Christmas is here!

Finally! Our tree is out and decorated! Our first Christmas in the new house.

Our tree looked tiny ( the ceiling is much higher here compared to the old apartment) so it's now sitting on a low stool. Maybe we'll get a larger one next year...

It is almost mid-December and we are just getting into the spirit of Christmas! Things have just been crazy busy in this household, and we haven't had the time to think about Christmas until now. 

I am put to shame, especially by those friends who are making their December album ( you know who you are). I wouldn't know where to start! 

Let's see...we've had:

Sarah's swimming gala, 

Been to KL for Sarah's ISAKL swim meet, 

Had a farewell party for a friend who's headed back to Australia with her family, 

Sarah's school had a visit from Santa today...who arrived in style in a fire truck! Pressies for all, even Andrew!

Emily had a band concert last night where she made her debut performance on the trombone,

I've started on our summer holiday album ( 5 months late, but at least it's getting done)...and feeling a bit out of depth with it. What started out as a mini album is morphing and looks like it will become a book!

Andrew's presents are wrapped and under the tree already...

The girls will each write their wish list on a tag which we'll hang on the tree...a new tradition we started last year...

Maybe I'll make an album of 'The best of 2008'...I'll just have to go through the 1000+ photos we have taken this year and pick out the most memorable!

Book of Words

I used Sheila's idea from the Smidapaper site and made a minibook called 'Book of Words' for Emily. 

It's filled with words of encouragement, little snippets of advice, some photos, and is meant to be a guide of sorts, as she embarks on this awkward journey of becoming a teenager: finding herself, gaining the confidence to be the person she wants to be...all part of growing up!

I hope she will read it over and over again, whenever she hits hurdles, or just needs a little confidence boost, and that she will gain fresh insights into herself each time she does.

Lady of Leisure

I used to work 10 hour days, sometimes longer, with a couple of 24 hour shifts thrown in for good measure. 

I've since swapped that for 24 hour days, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I wear many hats, running the gamut from chauffeur to cook to teacher to babysitter, all under the guise of 'Mum'.

So it's a source of great amusement when people assume that I'm a lady of leisure, now that I no longer have a 'proper' job. 

One of the things I ended up doing recently was help paint the backdrop for a concert

 at school. This was a photo a friend, and fellow 'lady of leisure', snapped one day :

So...proof at last that being a stay-at-home mum isn't all lunches and beauty salons...it's more doing whatever it takes for your kids, even if it means painting one handed and looking a total mess!

Who are your Friends?

I recently made a minibook dedicated to friends for a class at Smidapaper to be held in November.  

It is a tribute to some of my closest friends...the ones who accept me for who I am, the ones I can talk to about anything, the ones who I can truly be frank and open with. 

Some of them I've known just a short while, some practically forever! I am lucky to be able to call these wonderful people friends, and to show, in a small way, how much I value their friendship.

This is even more significant as my soon to be teenage daughter has been having a rocky time with some of her friends. A common enough problem amongst teenagers, I know, but to one whose loyalties are being tested, or is experiencing firsthand  how fickle some friendships can be...it can be a very painful time.

I hope I have been able to impress on her the importance of believing in herself, the importance of choosing her friends wisely... those who love her for who she is, not what she can do for them, who are a positive influence on her,  and whose friendship she will treasure, perhaps for a lifetime.

A Room With a View

Retreat - noun : a quiet or secluded place in which one can rest and relax

 This is my retreat - the room at the top floor of

 our new place, fitted out with floor-to-ceiling cupboards, all in white, accented with blue curtains for a splash of colour. There IS a view of the sea, but it is gradually getting obscured...pretty soon the view will be of a high rise...sigh.

 

This is where all my 'stuff' is. This is my office...scrapping room...art studio...library...even a place to nap ( I have put in a day bed which so far has seen occasional use by Andrew)

This is where I creep up to at night when the little one is asleep, the only time I get to scrap nowadays, it seems.

This is where Sarah and I hide out when she has a project that requires that special touch of extra creativity. Usually, this means raiding my scrapbooking or art supply stash ( a current favourite is glimmer mist).

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to spend quite as much time up here as I imagined...in a typical day, I don't often get to sit down for a cup of tea, let alone bring it up to the top floor...and I'm usually accompanied by at least one of the children drawing on the floor, or working at the desk. But that's the beauty of this room, we can all be up there, each doing our own thing,  and it still feels restful.

Those Shades

Looking through our holiday photos, trying to decide which ones to print, it struck me that our not so little girl is truly becoming a young lady. 

For a couple of years now, she's been shooting up, and is almost as tall as I am now, but up until this summer, she was still very much a kid. One that enjoyed going to theme parks, zoos, playgrounds, and was happiest lounging around in her oldest tee and comfy shorts. A kid that always used to run away from the camera cos she was too shy to have her photo taken!

This summer, Emily metamorphosed into a glamorous young lady, helped along in part, by a certain pair of shades that she found in a little store in Stratford-upon-Avon. She wouldn't be parted from them, wearing them in rain or shine; and was frequently caught posing for the camera!

Suddenly, it seemed, going to parks was just too uncool, preferring shopping as a pastime. 

Sigh...I guess this is just the start of things to come...I can see makeup and boyfriends looming in the not too distant future...

Old Friends

The last month has just flown by! Since our return from Manila we've had the usual busy run up to end of term for the kids, moved house ( took us 3 weeks to pack all our stuff...just how much junk can be accummulated in 4 years is unbelievable!), and taken a 2 week trip to England.

The pace has been hectic, so it was really nice to be able to take a break ( we left 3 days after moving in...piles of boxes still unpacked, faulty plumbing and all) and just enjoy having time to ourselves as a family.

The highlight of our trip was meeting up with old friends and just catching up ( with some sightseeing and shopping thrown in, of course). 

My roommate from boarding school had invited us to her wedding and it was fantastic to be able to catch with her, and our group of friends from 20 years ago! The girls were mortified when photos were passed around - th

ey couldn't believe how weird mum and her friends looked at 18 years old!

I also managed to catch up with a couple of my closest friends from University, so it was a trip full of reminiscing about old times, as well as catching up with all we have done. 

We have all moved on, to different parts of the world, added spouses and for some, children, and a few extra pounds...but just for a few hours, it felt like nothing had changed, and the 15 to 20 years since we last saw each other just melted away.

No doubt we will try to stay in touch, but sometimes life just gets in the way...we have our families, routines, jobs...everything that keeps us so busy. But that's ok, cos I know that these lovely people will always be friends of mine, and maybe we'll get to meet up again in the not too distant future.