I just can't help myself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I am laughing so hard I am crying...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elfing ourselves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ow my head hurts...

So um, yeah. I tried to get our Christmas card photo this morning. Not much luck really! Mick left the building shaking his head, not wanting anything to do with the whole circus LOL

This may be one of the good ones... It was hard to get one of everyone looking the same direction.

I really should have enlisted some help...

The little monkey's! (hmmm, maybe this next one isn't so bad either.

And then came the wild and crazy poses...

What's with the open mouth???

Poor Charli has a sty in her eye, so all the pics look like she is half asleep...

And then they roped the cat into the photo shoot.

He wasn't real excited about it.

But he is such a good sport. The kids were awful proud of themselves!

Maybe we will try again tomorrow???

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Sis in law Adele. Hope your day is wonderful, and that you enjoy the musical stylings of the Piper family singers on your answering machine!

I need a drink.

Oooooh, Pretty!

The December kits for Wicked Princesses! But wait, there's more...

You could WIN a 3 month subscription to either the Enchantress or Warlock kit!!!!! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post over here.

Seriously! All you have to do is go over and say HI to be in the draw!

Thats $120 worth of goodies just for chatting!

Five Friday Faves!

Yes yes...I know...its Thursday. But, tomorrow is kind of a big deal at our place. My gorgeous husband celebrates a birthday! I thought I might try and go a WHOLE DAY without the internet. Yeah, I know...

#1 fave is all the cute little handwritten cards coming home with the kids. So cute. I am however not looking forward to sitting with my kids and writing their out *sigh*. I was stressing a little the other night about how we would ever remember each kid in each girls class, when Natalie (7) rolled her eyes and said "why don't we just go off the class photo?"

I am scared. These kids are WAY smarter than me already.

#2 How good is it that its thong weather again!?!?! Flip flops, jandals, thongs...etc etc. How good are these??! I could live in them all year round. I do however need to paint my toe nails in preparartion for thong weather. I have scary neanderthal feet at the moment.
#3 Is my new distress ink in the colour mahogany. Beautiful, and perfect for christmas projects.

#4 My christmas ribbons purchased at the local shit shop for $1 a roll. Love them. I mainly wanted the spot and the stripe, but they looked so cute all sitting together I couldn't break up the little ribbon family...

#5 *****sigh**** Not actually Edward Cullen (my boyfriend), but the fact that my mum knows who I am talking about, and that she also wants to see the movie! (lets Mick off the hook quite nicely!) Apparently mum and the entire library staff read the Twilight series and all fell in love with my boyfriend Edward...which is a little disturbing, but I know its me he loves.

No, for reals...

He does...

Have a fabbo weekend! Thanks so much for all of your lovely messages of support for my first mag LO. It was so nice to share my news with people who 'get' how exciting it is. Thanks! You guys rock...in fact i am feeling a give away coming soon...stay tuned;-)

Oh WOW!

Pardon me for just a moment while I brag...about me...LOL

In this magazine... On page 82, are my gorgeous kids!

My first ever magazing publish! Wooohoooooooo!

Thank you to all who left wonderful messages for me yesterday. About 8pm I realized I was feeling very dizzy, and that was my wake up call. I had forgotten - in the business of my single parent days - to take my anti depressants. So, I took one last night, and one again this morning, and whilst I still feel fairly down and daggy, I don't have that panicky, sinking, awful 'black' feeling of yesterday. I figure that it might take a few days to get my brain chemistry levels back up to 'normal', but its all good.

Thanks guys...you all are wonderful:-)

Got the Blahs...

I am really missing these guys...

And this guy, lots and lots today. Not feeling very with it, or together, and definitely not feeling like I am coping at all. I can feel myself sliding down....
I have made a good start on my Daily December album...

But it seems to be taking me forever! I had to re do the front cover. Wich pinged me off no end. I used that gorgeous MM glitter paper, and then had to toss it in the bin cause the Mod podge wouldn't play nice GRRRR.

Just a few pages....
I even tried to re cycle some packaging...that black and white polka dot page is from a Prima packet...does that help justify my scrap spending??? LOL
Not real sure about what to leave space for, as in true Kirsty style, I have NO clue what day anything is happening in Decmber. I have decided though to make a few extra envelope pages and a few little accordion albums for those days when I need more space than I have allowed.
I love the transparency page, and can't help but hope that we do nothing that day so it can stay tantalizingly see through...hinting at the adventures for the next day...
So thats all I have really done so far...better get a wriggle on with this, cause December is soon people SOON!

Apparently my first ever published LO is in the latest Christmassey Scrapbooking Memories... I am definitely going to have to break my 'no mags' rule this month!

Not Me Monday!

Wooohoooo Not Me Monday actually ON a Monday!!!



I am not seriously contemplating spending a small fortune buying DH an X Box 360 for his birthday this Friday beacuse I am slack and completely forgot to plan ahead. Noooooo, organised and on the ball, thats me ALL over!

I am not sitting here wondering if the frozen coke I bought for the kids is satisfying enough to count as dinner...and sitting here avoiding cooking what I had planned for dinner by typing out all my 'not me' Mondays...Nope, its vital to me that my children not eat any empty calories and only have healthy nutritious meals at all times!

I am not enjoying the extra 10 minutes every morning that I have gained by getting Natalies hair chopped off to shoulder length....

And I was not terribly excited to see that this week I might just make it into the top 50 posts on McKmama's Not me Monday post...that would be shallow wouldn't it?!?!?

So I Can't Actually Scrap...

LOL

The comp is over! *** PHEW*** And as wonderful and exciting as it has been, I am relieved.

The past few weeks it has been SO hard to get those entries in on time...

