tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11140716412751626102024-03-06T07:29:46.890+13:00Inside The Scrap HeapThere is a fine line between Hobby and Mental IllnessTracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.comBlogger502125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-12721230242427044382017-03-05T22:34:00.000+13:002017-03-05T22:34:21.241+13:00Fashion and Make-up - Venting PostI have never been interested in fashion or makeup. Even in my teens-twenties when I was doing the clubbing/dancing/dating scene I only ever wore lipstick and mascara and only worn what I loved and felt comfortable in. I've never paid much attention to anything involving fashion or makeup and I certainly haven't ever followed any trends or paid much attention to what was the 'thing' of the moment. And I've been fine with all that, until my daughter started growing up.<br />
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Today The Man and I were bored and were watching YouTube videos. It's crazy how you can start watching "true facts about the sloth" and end up with "celebrities who look unrecognisable without their makeup". I was absolutely appalled at the narrator's comments on this video. Actresses who were caught out doing their shopping or taking their dogs for walks without makeup and the comments went along the lines of "look at those wrinkles and crows feet" "gosh she really looks her age" "Gosh she's certainly let herself go"<br />
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Let Herself Go<br />
What does that mean? That when women don't wear makeup they are ugly? That our natural faces are hideous? That getting wrinkles and looking the age you are is a terrible terrible thing? No wonder we have so many women with terrible self esteem issues. We are basically told we are ugly and have to cover ourselves up everyday. I am disgusted in the expectations of women in society. Who the bloody hell came up with the idea that a woman has to cover up her face with makeup to become beautiful? Why do we need to change our appearance to walk out into the world? I think it's really sad that I have known people who can not leave the house without putting their face on. What has society done to us to make us feel we have to cover our natural faces with paint?<br />
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I do not ever want my girl to grow up feeling like if she doesn't cover up her face and wear the right clothes she won't be accepted, she isn't good enough, pretty enough, cool enough. My daughter has a beautiful face, she has these gorgeous dimples which just make me smile, her freckles across the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks are super adorable and her sparkling blue eyes shine. It would be a crime to put anything over her gorgeous face. However, my daughter is NOT like me. She cares about fashion (her own style anyway!), she wants to wear makeup, she loves jewelry. And I am happy with that, I don't have an issue with it, but I don't want her to feel like she HAS to be fashionable and wear makeup and jewelry to be accepted.<br />
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My daughter loves shorts, short shorts. And lately I have been watching her legs seem to get longer and longer and she is starting to look like a young lady instead of a little girl. The Man and I had an interesting conversation the other week and I am completely conflicted.<br />
I said to him "those shorts are pretty short, when does it become inappropriate for her to wear such short shorts?"<br />
And this made me think Heck, what did I just say?<br />
I want my daughter to be her own person. I want her to wear the clothes that make her feel good, confident and comfortable. She loves shorts. She's happy in shorts. She's really sporty and physical so shorts are comfortable when she is running, swinging and climbing trees, but here's the conflict. There are many males out there that see a female as a sexual object, especially judged by what they wear. So I am incredibly conflicted by both wanting my daughter to be able to be herself as well as trying to protect my daughter from the perverts out there who seem to think because a girl is wearing clothes that don't cover up all their skin that they can use her for their own pleasure. So what do I do?!?!<br />
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I've never been more confused, and terrified as the thought of having to negotiate the upcoming stages my kids are going to go through. It gets so so much harder the older they get! And not just for girls either, but that's another blog post!<br />
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So what do I do?<br />
I guess I teach my daughter to appreciate her natural beauty, to be confident within her self and to not care about what others think and do what makes her happy. As for my son I teach him to respect women and not treat them as objects and to appreciate them as they are. And I guess I hope for the best that more parents are teaching their kids the same things.<br />
Gosh just when you think you've got the hang of the parenting thing nature throws in another curve ball called puberty!!<br />
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So what do you do? I'd love to have any advice or feedback!<br />
Otherwise thanks for reading my little vent!<br />
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<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-80028443698893785652017-02-26T18:20:00.000+13:002017-02-27T08:39:58.068+13:00Sub Categories and Linkies<br />
So here I am ready to start my first new official blog post and I don't know where to begin!! I have sooo many ideas for topics and they are racing around in my head!<br />
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<img alt=" image from Awesome-Kathi @ Deviant Art" border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvi_q187eUL1hqJGhYPkgtaQpOT8BxU0QZlO3YEoQr9YfLEIpYIbo-AB_semehyphenhyphen39bszS16SqGayELOVXOc3fAAGKrZ7d-ZqAABPEwmf_5XWAESuaLwa_zwuIVvbXVhAs1OZIZ9NwqB5zS/s400/to_many_thoughts_by_awesome_kathi-d5yqsj7.png" width="400" /><a href="http://awesome-kathi.deviantart.com/">Image By Awesome-Kathi @ Deviant Art</a></div>
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So I was thinking that until I catch up I'll break it down into 5 categories and then I thought hey why not start up some crazy linkies and then I can find out who does what I do and I can start following their blogs too! So although I know this is going to start off slow I am going to start up some weekly blog posts and linkies.<br />
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1: Pimp My House<br />
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This is where I am going to be telling you about all the house renovations/decor I have done/doing/going to do! And OMGoodness I absolutely want to see what you guys are doing because I NEED all the ideas and tips I can get, maybe we can all help each other, start a support group called "I can't stop renovating my house"<br />
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2: I {Heart} Being a Mum<br />
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I am, like a million other mothers out there, overwhelmed with my job as a mother. I sometimes suck and I make major mistakes and I have regrets, but without a doubt I love my kids unconditionally. They are my whole world. This is where I'll talk about my kids and my life as a mother who juggles 500 hats just like every other mother I know. I'm not perfect but I am a FANTASTIC mother to my kids. Yep and I want you to all feel the same way about yourselves so this is where I want YOU to celebrate how awesome YOU are as a mother too!<br />
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3: Heading Off The Grid<br />
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I have future plans of living in the middle of nowhere as self-sufficiently as possible only doing the things I love and the things I need to live. I am becoming more passionate in wanting a cleaner life for me and my family. I want to share my journey with you in this dream. If you are living this lifestyle or trying to I absolutely want to know about it all!!! I'm new at this and I absolutely want to learn as much as I can. I also really want to start being so much more environmentally friendly and start trying harder to make my families Eco Footprint much much smaller.<br />
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4: Crafting Keeps Me Sane<br />
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I started this blog as a craft blog, it has evolved into more than I could have imagined, but I am still a passionate crafter. So please as I share mine I want to see yours too! Any kind of crafting counts I don't mind, I just love seeing people making things with their own hands!!<br />
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5: Free to be Me<br />
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Life has changed for me a lot over the last 6 years and I have changed in many ways, I've made life choices that were great and some not so much, I have experienced a whole lot of new challenges and obstacles that I have worked my way through. I have grown and I feel like I'm in a good place in my life right now. This is where I will share my life journey in finding out who I am as a person, take away the mother label and who am I? Lets find out together!! And please share with me who you are too!<br />
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I'm really looking forward to getting back in the blogging world and sharing and learning with the blogging community again.<br />
