WHAT DOES ELIZABETH MEAN???

Here is Libby's second BOM Challenge - love the colouring and the monogrammed "E", Libby - well done, girl!!!




And this is what she found out about the meaning of her name ...

Elizabeth is the Greek form of the Hebrew Elisheva meaning "my God is an Oath, "my God is abundance, "God's promise', or "oath of God". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheva is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of Jon the Baptist. Made popular by Queen Elizabeth I of England in the 16th century, Elizabeth is the name of the late Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth has 25 variant forms: Alizabeth, Bet, Beth, Betty, Bit, Elisa, Elizabet, Elisabeth, Elisabetta, Elissa, Eliza, Elizabel, Elizabeth, Elsa, Elspeth, Elyza,, Ilse, Isabel, Libby, Liesl, Lilibeth, Lisa, Liza, Lizbeth, Lizette.
I was named after my Aunt and Godmother, Maria Elizabeth. My dad added the Ann on.
There are 17 ships of the British Royal navy that have borne the name HMS Elizabeth.

Come on girls, get those A's into G and send me your stuff - can't wait to see it ...

Love,

HERE'S YOUR NEXT {BOM} CHALLENGE ...

Okay, it seems {LIFE} is getting pretty hectic for us {BOM}mers ... so much scrapping to do ... so little time ... BUT persevere we will - stand strong, girls for here is your next Challenge ...

MY FAMILY

Our families play a huge role in our lives - and have perhaps the most important influence on our daily lives. Take this time to introduce your family - focus more particularly on why they are important to you rather than who they actually are. You may want to include a brief introduction to each member of your family, with a photo, and then continue with what they mean to you. You may decide to include your immediate family (eg. partner and children) or your extended family (eg. grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws etc.) - the choice is entirely yours ... By now you are well into the whole journalling "thing" so dig deep and make this a really special tribute to those you love ...

And don't fret if you are behind - catch up with the latest Challenge and work your way back ...

By the way, I have not had many suggestions on topics - remember the RAK - some awesome freebies could be yours if I use your suggested topic ...

Happy Scrapping, girls!!! Chat soon ...

Love,

LAZY SUNDAYZ

I have been browsing so many sites in the last few weeks and have neglected my own - go figure - so here's an update on the last week or so ...

Greg left for Zambia on Thursday morning (again ... sigh ....) and is expecting to be back before Bryce's birthday on the 8th October (my little guy is turning 12 ...). I am missing him more especially because there is so much going on here in Durban and I need him to be here - I can do it on my own but he makes things so much easier ...

Bryce finished school at 11 on Friday and I took him and 2 friends, Cameron and Mekyle, to movies at Musgrave - I certainly DID NOT want to watch Clone Wars so I bought 3 tickets for them and cruised the Centre for 2 whole hours - let me tell you, "crawling the Mall" used to be a fave pasttime but I have so much to do that "wasting" 2 hours was pure torture ... tee hee ...

Anyway, the movie eventually finished and I took the boys to Milky Lane for a treat - mmm - their Cinnamon and Banana Waffle is soooo good ... if I only ate half I would be lop-sided as it would all sit on one hip so I had to finish the whole waffle ... true - try eating half and see what happens to you - don't say I didn't warn you????? .... tee hee ....

On Friday night I went to Sophia and we turned it into an impromptu all-nighter - what fun!!! I took my friend, Belma, with me and Sophs, Belma and I laughed until we thought we had peed our pants and then we had to laugh some more - I soooo love to laugh (even a little giggle is food for my soul) ... I was so totally relaxed and wasn't even that tired after I got home at about 5.45am. Stayed up until about 8.30am then slept until 12pm - love hanging with the girls and giggling like teenagers - we even listened to a little bit of Bananarama ... nothing like the 80's music to keep the party going ....

I managed to complete only 1 LO - would've cut myself with the craft knife if I had attempted to do more - laughing too much .... tee hee ... good excuse, huh???

I went to Mandi (sil) yesterday afternoon to help her with her Primary Presentation handouts - was pretty mind-numbing cutting out hundreds of little "thank you" quotes but I like to just chill without having to apply my mind too much so it was good ... cutting is therapy, isn't it???

