Fruit N Veg At School Today

Well we had a full on few hours at school today. There was a dozen mum's cutting and slicing away. All the fruit/veg was donated by one of the top Melbourne Markets. How generous.
It's all a part of trying to educate the kids on eating healthy. They got to try all the fruits - bananas, oranges, mandarines, pears, apples and then some vegies - carrots, celery, capsicum, mushrooms, tomatoes (well technically a fruit) mung beans, bean sprouts, avacados........heaps of stuff...........amazing. Most of the kids at least tried things which was excellent. The ladies that run the program were excellent and have been doing this sort of thing for over the last 13 years.
It was funny because there was a certain way we had to cut everything but it really did work in the end.

So "Go Health" today.............luv Sandie

I'm A Winner

I booked in for this fantastic Mother's Day class over at Kim Archer's - do yourself a favour and head over there and check it out. Lots of yummy goodies to create for Mother's Day which is just around the corner. There are competitions too and I won one. How cool is that. I will receive a little kit in the mail so I can make a little Eye Mask...............oooooooh fabric..........another ONE of my passions...............LOL. Thanks Kim.

Luv Sandie

My day

I dropped the kids off this morning and then headed off to the local shopping centre to see if I could pick up a present for Sean. It's his birthday on Monday..............gosh..............I walked my little legs off. I had something in mind but didn't have much luck. I checked out a few other things that I am thinking over. There is one more place I can look at but it will have to wait til Saturday. I am going to the Picture 2 Page show so after that is finished I shall take the kids with me and see if we can find what I was looking for. (I cant mention what it is as Sean drops in here every now and then to see what I have been up to.....LOL).

Had my weigh in at STARS tonight - put on weight this week but I was expecting it. Not too worried I can get that off this week.

We have "Walk To School Day" tomorrow so that will be a good start to my week. I am walking with the kids to school and then helping out in Em's classroom. It has been Fruit 'n Veg week at school. Something is happening tomorrow - not quite sure just yet but I need to bring a knife and a vege peeler.............should be cool.

I have been saying all week that I must create something.............I am missing it terribly. So I shall have to make time somewhere.

Hope you have had a great day.

Luv Sandie

Look at this beauty

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to see this absolute beauty.
We had our yearly street festival and parade. This organ was part of the parade - I just got goosebumps when I saw it. The sound is unreal.

I just googled it and came up with this. Obviously it is better in real life. It's absolutely huge with its dimensions being 4m high x 6m wide x 2.5 deep. It weighs 2.5 tonnes

It was developed in the 19th century in the Netherlands. It is now owned by Australia Fair.
It is the only organ of its type in Australia and it travels around 30,000 km each year visiting towns, cities and small communities.

http://echospond.aminus3.com/image/2007-10-13.html

Today is our 14th Wedding Anniversary

Wow I can't believe this time 14 years ago we were getting ourselves ready to say "I do!!!!".

Certainly doesn't seem that long ago. Ever since I was a young girl all I wanted to do was to get married and have children. Well my dream came true the day I married my best friend.

We were going to go out for dinner and maybe a movie but have decided it would be nice to just stay home in the warmth of our home. Sean is going to grab a DVD, I am going to grab a bottle of something nice to share and we may even home some choccy.......well I know I will........LOL. Should be nice.

Happy Anniversary Babes!!!!! Luv ya. Sandie

Received my complimentary copy of Stamping & Papercraft today

I got home today from the city to get my hands of the copy of the magazine with my little house in it and a card I'd made. Its always very exciting to see your name in print and to see the creation that you created some months ago appear in print.

I shall take some photos of it tomorrow. I must admit at the time I didn't want to send my creation off in fear that it would get squashed. Its a little 3D house. I think I added some photos a few posts back. I shall take a photo of the mag and the actual item tomorrow.

Luv Sandie

Had the bestest day today.

Sean and I headed into Melbourne this morning after dropping off the kids to school.