Please if you stop by make a comment, even if it's only a 'HI' I'd love to be able to repay the visit and get to know you too, if you have blogs or otherwise.<br />
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So thanks for coming along for the ride!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-87783986544593599572017-02-25T21:05:00.000+13:002017-02-25T21:05:15.214+13:00Hello<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a really really long time. I'm sorry about that. A lot has happened in my life since I've been absent. Children, kids, love, work, home, thoughts feelings etc etc. I've been thinking a lot lately about wanting to write again, wanting to share my thoughts and experience again, basically I wanted to join in the blogging world again.<br />
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Instead of doing what I had originally planned, which was a massive makeover and a big welcome back post, I thought I'd just ease back into it, slowly make changes and write a few little posts to start me off. Fingers crossed even though I've been away for so long I still might have some people who want to read what I write and see the messy inside of my scrap heap!!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-2008543504981682482015-12-15T13:35:00.001+13:002015-12-15T13:35:36.207+13:00"That" KidIt is that time of year where all the Facebook posts are of how amazing all my friends children did at school, how proud they are of the amazing school reports and their achievements during the year.<br />
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I have a child like that too, Abbey came home with an amazing school report, one that any parent would be proud of and amazing grades and many achievements.<br />
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But I don't share.<br />
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Why don't I share?<br />
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I have two children. One that gets amazing grades and one that doesn't. One that does great at school and one that doesn't. One that has lots of friends and gets invited over to peoples houses and one that doesn't.<br />
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I don't tend to want to rave about one of my children and not the other.<br />
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I have had a "feeling" about my son ever since he was quite little. I'm an Early Childcare Teacher, I know kids, I know what they are supposed to do developmental wise. So maybe I should have acted upon this "feeling" long before now, but the thing is no one ever wants to admit that there is something "wrong" with their child.<br />
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At the beginning of this term I had to make a very difficult decision, one that I haven't widely talked about but I thought it was time to talk about it, time to open up as I have about so many difficult times in my life. I need to write about it because writing helps me process things in my mind.<br />
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This term I made the decision to keep Riley back a year at school. He was supposed to be going to Intermediate School next year and the thought terrified me. How can I send my son to Intermediate? He will be eaten alive. He will drown. Let me explain my son to you all.<br />
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I have a sneaky suspicion that Riley has a form of Autism. I have wondered this for a really long time. So far it hasn't been a massive thing. He hates loud noises, he hasn't really got any close friends, he obsesses over schedules, hates surprises or sudden changes. His behavior is up and down. He sulks, won't talk to you and throws tantrums even though he is now 10! We went through mental health and they put his behavior down to post traumatic stress from the death of his Dad. He had counselling and things seemed to start getting better but once the counselling ended so did the progress. His grades have fallen, his behavior isn't the greatest again, things seem to be taking a nose dive for him. So back to mental health again, more assessments and at a terrible time of the year to try and get anything done.<br />
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I am scared for my son. No one wants their kid to be "that" kid, but my kid is. My kid is the one who is going to get picked on and bullied because he is different. My kid is going to get teased because he can't control his emotions.My kid is going to be ridiculed because of his irrational fears and insecurities. My kid is going to get eaten alive by the "normal" kids because kids are incredibly cruel. And it breaks my heart.<br />
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I love my son with my everything, I feel like I have failed him as a parent. I feel like I should have done more, been more involved in his schooling, talked to his teacher more often, taking more notice and done more for him. I feel like I have let him down.<br />
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I don't know if Riley is autistic. He might just be a weird kid. He might just be a little terd who doesn't want to do what he is told. My mothers instinct is telling me otherwise. His grades for his effort were all A and B which tells me he is trying but not understanding. And over the last year I have seen some massive positive changes in him. But he still isn't ready to be put in an Intermediate school environment. The thing that scares me most is what if even after this extra year, where I am planning to be on his toes the whole year, what if he still isn't ready? What do I do then?<br />
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It's so difficult having one kid who has problems and one who is the complete opposite. I want to shout out and praise my daughter and share all her achievements but I don't want to look like I have favorites. I love my kids the same, they are my whole world. It's just that one is a breeze to parent and the other is a nightmare.<br />
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So now I fill in lots of forms and then wait until the new year for another appointment with mental health to assess my son. I cry a lot about it and I pray that this coming year will be the year that he might shine and achieve what he needs and wants. I hope that I can make the changes to help him be successful.<br />
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Watch this space for more information and wish me luck!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-6259683936990629012015-01-29T17:02:00.000+13:002015-01-29T17:02:14.801+13:00The Ultimate SearchI have been doing a lot of soul searching over the last few weeks. Contemplating life and what it means.<br />
There are massive questions about God and what happens to us after we die etc etc etc, But I am not talking about that kind of meaning of life. (You can read about my feelings about that <a href="http://www.tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/happy-easter.html">HERE</a>)<br />
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What I am talking about is Love.<br />
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Why are we here?<br />
I believe we are here because of love.<br />
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Without love what are we?<br />
Love creates life.<br />
Love turns people into new people.<br />
Love makes people Happy, Sad, Angry, Desperate.<br />
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Why when love can be SO painful do we continue to crave it?<br />
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I have been in love. I know how AMAZING it can be. When you have real love, love where the other person loves you as much as you love them, it is the most beautiful and amazing thing in the world.<br />
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Love isn't just between a man and a woman.<br />
I love my children unconditionally. They are my world. They in turn love me unconditionally.<br />
If only we could all love the way children do, it would be a much better place to live in.<br />
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Everything is geared up with love as a focus. TV, Movies, Songs, Books - pretty much ALL based around a love story. We are absolutely swamped with it, and I guess that is why we become so obsessed with it.<br />
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Girls give away their bodies searching, boys do stupid things to try to impress while searching. We feel incomplete without a relationship. But at what cost? How many people settle for less just because they are too afraid to be alone?<br />
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Why do I feel like I am a slave to love. I am desperate to find someone to share my life with, but why?<br />
Am I afraid to be alone?<br />
Why do I feel like I need a partner to complete me?<br />
Is it because Jason left such a gaping hole in my life I am trying to fill it?<br />
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I think it is because I knew true, amazing, pure love and I know how spectacular that is. I desperately want that feeling in my life again. That feeling of happiness, security, stability, bliss.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, Jason was by far not perfect, and neither was our relationship. We saw each others imperfections but loved each other anyway. We worked through our issues and came to compromises and conclusions rather than giving up at the first sign of trouble. That is what real love should be like. Hold no grudges, work through issues, forget about the past.<br />