Today will be a pretty chilled day excepting that I will have to sort out ALL the boxes that are sitting outside from the Store Room (there must be at least a gazillion ....) as there are is still more stuff in the Store Room that will have to be brought down so that Trevor can demolish the building tomorrow morning - how on Earth did I collect so much CR#P??? grrrrr ..... I am the worst kind of packrat .... and I soooo don't feel like sorting through dusty boxes ... grrrr again ....

How are your BOM challenges coming along, girls??? Are we slacking a little???? I know that I am so keep the FAITH!!! - Just don't quit!!!!!

Have a lovely Sunday ...

Love,
P.S. Not thinking at all about the Political situation here in SA - leaving that for another day ....

SCHOOL PRODUCTION in a class of its own

On Thursday evening of this last week, I attended a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at Embury College. It was fantastic - I laughed and cried!!!! So very professional and thoroughly enjoyable. Mrs Wessels, who directed and produced the show, worked tirelessly and put in a huge amount of time and effort to create a memorable production and I personally want to thank her here for her commitment to our children and to our school.

Cameron was amazing as Joseph (who knew he has such an angelic voice??) and I particularly enjoyed Theerin's ("The Chocolate Hulk" as he is fondly named by the Rugby boys) version of Levi, one of Joseph's brothers - you've got the moves, Hulk ... Bryce took the part of one of the children of Israel - he is sooo not the public-stand-up-and-act type but when he gets to know you, his wit is tireless .... love you, my boy ...

When last did you enjoy a live production? What was it? Why not create a page dedicated to your most recent or your favourite production of all time and let me post it here for the world to see ... tee hee ...

The gusting winds and hectic rains have stopped for today and we can safely venture out without freezing our A's off - I have never been so cold as I was over the last two days - this is Durban, people, we don't get freezing cold weather here ...

I will be sorting through boxes of old stuff this morning - we have had to empty our storeroom as Greg is now ready to complete the building on this area, which will form part of my mom's bedroom. I didn't know I had so much stuff stored in there and guess what??? The rain wet a number of boxes so who knows what I'll be facing as I open these boxes today - I hope I can find Bryce's baby photos and that they were not destroyed. I am also looking for my negatives of my wedding photos as I "scrapped" these photos about 11 years ago with Magic Memories and they are a complete disaster - not only did I cut them into nasty shapes, but that box also seems to have gotten wet and my photos are destroyed - I am devastated but I will survive ....

The building for my mom's granny flat across the back of our property is coming along nicely - still quite a way to go as the building has been interrupted by a number of things over the last month - we will persevere???!!! Greg bought the windows and doors on Friday and it is going to look gorgeous. I will post some photos of our progress over this next week.

Oh no, it looks as though it is going to rain again - very overcast outside - I know we need the rain but I am sooo tired of everything being wet and of being cold ... brrrr ... I am a Summer Chick - humidity and all!!!

Hope that you have a blessed Sunday wherever you are today ...

Love,

SCRAPBOOKING UNITES US IN SO MANY WAYS

If you take a look at my last post you will see a comment left there by a lady who calls herself MandaK. Manda - I think this is her name and not sure where she's from?? (Manda, please pop back and tell us more about yourself) - has decided to join our BOM - she may be doing digital work - I will happily add her to our ever-growing list of BOM Sistas - please go and say hi and take a look at her first page - she certainly sounds like an interesting lady ...

Thanks for joining the Sistahood, Manda and look forward to chatting further and learning more about you from your BOM pages.

Love,

MICHELLE'S HABITS - the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY

Here is Michelle Ramsay's take on BOM Challenge No. 6 - well done, Michelle - love it!!

And here is her journaling ...

GOOD:
I drink at least 8 glasses of water every day

I have a pedicure every month.

I have a great sense of humour and often see the funny side of things. My family think this is not so good as I do find others’ misfortunes hilarious!! But people will send me funny things saying that they knew I would appreciate it!

I don’t wait for things to get done, I get on and do them.

I always finish what I start.

