I pop out for a minute...

And when I get back I find I have been tagged - not once, not even twice but three times! LOL - thankfully they are all the same tag!

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves, people who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names.Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. My brother broke my front tooth with a fire poker when I was about 8 years old - I don't think I ever teased him again...
2. I moved 6 times in 2 years when Ashleigh was a baby...
3. I can't sleep if my feet are hot - so they have to be out of the blankets - BUT I cant hang them over the side - there might be something under my bed!!!
4. I love purple winegums...
5. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
6. I belong to Greenpeace...
7. I like to write stories...

I'm not going to tag anyone because I think all my scrapn' friends have been tagged. Makes for interesting reading.
I have several blogs to catch up on - friends forgive me - we went on holiday and were away 8 days.
I will blog on that when I get my photos loaded.
Hugs

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers...the mind can never break off from the journey.

What do you do when its raining

and the kids can occupy themselves and you have done all your errands AND you can finally lean forward without feeling like your brains may just fall through your eyeballs (hayfever - again - big sigh - LOL)
Well I went on the scrapbookers equivalent of a 'bender' - I finished out a couple of layouts that needed journaling or just that finishing touch.
I redid 2 layouts and done another one for a challenge. Its Neen's challenge on the Scrapbook Essential site - create a LO using a movie poster as inspiration. So I have completed a 2 pager - but page one is based on the layout of the Pretty in Pink poster. Neat huh? Then because I was feeling rather clever I made some cards. I gave one to my nephew for his birthday today and he thought I was pretty clever - although the $$ in the card might have influenced hima bit. I gave another to my niece for her birthday and she is a budding editor - she picked up the mistake I made - I put 5 balloon brads on instead of 4 - LOL!! I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince her the extra one was for good luck!

Ahhhh feeling of great satisfaction....
That lasted until I looked at the pile of unfinished layouts and the drawer full of photos yet to see cool paper! LOL
Oh well....

On a fab note - it was really cool to see my big sister and her 2 girls today - they have come down from Christchurch for a few days. The girls had a plane ride and loved it - apparently my youngest niece fell in love with the nice man air host (what on earth do we call them these days??) I plan to take my sister over to Megs tomorrow- yay! Any excuse to go shopping - LOL!

Scrapbooking isn't about scraps of paper and photos.
Scrapbooking is about scraps of life - yours and those special to you.
(Rebecca Sower)

Generations...

I was looking at some some photos the other day and realised (slow brain cells in action here - LOL) there are actually a number of benefits to having children at a young age. Brooke has both sets of grandparents AND most of both sets of Great Grandparents still living! And we are (most of us) still very young and able to get down and play with the baby.
This is my mother - Brooke's Great Nana...This is Leo's Mother - Brooke's Great Oma.Her paternal grandparents and some great grandparents are still around as well...
I'm envious in a way because I never knew my grand parents - let alone great grandparents! My Dad's Dad is the only grand parent I knew and he died a few years back! Brooke has a huge family surrounding her! When I think of how she will practically have an entire row of supporters when she does anything at school, etc I get the giggles. This child is going to be so spoilt for attention and love - and free babysitters!

Grandparent's are a Blessing

When God created grandparents
the world was truly blessed
with all the special joys
that make a family happiest...

For grandparents know how to do
the things that warm a heart,
They touch our lives with loving care
right from the very start...

They show that they believe in us
and all we're dreaming of...
When God created grandparents,
He blessed our lives with love.

Jessica's kitten popped in to say hello - he loves camera's this wee guy - if you are trying to take photos and he is around he is almost guaranteed to try and hog the shot!

Rest and Relaxation...

At Nokomai - just what I needed. Days with no plans and no pressures, lots of games and books! Other than the freezing cold at night it was lovely up there, most of the time it was t shirt weather but it cooled down fast and at night we snuggled deep under our blankets and woke in the morning with cold noses - LOL. We went for a few walks - the photo above is the walk to the cattle stop - or as Ashleigh used to call it the candle stop! LOL - we used to imagine hordes of candles trying to escape their melting death from the crib!
I actually found it difficult to come back to the computer and sit down! How sad huh? I really enjoyed going away with my family and can not wait until next week when we head away for a few days to the West Coast and then to Christchurch. It makes me get itchy feet, Leo keeps me grounded - he hates change - I think I was a gypsy in a previous life - until I met Leo I moved on a whim, if I found my flat boring I moved - LOL - I was a pro at moving by the time I moved to my current home - and now I think I would dread moving - I have accumulated so much stuff!!! My scrap room alone would need its own trailer!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break? We had a wee hunt a little later - I think easter Bunny couldn't find Nokomai - all the eggs were left at home!!My Chocolate Bunny
I love you chocolate bunny, dear,
I think I'll nibble on your ear.
And it won't do you any harm,
If I nibble on your arm.