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The thing is though, we are never going to find love when and how we want to. Love is not going to solve all our problems or make us happy. Love is not going to fix our problems or get us a better job.<br />
The truth is no one else can make you happy. No one else can make changes in your life to make your life better. Love can certainly enhance your life but not fix it.<br />
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The only person who can make you happy is YOU. Unless you love yourself and are happy within yourself you can't make the changes you need to make your life better for you then no one else is going to be able to help you.<br />
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I've taken the last almost 5yrs to get to know the unmarried me. It took me 4yrs to be ready to even begin to look for a new relationship. I have learnt a lot over the last year of dating. I have been knocked down a couple times but I have come back stronger and wiser and more ready than ever.<br />I know what I want, Now the tick is to find him!!!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-70544882614409235732015-01-07T12:08:00.000+13:002015-01-07T12:08:06.943+13:00BetrayalI have been in a few relationships since I was a teenager, there were a few before Jason and have now been a few after. I don't regret dating any of them, except one.<br />
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I have learnt some very valuable lessons over the last few months about trust, honesty, deceit and betrayal.<br />
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I come from a good family, a great family in fact. I am a little innocent and naive when it comes to many different "bad" things in this world. So when I met this person who came from a completely different world to me I had no idea what to expect. And once I found out about this world it was too late to back out, I was already too emotionally invested. The saddest thing was I found out about the world but he insisted it was all in the past. I am not sure why I believed him. I am not sure why I trusted him. They do say love is blind and I guess because of my feelings for him I WANTED to believe and trust him.<br />
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Sadly he was still living in his world big time. He lied, stole, cheated, and was involved in all this "bad" stuff. I was too naive and trusting to take in the signs. My friends saw how happy I was and also chose to ignore the signs. But as I look back there were plenty of signs.<br />
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I feel like I have been ripped from the inside out. How can someone I loved so much, trusted so much and invested so much into do this to me?<br />
How could he flatly lie to me right in my face?<br />
How could anyone take advantage of someone's kindness, love and generosity so much?<br />
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Because he is not from, and never will be from my world.<br />
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I have learnt about deceit, dishonesty, lying and cheating. Something no one should have to learn about in such a way.<br />
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It makes me sick to think that he lived in my house, bonded with my children, met many of my family & friends. He did all this and was betraying me the whole time.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">This experience hasn't put me off dating. I am hurt for sure. But out of all the guys I have dated over the years this is the first truly BAD egg. So when you think about it the percentages aren't so bad. There is hope.</span></div>
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One of my friends said don't let one jerk put you off finding your Prince Charming. I said to her I already found him, and then he died.</div>
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I often wonder if I am being selfish and greedy for wanting to find love again when some people never get to experience the love that Jason and I had.</div>
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But I am young, and I have a long life ahead of me and I really don't want to spend it alone. My kids are going to leave home one day and then what?</div>
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My Grandad just celebrated his 90th Birthday - can I imagine the next almost 60 years on my own? </div>
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Heck No.</div>
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So I guess in time I will put myself out there again. I will brave the masses, risk my heart and feelings to try find that someone special. </div>
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Because Life is there for living and Love is one of the greatest parts of life!!</div>
TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-11291438055620670742015-01-05T10:47:00.000+13:002015-01-05T10:47:38.662+13:002015Wow, last year I blogged 6 times.<br />
I figured I might be over the blogging thing, that I might not need it anymore, that I have nothing else to share.<br />
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It's only 4 days into 2015 and it's already being a tough one.<br />
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Last year a met a wonderful man. We dated, he moved in, we fell in love. We went through some good and not so good stuff together and then a week after Christmas, quite unexpectedly to me, he ended it.<br />
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I'm not angry.<br />
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I am sad and upset and confused.<br />
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I will be ok. I know that because I got through losing Jason, and honestly this is nothing compared to that. But it still hurts. A lot.<br />
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It kind of brings me to what I want to talk about.<br />
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It took me 4 years to start dating after Jason died. WOW what an unexpected emotional roller coaster it has been.<br />
I have been on a few dates with a few different guys.<br />
I have dated a couple for a while.<br />
I fell in love even.<br />
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But Jason was still always on my mind. And the feelings of guilt and betrayal were hard things to overcome. But I worked through them. And yes, sadly, the relationship I thought might be the next "one" didn't turn out to be but as I sit here feeling sorry for myself and wondering what I did wrong, I also think "wow" look how far I have come. Look at what I have overcome to get to this stage and place in my life.<br />
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I have this flaw, and it's that I care too much too quickly. You see I have had my husband, my Grandmother and my Father all die quickly and unexpectedly in the last 4 1/2 years. It kind of reiterates to me that Life is short. You need to grab the bull by the horns and ride it. You have NO idea what is going to happen tomorrow. Yeah I suppose that this philosophy may have caused me too much hurt, but in amongst the hurt was experience, fun, happiness. I learnt a lot from my last relationship. I had experiences I have never had before and as much as it hurts like heck right now I have no regrets. Maybe, if there is a next time, I will have learnt enough to make a better, stronger, more amazing relationship with someone.<br />
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Really at the end of the day it will be better to say "OMG what a knob I was for doing that" than having to say "I really wish I had of given that a go"<br /><br />Go check out this AMAZING blog - <a href="http://www.bonemarrowforlife.com/">Bone Marrow For Life.</a> <br />
Raymond lost his Love to Cancer. Such a horrible disease, He was one of the rocks in my life when my Jason died. (read about that <a href="http://tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/1-year-ago-today.html">HERE</a>) I read his blog and I smile because I know that yes he is in pain and yes life sucks but he is going to be ok.<br />
Someone else who has the same philosophy as me - I love his catch phrase ....<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Live a life you are proud of.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Be Better. Love Better.</span><div>
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So I challenge you in 2015 to step out of your comfort zone and LIVE!!! Challenge yourself, do the things you always wished you could do. Don't wait until tomorrow because tomorrow might just not happen.<br />
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Tell the people who you love that you love them, spend time on things you are passionate about and most of all MAKE NO EXCUSES!!!!</div>
TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-85594240097668164062014-09-03T11:33:00.000+12:002014-09-03T11:52:11.625+12:00Woe is Me and all that CrapIt has been a while since I blogged. I feel pretty meh about it all but something I saw today has made me want to express my thoughts and feelings.<br />
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2 weeks ago my Beautiful Dad passed away. He was only 62. It was VERY sudden and unexpected. Minor surgery caused complications that in the end were fatal. To be honest I am still in shock and don't think that the reality of my Dad not being here anymore has really sunk in.<br />
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My Mum is absolutely devastated, as you could imagine. Losing your soul mate is a heart wrenching affair, I know I've been there. I want to be there for my Mum as much as I possibly can, she has always been my rock and I want to be able to be hers too, however it is sometimes difficult as I am also reeling over the fact that my Dad is gone.<br />