We went straight to a coffee shop where Sean picked up some green beans so he can roast them from home - this is his latest passion. He uses an old breadmaker and a heat gun to actually roast the beans. The smell is divine!!!!! And the coffee is fantastic.

We then headed to a couple of shops that I have been wanting to visit for a while.
One of them was "Meet Me At Mikes".......this is a lovely, quaint little shop with lots of retro/vintage type goodies ranging from brooches and jewellery, old sewing patterns, old toys, new toys, old cothes, new clothes............old/new fabrics.........I just loved the shop but unfortunately it was a little out of my budget which is a shame - I really wanted something as a memento of my visit but just couldn't justify the prices - and I also noticed that I have a lot of similar things that I have collected over the years - which also means that I am sitting on a gold mine............LOL. But to me these types of things are priceless and I will treasure them forever.
The other shop was similar - cant think of the name.........I found this gorgeous melamine cupcake (which was a glorified sugar bowl or container) and it was $36.00 now I loved it but not that much, same deal though - it was great for a look. I can safely say that I would go back there again but it was great to satisfy my curiosity!!!!!
Then from there we went to Sth Melbourne. From Sean's coffee forum a few guys had told him about this great coffee shop. So we had lunch and a great coffee.
It was so nice to be strolling around holding hands and just checking everything out. We drove around some beautiful old streets with gorgeous old homes and saw lots and lots of different things.

So that's about my day in a nutshell - a large nutshell actually...........but hey............just had to share what we got up to.

Hope your day was a gooooodgen!!!!!

Luv Sandie

Josh's BIG day.

Josh had his first game of footy this morning. We had to be at the ground at 8.30 for a 9 oclock start. All the kids were pumped and ready to go.

Josh took a nice mark and then was tackled and kicked a point - it was great for him to just get a touch. I thought to myself that if he could at least touch the footy then he would be chuffed - and chuffed he was. He did a few other things here and there.
His team won - cant remember what the score was but it was about a 4 or 6 goal margin.
They all went back into the clubrooms afterwards to listen to the coach. He was very proud of them too. He is just wonderful with the kids.

So next week will see us travel to Narre Warren and it will be an afternoon game. How are we going to contain Josh all day til the afternoon? LOL...............he is going to be itching to have another go.

It is rather cold here today so we are all just relaxing around doing what we want - I am going to create.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Luv Sandie

Just another day, but a goodie.

Had a pretty quiet day today really which was nice.

Josh had a birthday party with his best mate that he made at Kinder. They spent about 3 hours at a Slot Car place in Dandenong. We dropped him off there and us girlies took off to a shopping centre. We had lunch there which was nice and then I decided I was going to get my haircut.
I normally go to my regular hairdresser but just thought like getting it cut today. Just walked in to this place, it was under New Management and the price was $9.00. You know it probably only took the girl 9 minutes to cut it all up so $9 was pretty darn good I reckon. The quickest and the cheapest haircut I've ever had..............and to boot...........its a great haircut. Bonus!!!!

Josh has his big day tomorrow - his first game of footy. I'm getting a little nervous I must admit...........he's just so stoked........must remember to get a photo of him all dressed before he heads off.

Not much else planned for the rest of the weekend. I know its going to be wet, but we need the rain.

Have a great weekend everyone, stay safe.

Luv Sandie

Lest We Forget................

Sean and the kids got up early this morning to go to the dawn service. Sean said it attracted a bigger crowd this year which is fantastic.

A very special day to reflect and pray for those who died for our country.

Lest We Forget

(This photo is one of the girl's little memento from their visit to the Shrine Of Remembrance in Melbourne. Our girls went with their school yesterday. Its great to make the kids aware of the men and women who fought for our country)

And more recent purchases

I came across these Amy Butler fabrics at my local fabric shop and of course had to have them.

And then............I found these adorable cupcake candles.............now this is one clever way to "have your cake and NOT eat it!!!!!?..............LOL. How cute.

