Just Like Heaven

Aprons, Art and other stuff :)

Oh dear this month has been crazy-busy!  Personally I blame the school holidays for starting the ball rolling on my disorganisation, but I know it's not that, it's ME! 

I have SO much that I want to blog from the last couple of weeks that I just do not know where to begin.  So I'll just start at the start.  Let's just pretend I blogged this two weeks ago and I'll try very hard to blog every day and catch up because I want to get it all down.

Okay well a couple of weeks ago I was sick.  I just had a cold.  A stupid head cold that made me feel stuffy, tired and flat.  It made me even more vague than I normally am if that at all is possible! So I cancelled my class that week at Simply Said.  It was good actually because I had sick students too!  It would have been one giant germ-fest so we had a break.  Except for Tanya. :)  Tanya had come a long way to do my class and since she is my gorgeous friend as well, I invited her to my home instead to scrap and she was kind enough to agree to that.

So she packed her scrapping gear and came to my house to scrap and chat and do the girly thing.  And Marie joined us too.  Only we didn't scrap at all - not a bit!  We just chatted and drank wine - lol.  I soon forgot about my cold and had a fabulous night and part of the next morning too!!!! 

I'm thinking it was fate that I met Tanya a.k.a the Apron Chick because she makes scrapping aprons.  Tanya married one of my High School friends and if i didn't eventually meet her through him maybe, I think we might have crossed paths somehow anyway.  We met at Crop 4 Kids and we have HEAPS in common.  So this visit was wonderful :)

Here's Tanya's aprons which you can buy from Simply Said, Scrapbook Sinners, or contact Tanya through her blog here.

If you did my classes at Paperific, you'd have heard me gushing on about them.  I wear mine to work all the time, the front pocket is great and they're just awesome. :)

So the next morning, Tanya came back to my house for a play with some scrappy stuff and her little girl Indy and Maddy had a wonderful time.  I must process all the gorgeous photos we took because they got along SO well :)  Here's the big girls out in the cold anyway :)

I look sooo tired and that's because I was - lol!!! It was a fabulous couple of days and a great way to forget about my silly cold!

The kids and I had a fabulous time during the second week of the holidays doing absolutely NOTHING!  We made plans to head to Melbourne on the Thursday.  We were packed ready to go on the train to the gallery and it was sooooo wet that day that we all decided to just stay home in our bed socks.  The week was restful and really really nice! 

The following Sunday was Madeleine's birthday.  I have heaps to blog about that but I'm so sleepy right now I'll leave it until next post.  My party bags feature is out this month in Scrapbook Creations.  This feature was ACE to put together.  It was sooo much fun to play with everything not to mention how many lollies we ate!  If you haven't seen it yet, here's what I made!

Hmm many lollies were eaten! He he he......

Before I leave it here for now, do yourself a FAVOUR and go and check out all the previews of CHA on the Aussie Scrap Source blog.  I can't tell you how much internal squealing I've been doing over all the gorgeous new stuff coming out and Marie has decided to somehow add another floor to her shop just to accommodate all the Halloween stuff - roflmao!

Okay I still have HEAPS to catch up on here but I need to sleep!  Thanks for dropping by and seeya xx!

OH one more thing.  I have my own domain name now - woohoo!  You can just type www.nicolefinlayson.com and you'll b brought straight to here - woohoo again!!!

OH and girls who have tagged me and stuff - I haven't forgotten I'm getting to them I promise :)

Absent note - lol...

Wow, I've had a crazy busy week and it's not looking like getting any less busy either.

I'm sad that the holidays end today - I'm liking having the kids home, but I'm ready to get back to routine.

I'm working today at Scrapbook Sinners in Traralgon - if you're local, come and say hello :)  It should be a great day.

I have HEAPS to blog and the task just seems huge each time I think about tackling it!

But for now I need to get ready for today's big class day.  I'm getting picked up at 8.30am and not finishing until late tonight!  Phew, it's gonna be a big (and fun) one!

