Today...

Today...

Just a quick thing to jot down for me to remember!
Today I took Lexi into Toybox Child Care Centre for her first visit. I want to get her familiar with the place before I start work, I don't want to just dump her and run on the first day. I thought she could go either way, that she would be overwhelmed and cling to me or love it!! She loved it!! We walked in and the director said to her, 'would you like to come and see the kids Lexi?' and Lexi took her hand and walked in with her without a backwards glance at me... Once she was in the room with all the kids, she just went for it. Playing, joining in, sitting down for activities, washing her hands with the others before fruit and milk time, sitting at the table... The lot, it was like she had been there heaps of times and knew all about it... I am so happy. You want your child to be happy at care. I am really looking forward to my job but was worried about Lexi and now I know that I won't have to worry about her and what she is doing, and I'll be able to concentrate on what I'm doing at work! I knew the team leader from yep, you guessed it, Roxby although her and her husband are from here originally. She knew all about Lexi's heart history, and it was just fantastic. They kept asking 'are you sure she hasn't been to care before?' 

She is a social little thing, and got right in there... so proud!!

Another little girl I'm proud of is Mia... She must be feeling more confident with her writing as tonight she shut herself in her room ( so Lexi wasn't near her to draw on her paper) and started writing sight words and then a sentence about her day, then a list of numbers.. I asked her if it was because it is feeling a bit easier to do? She said yep!! She is also asking questions about the earth and why it moves but things don't move as well.. How do you explain gravity!! Also questions about how the Earth was made, my Dad told her there was a big bang and that the dust all came together to be Earth... The Big Bang Theory. I told Mia that some people believed God made earth. I also told her that if she wants to find out more, we can do some investigating and talk to people who believe different things...I will encourage her make her own mind up.  

Anway, lots of questions, interesting times coming up!

I must admit she got a couple of smacks on her bum earlier tonight... Mia has not been listening lately, especially when I ask her NOT to jump around on the furniture... She is always jumping on the coffee tables, my Grandfathers blanket box, the lounges, and between them all... I have been asking her every time I see her doing it, to not do it... And she tends to ignore me. The main reasons are that we have polished floorboards and the furniture has little round pads on the bottom to protect the floor but it also makes it all slippery and everything moves fairly easily. So I can see her slipping and hurting herself if she is not careful. And she is teaching Lexi to do something I don't want her to do. Lexi is a real copy cat at the moment and wants to do everything that Mia is doing. So anyway, this afty, Mia jumped off the blanket box onto the floor and it moved and some things that were on the box fell on the floor with a big crash...She knew straight away that she should not have been doing it. I smacked her, I'm not happy about it, but it was my first reaction. I did it out of frustration that she is. not. listening. and yet again doing something that I have asked her not to do. I talked to her about why I smacked her, and that I'm not happy that I did it, but that I had been asking her for a long time to stop doing it, that I loved her very much and that I don't want her to break an arm or a leg... I am so not happy that I smacked her, she hasn't had a smack for a long long time, but I truly hope that she has learnt something... Maybe listen a bit as in the end Mum can lose the plot!!! 

Be back sooner or later!

This time last week, I was enjoying some well needed 'me' time at Escape 2 Create 2011. I must admit I wasn't as excited as I had been last year, I wasn't bouncing between the excited energy of Tatum and I. We have had so many 'things' on lately. Last year, it was the biggest thing I had to look forward to in along time, and I guess this year I had been feeling very overwhelmed by things at home... It is hectic around here with me trying to get a job in the weeks leading up to the retreat and getting the call on Mon to talk about the job and then sealing the deal on Thursday... We also still have our friend living with us and the lack of space is well and truly getting to me and Brenton in a big way. And then to top it off Lexi had a very very very bad night sleeping on Thursday night which led to me feeling so sleep deprived on Friday, I was close to tears at times just before the retreat. I just do not deal with hardly any sleep very well.