Luv Sandie

One man's trash is another man's treasure

A few weeks ago we went away for the weekend. On the way we managed to do a bit of op-shopping, one of my fave things to do.

I stumbled across these goodies.

An old Sleeping Beauty book printed in 1960

Andy Pandy book - used to love him when I was little and this book has the added bonus of a gingerbread story - just love gingies!!!!

A couple of other old books - just love the look of these.....lots of character.

And speaking of character - found this old Readers Digest book with the green cover - it reminded me of owls for some reason..............so I am going to turn it into an OTP.........look out owls here I come.

Yay..........my card has made the front cover of Issue 76 of Australian Paper Crafts Magazine................

and I'm a little excited.

Here is a couple of shots from the Creative Living Media website until I get my hands on a copy of the mag.

I was just so excited I had to share!!!!

Luv Sandie

About last night........

Now .........where do I start.

Ok the morning went off well and we got out all the invitations we needed to.

Raced home for a quick bite of lunch and then back to school for netball training.

We split into 2 teams and played a game - this is fairly new to the girls/boys as they have mainly just been doing some drills and learning the game so all in all they did very well. One team got all the goals and the other had 2 attempts at goal - I was a little disappointed for the team without any but gave them all the encouragement I could muster. I drew them all in at the end of the session and asked them "Now put your hand up if you tried very hard to do your best tonight?" to which they all put their hand up and said "Me!!!!!"...............you should have seen the looks on their faces - it was priceless. All these beautiful little faces looking up at me and looking rather proud of themselves - and so they should be - they are coming along nicely. I was proud of them that's for sure!!!!!

Then...........I raced home from training to squeeze in the most slap dash dinner - some of us had cereal and the other baked beans on toast. Funny really - but we all enjoyed it.

Then we all jumped in the car to head off to the girls school. It was great to see the looks on their faces - they had never seen the school and knew nothing about it other than what we had told them. We were shown around the school and then it was back to the main hall area where we listened to various people speak about the school. The girls are really looking forward to it - it was relief to see them so at ease.

Back home for about 30 mins and then we headed out the door again to wait for the cross and icon to arrive at our church. Now I took some photos however being night it was rather tricky to capture what we were seeing and feeling, but you will be able to see a little.

It was a real moving night. Its amazing how you can be drawn in by something like this and we are all so glad we took part in it. There were several readings and different ceremonies that took part and we all got to touch the cross - amazing feeling that this cross has been all over the world and been touched by millions. Cool as.

We ended up heading home last night about 11.30, off to bed for a while and then up at 3.30 to try and wake up a little for mass at 4.000am..........we did it. Mass was really nice.

We then hung around and helped serve the breakfasts to all the pilgrims, visitors and fellow parishoners. It was real community building stuff. Everyone chatting away or working away in the kitchen. I tell ya...........the breakfast was fantastic.

Heaps of food on offer - fresh fruit, tinned fruit, beautiful yummy yoghurt, toast and a nice selection of breakfast cereals, juice and cuppas. Yummo!!!!!!

The cross left just after f5.00 so we hung around to help clean up which meant we got home at 6.30. Boy were we tired. Had a quick nap for about an hour and then jumped out of bed to get the kids off to school. They weren't too bad. We have well adjusted kids so they could cope with going to school. This is a once in a life time situation so we wanted to be part of it.

Straight after school drop off I was back in our Parish Centre again. Us mum's put on a morning tea for one of the mum's from school. She is dying from cancer and has 2 young kiddies 7 and 9.

We called it a "Celebration of Friendship" morning cuppa. The mum came along and was really moved by it. Great to see.

By the time I left out the door it was now 11.30. I was done...........I didn't have much left to give.

I came home and then remembered that Sean was on afternoon shift and I would have to cook his tea for him to take - as you do when you're worn out. So I whipped up some tea for him, saw him off to work..............and then I did.....................................................................................................................................NOTHING!!!!!!!

So here I sit...........worn out...........but feeling pretty refreshed spiritually. Ready to face another day.

