Here I am again.

Well Jim has gone paint balling with some of the youth and the kids and I are home for the day because Jim needed to use the car. It's ok, I am enjoying having a slack day. Bailey is watching the first three Star Wars movies. Cate and Charli have been playing in the back yard and getting absolutely filthy...l.just for a change. And Mooey has just been mooching about, asking for food and drink and sucking his thumb.
Yesterday Jim spent a lot of time with Hamish teaching him how to ride the bike he got for Christmas. He liked the bike but he wasn't confident about riding it. They played outside for awhile and then Hamish was calling out. Look mum no hands. Wow. He has been riding up a storm ever since and really enjoying himself. He is ready to go back to school. He forgot how to write his name but we went through it again. I hope he does really well at KINDY this year.










I have been really getting into the scrapbooking and trying to do my own layouts instead of just using templates. This is one I did myself but scraplifted off someone else. I am very pleased with it. Woohoo. This is addictive.













These are my friends the Hewsons. Carol Ann is my best friend and lives in Texas. I have known her for a LOOOONNNNNGGGGG time. I have been enjoying scrapping some of the photos of her and her family. Makes me feel a bit more connected to her - even though we talk on the phone ALOT. Too much sometimes, ask Jim.
Well I have nothing else to say so I will sign off for now.

So this is what I have been up too.

I have hardly been doing anything the last few days except practicing digital scrapbooking. I am not great at it but I am really enjoying it. The only problem is I am not sure what to do with them once they are done. Mmmm will have to think about it. These ones were made from a quick click kit but I am still fairly happy with it.

The other day I spent about three hours putting all my digital photos into folders and organising them better so I had better access to them. I found photos in folders in files that I had completely forgotten about. SO that was time well spent.

It is Australia Day today and on the Hallmark Channel there is a McClouds Daughter Marathon. Now that is what I want to do all day but somehow I think that my kids will not cooperate with that idea. Jim either for that matter. Besides at the moment Cate is watching a Wiggles Marathon on Playhouse Disney - which seems to be causing considerable pain to Bay and Mooey. LOL. Oh well they have had their time with the Wiggles. What go's around, comes around.


I love this next layout of Charli. she is SOOO cute. Yes I know I am biased. If you can see it clearly like we can on our computer you can actually see a tear on her cheek that is just gorgeous.







And here is some more exciting news. My friend Jenny from Tasmania rang me yesterday and told me that she is pregnant again. This is very exciting news. I hope everything go's well for them. There is a pretty big gap between the last one Sarah and this one - 6 years but still, there will never be a baby more loved. She is due 14 or 15th September. Woohoo!

Such a lazy mood

Yes folks thats right we had spaghetti for tea last night and I cannot believe how much mess four kids can make. Ok I can believe how much mess four kids can make but still........
This was after we had given them a bath. Now why did I bath them and then feed them spaghetti?

We have had stinking hot weather here the last few days and even a raging bushfire in the next suburb. The MT Kur-in-gai National Park. It was very exciting. We had helicopters flying over the house, diving down into the golf course lake to scoop up water and then flying back and dropping it on the fire. Thankfully after about 24 hours they controlled the fire. It stuffed a lot of people around. The freeway was shut and this made for major traffic issues. Jim took the kids down to the golf course to watch the helicopters getting the water. Usually a one minute drive but this day to get there and straight back took them 55 minutes and they had to show ID to police officers to be allowed access back into our streets. I tell you this is a happening place.

I am seriously over the school holidays. The only thing keeping me going is this time next week. The kids are bored. They want me to entertain them and I am fresh out of ideas.

James's celebrity look alikes.

I think he really does look like Mathew Perry. Or Salmon Rushdie in the nose.

Which celebrity do I look like?

Charli's first pony tail.

I just couldn't resist posting these photos and letting you all see how cute Charli looked today. She is really becoming a little lady. She had her hair done in a top knot for the first time and look gorgeous. But then I am biased aren't I? LOL. Oh you can't see the pony in this photo, that child is near impossible to photograph, she will not keep still. But she still looks too too cute. She had little white shoes on, which she adores. As soon as she sees shoes she starts giggling and gets all excited. I am not sure if it is because she has tickly feet or if she truly does love shoes. Guess we will find out in the future.

