Christmas is just around the corner.....

Well its neally christmas again and boy oh boy hasnt this year flown by!!!!! I am pretty organised really with just a few bits and pieces to pick up (at least I know what I want!!!).
Christmas in the oliver household is a bit topsy turvy this year. My dd and sil are going to his parents for lunch this year and ds and dil are doing the same with her parents....Now that youngest dd has herself a man (who just so happens to be the brother of sil) she will now also spend lunch with his parents.....I was going to go over to Junee to be with mum and dad but they are now going to Canberra to be with my sister and her family (which is wonderful by the way...) so that leaves me by myself as dh will be driving the train home from Melbourne . Of course I have been invited to enjoy lunch with sil's family BUT it just didnt feel right even though I love them all to bits....... so anyway to cut a long story short I am now going to travel to Melbourne with dh on xmas eve and travel back with him (having lunch on the train !!!!!) on xmas day... We will arrive back home about 2.30 - 3pm which wont be too bad and then the kids will all come over and we will have our xmas then and I will have them all for dinner....This year will certainly be an experience....
Now back to scrappin news......
In my last post I showed the entries I had completed for the LSBS mini christmas competition.....
Well I won and for my troubles I was lucky to recieve $100 to spend in the shop.
I had the time of my life spending up big and cant wait to recieve my goodies...
Meanwhile I am enjoying being part of a secret santa swap and opening my pressies each day (it makes my heart happy every single day) I will be lost come the 26th when it will all end!!!!!
I only have this week to go at work then I have 2 weeks off which I am so looking forward to.
Anyway I hope to post again before christmas BUT if I dont I wish you all a very very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year.....
Take care everyone...
luv marg xxx

Almost December!!!!!

Well its almost December which means chrissy is just around the corner and its the month on full on nights out....shopping and way too much food and drink BUT its all good I say.......

I have made a start on the dreaded christmas shopping (gee it gets harder and harder each year!!)

I spent the day yesterday cleaning the house and putting the tree and decorations up.....

I am in a secret santa swap so that will start tomorrow with 25 little pressies to open and enjoy.....Cant wait.....

My mum is currently in hospital after having a knee replacement last thursday. She is doing extremly well and think this has a lot to do with how healthy and active she is....My dad has been fending for himself and this in itself is a bit of a worry as he is getting quiet forgetful BUT he insists he is fine so I can only take his word on that..He does worry me though....

I have finished all my christmas cards so now just need to write in them all and get them posted off....I was intending doing them today but we all went to Adam and Jody's for lunch (which was delicious I might add), so they got put off till hopefully tomorrow night after work....

I have been going up to the hospital everyday and sometimes twice and this has put everything else on hold for a few days BUT thats ok as I wouldnt have it any other way.....

I have just completed 2 pages in 2 different calendars for a swap I am in and pleased to be handing them on.....I recieved these on friday in the post and they were handed to on today so very happy with myself.....

I have just finished another 2 layouts which I am happy with and will share at the end of this post...

Thanks for stopping by and reading all my bits and pieces....

cheers

luv marg xxxxx

I love this photo of Ryder eating his first ice-cream at the park....

This is a gorgeous photo of Lachie when I dressed him up for his santa photos....

Till next time....

Marg xxxx

Another week passes by!!!!!

Another busy week has almost come and gone and again I feel like I am getting nowhere fast!!!!!!Does anyone else feel like this around this time of year?

Last Saturday I spent the day in Albury with oldest dd Erin and youngest dd Ashley. We had a great day and shopped till we dropped!!!! I was happy to do quiet a bit of my chrissy shopping and it really does feel good to have made a start....

I was happy this week also to finish off the last challenge in the LSBS mini christmas challenge....Happy in myself that not only did I finish BUT I now have one chrissy pressie, 5 chrissy cards and a layout to show for it....I also enjoyed doing them all...

Here is the last one I finished where we had to create a christmas layout using non traditional christmas colours.... I love this photo of Ryder...

Work has been super busy the last few weeks and by the time I get home I am exhausted....Its such a huge effort to get dinner organised..... Some exciting news for my youngest dd Ashley who bought her first brand new car today...Its a suzuki swift (red of course) and really is lovely...She is so proud of herself and now just needs to knuckle down and pay back the bank....I am sure she wont have any problems as she can be really good with her money when she sets her mind to it.....

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings !!!!!!!

Take care

luv margxxxxx

November means CC time at LSBS....

Its november and that means the LSBS cc is on this weekend......

From all the hints the DT are giving us it sounds awesome....

I have had a busy week catching up on some swaps and having a go at the LSBS mini christmas comp......

I have completed Challenge No 1 which was to make an otp item that could be given as a gift. I made this card box for my mum for christmas....