I have met such lovely people

And created some LOs that I actually really like:-)

A HUGE congrats to Chloe the winner of SYTYCS, and a HUGE thank you to the organisers of the comp. I am sure they are equally relieved that it is all over!

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments over the last weeks. Your support was SO much appreciated!

I copied this from another blog, and changed the colour of the few thingsI have done..I am SO boring!!!!


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (much to my disgust)
3. Played in a band (drunken tambourining...good times)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Held a praying mantis (ew yes)
9. Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo (Karaoke baby!!)
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (scrapping counts right?!?!)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (well...rach and I tried French...but all we can say is "I have one friend" & "where is my dolly")
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke ( heck yes!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erup
t43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (yes, but not as the patient..even went on the air ambulance!)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51.Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (off my gorgeous sis Amy...biggest nicest surprise EVER)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Heck yes!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (uh huh...still have a suitcase full of my fave toys)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lak
e97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

The Fire Gade Christmas Party

Yep, can you believe it??? A christmas party already! It was such a good night...they throw a really family friendly party. Santa comes with pressies and lollies. BBQ is cooked and supplied by the boys, the wives and kids just show up and have a good night:-)

Santa visited each of the little Pipers....first Charlotte (no there weren't creepy foam headed children there, I thought I had better blur out the faces of other people's kids so I don't offend or upset anyone) Then he visited Natalie..

And Sam was lucky last out of ALL the kids...and he was SO cute and little patiently waiting for his name to be called:-)

They each got a way cool Light Saber!

(I am so glad we got three instead of getting the girls something different, they haven't put them down yet!)

Playing 'Jedi Skum'. Apparently its their favourite game at the moment:-)

Boy oh boy, with my zoom lens I got to take some sneaky pics of my dreamy husband! I love him so:-)

And as if I needed more reasons to make my heart go pitter patter...here he is driving the fire truck to take Santa back home...

***insert my teenagey sounding giggle here***

So the silly season has started already it would seem! We have plans for next Saturday night...sheesh, that pretty much doubles our entire years worth of social occasions! LOL

Don't forget to vote for your fave scrapper over at Scraptac if you are eligible - some AMAZING entries again this week. There goes my hope that everyone would slack off this last week leaving me holding the Slice Machine LOL It was a cunning plan I thought, but alas, the girls have done amazingly AGAIN **sigh**

Totally cheating...

On my tag from Chloe :-)


Okay...the rules..
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

Seeing as how my LO here listed some random wierd things about me, I'll just list these! 1. I love writing my blog. Yep, siree indeedy doo, I am enjoying it. I would love to get it all printed out and bound into a book like I have seen on a website....


2. Colouring my hair is no longer optional. I am almost completely grey. I started getting grey hairs fairly young...like in my late teens. I am now just old and grey...should I also mention here how wrong it is to have wrinkles and zits on the same face?!? Cause I have that going on too. Oh yes, I am quite the catch.

3. Pumpkin still makes me gag. But the kids and I love pumpking muffins. (Mick is wierd. He actually likes pumpkin *blech*)

4. I cannot stand to see anyone brush their teeth. It too makes me gag. I think it comes from when I was young and we used to go camping as a family, and we used to brush our teeth into a collective basin...eeeeeeeew, I am retching just thinking of it...

5.I am a control freak. Cannot let other people help or do anything for me...yet I hate making decisions. Bit hard being an indecisive control freak, I know, but I am. *sigh*

(between the grey hair, wrinkles and control freakishness you all are wondering how I managed to snag a husband..)

6. I love cutting out. It relaxes me. Before scrapping, I used to just cut out pics from magazines.



Sooooo, I am taking the easy way out and just tagging you all! Let me know if you list your quirks, i'd love to know there are people out there with quirks as quirky as mine!

My final entries...

For SYTYCS.

That's right...this is IT!

The criteria this week was fairly simple...just create a single and a double page LO that is 'you'.

Well, this seemed simple until I realised I don't 'do' double page LOs. **gulp**

So I have gone for a very simple design... Lots of handcutting(that sucker in the top corner there...all hand cut baby) and mostly just using BG Urban Prairie...also some Thickers, bling, Fancy Pants and Sei . This is pretty much 'me'. I like layers, PP, stitching and bling. I like ink and distressing and butterflies and I LOVE my Threading Water punch!!!

I also used my fave product at the moment (well, for today anyways LOL) my trusty gold pen. I love it. When used to outline stuff it makes it *pop* like nobody's business!

I layered the handcut elements using foam dots to make them stand out a bit more.

And my single. I actually really like this one...I think its my fave layout ever...and I think its mainly because of the photo.

Again...I used my gold pen...

And flowers and some PP by Paper Loft (I think....) Bo Bunny bits and pieces there too, and some Prima brads and lace. A gorgeous chippy clock covered in my new favourite distress ink colour 'Aged Mahogany'(perfect for christmas projects!)

Here 'tis the finished product!

I don't think it photographed very well...

So, wish me luck...tomorrow will mean the end of the comp, and a winner will be decided! Yikes! I really truly wish Chloe and Kelly all the very very best for this final round. I truly feel priveledged to be considered anywhere near as talented as these amazing ladies. The talent throughout the comp had been incredible. Just amazing. Each week, I have been blown away by the amazing galleries, and each week I have been FLOORED, GOBSMACKED, AMAZED to have made the cut.

I can't even begin to tell you what this comp has done for my confidence...truly.

I really just thank anyone who voted for me. It has been SO much fun. And the other contestants...you guys just plain old ROCK! Julie and the Scraptac girls, thanks for an amazing comp. I have met new friends and found so much inspiration in the challenges and the galleries....Thanks all so very very very much!!! (*heh* I feel as if I should be wearing a sparkly gown and sporting a fancy hair do...)