ANZAC DAY

Karen left this message on my blog today "..., no SPT on my blog tonight (25 April). Silly isn't quite 'right' for ANZAC day. Very relieved that next week will no longer be April and there may be a new 'better' topic for SPT." Well, ditto from me.

InsteadI found this on Ali Edwards blog - it was in a little side panel. I nearly missed it. It's too important to miss:

"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt."Leo Buscaglia

I FORGOT!

I forgot to do Self Portrait Tuesday yesterday. Too bad - this month's topic is hard - April Fool's. I don't have any photos of me fooling around (in any sense!). Heck, I hardly have any photos of me at all. So I'll skip it this week. I'll try harder next time, promise.


Anyway, Caitlin took this photo of D and I at Staglands today. Staglands is in the Akatarawa bush. A 20-25 minutes drive off the main road north of Upper Hutt. 17 kms on a pretty windy road - not one I'd want to travel very often.



We took the kids to see the animals (Auckland Island and kune kune pigs, deer, donkeys, ponies, rabbits, trout, peacocks, heaps of native birds (and some very cute kea) and for a walk around in the great outdoors. Elliot was petrified of one animal... the donkey! For real. This donkey was cute and friendly and walked up to you looking for food or a pat. It was very cute. Elliot couldn't cope with how 'forward' it was. He's used to animals being a bit more reticent, I guess.


And guess what I had to walk over? Another damn swing bridge. I didn't fuss. I just walked over it. This one was shorter and lower than the heart-stopping killer one a couple of weeks ago but what is the story? Two swing bridges in a couple of weeks. What have I done to deserve this?

SOUL FOOD

Caitlin and Elliot spent yesterday morning painting some canvasses that Elliot had received for his birthday.

Elliot decided he'd paint a "love heart".

Caitlin piped up, "Why do people call them love hearts? It's not your heart that you love with. You actually love with your soul!".

You love with your soul.

Feeding my soul at other times involves visiting Keisha's blog. She is one of the primary people I go to for scrapping inspiration. I like how original she is. She does her own thing. She uses the latest stuff but makes it her own. She has white paper on her layouts (white paper!). She lives in China. What Keisha can't do with a frame isn't worth doing. Thanks for the inspiration, Keisha!

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY - AGAIN

Tuesdays come around quickly and each Tuesday lately I think "I think I'll give SPT a miss this week - after all, who cares whether I do it or not". But I know Karen is watching and expecting something and I'll feel like I've failed if I don't do something so...

This month the theme is April Fool's - feature a photo of yourself doing something silly. Well this is one of me and the kids last weekend. Taken by my Mum (and I've including one where you can actually see me, although I prefer the other one!).

14 LITTLE BOYS...

Yep, 14 little boys came to our place on Saturday afternoon. Elliot's 6th birthday party. Boy can they make a racket! Zappo the magician could handle them better than we could. The boys just giggled and giggled at Zappo's magic tricks. He really entertained them. And we were pleased with Zappo's parting gift - two small pieces of rope (leftover from a trick) "If you put it under your pillow at night it will turn into 20cents".

We reminded Elliot of that when he went to bed last night and tonight. "If you put it under your pillow AND STAY IN YOUR OWN BED ALL NIGHT it will turn into 20 cents." Oh and "ZAPPO TOLD US IT WILL WORK FOR 7 NIGHTS".

It's worked for the first two!

RUN2HEAL

We did it! The Thorn family (including Grandad - my Dad) completed our first ever organised 5km walk last Sunday.

We decided to just enter the 5km walk section so that we could all do it together as a family. Good thought. About one minute into it Caitlin (age 10) said "I want to run". Well, go for it we said. She was off - didn't see her again til the end (she bet us by 8 minutes).

Then Grandad lagged behind at the back of the bunch so I went back a couple of times to see if he wanted me to stroll with him. 'Nope" said Grandad "You go ahead, I'm very happy to stroll".

Then Elliot (age 5 ) said his legs were tired (this is after 400 metres). "You can go back to Gran" (who was watching on the sideline). "Nope, I will walk" said Elliot.

200 metres later Elliot couldn't walk anymore so Darryn put him on his shoulders. And carried him. For four kilometres. Not just walking. He ran with him. I ran for a while. I couldn't keep up (even though Darryn had an additional 26 kgs on his shoulders). Darryn's lost about 26 kgs over recent months - he said this was a great way to remind himself how far he has come.

I walked fast. I caught up the boys.

Elliot asked to be put down about 100 metres from the finish line "Otherwise they'll think I cheated!" he announced. He bounced over the finish line in front of us.

We finished in 53 minutes.

Grandad finished in 60 minutes with the stragglers. 10 minutes later he said he'd like to go around the course again.

Next year we'll do the 10km. Without Elliot!


(Photos by the fabulous people at www.smileclick.co.nz)

THE POWER OF THE LEFT OVER

I have been known to spend an hour (OK, 2) making one special card for someone. It doesn't happen much these days. I don't have the time (or inclination). But I do like giving a handmade card. Let's face it, the really nice bought cards are over 5 bucks each these days. I would rather put that money towards a gift.

I decided recently that one of the things I really like about scrapping is putting together patterned papers (OK so some ranges like Basic Grey make that so easy for us). But why not challenge yourself to dig out those leftover papers and make a few cards. Your time limit - 5 minutes per card. You heard right! 5 minutes. It is possible:

CARDMAKING 101

1. Cut out a few different sized rectangles from matching leftover patterned paper (an odd number works best).

2. Randomly stick them on a piece of card -remember to overlap them

3. Add one embellishment (less is more). Heidi Swapp chipboard is great for this.

OK you could tart them up more, distress and ink, add words etc But you don't have to. LESS IS MORE!

Voila - a cool card for way under $5 in 5 minutes. You can do it.

And people seem to like them as much as the ones I sweated over for an hour (or two)!

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY - APRIL FOOL

Here's this month's theme:
"April fool - this is a playful theme - have fun with it - it can be interpreted in many ways - a couple I have thought of off the top my head are ... I want to see what YOU come up with.
be foolish in front of the camera - be crazy, let down your hair, dress up, make faces, be silly - all in the privacy of your own home. Do something crazy and document it - (I don't advocate doing anything dangerous or breaking the law though) "

Caitlin came racing out of her bedroom on Saturday morning having just heard the news on The Edge radio station. "Mum! Dad! It's so unfair - there's a new law just been passed. Under 16 year olds aren't allowed to buy or use a cell phone. It's so not fair!" Darryn took one look at me and said "Hmm, know what day it is?" We laughed but Cait still didn't get it. We strung her along for a while. The Edge strung kids along for quite a while longer. Dozens of upset, irate kids appalled that they could no longer use their phones. Helen Clark was called a few things. It was a great gag. April Fools!

Next week I will try to take a better photo more in keeping with the theme!