Kim Archer | Mindful Living

time flies when you're having fun!

of Too much to blog about.

Lots of stuff happening. Such a busy time. trying to get some posts together as I need to record some of the action we have had here over the past two weeks!!!

From Roxy having puppies in the middle of Capri's slumber party, an early Christmas with my family at my parents place, Christmas in Batemans Bay with Ken's family and an abrupt end to my extended family Christmas get together in Sydney on Monday when my dad had a terrible fall and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. (he's doing ok now thankfully)

The days have flown by. We are all tired out. Will share photos and stories very soon.

An afternoon with Heidi

Capri's birthday coincided with Heidi Swapp's visit to Scraploot in Sydney for their grand opening. It was a big deal for me to flit off to Sydney for the afternoon on Capri's birthday but she said that was ok and she didn't mind and we had lots of birthday celebrations before we left PLUS a sleepover party for her the next day!

Janelle and I headed to Sydney at about 1pm.

We managed to get lost trying to find Prospect but arrived with 10 minutes to spare thankfully. We actually even had time to duck into Flower Power which was opposite the scrapbook store and pick up some Christmas bargains marked down by 50%.

The new Scraploot store is great!

Spacious and welcoming and loaded with the latest and greatest in scrapbook products! We were ushered into our seats and we all received a cute little pink and white goody bag.

Heidi came bounding into the room brimming with enthusiasm and energy. She really is charismatic and has a vibrant personality.

We listened to Heidi talk about a book called She (which Maria gave to me for Christmas last year) which has had a huge impact on her and caused a change in direction in her life several years ago. She talked about positivity, gratitude, energy etc and as Janelle and I are up to this point in our lives too..(The Secret, the universe, the law of attraction etc), Heidi's speech did strike a chord with both of us.

Then one lucky attendee was chosen to have their photo scrapped by Heidi - sadly it wasn't either me or Janelle!!!! It was interesting to watch Heidi scrapbook a page for someone else in 30mins!

(photo courtesy of Janelle Wind)

We then had a pink afternoon tea!

(photo courtesy of Janelle Wind)

And then it was meet and greet time.

Heidi generously chatted with each person, posed for photos, signed books and answered questions. She must get SO tired of smiling and chatting and having her photo taken but she took it all in her stride!!!

We were also fortunate to meet Chanel who, along with Heidi have been busy bees organising and running the Brisbane and Melbourne Create '08 conventions over the past week.

Chanel was lovely!! no photos though:(( I enjoyed our conversation and getting to know her better and could have stood there all night chatting away!

Heidi had very generously invited me to attend the Brisbane Create '08 which was very exciting. And for a while there it looked like I was going to get to go. But sadly it wasn't to be and I couldn't make the trip to Brisbane which was such a shame.

BUT Chanel and Heidi VERY, very, very generously gave me the class kits anyway which was fabulous!!!! Chanel presented me with the gorgeous silver tote bag packed to the brim with Heidi goodies!!!!!!!! I can't WAIT to dig in and start creating during the Christmas break!!

It was nice to catch up again with Heidi - we first met a number of years ago when we were teaching in Melbourne and we have had emails back and forth over the years and of course she has her own little Capri now too.

And Janelle's brainwave was to get Heidi to sign the 18th page in my December Daily Christmas album which I had with me to show Janelle on the trip down..

So now I have TWO pages completed plus some journaling for the 18th in my December Daily album.. And yes, I am very behind with my photos/pages but i have good intentions of catching up soon!

I also got to meet up with the lovely Alison and Belinda..

and lastly, Heidi signed a gorgeous clock and ceremoniously hung it on the Scraploot Heidi Wall!

and Janelle and I drove home again! BIG day. Both tired out but happy

Happy Birthday to Capri

Capri turned 10 on the 18 December. Double digits. Finally. She's been counting down for months.

She appeared by our bedside at 7am. Very excited. Unfortunately, that excitement wasn't at the same level for the boys and it was hard work getting them out of bed and into the family room.

Capri waited patiently.

and waited

and let's play a game while we're waiting..hold up ten fingers..[great enthusiasm here]

oh come on already! Where are the boys!

Finally..the boys appeared...and the present opening ceremony began.

very excited to receive one of these!

She also received some clothes, a Nintendogs game, accessory pack for the DS and some charms and a bracelet - a cheap Pandora kids one which broke within 5 minutes of trying to put it on! So that was a hit.

Mum and Dad arrived for breakfast and more gift giving. The gold hoop ear rings were a major success!! She loved them.

Plus she got loads of other gorgeous presents off Mum and Dad. Happy birthday to our little poppet!

She's a good kid this one!

Last day of school

So I have a LOT to catch up on..be ready for a flood of posts...mostly family stuff! Firstly, let me rewind to last week..

Last Wednesday (17 December) marked the last day of the school year for both Jamison and Capri.

Jamison had a 2 hour end of year awards presentation and then he was all finished! So we were outta there by 11am. Ken and I took him to Garden City for a Gloria Jeans and we had a little browse around - much to Jamison's horror. He hates shopping.

