The New Me!
This happens several times a year... I decide I need to get fit and healthy so I start a diet etc etc. Not a fad diet - just watching what I eat, trying to eat healthy... a hard thing for me. If you look at my profile, I list eating as one of my interests lol

Went for a walk this morning, dragging out the double pram which seems so huge! The boys enjoyed the walk, but I was totally puffed and hot (I over dressed thinking it was cold). And to top it off, I have ended up with a blister, which will be great when I have to wear something other than slippers at work tomorrow!!

But I'm proud of myself today - and I even managed to sneak some chocolate into the calorie count! Gotta love that!!!

Sorry for the rambling post! See you all tomorrow :)

New Gift Tags in Stock!

Just listed these gift tags - I love the colour combination of turquoise and black (it was inspired by a fellow Etsyian's banner) - hope customers like the colours too!

If you are interested, click the following link to the Etsy shop listing to see more details:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6590124

I was cutting it fine tonight, but got my blog post in :) yes, I'm just a little addicted!

P.S. My son said that word again today (see previous post) ... aaarrrggghhh!

P.P.S. Can't shake the feeling that I still think I have glass in my hand. Want to go back to Dr. (see previous post)

GREAT! - MY SON CAN'T SPEAK

BUT HE CAN SWEAR!!

My cheeky son is almost two and can't really speak yet - he just babbles a lot in his own language! He says a lot of single words like daddy, light, car, cheese, bath, shoes etc etc and some phrases like 'peek-a-boo' and 'all gone'.

That's all well and good. He's developing at his own pace. However, this afternoon, my husband was driving him over to my mum's and a car pulled out in front of them. My husband let a swear word slip - F#^* - and my son repeated it as clear as day!! My husband tells me he then quickly turned up the radio and started singing etc, hoping the word would not stay imprinted in his mind.

Hopefully my son's first full sentence won't involve a swear word!! As a teacher I am pretty used to censoring my thoughts/words (I don't often swear anyway)... my husband obviously isn't...

WHAT KIND OF CHOCOLATE ARE YOU?


Just a silly quiz for tonight. Apparently, I'm milk chocolate:

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds.You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life.Also nostalgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

lol some of this is true...and I do love milk chocolate :))

So what type of chocolate are you? Click on the pic above to take the quiz - and don't forget to share the results. Let us know how accurate they are.

Tripping...
This past week has seen celebrities and politicians tripping up...literally. The other day video footage of Prime Minister John Howard tripping as he entered a Perth radio station, was played over and over on every news channel available...including in slow motion!

Tonight the news carried footage of Beyonce falling down a set of stairs in the middle of one of her concerts...again, it too was played in slow motion - just in case we missed anything the first few times they showed it.

For the voyeurs who may have missed the footage, here are the You Tube links (click on pics):

I just feel BAD for them! We all know what it's like to trip in public...and how embarrassing it is! We always hope that nobody saw us. Imagine not only being seen, but having your fall broadcast all over the world!

I must admit that I did laugh when I saw the footage of Miss America (from memory) tripping as she made her way down the catwalk at a recent pageant...

So what does everyone think? Were these falls newsworthy? Should they have been placed on You Tube or shown on the news? Do we just love to see the rich and famous taking tumbles like ourselves?

P.S. I've seen Beyonce in concert and she was a brilliant entertainer. It didn't surprise me that she got right back up and kept performing, but boy it would have hurt!

COMING SOON
Each month one of my blog posts will be dedicated to a feature on an artist/website I admire. The artists' website links will also be listed under the Great Finds section of the blog.

Look out for our first feature, coming soon...

Mini Albums



I have just re-listed this mini baby album, ready to be personalised. It is an adaptation of the embellished photo albums I custom make for people which are featured on my site http://www.scrap4u.org/gallery12b.html.

These mini albums, being so small, are obviously more affordable and make a great little gift. The two albums at the very top of this entry were ordered as gifts after customers saw the baby album and another family album featured.

If anyone is interested in the baby album featured, please visit my Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5596601

P.S. The flyers should have reached the reception venues today...hope they bring in lots of new customers. My new business cards arrived on Monday (I answered the door in my PJ's - how embarrassing!) and they look fabulous! I was relieved they turned out okay!

Ordinary Day
Just an ordinary day today - well as ordinary as you get with two children under the age of 2!

Went to my "day job" today. I recently went back to casual teaching after two years on maternity leave. I had Year 4 today and they were a very lively bunch. Wore me out a bit, but they have nothing over my little ones...

They both cried/screamed simultaneously and consecutively for around 40 minutes tonight. By the time I got them both to bed I was exhausted.
My 23 month old son has decided that he no longer wants day sleeps and whilst once an excellent night sleeper, he has decided that he doesn't want to go to bed! It has been a running battle for the past week to get him to sleep AND despite being dead tired, he then wakes at the crack of dawn screaming his lungs out because he wants to get up. It's as if he has a million and one important things to do and just can't waste time sleeping!

