Something Crafty

I just wanted to share what l did for Liam's 10th birthday, rather than make him a card as l usually do, l decided this year to make him a mini album. It showcased his birthdays for the last 10 years.

I chose some co-ordinating paper to cover the pages and added some painting. The design is pretty much the same for each page and l have hidden journaling, detailing each birthday, the simple where, who, what etc along with little things l remember.

It was a very simple fun project that l enjoyed doing. Liam was also very happy with the final result. Here are some detailed photos.

Enjoy.

Ages 3 and 4

Liam's 5th and 6th year, l added the text directly onto the photo with photoshop.

Pages showcasing Liam's 7th and 8th year

Close up of the book, with ribbon peeping out at top.

Back of the book

I used chipboard letters to add dimension.

Journaled tags behind each photo

Some dimension inside, added with pop dots, and chipboard

hidden journaling

Is it really the First day of School already?

Yes, after months of having them around, 24/7 , Coco and l were left alone in a quiet house. I will say this summer flew for me, and l was not as enthusiastic to send them back to school as l have been in previous years. Somehow summer just flew too fast.

So begins the start of new routines, school, homework, piano lessons, baseball, school dances, etc etc.

This is the last year of Elementary school for Liam. He started 5th grade today and we are very happy that he has the same 5th grade teacher Maddy had, the wonderful Mrs. O.

I was happy to see that our many talks this summer about responsibilities and how important these following middle and high school years are going to be paid off.This morning he woke up when the alarm went off and got himself dressed and had breakfast without me having to remind him.

He also did his homework and reading after school without any prompting from me. He and his friend Shane were super excited because they are now the older kids on the bus and thus get to sit at the back of the bus, cracked me up.

Maddy is entering 7th grade, and despite the first day nerves she did wonderful, and is very excited about her classes. The kid is super easy when it comes to school and is very self motivated and organized.

Of course l took my annual "first day of school" photo, and no l did not ask them to wear matching outfits, they totally picked their own clothes out the night before. Now as for Coco, l couldn't help but sense that she knew what was going on, and did make it a little difficult for the kids to leave this morning, l know she misses them.

We both miss them.

August the 24th is another "Best Day Ever" because

It's Liam's 10th Birhday!!

How does a decade just pass in a blink of an eye? Today is your 10th birthday and l know you're pretty excited about the double digits. Of course you're in a hurry to grow up, but we would rather you tried to slow down a little. If it was up to me, l'd just like to stop time all together. I mean if the last decade just flew, imagine how fast the next decade will go!

So Liam, here's to 10 wonderful years and so many more to come. We wish you nothing but happiness and may you always find joy in your life. Happy birthday we love you so very much and are proud to have you as our son.

Love

Mum and Dad

x0x0x0x0

August the 14th is "The Best Day Ever" because it's....

Matthew's 7th birthday!

Happy birthday Matthew, wishing you the best day ever! Here is a list of what you must do on your birthday:





1. Jump up and down shouting " it's my birthday!"


2. Tell everyone that it's your birthday.


3. Eat some yummy Cadbury Chocolate! (mmm!)


4. Open some cool birthday gifts.


5. Eat some more yummy Cadbury Chocolate!


6. Have some birthday cake.


7. And eat some yummy Cadbury Chocolate again!!


8. Have a day off from school !

9. Listen to the song on the sidebar.

Enjoy!!



We love you and wish we could be there with you (to help you eat some yummy Cadbury Chocolate!) and help celebrate this special day.



Love,



Daniela, Darren, Maddy and Liam

Wow, it's really been a looong time!

I just can't believe how much time has passed. We are about two weeks away from School starting up again, and l think my last post was around the time when summer vacation started. So what have we been up to? Well a lot has come and gone in the last two months. Only fair to mention this is a looong post!!

Firstly I need to mention that my wonderful dad celebrated his 65th birthday on July the 22nd, and they will be coming for a visit around the end of October. We are so excited to see them again.

this was taken back in 2006 when they last visited

Also while I'm mentioning birthdays, my brother in law Jorge celebrated his birthday on the 28th of July. We got to talk to him on his special day. It really makes it hard around this time of the year, as most of our family is celebrating birthdays and we would love so much to be there with them. This goes on the Cons list about living so far from family.




So now to recap on what we have been up to. The start of the summer kept us busy with Liam's baseball. Tournament after tournament, we had lots of fun, but l will admit everyone was happy to finish up early July and get to enjoy the rest of the summer.

Darren and I also took a little trip to Napa Valley with our good friends the Oakleys and the Fentons. We had planned this trip last year in honour of all of us turning 40 (not till the end of September for me). We had a great time and l will follow up on this with some photos on another post, l promise.

July also saw Darren's sister Shelley come to visit, which was really great to have her with us, even if it wasn't long enough.

The rest of the summer has been spent, swimming, hanging out with friends, staying up late and sleeping in. My favourite part of summer is that there pretty much isn't anything good on TV so l totally switch off and get to play in my craft room. I was able to make lots of cool cards for upcoming birthdays and do a little scrapbook project for Liam's birthday. My nephew Matthew is about to celebrate his 7th birthday on the 14th of this month so l made his a cool banner for his room. It's decorated in a cowboy theme, hence the design of the banner.

I also had a go at making a clear card and really enjoyed that, l'm planning on making many more of these.

This was a card l made for our friends son who turned 11 on the 6th of August. I struggle with designing boy cards, but l really like how this turned out. I used little bolts on the corners. the best thing was that Shane really liked the card.

At the moment we are busy in the midst of packing for our up coming vacation to the Gulf shores of Alabama. 1 week at the beach with our friends, we are all so looking forward to it.

And lastly we are all engrossed in the Olympics and have been cheering our Aussies on. Coco has gotten into the spirit as well.

OK that's it for now, sorry it was a long post, l promise not to wait so long between posts next time.

Sorry no blogging, too busy enjoying our summer!

Enjoy the photos!

Long time no Post

It's been a while since my last post, things were busy and seem to now be slowing down a little. The kids finished school early June and we were so ready for it.

A major part of our days are spent in the pool or in the comfort of the a/c

We spent most of May and early June at Liam's baseball tournaments, l think we had like 3 weekends in a row doing tournaments. The boys have done so well and have come home with 2nd place trophies a few times.

I'll try to catch up on some of the things that happend during my blog absence.

For Mothers day: We went to Chicago for a weekend trip. Darren's favourite band Crowded House was playing there and so we decided to take a trip to the Windy City since we had never been. What an amazing place, absolutley loved it. It reminded us so much of Melbourne, with it's grid planed streets and full of so many great architectural buildings, not to mention the flowers that were on display and all the cool street art.

I was also busy planting some colour in our garden and getting it ready for Summer .

On Fathers day, we had a nice relaxing day at home, Darren wanted to watch the Golf, and get some fruit trees to plant in our yard. So we now have an Apricot, Nectarine and Apple tree and the kids are already asking when the fruit will come in.

Next week Darren and I are off on a 4 day trip to Napa Valley with our good friends, the Fentons and the Oakleys. This trip has been planned since early last year when we realised that we were all about to turn 40 by the end of September 2008. Thanks to our friend Matt who is in the wine business we are getting to stay on a winery, and be wined and dined. So looking forward to this.

l'm still going strong on my Photo a Day, and l have uploaded some more photos on the side bar slide show, feel free to take a look. I promise to be better with the up keep of the blog. For now, l'll be off it's getting late and my bed is calling me.