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November 1997 my Dad was in a horrific work accident which almost killed him. He was knocked down by a 10 ton concrete panel which fell off his truck on top of him. He had some pretty major injuries and spent the next 8 months in hospital. The biggest of these injuries was he damaged his spinal cord and became a paraplegic. The last, almost, 17 years have been a struggle for my parents. They have both had to learn to live with a major disability and their relationship changes would have been quite epic. I have always admired and adored the obvious love and affection my parents had for each other. I was one of the lucky ones with parents still together at high school. To go through all that life changing trauma and my parents came out still with this amazing love for one another.<br />
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Despite the fact that I wish my Dad was still here and that my Mum wasn't on her own, I can't help but be somewhat relieved that my Dad doesn't have to go through old age as a paraplegic. Life was already beginning to get difficult for him and he had already been through so much. He will be at peace now and his legs will be working again in heaven, possibly kicking my husbands butt for not being here for me!<br />
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In my 37years of life I have had to deal with a bit, not as much as some, but still more than I believe I should have. I have had a sheltered life as far as the fact that I had a great childhood, I have never wanted for food or shelter or love. I've never known addiction or abuse. But the trauma of having my Dad almost die and become a paraplegic, losing my own husband and now my Dad way too early have certainly paid a toll.<br />
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I feel like I have an excuse, somewhat, to become a bitter, cynical depressive. <br />
But I am not.<br />
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I understand that depression is a mental illness. For some people. Those kind of people suffer in silence and struggle on a daily basis to function in a "normal" fashion.<br />
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Today I saw a "Woe is me, no one cares and no one will miss me when I am gone" post. In my personal opinion that is not depression, it is attention seeking. Ever noticed how negative behaviour attracts negative outcomes?<br />
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I choose to not be negative. I chose to see my glass half full. It's taken me a REALLY long time after Jason's death for me to get here. The main thing is I have 2 beautiful children who I don't want growing up hating the world. Yes shit happens. No it isn't fair. There is nothing we can do about a lot of it. I can't bring Jason or my Dad back, but would they be happy if I was wallowing in misery? Of course not. It doesn't mean I am not ever going to be sad, or grieving. It doesn't mean I won't get angry or upset. What it means is I won't let the anger and sadness take over my life. <br />
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I have hope for a wonderful life for my children. I want them to grow up thinking WOW this is life and it is AMAZING. I want them to live and experience life in abundance.<br />
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If you don't think anyone cares about you, or things are going wrong, and when I say this I don't mean major things like cancer, or redundancy or death. I mean things like I can't afford a new car, I have no friends, the dog shat on the carpet. Have a serious look at yourself. Because, in my opinion, 95% of your problems are exactly that. YOUR problems. Don't like it? Change it. Change your attitude to life and see what amazing things can happen. Don't whinge about it to people who actually have REAL problems in their lives. We hate that.<br />
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And for those people who do have real shit going on, I salute you and send you as much strength as I can, especially right now to my Mum.<br />
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TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-12117937828540636342014-05-16T10:07:00.000+12:002014-05-16T10:07:00.334+12:004 Years Today .....Another year has gone by without you.<br />
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The grief I feel for your loss isn't constant any more, it comes in like the tide in ebbs and waves. Somedays are stormy and the grief swell overwhelms me. Other days are calm and peaceful.<br />
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So much has happened in this last year. We are all growing and changing.<br />
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Riley is a senior at school. He is fast turning from a boy into a young man. Everyday he is looking more and more like you. He hurts as much as I do. We were talking about around the time you died. He remembers as much as I do. He says little but feels much.<br />
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Abbey is growing like a weed. She is going to be a handful when she hits puberty. She has your cheeky sense of humor and your sparkle and smile. She misses the thought of you. She doesn't remember what it was like to have a loving Dad. She has had more life without you now than with you.<br />
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I am at an emotional cross-roads. I love you with the same intensity as I did before, that will never change. But I am so lonely. I have started dating. It's confusing, especially at the times like this when I am feeling so much sadness at your loss but also feeling excitement for the upcoming date I have. I miss you everyday you aren't here. I still cry, although not so much as I used to. My heart is still aching and the hole you left will never be filled.<br />
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I am strong, and brave. I have found myself, the me without you. I quite like her. She is spirited, funny, cute, quirky, creative and filled with love. I know I am lovable and worth loving because YOU loved me. You loved me with your everything. I am glad I know that. I am so privileged to have had the whole heart of an amazing man in my hands. So many people live their whole lives not having the kind of love we shared. For that love I am greatful. For that 8 years we had together I am thankful. I really hope that one day I get to hold someones heart like that again, and they can hold mine too.<br />
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Today, like the last 3 years we will be at Spring Hill Prison. Sitting in your memorial garden. Remembering, reflecting, grieving your loss.<br />I will leave my 8 orange gerberas. I will think of you, as I do everyday.<br />
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I will LIVE my life to honor yours. I will teach our children the power of love and the importance of life and the importance of people. We will live our lives and live them well.<br />We will NEVER forget you, your love or our love for you.<br />
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You will always be in our hearts.<br />
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alwaysforeverandeternity<br />
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Your Princess xxxx<br />
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<a href="http://tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/upside-down.html">When it Happened</a><br />
<a href="http://tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/1-year-ago-today.html">Year One</a><br />
<a href="http://tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/2-years-of-lonliness.html">Year Two</a><br />
<a href="http://tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/year-3.html">Year Three</a><br />
<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-6549304100382120812014-01-27T16:30:00.000+13:002014-01-27T16:30:33.004+13:00Things I'm Loving<br />
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<a href="http://meghanandmark.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Things%20Im%20Loving" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa455/meghankf/Buttons/ThingsImLoving.png " height="160" width="160" /></a></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something you can be thankful for..no matter how simple it is.</span></i></span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">I am Loving .......</span></i></span></b></div>
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This crazy girl and her crazy outfits, which mostly tend to be her dolls clothes!!!</div>
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My beautiful Phoebe. Phoebe is my baby I had before I had babies. She is 12years old and I was a little concerned about her health so took her to the vet. Turns out she is in perfect health but may be going a little senile. The vet called her a dottery old lady!! She is my snuggle bum.</div>
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Getting new clothes from amazing local artists!! If you haven't already go check out <a href="http://www.jessie-rose.com/">Jessie Rose</a> who has recently opened a store in Kamo. She is an AMAZING artist and I absolutely love her <a href="http://www.jessie-rose.com/rose-red.html">Rose Red</a> and <a href="http://www.jessie-rose.com/boy-black.html">Boy Black</a> ranges. Riley is modeling a Boy Black T-shirt.</div>
