Wednesday, December 31, 2008

We survived Christmas!

Its been awhile, but then I have not had any time really to blog this past week. Too much eating, present opening, catching up on sleep, hanging out with family and best of all hanging out with my Sister and her boyfriend who arrived from Australia on Saturday. 

 We had a lovely Christmas. I even got some minutes (yes just minutes not hours) to myself to enjoy my clean, tidy, quiet and decorated home before guests arrived. Having the in-Laws living upstairs is great as Rolf took the kids up there so i could finish off dinner. 
Christmas Morning it was just us 4, opening presents, talking on the phone with Family in Australia and skyping. 
Then my sister arrived. So excited to see her and of course her boyfriend. We have already took them up to the snow, almost didnt go up cause it was -13C in the morning but i reckon that it was around -10C in the shade when we went up in the afternoon. Crazy for them. 


Well my 15 mins to myself is over, Alexandra is calling from the tent (one of Dylan's presents) where she is suppose to be having a nap. Have cleaned and tidyed and now have to start cooking. We are having some friends over for a little New Years Party, just some nice food and drink and the Wii of course. 

Happy New Year!!!

BTW I too will be choosing a word for 2009 that will define my goals for the year. (Like Ali Edwards) There are a couple that spring to mind at the moment, and i think i will let this day be over and see what i feel tomorrow - so watch out for that!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Holidays
















Wishing everyone Happy Holidays! 
Take time amoungst the craziness of today and tomorrow, to enjoy the moment.
 I know that i am going to have to remind myself of that today. 

My little girl is watching impaitently the presents under the tree. She has now resorted to wrapping up her toys in towels and asking if she can unwrap them now. 

Did i mention that i am making my very first every Christmas Dinner. We have 4 family members coming over so thats 6 adults and 2 kiddies. I have the Turkey in the oven and all the things that go with it are prepared and waiting for the right time to begin cooking. I am surprised at how easy at is, but only because i was super organized. Last night i wrote up all the recipes i had finally choosen and used magnets to attach them to the exhusted above the stove. So no getting recipes dirty and at a great position to see what next to do. I then also made a timetable of what needs to be done when. So far so good - next on my list par boil potatoes. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
and all the rest ;)


Saturday, December 20, 2008

Our Nativity Scene



















So after yesterday's post i should show you our Nativity Scene. 
I really love this one. We bought it while we were in Germany in 2004. Rolf had to work there for weeks at a time so as I was pregnant and had no commitments, I would go with him. We went into Düsseldorf one evening to look at the Christmas Markets and this caught both of our attentions.  It's now not Christmas without it!

Friday, December 19, 2008

While it still lasts ....


We still have snow on the ground, not sure for how long as they are predicting rain for tomorrow at our level. :( We had a lot of snow (ok a lot for an Aussie living in Switzerland ;) ) on Wednesday morning and we still have snow around now. It was so nice to wake up to everything white. I hadnt even looked at the weather report this week as Dylan has been ill again. (He is feeling better now - another Virus) So it was unexpected! I really love snow and hope that some will stick around till next Thursday. 

I am looking after my friends kid's tonight so that she and her husband could go out to their Company Christmas Party. So i have four kids tonight, we just had pizza and have watched some Micky Mouse Club House and they are now playing before bed time. 

Anyway, the eldest vistor who is 5 asked me about our Nativity Scene. Here is our conversation. 

H said: What this?
I said: This is the Nativity Scene, with Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Christmas is Baby Jesus' birthday. 
H said: Where are the Elves?

Kids!

More Christmas Decorations

This is year i finally put up the Christmas Decorations on the window. Have been wanting to do it for a couple of years now and i am so happy i did - looks great - hard to get a good photo of it but i think it is a simple but effective look!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

More DYL layouts



Some more layouts from my Design Your Life class with Cathy Zielske at BPS - so sad that this class is coming to an end, we just got our final week handout today. Even though i am really sad it is all over, I am looking forward to making some great pages with what i have learnt. 

Monday, December 15, 2008

And here it is

Our Christmas Tree is up and even though it has a natural slant to one side, i really love it!
This would be one of my first night time photos that has turned out. There is hope for me yet!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Christmas Tree


Rolf and Alexandra went and bought our Christmas Tree this morning. It is now up with lots of pretty lights and decorations but I am feeling a little under the weather  so will have to take some photos when i am feeling better

Thursday, December 11, 2008

It's here!!!!!!

Back in November i ordered Ali's Edwards Decemeber Daily Kit from Cocoa Daisy. It has finally arrived and I dove straight in. Since it is already the 11th, I have a lot to catch up on but I have been keeping a Christmas Journal since the first and of course have taken a lot of photos. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

On Friday

So i had all these great plans to blog every day up to Christmas, one cause it I would love to get in the routine of blogging once a day and second cause it would be a great way to work on my december daily, as the kit i ordered still has not arrived :(. But due to keyboard issues I am only posting for the first time since Thursday today. 

