A TOUGH WEEK

it's been a tough week for our family, our school community and our community as a whole.
last week, as a direct result of bullying that was occurring at school and out of school, a young man from jake's school took his own life.

i just knew as i saw jake walking up the drive last friday afternoon that something terrible was wrong. his shoulders were hunched over and he had such a look of despair on his face.
when he reached the bottom of the stairs he just lifted his head and looked into my eyes and shook his head.

we sat and talked about what had happened - at that point he didn't know many of the details. he was confused and sad and lost and just wanted to know why.
jake didn't know the young man personally as a friend but they had crossed paths at school, as they both had a love of soccer and music.

so again our school community has been plunged into the terrible abyss of grief and anger and counsellors being on hand for the staff and students.
again we are forced to think of the parents and family of this young man, who felt so alone and so desperate that he saw taking his own life, as the only answer to his problems.

as parents, mark and i are again on the lookout for "the signs" that we are all too familiar with, in our own children that they are not coping with some aspect of their lives and can only see one way out of a situation they find themselves in.
is the fact they prefer to be in their room alone, just typical teenage behaviour or is there something more sinister to their behaviour...???
should they be listening to the music that they do...???
are they hanging around with the "right" people...???

this week we have held our children a little tighter when we have hugged them goodbye; taken the time to sit with them and talk about what they did at school/work; listened to what they have had to say, even when we were pushed for time ourselves; told them we loved them probably an embarrassing number of times; sat beside their beds and watched them sleep, praying that they know how much we love them and are always there for them.

please spare a thought for the family and friends of this young man.
he was laid to rest today.
they now have to move forward through the rest of their Life's journey without their son/brother/grandson/friend.

remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
and PLEASE
~~ let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

shazz xo

LAYOUTS TO SHARE

just a quick post to upload some LOs.
the first is from the Stick and Giggle retreat run by the gorgeous jody up at Mt Tamborine a few weeks back. i was unable to go for the whole weekend but managed a surprise visit up there on the saturday -it was so nice to catch up with old friends and to meet so many lovely new ladies.
this LO is from a class that the gorgeous and VERY PATIENT jolene pienaar ran.
i just love jolene's style and i am thrilled with the way it turned out, even after linda and i sent jolene into a bit of a spin by telling her that we only scrapped in the smaller 8.5 x 11 size.

this photo of kait was taken at louise and chris's wedding back in 2003.
she had been such a good girl all day but by the time the photographer snapped this little gem i think kait was just about over being the cute little flower girl.

the second LO today is one for the scrap lounge CC last friday.
the challenge was set by my gorgeous pal, jodi
a.k.a. "the lounge hog"
LOL
the criteria was as follows.......
-> our patterned paper must be scraps - no NEW sheets
-> a border made from non-scrapping supplies or something recycled
-> a mixed FONT title, I want to see at LEAST 3 different types of alpha's in your titles girls - use up those letters.............
AND - because we are celebrating our FIRST CC as your Creative Team;
the topic of your LO should be about a "first" of some description

and here is my LO for the challenge

this was jakey on his very first day of preschool.
he was so chuffed to be heading off to preschool with all his "new" things including his ninja turtle sleeping bag and sheets.
he was such a little cutie-pie, don't you think...???
i used glad wrap in the bottom RH corner as my "recycled" object.
it was a fun LO to do but i am still unsure as to whether i like it or not.

my CT pack for august arrived today - FINALLY !!!!
rondelle and i were just about thinking that it had disappeared into an Aussie Post black hole.
the goodies within are lovely and i should be creating with them in the next few days.

anyways....that's it for today.
remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

shazz xo

FIRST CYBERCROP AT "THE LOUNGE"

this weekend was the first cybercrop for the new CT at "the lounge"
jody, jodi, jo and i had lots of fun (and lots of nerves) setting the challenges and making a few changes to try and drum up a bit of interest over at "the lounge" and for our sponsor for this month "scrapbook savvy"
go and check out their new range of rose moka papers - SERIOUS drool material.