Holiday Horror Heads

So we are at the end of week one of the school holidays.  The weather has been disgusting to say the least.  We've all been pretty much cooped up inside with colds and when we have left to go somewhere I am met with, "Do I have to wear my jacket?"  "WHY can't I wear my thongs?" "It's not FAIR!!!"  Ugh....mind you my offspring haven't been too bad.  They've spent a bit of time with friends, been bowling, watched a lot of TV, played the PS2 and the computer and made piles of paper mess with their crafts and scrapbooking.  Not too bad so far considering....

So today I FINALLY made it to the Post Office and whilst arguing about shoes and clothes and who gets in the car first and did we have to go and why can't I buy toys and what song is on the CD player and who looked at who with a mean face and whose breath stinks and and and......and....I grabbed two Postpaks off the shelf and made my way to the teeny bench to write addresses down while being bombarded with, "Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum can I look at the footy stuff?"

"Yes but don't touch please" I replied to them.

"Muuuuuuum Alex keeps touching." 

"No I don't it's you."

"Nahhh it's not me Mum he's dobbing on me for nothing."

"Am not"

"Are so"

And I'm biting my lip as right now I'd like to knock their heads together but instead I'm trying very hard to ignore the banter.

 I ask Alex to swap my envelope for the bigger one on the shelf over there as if I leave this spot, the queue of people waiting for my bench will take my place.  So he goes to the shelf and pulls down not one, but a PILE of envelopes.  Grrrrrr............and they're the wrong ones and Maddy is laughing at him and he's cracking at her because she's laughing and I'm just about DONE!  So I ask him to come back and stand with my purse and I'm feeling like my blood pressure is about to explode and I head over, pick up the fallen envelopes and get the right ones.  I say thankyou to Alex for helping me and go back to writing my addresses.  When I over hear a conversation going on behind me with a younger couple.

"God you wouldn't want to smile would you?", followed by some comments about sour mothers etc.  That was the woman and the man patronisingly replies with some wankish comment about how she should be kind as not everyone has so much to smile about and she replies with some comment like, "Yeah but still..." and then I realise they are talking about ME!  WHAT!!!!!!  The more I eavesdrop, they are talking about the incident with the envelopes and how grumpy I am.

I was so embarrassed initially.  I wanted to hide but now in hindsight I want to throw a Lynette Scarvo "ARE YOU JUDGING ME?" right at them.

Excuse me?  Screw YOU..I am sick, I am tired and I have spent all morning being bombarded with the endless bickering of brother and sister and constant drivel about ponies and Star Wars.  I haven't had a decent sleep in weeks thanks to my snoring husband, I didn't know if there was enough money in my account to post the work off that I was posting and I've just driven the block 27 freaking times using probably $45 worth of fuel just to get a #$%^&*( car park and YOU are judging ME!!!!

Just like every other average mother in Australia I get up every morning wondering if I'll make ends meet, pick up a constant stream of dirty dishes and clothing, odd socks and pieces of rubbish.  I'll be demanded on and whined at by every child I've given birth to and let's not forget by my significant other.  I'll somehow manage to piss someone off inadvertently either from my immediate family, extended family, girlfriend network, workplace or total stranger.  I can do that on a daily basis with little effort yet good intention.

I'll manage to feel guilty about something somewhere that isn't my fault and I'll be told by at least one family member that they don't want that for dinner.  I'll forget at least one item at the supermarket and I'll be mad at myself for eating something that I shouldn't or that I didn't exercise today.  I will say yes to at least one thing I mean NO to and I'll put off that something I've wanted to do for myself AGAIN!  I'll forget not only something from the supermarket, but I'll also forget I was meant to be somewhere, I had to do something today or I was meant to ferry someone somewhere today.  And I'll feel bad about it!

Grr......again I repeat if you are reading this Post Office rude woman - SCREW YOU!  I'm doing the best I can.  May you have children who leave you stretchmarked and saggy and may they be blessed with verbal diarrhea and peck you every day until your ears bleed.  And my you never have a restful sleep and may other women JUDGE and berate you while you're in public.  You know, in case you don't feel shitty enough about the job you're doing - BLAH!!!!!  May you never think a full sentence again and may you feel like that almost equally arrogant man of yours is just like having another child.