He was awarded a Year 7 Coordinator's Award which is an award given to those students who gain 5 or more "blue slips" throughout the term for any number of things - top 10% of the class for an exam, a caring positive attitude, working well in class etc etc.

Very exciting. No photos. I didn't dare raise the camera when his name was announced and he walked across the stage! He was embarrassed enough as it was! he doesn't like the limelight at all.

And Capri has finished Year 4 and heads into Year 5 next year. She got the most beautiful report from her teacher Miss Howard. [Capri's also had a HUGE amount of hair cut off! So much easier to brush now and it looks lovely.]

Miss Howard's comments were wonderful and her results were excellent. Miss Howard has sadly left the school to take up a permanent position at another school and its a HUGE shame that we have lost such a vibrant, energetic and inspiring teacher.

Capri chose a cute little Santa Bear and some chocolates to give to Miss Howard for Christmas..and we also wrapped up a Dusk candle for Mrs Fren and I whipped up a mini gift bag with a felt flower on the front as we always like to give Mrs Fren something special!

All last minute - but whats new with me lately!

Miss Howard wrote a lovely message on Capri's Christmas card which was just beautiful.

I reopened the envelope to add my own message to Capri's card for Miss Howard and read what Capri had written, "Please don't leave Miss Howard. I will miss you and cry a river when you go."

Brandt also got his HSC results.

Now, I know there were LOADS of keen teens up at 6am logging onto the site to check their results all over NSW!

But where was Brandt?

Oh he was still in bed. I HAD to wake him up and say, are you checking these results or not! Hurry up and get up! He finally dragged himself out of bed at 8.30am to check them and we were SHOCKED that he got such great results. 

This is a kid who has cruised along for far too many months. It's been a horrible time here the last 6 months. Ken and I have had many arguments with him over his committment to school life. He juggled his part time Pizza Hut job, school and for him, most importantly, his social life over this past few years of 11 and 12. He did knuckle down the last part of the year.

And he did good!

And now the BIG decision of what will he do. Not sure yet! He has Pizza Hut for now and we will start exploring some options after Christmas.

Happy birthday Capri

Happy 10th birthday to our little possum Capri!! Double digits. Yippee. Here's our happy birthday girl with her godfather Rob.

Proper post and more photos tomorrow. It's been a BIG day and I am tired out..more tomorrow..

Days 1 & 2

I have actually completed a couple of pages in my 25 Days album..

Here's my first page before photos.

and here it is with the first lot of photos added.

Day Two without photos..

and with some journaling added in..

and Day Two's photo.

thanks for looking:)

Tree Garland

I've been searching for a tree garland for ages for our Christmas tree. I didn't want the usual tinsel but hadn't found anything I liked until I saw this gorgeous pom pom garland on Mel G's blog!!!

and I knew that was exactly what I was wanting to add to our tree.

So I ordered in some pom pom balls and used everyday kitchen string/twine I found at Coles and threaded the string through each pom pom using a large darning needle. Easy!

Anyone for shopping?

I've done some pretty silly things when it comes to a shopping over the years.

I've lined up with the best of them to grab a bargain. I've risen early and rushed to the after Christmas Sales with Mum, both bleary eyed and wondering WHY are we doing this year after year. I've grabbed things I don't need but BOY what a bargain! I've jostled crowds, been irritated by ruthless shoppers who steal things right from under my nose and I've shopped 'til I've dropped.

I've been that last minute shopper, at the shops on Christmas Eve STILL searching for that last minute gift. I've been known to buy the kid's friends' birthday presents ON THE WAY TO THE PARTY and wrap it in the car while they write on the card. And I've spent an entire day trudging around the shops for Christmas presents and come home with one thing, or worse still, come home empty handed.

But yesterday took the cake.

Yesterday, on Brandt's urging, we got up at 7am (when I REALLY needed a sleep in) and we arrived for the grand opening of CITY BEACH SURF SHOP at Charlestown Square for the supposedly fantastic opening early bird sale items!

Oh how I wished I had have had a camera yesterday morning at 8.10am. Not so I could take a photo of the gazillion other silly people lining up for their turn to enter the shop. But to take a photo of MY FACE as we came through Myer and sighted the line of people, waiting patiently right back to Just Jeans.

The surf shop was already open but being a small premises couldn't fit everyone in. So they would only let a group of people in at a time. Mind you it was a LARGE group and once inside the shop they were squished like sardines which hardly looked like fun.

We obediently joined the end of the line.

I was still half asleep I think as I just followed along like a little sheep in a daze. Thinking, are we crazy?

"The line's moving quickly..we'll get in soon," Brandt told me. "and we need a plan of attack. You go one way, I'll go the other and we'll grab whatever we can."

"Um, and whos paying for all this?" I asked him. "Why are we here again!"

I mentally ticked off who I still had to buy for..maybe I could get Jason something extra - I had $15 left to spend on him. And something for Ken. And something for Brandt and an extra little thing for Jake...