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My neighbour, who recently moved out, gave me a heap of wood that was on her property. We borrowed my uncles chainsaw and my brother chopped it up. This is only half! I don't think I'll have to buy much, if any firewood this winter! Score!!!</div>
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Using the long weekend (Northland Anniversary) to take advantage of exploring my hometown!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting Reotahi Marine Reserve</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting the Quarry Gardens</td></tr>
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Reading LOTS. I have given myself a goal, over at <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/">Goodreads</a>, to read 100 books this year. I have so many books that have been given to me that I want to read. My library is overflowing!! I love it! Reading is good for my soul, I want to feed my soul a lot more this year.</div>
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Linking up with <a href="http://www.mnmsadventures.com/">Megan</a></div>
TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-56186388343721068372014-01-27T09:00:00.000+13:002014-01-27T09:11:05.608+13:00I {Heart} WhangareiIt's been a while since I've done one of these posts. I really want to get back into exploring all the wonderful things in Whangarei and crossing some more things off my Hometown bucket list.<br />
What a better way to motivate me than to start up a weekly Linky!!<br />
I am going to start doing a weekly linky about Loving your Hometown and I challenge you to show me how awesome your hometown is by blogging about the wonderful things you can do there!!<!--grab button header --><br />
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Check out my <a href="http://www.tracypscrapheap.blogspot.co.nz/p/i-heart-whangarei.html">I {Heart} Whangarei </a> tab to see previous posts about exploring my hometown.<br />
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This week I am starting with<br />
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<b><u><a href="http://www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages/Reotahi.aspx">Reotahi Marine Reserve</a></u></b><br />
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Both of my children have been on snorkeling trips with school to Reotahi. The EMR (<a href="http://www.emr.org.nz/">Experiencing Marine Reserves</a>) Team came to school for a few visits before hand and gave the children lessons on how to use the snorkeling gear, which they provided, and taught them all about Marine Reserves and the importance of looking after our ocean life. <br />
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I thoroughly enjoyed going on both school trips with my kids and had a blast going snorkeling, something I haven't done in many years.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdIgIGR96kQEyggPwX1Uu3L05UWyGYWsLUm-fkKXp7fzhyphenhyphenvqZxoWqG61PPu9Ggv_Xxpk1xWuheMR86FQMX6NDRjmmTvSgFn-xR2qxPz-w02Oprvdi41N9qwQJ3pzY64xnPg6F12wpPmVx/s1600/Riley+School.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdIgIGR96kQEyggPwX1Uu3L05UWyGYWsLUm-fkKXp7fzhyphenhyphenvqZxoWqG61PPu9Ggv_Xxpk1xWuheMR86FQMX6NDRjmmTvSgFn-xR2qxPz-w02Oprvdi41N9qwQJ3pzY64xnPg6F12wpPmVx/s1600/Riley+School.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riley's Reotahi Trip 2011</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abbey's Reotahi Trip 2013</td></tr>
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Last week I noticed a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/emr.mtsct">Facebook</a> event for a Snorkeling Day out at Reotahi and of course jumped at the chance to go along with the family.<br />
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We got up early and headed out first thing Saturday morning, we must have arrived about 10am. There weren't many people there and we waited for a few minutes to fill out our registration form and read the safety rules and get assigned our guide for our swim.<br />
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ALL the gear was supplied, snorkels and masks, flippers, wetsuit and a boogie board with a photo montage of all the different things we might see while we were snorkeling.<br />
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We met with our guide, Anton, and he helped us get our gear, showed us how to use it and went over all the safety rules. He also talked a little bit about Reotahi. It was started by a group of Kamo High School students about 6 years ago! Reotahi is the first marine reserve to be started by students ever! Amazing!!!<br />
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Then we got to get in the water. The kids were so excited when we saw fish and seaweed. There was a lot to look at and Anton pointed out quite a few things to us as we swam along. We must have spent about 1/2 hour snorkeling around the rocks and bay.<br />
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It was AWESOME and ALL free. I definitely recommend you heading out there if you can the next time they do another Fun Day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reotahi Trip 2014</td></tr>
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<br />
So what have you done in your Hometown lately?<br />
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LINK UP HERE
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-35722261400577022552014-01-20T21:24:00.000+13:002014-01-20T21:24:33.209+13:00Valentines Swap 2014Hi!<br />
<br />
If you signed up for the Valentines Swap you should have received an email with your swap recipients details today.<br />
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If you haven't please let me know so I can make sure you get all the right details.<br />
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Don’t forget that packages need to be posted by February 10th</div>
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I’d love if you have a blog, if you could send me a link to a blog post about your gifts, if not if you can send me an email with photos and a little written blerb. I then can write up a post for you so your swap
partner can see that you have received your gifts and how much you loved
them!!</div>
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Happy Crafting!!</div>
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TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-6399216135139628632014-01-15T20:27:00.000+13:002014-01-15T20:27:31.957+13:00Valentine's Swap 2014It's been a while and I have a lot of stuff to catch up on but I just wanted to talk about this .....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkv7G7_WB_RvvrZENt_s9Zbroohfx9SIqTB-gW_WFvf0dFZNu7g6a-uniWbnaqMzNOl-Olkbvci2knjkZ00uKKmFKg1Bz3x1abmgI0tQ40XHOaVmTMVEDqmvsrzp1bBxTKobSHQ4PZwY_/s1600/DSCF5325+(Small)-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkv7G7_WB_RvvrZENt_s9Zbroohfx9SIqTB-gW_WFvf0dFZNu7g6a-uniWbnaqMzNOl-Olkbvci2knjkZ00uKKmFKg1Bz3x1abmgI0tQ40XHOaVmTMVEDqmvsrzp1bBxTKobSHQ4PZwY_/s400/DSCF5325+(Small)-001.JPG" width="352" /></a></div>
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I am going to host a Valentine's Swap, because lets face it Valentines is all about Love and what do we have in the bloggy word but a whole heap of love!!!! And I know I am not the only one out there without a genuine Valentine to get spoilt by!!<br />
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So For this swap you will be putting together:<br /><br />*A hand crafted Heart of any kind<br />
*Sweets for your Sweet<br />
*A Card/Postcard/Tag which can have your blog details etc on it<br />
*Flowers - use your imagination for this one! Any kind of flower you can think of!!<br />
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Sign up by commenting here. Sign up will close on Sunday 19th January and I will get your Secret Admirer details to you by Monday evening giving you plenty of time to get your goodies ready and sent off by FEBRUARY 10th<br />
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I will be back soon for a holiday catch up!<br />
<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-89760239305601195362013-12-20T15:00:00.000+13:002013-12-20T10:53:51.072+13:00Advent Swap Round-Upopps!!! I forgot to do this on Wednesday!<br />
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Day #12<br />
Good things start with B<br />
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Orange Fabric and Orange buttons! I actually already have a plan for these two items!!<br />
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Day #13<br />
Frankly my dear, I'd like cake.<br />
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I LOVE this Frankie Magazine Afternoon Tea cookbook! It has some amazing recipes which I am totally going to try out for Christmas!<br />
And I can NEVER have enough orange ribbon!!<br />
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Day #14<br />
Beware the orange talons!<br />
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I Love nail polish. I used to always paint my nails. I haven't in such a long time. I think this is the perfect opportunity to start up again!! As well as all the AMAZING <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=nail%20art&rs=ac&len=2">nail painting ideas</a> on <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a>!!<br />
That Christmas bauble is too adorable!!<br />
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Day #15<br />
I got layers!<br />
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When I opened this present I laughed so much! Layers!! A peeler!! Hilarious!<br />
And I LOVE LOVE that bracelet! Gorgeous!!<br />
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Day #16<br />
Walk this way<br />
