. It's soooooooo cool! Hugh will get it laminated and then it will go in the girl's room. Then of course when you are in Albany at this shopping area you have to go into Pumpkin Patch and JK. LOL, ok, maybe I just have to! Pumpkin Patch had some cute things but nothing I could afford :( But JK had the cutest strawberry clothes ever!!! And when we take the girls strawberry picking, I like to have them wearing strawberry clothes lol. Don't ask why, it's just something I think looks very cute in photos! So I bought 2 pairs of denim capris, two strawberry tops, a strawberry print fabric belt, a strawberry night gown and one beach towel lol. And they had cute matching strawberry shoes but nothing in my girls' sizes :( And then after all of that, like that wasn't enough, we headed to get our Christmas tree. That was fun. Lauryn was past it by then. We got home about 3PM, put her to bed and then decorated the tree with Kamryn. It was a very long Sunday. But I at least feel like we accomplished something ;)

Some Things..........

I've managed to finish Janine's 3rd day of Christmas. I think I will skip #4 until closer to the end of the month. Our calendar tends to fill up weekly instead of monthly and I would like to see what things happened in December years from now. Anyway, I'm really happy with this one and you just gotta love that Crate Paper Twirl paper. Yummy! Such beautiful colors! Now I'll try to get onto #5 and #6. Haven't looked at #7 yet ;)

I'm a sucker! I mean, I'm a sucker for cute bears. I can't help myself. Over the years I have practiced more restrain just because we don't have room for them. But Christmas bears (well nice ones) seem hard to come by. And I like having them sitting under and around the tree. So look who I found yesterday??? He's just gorgeous and was only $20! Usually the Ty Classics are $40 so I was totally impressed with this bear. And Ty bears feel oh so lush. They are just soooooooo soft and cuddly. Perfect! This little guy is Fargo and he'll be joing the other Christmas bears when we get our tree.

And here's another awesome find! Tip Top is making this limited edition ice cream and it's sooooooooo yum!!! If you love gingerbread then you are going to like this. Chunks of gingerbread cookie in vanilla ice cream. YUM!!! I love their cookies 'n' cream and this is similiar to that with the gingerbread. And such cute packaging. Gotta love that gingerbread man ;)

Recovery?

Man, what a grouch!!! So on Monday the doctor said Lauryn was doing better in that she no longer had the puss on her tonsils. He said we were doing everything right with altering with Pamol and Nurofen and things should be getting better. Well yesterday (tuesday) she didn't have any temps but man what a grouch! Nothing but crying and whinging all day! Only wanting Hugh, no one else. So I had to put her in her room for a while yesterday, had enough. Today is no different. Wants Hugh to carry her around or she cries and screams over every little thing. So she will be going to daycare today so they can deal with her! But I hope this doesn't come back around any time soon either.

And on a much nicer note lol, I got my kits for December and January yesterday! Yippee! I have heaps to do over the next two months. Love what Lisa has sent and I'm just so impressed with how she puts these together. Will be fun ;)

12 Days of Christmas

Janine started this scrapbook comp on December 1. I signed up for it hoping I could finish all the layouts by the end of the month. I'm at a point where I'm bored with my scrapbooking so thought doing this comp would be a good way to still scrapbook but getting some fun things done too. I'm taking the Christmas route on it. I don't have nearly enough Christmas pages so decided to devote an entire 8x8 album to this challenge. I've had fun with my pages. And now here they are:

Hopefully I'll keep on top of them. I have the pic for #3 printed so just need to sort out some papers. Thanks, Janine, for a wonderful competition! It's great fun ;)