my challenge for the CC was to create a LO using only the three colours on the Scrapbook Savvy online store banner (pink, green and white) + you had to use double letters in your title because the "double V" in the word "savvy" tickled my funny bone
(hey.....i know i'm weird)
here is my LO......

isn't she just the most beautiful little person....???
i have scrapped this photo of kait a few times and probably will again.

and you can find the other GORGEOUS LOs that the girls have uploaded here in "the lounge" gallery.

we also introduced a new CC challenge "challenge the CT" - and boy.....did those girls ever challenge us.....!!!
we had to scrap a LO using the following criteria:
-> Non - person LO, NO people allowed in photos
-> LO must REVEAL something about YOURSELF
-> Only use cream, brown and white
-> LO must include CIRCLES

here is what i came up with.......

these are my most favourite pair of boots in the whole world. i have had them just over 17 years and it will be a very sad day indeed when they finally wear out. they are SO comfortable. i guess this LO reveals that i like things to be comfortable and that i am not a trend-setter - i don't need the latest fashions - just give me comfy any day.

you will be able to see what the other girls have done if you take a peek here
(although they may need a bit more time to upload their LOs)

other weekend news includes soccer wins for jake and kait
YAY GUYS !!!!!
jake's win puts stars up into 4th position on the table which is amazing when you think they started the season on minus 9 points as punishment for the indiscretions at the grand final last year.
those young men, and our club overall can hold their heads up with total pride in the way they have conducted themselves this season.
the whole soccer community wrote us off as a club saying what a pack of losers we were but those boys have played the season with utter class and dignity despite officials and other clubs and their players and fans totally rubbishing us and our club throughout the season.
i am so proud of all the boys and their coaches, trainers and the club officialdom that has developed such a great code of conduct that we can all live with.
other clubs in this area would do well to look at our club and the way that our club has conducted itself throughout this season.

and miss kait's team of little under 12 girls won their second game this morning and kaity scored the winning goal
YAY KAIT !!!!!
pity i just looked the other way as she scored it - isn't that always the way.....LOL

anyways....a few more challenges to get done for the CC and dinner to get started.
i hope you have had a wonderful weekend - the weather here has been just GORGEOUS this past weekend (good for drying the clothes)
hoping that the week ahead is a great one for you.

remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

shazz xo

THIS DAY...

comes around every year.

it's not that a thought of you doesn't cross my mind almost every day but on THIS DAY, every year, i can only remember the horror of that late night phone call; the anguish in your dad's voice; the utter devastation that your mum felt; the utter helplessness that we felt; the anger at the injustice of it all; the tears; the sorrow; and the heart-wrenching realisation that we would never see your beautiful smiling face here on this earth again.

so many vivid memories of those dark days - so many more that i am sure my mind won't allow me to remember.

but more and more the memories of the horror of that night are being replaced by gentler memories of your smiles and laughter that we shared; of the times our families spent together and of the precious gift that you were to us all.

i will see your mum and dad today - there will be tears and lots of them, hugs, memories shared and the renewing of that part of our friendship that we share, that i would never wish on anyone.

this is my favourite photo of you....

it shows me the steely determination that was so much a part of you, whether you were out on the track or just living your life;
it shows me those beautiful eyes - focused and ready to race - ready to beat the boys (and you usually did);
i know under that helmet there would have been carefully applied make-up - not too much but just enough to enhance your beautiful features;
i don't know what colour your hair would have been - it was always a surprise and a bit of a guess what colour you would have dyed it each time we saw you.
yep......i love this photo of you.

this day i will cry an ocean of tears and my heart will break.
i will hold my children a little closer and a little longer and i will try to see the good and the beautiful things around me.

remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

today i dedicate this sign off to you sweet girl...
for making us smile;
for the love that you shared;
and for reminding us all to "LIVE OUT LOUD"

rest in peace Kristy Lee.
we love you precious girl.

shazz xo

DO YOU.....