I am reliable & helpful and give 100% effort.

I am loyal and won’t let someone down if I have undertaken to do something.

I have never smoked; not even taken a puff.

I have a good memory and can remember conversations. When doing walking races in particular, I would always take note and remember the roads and landmarks that I walked past and my friend Shelley would just look at me if I ever reminded her of where we had been!

I don’t drink much, but with the right friends, could go overboard. The last time that happened was a few years ago with my friend Shelley and I won’t elaborate!!
I have my hair cut every 6 weeks. If my hair looks good, I feel good.

I am game for a dare or challenge – did 1208km in walking races in a year and swam the midmar mile in 2000 (having not swam since 1979!)


BAD:
I fall asleep while watching TV and then I wake myself because I am snoring and uncomfortable or because my family are really irritated with me and wake me up to tell me not to sleep.

I don’t delegate. I am a strong believer that if I am responsible for something, then I must do it.

If I need help with doing something and ask someone to help me, I expect them to help me then. If they don’t, I just leave them and get on with it.

I bite my lips if they are dry, although I am starting to use Lip-Ice more often.

When I am cross or upset, I tend to mull over things for a while – it is best to just leave me alone to get over it, hehe.

When chatting I sometimes interrupt the person as I have an answer to what they are talking about and don’t want to forget what I want to say.

I can be very stubborn.

UGLY:
I cannot leave a pimple alone – it just has to go!!!!

I pick my nose – I cannot stand when there is something there and it just has to go, but in private!!!

ENDEARING:
If something is nice, I have a saying from the Polyfilla advert that I use – “very, very nice Pieter, now go and fix the crack in the kitchen” with the accent too!!!

If I am cross with someone or something I say “Yus …” when telling the story.

Your bad and ugly are certainly NOT BAD and UGLY, Michelle. Thanks for this insight into YOU!!!

Love,

BOM CHALLENGE No. 7

This Challenge is a "LITTLE" late - sorry girls - life has been busy since I returned from Johannesburg (what a nasty place, btw - concrete jungle, gangsta'a paradise, rush-rush-rush - call it what you will but it's soooo not for me - I just loooove everything about the Coast ...)

As usual, I digress ... that obviously hasn't changed ... tee hee ... okay, here is your NEXT challenge ...

BOM CHALLENGE No. 7 - {50} THINGS I LOVE ...

For the next two weeks you are going to explore more about your personality - the things that you love (not LIKE, but LOVE) essentially say alot about who you are. You may wish to just use words or pictures to describe your loves (not necessarily photos) but it is as usual, entirely up to you how you represent your favourite things (BTW, I do not like the word things so am trying to think of a suitable substitute as I type - it may come to me ... OR NOT ...).

I was thinking that perhaps you could choose the number of "things" (ewwww) that you love according to your age - eg. I am eternally 30 therefore I could choose 30 things that I love .... OR you may wish to choose a random number of things, even an odd number if that is what blows your hair back .... I have BUT ONE stipulation - that you choose 21 (a random number that I picked) or more "things" at the least.

I have also decided to knock up the pace a little by including ONE additional Challenge every two weeks which relates to the current challenge - this is not compulsory! it only adds to what you have already written and you need only do it if you have the time and the inclination to do so ... REMEMBER - this is a BOOK ABOUT YOU so YOU are the Author ....

The additional challenge is .... your TOP TEN DISLIKES... eg. here are a few of mine ... beetroot, seafood and fish, grey hair (ON ME), etc .... This is an easy addition to your "things I love" page, as you can simply tuck a tag behind some journaling or a photo of your TOP TEN DISLIKES. Give it a try - not loads of extra work ....

Just deleted my signature again - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .....

For those of you (me included at this stage) who are not up to date - CHILL - it's OKAY!! Try to give yourselves the task of completing the latest Challenge and 1 other that is still outstanding every two weeks - this way you'll catch up in 3 challenges' time (if that makes any sense at all???) I'm here if you need help ....

Good Luck, girls and ENJOY exploring this next Chapter in your lives ....

Love,
ME

WOW!!!