Oh ignorance is bliss........:X

Saved by sickness and scrapping....

Back in April when we went on our long weekend into the city, Alexander had been talking about a project he was doing at school.  His "Passion Project" he called it.  It was about his passion, something he loved.

As soon as he mentioned Pokemon, Lego, Star Wars or Ben 10, I think I tuned out.  Anyway he was desperate to go to the Museum to take photos of the spiders for his project as he'd decided to do the project on "gross things".  I kind of followed what he was saying but much to my shame I mainly just nodded in the right spots, gave him the camera and told him to take photos of whatever he liked.

I vaguely remember him telling me he wanted the photos printed. "Yep mate no problem I'll get to it".  I had no idea what he wanted.  Each time he vaguely mentioned it, I vaguely answered with something to buy me time I guess.  While we were in Melbourne he had asked me to print out a picture of a spider for him which he cut out and stuck onto a piece of Reflex paper and wrote some random facts around it.  I thought he was amusing himself while we were on holidays.

I didn't give it much thought again until I went to school on Tuesday to his classroom to pick him up early as he'd been feeling sick.  His teacher invited me to stay and watch the presentation of one of the children with their "Passion Project".  So I did.  It was wonderful.  A Powerpoint presentation all about this boy's love of the Zebra Finch.  What the?  A Powerpoint presentation?  Is that what Alex had been going on about?  Was this the project he kept kind of mentioning, every time while he could NOT have my attention.  I was either cooking dinner, on the phone, on the toilet, or doing something that needed my full attention.  Or that's my excuse anyway. 

So I watch the gorgeous presentation and then leave with Alex.  "When's your presentation?" I ask him.  He tells me it's on Thursday.  It's now Tuesday.  Very excited I ask him if it's ready to go and he tells me it's not yet.  He tells me he needs the photos and some information gathered from the internet, like he's been asking me.

At that moment I realise that I am possibly THE worst mother in the world and the sting of the "too-busy-to-give-the-kid-some-attention" kicks in big time as I realise I have become one of THOSE mothers.  The kind I swore I'd never be.  I felt bad, and asked him if I could see what he had so far.

He ran off to his classroom to get it and he presented me with two wrinkled up pieces of photocopy paper with the diagram I had half-heartedly printed out two months ago and the random facts written on it.  It was pretty sad looking and he looked so ashamed.  He reminded me how he'd asked me to print his photos and how he'd asked for help.  Yep, Mum feels even worse now.  Apparently some kids had made dioramas with their parents, a couple had made a video and one even had their Dad contribute drawings and photos!

Realising we'd been granted a chance I told him to go and get all the information he'd gathered so he could  work on it that afternoon at home.  I'd help him.  I had work galore due but this was more important.  I actually felt sick with guilt.  I think I felt worse because he was so cool about me NOT helping him.  If he'd been cross with me or something I'd have an excuse, but I had nothing.

So we went straight home.  I edited the photos he took right then and loaded them onto the USB stick and took them straight to the lab to get printed. 

I tipped out every blank mini album and  scrapping supply I'd been hoarding for something special and I told him to go for his life and use anything for his project.  He opted for a mini album in a board book.   Mind you  I'd been saving this blank book for something but it didn't matter anymore.  I'd been saving the red spider web paper since he was a toddler.  Again it didn't matter.  Nor did the hacked up Cosmo Cricket papers, or half a bottle of Tombow that he used matter anymore.  What mattered was that my son could have had to stand up in front of his class with a project that he knew was crappy.  And knowing how much pride he has in his work, he'd have been humiliated within himself.  Sigh....more Mumma guilt.

It was so nice to work on it with him too  He did the bulk of the work.  In fact I was amazed at the skills he had as far as using Word and the way he formatted everything.  All I helped with was the text box sizing to fit the book and the odd bit of Googling.  He designed the whole look of the book, picked the papers and I thought his heading ideas were super-cool.