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This present is so me it isn't even funny! I have always being a bit <strike>weird</strike> unique and when I was younger I had a pair of roman sandles, not because it was what we had to wear but because I wanted to have them. They didn't have any orange ones when I had mine, they were blue, but this notebook is too awesome for words!<br />
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Day #17<br />
Here's to a hot day & 3 favourite colours<br />
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These water bomb balls are going to get a major workout when we go on holiday after Christmas!! I think the band aids might too!!<br />
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Day #18<br />
An orange blast of retro past.<br />
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I love apricots. I'll begin with that! YUMMO</div>
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The Love Heart Lollies are hilarious!</div>
And the postcards. Well ......<br />
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How can I even describe the beauty in these retro fashion shots!!!<br />
I honestly can't wait to take these on holiday and send my friends postcards!<br />
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Day # 19<br />
I've got my eyes on you.<br />
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Miriam you are hilarious!!<br />
The little bag of eyes! Too funny, and I can think of so many projects to use them. And thanks soo much for all the awesome orange fabric! I am going to have fun learning to use my sewing skills next year!<br />
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Day #20<br />
Try a little flexibility.<br />
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I am very slowly trying to swap out all my kitchen equipment to orange. I have some hideous green stuff from when I first left home and went flatting! So this is such a great addition to my collection!!<br />
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Miriam I can not thank you enough! You are making me start my day with a laugh and a smile. I am blown away with the thought you have put into each gift and I feel so blessed!!<br />
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Go check out Miriam and her amazing blog <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Create Hope Inspire</a>TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-12728518311112197572013-12-20T09:37:00.000+13:002013-12-20T09:37:30.527+13:00Lovings<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b><i><a href="http://meghanandmark.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Things%20Im%20Loving"><img height="160" src="http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa455/meghankf/Buttons/ThingsImLoving.png " width="160" /></a></i></b></span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something you can be thankful for..no matter how simple it is.</i></span></b><br />
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I am loving that my biggest brother is moving back from Australia after being away for 13 years. These cousins are loving being able to spend heaps of time together, just like cousins should!</div>
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I am loving having summer milkshake and ice cream dates with these gorgeous kiddies of mine.<br />
I am loving that here in Whangarei we have some beautiful places to hang out.<br />
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It's all about who you know!<br />
I am loving that because I have a friend who just also happens to be the Northland Rugby team mascot that I get great photo opportunities like this one!!<br />
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I am loving that after having these orange tiles in a box for sooo long that they are finally on the wall in my new bathroom.</div>
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On a small side note I am not loving that the bathroom still isn't finished!</div>
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Joining up with Meghan at <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=2075589981&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=2255167&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tbm1zYWR2ZW50dXJlcy5jb20vMjAxMy8xMi90aGluZ3MtaW0tbG92aW5nLWJlc3QtYWlycG9ydC1hcnJpdmFscy5odG1s&frame=1&click=0&user=0">MNMs</a></div>
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TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-50844921408952717732013-12-19T09:20:00.000+13:002013-12-19T09:20:22.408+13:00Christmas GriefI was doing ok.<br />
I have been sooo busy I haven't had much time to think.<br />
But it snuck up and surprised me.<br />
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I miss my husband more than ever around this time of year.<br />
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Christmas is all about family to me. So having Jason not here really hurts. A lot.<br />
I watch my friends prepare for Christmas, see them working together with the men in their lives putting together kids presents, seeing Dads getting involved at end of year parties. My heart aches.<br />
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My heart aches that my kids don't have a Daddy to love them.<br />
My heart aches that I don't have my best friend to hold my hand.<br />
My heart aches for the life we are missing out on.<br />
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This will be the 4th Christmas without Jason.<br />
It hasn't got any easier.<br />
Yes life is going well for us. We are coping well. I have a really great routine going and we are working great as a little family of 3.<br />
But this time of year is still hard.<br />
Especially when the feelings sneak up on you unexpectedly.<br />
I should have known they were coming. But they still surprised me. I really thought that after all this time I might deal with it better.<br />
But the tears still flow and my chest feels tight and my heart aches.<br />
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And I miss him so very much.TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-69101029453162860012013-12-16T17:31:00.000+13:002013-12-16T17:32:47.292+13:00Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have really enjoyed getting involved in lots of swaps this Christmas season. I know that I am going to get much more involved in this sort of thing over the next year and dust of my crafting hands!!</div>
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These are the ornaments I made for the swap</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMOzXwXWHhwaotKwwS2FPwFGGmyAiY14aFUAQ00RqiZdsnY3nOlbYh5sRn3ooC1bKZU4wC4kjZhFT9EmSJXZBracfb1oVxn7Ik0puACygOuyGkE16FMYunR4NB5mjngHZh9nb8WmRa4qe/s1600/DSCF7215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMOzXwXWHhwaotKwwS2FPwFGGmyAiY14aFUAQ00RqiZdsnY3nOlbYh5sRn3ooC1bKZU4wC4kjZhFT9EmSJXZBracfb1oVxn7Ik0puACygOuyGkE16FMYunR4NB5mjngHZh9nb8WmRa4qe/s320/DSCF7215.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I got some wooden curtain rings and wound the red and white ribbon around. Then I attached some bells and Christmas ribbon to finish them off. Fairly simple and cute I thought.</div>
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Thanks Pinterest for your ideas!! Here is the <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/117445502756333564/">original pin</a> I got my idea from.</div>
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So here are the ornaments I received</div>
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Only one of these talented ladies is a blogger and also the host of the swap <a href="http://www.sew-funky.com/">Sew Funky</a> - She made the gorgeous sequined star in the bottom pic. Not sure if it's crochet or knitting.</div>
LOVE all my ornaments and I am definitely signing up again next year!<br />
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Check out the other participants <a href="http://www.sew-funky.com/kiwi-christmas-ornament-swap/">HERE</a></div>
<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-62324911093637540962013-12-11T20:45:00.000+13:002013-12-11T20:45:00.325+13:00Wednesday Advent RoundupI am loving this advent swap! Every day both my kids and I are so excited to see what is in my present. <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Miriam</a> has certainly made me smile every day! I love the thought that has gone into each gift and the orange theme is classic!!<br />
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Day #5<br />
If it has to be done it might as well be yum.<br />
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Yum is right!! I am not a big fan of cooking but I am giving these a good try! They sound delicious. And I ADORE nuts, I have to admit that bag was empty the same day I opened them!! So yummy!!!<br />
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Day #6<br />
So Pointy<br />
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I can NEVER have too much orange thread!! And I was just complaining that my needles were blunt when I was making my Advent presents! Perfect!<br />
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Day #7<br />
For the days when large and loud are the 'flavour' of the day.<br />
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Ok how cool is this recycled juice packet bag!! I have got to say it is one of the coolest things I now own!! And I am super glad that giant pencil comes with it's own sharpener!! Try putting that one behind your ear!!!<br />
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Day #8<br />
For subtle hints of hope<br />