But to be honest, E2C this year was like a big dose of medicine especially just for me. I cannot say enough how the retreat helped to rejuvenate me. Amanda, Sue and Meredith do such a fabulous job of organising the retreat and sourcing so many things for us to enjoy and feel pampered by. The atmosphere as soon as I walked in was soothing, the decorating was fabulous and I just love things with my name on them, so felt very spoilt with the mug and loved hanging my lanyard around my neck... I love the mug so much! The food was so delicious, yum, yum, yum! And some girls felt so at home, they got around in their pj's for some of the weekend. I thought how fab that they can do that, and no-one cares at all!! LOL! It's not for me, but thought it was fab!! Everyone just gets in and starts scrapping and there is a buzz in the air. You can't pay enough money for that feeling!

 Friday afternoon, we had some of this beautiful Champagne.... Thanks Tatum and Lauren for allowing me to partake in such a lovely (and expensive) glass of Veuve Clicquot. Special special special! My shout next time!

 Lauren & I! Beautiful girl!! Mwah!

 Lisa and I. We had met on the Scrapbooking Memories Forum and finally met last year, but pretty sure I didn't get a photo of us then, and then I was sick at the mini retreat in Oct before I got a chance! She's a hardworking studying Mumma!! I know she didn't really want her photo taken, but if you notice Lisa, I'm not looking so flash, so really you had nothing to worry about!!

 Absolutely shocking photo of Lou and I, very out of focus, but turned it B&W in the hope of making it just that little bit better. It's been great to get to know Lou a little bit more over the last year or so! Very talented lady! Bless!!

 Our table.... Wowee, what a creative mess!! Yummy though!!

 Had to include a photo of Tatum's rubbish bag!! LOL! She tried to cram as much in there as she could and when that was full, it overflowed to the floor!! Love it!

 The scene. Where Meredith is sitting there are another two tables either side 'behind' where I am standing to take the photo!

 Love my alphas!!

 Awwww, Amanda, you rock!!

 Meredith, you are one seriously funny lady!! Your friends are so lucky to have you, I love the one liners!! Quite my style!!

 Ok, so Sue isn't going to love this, but couldn't leave her out!! :) Another gorgeous woman, who along with Meredith and Amanda work so hard!! xx

 Love this chick!!

 And, or course, the selfie! Where would I be without them!! 

And now for the LO's!! Basically I sat with a Scrapbook Trends (the latest one) beside me and got all my ideas out of there... It made my life easy and things flowed. I wouldn't say I directly scraplifted but certainly got loads of ideas and inspiration. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

 Bubba learning to blow bubbles at Office Beach caravan park, Wallaroo...Such a cute photo!

 Mia just loves to crumb food with me. She always has. It must be a sensory thing. She is a lot younger in this photo. I think she could be 4 and a half!

 Brenton, Mia and Lexi out by Lake Mary. I adore adore adore this photo. I love the way he's holding Lexi and has a hand on  Mia... I probably didn't do the photo true justice but I like the LO all the same.

 Desert Beauty is from Fran Tynan's class which I loved by the way... lots of new ideas for me!! 

 About having coffee with my MIL and SIL's every Friday morning. And how I'm a bit sad that a new tradition is already over for me as after the school holidays I start work... Bummer. (maybe could turn into Friday afty drinkies instead!)

 I'm a big girl now is from Tatum's class and no I haven't stitched the outside yet... bad me!! It will happen though... I think!! 

 Another from Fran's class. I did love how the LO's where similar yet different. Great ideas for if you have a kit and want to make the most of it.... Wonderful lady!! So friendly! We were so blessed to have all the teachers there for the weekend!! Tatum, Lou, Fran and Michelle!

 Mia Moo at the playground in Wallaroo. I. just. adore. this. photo. 

 Mia 'graduating' from her headstart program at the end of 2009. In Roxby, they do it for their first term at school.

Lexi out by Lake Mary near Roxby Downs. I love this photo too, even though I cut a bit of her head off... *whoops*

So there is a long winded wrap up of my weekend at E2C. Such a great time and a great group of girls. 

Bring on October (hopefully) then 2012 (hopefully)

xxx

 Oh and I just realised that I forgot these two LO's from the weekend. Blogger was spinning out that I was trying to upload lots of photos earlier. I love this photo of Mia on New Years Day about 12:30am. We had a great new years eve!! 

And another one of Lexi at North Beach in Wallaroo!! 

That's all folks!!