Tonsillitis

Our day was pure crap yesterday. Hugh took Lauryn to the doctor on Friday and was told her throat was red and swollen. She had a fever throughout the day and wasn't eating much and just wanted to be held. The doctor said if it wasn't better by Monday then she need antibiotic. Well yesterday we noticed her breath was smelling which wouldn't be a symptom if it was viral. But we thought we would just continue on and head off to Christmas Wonderland for the kids to see. We left the house about 6PM with Hugh refusing to drive so I did. As we got past the Albany exit (about 25 minutes from home), she started throwing up. Non-stop! So I had to exit real quick and pull over. Poor thing threw up all over her car seat, cow, and clothing. And of course we had nothing to change her into because she hadn't been throwing up. So we went to Milford A&E and the doctor right away told us she had tonsillitis. So we got the antibiotic. Then off to the Warehouse to buy Lauryn some clothing and have a look around. By the time we left it was getting dark so we headed to Birkenhead. We get there and park and then we see the queue. Hugh does his 'everyone look at me' speech of how he was tired and smelled of vomit so he didn't want to be standing in line for an hour. And he always does this in a louder than normal voice so people stare which pisses me off. It's like he wants someone to come up to him and go 'you are so right, you do look tired and man you really stink so you should just go home'. But it always makes me look like a dumb ass. So we head home which pissed me off cause I really wanted Kamryn to see all the trees. And on the way home Lauryn started to throw up again by the poo-ponds. Had to pull over again. Got home about 9:30, gave her Pamol and she throws up again. Had some Wendy's cause I only had fries and mint Scorched Almonds all day. Lauryn ate some of the bun and a wee piece of chocolate from her advent calendar. And she managed to hold it down. Gave her more Pamol at 10:30 and put her to bed. Kamryn went to bed shortly before Lauryn. Well at midnight Lauryn was still awake and Hugh was sleeping in her room. Well we all moved to our bed where Lauryn slept on the covers and she was fine until she started throwing up at 2:30 again. And so far today things have been ok. Well I just mean she hasn't thrown up but she hasn't eaten much either. It's really been rough on the wee mite and she wants nothing to do with me now. So it's all about daddy lol which is fine cause I get it throughout the week. And I had a good two days of cuddling because she was sick so now it's his turn lol. I just hope this doesn't last too long.

Lookie Lookie!!!

Lisa has posted the DT layouts on her blog! How nice and refreshing to see all the hard work revealed! I guess this can be considered my first job as part of a design team! I know Lisa said we could put up sneek peaks but I wasn't sure how to go about it. I will try better next month if we are allowed. When I got the Girlfriend papers, I have to admit, I was a bit scared lol. But I have absolutely loved using them!!! So much so that I couldn't stop at the one layout with the papers lol. And what I liked about Lisa's kits is we all got something different and they were extremely extremely well organized. We didn't know what each other had even though Jo and I talked about what each other got lol. Roll on next week! Can't wait ;) What a lovely way to finish my night after work!

Yum Fun

Lately in the Nelson household we have been enjoying beef enchiladas. YUMMY!!! My kids really love it which is odd since Kamryn doesn't generally like anything that is a tad bit spicy. Obviously I don't make it that spicy for them and just add chili sauce to mine after they are done. But look at this dish?!?!?!? Doesn't it just make your mouth water???? I reckon I have Mexican blood in me somewhere lol. We generally have this once a week with fried corn! YUM!

This morning we played a game of Blue's Clues. Kamryn asked the other day if she could play. I have a hard time getting my head around thinking of something we can do and then leaving clues for it. Then last night as I finished mom's Christmas gift, it dawned on me! So I printed off some pawprints and went around and stuck them on a pencil, an envelope, and a Santa ornament. As Kamryn found them this morning I drew them on my pad of paper (don't mind the drawings lol). Then once we found all three we sat in the thinking chair. Together we figured that Blue wanted her to write a letter to Santa!!! Obviously I had to help her figure it out lol. So we will be doing that today when Lauryn is sleeping. I found this thing on the post website for writing letters to Santa. If you write one online then you can get one sent to you in the mail! Just remember to leave your e-mail address out. So I'll put in Kamryn's info so she can get a letter from Santa. I think this will be the first year she will get one from him. Go here to check it out ---------> LETTER FROM SANTA