"And I want some Globe shoes," Capri told me. "They're only $30."

And suddenly I had a little list building in my head as we waited and waited and waited for our turn. Perhaps I could actually finish my Christmas shopping here at the Surf Sale I naively told myself.

TWENTY FIVE MINUTES LATER they herded us into the holding dock with a group of about 25 others with the rest of the waiting line still stretched out of sight and back toward Just Jeans!

I grabbed Capri's hand and told her not to let go.

And then we were off and racing.

"Off you go," said the young surfy looking kid who seemed to be running the show. And we were in.

With dozens of others. It was absolutely, utterly and ridiculously crazy. Anything on sale had a red balloon attached the the rack. You had NO choice but to be swept with the crowd. No time for browsing. No time to search for the right size. No time to compare or check prices. No time to think, do I REALLY NEED these size 11 Billabong thongs marked down to $8.

Brandt's advice to grab what you could was pretty much how things panned out. We lost Brandt as he was swept away in another direction. Thankfully I could ring his mobile to locate him.

He'd found some boardies in his size. I marvelled that he could find anything in this crowd. And I added them to the size 11 thongs I had secured as we had entered the shop.

After a few minutes and happy with my few things I had I decided it was ridiculous and we had to GET OUTTA THERE. Especially as Capri was too short and being pushed, knocked, hit in the head with coat hangers and couldn't breathe amongst the crowd.

But getting out again was worse than waiting to get in.

I cannot fault the staff of the shop. They did everything they possibly could to organise what was an oversized crowd of crazy shoppers. They had many helpers. Clearly marked racks and the staff all wore hot pink shirts so they were easily identifiable. They were all most helpful.

But the crowds inside the shop were just too big. And once in, it was hard to get out again. I have never pushed through and apologised to so many people before in my life. So many people were lovely and nice and kind. And others were not.

The checkout line snaked its way from the front door, around several racks and finally to the front counter in the middle of the shop. They had a young girl whose sole job it was to hold a white balloon to mark the start of the checkout line. BUT as the checkout line weaved its way right bang, smack in the middle of the sale racks, many people were also trying to look through the racks at the same time. Which was just chaos.

And browsing people and checkout line people got all mixed up.

There was a lady in a crocheted top in front. I just kept my eye on her. And I heard the lady behind me say to her daughter to follow me. So we were going along ok.

Brandt was waiting outside by this stage. It took about 25 minutes to get served. Almost there and a browsing man pushed into the checkout line RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. He was older. And big. And I was reluctant to argue or say anything as I couldn't make a fast getaway!

So I remained silent.

Browsing, pushing in man had an equally pushy wife who suddenly appeared and planted herself in front of me.

Unfair.

Staff were handing out bottles of water to the crowds. Pushy man and his woman grabbed bottles. Capri missed out. I decided we weren't a very pushy family really. And we were far too polite.

FINALLY, the checkout was in sight.

And it was almost our turn. And yep, you guess it..another pusher-innerer. This time a lady. She had been looking at boxes of shoes right near the checkout and she swung around with her boxes and looked at me and looked at the checkout girl who was calling next please...

She said meekly, "well, I'm not actually supposed to be here...." as if to say, take pity on me and please serve me.....

And remembering browsing pushing man and his wife and the fact that we had been pushed and shoved for 20minutes, and Capri had missed out on a water bottle and the fact we are TOO POLITE I said,

"Yep, that's right. You AREN'T SUPPOSED to be here. I'm sorry, but we've been standing here for 25minutes and you have to find the girl with the white balloon waaaay back at the front of the shop and line up like the rest of us..."

And she did.

So what did I buy? A whole lot of nothing really. A couple of presents but was it worth the effort for the saving I got? Not really. Did I find myself stuck in a situation I should have avoided? Yep. Will I do it again? I hope not.

Capri got these.

It was her reward for her patience and for being a trouper! $4.95 clip in coloured fake plaits. What every girl needs.

And no, they weren't even on sale.

Bath Tea Bags - a quick gift idea

Remember these? Those who did my Christmas Spectacular last year would recognise these little creations of loveliness!

Little teabags, filled with oats, lavender buds, milk powder and essential or fragrant oils. Heat seal with an iron on medium heat to seal the bags, dangle a decorated tag from a string and staple together.

Easy idea. Fun project. Package up a selection of decorated bath tea bags for a cute stocking stuffer.

Buy the bath tea bags here.

25 days of Christmas

Yes, well I had a rush of adrenalin on the weekend and decided, after much prompting from Janelle, to jump on the 25 Days Of Christmas album bandwagon.

I must admit I enjoyed pulling out all sorts of bits and pieces and making an album without having to think, plan, photograph steps or write instructions.

And it's a big sucker! Waiting patiently to be filled up with photos.

Oh, there's no photos at all in there yet but I have printed my first lot of photos out, so thats a good thing!! Hopefully I will have some finished pages to share very soon.