I don't think anyone will know
If I nibble on your toe.
Oh, chocolate bunny, you're so sweet,
I think I'll nibble on your feet.

You're better than an Easter Egg.
I think I'll nibble on your leg.
I love you chocolate bunny so,
Oh no! Where did my bunny go?

Suzanne Tillman

May the spirit of hope that Easter brings,
Help you find contentment in little things,
And restore your faith in the Lord above,
Who gave His life for the ones He loves.

DVD's

I bought 4 DVD's yesterday
You, Me and Dupree - so funny!!!
The Devil Wears Prada - haven't watched, but Ash says it is great
The Weather Man - haven't watched - but love Nicolas Cage movies
Miami Vice - its cool - but not my Don Johnson by a long shot.
Anyway I was putting them on the database I set up for my movies and I just happened to notice the little number at the bottom of the screen that told me I have 527 DVD's. Hmmm - now should I be worried?
I used to work in a video store and it started my love of movies. When I lost most of my hearing I lost interest in watching movies because I couldn't follow them (Americans do everything in the dark!! They have no light switches over there - I'm not joking, watch any US or Canadian show and they will be running round with a dinky wee torch solving crimes or doing their thing!)) - anyway when DVD's came out I was delighted! I have gotten most of my favourite movies on DVD, I got Bugsy Malone, Grease, Flight of the Navigator, The Goonies, Gone With The Wind, Annie...
I once bought some DVD's from Thailand, but I gave them the flick - they were bad copies!! the subtitles didn't match the movies - this btw gave Leo endless enjoyment - he could hear what the people said and then he would read the subtitles and laugh himself silly!! Meanwhile I would be sitting there trying to figure out why they said that!!! I guess things really do get lost in translation!
Our movie collection is so cool though, we have movies for all tastes because we enjoy just about anything. We do rent some first before we buy - just to make sure. And yes we watch them over and over. I have lost count of the number of times we have watched LOTR's or Harry Potter or Sahara or What Eating Gilbert Grape or Shrek.
I'm looking for Star Wars 1 and 2 for Josef - I bought him the boxed Trilogy 4,5,6 for his birthday and we have #3. He has gone Star wars nutty at the moment!

I went over to Rachel's tonight and completed 2 layouts! I impressed myself - usually I forget half my stuff and come home with a couple of layouts that need finishing - but not tonight!
I love this photo of Ashleigh - I cant get over how my baby girl is all grown up... ....and with her own baby - who graced us with this gorgeously gummy grin!
No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight of the soul.
Ingrid Bergman

Me I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly it's the honest ones you have to watch out for, you never can predict if they're going to do something incredibly stupid.
Capt Jack Sparrow

It's 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas and half a pack of cigarettes. It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it. The Blues Brothers

My name is

Julie - LOL - I hope you already knew that!
I was blog catching up - some of my favourite bloggers blog relentlessly - and I made a pact with myself not to spend so much time on the computer - so now when I come online I spend twice as long catching up. Not to worry - makes for better time spent than telly!
Anyway - I came across this link over at Janine's, what does your name mean, but with a few juicy bits tossed in!
My information was quite cool...

Julie

~ Julia ~

(Latin)

~ meaning ~ Youthful

~ motivation ~ Motivated to help others

~ character ~ Does not get rattled

~ feelings ~ A person who loves life

~ intelligence ~ Known for their inventiveness

~ spiritual ~ Has a free spirit

~ nature ~ Considered to be obliging

~ inherent ~ You are enthusiastic with all you do

I'd be so interested to know what people who know me well thought of these :)
All the old baby books say Julie means 'downy faced' - what the heck does downy faced mean? And what were my parents thinking?

Scrap updates - The monthly swap this month at Scrapbook Essentials is SCRAPS - I haven't met a scrapper yet who can throw her scraps out - so it was so neat to be challenge to use them!! I got a fabulous envelope of basic Grey scraps to use and these 2 photos begging to be scrapped! This layout was for the sticker fortnightly challenge - use some stickers on your page - I've got an embarrassing amount of stickers - so it was fun to got through them all again - bonus is I have some pinned to the board I plan to use soon!
Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children's children. (Deuteronomy 4:9)

Quirky Me??