This is Desire's take on the Habits BOM Challenge - I have but one word - WOW!!!!


and here is her journalling ....

Dictionary: Noun: The tendency toward an act that has become a repeated performance, relatively fixed, consistent, easy to perform, and almost automatic. Once learned, habits may occur without the intent of the person or may appear to be out of control and are difficult to change.

Childhood Habit:Nail Biting

As a child up to the age of about 11 years, I use to chew my nails, for no obvious outward reason, but perhaps it was more a psychological issue for me. My mom often threatened to put pepper or aloe juice on the tip of my fingers to prevent it, but never actually did it. I just stopped one day and it never happened again. Since I had my first set of naturally grown nails up until today, I always had a natural French manicure with white tipped nails. I have hardly ever had a manicure and I also don’t wear any nail varnish apart from clear varnish on the odd occasion. Its perhaps all the childhood chewing that has resulted in such strong nails.

Lifelong Habit:Lip Biting/Teeth Clenching

Dental Dictionary: habit: In dentistry, habits such as bruxism, clenching, tongue thrusting, and lip and cheek biting may produce injury to the teeth, their attachment apparatus, oral mucosa, mandibular and temporomandibular musculature, and articulation. I have been biting my lips ever since I can remember. The lip biting seems to happen when I am deep in thought or worried. I also clench my teeth/jaws, especially when I am asleep and it has also started from a young age. Often get up in the morning with a headache, which tells me that I have been clenching during the night.

Lifelong Habit:Hair Twisting

When I was a child my mom just had to see me twisting my hair and she knew that my bedtime was near. I still do this today when I am getting sleepy. Fortunately, its not pulling out hair, otherwise I would have been seriously bold today.

Lifelong Habit:Hastiness

I have always been a hurried person who likes getting things done. In some ways this can stand one in good stead, but in other ways can be detrimental. In school my reports often stated that I was a diligent pupil, but tend to make mistakes because of hastiness.

Adulthood Habit:Repositioning Objects

I think this is a very mild form of OCD. I am forever aligning things to be straight, i.e. wall paintings, ornaments, furniture, etc. Even my scrapbooking layout elements are 99% of the time straight.

Adulthood Habit:

Interrupting Conversation This is a very bad habit that I am personally aware of. I think I am short minded. Whilst listening to a conversation or a person talking to me I tend to catch on something that is said and in my mind are already elaborating on this and blurt out this thought before I have forgotten it – interruption the person talking to me.

Good Habits

Hardly ever start something that I don’t finish.

Diligent

Trustworthy

Quote"It's just as easy to form the habit of succeeding as it is to succumb to the habit of failure. Habits aren't instincts; they're acquired reactions. They don't just happen; they are caused. Once you determine the original cause of a habit, it is within your power either to accept or reject it." Author unknown

Well, you certainly do not have any seriously BAD HABITS - It will be interesting to see what everybody else has to say ...

By the way, Desire said that this was by far the hardest LO for her to complete but judging by the quality of her work, I think the "hard ones" are her forte - well done, Desire ...

I will only post again on Tuesday of next week as I will be away for the weekend so please come back then to see more Challenge LO's ...

Have a fantabulous weekend ...


Love,

BOM No. 4 from SOPHIA

Here is her divine LO ....




And here is what she had to tell us about her years at school ...