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Orange essence ... smells sooooo good!!! And that star ornament is A.Dorable!! Did you make it yourself Miriam?<br />
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Day #9<br />
Kick back, relax & take the easy way.<br />
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Mmmm jelly!!! I LOVE the orange cocktail umbrellas and the fabric is going to be on my pile of think of something cool to make pile!! It's quite perfect as my goal for 2014 is to learn to sew properly!<br />
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Day #10<br />
You're just a softie really :)<br />
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So I think this has got to be my favourite gift so far! It is soft and snuggly and oh so cute!! I had to wrestle it off Abbey after I opened it!! I love cushions, I might even have too many ... na! There is no such thing as too many cushions!! I absolutely LOVE that fish fabric!<br />
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Day #11<br />
Don't sit for too long in one position you'll get .....<br />
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This is the most adorable Pin & Needle cushion EVER!!! Love!<br />
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Miriam, I can't thank you enough! I am loving ALL these amazingly thoughtful gifts. I have been truly blessed this Christmas!!<br />
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<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-10243832581832097822013-12-11T16:00:00.000+13:002013-12-11T16:00:03.811+13:00Extra Curricular Activities - Part Two; Girl GuidesWhen Riley started Cubs I decided I wanted to get Abbey into Girl Guides. I knew that girls could join the Scouts but I wanted Riley and Abbey to have their own activities. They are at home together, they go to the same school they do most things together so it was important for me to let them have something that was individual and apart from each other. Something to call their own.<br />
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When I was a little girl I remember being a Brownie. I remember going on Brownie Camp and doing lots of fun activities. I remembered how much fun I had as a kid at Brownies and thought that Abbey would enjoy it too. She was too young to be a Brownie so she joined the next group down, The Pippins.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing off her sash full of badges</td></tr>
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Abbey LOVES going to Pippins. She has made a bunch of new friends, done lots of crafty things, gone on camp, got involved in ANZAC Day, visited the SPCA, the Pools and even Lazer Maze. She has so much fun there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pippins & Brownies at Waitangi</td></tr>
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Girl Guides is so empowering for young girls. It shows them they can do anything. They do so much cool stuff! Like Scouts they earn badges, go on camps and do outdoorsey things. They do crafts and have fun. They encourage and support each other. It is a wonderful place to be.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toasting Marshmallows at the camp fire</td></tr>
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Abbey's last Pippins meeting for the year is going to be similar to Riley's last Cubs one. It will be all the groups together lots of different aged girls from all over Northland. We are heading out to the beach for loads of end of year fun.<br />
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Since the last meeting is at the beach I thought I'd give the Pippins leaders their thank you gifts tonight at the last meeting at the Clubrooms.<br />
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They were thrilled and I also got a lovely picture of them with Abbey.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abbey & her Pippins Leaders</td></tr>
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Abbey has only 3 more terms as a Pippin then she will move up to be a Brownie. I can't wait for more camps and activities to be parent help with!! I think I am having as much fun as the kids are!<br />
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So what kind of extra curricular activities do your kids get involved in? And do you enjoy it as much as they do?!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-17894070653339718102013-12-10T21:02:00.000+13:002013-12-10T21:02:44.173+13:00Extra Curricular Activities - Part One; ScoutsMy kids don't play sports. I am secretly pleased about that. I'm really not a sporty person. I never played sports and I'm not a big fan of watching it. Don't get me wrong, if my kids showed an interest in playing sport I'd give them all the encouragement and do the driving to sports practices and games etc and shout from the sidelines. In fact Riley did play Cricket for a season and I was at every single Friday night game cheering him on. <strike>Thankfully</strike> But he decided to not play the next season. Sports isn't something I would actively encourage my kids to get involved in unless they showed an interest.<br />
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My Kids are Scouting and Guiding kids instead.<br />
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I first got Riley involved in Cub <a href="http://www.scouts.org.nz/">Scouts</a> because I thought it would be a great way for him to get some really good positive boy time. Living in a house with two girls the poor guy hasn't got much of a chance! Jason was a Scout as a boy and I know he would have been so encouraging and supportive of Riley becoming involved. (Jase also would have encouraged sports eekk bad me!!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First night in his uniform as an invested Cub Scout</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scouts Salute</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;">Riley has LOVED cubs. He has a really cool troop with 3 awesome leaders. He has had 100% attendance (apart from one camp that he was ill for) He won a prize for awesome Fundraising and he marched in the Santa Parade this year. He has grown confidence and has developed a great relationship with all 3 leaders and the bunch of boys (and the couple of girls) that go every week. </span><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marching in the Kamo Santa Parade</td></tr>
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I like the idea of scouting as it encompasses so many different things. They encourage outdoor activities and getting rough, tough and down right dirty. All the things that Riley misses out on living with two girls.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ANZAC Day Dawn Parade 2013 Hastings</td></tr>
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Riley also learns many positive and important life skills. He learns discipline, respect & honour. He learns if he works hard he can get rewards for his work. He learns how to work as a member of a team.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riley's first Personal Challenge badge - Collector.</td></tr>
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Through Scouting Riley will have the opportunity to go to lots of places and do lots of things that I wouldn't ever take him to or do with him.<br />
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I am a great believer of letting people know they are appreciated. I have always given gifts to the kids Pre-school/Kindergarten and school teachers so I decided I needed to let the Cub & Pippin's Leaders know how much I appreciate the time and effort they put into the kids.<br />
<br />Riley has 3 awesome Cub leaders. Akela, Kaa and Chil. All three of these men take time out of their personal time to be involved. They spend time each week and on many weekend events making programmes and doing activities with the kids. These men don't get paid, they volunteer their time.<br />
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So like the school teachers I decided to put together an end of the year thank you gift for the Guys.<br />
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Using <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/12807180164378105/">THIS</a> nifty little idea from <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a> I decided to make the guys their own personal Cub Leader mugs filled with goodies. I really hope they enjoy their gifts!!<br />
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We have one more Cub night this year which is a combined Shared Dinner/Party with all the Scouting troops from Kamo. It should be a fun evening.<br />
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I really look forward to seeing what Riley's troop gets up to next year and since I am now on the Scout committee I can get more involved in everything that happens.<br />
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Stay tuned for Part Two .... Girl Guides!!<br />
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TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-39258562938790758582013-12-09T15:34:00.000+13:002013-12-09T15:34:22.459+13:00Silly SeasonChristmas is a really busy time of the year for most people. It sure is for me. This year is a little bit busier than usual with various stuff going on. The short version is I have 2 of my nephews here and will soon have my Brother and his Wife here too.<br /><br />I am LOVING having the kids and I am REALLY looking forward to my brother and sister-in-law arriving and staying with me.<br />
Having four children in the house does make things a lot busier though!<br />