A ho hum day

It is 11 in the morning and I am still sitting here at the computer in my PJ's just playng with PSP8. My kids are watching telly and Charli is finally sleeping after trashing the house as hard as she can. I found these photos of Caitlin getting ready for the wiggles concert. They aren't the best photos. I can't seem to take unblurry ones of the kids, they move around so much. I have to ask James how to do it, he is really good at taking photos. When he went to India he toured with a photographer called Mel who showed him some tips and techniques and he has taken some beautiful photographs. I have to get out of the house. I think I will take the kids to the park and let them burn some energy up or off or whatever it is you say. LOL. I have to clean the house too. Jim did most or all of the cleaning yesterday but that isn't really fair, he is at work and shouldn't have to do it all. Ho hum. Gotta get moving. Just waiting for the photos to upload and then I will be off. Boring boring boring. I am loving this blog. It will be a special keepsake for the kids. A journal and photograhps for the kids to look at and laugh when they are older.

I have started getting interested in PSP8 and digital scrapbooking.

I still like both kinds of scrapping but at the moment this is a lot of fun and a LOT of frustration too. Here are two that I made today. The top one is pretty self explanatory and the bottom one is Bailey and Hamish's best friends from Tas, Hayden and Becky.

Belated Happy New Year

Well it has taken me awhile but HAPPY NEW YEAR. We have been busy busy busy. Straight after Christmas we went up to the Blue Mountains and stayed in the most lovely home owned by an Anglican minister. It was so peaceful and relaxing. We just chilled out. Then we came home for a few days and then headed off to Port Macquarie, man that is a beautiful place. We hit the beaches and the pools which the boys loved and the girls weren't so sure about. When we got to the ocean Cait said wow look at that pool. Gave us all a giggle. We chilled out up there too. We got to stay in the Port Macquarie Church of Christ manse up there if James would preach on the Sunday. He did. This manse was so amazingly close to the actual church I loved it. Jim reckons that if we lived there all the time we would hate it though. We took our rubber boat up with us and the boys had an absolute ball riding the waves with Daddy. The girls weren't quite as happy in the water but loved the sand and the rockpools. Me? I discovered that I really do dislike the beach. Not the water just the sand. It is so gross. If we could go from grass to water I would be so much happier at the beach. You just get so dirty.

We came home for a few days and just hung out. Bailey, Cait and I went and stayed at mums for a few days holiday and that was really nice. Alison took Bailey to see Happy Feet and they also went on a really long bike ride together. Bailey had a severe stack but loved it still. Him and Alison talked about her HSC and what courses she wants to do at Uni. Couldn't believe it really, every time I ask her what she wants to do she just mutters I dunno. LOL. Steph and Cait had a girly make over day which Cait absolutely adored.
Steph let her wear her high heels and did her toes and finger nails. She even put some makeup on her which Cait thought was DIVINE. She even did some cute poses for us but I am not sure if she will make Australias next top model. She will in our house. LOL.




Then we came home and got ready to go away AGAIN. This time Jim and I headed off on our own while the two girls went to Nanny's and the two boys went to the Maxwells. They all had the best time. So did we. We went for a walk on the beach and went to the leagues club for dinner. We went shopping and watched this corny dancing school concert which I secretly enjoyed and I think he did too but he pretended to just tolerate it. We visited our friends Lottie and Josh who are about to have a baby any day and then we went to the movies to see The pursuit of happyness. Man that was a sad movie. There were times throughout it when I thought I can't handle any more of this. But the end made up for it and it was really quite inspirational. We stopped for Black Stump lunch on the way home which was super nice. We never go to real restaurants and never without the kids. It was a really nice time.

Jim is back at work now. So things are starting to gear up for the new year. The kids have another week off school and they start back. Kindy again for Mooey and Year 4 for Bay. Woohoo. I am looking forward to that.

Well that is it for today. Will talk more soon.
Love Naomi