So on Friday, Alexandra came home from her Swiss Playgroup with a cute little bag, made for Samiclaus' visit to her playgroup. Still today i am unsure if he actually came or if the teacher just said he came to them, but either way she got this cute little bag - and now since she has just started drawing people, we get a cute little picture too.  It was filled with Gingerbread, Apples, nuts, madarins and chocolate. She saved some for her friends too. 


 

I have a new keyboard

Sorry about the lack of blogging. Somehow my keyboard got water in it last week and from then on it wouldnt work. I finally got it to work a little on Sunday, but the space bar and the c would not work. Very hard to type a blog entry without a spacebar. 

So finally the shops re opened today after a public holiday yesterday and the first thing i did was run in and get a brand new keyboard - a one of the new flat ones too. 

I so love Apple!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Our first Christmas Card

It was such a nice surprise to recieve our first Christmas Card in the mail yesterday. Quite funny cause yesterday i had to get my cards done so i could sent them to Australia today. And do you know what, i forgot to take a photo of my cards. So will have to make another one so i have one to post. Thought that they were quite cute. I had planned on using the KOTM - Becky's Holiday Cards but my order that i pre-ordered was lost and only yesterday was another order placed.  Well this is their only chance, so i really hope that they arrive! Will probably end up using them for next year - might even get extra organized and write out the envelopes when they arrive

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

What a cool Santa

We had our first visit from Santa today. The Zug International Women's Club organizes ever year a santa visit. We headed to a restaurant and ate yummy cookies and fruit and waited for him to arrive. And how surprised we were this year that he brought his guitar with him. We sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red nose raindeer. It was lots of fun and the kids, even though they were a little scared still got some cute little presents. 

Another DYL layout

We are almost at week 10 of the Design your life class and i am so enjoying it, espcially this one. I got to use my new scallop punch as well :) This layout was from week 9 and its all about line. Can't wait for tomorrow and the new topic of color!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008



Happy December! The first candle is lite. 
Ok, so i am one day too late, but my post yesterday got me
a little distracted. I love December, i really do, but this year, for some reason i am totally out of it. I am not really the organized at all. I have so many projects that i want to do and i have, as usual, have taken on too much. But I am hoping to complete my December Daily album. I hope that next week I will have a little more time and sit down and get to it. 


But I thought i would share our Advent Calendar. I got the idea from Ali's Blog,  and she got the idea from Martha Stewart kids 



Unfortunatly the boxes i had ordered did not come so yesterday I had to run out and find some. I then painted all of them green, red and silver (had to do quite a number of coats) and then finally by the time the kids had gone to bed they were dry enough to put the numbers on them. 















I did not want to hang them on my walls so i just bought a large cork board and i think they look great on there. I can then put them up on our table against the window so that my little boys hands can reach them. I think this could become a tradition in this family! But next time i would start earlier and perhaps paint the corkboard before i put on the boxes!



Monday, December 1, 2008

The easiest Present bar none.















I have just finished off what has become one of the yearly  holiday gift for my family back in Australia. This year it has been easier than ever to make. And that is thanks to Stacy Julian and her Library of Memories system! Well part of it. I have organized my digital photos by season, as Stacy suggested. So when it came making the DVD over the weekend, I literally dragged the photos from each season into iDVD, chose some music and i was ready to burn! So what took me last year days to finish, took me an hour over the weekend! 

Sunday, November 30, 2008

My turn to vote


Ok - so its not as big of a deal as voting for a President, but i take voting very seriously. So when i moved to Switzerland I was rather sad that i missed out on voting in elections back in Australia. I could of done an absentee vote for a bit but it was a little too complicated. Anway so when i was able to become Swiss i jumped at the chance. Not only to have the same citizenship as my husband and kids, but also that i could vote, to make a difference in my new home. So a year ago I become Swiss (didn't loose my Australian passport for those curious to know) and now i can vote. 

Switzerland is a great place to be if you love to vote. They vote on everything, and i love it! So today (well i filled out the form and posted it a week ago) we are voting in no less then 7 referendums and 1 election for our village's "president". Pretty cool. 

Friday, November 28, 2008


fridayfillin.gif

1. My stomach .... probably feeling a lot better than the rest of you right now! 
2. Chicken Nuggets .... is what I ate the most of on Thursday. 
3. The yard .... is non - exsistent we live in an apartment.
4.  My craft room .... is where I'd rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of .... curry cooking ..reminds me of... my Grandmother.
6.  A good sleep .... is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to ... playing on the Wii, tomorrow my plans include .. going to the Grocery Store, Craft store, making some cards and writing a huge list of the things i need to do .... and Sunday, I want to scrap and rest!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving. Hope you are all enjoying eating lots of yummy turkey and everything that goes with it!