He is teething, but oh, when will this dreaded stage end?

Off to have a coffee...caffeine fixes everything (almost).

Zorro is sick :(

This is my sister's 11 week old puppy Zorro, and today she discovered he is very sick :( He was throwing up, seemed constipated and was acting very strangely. She took him to the vet who in turn prescribed some medication, but they are not sure what the cause of the illness is. He may have swallowed some foam from his little house, or he may have a virus. My sister is hoping it's nothing serious. Poor little thing...isn't he cute?

Broken Glass

What a week! I have had it with broken glass! The pictured door shows the cleaned-up aftermath of Wednesday's catastrophe. Imagine this:

I was locked in my study with my almost two year old son (we have a simple lock on outside to keep him out) - he followed me in after flicking the lock and shut the door behind him.

I had no phone with me. The portable and my mobile were sitting on the kitchen bench.

My 8 month old was screaming in the playpen.

The stove was ON!!!!!

To say the least, I completely panicked! I did not remain calm at all. I quickly emailed my sister and asked her to call my husband at work (luckily she was at her computer). I tried to find something to fit in the lock but of course in a study that is over-loaded with everything imaginable (my husband calls it a fire hazard) - I could find nothing!!

That's when I started banging and pulling on the door like a crazy woman. My son was staring in disbelief. And then, without thinking, and not even meaning to, I broke the glass panel (see pic) with my hand - which of course started to bleed! Very stupid and dangerous. There was glass everywhere and I was shaking all over. Luckily my husband and sister arrived soon after to help me clean up.

Then on Friday morning I walk into the lounge room and notice glass all over the floor and all over the kid's toys! I think neighbourhood children must have accidentally broken the window the afternoon before! Again I had to go into operation clean-up mode removing all traces of glass from the room whilst trying to keep my kids away from the mess.

My sister went through all the toys individually to clean them up. Very scary. And the night before, with the lights dimmed, the kids had been playing on the floor - probably on top of little slivers of glass!

Anyways, the window has been repaired and the study door still has a missing panel... and today the Dr cleared me of having any glass remnants still in my hand.

These tags were my last custom order and sale through my Etsy store. I'm thinking of making more tags to sell on Etsy...will see how I go.

I am also awaiting new business cards...hopefully they'll arrive in mail this week.

And I was very excited to see my new flyers on Friday. My sister designed them for me and then organised for them to be printed (saving me lots of time)! A couple of reception venues have asked for copies of the flyers to display on their wedding products tables. Hopefully, this will introduce Scrap4U to even more potential customers.

So this month, being the first of the new financial year, has been about advertising and setting new goals for the business. Fingers crossed for a good year.

Sausage Kings



This weekend was salami (sausage) making weekend for my husband and his friends. Being of Italian background, our parents have always made things like salami, sauce, wine and a range of other things. As teenagers (and adults) we have often dreaded these weekends - it is nothing like the final scenes in Looking for Alibrandi (book/movie)!


But a couple of years ago the boys decided that they didn't want the traditions to die out, so they set about learning how to make salami. That was 2005... they made 80kgs between 7 of them that year and it turned out great. We all thought it was beginner's luck but they managed to replicate the feat in 2006.


This weekend they made 142 kgs between 8 of them!! It has to be made when the weather is very cold otherwise the meat doesn't cure properly. They mixed the meat on Friday night and then let it sit overnight as required. They then stuffed the skins on Saturday and finally hung them up this morning.


All us wives with kids in tow turned up at about 1pm for a BBQ. It has turned into a big event on the calendar! The problem with the boys though is that they spend quite a considerable portion of the weekend drinking, playing cards and socialising. So the weekend is huge!


My husband has just gone to bed, thoroughly exhausted and my kids fell asleep as soon as we got home for the same reason. The salami will be ready in about 3 weeks so we'll see how it turns out...


Whatever the result, the boys are already legends in their own minds lol!

Family

Hi again,

I've been playing around with the page templates - and couldn't really find one I loved! Finally settled on this one so we'll see how we go.

Didn't do much Scrap4U work today - my sister was here and she helped with the kids and cleaned the house while I did washing and popped out to buy my brother in-law a birthday present. We'll be going over to his place shortly.

We have quite a big family... I have one sister and one brother, both younger than me and my husband is the youngest of five children. We have 11 nieces and nephews and another on the way...so when we all get together it's quite a gathering :)

Okay, better be off. Bye for now.

Welcome to my World

Hi all,

This is just a short first post to test the waters and see how the page looks.

I'm Cathy - the owner of Scrap4U. I'm a married mum of two beautiful little boys who keep me on my toes - you will no doubt be reading about their exploits as time goes on.

I will sign off for now - have lots to do to get this blog running - but I will be back .