Christmas is coming!

These cute little bird houses are what I've been doing for Wicked Princesses this month.  They are the OTP November kit which should be going on sale any old minute now.  I was a bit unsure when everything came flat packed like an Ikea purchase but the instructions included in the kit were easy and I'll be doing a project sheet to go with it as well so that should make it a bit easier.  The papers are Making Memories and there is the obligatory Kaisercraft bling plus some chipboard accents as well.  Trust me, when I opened it I wasn't sure if it was into it but once the houses were together and up I realised I really liked it and spent a bit of time adding accents and embellies.  I kept this set fairly sedate but I think I might buy another set and do something more elaborate with it.  It was quick to do as well and would make a great decco for home or would be really nice to give to someone with maybe little rolled up notes stuck in the holes of the bird houses.  Could also roll up little gift certificates or gift vouchers and present them that way as well - that would be cute!  I think I'll get the kids to write little Christmas wish lists, roll them and tie them up with ribbon and put them in there.  If you were REALLY into them you could create a whole Christmas village of bird houses and use it like an advent calendar if you know what I mean.  They would look awesome en masse, esp as all the papers coordinate.  If you're dreaming of a white Christmas you could even cover the birdhouses with spray on fake snow and do the same with your windows and then line them up  along the window sill.  Now there's an idea I like!!!

I have some scrummy new Kaisercraft papers to play with but I haven't had a chance to do any layouts yet.  Another couple of busy weeks at work and a week spent with a killer tooth abscess that took five days of day and night agony to respond to antibiotics and high dose anti-inflammatories.  The worst part was that it only started as a toothache which I figured a couple of Panadol would deal with and then by the time I realised it was worse than that it was too late to go to the dentist (not that I would do that without it being dire agony anyway) and that I needed antibiotics to address the abscess before a dentist would even see me.  So I've been very sore and sorry for myself this week and today is the first day I've woken up and not been in pain so I'm a happy camper.  And yes, I can remember the pain enough that I might just have to go to the dentist of my own free will before it happens again....       

Today we're off Christmas tree shopping - YES I KNOW IT'S ONLY 1ST NOVEMBER!!!!  But because I'm so chronically scatterbrained and the days are flying past so fast right now, the tree is a constant visual reminder for me that I must get onto all the Christmas stuff that needs to be done.  Anyway I like Christmas, love Christmas in fact, so I don't mind starting the festive season early.  I don't turn our house Chrissy lights on until 1 December so it's just inside that gets the festive treatment early.  We change trees and/or decorations each year and before you say how wasteful that is, I keep all the past trees/decorations in the house so I can mix and match colours each year.  This year however I'm going for a colour scheme we've never had before so it will be new decorations.  I'm thinking those really nice bright green decorations and maybe silver as well but I heaps of silver stuff that I can reuse from a couple of years ago when I had a pink Christmas tree with pink and silver decorations.  That's the plan but because I'm into cheap and cheerful, we're going to trawl the $2 shops and see what takes our fancy.  All the kids get to choose the style of decorations they want in the chosen colour scheme so nobody feels left out - except maybe for Doug who's favourite festive saying is "Bah Humbug!!!" so he doesn't give a toss what we do but is happy for us to do it.  I was thinking a black tree this year but that's a couple of hundred dollars and it's not like I'd use it every year so that seems like a bit of waste of money to me so I'm thinking a big green tree (our old green tree is missing parts) that reaches the ceiling nearly and then just cheap shop decorations.  Caeligh is still far too destructive for anything pretty.  What I really want one year - maybe the year that all of the kids have finally left home! - I'll go to DJ's or Myer and treat myself to the beautiful hand blown glass baubles I've always wanted.  I could get them now but that's not fair on the kids because either by choice or by accident they will get broken, I will be angry and upset and they will feel bad about it and that's just stupid.  Much rather get plastic so it doesn't matter if accidents happen - either they break and get fixed or thrown or they last for a few years and there's no drama.  So that's the plan for the day and the kids are always excited about it and so am I.  I'll post a couple of pics once the tree actualy gets up and decorated.  That can take a couple of days sometimes depending on how busy we are and how much work I have on.  My house is less cluttered this year and my lounge room more coordinated and tidy than it's ever been so I'm looking forward to putting up a tree to compliment the red/white/black colour scheme - maybe the green won't work?  I'm so prone to changing my mind at the last minute that who knows what we'll end up with!!! lol  

I've also got to get to Hardly Normal sometime today and get some pics printed out.  I took the plunge and got a new camera after Caeligh smashed the lens mechanism on the last one.  This time I decided to really go for quality, for something that will last and will take the kind of pictures I want so I got the Canon 40D.  It's the same one Jill has that she uses for all of her amazing photography so Jilly, darling, sweetie, lovey, friend - will you give a hopeless camera user some lessons some time??? lol  It almost seems a waste because I don't know what I'm doing with it but I'm slowly learning.  I only got one lens with it, a nice middle of the road that will do what I  need it to now, plus an extra battery, an external flash (which I got to use last night for Halloween pictures) and a few other bits and pieces.  It weighs as much as a newborn and the children are all under strict instructions that nobody touches it but me or Daddy (or Aunty Cassie cos she knows more about it than I do!!!).  So I'm looking forward to getting into the habit of taking regular photos again.  I think that's another reason I haven't scrapped more - if I have fresh, great pics then I'm more likely to be champing at the bit to scrap them but it's hard to summon mojo with old photos that I've looked through so many times before and still not found any I felt like scrapping.  Hopefully I can share some pics on the blog as I get better at using the camera.  

We did do the Halloween thing last night - I know it's a divided issue, some people "do" Halloween and some people "definitely don't" and that's fine.  I understand that it isn't our tradition but Doug grew up in Scotland where it is done and the children just like an opportunity to dress up and play games so I don't mind getting into it with them.  The only trick or treating they do is to the lovely couple next door who always have "safe" treats for them to eat and the little toddle one door down and back seems to satisfy their Halloween urges.  We had quite a few trick or treaters last night and I had a good supply of Freddos on hand to pass out.  It was good to see so many parents getting out and keeping their children company and keeping them safe.  A few years ago we had little kids (like under 10) that were trick or treating with no parents in sight.  I didn't understand that.  We don't live in a "great" area anyway but even if we lived in the safest suburb in the country I wouldn't be letting my children wander about the streets in the dark by themselves.  You never know who lives behind the closed doors of any house in any suburb.  So the lollies got eaten, the children bobbed for marshmallows and lolly snakes and stayed up playing air guitar and having a mini disco in the lounge room while Doug played DJ.  They all fell into bed happy and sleepy.  Like I said, I know some people don't do Halloween but for me it's about taking any opportunity to create some happy memories for them of their childhoods.  I know that in 10 or 20 years they won't care if people didn't "do" Halloween, I hope they'll at least be happy that we did.

I'm heading out the door now to do the Christmas decoration marathon shop and I'll let you know how it all goes.  Cheerio to my mum who hopefully is loving her new car and reclaimed freedom - for goodness sake, Mum, please drive carefully and don't put any more dings in it!!! lol

Have a good weekend whatever you get up to, lotta love Lu xx