Yummy New Stamps

'Monarch' by Inque Boutique. I could barely resist ordering them on name alone (a little butterfly mad), but once I saw the image and saw the flourishes, dots and words, I really couldn't resist. They arrived yesterday and I used them twice today in one of the Circle Journals I'm currently working on....Yum!

Cookie Recipe

Here's that recipe I promised for those yummy cookies. I actually baked the 2nd batch slightly longer (got tied up doing other things) and they are just as yummy, just way crunchier. As I said in my previous post, the recipe makes 112 cookies. I halved it and got 96 normal size cookies. Let me know if you try them out and what you think.

2 (500 ml) cups butter 24 oz.
(680 g) chocolate chips
4 (1000 ml) cups flour
2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
2 tsp. (10 ml) (Bicarb) soda
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
2 (500 ml) cups sugar
18 oz (500 g) Hershey Bar (grated). (I used Cadbury)
5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs 2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts ( optional )
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, Salt, baking powder, and Bicarb (soda).
Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts.
Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at (180 °C ) 375 degrees.

Wonderful Lazy Day

That's what today was for me. When I got up to make the kids lunches, Mike said, go back to bed, I'll get the kids off to school and come back home and join you. (It has rained for so many days, that he can't get out there and mow lawns, as most peoples grounds are just too soggy and it was raining again today). I thought about all the things I really needed to do today, but I was tired and thought, well another 1/2 hour would be nice, so I finished the lunches and went back to bed.

I woke up at 10.30am. Mike had come home and seen I was fast asleep again and didn't want to wake me, so he went and watched a movie while I slept. I got up, had a leisurely brunch, got dressed, put on a load of washing and then sat and talked with Mike (it's unusual for us to have so much time alone together during the day - it was really nice), even watched a bit ot telly with him (my usual is about 3 hours a week!).

Then we went up to the mall and did some window shopping, a spot of grocery shopping and then it was time to pick up the kids from school. I felt a bit guilty for not having done much, but quickly got over it. Then I came home and made a most scrumptious lasagne for dinner and this batch of cookies. The recipe (which was huge) supposedly made 112 cookies. I halved the recipe and got 96, so they must have made some darn big cookies, cause mine were normal size (like bought ones). Anyway, they're good, so will post the recipe in the next day or so.

ScrapCamp Challenges

Here are the finished pieces from our recent ScrapCamp challenge. Each camper was given a small artists easel, 2 chipboard flowers and a circle tin tag. The only rules were you had to use the tag and at least one of the flowers, plus 1 piece of bling somewhere on your piece.

Done & Dusted

Sorting the office out that is. It's been a long time since the office looked like this. I should have taken a before shot, but basically, you could barely move in there. The desk faced the other way and so was really in the middle of the room. The fold out bed was down and it was full of junk, the desk stacked with piles upon piles of various papers, the floor was home to boxes of supplies, items for trademe, items to give away, Camp stuff, supplier catalogues etc. Now it's lovely being in here. Here is the office as it looks today.

Rock Star in the making?

Having an up and coming Rock Star staying with you (Ashley from Reverence), can have an impact on your kids. Taryn has always been musical and loves to sing and dance and if we ever can't find her, chances are she's hanging out in Ashley's room, but Jayden never really showed any interest until recently. Here's his first real attempt on his guitar. Note his unique way of holding the guitar with his non-strumming hand!

Finally - Book Week Photos

My Little Red Riding Hood - Taryn (yes I actually got her to wear a skirt that day - first time so far this year!) and my Big Bad Wolf - Jayden. The cape was easy and cost me $2.32 to make. The wolf, not so easy and in case my hubby ever finds this blog - let's just say not so cheap! I tried to convince Jayden there were plenty other characters he could go as - but no he was determined damn it all. I didn't have a pattern, so it wasn't a very good fit in the end and the nose was a last minute slap together because DH said he didn't look much like a wolf without a long nose and sharp teeth, so we had to add on! But Jayden loved it and that was what it was all about really.
Heaps of the kids at the school looked amazing, but seeing as they aren't my kids, I did't feel comfortable posting their photos on the web.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks as there has just been so much going on. I'm not usually one to let things get to me, but holy crap has karma been a little bit one-sided lately and I don't know where it's coming from. As you would have read in recent blogs a friend from the camp committee died, then Taryn re-injured her thumb and went into yet another cast.
On top of that, in the past 5 weeks:

• My computer died, taking with it a good chunk of data on it's main hard disk that finally failed 1/2 way through data retrieval.
• My dad's PSA levels (cancer indicator) went up for the first time in 18 months.
• My washing machine broke and won't spin automatically any more. It gets half way through a cycle and stops, then I have to manually go and restart it to spin out the final rinse.
• I got a bad case of the flu which 3 weeks on is still dragging it's heels to leave me completely.
• Having got my new computer up and running, my modem promptly died.
• During Taryn's performance of Grease, whilst I was working back stage on props, one of my back teeth cracked in half.
• Running late for school drop off on Friday, I got to the top of our street to find I had one very flat tyre, with a huge nail sticking out of it - yip, it was pouring with rain.
• In the weekend just gone, dad was taken into hospital with a gallbladder attack and upon investigation they also found he had a hernia. (He was finally operated on today and should be home tomorrow).
• Jayden was playing on the kids computer and don't ask me what he did, but that just wont even turn on any more now!

So as the title says - Enough Already!

Now onto the positive side - I am truly grateful for all the wonderful things that surely must be coming my way to balance out all this karma. Bring it on!

Oh and I have managed to retrieve most of my photo's, so will be posting the book week photos soon.