I'm so proud of what he did.  All I did was helped him glue and sand. The photos were giving me the creeps anyway.  Eww, the Huntsman was a real one at the Museum and don't even get me started on the Cockroaches - EEEEEWWWWW!  Anyway he scored 18/20 for his presentation - the two point deduction was because he sat on a chair to present and talked too quietly.  Woohoo - he was STOKED and best of all he was enthusiastic about going to school that day.  Another confidence boost - something my boy really needs!

Not to be neglectful of Miss Maddy Moo - I finally paid for her mermaid party that I'd promised her, and set about making her damn invitations!  I'm so crap at invites but anyway here they are with my number and stuff edited off.

Yes I even bought the damn die cut for the Cuttlebug just for that die cut shell...hmm......

Mind you she LOVES the invites and I finally came up with an idea for her special cake today!  She's having a mermaid party.  She's got a bit of a 'thing' for mermaids right now - so cute!

And just one more pic for today.  I'm sick with a nasty cold.  I feel like death warmed up at the moment - blah.  I'm stuffy and foul and poor kids are home on holidays and Mum is sick and the weather is FOUL!  In an attempt to not park them in front of the PS2 ALL day we baked!

We also made jelly and Nathan and Alex cook stir fry beef for dinner.  Apparently Alex did the bulk of it.  ANOTHER boost to his self-confidence and I can tell you the noodle stir fry was DIVINE - yum!!!

Well that's about all that's happening in Finno-land tonight.  I've been scrapping and scrapping but nothing I can share today.  I'm teaching tomorrow night, I'll share then!

Oooooo one more thing.  THANKYOU for all the nice messages, emails and comments about the loss of our fur-baby Basil....I looked for him again today.  It's just not the same here without him....I appreciate the kind thoughts - thankyou :)

Life Lessons

Well I'm pretty sure it's official now.  Our beloved Basil-cat is not coming back. :(

Yesterday I saw Madeleine in the backyard sitting at the picnic table looking through a scrapbook of pages she'd made herself.  I went and sat with her and asked her what she was doing.  She told me she was really missing Basil and if she showed him her scrapbook with photos of him in it, he'd realise how much she loves him and then he would come home to her.

Oh it just broke my heart.  She truly thought he left because he didn't realise that we love him so much.  Then she thought maybe he didn't like the food we were feeding him and a whole host of other reasons that all made perfect sense.  It was awful, in fact I am still choking up thinking about it.

So we told both kids the truth, that we think he has died.

And they were heartbroken.  We all were.  Nathan too.  We all cried.  And cried.  And cried.  And poor Alex was just so so sad.  It was one of those horrible moments where you wish you could hug their pain away.  But of course I couldn't.  It was just awful.  We had no explanation for them.  Except that death is part of life.  We shared funny happy memories and told the kids it's okay to be sad.  But it's okay to be happy too. 

So after an exhaustive sook-session, Nathan took the kids to play with some friends and it was the perfect distraction.  Alex was sad again last night but I think they'll be okay.  It's a hard thing to learn but not a lesson we can avoid forever.  I can't help but keep checking the front door looking for him though. :(  I'm heartbroken. That furry little creature has been with us forever. :(  But life goes on....

I scrapped my behind off yesterday.  I have masses of mojo and creative energy and am hanging out to channel it somewhere!  Wish I had more time to make stuff - grr...

Kids are on holidays from today and they were wild.  Oh dear they are so energetic and BOTH blessed with the gift of verbal diarrhea.   Lucky me.  Not.  Oh boy I'm hanging out for some serenity already and it's only the first day!  I was a bit busy finishing off work stuff so preoccupied I guess but tomorrow we might do some cooking I think.  I put them to work tonight putting washing away and doing other chores and have told them if they tell me they're bored, the grout in the bathroom needs a clean, the windows need washing and the car needs a clean.  Reckon they'll be bored tomorrow.  Nope I don't!  I'm hoping we make it out for a bike ride tomorrow.  That should tire them out!

They did give me two minutes of their time today though.  I need this for a class sample and they turned out better than I anticipated - yay!!

You can hardly tell they spent a large portion of today bickering at each other - lol.  Little treasures. I actually do love having them home on holidays.  Mostly - lol!

That's it for today - seeya xx