My school years feel like a distant memory to me. It has been like what...22 years, feels like forever.
I started Class 1 in 1975 at Montclair Primary School in Durban and also completed Class 2 there in 1976. What I can clearly remember about this time was that I took speech and drama to teach me to speak properly and articulate my words better, as I used to speak as if I had potatoes in my mouth. We had put on a concert for drama and I was a blackbird in a pie (from the nursery rhyme).
Then my family moved to Rustenburg and I started Std 1 at Fields Primary School in 1977. It was a great school. I finished Std 5 in 1981. Then it was on to Grenville High School, Std 6 in 1982.
My family moved again, this time to Empangeni and I started Std 7 in 1983 and was there until I matriculated in 1986.
I was not one of the fortunate girls at school, who had all the boys after here, instead I was more of a studious person and you could say a nerdy type person. Wore glasses etc...You get the picture. I even got given a nickname of Alexander Mouse from Maya the Bee...must have been those silly looking glasses I had to wear throughout my school career.
When I was allowed to choose my subjects, I went for English, Afrikaans, Maths, Biology, Business Economics, and Accountancy, as I wanted to study further to become an accountant...
I was not a very sporty person either. I tried Drummies in Std 6, hockey and squash in Std 7 and a little long distant running.
I went with a good friend, Michael Filmater to my Matric dance, and I wore the most hideous dress as you can see in the photo, I guess back in those days it was fashion...lol
I used to have a huge crush on a boy in my high school, who ended up being in my class and every time he was around, they would tease me about, which made me blush and feel so shy.
Other than that, I enjoyed my school days, although I was not one of those kids who studied weeks and months before exams..I studied the day before and managed to get through okay.

Thanks, Sophs ...

For the rest of you who haven't yet submitted .. don't panic ... it's not a race although I would love to get to know you better - e-mail me if you're stuck and I'll help with ideas and suggestions. In the meantime, take a look at this divine site for layout sketches.

Love,

TELL YOUR STORY ...

Just wanted to share this quote with you this morning ...

"We write to taste life twice - once in the moment and {once} in retrospection " - ANAIS NIN

I love to write - even if it's my boring old story - it's mine and I've lived it!!! Gooooo, Tracy!!!!

Do you write your STORY??? Why not join our BOM Challenges and make a start - trust me, once you start it's difficult to stop and all that "Writer's block" stuff is out the window ... I often sit at my computer and just write what's on my mind - very liberating 'cos I can VLOEK (swear) without feeling too guilty because nobody's gonna know ... tee hee ... not that I swear often - only when I'm really MAD - am working on my impulse control, people ...

Am going to post Sophia's latest BOM LO now - Chat later ...

Love,

PRETTY INTENSE ...

I am thrilled to say that I have now completely finished my first Journaling Junkie challenge and I will submit it to Stefanie today so keep popping into this site to see my story of "Everyday Life" ... please bear in mind that this is totally a journaling challenge blog and my LO is not quite what I envisioned when I started out - I am nonetheless pleased at the result, but my mind had a more spectacular LO in sight when I started ... tee hee ... I was going to pull it apart and start again seeing as how it is my debut as a Design Team Member but then I remembered just in time that I am human after all and that even us perfect people have a semi-bad day ... tee hee ... after all, my MOJO is still drinking MOJITOS on the ISLAND ... bad, bad girl that she is .... (I'm assuming here that my MOJO is female ... not sure yet since "IT" abandoned me ...)

On a more positive note (I say this simply because I have again realised this morning that life is so precious and humbling and there is SO MUCH to be grateful for EVERYDAY), I was browsing early this morning (4.30am) and I came across this site

It is such a sad yet uplifting story - go take a look - the positive energy literally radiates from this blog and the faith this family has in our Heavenly Father is truly inspiring ... Please join me in keeping this family in our prayers TODAY ....

And what is also inspiring is that her blogging followers feel as though they know her from her posts and her positive attitude to life - so many people have commented that she "makes them better mothers" ... how awesome is that??? Her blog has been an inspiration to 10's of 1000's of people - the LESSON here is threefold ... (1) don't stop blogging - somewhere, someone may be inspired by your Story; and (2) try to maintain a positive spin on your life especially in the most difficult of times; and last but certainly not least (3) Put your Trust in the Lord always ...

Wow, this has turned out to be a pretty intense post today ... Have a fantastic day and tell those you love how much they mean to you ...

Love,

YIPPEEE - GREG IS HOME ...

When I arrived home this morning at 7am I was delighted to see that Greg had just arrived home from Zambia - what a wonderful surprise - I was kind of expecting him later today ...

I am thrilled that he is home - it has been a loooong stretch this time and I really really missed him and I am grateful that he returned in safety. Of course, him and I both look really tired (matchsticks holding our eyes open kind of tired - him from driving all night and me from scrapping all night - he should get his priorities straight, I reckon, poor thing - why drive when you can scrap ...) tee hee ...

