Winter Wonderings

Yep, it's well and truly winter! What is winter to me?

* The heater on all day.
* Soups and stews
* Beanies and scarves
* Ice on the windscreen
* Polar fleece & bedsox
* Cuddling on the couch watching cartoons and movies
* Footy, footy & footy!
* Flannel PJs, blankets & doonas!
* Clothes horses loaded with clothes all the time
* Hot Chocolate
* Snow Reports
* Board & Card Games
* Daytime Naps
* Gumboots & Parkas

I love to scrap photos of the kids in the woollies - I'm sharing one of Ronin outside helping Dad spread road base all over the backyard preparing for the Great Playground Relocation & Extension!

I love taking the kids to the Movies. We went to see Shrek The Third a few weeks ago, and had a good laugh, and yesterday we saw Bridge to Terabithia and had a good cry! Shrek is suitable for all ages and is not too long for littlies. Ronin was a bit freaked out by the "Something-Scary-Is-About-To-Happen" building-to-a-crescendo music in "Terabithia" but ultimately it has nothing really scary in it. It is very sad though, so if you have a sensitive child (there is a death in it) then this may not be the movie for you.

It seems to also be kids birthday party season, we went to another one at Kid City yesterday. I'm sharing a pic of Ronin in his big Throne at his own party, these "special" chairs they give the birthday boy/girl are so cute! His friend Bayley had a wonderful time and his Mum Melissa made the cake he requested and insisted upon - a pink poodle cake covered in liquorice and marshmallows!!! Well done Melissa - and well done Bayley for ignoring boy/girl stereotypes LOL!

Chris is home from the Tropics and is freezing his little "a" off ROFL! We were all very happy to see him walk in the door this morning! He is home now until after our Fiji holiday in August. Oh yeah, did I tell you, we are DEFINITELY going to Fiji now, booked and paid for already! Chris and his wonderful travel agent Romaine have booked us into the absolutely gorgeous Sonaisali Isand Resort in a family beachfront bure for 8 nights! There is diving for Chris, kids club for Taylor and Ronin, and a Beauty Spa for me! We are definitely going to do the boat trip to see the dolphins too! Tay absolutely loves dolphins, well I think most of us do, don't we? Ronin is totally gobsmacked by having a pool at his disposal all day every day! Only five weeks to go, but who's counting? LOL!

Last weekend Tay and I drove to Sydney on the Saturday, leaving Ronin and Nanny at home watching movies and having pizza for dinner! We arrived at the Novotel Olympic Park mid-afternoon of a gorgeous Sydney day (if you disregard the smog!) and found we were upgraded to a terrific room overlooking not only Telstra Stadium but all the large venues in that precinct! What a view! We had a rest then got into all our black and white gear (as you can see!) and simply strolled across the road to watch the big AFL match between the Mighty Collingwood Magpies (WOOHOO!) and the Sydney Swans (boo hiss!) Our seats were in the same section as last year, funnily enough, and the view was great, high up but under cover (although there was no rain on the night!). The game was terrific with the Maggies coming out on top and cinching 4th spot on the ladder. Go Pies! The next morning we awoke to grey skies and torrential rain, so how lucky were we the night before? We were back in Canberra just after lunchtime, poor Sandra was exhausted LOL! She was soon off to the Club for some her-time! This is the second year in a row Tay and I have done this and we had such a fabulous time, it has definitely become a special girls weekend for us and an annual event!

On the scrapping front I have been a bit quiet. There will be some layouts in the next Newsletter from The Scrap Heap - these come out every week and are full of ideas so why not sign up? We have some great things planned so keep an eye out! I was also chuffed to see a couple of layouts of my gorgeous boy on the fantastic Scrap The Boys blog too. If you have boys, or are just after some scrapping inspiration, it's well worth having a regular peek at! Other than that I was excited to obtain a few lovely pieces from the KI Memories Love Elsie range from the fabulously talented and inspiring Elsie Flannigan.

To finish up just a few things:

* Congratulations to Leonie on the birth of little Jack!
* My heartfelt hugs and best wishes to Tess and her family on the loss of her father xxx ooo
* Congratulations to my nieces Courtney & Jade who wowed everyone at their dance Cabaret on Friday night - you ROCK girls!
* Happy Birthday for two weeks ago to my beloved baby brother - Love ya Daz!!
* Happy 70th Birthday too to my beautiful Auntie Pat!
* Happy Birthday (in case I miss them!) to Cara, Katherine, Courtney & Maddison over the next couple of weeks! It's like Christmas in July at their place!

HURRY UP! - that's directed at my new niece/nephew due any day now! Thinking of you all, Bec, Jase and ??? LOL xxx

Well, that's it for now. Take care all!

Trace xxx