Even though i do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I think the idea of giving thanks is a brilliant idea. And so with that in mind i have been thinking today a lot of what i am thankful for. And the first obvious is that i am thankful for my beautiful family. My husband who is ever understanding and supportive, my children who bring a smile to my face on the dullest of days, their unconditional love. But i am also thankful for my friends, who are my family here in Switzerland. Without having my own parents and sister here i found that my friends have really become my family and without them i do not know what i would do. I am thankful for living in a fantastic country, it is safe, tidy and just beautiful and the perfect place to bring up children. Even though it couldn't be father from my family in Australia, it is the perfect place for me to be at the moment, today, and I appreiciate everything that that allows me to do and be. 


A note to my swapers - I asked the guy at the Post office yesterday when i can expect that your packages should arrive. He said up to 21 working days since i sent it. So it is getting close to you i promise. But i was then told my an American friend yesterday that to never send anything by B post to the States, it takes forever. So i am really sorry that i sent it B-post and i have for sure learnt my lesson. Happy Thanksgiving!


Sunday, November 23, 2008

2 things from my kitchen

So i thought i would quickly show you two things that i really love in my kitchen. 

I love fizzy water. Really did not like it when i first came to Switzerland but i do now. It can get pricy though. So we converted about a year or so ago to a Soda Club machine and bottles. We don't put in any of the flavoring that you can buy with it. Just fill it up with the lovely Swiss water from the tap and keep them in the fridge. When we need fizzy water, just put it in the machine and press the button a couple of times and hey presto! Fizzy Water! This last week i finally bought some new bottles - and I so love the colors i chose. Its nice to bring some bright colors into the winter season!




















2. The second thing i love is my sink! We were lucky enough to renovate our apartment 2 years ago and we chose pretty much everything. Again very lucky. After looking at loads of sinks we finally decided on this one below. It has taken me two years to start to use it properly though. Last night when i was chopping up vegetables for a soup I thought hey i should be using the attachments for my sink for this. So i put on the silver trays on each side of the chopping board and off i went. The chopped veg was moved to the right and the stuff I couldn't use went to the left, easily tipped then into my green bucket for compost collection. 


Saturday, November 22, 2008

It's snowing!!!!!

So it did snow over night. 
Not as much as it was thought to of, but during the day has made up for it. I think it has been non stop snowing for the past couple of hours now and does not look like it will stop anytime soon. My poor Father in law who will have to clear it all away in the morning. 

Anyway with all this snow i am getting in the holiday mood! So I think the holiday decorations will be coming out next week for sure.



Friday, November 21, 2008

Friday Fill-in

aw this on Emilie's Blog and just had to do it too. A great Blog call Friday Fill-in

fridayfillin.gif

1. The last band i saw live was ... i have no idea - never really been to a concert except for The Fugee's way back when.

2. What I look forward to most on Christmas (well its suppose to be Thanksgiving - but I am Australia/Swiss so don't celebrate it) ....... is having my husband around for 3 days in a row, with no business calls/emails and 100% of his attention for the kids and I. He is relaxed and happy. I love this!

3. My Christmas/Holiday Shopping is .... taking up a lot of my thoughts at the moment. I really need to stick to my list and get it all done. Saturday the shops are calling my name!

4. Thoughts of ..... how much snow is really going to fall tonight ...... fill my head

5. I wish i could wear .... pretty dresses - somehow i don't really think they suit me and they don't fit into my life at the moment. 

6. Bagpipes ... don't get heard around very much

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to ... eating yummy soup, sitting down to catch up on some writing and watching the snow fall, tomorrow my plans include... having a girly morning with my daughter with lots of shopping and Sunday, I want to ... enjoy a great birthday party then lunch with all my Aussie Friends!!

So anyway the weather here has been so frustrating. Wednesday and Thursday we had sun! Wednesday and friend and I even worked on our painting project (we are painting our kids tables and chairs we got from IKEA) on the balcony. It felt almost like spring. However today is rainy, windy and it has been predicted that we will be getting some snow tonight and over the weekend, 5-20 cms (about 2-8 inches). So it will be our first winter snow storm. 

But nothing compared to the storms that they are having back in Brisbane, Australia. A lot of the places i grew up around are dealing with a lot of damage after days of huge storms. Power lost, roofs lost, lives lost. And they are talks of more to come. fingers crossed for all of you there that the weather calms down. 






Thursday, November 20, 2008

I am rather sad

I am feeling rather sad today. Even though it has been now a day over 3 weeks since i sent my packages to my swap buddies in the States they have still not received them :(. 

I wish there was something i could do. Fingers crossed that it is just the up coming holidays which is the reason they are taking so long to get to them. 