Nah - I'm so normal its painful - LOL I got tagged by the lovely Rochelle and Tanya - both from Christchurch - I have to list 5 quirky things about myself?!?! Hmm...

1. I am a compulsive door checker - I have broken several doorhandles to our back door checking that it is actually locked.
2. I wont hang underwear on the line, even if I am home all day! And I hang my washing out in order small things on the inside, big things on the outside, I turn everything right way in before pegging it out. When I bring in the laundry I have to fold it immediately else it bugs me!
3. I cant parallel park - I need 2 parks to get my car into a park and then you could probably park a bus between me and the curb and I get seriously stressed if someone parks to close to me!
4. I smile at strangers constantly, I enjoy the thought that I made even one persons moment a little brighter (if not then I at least made them worried I was nutty).
5. I cant sleep if Leo is not home. His job is dangerous and he does a lot of 4 wheel driving up mountains and flying in helicopters. When he is away I just cant rest, when I hear him come in the door I fall a sleep instantly!

See I am not quirky - not really - LOL. You want quirky go check some of the other ladies who's blogs I read...LOL
I am going to tag Rachel and Michelle - because I know them and I want to know their quirks - plus I can also see how often they read my blog - nah nah :)

And the week that was...

What a week - its been flat out and it flew!
I've been so busy doing things that I had so little time to sit and contemplate the computer screen! But at least its clean! In fact my whole house sparkles. I am one of these housewives who about 4 times a year completely overhaul the entire house - then my housework is so easy form then on. When it starts getting harder to keep the home tidy I know its time to have the "big clean" Rachel actually triggered this clean - LOL -she lost her keys! During the hunt for them we were getting mauled by dust bunnies! They were big! I think the worst culprit is the wool carpet throughout the house has had its day and its breaks in little fibres - makes for nasty dust!My scrapbook room got overhauled as well - I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with the result. I found things in that room that I didn't know I had! Thats, my friends, its down right embarrassing!
I've also had a few birthdays to celebrate lately - my niece was 21!! Happy 21st Lynette!I made this canvas fore Lynette - there is supposed to be a little accordion style album in the corner but it is at her flat! The canvas it is still at her mum and dads - LOL - safer there I think!Callan - my wee friend from across the road was 5 - he looked so adorable in his uniform on his first day of school I couldn't resist this shot!A my wee sweetheart Brooke has learnt to turn on the charm! Does it rather well dont you think!
I have my mother-in-law staying for a few days, she had an minor operation for kidney stones and hasn't bounced back as well as she would have like (this is a very stubborn dutch woman we are talking about here - LOL) - the children love having her here, and its been good for her to be able to put her feet up and relax. I'm so blessed my mother-in-law and I have a great relationship - I've heard horror stories about mother-in-laws from hell! But she is so determined not to 'put us out' that we have to growl at her to ask for things!!

And thats is the week that was - in a nut shell!!
;)

Now is the only time there is. Make your now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference.
--Mark Victor Hansen

Camp Pounawea

Josef has been on his first school camp. He went away on Tuesday and came home on Friday. Camp Pounawea is in the Catlin's - gorgeous, gorgeous area running up the coast of the South Island.
This was his timetable:

Tuesday
Travel the scenic route stopping at Waipapa Point Lighthouse and Curio Bay.
View Matai Water Falls
Do the Tautuku Nature Walk
Arrive at camp. Set up.
Wednesday
Lunch at Kaka Point
Walk to the Lighthouse
Walk through Tunnel Hill
Cannibal/Surat Bay walk
Games/Activities
Thursday
Jack's Bay Blowhole
Jack's Bay Rocky Shore Study
Pounawea Bush Walk
Activities/Games
Friday
Celebrate St Patricks Day (this involved green milk I'm told)
Clean Up
Leave camp and travel home.