Sorry this was so long everyone...................take care...........luv Sandie

(the photos are of the young pilgrims from our parish who will take part in World Youth Day, the other is of the cross and icon and the last one is our Emily as she takes part in the procession by helping to carry the icon(which happens to be mighty heavy)......she was very proud.)

I remembered.........

to take a photo of my Raffle prize from my fun night last week.

I won $20 voucher, earrings and this lovely teal coloured purse/handbag..........its just gorgeous and I cant wait to go out somewhere a bit spesh to use it.

Luv Sandie

Oh isn't that nice...........

I received a lovely and suprising RAK (Random Act Of Kindness) in the mail today from an online buddy. Not quite sure who sent it - but if you are looking at this...............thank you............its very me!!!! I luv it!!!!!!

Luv Sandie

Now....lets see...........

Pooh cack - I just typed out all this stuff and blogger shut down ..................arghhhhhhhhhhh!!! So...........Take Two!!!!

A very busy day is planned for today.

First up I have craft at school for about an hour then I am helping a friend to write out invitations. Our Parish is hosting a Welcoming Dinner to all new families to the parish/school. It's going to be a big affair and is going to take some organizing, however, it will be great.

Then after school I have Netball Training which by the way is going wonderfully.

Duck home quickly to get the kids organized and whip up some dinner and then we have to be at the girls school for next year for an Information Night. Back home for a little while and then we head off to mass for the arrival of the Cross & Icon (refer previous post).

Boy I am tired just thinking about it...............LOL.

Luv Sandie

We have a very special visitor to our church tonight

Tonight we are going to witness something very special in our church.

This year in July, Sydney will be the host to World Youth Day (WYD). You can read details about it here.

The cross and icons have travelled all over the world and our church is one of the lucky few to take part in some "once in a lifetime" events.
The cross will be arriving at about 10pm - yes PM tonight. Our family is going along and then there is a vigil til 4am tomorrow morning where there will be a special mass - the cross and icons will then travel on the journey to the next destination. We are holding an early breakfast in our Parish Centre which should be lots of fun - hopefully I will be awake by then as I am helping serve breakfast.

Really looking forward to it - oooh that reminds me - must charge the batteries on our camera........have to be organised.

Just had to share with you.

Luv Sandie

Mixed emotions...........

We received some sad news about a close friend - she has cancer. It doesn't look too good.
We are all hanging in there for her and her family and saying lots of prayers - if you are into prayers..........add her to your list.

It's always times like these that it makes you reflect - you start to think how you would be if you were dealt this type of hand. Hard to fathom.

It's also these times that you put things into perspective and try and not sweat the small stuff.

Life is too short.....live each day to the full.

I also had a gorgeous online friend say some gorgeous comments about me and my blog...........it really made my day.

Time for bed me thinks........its been a long day.

Luv Sandie

Look what I got yesterday

Yesterday the kids and I went to this fantastic garage sale - in fact it's the best one I've ever been to (other than our own that is).

There were boxes upon boxes of crafty stuff. I could have just offered to take all the stuff off the lady's hands........she was glad to get rid of it actually - she said the more people buy the less she has to pack up afterwards.

So I managed to get a gorgeous antique bowl on a stand in my fave colour green of course - it was an absolute bargain at 50 cents. Then I bought a groovy handbag that just had my name written all over it........$1.00 and the bestest bargain of the day was this fantastic lot of ribbons and trims they started from 10cents a bundle going up to 50 cents a bundle. I was in absolute heaven I tell ya..........decisions, decisions. So I ended up with about $13.00 dollars worth of trims............I walked off one happy little black duck that's for sure. What was a bonus to the morning was that the town where it was held - the autumn leaves were out everywhere - my fave season. The day was an absolute delight - the bell birds were singing away and even a kookaburra. Just perfect.

We then took a short drive to a neighbouring town and visited the bakery - we all ordered something different and had a taste test of each other's yummy goodies.

All in all a great day.

Luv Sandie