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So I apologise in advance for the slowness of my blog posts!<br /><br />I am busy putting together teacher gifts and gifts for the Pippins and Cubs Leaders. I have Santa Parades and Summer Shows to write about. I have Advent stuff and Jingles the Scout Elf to tell you about too.<br />
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I'll get there I promise!! I have been taking the photos!!<br /><br />So hopefully after I sew on a million (slight over exaggeration!!) badges onto My daughters Pippins Sash ready to get more badges tomorrow, and finish all the gifties I might have a little bit more free time to blog about it all!!!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-45870311060321884852013-12-04T19:37:00.000+13:002013-12-04T19:37:08.236+13:00Wednesday Advent RoundupInstead of posting every day about what <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Miriam</a> has gifted me in the advent swap I thought I'd do a post every Wednesday instead ......<br />
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Day #2<br />
Retro cup-o-tea?<br />
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I LOVE Orange and I LOVE Retro and this is just the best Tea-towel ever!!!!! It is going to look fabulous when I get my kitchen renovated!!, I actually think it's going to be too good to use .. it might end up on the wall yet!<br />
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Day #3<br />
Ball of Joy all zipped up.<br />
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Jaffas!!!!!! mmmmmmmm YUMMY!!!<br />
And an adorable little zip up pouch. It will definitely come in handy for my toiletries when I go camping! LOVE!!<br />
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Day #4<br />
A bit of orange-advent-family time.<br />
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A GORGEOUS book called 'A Celebration of Christmas'. It is filled with Christmas songs, poems, carols, stories, prayers, recipes, jokes and activities! I am so in love with it. The illustrations are beautiful.</div>
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Along with the book were the ingredients to make a Christingle. I am going to get some oranges this week to make some with the kids, I just love the idea of the Christingle.</div>
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Thanks so much Miriam, all of us as a family are so enjoying opening these presents every morning and they are most definitely making me start my day with a smile!TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-52278329986082123042013-12-01T13:28:00.000+13:002013-12-01T13:28:04.472+13:00Christmas Advent Swap Day #1It was an exciting morning at our place this morning!<br />DECEMBER 1st!!!! That means the first of our Advent's get to be opened!!!<br /><br />My kids have an Advent Tree that I made them last year. I filled it with little gifts and chocolates. I also have my brother and his 2 kids staying at the moment so since I didn't want them to miss out on the Advent fun I filled little brown paper envelopes with little gifts and chocolates for them too.<br />
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The Kids were all VERY excited to come in and open their gifts this morning.<br />
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And I got to open my first gift from <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Miriam</a> too!! YAY!!<br />
<br />Miriam included an Advent Theme Sheet with the gifts.<br /><br />
Day #1<br />
"Wrap me up in Orange the Christmas season is here"<br />
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The COOLEST Orange Washi Ticket Tape!!<br />I LOVE it!!! Thanks sooo much Miriam! I can see myself using this a lot!!!<br />
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Now I am off to buy a Christmas Tree and decorate the house!<br /><br />Happy December 1st everyone!!!<br />
<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-45846000945372904752013-11-27T22:18:00.000+13:002013-11-28T12:36:41.403+13:00Christmas Advent SwapSo exciting!!<br />
My Advent Swap Partner received her box of pressies today!<br />
I have been stalking her blog to hope that she would post when it arrived and it did!!<br />
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My swap partner is Elaina from <a href="http://alittlebitcountrynz.blogspot.co.nz/">A Little Bit Country</a>. I have been stalking her blog to try and find out what she is like since I didn't know her. You should go check her blog out! She's a really cool chick!!<br />
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This is the blog post <a href="http://alittlebitcountrynz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/christmas-advent-swap-2013.html?showComment=1385540428987#c99999225919673316">HERE</a> about getting her parcel.<br />
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I made a card with <a href="http://www.stampinup.com/home/">Stampin' Up</a> Christmas stamps a while ago, but since I send photo cards to friends and family I hadn't had a chance to use it. This was the perfect opportunity!!<br />
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I also wrapped up a present for the 3 beautiful kiddies that needed to be opened up before December 1st.<br />
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I made Bell, Tom & George this <a href="http://www.kaisercraft.com.au/newsite/products.php?prod=SB2205">Kaisercraft Christmas Advent Tree</a>, and filled it with chocolates.<br />
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Before I decorated it it looked like this .....<br />
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I used some Kaisercraft Christmas paper from the Christmas Carnival Collection. The numbers on the boxes are from the Kaisercraft Twig & Berry 12x12 Sticker Sheet.<br />
The Reindeer up the top of the tree is a felt ornament from <a href="http://www.spotlight.co.nz/">Spotlight</a>.<br />
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I sure hope that Elaina and her gorgeous children enjoy opening their advent gifts throughout December!!<br />
I know I am looking forward to both opening mine and seeing how Elaina enjoys her gifts!!<br />
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<a href="http://3xsunshine.blogspot.co.nz/" target="_blank"><img alt=" Show & Tell Thursday's " border="0" src=" http://i1321.photobucket.com/albums/u552/LeonieDe/IMG_0617_zps2f975b92.jpg" style="height: 150px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
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Linking Up with Leonie At <a href="http://3xsunshine.blogspot.co.nz/">Sunshine x3</a><br />
<br />TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114071641275162610.post-84119012112653839302013-11-25T11:58:00.001+13:002013-11-25T11:58:51.345+13:00Christmas Advent SwapLast year my beautiful friends <a href="http://kiwiatheart-leonie.blogspot.co.nz/">Leonie</a> & <a href="http://catalinanz.blogspot.co.nz/">Cat</a> were involved in a Christmas Advent swap. I watched with interest to see what they gave and received from each other and said to myself that I wanted to be in on that next time!!<br />So as soon as Cat <a href="http://catalinanz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/secret-advent-swap-2013.html">posted up about the swap</a> I was in!<br />
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I was so excited when I received the name and details of the wonderful lady I was going to be gifting. She was someone completely new to me so that was pretty exciting too! I stalked her blog and put together 25 gifts for her and a combined gift for her 3 gorgeous children.<br />
I posted her box off to her this morning.<br />
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I hope she likes her packages! I am feeling rather nervous about it!!</div>
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This morning the courier dropped off a BIG box of packages for me. I was sooo excited!!! Since we were on our way out the door for the school run I had to wait until I got home before I could open it!!</div>
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Inside were 25 gifts for me and one each or Riley & Abbey to open on Christmas day. They are going to be so excited when they get home to see they were included too!</div>
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There was a note in the box that said ...</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Tracy<br />Welcome to your "Very Orange Advent". My goal in putting this together has been about making you smile everyday coming up to Christmas. I imagine this season must be bittersweet as you miss the presence of your 4th family member. I hope each day as you open a gift you will make the orange connection & you will feel loved and thought of. Wishing you a love-filled, peaceful advent season & a beautiful, wonder-filled Christmas<br />God Bless<br />Miriam xxx</blockquote>
And then there was an Advent Theme Sheet with a theme for each present. I will share these with you as I share the opening of the presents.<br />
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I don't know Miriam but I know of her. I have read her blog and seen her around quite a bit. She was also the person who I have been communicating with about my swap partner!!<br /><br />Thanks soo much for your beautiful letter and I can't wait to open those gifts!!<br /><br />Go check out Miriam's blog <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Create Hope Inspire</a>.<br /><br />Keep a watch come December for the daily posts about what Miriam has packaged up as well as what I sent to my Advent partner!<br />
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TracyPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06399415273236437138noreply@blogger.com5