We were both too wired to sleep at 7am but I managed an hour and half of sleep at lunchtime and then woke to scrap some more with Belma - well, she is scrapping and I am teaching her (private lessons, nogal ...). Having fun though ...

Thanks for the divine ALL-NIGHTER, Sophs - had a great time - kept you awake well beyond your sleep time - sorry - I was like a guest that had outstayed their welcome at about 5am (you were sooooo tired) but I came, I stayed {awake} and I scrapped ... LIFE IS GOOD ...

I am GRATEFUL everyday for the many blessings I receive ...

Love,

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING ...

NO WAYYYY ... this is too creepy - take a look at Michelle Ramsay's comment on yesterday's post ... and guess what? Drumroll ....

Yup, her name was the first one that came out of the RAK BOWL for the stash for my challenge posted on 28th August 2008. You lucky girl - I guess there is merit in the saying "The POWER OF {POSITIVE} THINKING" ...

Well done, Michelle ... I think you should take a lotto ticket - you seem to be very lucky of late.

BTW, do you girls believe in LUCK or do you think LUCK is coincidence or fate or something else???

I am off to do some chores and then hopefully to scrap ... still looking for my MOJO but gonna give it a try ...

Have a fantabulous day!!!

Love,
P.S. Greg is on his way home via Zimbabwe or Botswana or something ... probably be home tomorrow sometime - YIPPEEE!!!!

HIGH PRIORITY SOS - AWOL MOJO ALERT ...

Having received a number of comments about our missing mojo, I have decided to put an APB (all points bulletin) out there ... anybody who knows of or even who has heard of this "MOJO ISLAND", please contact me immediately!!! Any information at all is extremely welcome and all forthcoming witnesses will be treated with the utmost confidentiality ... if you still have your MOJO (ie. it has not yet left to join the other AWOL-lers or MIA-ers on the Island), we will put you into a WPP (Witness Protection Program - this is where you scrap all day - no kids, no hubbies, just all your delicious stash and you and your MOJO) so that your MOJO cannot make its escape.

Most importantly, stay calm and breathe through your nose - pretend all is as it should be and nobody will get hurt ... tee hee ...

And more important still - if you have the GPS Co-ordinates for this MOJO ISLAND, please send with scrapbooking stash to 146 ........ (thanks, Desire for this idea). By the way, once we find this ISLAND, Michelle vD and I will be taking bookings for accommodation - as she said, imagine all that MOJO just waiting to be sucked up by us desperate scrappers ... oooh bliss ... and let's not forget the whole "no cooking, no cleaning, no kids squealing, no husbands demanding" side of the Island ...

Oh damn, deleted my signature again ... I am rattled girls, really rattled by the alarming strike going on ... oh boy, once the Drama Queen has started, it seems there is no stopping her ...

As you can see I am still tired - going to try to get to bed (and stay asleep) early tonight ...

Have a great evening.

AND REMEMBER - today is the last day for posting your comments for the RAK which ends at midnight tonight - GOOD LUCK!!!

Sweet dreams and as Scarlet once said "{we'll} worry about that tomorrow" - nice philosophy to live by, I think ...

Do what you can and leave the rest for another day

By the way, I ave still not delivered Michelle R's RAK to her - bad, bad girl I am - will try and make a plan to see you tomorrow, Michelle - sorry ... sorry ... sorry ...

Love,

Tracy

TWO REASONS TO BLOG TODAY ...

I have not been browsing much lately - been busy trying to get the 1000 ideas floating around my head onto paper (not working too well, mind you) but I went along to Stephanie's blog this am - have been up from 3am - can't sleep ... grrrr ... and had a little giggle (well, actually, I LAUGHED OUT LOUD) at her latest post - life is so ... well, LIFE - go visit her blog - she is soooo entertaining and real and inspiring - it's great to know that we all share the same feelings of frustration etc... keeps us going to know we are not alone ... (sounds like there is life on other planets ... ooooohhh, creeepy ....)