These are the cards and tags I made for Challenge No 2....

This week is busy at the Oliver house with my 2 dd's birthdays.....My baby girl (Ashley) turns 22 today and my oldest (Erin) turns 27 tomorrow....We are having a big family dinner tonight which should be yummy.....I am cooking this delicious chicken and bacon dish...at the 2 girls request.....

Work has been full on and so busy that I am just exhausted.....I had to have 2 days off last week suffering from a really bad migraine.....Still dont feel 100%... and the fact that I have a touch of a head cold doesnt make getting over it any easier....

I am off to Albury for the day with Erin and Ashley to do some chrissy shopping and as they are both getting money for clothes for their birthdays they are hoping for some serious retail therapy....Its always great to spend time together like this.....

Hope all are well and thanks for stopping by...

Take care... luv marg xx

Weekends come and Weekends go !!!!

Well another weekend has come and gone !!
I spent most of Saturday having a bit of a spring clean and feel so much
better about things now and feel like I have finally got on top of things
again......
Sunday we had a bbq lunch with all the kiddies which was just so nice.....
I made a yummy potato bake and some nice salads and all in all it was a
great day!!!! Got to have lots of play time and cuddles with my 2 favourite
boys...... Only thing is with my kiddies when they come they forget to go
home again.....
I managed to start the Christmas Comp over at LSBS so just need to find some
spare time to get it finished....
I also got to do the wonderful Sandie's sketch challenge and quiet pleased with
how it turned out and the bonus was I needed the baby girl card for a special
friend.....Thanks for always helping me get inspired Sandie....Luv ya!!!!!
Here is the card .....

Thanks heaps for stopping by and take care...luv marg xxxxx

Weekend again.....YAY!!!!

Oh thank goodness for weekends !!!!!!

My favourite days of the week......

I have been busy today creating (of course I should of been doing housework,BUT this was much more fun!) I firstly finished off some ATC cards for a swap, then completed 2 layouts so pretty happy with myself..

I think I may do another now while I watch the tv.

Here are the layouts I completed.....cant show the atc cards as the swap hasnt even finished yet!!

And here are the chrissy cards I did for a challenge by Belle over at LSBS, I am pretty please with how they turned out and now have a great start ready for christmas !!!!

I have a busy day tomorrow.....Need to catch up on some housework in the morning then after lunch I am off to my very first Camera club meeting......I am so excited and cant wait!!!!!Will let you know how I get on...

Have a great weekend everyone...

Cheers luv marg xx

Finally an update !!!!

Well I have been totally slack ...... just not enough hours in the day !!!!

Anyway I am here now so a quick update...

My dh and I have just come back from an amazing 3 weeks holiday in New Zealand.

This has just got to be the most amazing beautiful place I have seen .......

We spent the whole 3 weeks touring in a Campervan every possible town in the South Island.

It was just incredible and I loved it all..

The campervan was so great through the day as we stopped wherever we wanted, had cuppas and lunch wherever took our fancy and got to pick and choose which towns we would stay the nights at.....Sleeping in it of a night well thats a whole other story and believe me it wasnt much fun BUT we managed with a little help of some magic pills (sleeping tabs)....

We saw some amazing places and did such awesome things together and it really was a holiday I will never forget.

Of course I managed to shop and found some yummy scrapbook shops along the way..

ANYWAY its now back to reality and work etc etc!!!!!!!

I have been back to work now for a week and 1/2 and it feels like I have never been away...

LSBS had their october cc last weekend and as always it was awesome......I even managed to complete all of the challenges (except digi which I just dont do) so I was pretty pleased and it was just what I needed after being away from it for so long...I even won one of the challenges which I am pleased about as it was the most favourite one I did and I was more than pleased with the end result....I have posted a pic of it below......It was a challenge by Kerryn for a Canvas and now mine hangs in my scrap room.....

And the winner is .... ME !!!!

I also needed a bit of retail therapy and Cath had just uploaded some yummy new goodies from Fancy Pants so now I have some cool new bits and pieces to play with....

I am enjoying my new camera and its so easy to use although I still have heaps to learn.....I managed to get some beautiful shots while in New Zealand...

It was great to see my 3 kiddies when we got home and even greater to see my 2 favourite boys......They had grown so much BUT still remembered us (a little unsure of dh for awhile though).....We sent them parcels from New Zealand every couple of days and their mums and dads said they just loved that !!!

Will post some recent pics up soon when the battery in the camera is charged..

Take care everyone and talk soon...

P.S I also got an awesome surprise just before we left and I am getting another set of cards published !!!!Great news and my other set will be in the december issue so cant wait for that....

Just posting the other challenge layouts that I completed for the october cc at LSBS...

luv marg xxx