So Christine and Rachel, again so sorry that they have still not arrived and if they havent arrived by Wednesday next week the guy in the post office is going to get an ear full. 

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Desgin your Life week 6 layouts


Here are two of my layouts from week 6 of Design Your life. Week 6 was all about Unity and i found this sketches really easy to follow once I found photos to suit each. We are already into week 7 and i am almost finished those LO's and will post more later on in the week. 



Last night i started to write my first stories from Jessica Sprague's class. I read through the "sparks" and started writing my memories of my birthdays growing up. The system Jessica has created is really amazing and i can see myself really using her way to record memories! When i am finished with my first story i might even post it here. Watch this space!

Monday, November 17, 2008

The difference ...

Angela left a comment on my last post wondering about the difference between the Design Your Life class i am taking with Cathy Zielske at Big Picture Scrapbooking and Jessica Sprague's class Stories in Hand. Well actually Angela there arent really similar at all. 

The Design Your Life class is all about design principals and implementing those principals into our scrapbook pages. Its a fab class (not sure when or if it will be offered again) and i would highly recommend any scrapbooker to take it. I  have learned so much about white space, balance and unity and so much more and i really think that my pages are looking a lot better. 

Jessica's class Stories in Hand, on the other hand is totally about telling the story. Nothing to do with design. I am also really loving this class. Havent had a lot of extra time to really give a lot of attention to it so far but i am loving what i have done so far. Hopefully tonight since i have almost done my layouts for this weeks class at DYL i will catch up on my Jessica Class. 

Oh so many classes, so little time. 
Hope that answered your question Angela!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

More Design Your Life layouts

While i am off at my first ever crop tomorrow, enjoy two of my most recent layouts from my Design Your Life class with Cathy at BPS. Really loving this class and getting so much out of it. 


Thursday, November 13, 2008

Jessica Sprague's Stories in Hand

This week has just been so busy with so many events and projects to do. But the most exciting thing so far this week is for sure Jessica Sprague's class Stories in Hand. Here is my binder after day 1. Still have a lot of cutting and hole punching to do but it is already looking fab! 
This would be such a great gift too!



















































Saturday, November 8, 2008

Scrapping the Music



















I have for awhile been looking at the blog Scrapping the Music and have been thinking, this will be the week i give it a go. But Sunday seems to come around so quickly and i miss my chance again. 

Well not this week :) 
As soon as i saw the song, which I had never heard before, I just knew the perfect photo to use on my layout. 

So here it my take on this weeks song "Click, Click, Click, Click" by Bishop Allen.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A big thank you ......

... to my swap buddies! Christine and Rachel!!!!

Both packages have arrived and I could not be 
happier. I just hope my packages arrive soon and that you love them as much as i love mine. 

Thanks so much! I havent wanted to take them out of their boxes yet though, just keep going back to them and looking at them. But should do that tonight and start using them!


Here are my goodies from Christine














and more goodies from Rachel. 

Monday, November 3, 2008

I turn my head for one minute and .......



..... this is how i find Dylan. I was still in the playroom, but concerntration talking to Alexandra and we turn around and find him in the dolls house. 

Sunday, November 2, 2008

My scrap space

So i have been a reader of the 
for awhile now. I thought that this month would be a good time to jump in to her monthly organizing! This month was the craft/sewng room, which wa
s perfect timing because I have been redoing my space. After a trip to IKEA and some help from my friend P
hyllis I am almost there.  I will note here that my scrap space is a corner in my kids playroom, so it was a challenge to get the right set up. 



BEFORE:
as you can see, my space was a huge mess


AFTER:
here is my new cabinet. I still need to find some storage
 baskets for the bottom but other than that i am really happy with this storage piece

This is a look inside the first fold down compartment. 
I have stored all my flowers in jars on the top left, by color, the smaller jars to the right hold my small embellishments again by color. The wooden boxes hold from left to right, Misc tools, Altered Art matierla, Adhesive, Xyron Adhesive.  The metal containers on the fold down part hold my ribbon - my fav part of this cabinent is that its metal!

These metal containers are magnets so they stay in place when its closed. I just love them and have used them also in other places in my space. Here they hold my loose ribbon, again by color. 
Here is the second compartment - top right. 
This holds my Xyron Sticker machines and also some catorgarie draws. I am mainly organizing by color, but i felt that there were certain things that i would want to find not through my color system so i have made the following catergories. Holidays (including easter, halloween, christmas, new years), birthdays, travel and seasons, and the final draw holds family, baby and kids. 

So that is the first part, as you can see the photos are not the best, so i will have to wait for some sun (we are stuck in fog presently) to take some better photos of the rest. 

It is for sure still a work in progress as i need to work a little in it to make the final decsions. Also i need to buy some more paper storage and need to find photos boxes that can hold my photo catorgries. Difficult to find here.