What a fabulous week he has had!! They got to see so much. Josef was fascinated by the sea lions - and in little boy spirit - took morbid delight in the fact the fact that sea lions were very aggressive and they could chase you and bite!! This was his highlight I think - actually seeing sea lions up close at Jack's Point.
He tells me they talked about Hypothermia - he tells me you can die from this and that if I was to start slurring my words and such he will wonder if I have hypothermia - bless his heart!! LOL!
A plastic bag of shells came home with him - some are really cool - and he said it was fun on the beach when they went there for the shell study. Mussels on the beach look nothing like the mussels I buy at the supermarket - I may have to sit down and explain the seafood farms and then commercial processing and packaging to him.
He had a great time and it was so good to see him when he came home. There is this weird thing that happens to kids when they are away for a time - they look that wee bit different - and Jos looked just that wee bit more grown up!
I gave him a disposable camera to take photos with - not expecting to get much back - but didn't he do well!We haven't been to Pounawea before but we have been to Waipapa Point - the history to this place is heartbreaking. A ship hit rocks here and went down taking most of its passengers with it. The saddest part is they were actually within distance of land and could have tried to swim. Curio Bay is a fantastic swimming bay - I've heard of people who have been swimming here and had dolphins approach them. And we stayed at Tautuku one year for the Hunting Clubs annual family camp. This piece of Southland is so rich in amazing scenery. I remember going to the Cathedral Caves - which is an awesome huge cave on the beach you walk in one entrance and do a loop and come out the other. I have itchy feet to go up back around the coast for the day - LOL!

My Favorite Leprechaun

Okay I know I am a day early but Jess celebrates it at school so we do as well!! I have downloaded a digital kit that will be perfect for printing out and using to scrap these photos. I wanted to make her hair green as well but she has swimming tonight and I don't think the pool will appreciate it - LOL.

An Irish Prayer

May God
Grant you always...
A Sunbeam to warm you,
A Moonbeam to charm you,
A Sheltering Angel
so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you!

Its been one of those weeks - the sudden drop in temperature and I get a head cold - this leads to a drop in motivation to do much except the basics. But I did manage to complete the Trash challenge from the SE fortnightly challenges. I really got a kick out of this one as it was a challenge to use "rubbish" or things that you would normally discard. I used a GE Finance mailer - it looked so neat when it came in the mail and my first reaction was that this would make a neat mini album - and it has! I scrapped all the photos I took of Josef's class trip rock climbing last year.And I even completed a normal 12x12 layout just for the fun of it, I loved these photos - Jessica has so much trouble going to sleep in her own bed. We simply let her fall asleep where she is and put her to bed in her own bed, sounds like a great example of bad parenting - LOL - but she will go to bed at her bedtime and be asleep where ever she drops at least 15 minutes later. Unless its a weekend then we often find the 2 kids in our bed reading!! These particular photos were taken so badly - it was next to impossible to place them on a page so it looked alright!! But it works - sort of - LOL! I have noticed though that I haven't been doing many double layouts - I used to do heaps of them!! I can take so many photos of the same event and I enjoy the challenge of getting as many onto a 2 page spread. I have fallen into the habit of single 5x7 photos or a couple of 6x4's.
I am going to try and complete more double pages - I like them, they look great in an album.

And in the spirit of St Paddy's Day I leave you this wee gem...

Irish Blessing

May those that love us, love us.
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping!

;)

The StoryBook Circus

Family treat time - we went to the circus and had an absolute fabulous time!
We needed it, after a very emotionally draining week with a major family crisis - it was so great to sit back and laugh and gasp and ohh and ahhh. Jess and I discovered we both just could not look a the guy who thought he would try to swing right out of the big top - he was insanity to watch - so fast - so high - I felt sick watching. The circus people are sooo talented and so scarily weirdly flexible!!! They can do things that seem to completely defeat laws of gravity and bend their bodies into shapes that defy the human skeleton!This clown was awesome - Jessica asked him if Leo could take her picture with him and he grabbed her and Josefs hands and took them right down into the ring and in front of the the big circus door - it was so cool!
My niece turned 21 last week - hows that for making one feel old!! She's all grown up and left home. I made her an altered canvas - I need to take another photo of the finished product but this key was the centerpiece for it. We went to Leo's brothers house for a bbq tea to celebrate and it was a great night - warm and happy atmosphere.

