Surprise baby Sprinkle..

It's been a tiring past few weeks as the load keeps getting heavier nearing D-day. Baby feels like he's going to jump out from belly any second cos' he keeps moving non-stop !

But THIS. THIS totally prepped me up so wonderfully.
My dear sisters planned and executed a surprise Baby Sprinkle for me to top-notch perfection.

We played games, chatted, laughed and had a fantastic time ! Thank you ladies for sacrificing your Sunday afternoon away from family to be with ME ! Am blessed to have you gals in my life.

 And to my dear sisters... no words needed or suffice for the love and companionship we share. For that, I'm just so grateful.

Some thank you cards i made as a token to my BFFs....

I'm sincerely thankful for all i have.

Dance a little... scrap a little.. that's the story of love ..

It's been a whirlwind past 2 weeks with dance concert rehearsals, tears, needy kids, single motherhood, and scrappy yummies ! Inevitably caught the bug and was down for a couple of days, but nothing some retail therapy couldn't solve.. ha !

First some crafty goodies to share....

love these birdies from the American Craft 'Hello Sunshine' line...

Got those love notes down pat. Unfortunately Small didn't fancy this layout.

"Why Jie Jie's so bright - mine not nice - no owl ??!" (see below) followed by 'manja' whines and tears

Anyone has some magic potion i can feed her ? She's slowly driving me nuts !!

Here's the bright layout Small was jealous about. I've been soooo grateful for R lately. She's really been my ROCK, this 9 year old. What will i do without her ?...

And the stars at the recent concert @ Jubilee Hall in their dance regalia... they enjoyed themselves sooo much and so did I... gosh, the logistics involved in putting together something like that. Millions of kudos to their dance teacher who single handedly rocked this. Sure, there could be things that could have been done better, smoother, nicer... but to the KIDs, it was just PERFECT.
Check out some of the action...

thanks for dropping by !!

Yosemite Mini Album

Ah..... Yosemite....
All i had were my impressions from Geography textbooks which hardly prepared me for what nature had created over millions of years.

Using Tattered Angels gatefold album, i played with distress inks, rub-ons, masking, cut-outs and stickers to create this...

close ups of the cover page...

the embossed tree as a subtle backdrop was just perfect for this album

of cos' I had to add the bling... :)

I wanted the album to also capture the "why(s) and how(s)"  of Yosemite's formation ... 

sneeks of some vistas

Kiddos at play...

But beyond the beauty, it was sharing it with family that counted :)

thanks for dropping by !

Cold Shock !!

Florida's been experiencing a cold front since last Thursday, and temperatures dropped to below freezing yesterday night ! We were totally happy in our warm jackets and loving the cold, but some others are not so lucky.

With just their shells for warmth, these sea turtles have been "cold shock-ed" - as hundreds made their way to more inland waters for warmth. Akin to symptoms of pneumonia and hypothermia that we humans could encounter, the volunteers at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center have been totally overwhelmed, rescuing and nursing these animals back to health. 

Check out this cutie ...

his name is Dasher and was picked up on Christmas Eve. He had lascerations (possibly by a shark) on its lower shell and needed surgery

Some 500 sea turtles have been stranded by the cold spell and the Florida authorities are coping as best they can. 31 sea turtles now occupy the tanks of Loggerhead MarineLife Center, when previously they have on average 7-8 patients. We visited them today and were just inspired at the civic consciousness and social responsibility of these wonderful volunteers. My hope is that the girls will take this spirit with them as they grow and be active agents, bettering their environment around them.

Up close with ...

Gators !!!!

This was a baby, and it was all I and C could handle. C made sure she stood as far away as possible from the little fella who was all of 1 year old.

R did a little better :)

petting the little one ...

then posing behind this 4yr old... Hubby of cos' had to show off how 'fearless' he was

Then it was time to hop on the Airboat, and take a trip down the Everglades (which means river of grass), - the largest fresh water river in the world.

It was a fascinating experience, with the wind whirling up our hair, and a tingling excitement at the thought that we might fall into the river where alligators and poisonous snakes abound !

Then we spotted him...

The Great Blue Heron

He cockedhis head, then decided to take off...

As we made our way out further, to the deeper waters... what the native Indians call "Hammocks" or 'island of trees' ..

we spotted something in the distance....

then he got closer.....

and closer... in fact right next to our boat !

that's my head in the left and him in the water !...

then turned and made his way into his den ...

C was sooooo cute... she sat next to me and gripped my hand sooo tightly, terrified that i would fall into the water, screaming "mummy don't lean sooo far" !!!! :P

On the homefront, we created a history timeline file. Something where we can record all the dates and famous events and people we come across in our history reading...

I forgot to take pix of the internal pages where the girls handwrote the timelines on the top of the page, and have pasted stickers in the years where they were born. But here's the cover :)

Some other pix of the girls...... at Old Town Fun Park (Orlando)

my little reader before bedtime...

with their new bikes and scooters...at Masters Park (PGA National)

Let me know what's been up with your lives - all you dutiful silent readers !!!