the Tree...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.... and what better way than to put up the tree...
It was a small tree, and we were on an austerity drive.. so no new ornaments this year :p

Nonetheless lots of fun with my sisters joining the girls ... while the men, sat, gazed and drank their wine...

A lovely memorable evening...

Firsts....

It's been an interesting last 24 hrs for our family ...

from winning trophies,
to me taking to the dance floor last night in a bar - a first for me in like a decade (- gosh... now my geeky secret is out !!),
and little C volunteering and taking to the stage at a party this afternoon to be part of the magician's act :) (guess she's not that shy anymore ...)

hope your start of the weekend's been good too !!
leaving you here with some crafty goodness...

Journaling reads :

"Every laughter, word, tear.. you show me something about your world, a glimpse of who you are and what you will be... that's such a privilege"

Supplies :

Websters, Fancy Pants, American Craft, MME, Amy Butler, Sassafras Lass, buttons and trims....

Golf Champ

Yes, she's done it again !
For the finals, Rachel was required to play two 9-hole games, over these 2 days.
AAANNND ...... Rachel emerged Golf Champ for her age division - retaining her title - at the SuperJuniors Golf Championships 2008.

It was really wonderful to see her enjoying herself, really focused and intense while she played (from what dad- the caddy said; I was not allowed on the course.. hmmph), and very good bonding with daddy. In her words, while the trophy was a bonus, the highlight of her day was one particular hole where she almost scored a hole-in-one (ie. the kind where in some championships u actually win a car .... :P ), and finished it with 2 putts.

Some pix....

(Pro in the making ?)

(Rachel waiting to receive her prize)

(receiving her trophy from the tournament director)

Congratulations, sweetheart - we are all really proud of you !! Way to go !!

C's 4th birthday mini album

Starting this year, i had decided that instead of cards, i would do birthday mini-albums so that the girls would have something to remember at a glance, what that year was all about, when they were older.

Here's C's ... something quick and simple. I tried to incorporate polka dots on every page as C was (and still is) crazy about them at the moment. So retro - this girl ! LOL !

be warned - a pix laden post...

album cover
- the butterfly lights up at the press of a button
C loved it.

page 1&2 with a handwritten note from dad


page 3&4 - Confident Sweetie

page 5&6 - You enjoy, bloom and grow

page 7&8 - Just too cute

page 9&10 - hanging out with Dad

page 11&12 - Sisters

page 13&14 - Celebrate wonderful Friends

page 15&16 - So loved

Have a great week ahead... mine's going to be busy i know :)

what we've been up to...

a princess party

thanks to Nic and Neeta - the girls got to dress up and had such a blast !

a kylie concert

it was fantastic !!
the pyrotechnics, the sleek dancers and she's just sooo sooo soooo pretty !
thanks G, for the tix !
I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky ..

hama beads

finally, some time to lounge about at home
and we discovered what hama beads was all about.
Opening a gift from long long ago

i was quite impressed C could really get the hang of it, and do it on her own !

Hula Hooping

that's the other 'big' thing C learnt just chilling at home
Check this out... she was so happy she just couldn't stop - even in her jammies !!

have a great weekend everyone !

An award and new layouts

What an honour to be awarded this ...and from the uber-talented and cool Audrey Pettit too ! Do check out her creations - they are just sublime !! Thanks so much, Audrey !

And now i have the privilege to offer this award to these ladies who simply ooze creativity - Sasha, Anne-Marie, Jaz, Shir, Emeline, Aniza, Jane and Michele (the latter two for their amazing bento creations)


Here are some other recent layouts to share ...

A 2-pager after a long break. This was long overdue as C's sports day was in May this year !! But there were so many pictures i wanted to showcase, I thought perhaps a mini album would be perfect, and without the time or energy, this never got done. Finally, Picasa 3 had this wonderful amazing collage function, which simply fits automatically all the pictures you want resized in an A4 page (as you see on the left side of LO) ! It's so excellent !! Those who have not been acquainted with Picasa (a photo management and editing software) - go get it NOW !! I can't function without it.... :P

Here's another completed on the go while waiting for R to finish her dance exams .... sooooo love the new Amy Butler line ...

Am supposed to be away in 2 days, so if i'm blogging... u'll know i've been grounded ! :P
take care all !

SuperJuniors

R aced her golf with golds in both the qualifiers - so now on to the finals end of this week. This is the 3rd year she's taking part in Superjuniors but still... wow... my little girl is cool... i would be shaking at any measure of a competition of any sort, but she's really quite calm and collected. Lots of credit goes to hubby - in just the way he handles R, i guess.

To us, it was never really about the medals but the lessons she takes away from a competition such as this - what the values of sportsmanship are, the values of discipline, and others like complacency, focus, and the strength to pick up from pitholes. So bear with me as i am going to tell a little story...

There was once a little girl, very good at her sport, and won her first game (from what i hear from her dad who was the caddy ...) hands down. Going into her second game, she was slightly swell headed, and underestimating her opponents, hit a bad shot right from the first hole (into the bunker). Taking all the resolve a 7-year old could muster, she had to try her best to recover from it (of cos' not without some watery eyes in between) and trailed behind. She was down the first 5 holes behind the leader, and only began regaining her confidence from the 6th hole onwards, and evened the score at the 7th, after which went on to win the 9-hole game by just 1 point.

So we shall see what unravels as the finals take place next thurs and fri as they play and take the total score of the 2 games. ha haa... stay tuned :)