Jessica had a really bad day at school last week - she has had a very harsh lesson in life and peer pressure. A friend of hers stole a few of her daddy's smokes and took them to school - a group of them were caught behind the church pretending to be grown up and so cool! The smokes weren't lit or anything - they were play acting - but it was still a pretty serious thing for 7 year old girls.
Jessica was so upset - she told us she knew it was wrong to be there but her 'friends' had told her that they wouldn't be her 'friends' anymore. One of the little girls is pure trouble and we have been quietly discouraging them playing, I realise some people think this is wrong of me - but I just don't want my kid playing with a little girl who is allowed to walk around the streets by herself (my kids arent even allowed to go down the street to the park alone), she steals, lies and if Jess doesn't do what she says will actively try to make the other kids in the class not like Jess. It sucks that 7 year olds girls are subjected to the same peer pressure I watched Ashleigh go through at 13 - 14. Jess has been pretty subdued the last few days, and doesn't want to go to school anymore. I'm a bit worried because Jess takes knocks badly and recovers slowly. The girl she considers her best friend plays with the little girl we discourage - so its separating Jess and D. Its easy to say make new friends - but D and Jess have been best friends since kindergarten.
I may look in to homeschooling yet! :(
On a positive note - the schools approach was fabulous - they had the children sit around and discuss the dangers of smoking and what to do if you feel threatened or pressured by a 'friend'. And my sweet little son told Jess that if she was worried at school she should find him and he will help her - it still makes me teary when I think of him standing up for her like this!
I have been reading some bedtime stories to Jessica - I grew up reading Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories and found a set that is very similar but the themes have been updated to be a little more relevant for kids of today. There are stories that deal with making good decisions, setting boundaries, handling peer pressure, dealing with fear, when someone is making fun of you, forgiveness, honesty, accepting personal differences and so on. We have begun reading a story each night and then talking about what we have read.
Its good because we are sharing time together as well as hopefully installing in Jess some pretty good ideals.

Its Raining.....

Its one of those utterly dull days, the rain just keeps coming down and everything is starting to feel waterlogged and there is a chill in the air. I figure I'll have a wee moan here and maybe I'll feel better - LOL!
At least I could scrap and not feel guilty for sitting at my desk in the middle of the day. I was majorly motivated today and got tea ready this morning, I was all set to scrap till tea time and catch up on a few layouts.
Great intentions - I forgot I had a parent teacher interview at 5! So I finished a page for a competition, tidied up my desk, turned tea on and sat down at my computer for a little blog catch up instead.

Its been one of 'those' weeks - where despite everything you do you just never seem to get to do what you want, I've snatched moments here and there to read emails, reply to some, check the forums and even post in the forums - lol -but write on my blog - it just wasn't happening - LOL.

I've got 2 boxes of chocolates here - Josef has school camp next week and they left the fund raiser till the very last minute - not terribly impressed - but the chocolates keep whispering to me!! I really don't mind that Cadbury Mint - as soon as it stops raining Josef has GOT to sell those chocolates!!This page is for the March Competition on the Scrapbook Essentials Forum. We had a list of 'ingredients' and we had to use at least 4 of them. I picked pattern paper, buttons, rub ons, and chipboard. The photo was taken by Michelle at Rachel's wedding - I love it.I just had to scrap these pictures - all the Bode men in one place and willing to let me take their picture! Josef is the youngest and thinks his big cousins are so cool!I wasn't 100% impressed with the photo taken at Harvey Norman last year for the Santa shots - the setting was a little bland, but I don't think the page turned out so bad.

I treated myself today to the most amazingly awesome book - the Creating Keepsakes "photography for Scrapbookers" by Tracy White.
Its so cool - tips to help take better photos, teaching your eye to 'see' the photo before you snap, ideas for photographing babies, kids, scenery and so much more. I am on page 13 - lol - I keep flipping through it! But I'm already singing its praises - what a fabulous resource book.

I was just catching up on some other blogs and noticed Janine has tagged me!!
1. Find the nearest book: Yep okay - LOL - I just got the book as a freebie from Whitcoulls - neat huh!

2. Name the book & the author: The Girl In Times Square

3. Turn to page 123: haven't gotten that far yet

4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page & copy out the next three sentences onto your blog:
There were some things in life for which once was enough. There weren't many of them. Many of life's offerings were renewable pleasures, like sex, or renewable miseries, like alcohol.

5. Tag 3 more people.
I tag you : Kelly and Hannah and Meg

Photo of the Day - 16

Things to Do If You Are a Flower
Be a wonderful color, like purplish pink.
Stay out in the rain.
Understand what the wind says.
Dance to its rhythms.
Grow toward the sun.
Smell good.
Give bees honey.
Count every star.
Be beautiful.

Way back when...

Neen on the Scrapbook Essentials forum challenged us today to look at our earlier scrapping styles - our first layouts! I had an enjoyable hour flipping through those older albums and having a giggle and a cringe. I like to think I have found "MY' style and I like to think I have grown and adapted as a scrapper to the place I am now - I'm comfortable and I love what I create. I think product has evolved heaps to - lol - its a bit like looking at photos of yourself as a kid and wondering why your mother dressed you in 'that' jersey??!! It was probably very trendy! Scrapbooking it so much like that - BUT - I think once you find your groove you tend to stick to it - you occasionally branch out and try new things but ultimately you come back to the true 'you'.
Here are some of my earlier layouts!