The other reason is that I see that a number of ladies have "lost" their mojo (Jacki JvR, Mel B, Michelle vD - their blogs are on my sidebar - go visit - all really funny ladies). Mine is also AWOL - Stephanie reckons they are off toy-toying (toi-toiing???) somewhere and I think I agree but I reckon it's on that Island where all the single socks go. You know when you put a pair of socks into the washing machine and only one surfaces that the other has gone off to "SOCKIE HEAVEN" and is partying with all the other single socks on that Island in the middle of "who-knows-where" ...

Now, my theory is that our mojo's have decided to join the socks - perhaps they even have their own Island OR ... wait ... wait ... another thought has entered my head ... maybe this is a dastardly plot by some Scrapping megalomaniac-person to entice our mojo's away so that we can't produce the stunning work we usually do ... tee hee ... must be some jealous skinny person ... LAUGH OUT LOUD here, people ... (no offence to skinny people so please don't leave any NASTY comments on my blog - my self-confidence cannot take it right now ... next week may find me stronger ... or perhaps I'll take double my meds next week .. tee hee) ...

Ok, OK, the drama queen is surfacing - she hasn't been "out" much lately but tends to pop her head up every once in a while and it seems today is a good day ...

It is now 5.19am so I think I should go back to bed until 6. Evidently I have not had enough sleep ...

Goooooood Moooorning, SA ...

Love,

THIS IS THE 4th and final LO from MICHELLE - BOM No. 4/5

Well now, Michelle certainly had loads to say about her schooling and teenage and she has finally finished this Chapter in her Story. Take a look at this lovely LO ...

And here is her Story ...

From 1966 – 1967 I attended Woodlands Nursery School. From 1968 – 1969 I attended Woodlands Infants Primary School and used to catch a bus there and back every day. During 1969 a school was being built in Yellow-wood Park, where I lived and from 1970 - 1974 I attended this school, which I used to walk to and from every day. I had to walk past the shopping centre and often stopped in to buy chips or an ice-cream to eat on the remainder of my way home – chips 5cents a packet, ice-cream (pop-a-2) 3 cents!! Can you believe it! The high school I attended was Mowat Park High, in Montclair and I was there from 1975 – 1979. I loved school, not for the learning, but for the social as I enjoyed being with my friends. I also enjoyed my sport and drama, so was always participating in something after school. In order to save on bus fare and have more pocket money, I often walked to and from school which was about 4 or 5 km each way. That probably stood me in good stead for my walking career later on in my life!! From school reports I was friendly, polite, well mannered, helpful and always willing to please. Some of the games we played at primary school were, marbles (I was really good at this!) elastics, rounders and kissing catches. At high school we would just meet up at lunch time and find a spot on the field and sit and chat. I was fairly popular amongst my friends and most of the teachers at the primary and high school knew of me.

Thanks, Michelle, for such an in depth effort - I love that you have so much to say ...

Love,

NEW BOM LO from JACQUI

This is Jacqui's 3rd LO - On the day that she was born - well done and love that you have so many photos ...



This is her story ...

On 9 April 1974, my mom and dad arrived at the hospital at 5:30pm to be induced as I was not keen to make any attempt at coming out into the big wide world. My mom was prepped and Doctor Orford (my mom’s gynae) came in to check that all was proceeding according to plan. The contractions were now less frequent and he suggested mom spend the night in hospital and he asked for a bed to be made up for him so he could spend the night in the hospital too. In the morning, nothing had changed and the Doctor spoke to my dad about the possibility of an emergency Caesar. The Doctor went home to change and have something to eat for breakfast. My mom was prepped for theater and my dad wasn’t allowed to come into the theatre to witness the birth. My mom was given a general anesthetic so she too didn’t witness my birth. The pediatrician, Dr Super was in attendance to check me over to make sure I had all my fingers and toes.

When my mom woke up after the Caesar, my dad was standing next to her bed and she asked him “What have we got?” and he replied, “Just what you wanted”. My dad was convinced I was going to be another boy, but my mom kept on saying to him that I was going to be a girl. Looks like Mom was right…..