...remember your first love...???

my first love's name was alan and he rode a dragster and i fell in love with him when i was 11, when he cooked marshmallows for me at a school camp.
i never kissed him or went out on a date with him but i can remember that he let me go ahead of him in "lines" at school and bought me a toffee and chocolate crackle at the school fete.

ahhhhhh....the innocence of your "first love".

tell me about your "first love"

have a most amazing day and remember...
always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

GREAT EXCITEMENT

it started with this request.
and ended up with this response.

thanks to my fellow CTer and all round gorgeous friend, jodi i am now the proud owner of this little beauty - something i have wanted for ages and haven't been able to find at the poorly stocked op shops around here or at any garage sales
(i'll probably see heaps of them around now)
and i haven't wanted to go down the whole ebay track.

so this weekend my new "baby" will be winging his way up here with jodi when she attends the stick and giggle scrapping retreat at mt tambourine
(don't start me again on why i'm not gonna be there too - BOO HOO HOO)
and the equally lovely linda will be baby-sitting for me until i can get up to her place to pick it up.

it's cold, wet and drizzly weather here today so i guess we won't be getting our firewood as planned but might be a good day to start to get this house tidied up - i am sick of living in clutter and i am sure that if the house was tidy and in some kind of order my creativity would flow a bit better.

hoping to have some more scrapping to share later today.

remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

shazz xo

p.s let me just say how stoked i am to see my lovely friend sharon scrapping again and sharing her work with us.
do yourself a favour and check out her blog - i promise you won't be disappointed.

TA TA !!!!!

SCRAPPING SHARING

firstly, a very happy 20th birthday to our first born son, matty for last thursday. how can mark and i POSSIBLY be the parents of a 20 year old....??? he had the week off work and as a gift to him we bought tickets for jakey and kait so they could go with matt to dreamworld - he has wanted to take them in his "big brother" role for ages and mark and i finally agreed. he took another friend, hayley too and by all accounts they had a great day.
i just hope and pray that matt finds his feet soon and some direction in his life. he struggles so hard at times, with just day-to-day living and finding his way through this world.
but we love you darling boy....you were my first born and will always hold a very special place in my heart.

well the CT over at the scrap lounge are well and truly into the first month of our assignments. it has been SO exciting bouncing ideas off each other and seeing some of those ideas come into fruition. of course we are all on a pretty steep learning curve but it is fun being part of such a great team of gorgeous and supportive girls.

our pack sponsors for the month are MiJeMoo and CraftQueen and you can find our creations using their products here
i'll post my creations on my blog in case you couldn't be bothered to chase the links.....LOL

our good friends doing their "famous couple" impression.....love this pic.

my baby girl seconds from disaster. makes me ill thinking about what happened seconds after this photo was taken. thank goodness the damage doesn't appear to have been permanent. doesn't make the guilt any less though.

love making these organza ribbon flowers....and of course some french knots.

we have all come up with a great selection of challenges for our first month so head on over to the lounge and have a look and maybe take up a challenge or two.
Monthly Challenge Comp
Monthly Sketch Challenge - sketch by the gorgeous jody
Monthly OTP Comp
some great prizes on offer - you have to be in it to win it.

we have madly been planning our first CC, happening on the weekend of july 18 so make sure you come on over and see what we have come up with.

the gorgeous jodi has come up with a great concept.
come over and spend 5 minutes on the lounge with scrappers from australia and overseas....there are some BIG names coming over to have a sit on the lounge in coming weeks - stay tuned *WINK*
this week's lounge guest is the very talented jolene pienaar.
jolene is teaching a class at the Stick and Giggle retreat up on Mt Tambourine this coming weekend and i am SO upset that i won't be there to take the class or to catch up with all my gorgeous friends
*SIGH*

i am planning to re-vamp my blog in the next few weeks.....i have had this same template for ever and i feel it is time for a re-vamp.
so stay tuned.

hope that those of you on holidays are having a great time hanging out with your kids. i LOVE school holidays - sleep-ins, no rushing about to get kids to school on time and a much more relaxed way of life for a few weeks.

remember to always to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~

shazz xo