4 More Sleeps…

…until the big day – my kids are jumping out of their skins with excitement. The lights are up, the tree is decorated, the rest of the house is a shambles and we are all running around like headless chooks looking for shoes/keys/bags/other shoes/drink bottles/dummies and more shoes before we head out the door each morning.

I’ve gotta tell you, DH has been in the hospital this week so I have been the proverbial “single parent” for a week now. WOW. Here I was thinking that he did nothing around the house and then he goes away – sheesh! I have never worked so darn hard in all my life. How the heck did I do this with three kids under three? I must have been mad (and at least 10 kilos lighter I might add!LOL)

Of course, choosing to have this operation in the ten days before Christmas was probably not the best idea, in hindsight (rolling eyes). I have been on a huge spring cleaning fest in order to try and bring some kind of neatness to my house before the rello’s arrive for Christmas day.

In a spectacularly stupid fit of cleaning, yesterday I whippersnipped the lawn, weeded the garden, rearranged the furniture in the lounge, oiled the outdoor chairs, cleaned the fridge, hung up umpteen loads of washing and pruned the roses. OH and don’t let me forget using the water Pressure Cleaner to hose off the back patio. What an idiot! I was using this hose thing that shoots out water at a squillion miles an hour and I thought, “Oh, I shall be a good wife and clean out all the nooks and crannies of the back retaining wall”. Then I pointed the hosy thing into those nooks and into those crannies and SHOOOOOM the gunk blasted out at warp speed and landed in  spray all over my BRAND NEW WHITE TOP which, of course, I had to wear while I was cleaning outside. SUCH a good idea (voice heavily laced with sarcasm). I came inside with bits of dead leaves hanging from the wet strings of my hair and pulling muddy bits off my arms and legs. I looked like the creature from the black lagoon and the kids went running a mile in the other direction. “Could someone PLEASE just bring me a towel?” – this sent them scurrying away even faster, until Ryan took pity on me and brought me a Chux wipe from the kitchen sink. He was always a thoughtful kid.

So, do me a favour will you? Next time I look like I am going to get in the mood to clean something, staple me to the wall or something! 

Apart from water blasting myself, we have been flat out doing the usual “stuff” that comes before Christmas. Last minute shopping is not exactly the most pleasant activity, so I have left that to the bazillions of crazy people who are willing to risk it. I am more than happy to pay $6 for a litre of milk from the local servo if it means I avoid the great unwashed up at Coles.

It was Luke’s 8th birthday last week – happy birthday my darling boy! Gosh, those past 8 years have just flown and he is such a gorgeous kid who alternately makes me want to hug him so hard I squeez the stuffing out or lock him away in a broom cupboard. Here he is blowing out the candles on his Pokemon birthday cake.

I’ve also been doing a few scrapping things! Yay! I ordered a heap of supplies off the Net – basically because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get out of the house much. So I have been playing around a bit with the new stuff from Fancy Pants (ok), Bo Bunny (meh), Little Yellow Bicycle (better) and Rose Moka (fwoar!). I loik it, I loik it a lot.

I’ve also been using up my rub ons as they age and become a bit brittle when older. So here they are on one LO using paint to colour them in as a floral spray…

I’ve also put together a couple of new tutorials for you to have a play with – check out Creating Label Sticker Flowers and Stamping on to Felt  and have a go at both techniques for some ways to create custom-made embellishments.

Last thing to add this week – James graduated from his Kindy on Tuesday night – look at my little man in his cap and gown – just gorgeous. It took some bribery to get him in it though. I had to promise a Transformer toy for Christmas just for this one shot – but it was worth it!

That’s all from me folks, probably until after Chrissy when I have a chance to actually sit down and breathe. I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas with your families, wherever you are in the world!
Merry Christmas!
Love from Sares xxx