Mom had to stay in hospital until all the stitches were ready to come out. This was usually 10 days, but she was lucky and sent home on the 9th day. I was kept in the nursery and at feeding times, I was wheeled out in my cot into the passage way and my mom had to walk down to the nursery and fetch me.

According to my mom, I was a lovely baby with lots of dark hair. Even Dr Orford said “You have a lovely baby there.”

Time of birth : 10:55am
Place : Windhoek State Hospital
Birth weight : 8lbs. 6oz (3.8kg)Length : 20 ¾ ins (53cm)

Hope you enjoy this glimpse into Jacqui's life.

Love,

SOME MORE LO's

Here are two more LO's I managed to "stitch" ... I haven't created a new 12x12 LO in a while so you will be stuck with some of my older ones over the next few weeks ...

This LO is especially for my friend, Kate, who I believe to be a true Angel on this Earth - she is super-bright, super-naive (bless your heart, Kate), so giving and caring and just amazing - her life has been FILLED (I mean really FILLED) with obstacles and trauma and this woman just bounces back and keeps coming ... I truly admire her strength and resilience and also her ability to care so deeply for so many people. My journaling reads as follows ...

Kate is one of the kindest and strongest people I have ever met. She is not afraid to say what she thinks and is firm in her beliefs which makes her really honest and I love that about her. We have the same offbeat and wacky look at life and take our roles as parents really seriously. I have tremendous respect for this special lady and I adore her. I AM TRULY BLESSED TO CALL HER FRIEND.

These photos were taken at Moreson Ranch in the Free State (I know, what was I doing there?). Devin came with us on a family holiday and we had a blast!! Bryce and Devin had such a strong and amazing friendship which I am sad to say is no more but Bryce will always have memories of the really good times he spent with Dev.

Hope you enjoy these little pieces of my life ...

Love,

WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING ...

I have been trying to stitch my LO's (left and right together) for the last two hours and have managed to get only this one halfway-decent (have chopped off tops and bottoms of pages but I don't know how to fix that so what you see is what you get ... grrr ... so not perfect ...).

These are a collection of my favourite photos of Bryce in 2007. I made two shaker boxes and filled them with arrows (which I traced and cut out then matted - evidently I have way too much time on my hands) and punched-out circles. This is one of my favourite LO's - even though it is pretty busy, I used clean, straight lines to keep it uncomplicated ...

Enjoy!! Sleep Tight.

Love,

BOM LO No. 2 from BELMA

Belma is a good friend of mine who has only been scrapping for a short while. Her son, Cameron, goes to school with Bryce. Belma has amazed me over the last few months with what she has created and even more so now that I see what she is producing for these BOM challenges - well done, Bel!

Here is her journalling ...

History about my Name :

Sybella is of Greek Origin meaning Female Prophet
Pronounced sih BELL ah
Maria is of Hebrew Origin meaning Bitter
Originate from Mary
Pronounced mah REE ah
Maria was the most popular name during 1960’s

As a matter of Fact :

I was called Sibella Maria at birth, after my grandma, SM Leach.
Because of difficulty in pronouncing my name correct my mom gave me a Nick Name. She took BEL from Sibella and MA from Maria and BELMA it was !

To date this is still my call name. I have been called Bella Bok, Bell, Bekkies, Roosknop and Sybel.

My hubby calls me Sybel as a term of endearment !

I was never fond of my birth names but have received so many compliments that I am now proud of it. I know I am special for God only created one of Me ~

I spent the whole day scrapping today - Bryce had cricket practice so I only had to pick him up after 4.00pm. I did not complete my BOM challenge No. 5 - still looking for photos - I know I put them somewhere safe ... does this ring any bells with anybody else? I did, however, complete 4 LO's that have been sitting around waiting for journalling ... feel like I have accomplished much - OK, I only had to write a few lines on each page but I am proud of ME!!

I am off to feed Bryce and once he is in bed, I will post some of my completed LO's.

I had a look at my challenges from Journaling Junkie - am soo excited - have already planned what I am going to do - now to execute my fine ideas ... tee hee ...

Love,

Tracy (deleted my signature AGAIN - grrrrr ....)